The Mitchell Institute’s Aerospace Nation Podcast

The Air Force’s commitment to generating a highly lethal force that is technologically superior, numerically sufficient, and flown by the most well-trained airmen in the world is the bedrock of deterring aggression in times of peace and prevailing in war.

However, today’s United States Air Force is the oldest, smallest, and least ready in its history. Facing the severely challenging global threat environment for the next decade and...

Authored by Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, USAF (Ret.), Senior Resident Fellow for Airpower Studies

Russia and China have spent the past three decades developing and fielding advanced weapons capable of striking the U.S. homeland—this includes nuclear and non-nuclear missiles. Military and civilian targets are more vulnerable to aerial attack than ever before. This is a major driver behind Golden Dome.

A Russian aircra...

It’s no secret that China is America’s national security pacing threat. Join us to learn more about airpower and the Pacific theater with Gen. Kevin Schneider, Commander, Pacific Air Forces; and Air Component Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. He and his team are responsible for Air Force activities spread over half the globe in a command that supports more than 46,000 Airmen serving principally in Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, Al...

Authored by J. Michael Dahm, Senior Fellow for Aerospace and China Studies

China’s informationized warfighting strategies are specifically designed to counter America’s networked approach to warfare. This includes breaking long-range kill chains and denying penetrating strikes their highly networked reach-back connectivity. Given these vulnerabilities, it is crucial that the Air Force pursue disaggregated collaborative air operatio...

The Mitchell Institute is pleased to feature Lt. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara as its next Aerospace Nation guest. He is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration for the United States Air Force. While nuclear deterrence is always important, the current threat environment heightens the critical nature of this mission. Added to this is the reality that the U.S is in the midst of recapitalizing all three legs...

The Eighth Air Force is a storied unit with a warfighting history that dates back to the contested skies over Europe in World War II. Today, circumstances and technologies may be a bit different, but the Mighty Eighth’s mission is largely the same: to deter conventional and nuclear threats, and provide national leadership with the means to strike any target around the globe at any time.

Maj Gen Jason Armagost is a life-long combat ...

Listen to the dynamic discussion with Lieutenant General DeAnna Burt, Chief Operations Officer of the United States Space Force, as we explore how the Space Force is driving innovation and integration to stay ahead in today’s contested space domain. From weaving cyber into space architectures and advancing Moving Target Indication (MTI), to sustaining weapon systems, supporting combatant commands, and deepening collaboration with a...

Integrating space capabilities across Europe and Africa present unique and growing challenges in two complex regions. As Commander of U.S. Space Forces Europe and Africa, Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton has the lead role in supporting both U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command with space capabilities ranging from intelligence to navigation and communications to space electronic warfare. Join the Mitchell Institute for this impor...

The most important element of any military organization is its people. Within the Space Force, the responsible to train and prepare Guardians rests on Space Training and Readiness Command. To learn more about the STARCOM efforts to prepare Guardians for the warfighting domain of space, the Mitchell Institute is excited to host an in-depth discussion with the STARCOM leadership team, Maj Gen Tim Sejba and Chief Master Sergeant Karma...

As the United States faces increasingly sophisticated threats, the importance of resilient, persistent space sensing has never been greater. Remote sensing, including detecting and tracking missile launches and monitoring weather and the EM spectrum comprises a $23 billion portfolio. Leading this critical mission is Brigadier General (S) Robert Davis, the Program Executive Officer of the Space Sensing Directorate at Space Systems C...

America’s warfighting advantage depends on an innovation edge. Defense Advanced Research Projects  Agency (DARPA) is a key leader in that realm. Created in response to the launch of Sputnik in 1957, DARPA works to ensure America never again faces a strategic technical surprise. Their programs focus on the fundamental research required to establish proof of concept. This work is especially important given the scale and scope of the ...

Join us for a conversation with Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE). As a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Bacon chairs the subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, while also serving on the Tactical Air and Land Forces and the Strategic Forces subcommittees.

Rep. Bacon is a retired Air Force brigadier general who served 29 years in assignments including Director of ISR Strategy, Plans, Doctrine and Forc...

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Kelly D. Hammett to the Schriever Spacepower Series. The ability to rapidly develop and field new capabilities is essential to maintaining our nation’s strategic advantage. As head of one of the Space Force’s three acquisition organizations, Dr. Hammett leads the critical mission of delivering groundbreaking operational space capabilities that protect assets on orbit, while also defending joint and all...

Join us as we rollout our newest research study, authored by the Mitchell Institute’s Col. Mark A. Gunzinger, USAF (Ret.), Director of Future Concepts and Capability Assessments. The event will feature guest speaker Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Kunkel, Director of Force Design, Integration, and Wargaming, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air Force Futures.

The U.S. Air Force is fielding a future counterair force that is sized and shaped to achieve...

United States Space Command stands on the front line of operations in, from, and to space. By providing joint and combined effects to deter, and if necessary, defeat aggression around the world and in space, USSPACECOM has rapidly grown to be one of the most critical organizations in our nation’s defense. The Mitchell Institute is pleased to welcome to the Schriever Spacepower Series LTG Tom James, Deputy Commander for United State...

Launch and the assured access to space are foundational to space superiority and leveraging the unique benefits of the space domain. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen leads the Space Force team that is charged with providing assured access to space. This is an incredibly dynamic mission area—with new entrants, evolving requirements, and threat realities changing the scale and scope of space launch and range operations. Join us to hear...

Central to the fight for space superiority is the need to preserve access to critical space services such as communications and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). These foundational capabilities enable all military operations and are essential to our nation’s nuclear deterrence.

The Mitchell Institute is thrilled to welcome to the Schriever Spacepower Series Mr. Cordell DeLaPena, the Program Executive Officer responsible fo...

Former U.S. Strategic Command commanders, Gen Kevin P. Chilton, USAF (Ret.), Gen. Robert Kehler USAF (Ret.) and Adm. Charles A. Richard USN (Ret.) set the record straight on nuclear deterrence. Given Russia’s nuclear saber rattling, China’s nuclear break-out, and America’s nuclear triad reset, this conversation is more important than ever.

Today, a plethora of misinformation, falsehoods, and deliberate distortions concerning nuclea...