News
US pledges to help Australia manufacture guided missiles by 2025
The United States will expand its military industrial base by helping Australia manufacture guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years, the allies announced on July 29 as they ramped up defense cooperation to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.
4 crew members on Australian army helicopter that crashed off coast didn’t survive, officials say
The Australian army helicopter that crashed July 28 during a multinational exercise hit the water with a “catastrophic impact” and there is no chance its four crew members survived, officials said July 31.
Officials say Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit over Russia’s war in August
Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia’s war on the country, officials said July 30.
US to announce $345 million military aid package for Taiwan
The U.S. is set to announce $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, two U.S. officials said Friday. It would be the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles under a new policy intended to speed up military aid to help Taiwan counter China.
Business
L3Harris closes purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne
L3Harris on July 28 announced it had completed its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne, adding a company with broad expertise in building rocket engines and propulsion systems to its portfolio.
Sierra Space wins Air Force contract for upper-stage engine development
Sierra Space won an Air Force contract to continue development of an engine that could be used in the upper stage of future launch vehicles.
Sierra Space wins Air Force contract for upper-stage engine development
Aerojet eyes resource sharing, renewed stability after L3Harris buy
Sharing of manufacturing facilities and other resources, pooling supply chains, new opportunities for employees’ career advancement and renewed stability after three tumultuous years are among the benefits Aerojet Rocketdyne’s division president expects from the company’s acquisition by L3Harris.
US clears new arms sales to Australia and Germany
The U.S. is set to sell C-130s to Australia and missiles to Germany. Those and other defense contracting headlines in this edition of Defense Dollars.
Defense
Army, Navy will be latest services without chiefs as senator maintains block on confirmations
The Army and Navy are set to join the Marine Corps in being without a full-time top officer as the Senate leaves for a five-week break without finding a way to end Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade on general and admiral promotions.
Navy shifts to time-in-service advancement for E-1 to E-4 sailors
The Navy is introducing a time-in-service advancement model for junior enlisted sailors that will promote sailors to E-4 after 30 months in the Navy.
The next frontier for warfighters might be implants in their brains. Is the Pentagon ready for the consequences?
The boy couldn’t have been older than six or seven. Brown hair with a streak of bright orange. It was 2003, and Geoffrey Ling, a young Army doctor, was looking down at a new patient who’d arrived at his medical unit in Afghanistan missing a hand.
US Marines practice their air-assault and extraction skills at Australian airfield
Dozens of U.S. Marines piled in and out of aircraft on this remote, privately owned airfield July 28 as part of ongoing training to hone their ability to fight in the Indo-Pacific.
Microscopic contaminants pose ‘low risk’ to F-35 engines, JPO says
Contaminated powdered nickel used to manufacture some Pratt & Whitney commercial engines — and prompting an accelerated pace of inspections — may also have made its way into F135 fighter engines, but the risk is considered low and the F-35 enterprise has “already taken significant steps to mitigate the risk,” the Joint Program Office told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Microscopic Contaminants Pose ‘Low Risk’ to F-35 Engines, JPO Says
Veterans
State attorneys general urge Congress to restore Black veterans’ benefits
The U.S. Armed forces were desegregated 75 years ago this week. Decades later, many Black veterans, including World War II and Vietnam veterans, still struggle with lower rates of GI Bill benefit approvals like disability pay and homeownership.
SpouseLink helps veterans, spouses through difficult transition phase
Whenever Anna Larson’s husband John returned home during leave from the military, she saw changes in his behavior that were typically swept under the rug, as their time together was limited and he was returning to active service.
