Veterans advocates filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department on April 3 demanding the release of reports regarding toxic materials found at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan, believed to have caused a series of rare illnesses in thousands of troops stationed there in the early 2000s. The lawsuit—filed in federal court—requests the release of all information pertaining to contaminants found at the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, often called K2. More than 15,000 service members were stationed there between 2001 and 2005.
Driven by advancements in technology and research, the Air Force and Space Force are adapting how they train their warfighters to complete the missions at hand. Keep up with all the latest news on changes and improvements to the services’ training enterprises.
In Episode 122 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Douglas Birkey chats with retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Tim Ryan about some of the latest developments in the national security realm. The conversation begins with a discussion about Congress’ reaction to the fiscal year 2024 defense budget submission, with a special focus on air and space power, then shifts to China and Russia’s increasing alignment, plus the latest developments in Ukraine. The discussion also includes a look at key trends with the Air Force’s fighter inventories, along with hot button topics like engine options for the F-35 and future tanker plans.
The Philippine government identified four new military camps, including some across the sea from Taiwan, where rotating batches of American forces will be allowed to be stationed indefinitely despite strong objections from China. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration announced in February his approval of an expansion of the U.S. military presence to four additional Philippine military bases from the five existing sites under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the longtime treaty allies. The new sites identified by Marcos’ office include a Philippine navy base in Santa Ana and an international airport in Lal-lo, both in northern Cagayan province.
Finland will formally become a full-fledged NATO ally on April 4, the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said April 3. “This is an historic week,” the NATO chief told reporters. “Tomorrow, we will welcome Finland as the 31st member of NATO, making Finland safer and our alliance stronger.” The move comes after Hungary and Turkey ratified Finland’s membership bid last week, removing the last hurdles to Helsinki’s accession. Sweden’s membership aspiration, however, remains in limbo as Budapest and Ankara continue to withhold support.
Updating the formula for housing allowances, making sure troops get a full stipend, and building more housing on bases: Those are a few of the ways a member of the House Armed Services Committee wants to make housing more affordable for service members. In a time when Congress is bitterly divided along partisan lines, Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash., is hopeful that housing and other issues that affect service members' quality of life, including child care and food insecurity, can engender rare bipartisan support.
The Pentagon has not yet talked to its international partners about the future of the F-35 engine, and will likely have that discussion later this year, though it is already asking Congress to fund an engine upgrade for its entire fleet. The Air Force recently decided it will upgrade the existing Pratt & Whitney engine through a program called engine core upgrade, or ECU, and not pursue a new, adaptive engine for its F-35 fleet. But that decision has not yet been discussed with international partners in the program, F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt said April 3.
The Air Force has loosened its restrictions on body fat for new recruits, one of the latest moves to grow the pool of potential applicants amid the military’s recruiting crisis. In the past, men and women’s bodies needed to be 20 percent or 28 percent fat, respectively, to be eligible for service. That benchmark is now 26 percent for men and 36 percent for women, Air Force Recruiting Service spokesperson Leslie Brown said April 3.
Lockheed Martin was selected as the “preferred bidder” for a multibillion-dollar Australian military project to build military communications satellites and supporting infrastructure. The Australian Defence Force on April 3 announced Lockheed Martin as the preferred bidder. This means the company is not actually receiving a contract award but was selected to move into the next phase of negotiations with the Australian government.
With a prospective budget boost in fiscal 2024 as a tailwind, the Space Force is speeding towards development of a new constellation in medium Earth orbit (MEO) for missile warning and tracking—asking for industry input by May 16 on a second, more robust satellite configuration. The Resilient Missile Warning/Missile Tracking—MEO (MEO MW/MT) constellation “will be incrementally developed in capability-based deliveries called Epochs,” the service’s March 31 request for information (RFI) explains.
It’s been more than 50 years since astronauts last traveled to the moon, or even distanced more than 400 miles from Earth’s surface. In November 2024, though, the National Aeronautics and Space Organization (NASA) plans to launch Artemis II, the first manned mission to orbit the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. On April 3, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA announced the crew for this historic mission, among them two accomplished naval aviators: Capt. Gregory Reid Wiseman and Capt. Victor Glover.