News
U.S. soldier ambushed in Niger wasn’t captured –
An American soldier killed in an ambush in Niger with three comrades but recovered days later wasn’t captured alive by the enemy or executed at close range, The Associated Press has learned, based on the conclusion of a military investigation. It found evidence he apparently fought to the end.
Business
Italian pilot school achievements may benefit American T-X trainer program –
A pilot school in Italy built around the M-346 jet trainer and advanced simulators — both on the ground and in the aircraft — will reach its full potential early next year, according to officials, who hope the achievement will boost the M-346’s chances in the U.S. T-X trainer contest.
Airbus CEO to step down after contract ends; COO on the way out –
The head of Airbus will leave the European aircraft manufacturer in February, while the chief executive of the parent company will not seek a renewal when his contract ends in 2019, Airbus said Dec. 15.
Loser-pays rule raises ire of defense contract advocates –
U.S. defense contractors are protesting a pilot program that would require losers in Pentagon competitions to pay the Defense Department’s costs if they challenge a decision and fail to overturn it.
Lockheed’s Littoral ships running 11 months late, U.S. Navy says –
Lockheed Martin will deliver its eight remaining Littoral Combat Ships an average of 11 months late, more than twice the five-month delay for rival shipbuilder Austal Ltd., the U.S. Navy estimates.
Defense
Glowing auras and ‘black money’: The Pentagon’s mysterious U.F.O. program –
In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find.
Are UFOs real? A secret Pentagon program sought to find out –
Have you seen unexplained lights in the sky? Weird aircraft flying in inexplicable ways? You might not be the only one.
U.S. commandos carry out thousands of operations in Afghanistan –
American special operations forces have been busy over the last six months in Afghanistan, enabling or advising more than 2,000 ground operations in support of Afghan partner forces.
Can integration give the Army the tactical edge? –
The Army — bogged down by a long, bureaucratic acquisition system from which leaders are trying to extricate program offices — could undergo systemic changes by integrating processes and functions, according to some.
U.S. Army’s new handgun will soon be for sale to the public –
Sig Sauer, manufacturer of the Army’s new M17 handgun, will sell a limited number of the gun to the public next year.
U.S. plans $200 million buildup of European air bases flanking Russia –
The U.S. is planning to spend more than $200 million to repair and build U.S. military structures and installations on air bases that dot much of Eastern Europe, part of an ongoing initiative to deter Russian aggression.
For pilots losing oxygen, ‘human system’ may be weakest link –
When U.S. Air Force Col. Jay Flottmann climbed into the back of a U.S. Navy F/A-18, he was hoping to use his unique expertise as both a fighter pilot and qualified physician to help the Navy get to the bottom of the troubling surge in hypoxia-like cockpit episodes that leave aircrew short of breath, disoriented and unnerved. Flottmann’s findings, part of a new NASA study on physiological episodes (PE) in Navy F/A-18s and EA-18Gs, shed new light on a deadly problem.
Veterans
Navajo Code Talker Teddy Draper Sr. dies in Arizona at age 96 –
A Navajo Code Talker who used his native language to outsmart the Japanese in World War II has died in Arizona.
How the low, slow A-1 Skyraider earned its place in the hearts of U.S. troops in Vietnam –
Three and a half months after the first American combat troops, two battalions of Marines, waded ashore without resistance at Da Nang, U.S. Air Force jet pilots learned they wouldn’t have it so easy.
Search continues for soldier who went missing in Korean War –
The Saturday before Veterans Day, on a glorious autumn day when Boiseans were honoring veterans with a festive parade, Jorja Reyburn wasn’t there. Instead, she was in a quiet meeting room with officials from the Department of Defense who were reporting their painfully slow progress to families of service members who have never returned from war.
Veterans groups sue the military for sexual assault records –
Two veterans groups have filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the government is illegally denying records requests involving sexual assault and harassment cases.