The Associated Press
The U.S. is sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that has raised the risk of a greater regional war, the Pentagon said Sept. 23. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The U.S. currently has about 40,000 troops in the region.
The Washington Post
Israel pummeled Lebanon with airstrikes Sept. 23 that killed 492 people and left more than 1,600 injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry, marking the deadliest day for Lebanon since Israel and the militant group Hezbollah ramped up their exchange of fire nearly a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal
Japanese jet fighters fired warning flares at a Russian military reconnaissance plane that violated Japan’s airspace on Sept. 23, the first time Tokyo has taken such an aggressive stance against incursions of its airspace mostly carried out by Moscow.
Military.com
“The crash of a CV-22 Osprey, call sign Gundam 22, off the coast of Japan in November 2023 has generated a wave of unfair scrutiny against the aircraft. The loss of any service member is an absolute tragedy, but the conversation surrounding the V-22 Osprey has become disproportionately negative, often overlooking key facts about the incident and the essential role this aircraft plays in our military’s success,” writes Rep. Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy one-star.
Breaking Defense
France’s Defense Innovation Agency (AID) together with a small French company, Cailabs, have succeeded in establishing a high-speed optical satellite communication between a nano-satellite in low orbit and a commercial optical ground station—a feat that they claim is a world first. The French Defense Ministry said in a Sept. 10 statement that this project contributes to the objectives of the 2024-2030 military programming law, which provides for the country’s effort to up its military space game.
Defense One
Two years ago, autonomous drones designed to fly and fight alongside fighter jets were just a gleam in Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s eye. Now, full-scale mock-ups of the robot wingmen are here—and made a splashy appearance at the service’s mainstay conference.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
In this episode of the Aerospace Advantage, Heather “Lucky” Penney of the Mitchell Institute team chats with Dr. Michael Gregg, Director, Aerospace Systems Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and Chris Flynn Vice President of Military Development Programs at Pratt & Whitney. For decades, the America has enjoyed a near-unrivaled position when it comes to developing and fielding high performance, incredibly reliable military jet engines. The U.S. Air Force is at a key inflection point when it comes to stewarding this technology.
SpaceNews
An experimental U.S. military satellite designed to test new space-based navigation technologies has been waiting nearly 20 months for a ride to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, aims to test advanced technologies for future GPS and satellite navigation systems. Its launch, potentially before year’s end, hinges on the certification of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
The War Zone
The U.S. Air Force is set to significantly cut back the number of F-16 Viper aggressor jets at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, including those flown by a squadron that stood up in a high profile manner just last year. This comes despite a surge in demand for “red air” adversary support training and test and evaluation activities and raises broader questions about the future of the service’s steadily aging F-16 fleet.
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.
Breaking Defense
As leaders from the “Quad” gathered this weekend to toast the Indo-Pacific partnership, a new report is sounding alarms that the U.S. is no longer the dominant military power in Asia. The new report from the Lowy Institute says that the People’s Republic of China “has closed more than a quarter of the lead that the United States held in this measure in 2018. For the first time, experts surveyed for the Asia Power Index judged that China is better able to deploy rapidly and for a sustained period in the event of an interstate conflict in Asia.”
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Stars and Stripes
Master Sgt. Matthew Parker has finally received recognition for helping to save the lives of three children after one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in Afghanistan more than three years ago. The official record of his actions to aid the critically injured Afghan children on a C-17 military flight from Kabul to Qatar on Aug. 27, 2021, was lost.
The Associated Press
Partnerships between the U.S. and China at universities over the past decade have allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to aid Beijing in developing critical technology that could be used for military purposes, congressional Republicans asserted in a new report.
One More Thing
The New York Times
The same day that Jenevieve Judd gave birth to her son, John Elliott, in October 1944, she received a crushing telegram from the U.S. military informing her that her husband had gone missing while serving in World War II. ... Over the years, Ms. Judd told her son extremely little about her missing husband, who remained unaccounted for until May of this year. The Defense Department said earlier this month that her husband, Staff Sgt. John A. Tarbert of the Army Air Force was killed at 24 after his plane was attacked while flying over Germany 80 years ago this Sept. 20.
