“Whenever a crisis occurs, every president looks to his military advisers for options to deal with it. Whether it’s a large or small war or a natural disaster for which America wants to send humanitarian aid, every option relies on aerospace power. Even a casual defense and national security observer knows that the Navy needs more and better ships. This is indisputable, but a matter that is equally or more important is getting too little attention. The U.S. Air Force is now the oldest and smallest in terms of aircraft, and it is less ready to fight than at any time in its history,” writes Jed Babbin, a national security and foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Times.
The Biden administration doesn’t have enough time left to use the billions of dollars lawmakers have authorized to arm Ukraine, U.S. and congressional officials said, leaving in President-elect Donald Trump’s hands what to do with the remaining money.
Rebel forces advanced in Syria on Dec. 1 amid fierce fighting, capturing the airport and military academy of the major city of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of the western city of Hama, according to rebel officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were trying to repel them, rushing reinforcements to the battle and launching airstrikes on Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested this week that NATO welcoming Ukraine into the alliance could halt the “hot stage” of the war, while Russia would temporarily keep the territory it overtook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising 2025 military spending to record levels as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine. Around 32.5 percent of the budget posted on a government website Dec. 1 has been allocated for national defense, amounting to 13.5 trillion rubles (over $145 billion), up from a reported 28.3 percent this year.
Turkey has reduced its planned $23 billion acquisition of an F-16 fighter jet package from the United States, scrapping the purchase of 79 modernization kits for its existing fleet, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said late on Nov. 26. ... Turkey wants to re-join the F-35 program and buy 40 new F-35 jets, Guler also said.
The U.S. Space Force awarded Raytheon a $196.7 million contract extension for the Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), a critical upgrade to the GPS infrastructure that is years behind schedule. The contract, announced Nov. 27 by Space Systems Command, targets the next software upgrade to be delivered by November 2025. This latest award brings Raytheon’s total OCX contract value to nearly $4.5 billion since the program’s inception in 2010.
Defense contractors, especially those with highly visible Pentagon programs that are behind schedule and over budget, are being advised to lay low and prepare to make offerings at the altar of President-elect Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency advisory commission led by tech billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Analysts and defense company executives who spoke with Inside Defense said there is palpable discomfort in the contracting community.
Two Russian fighters intercepted a pair of B-52H Stratofortresses near the Baltic Sea on Nov. 25, a U.S. defense official confirmed Nov. 27. The B-52s were conducting a training flight when the Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted them near Kaliningrad. The defense official said the interception was safe and professional, and the B-52s continued with their planned flight.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has experimented with a new, rapidly laid temporary airfield surface, which should make it easier to conduct expeditionary aircraft operations, something that is of increasing relevance across the Indo-Pacific region. The trial, which used a temporary surface known as Dura-Base, involved an RAAF F-35A stealth fighter at RAAF Base Tindal, a remote installation south of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory.
While Sweden stands ready to send its Gripen fighters to Ukraine, the head of a key ally’s military said that move “doesn’t make sense for me,” at least not yet. “In the long term, yes, [but] I think we have to avoid [giving] too many systems to Ukraine, because they have a shortage of pilots,” Chief of Defence of the Netherlands Gen. Onno Eichelsheim told Breaking Defense. “So you have to avoid that you have more systems than pilots. Somewhere in the balance, you have to look at what capabilities are needed at this moment.”
“Previous DOD efficiency initiatives have tried, and largely failed, to trim spending. This time will be different, one could argue, because Elon Musk is involved. He has done things in industry, such as revolutionizing space launch and electric vehicles, that many thought were impossible. To achieve these unlikely feats, Musk developed a ruthless approach that he calls ‘The Algorithm.’ ... As Musk tries his hand at public policy, can this approach work?” writes Todd Harrison, a senior fellow and budget analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Santa tracker launched Dec. 1 and is ready to track Santa on Dec. 24 for the program’s 69th year. NORAD monitors and defends North American airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. On Dec. 24, NORAD has one additional mission: tracking Santa Claus as he makes his way across the globe delivering presents to children.