Thousands of allied American and Filipino forces opened annual combat drills April 21 that include repelling an island attack to simulate the defense of the Philippine archipelago and seas in a “full-scale battle scenario” that has antagonized China.
President Trump spoke April 20 with embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and vowed to stick by him despite new revelations that he shared sensitive information about a military strike in another group chat.
In another sign of China’s growing interest in the Middle East and Africa, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has sent multiple combat aircraft to Wadi Abu Rish Air Base for “Eagles of Civilization 2025,” its first aerial training exercise with Egypt.
The military’s top enlisted adviser—a senior adviser to the Joint Chiefs chairman—will be stepping down in the months to come, Pentagon officials told Military.com on April 21. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black will depart the post and retire from military service after the newly confirmed Joint Chiefs chairman, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chose not to renew Black’s posting for another two-year stretch, one official said.
The U.S. Army has formally approved a new air and missile defense sensor to replace its aging Patriot for low-rate production, according to its system developer Raytheon. The service has been working on replacing its aging Patriot air and missile defense system for over 15 years, initially running a competition for a full system before canceling those plans in favor of developing a new command-and-control system and a new radar separately.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations warned Airmen and former service members of a “recruitment scheme” that could trick them into working for “foreign intelligence entities.” “These aren’t just job offers, they’re intelligence operations in disguise,” Special Agent Lee Russ, executive director of AFOSI Office of Special Projects, said in a report from the office.
The State Department is urging other countries to avoid doing business with Chinese satellite firms, arguing that such contracts fuel military development and help Beijing gather sensitive intelligence from allies.
The head of Boeing’s space mission systems business envisions at least two of the company’s product lines as a clear fit for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome homeland missile defense capability—the X-37B spaceplane and a fleet of missile-tracking satellites the firm is developing for the Space Development Agency’s “Foo Fighter” program.
DARPA is seeking proposals for a small lunar orbiter that could be used to test operations in very low orbits while prospecting for water ice. DARPA issued a program solicitation April 14 for a mission concept called Lunar Assay via Small Satellite Orbiter (LASSO). The agency is seeking proposals for design studies that could lead to construction of a spacecraft.
The U.S. and South Korean air forces last week began a large-scale air power exercise designed to simulate realistic, tactical warfare. In the second Freedom Flag exercise—the first took place in the fall—fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II multirole stealth fighters are playing the opposition, the 7th Air Force said in a news release. The exercise takes place from this South Korean air base about 190 miles south of Seoul.
A new app is helping to fill a gap in short-term child care needs for some military families. Kinderspot allows parents to sublet their child care spaces at Air Force child development centers when they’re away for vacation or other reasons, connecting them to other eligible Department of Defense families who need the child care.
