News
VA secretary nominee promises more medical choices for vets, but not privatization –
The VA secretary nominees’ top priorities would emphasize improving veterans’ access to health care.
Business
Australia commits to Triton in $5 billion deal –
The total cost of the deal, including whole of life sustainment costs, is estimated to be AU$6.9 billion Australian dollars (U.S. $5.1 billion).
Trump’s letters to allies mean the NATO Summit could be in trouble before it begins –
Those hoping the July NATO summit might be a time of family healing between the 29 allies appear to have gotten a rude awakening, following a series of letters from U.S. President Donald Trump to his NATO allies with a clear message: The summit will be all about who does and doesn’t spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
Hellfire missile replacement cleared for production –
The Army’s Hellfire replacement — the Joint Air to Ground Missile — has been cleared for low-rate initial production, Lockheed Martin announced June 27.
Tank makers steel themselves for Europe’s next big land-weapon contest –
European manufacturers of armored vehicles are jockeying for position in what looks to be the most expensive land program for the continent in decades.
Australia cleared to buy $185 million in Aegis equipment –
The U.S. State Department has cleared Australia to purchase long-lead equipment for integrating its CEAFAR 2 phased array radar system with the Aegis combat system, with a potential price-tag of $185 million.
Navy office awards $30 million contract for drone swarms –
How expensive is it to recreate a biblical plague with robots? For the Office of Naval Research, it comes to $29,688,168, or roughly one quarter the purchase price of an F-35B.
Spain cleared to buy five Aegis systems –
The U.S. State Department has cleared Spain to purchase five Aegis weapon systems, potentially worth $860.4 million.
Defense
Army: Individual soldiers will one day control swarms of robots –
Army robotics officials at Fort Benning, Georgia are trying to give individual soldiers the capability to control swarms of air and ground robotic systems for missions that often require large numbers of troops to accomplish.
Virginia-class attack sub delivers late as U.S. Navy aims to get program back on course –
The U.S. Navy’s latest Block III Virginia-class attack submarine has been delivered to the service nearly four months late, but the Navy thinks the program is getting back on a steady course with future boats.
Here’s how this USAF pilot landed his badly damaged F-16 — and lived to talk about it –
Lt. Col. Daniel Finnegan was in the middle of a training exercise when the F-16 Fighting Falcon he was piloting caught on fire, causing severe damage to the controls and connections to the power generators.
Veterans
Here’s why some disabled vets could pay VA loan fees for the first time –
Some disabled veterans no longer would be exempt from VA loan funding fees as part of proposed changes mandated by a House bill that expands health care benefits for “blue water” Vietnam veterans and others.
House adds $10 million to KIA recovery effort in North Korea –
Plans to repatriate the remains of hundreds of U.S. service members killed in the Korean War decades ago are still on hold, but House lawmakers moved June 26 to make sure military officials have money to pay for that work once it begins.
Can Congress finish its VA budget plan before October deadline? –
Senate lawmakers approved a “minibus” of appropriations bills June 25 that could result in next year’s Veterans Affairs and military construction funding being finished before the start of the new fiscal year.