NBC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News on Sept. 3 that Kyiv is planning to indefinitely hold Russian territories it seized in a surprise incursion last month as it tries to force President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
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Reuters
The White House is scrambling to put forward a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas in the coming days, two U.S. officials, two Egyptian security sources and an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Booz Allen
This summer, we witnessed an important milestone in the history of human activity in space: on July 11, the first generative AI tool in space began operation. The tool, a large language model (LLM), aims to assist astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as they perform certain maintenance and repair procedures. The project’s primary purpose was to prove that an LLM—and generative AI more broadly—can deploy and operate in the harsh environment of space. Here’s why that milestone is so significant and what it portends for the future.
Task & Purpose
U.S Air Force pararescuemen and HC-130 rescue aircrews led a mass casualty exercise on the remote Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea in late August. As part of Pacific Angel 24-1, over 100 search and rescue personnel from the U.S., Australia, and France trained together on Papua New Guinea, along with that island nation’s defense forces.
Military.com
The U.S. military spends $1.24 billion each year to address obesity in the ranks, but Defense Department policies have been slow to adopt weight management treatments, including therapies and medications such as Wegovy or Zepbound, to address a major readiness concern, according to new research.
The Associated Press
A U.S. Navy Sailor has been detained in Venezuela after traveling there unauthorized on personal business, the Pentagon said Sept. 4. The enlisted Sailor was detained last week by Venezuelan law enforcement, two defense officials said. One of the officials said the Sailor has been in Venezuelan custody since on or about Aug. 30.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Driven by the growing reach and threat of adversaries, the Air Force is paying more and more attention to ensuring its bases are energy resilient and can generate combat power in any contingency. Learn more about how bases around the U.S. and the world are making sure their energy grids are more reliable and can take a punch if need be.
Defense News
The Space Force expects to start fielding satellites designed to track moving targets on the ground and in the air by the early 2030s, according to the service’s vice chief. “I see it always being a layered set of capabilities to increase survivability, first and foremost,” Gen. Michael Guetlein said Sept. 4 at the annual Defense News Conference. “I would say you’re looking at probably the early 2030s for some of that capability to start coming online.”
Defense One
Congress will settle on a $833 billion defense spending topline for fiscal 2025, one House leader says. But in typical fashion, it won’t be on time—so lawmakers are readying a budget extension. “It looks like there's going to be another continuing resolution that will come up next week, probably the middle of next week. The debate has been: how long should that CR go?” said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
SpaceNews
The U.S. Space Force is exploring strategies to bolster the resilience of the Global Positioning System (GPS) amid growing concerns about the constellation’s vulnerabilities. One option favored by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is to use smaller, lower-cost satellites to augment the existing GPS infrastructure.
Breaking Defense
As Poland looks to make significant upgrades to its F-16 fleet, two American firms are vying to offer their electronic warfare suites as part of the broader package. While it’s still unclear exactly what Warsaw will require of its upgrade, meant to bring its aircraft from the Block 50 configuration to the more advanced Block 70, Northrop Grumman says it has pitched the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS), while L3Harris is offering the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield.
One More Thing
The War Zone
Ukraine’s employment of so-called Dragon drones capable of spewing the incendiary compound thermite on Russian positions appears to be rapidly gaining momentum as more units are releasing videos of them in action.
