House Republicans added a host of culture war amendments to the annual defense bill on June 13, complicating the traditionally bipartisan measure’s path to final passage later this year. Among the additions to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) approved on Thursday was a measure to block a Biden administration policy to reimburse service members for the travel costs when obtaining an abortion. The amendment, led by Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), is a top priority for conservatives and passed 214-207.
U.S. President Joe Biden said June 13 he doesn’t expect to seal a Gaza cease-fire deal in the near future, as an American-backed proposal with global support has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas. Biden said international leaders had discussed the cease-fire at the Group of Seven summit in Italy, but when asked by reporters if a truce deal wound be reached soon, Biden replied simply, “No,” adding, “I haven’t lost hope.”
A sexual encounter during an alcohol-fueled night between an Air Force general and a subordinate officer on a business trip has led to a court-martial for assault set to begin June 17at Joint Base San Antonio. Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart is charged with two counts of sexual assault for the encounter with a woman under his command during a trip to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma in April 2023.
Far from Ukraine and Gaza, as the Group of 7 wealthy democracies gathers in Italy to discuss a range of old, entrenched challenges, the nature of American power is being transformed across the region that Washington sees as crucial for the century to come: the Asia-Pacific. Here, America no longer presents itself as the confident guarantor of security, a trust-us-we’ve-got-this superpower. The terrain is too vast, China’s rise too great a threat, writes international correspondent Damien Cave.
The Air Force is ratcheting up the estimated cost to put new commercial engines on the legacy B-52 bomber fleet, publicly disclosing for the first time a nearly $1 billion increase in the procurement cost for the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program.
The Romanian government has begun a multibillion-euro expansion and modernization project at one of its air bases near Ukraine, where new military equipment will be stored. Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr announced the move June 11 during a ceremony at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, located less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its $833 billion defense budget bill for fiscal year 2025, after a session June 13 in which the Republican majority blocked an attempt to restore funds for Ukraine and approved an amendment that prohibits further funds for the Gaza pier.
Abraham Denmark is exiting his role as the Pentagon’s senior adviser and coordinator for the AUKUS alliance, which is steering trilateral defense technology cooperation between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Defense Department will now cover certain costs for service members to ship breast milk during a permanent change of station move. Service members breastfeeding an infant up to 12 months old can now be reimbursed up to $1,000 in shipping expenses as part of ongoing initiatives to alleviate out-of-pocket costs for troops during military-related travel. The benefit does not apply to military spouses or other family members who are nursing infants.
At last year’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, 11 member countries pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jet. It was a major decision, one that enabled the eventual choice to send the jets themselves, an upgrade to Ukraine’s air force that officials in Kyiv had wanted for more than a year. But almost a year later, and only weeks before the next NATO summit, in Washington, those F-16s have yet to arrive.
LeoLabs announced plans June 13 to build a new type of radar under a $1.245 million AFWERX contract. The S-band 2-D Direct Radiating Array will be particularly adept at tracking rocket launches and spacecraft in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), Dan Ceperley, LeoLabs founder and chief operating officer, told SpaceNews.
Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, there has been no shortage of dramatic combat footage from both sides, much of it both harrowing and astonishing. But a video showing Israeli troops using a flamethrowing trebuchet—a catapult-like siege engine popular in the Middle Ages—is perhaps the most bizarre so far.
