News

VA leadership nominee grilled over recent department layoffs
Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary nominee Paul Lawrence faced harsh questioning from Democrats during his confirmation hearing Wednesday not for his plans for future reforms within the department but instead for changes being put in place before he gets there.

Tricare snafus cause medical shortfalls for military families
An Army wife was notified last week that her son wouldn’t be able to go to his appointment with the pediatric pulmonologist he’d been seeing for the last two years. The medical practice could no longer accept his Tricare insurance under the Defense Department’s new Tricare contract with TriWest Healthcare Alliance.

This is what a peacekeeping air policing mission over Ukraine could look like
The United Kingdom is reportedly prepared to send Typhoon fighters to support a future air policing mission over Ukraine. The apparent proposal comes only a day after the leaders of several European nations met to discuss whether to send troops to help bolster any deal to end the Ukraine war, something you can read more about here.

‘There is growth, even in death’: Fort Belvoir holds candle vigil for soldiers killed in Army helicopter crash over DC
Soldiers, family members and friends gathered at the base chapel on Wednesday night for a candle vigil to honor three Army crew members who were killed when their helicopter collided in midair with a commercial jet over the Potomac River in Washington.

Air Force

Air Force tests unarmed nuclear missile in pre-dawn video
The Air Force conducted a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile early Wednesday to help ensure its land-based nuclear force still operates safely and effectively.

F-16s with larger laser-guided rocket loads, drone kill marking emerge over Middle East
New pictures show U.S. Air Force F-16C Viper fighters on patrol in and around the Middle East with loadouts that include two seven-shot 70mm rocket pods, and both on the same pylon, rather than just one as has been seen previously.

Space Force

Space Force lacks ‘warfighting ethos,’ experts say
U.S. policies around weapons in space, its over-classification of space capabilities and a lacking “warfighting ethos” are undermining public perception of the Space Force and “subverting” its legitimacy as a separate military service, according to a new study from the Mitchell Institute.

Report: Space Force strategy, resources insufficient to counter China
The U.S. Space Force lacks the resources and warrior mentality needed to compete with China in an increasingly militarized space domain, according to a new report that challenges the service’s fundamental strategy.

Defense

Army Stinger missile replacement competition heads into flight tests
RTX and Lockheed Martin are heading into flight tests this year in a head-to-head competition to develop a replacement for the U.S. Army’s Stinger missile.

General Atomics eyes ‘huge’ MQ-9 sale to Saudi Arabia
General Atomics is preparing to offer a package deal to Saudi Arabia to acquire a number of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, company executives said in an interview at the IDEX arms fair in Abu Dhabi.

Veterans

‘On the backs of veterans’: Senators rail against federal workforce purge as vets hit hard by cuts
Marine Corps veteran Andrew Lennox was wrapping up his last day of online orientation as a newly hired administrative officer at Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System in Michigan, when his cell phone pinged alerting him to incoming email.