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Air Force Vanguards
The Department of the Air Force has announced four Vanguard programs: Golden Horde, Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3), Skyborg and Rocket Cargo. Vanguards, as outlined in the Department of the Air Force 2030 Science and Technology Strategy, will advance emerging weapon systems and warfighting concepts through prototyping and experimentation. With these programs, the United States Air Force and Space Force aim to deliver remarkable new capabilities that provide warfighters with superior advantages in the battlefield.
SUCCESS STORIES
ROCKET CARGO FOR AGILE GLOBAL LOGISTICS
The Department of the Air Force is exploring rocket cargo transportation capability for DOD logistics. Based on advertised commercial capability and business objectives, the Air Force Research Laboratory is currently assessing emerging rocket capability across the commercial vendor base, and its potential use for quickly transporting DOD materiel to ports across the globe.
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SKYBORG
Skyborg is an autonomous aircraft teaming architecture that will enable the Air Force to posture, produce and sustain mission sorties at sufficient tempo to produce and sustain combat mass in contested environments.
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GOLDEN HORDE COLOSSEUM
The Golden Horde initiative, chosen as an Air Force Vanguard program in 2019, will integrate datalink radios and collaborative behaviors on inventory weapon systems to demonstrate the mission effectiveness of networked collaborative weapon capabilities for our warfighters. This effort will validate an integrated system where different technologies work together to defeat targets.
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NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE – 3 (NTS-3)
The U.S. Space Force’s Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation provides unprecedented position and timing accuracy to the warfighter. Since the inception of GPS, it has become a global utility with commercial use far outweighing military use. Air traffic control, banking, farming, and cellular networks all depend on uninterrupted GPS coverage.
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