News
Air Force shoots down possibility of enlisted combat pilots –
Despite an email to airmen that discussed the potential for enlisted members to fly combat aircraft, the Air Force is now insisting that it is focused solely on studying how airmen learn.
An Afghan fight the U.S. is winning –
The Special Forces captain gestured to the Takhto Valley, a brown-hued no man’s land of fallow fields and abandoned mud-brick compounds within easy reach of Islamic State gunners.
Business
F-35: 1, Super Hornet: 0 In Boeing’s rift with Canada –
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 appears to have emerged the real winner from Boeing’s rift with Canada.
Japan’s Defense Ministry seeks extra ¥730 million to build land-based Aegis Ashore missile systems –
The Defense Ministry has requested an additional ¥730 million in the next fiscal year’s budget for a plan to build two land-based Aegis missile defense systems, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Dec. 10.
Qatar signs $8 billion deal to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from UK –
Qatar signed a multi-billion-dollar deal Dec. 10 to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from Britain, its second major defence agreement this week, which comes during the worst political crisis in the region for years.
Hungarian military to purchase transport aircraft, helos –
Lt. Gen. Tibor Benk, the chief of Hungary’s General Staff of the Armed Forces, has unveiled plans to acquire three transport aircraft for the country’s Air Force next spring, and a further three planes at a later date.
GAO denies Sierra Nevada protest over Army’s fixed-wing utility aircraft competition –
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a protest filed by Sierra Nevada over the Army’s decision not to choose any offering presented during its fixed-wing utility aircraft replacement competition.
$322 million NGA cyber contract trains war fighters, protects their eye in the sky –
Virginia-based information technology and cybersecurity company ManTech has its work cut out for it as it works to secure war fighters’ eyes in the sky.
How U.S. Army Cyber Command plans to increase employee morale –
Despite a rocky start in its inaugural year being assessed by the Partnership for Public Service for its annual Best Places to Work in Government, U.S. Army Cyber Command is taking steps to help create a healthier work-environment for the future.
Defense
Japan, U.S., South Korea to hold missile tracking drill amid North Korea crisis –
As tensions rise in the region over North Korea’s fast-developing weapons programs, the United States, Japan and South Korea will hold two days of missile tracking drills beginning Dec. 11, the Maritime Self-Defense Force said.
U.S. Navy secretary: The path to restoring naval readiness –
Years of operating under the 2011 Budget Control Act and over nine years of continuing resolutions have imposed high costs on the Department of the Navy.
Pentagon comptroller: Using the audit to drive change –
An underreported but long-awaited event begins at the Pentagon this month: Over 20 years after enactment of a law requiring the audit of federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Defense commenced its first full-scope financial statement audit.
Here’s how Ellen Lord will reduce acquisition time by 50 percent –
The Pentagon’s top acquisition official plans to cut the time for early lead procurement by 50 percent, with a future goal of compressing the timeline of request for proposals to contract on major defense acquisition programs from two and a half years down to about 12 months.
Soldiers to test new jungle boots, hot weather uniforms this spring –
The Army is sending new jungle boots and an improved hot weather uniform to soldiers in Hawaii in January.
Equipment failure cuts short stealthy destroyer sea trials –
The second stealthy destroyer being built for the U.S. Navy cut short its first sea trials because an equipment failure prevented testing of propulsion and electrical systems under full power, officials said Dec. 8.
Special dive team to search for sailors killed in November plane crash –
The Navy is sending a deep water salvage team to scour the depths of the Philippine Sea for the remains of three sailors who died in a Nov. 22 a C-2A Greyhound crash.
How JSM could help Japan’s F-35s strike North Korea –
Japan intends to arm its new F-35 stealth fighter with the medium-range Joint Strike Missile, the defense ministry announced.
Marine Corps investigation faults F-35 program after in-flight fire –
An in-flight fire that erupted on a Marine F-35B last year was caused by a flawed bracket that the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office should have known was a serious hazard, according to a Marine Corps investigation.
Veterans
Two birds, one stone: VA’s EHR to address interoperability and data centers –
With the Veteran’s Affairs initiative to transition their electronic health records system from the current VistA program to a new system implemented by health IT company Cerner, officials hope to both make the agency interoperable with the Department of Defense’s system and to kickstart their data center consolidation efforts.