The U.S. needs to be prepared to expand its nuclear force to deter the growing threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, say senior Biden administration officials.
Given President-elect Donald Trump’s vocal support, chances for the creation of a Space National Guard are high, according to experts, supporters of the plan and several Guard officials. Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that there are “pretty good odds for a Space National Guard.”
A top Russian defense official has attended China’s premier military showcase in a show of unity between the countries as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, was in the southern city of Zhuhai to view Chinese and Russian aircraft and other military hardware on Nov. 14.
The technology company Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has secured a $116.7 million contract from the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) to develop a ground system that supports missile-defense operations with data from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The five-year contract announced Nov. 13 is part of the Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure (AFCGI) program, intended to establish a central, cloud-based command hub for missile-tracking satellite systems.
Japan’s Osprey fleet resumed flying Nov. 14 after investigators ruled that pilot error resulted in damage to one of the tiltrotor aircraft during a joint exercise with U.S. forces last month.
Michael Anton and Sebastian Gorka are in the running to be President-elect Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser, according to three people familiar with the competition who were granted anonymity to speak candidly. With either selection, Trump would elevate a firebrand loyalist who served in the incoming commander-in-chief’s first administration to one of the White House’s top roles.
Boeing has poached an executive from defense rival Northrop Grumman to run its Phantom Works division, which oversees research efforts for its Pentagon business and is involved in bidding for U.S. government projects. Colin Miller, a former Air Force commander who oversaw aeronautics engineering at Northrop, will take over the division, the jet maker said Nov. 14.
As they continue to investigate and resolve a growing caseload of hundreds of reports from current and former government officials about encounters with unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), personnel in the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) are also launching new projects and resources to declassify materials, promote transparency, and enhance collection capabilities.
Offering a “glimpse into the future of naval aviation,” the Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray unmanned refueling aircraft is expected to take to the skies over the Middle East, where it will join the MQ-4C Triton UAV that’s already there, according to the Navy’s leader in U.S. Central Command.
A U.S. military judge at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has scheduled hearings in early January for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants to enter guilty pleas in exchange for life sentences despite Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to scuttle the plea agreements.
A Wichita airman who was shot down and killed during World War II has finally been positively identified. On Nov. 14, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph L. Mourer, 23, of Wichita, Kansas, was accounted for on June 20.