News
Navy black box detector joins in deep water hunt for missing Japanese F-35A –
The U.S. Navy is employing tools it used in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 to help find a Japanese F-35A that crashed earlier this month, U.S. 7th Fleet announced April 25.
U.S. rolls ‘100,000 tons of international diplomacy’ into the Med. Will Russia get the message? –
It’s unlikely Russian leadership would seriously argue the U.S. is not a formidable, much stronger naval power. But Russia’s entire defensive posture on the water is arrayed to keep U.S. carrier strike groups away.
Private contractors in Afghanistan grow –
The number of private contractors in America’s longest war jumped at an unprecedented rate in the last three months.
Business
Here’s how much global military spending rose in 2018 –
Overall military expenditures rose 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2018, to hit a total of $1.82 trillion dollars, according to new research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Italy to buy drones to keep company alive, but the Air Force doesn’t want them –
The Italian government said it will purchase the troubled P.1HH drone from Italy-based Piaggio Aerospace as it seeks to keep the firm afloat, despite an apparent lack of interest in the platform from the Italian Air Force.
Scrutiny over Pentagon official’s Boeing ties highlights defense industry consolidation –
As the industry gets more concentrated, it can lead to concern that “there’s only one or two potential contractors for a certain product, and then you may not get the kind of competitive outcome you want,” said Mark Duggan, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
China’s latest class of warship makes its public debut –
The first of a new class of guided missile destroyer from China made an appearance at a naval review to mark the 70th Anniversary of the country’s navy.
New technologies drive military spending: SIPRI –
Military spending has surged across the globe, according to a new report published by SIPRI. With new advances in defense technologies, countries are spending more to gain an edge.
U.S. Air Force develops ‘EAGLE’ ESPA satellite ring with propulsion capability –
The Air Force has developed an ‘ESPA’ ring that is traditionally used to attach secondary payloads to upper stages on space launches and turned it into a completely independent and functional satellite.
Defense
Rep. Adam Kinzinger says he’s open to Air Force secretary job –
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger all but threw his hat in the ring for Air Force secretary on Saturday, saying he would “strongly consider” it if President Donald Trump made the offer.
U.S., NATO radios can’t talk to each other. The Air Force wants to change that –
Air Force Research Labs is working on a problem that used to drive former Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges up a wall when he was commander of U.S. Army Europe: the radios.
After Pentagon ends contract, top-secret scientists group vows to carry on –
A secretive group of scientists who advise the U.S. government on everything from spy satellites to nuclear weapons is scrambling to find a sponsor after the Defense Department abruptly ended its contract late last month.
Musk to Pentagon: SpaceX ‘missed the mark’ on a launch bid –
Billionaire Elon Musk confided to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan late last year that his SpaceX lost the competition for a military satellite launch because it “had written a poor proposal that ‘missed the mark,”’ according to the Pentagon’s inspector general.
Pentagon expected to send about 300 more troops to border –
The Pentagon may send about 300 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in roles that could put them in contact with migrants and thus mark a break from current practice, officials said.
Newest night-vision goggle finishes testing. Here’s when Army units will get it –
The Army’s latest iteration of night vision, which adds binocular vision, shifts green glow to white and lets soldiers see their weapon sight in their device, will go to a unit this fall.
Army testing compact, disposable blowtorch for soldier breaching ops –
Army explosive experts have ginned up a smaller version of the thermite grenade that works like a tiny blowtorch, capable of cutting through steel obstacles.
Homeport shifts for four warships –
Two Navy warships currently stationed in Japan with the U.S. 7th Fleet will be heading back to the states, the service announced April 26.
‘Crippling’ manning crisis for enlisted aviators prompts Air Force to expand retraining –
The Air Force is expanding the ranks of airmen who can retrain into career enlisted aviator jobs in an effort to close severe manning shortfalls in some of those career fields.
Veterans
WW II airman, war hero from Rhode Island returning home for burial –
An airman from Rhode Island killed in World War II is returning home for burial.