News:

Houston, you may have a problem –
In the battle to create a reusable rocket, Jeff Bezos has just dealt Elon Musk’s SpaceX a magnificent and unexpected blow.
 
 

Business:

U.S. approves $1.2 billion Global Hawk Sale to Japan –
The U.S. Department of State has approved a potential sale of three Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance systems to Japan.
 
Lockheed Martin receives FAA approval for hybrid airship plan –
The hybrid airship will deliver heavy cargo and personnel to almost any location, particularly hard-to-reach land areas that lack paved roads and runways; deliveries will start as early as 2018.
 
U.K. to buy nine Boeing patrol planes in $18 billion defense budget boost –
As part of a set of defense decisions that British Prime Minister David Cameron described as delighting President Barack Obama, the British government announced plans to purchase nine P-8 Poseidon long-range patrol planes from Boeing through a foreign military sale approved by the U.S. government.
 
Northrop Grumman delivers center fuselage for Israeli F-35 –
To date, Northrop Grumman has completed center fuselages for F-35 customers in eight countries including the U.S.
 
 

Defense:

Retirement changes mean tough choices for troops … eventually –
In the coming days, President Obama will sign legislation putting in motion a massive military retirement overhaul that will affect the personal finances of hundreds of thousands of service members for decades to come.
 
Grueling pace for old planes: Tankers and their maintainers can’t afford to slow down –
“Thirty feet, nice and slow. … Twenty feet. … Fifteen, nice and slow. Ten feet. Five feet. And contact, boom interphone.”
 
Pilot missteps, brownout led to Hawaii Osprey crash –
Marine Corps officials have determined that decisions made by pilots in low-visibility conditions contributed to a May MV-22B Osprey crash in Hawaii that left two dead and 20 more injured.
 
 

Veterans:

Advocates look to put more vets to work on Capitol Hill –
After years of concerns about the shrinking number of veterans on Capitol Hill, advocacy groups are redoubling their efforts to bring more to the nation’s capital next year.
 
VA is buried in a backlog of never-ending veterans’ disability appeals –
In 1985, Ivan Figueroa Clausell filed a claim for a variety of conditions he said stemmed from a car accident while training with the Puerto Rico Army National Guard. The Department of Veterans Affairs ruled that he wasn’t disabled.
 
Today’s U.S. veterans are less educated, less healthy, less wealthy, and less employed than veterans 20 years ago –
According to researchers, however, reforms should consider the economic and health realities of veterans approaching retirement now.