Fresh into the White House, President Donald Trump has told the Pentagon to reassess its stance on homeland defense and reorient the U.S. Northern Command to “seal” America’s borders. “I will send troops to the Southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country,” he said during his inaugural address on Jan. 20.
In this episode of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Heather “Lucky” Penney chats with retired Maj. Gen. Larry “Stutz” Stutzriem, retired Col. Barry “Papa” Murphy, retired Col. Robert “Otis” Winkler, and retired Col/ JV Venable about the Air Force’s current readiness crisis.
Israel’s military leader said he would resign, citing the army’s failure to protect the country on Oct. 7, 2023, the most senior official to leave a position over the worst attack in Israeli history. The resignation of Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi comes after Israel racked up achievements in its fight against Iran and its web of allied militias such as Hezbollah, and in the first week of a phased cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that it was time for Europe to stand strong and remain united as the United States installs a new president skeptical of global alliances and continued aid to Ukraine.
The Trump administration has ousted the Coast Guard’s top admiral, according to a message to the service’s personnel circulated Jan. 21, in what could be the first of several changes to military leadership under the new commander in chief.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe Jan. 20 to “wake up” and spend more on defense in order to reduce its reliance on the United States for its security, in a speech to the French military as Donald Trump returns to power.
Oracle, OpenAI, and investors in Japan and the UAE have launched a $100 billion effort to build data centers to run AI applications, an indication of how the U.S.-China race for artificial intelligence is beginning to turn on sheer computing power instead of clever programming.
Japan and British defense ministers met last week to discuss an ongoing joint fighter jet development program with Italy and to unveil the trinational headquarters for the project in Reading, 36 miles west of London.
After taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order reversing the Biden-era directive that allowed transgender people to serve in the military. Revoking the Biden-era executive order is part of what Trump described in his inauguration speech as an effort to “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”
The Israeli Ministry of Defense said it signed its first procurement deal using a recent tranche of U.S. aid funds to buy more interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, one of the three tiers of Israel’s multi-layered air defense systems. It has been used widely in the last 15 months of war on multiple fronts to intercept rockets, drones, and other projectiles.
U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron recently showed off the tools of their trade in absolutely spectacular fashion. The stunning photo was taken during a controlled demolition somewhere in the U.S. Central Command region.
