Musk's Alleged Russia Contacts Worry Air Force's Kendall
www.bnnbloomberg.ca

... Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has told Democratic senators that he shares their security concerns over Elon Musk's reported contacts with Russian leaders but added that the Pentagon has adequate competition in its space programs to prevent over-reliance on the billionaire's SpaceX.

"The Air Force takes security matters very seriously, and I share your concerns," Kendall wrote Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed in a Dec. 13 letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

Kendall didn't elaborate on his worries, and the bulk of his letter emphasized the competition for satellite launch contracts awarded by the Space Force and the Space Development Agency, which is managing the accelerated launch of hundreds of surveillance and communications satellites into low-earth orbit.

The senators wrote Kendall last month expressing alarm over an October Wall Street Journal report that Musk "had multiple, high level conversations with Russian President Vladmir Putin as early as 2022 and sustained contact with high-level Russian officials, including Putin's deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko."

Russia has denied the conversations took place. Musk ridiculed the Journal story without denying it. ...