The last and final day of the Special Air Warfare Symposium presented by the Global SOF Foundation and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) held at Fort Walton Beach, Florida took place. As with the previous days, it was a day of informative and interesting briefings, presentations, and panel discussions. The exhibition hall was open as well, showcasing products and services that industry is providing to the special operations community. Some of the presentations were provided by senior leaders of the special operations community – many of them general officers. There were also briefings by subject matter experts, academics, and industry leaders.
The Opening Keynote Address was provided by Lieutenant General David Harris, Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Futures, U.S. Air Force. Harris provided one of the best and informative briefings of the entire event. He led off by stating that the Air Force was going through a lot of changes – especially in the areas of acquisition and requirements reform. One example he provided was the development of the F-47 and how the program has to balance the range of the aircraft, the survivability of the aircraft, and the payload that it carries. He pointed to the use of collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) as a fix for balancing the three requirements. He went to discuss Force Design and gave an interesting account of how artificial intelligence is transforming how ‘war games’ are developed and utilized.
A Ukrainian officer provided a briefing on how ‘autonomy’ is changing up air warfare – providing lessons from the Ukrainian from the battlefield. Commander Robert Brovdi (cepa.org), Commander of Unmanned Systems, Armed Forces of Ukraine addressed the audience in a ‘virtual’ briefing.
Spotlight: PEO Fixed Wing. Major General (Ret.) Mark Clark, a former commander of MARSOC, and Colonel Justin Bronder conducted a discussion on the activities of the PEO Fixed Wing of U.S. Special Operations Command. Bronder explained how SOF aviation has been optimized the past few decades for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. Now, the shift is for SOF aviation to be able to operate in high-threat environments. Two key factors for SOF aviation is survivability and connectivity. The fleet modernization effort will require close teaming with industry partners.
Drones and ‘Contested Logistics’. Several participants took part in a panel discussion on how drones can provide logistical support in a conflict. Also explored was how to sustain the drone effort over the long-term in a major conflict – using the Indo-Pacific as an example. Sustaining a war effort on the first island chain, as well as the second island chain, are going to be major logistical challenges; and drones will play a part in providing solutions. The panel presenters all agreed that pre-positioning logistic material in the pre-conflict period will be a major factor in large-scale combat operations – in the Indo-Pacific as well as in other areas of the world.
The last presentation of the day was focused on ISR. This panel discussion was entitled “ISR That Lasts: Meeting the Need for Persistent Eyes and Ears”. The discussion was led by Brigadier General William Freeman, the Director of Operations, AFSOC. The other members of the panel were Mr. Matthew Parsons, a senior business developer for Harmattan AI, Mr. Ed Calderon – a security consultant, and Col Erin Peterson, Director of Intelligence at AFSOC.
The day ended with a ‘networking session’ and reception. SOF News will continue to provide more articles about the happenings at the 2026 Special Air Warfare Symposium over the next few weeks with a focus on the industry partners that were present at the symposium.
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Image: CV-22s and HH-60s flying over southern England in August 2017. AFSOC photo.
