News
Battling Russia, Ukrainian leaders also fight high expectations
Seeking to bolster morale and Western support, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the slow progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive was to be expected.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/world/europe/ukraine-russia-messaging-expectations.html?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru
U.S., West pledge billions for Ukraine reconstruction
Europe and the United States pledged nearly $60 billion for the next few years, but the World Bank estimates that Ukraine needs many times that amount.
Business
Ukraine to get AMRAAM weapons under $1 billion deal with RTX
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a nearly $1.2 billion contract to the missiles and defense sector of RTX, until recently known as Raytheon Technologies, to produce the next lot of AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
Leonardo displays Falco Xplorer drone armed with MBDA missile
In what many are calling an important shift in Italy’s mentality on arming unmanned aircraft systems, Leonardo showcased for the first time its Falco Xplorer drone fitted with an MBDA Brimstone missile at the Paris Air Show.
RTX wins $118 million Army order for drone target sensors
The U.S. Army tapped RTX, until recently known as Raytheon Technologies, for a batch of advanced targeting sensors destined for installation aboard drones.
Lockheed backs next-gen engine for F-35, drawing rebuke from Pratt
Lockheed Martin’s decision to publicly back a new next-generation engine for the F-35 — breaking with the Pentagon’s move to upgrade the fighter’s current Pratt & Whitney-made engines — drew a forceful rebuke from Pratt.
Sikorsky weighs scope of local assembly under UK medium-lift helo bid
Helicopter maker Sikorsky is considering setting up a final assembly line for Black Hawks in the United Kingdom to support a bid for the nation’s New Medium Helicopter program.
SAIC to build software app factory for Space Development Agency
The development and testing processes enabled by the new software environment will be game-changing, because in the end it will allow “satellites to be upgraded in space,” SAIC’s vice president for space, David Ray, told Breaking Defense.
On the Paris tarmac, execs vie for the next US tanker order
Boeing is trying to keep its monopoly, while Lockheed and Airbus seek a bigger pie.
Israel’s Elbit highlights military-civilian Hermes 900 Starliner at Paris Air Show
Israeli defense giant also announced a new deal on June 21 for $180 million Watchkeeper X tactical drones to Romanian military.
Defense
GOP moves to instate sea-launched cruise missile nuclear program
Republicans added language to the fiscal year 2024 NDAA that would make the sea-launched cruise missile a nuclear program of record.
Army’s first combat vehicle in 40 years gets a new name
The Army named the M10 Booker after soldiers who died in Iraq in 2003 and Tunisia in 1943.
How is the Space Force planning to get around all the debris in orbit?
Lt. Col. Dan Kimmich, of Space Systems Command, speaks to Defense News about how the Space Force is using technology to abate the space junk problem.
Veterans
Lawmakers float grant program to get service dogs to struggling vets
Lawmakers on June 21 unveiled a new proposal to use community grants to pair service dogs with struggling veterans, in the hopes the companionship will help solve a host of transition difficulties.
83 years after exposing Navy racism, 15 Black sailors exonerated
In 1940, Larry Ponder’s father and uncle were kicked out of the Navy after signing onto a letter to a Black newspaper detailing racist treatment they’d received while serving on a warship.
Measure to boost pay for some injured vets moves ahead
Tens of thousands of wounded service members could see their disability payouts significantly boosted under a measure advanced by a key congressional committee on June 21.
Veterans can now use VA info line to report sexual assault, harassment
Veterans and visitors to VA facilities can now report incidents of sexual harassment or assault that occur on campus by calling the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 1-800-MyVA411 information line.
