The Wall Street Journal
The Silicon Valley company Skydio sent hundreds of its best drones to Ukraine to help fight the Russians. Things didn’t go well. Skydio’s drones flew off course and were lost, victims of Russia’s electronic warfare. The company has since gone back to the drawing board to build a new fleet. Most small drones from U.S. startups have failed to perform in combat, dashing companies’ hopes that a badge of being battle-tested would bring the startups sales and attention. It is also bad news for the Pentagon, which needs a reliable supply of thousands of small, unmanned aircraft.
The New York Times
The United States dispatched its top military commander for the Middle East to Israel on Thursday, after President Biden stated that, despite recent friction, American support for Israel “is ironclad” in the event of an attack by Iran. Iran’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to punish Israel for an April 1 strike in Syria that killed several senior Iranian commanders. Israel has put its military on alert, and Mr. Biden said on April 10 that Iran was threatening a “significant” attack.
Military.com
The Department of Defense will expand its investigation into the prevalence of “forever chemicals” in base drinking water systems and neighboring water supplies following the Environmental Protection Agency's publication of stricter standards for the synthetic substances. The EPA announced April 10 new national limits for six types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water supplies.
The Washington Post
To the uninitiated, this felt like madness. From an altitude of 8,000 feet, six Navy SEALs were about to parachute into Marmot Bay, where the water temperature was just barely above freezing. Their inflatable boat went first, rumbling down the ramp of this MC-130 transport plane before snapping out the back. These stout, nondescript airframes were engineered specifically to enable the “low visibility” operations that are a hallmark of the U.S. military’s clandestine forces.
DefenseScoop
As part of potential sweeping changes ahead, U.S. Cyber Command is looking at evolving its primary organization charged with defending its networks. Last year, the command elevated the Cyber National Mission Force—its elite cadre of teams responsible for defending the nation from cyberattacks—to a sub-unified command. Lawmakers in both houses this week were concerned with why the CNMF was elevated and not Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Networks (JFHQ-DODIN), a subordinate headquarters under CYBERCOM responsible for protecting and defending the Pentagon’s network globally.
Defense News
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $4.1 billion to continue to field, maintain and upgrade its battle command system, according to an April 11 contract announcement from the Defense Department. The contract period runs May 1, 2024, through April 30, 2029, with an option to extend it to April 30, 2034.
Air Force Times
The Air Force would cut bonus pay for more than 700 enlisted airmen in some of the service’s toughest jobs in fiscal year 2025, according to its most recent budget request. If approved by Congress, the cuts would reduce the Air Force’s special duty assignment pay program by about $4 million as the service shifts money toward modernization and maintenance efforts while planning for a flat workforce in the coming year.
Aviation Week
Conversations, sometimes pointed ones, are ongoing between military and intelligence community leaders about the right model for purchasing commercial satellite imagery for surveillance—a step that is both needed and healthy as the Pentagon figures out how to fight in space, the head of the Space Force’s commercial office says.
SpaceNews
The rockets that propel astronauts and satellites into space are marvels of modern technology. But for ground crews at the nation’s premier spaceports, it has been more like operating in the digital stone age. After years of kicking the can down the road on modernization, the U.S. Space Force is now embarking on a comprehensive overhaul of the IT infrastructure used at mission control centers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Breaking Defense
U.S. European Command would invest an additional $83 million in air base defense if allotted extra money in the fiscal year 2025 budget, according to an unfunded wish list sent to Congress. The spending makes up the bulk of EUCOM’s $141 million unfunded priorities list, which the combatant commands and military services are mandated to send to Congress after the release of the president’s budget request.
The War Zone
Lockheed Martin recently unveiled the Mako, a previously unseen air-launched hypersonic missile, which it is pitching to the U.S. Navy and Air Force. The weapon, which was originally developed for the Air Force’s Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) program, reflects the growing interest in more affordable hypersonic strike weapons, smaller than hypersonic cruise missiles but still offering a degree of standoff range and very rapid response. The company also sees potential scope for the Mako to arm submarines and surface warships.
One More Thing
USA Today
Two days after the distinctly American eclipse, President Joe Biden announced that on the next visit to our closest celestial neighbor—the moon—the U.S. will be accompanied by one of its closest friends: Japan. A Japanese astronaut will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon, Biden announced April 10 during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
