News
Taliban say U.S. bombing insurgents at home contrary to deal-
Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Pakistan’s military chief April 14, a day after discussing the lagging U.S.-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan with the chief negotiator for the insurgent movement.
Business
Philadelphia shipyard to build new dual-use merchant mariner training ships-
A struggling Philadelphia shipyard got a new lease on life April 8 with the announcement that it had been selected to build up to five training ships for the Maritime Administration destined for use by civilian mariners attending state maritime academies.
Pentagon awards $415M contract for machines to disinfect N95 masks-
The Pentagon on April 13 announced a $415 million contract for 60 machines that will stretch the use of dwindling N95 masks, allowing the scarce personal protective equipment to be disinfected and reused up to 20 times.
Boeing to reopen the KC-46, P-8 production lines-
Boeing will restart production of the P-8 and KC-46 April 20 after a three-week pause in operations spurred by the spread of the novel coronavirus in Washington State.
Space Command sticks with LinQuest for support-
On April 8, the U.S. Space Force awarded LinQuest Corp. a $14 million contract to ensure the company continues to provide support for U.S. Space Command—support it’s provided since before the command was even reestablished.
Defense
Military’s travel ban is getting an extension, SECDEF confirms-
A 60-day ban on all non-essential domestic and international Defense Department travel is going to be extended, Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed to reporters April 14.
U.S. military has been averaging more than 100 new troops a day with COVID-19-
For the past week, between 100 and 200 troops have come up positive for coronavirus, according to the latest Defense Department numbers.
U.S. Air Force to launch search for flying cars this month-
The Air Force will kick off its effort to encourage the development of flying cars with a virtual launch event featuring product presentations and government briefings from April 27 to May 1.
Veterans
Veterans groups step up efforts to help with coronavirus financial challenges, isolation-
As veterans across the country cope with the ongoing effects of the coronavirus outbreak, veterans organizations are scrambling to find ways to help.
Internal memos call into question VA’s still-rising coronavirus count-
The official tally of coronavirus cases in the Veterans Affairs’ health system topped 4,200 on April 14, but internal VA documents obtained by Military Times call into question how reliable that figure is.