News
Obama backtracks on Afghanistan withdrawal, cites ‘precarious’ security situation –
President Barack Obama called the security environment in Afghanistan “precarious” and July 6 he will keep more troops on the ground in Afghanistan than previously planned. Obama repeatedly promised to end the U.S. mission in Afghanistan before the end of his administration in 2017, but a worsening security situation stemming from previous ill-timed reductions in force and a resilient Taliban proved that to be impossible.
UK inquiry blames equipment shortcomings for Iraq War failures –
Shortfalls in protected vehicles, support helicopters, ISTAR and other equipment were a feature of the failed British military effort in Iraq, an official inquiry into the conflict has ruled.
Key findings of UK’s inquiry into Iraq war –
The long awaited British inquiry into the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been published. Led by former senior civil servant John Chilcot, the report took over seven years to prepare and runs over two million words. The report did not analyze the legality of the invasion and instead focused on the British decision-making process in the run up to the war in 2003.
Chilcot report: Blair made early Iraq invasion commitment to Bush, letters show –
Letters published by the U.K.’s Iraq War Inquiry show that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair assured U.S. President George W. Bush of his support for regime change in Iraq eight months before the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003.
The UK’s Iraq War inquiry vindicates a whistleblower who took his own life –
In July of 2003, four months after the fall of Baghdad, David Kelly walked a mile from his Oxfordshire home to a wooded area called Harrowdown Hill, and stabbed a pruning knife into his left wrist, severing a major artery. He was found dead the next morning.
Business
France imposes new conditions on Rafale deal with India –
France has quietly insisted that an $8.9 billion government-to-government deal with India be signed before a 50 percent offset deal for Rafale fighters is finalized, according to a French Embassy source in India.
Delhi, Hanoi get serious about supersonic BrahMos missile –
Amid a great competition between Asia’s two large powers, does India see Vietnam as China sees Pakistan?
Taiwan secures Sidewinder air-to-air missile release from U.S. –
Taiwan has secured the new AIM-9X Blk-2 Sidewinder air-to-air missile from the United States.
Unmanned Fire Scout helicopter displays maritime radar –
The MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter has begun flight operations using its new maritime surveillance radar.
Images show possible FC-31 fifth-generation fighter prototype –
A series of images have emerged on Chinese online forums that show a possible Shenyang Aircraft Corporation airframe that may be the prototype of the FC-31, a more refined version of the company’s J-31 fifth-generation multirole fighter.
Engility to support Army intel –
Engility has been awarded a $24 million Army intelligence contract.
FARNBOROUGH: Airbus battles to get A400M back on track –
Airbus’s military transport aircraft unit will arrive at the Farnborough air show amid an unwelcome gearbox crisis linked to its poster-child A400M — a model for which adding promised tactical capabilities was already proving harder than expected.
BAE Systems looks beyond home markets for new opportunities –
Not long after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, BAE Systems CEO Ian King sat down with Aviation Week London Bureau Chief Tony Osborne. King, who has led the British aerospace and defense company since 2008, foresees little impact from Brexit on U.K. defense budgets.
Saab seeks inroads in Indian fighter deals –
The debris of India’s much-vaunted fighter contest, the now dead multibillion dollar Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, has cleaned the slate for an intriguing contracting battlefield.
Defense
Clash brewing over Congressional proposal to create nimbler military commands –
As the House and Senate begin the process to reconcile vastly different defense policy bills, House Armed Services Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., hinted that he is weighing support for Senate language that would downsize the military command structure and require the secretary of defense to create nimbler organizations.
8,400 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan, Obama says –
President Obama July 6 announced a drawdown of about 1,400 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, leaving more than 8,000 service members deployed to the war-torn country through the end of his presidency.
Deploying incomplete units to Afghanistan hurts readiness –
Members of Congress expressed concern July 8 that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan can only be maintained by deploying incomplete units — a practice that is eroding readiness, according to an Army general.
Leaving more troops in Afghanistan will cost extra $3.5 billion in 2017 –
Indeed, it’s estimated to cost an additional $3.5 billion in 2017 alone, according to Todd Harrison, a senior fellow and director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
A timeline of U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan since 2001 –
During the nearly 15 years since the United States went to war in Afghanistan, the number of American troops there spiraled to 100,000, then dropped slightly below 10,000. President Barack Obama had planned to drop the number to 5,500 by the end of this year. Now he has decided to leave about 8,400 through the end of his presidency.
Pentagon seeks nearly $2.6 billion in reprogramming request –
The Pentagon has submitted its reprogramming request to Congress, with roughly $2.6 billion in funding shifts targeted.
Military aviation readiness is in ‘a deep hole,’ top brass says –
A high operational tempo and uncertain budgets have damaged aviation readiness across all four services and have leaders concerned about pilot safety, top brass told Congress July 8.
Construction projects could hamper first overseas F-35 beddown –
The first overseas U.S. Air Force base to get the F-35 joint strike fighter is already making preparations for the jet’s arrival in the early 2020s, but its commander is worried that the service will not be able to build the new facilities needed to beddown the plane as quickly as anticipated.
Army paying additional $100 million to keep troop levels within limits –
The Obama administration’s Afghanistan troop limit is costing the Army an additional $100 million per year, according to a top U.S. Army general, because the services are hiring contractors so they can rely less on troops.
U.S. to spend $240 million on upgrades to Navy base at Guantanamo –
The U.S. Navy will spend $240 million to construct new buildings and repair existing ones at its base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a contracting announcement published July 8.
Veterans
New VA study finds 20 veterans commit suicide each day –
Roughly 20 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide, according to new data from the Department of Veterans Affairs — a figure that dispels the often quoted, but problematic, “22 a day” estimate yet solidifies the disturbing mental health crisis the number implied.
New effort at VA to halt doctor shopping for pain meds –
The Veterans Affairs Department figures prominently in a new push by the Obama administration to curtail the nationwide opioid and heroin epidemic.
Panel: VA should sharply expand private health care for vets –
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs “fundamental, dramatic change” to improve the health care it provides to more than 9 million veterans a year, a congressional commission says in a report.
Group criticizes VA commission for failing to vote on recommendations –
A veterans group is criticizing as inadequate the work of a congressional commission that concluded the Veterans Affairs Department still has “profound deficiencies” in delivering health care.
Extensive public-private VA health care system proposed in final report –
A detailed proposal on the future of Veterans Affairs health care calls for creating a nationwide system of public and private health networks to care for veterans and closing poor or underutilized VA facilities.
VA report calls for more private options, but not privatization –
A new report from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Commission on Care has called for a massive overhaul of the Veterans Health Administration, to include the expansion of private care options, but stopped short of recommending the complete privatization of the entire health network.
Space & Technology
The glove that gives you super-human strength –
Using sensors, actuators and tendons that are comparable to human nerves, muscles and tendons, the glove has the same dexterity as our hands – but with mammoth strength.