News
Former Navy SEAL, listed as a deserter, dies fighting in Ukraine
Daniel W. Swift is a former member of the Navy SEALs who has been listed in official records as having deserted since March 2019.
US strike kills approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia
The United States carried out a strike in Somalia on Jan. 20 that killed approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters, US Africa Command said.
Ukraine’s allies fail to reach breakthrough on sending new tanks
Defense leaders gathered at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Jan. 20 to rally fresh support for Ukraine could not resolve an impasse over providing new Western tanks for Ukraine in its war to repel Russia, but Germany’s new defense minister said he is approaching a decision.
Business
Turkish company Baykar wins $370 million drone contract from Kuwait
Turkish drone maker Baykar has announced another deal with a foreign government, increasing its number of export markets to more than two dozen.
Jordan inks deal for 12 Block 70 F-16s from Lockheed Martin
The U.S. State Department approved the deal in February, saying the planes and associated equipment would cost some $4.21 billion.
Aussie company NIOA Group buys US sniper rifle maker Barrett
Barrett designed and builds versions of the MRAD sniper rifle, used by both the Army and U.S. special operations.
Defense
Amazon, other Pentagon cloud service providers face zero-trust test
Hackers backed by the U.S. Department of Defense will attack networks run by Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to better understand zero-trust cybersecurity in commercial cloud environments.
Pentagon’s annual weapon test report reverses classification, details major program challenges
The report, without “controlled unclassified information” redactions, discusses concerns with major weapons programs from ships to planes to hypersonic missiles.
Navy won’t publicly release results of amphibious ship study
The study, which had been delayed for months, has been sent to lawmakers.
Veterans
Fixing disability and retirement pay is Congress’ next big vets issue
Last year, Congress passed a massive benefits expansion for veterans who suffered toxic exposure injuries while in the service. This year, the biggest legislative push on veterans issues could be making sure those veterans and others hurt on duty get all the money they’re owed.
Veteran still evacuating Afghan refugees more than year after headlines faded away
Alex Plitsas never gives up.