News
Hegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed plans about a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen on a second Signal group chat, this one on his personal phone and including his wife, lawyer and brother, three people familiar with the chat told CNN.
US to reduce military footprint in Syria to fewer than 1,000 troops
The United States is consolidating its forces supporting counter-ISIS operations in Syria, reducing the number of U.S. troops in the country to fewer than 1,000 in the coming months, Pentagon officials said Friday.
Army announces latest unit rotations, including soldiers from Lithuania heading home
The Army announced the latest rotation of units in Europe and the Middle East, including the return of a combat team that lost three of its soldiers in a Lithuanian training accident last month.
This company is spending millions to profit off veterans’ benefits. Why won’t lawmakers stop it?
It started in 2017 with a group of friends and colleagues—the first 40 clients whom U.S. Army veterans Scott Greenblatt and Bill Taylor signed up to help.
Former top DOD spokesperson: Pentagon in ‘disarray’ under Hegseth
A former top Pentagon spokesperson said in an opinion piece published Sunday that the Department of Defense is in “disarray” under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Air Force
Air Force MAJCOMs, given new guidance, pull back on Family Days
When acting Air Force Secretary Gary A. Ashworth rescinded service-wide “Family Days” last week, he left it to commanders, directors, and supervisors to decide for themselves if they wanted to grant the extra days off. Ashworth’s guidance urged only that, in accordance with USAF regulations, they “re-evaluate their pass structures to best align with warfighter readiness.”
NGAD images doctored to hide most, if not all, true design features
Images of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, released by the Air Force on March 21 when the program was awarded to Boeing, are mere placeholders and aren’t intended to accurately portray the aircraft, despite showing only a small portion of it, Air Force and industry officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The idea is to keep adversaries guessing about the true nature of the NGAD design.
Space Force
As Military SATCOM use grows, rivals vie to cut SpaceX’s market share
In the Space Force’s push to increase its consumption of commercial satellite capabilities, satellite communications stands out as the template.
NRO reaches milestone with over 200 satellites deployed in two years
Following the launch of a classified mission April 20, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has reached a new milestone, deploying more than 200 satellites into orbit in just over two years.
Defense
Railgun installed on Japanese warship testbed
The Japan Self-Defense Forces have offered an official look at the turret-mounted electromagnetic railgun now installed on the test ship JS Asuka. The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) has been working on railguns since the mid-2010s, which could be a future armament for Japanese warships and could also be employed in a ground-based mode. This is also a category of weapons that the U.S. Navy notably shelved development of in the early 2020s after work that showed great promise ran into technical hurdles.
Industry eyes ‘wicked hard’ Golden Dome space interceptor challenge
As defense contractors await firm direction from the Pentagon on Golden Dome, executives say the technology already exists to start developing space-based interceptors capable of hitting missiles in their boost phase—but admit it’s no easy feat.
MQ-1C Gray Eagle is shooting down drones with Hellfire missiles in tests
The MQ-1C Gray Eagle uncrewed aerial system (UAS) has used the AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile, in conjunction with its onboard radar, to shoot down a drone in live-fire tests, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has confirmed to TWZ.
Bulgaria receives first F-16 Block 70 fighter jet
Bulgaria has formally received its first F-16 Block 70 fighter jet, marking the beginning of the country’s operations with the modernised aircraft, according to a statement released by Lockheed Martin on 14 April.
