News
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll tapped as acting head of ATF operations
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll will serve as the temporary head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives without giving up his military leadership role, a defense official confirmed Wednesday.
Air Force revokes four-day weekends for troops
The Air Force on Monday revoked a policy providing troops extra time off around holidays, saying the widespread leave known as “Family Days” hurt the department’s ability to carry out its missions.
Army to recode 20,000 parachutist jobs in major airborne restructuring
The Army will recode nearly 20,000 paid parachutist positions in a major restructuring of its airborne forces aimed at improving readiness, service officials said.
Air Force F-35A ‘Frankenjet’ returns to the skies
An F-35A Lightning II fighter jet comprised of parts from two separate F-35A jets is returning to full service after a years-long repair, according to the F-35 Joint Program Office.
What Marine Corps aviation has in store over the next five years
Over the next five years Marine aviators should see more F-35s, an upgraded MV-22 Osprey fleet, a larger fleet of cargo aircraft and data-enabled predictive aircraft maintenance.
Air Force
Air Force has flown more than 50 missions to gather intel at the southern border
The Air Force has conducted more than 50 surveillance missions around the U.S. southern border with crewed and uncrewed aircraft, as the Pentagon seeks to gather intelligence on foreign cartels, drug and human trafficking, and illegal migration.
Space Force
Space Force says its relationship with Europe is ‘business as usual’
The Space Force’s top officer on Wednesday said his service’s day-to-day interactions with European allies haven’t been impacted by growing uncertainty about the United States’ relationship with Europe and the Trump administration’s shifting posture toward Ukraine.
Space Force continues expansion of commercial surveillance, data analytics program
After completing a successful pilot period, the Space Force is scaling its Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) program to enable more combatant commands to leverage space-based commercial imagery and analytical products.
USSF brings acquisition reforms to new nuclear command and control programs
Some of the Space Force’s biggest acquisition reforms have made their way into the service’s new nuclear command, control, and communications satellite program, the officer in charge of the effort said April 8.
Defense
US – Israeli industry team pitches ‘Bullseye’ long-range missile
General Atomics and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are teaming up to produce a long-range precision-guided missile for the U.S. market, the companies announced this week.
Infrared seeker for APKWS guided 70mm rocets unveiled
We now have our first look at a new version of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) 70mm guided rocket with an infrared seeker on top of the existing laser guidance capability.
Czech Republic assesses new Swedish Gripen fighter lease extension offer
The Czech Republic has started to evaluate a newly delivered Gripen C/D fighter jet lease extension offer from Sweden that includes aircraft maintenance and pilot training from 2027 to 2035.
Leonardo refutes Russian bones in M-346 trainer aircraft design
Italy’s Leonardo is talking up the European pedigree of its M-346 jet trainer after British newspapers claimed it was based on a Russian design.
Patriot PAC-3 missile puts crosshairs on replacing Navy’s long-serving SM-2
Lockheed Martin is boosting production of its Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor as it awaits a U.S. Navy decision on whether it will buy the missile to arm the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System aboard its warships.
Defense experts warn procurement bottlenecks risk US space edge
Defense leaders at this week’s Space Symposium are warning that bureaucratic obstacles and sluggish procurement processes are preventing the Pentagon from keeping pace with China’s rapidly expanding space capabilities.
France plans to test homemade HIMARS alternative by mid-2026
France plans to test a domestically-developed rocket artillery system by mid-2026 as an alternative to the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a move that could open up options for allies seeking a European capability.
Veterans
These vets say the PACT Act left them behind
When Dave Crete was stationed at the Nevada Test and Training Range as an Air Force security troop in the late 1980s, his dorm room was just over two miles from a nuclear test site. Just getting onto the range, known as the NTTR, through its main gate puts you within miles of one of the base’s five sites.
VA chipping away at claims backlog, hopes to process 2.5 million filings this year
The Veterans Benefits Administration — the arm of the Department of Veterans Affairs that adjudicates disability compensation claims — has processed more than 1 million filings this year and is on track to complete 2.5 million total by year’s end, which is roughly a half-million more than it processed in 2024, according to officials.
Why veterans are the real target audience for ‘Helldivers 2’
There’s a special kind of chaos in “Helldivers 2” — one that feels oddly familiar to anyone ever sent on out with an incomplete op order, a busted radio, and a vague promise of support. Arrowhead Studios didn’t just make a solid third-person shooter. They accidentally made a spiritual sequel to every field op that became a mess of confusion, enthusiastic but ineffective leadership, and duct-taped equipment held together by nicotine-fueled belligerence and the sincere belief that fake motivation is better than no motivation.
Repeated orders for medical exams and other common mistakes slow down claims for veterans’ disability
Veterans groups urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to take steps to end common mistakes in claims reviews for disability that include redundant requests for veterans to undergo more medical exams when the clinical diagnoses already are in their records.
