Top national security officials have told President Trump the military is ready for potential strikes on Iran as soon as Feb. 21, but the timeline for any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend, sources familiar with the discussions told CBS News.
A major U.S. arms-sales package for Taiwan is in limbo following pressure from Chinese leader Xi Jinping and concerns among some in the Trump administration that greenlighting the weapons deal would derail President Trump’s coming visit to Beijing, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. is preparing for a pullout of all troops stationed in Syria, readying to end its military presence deployed to fight against ISIS in the country, two U.S. officials told The Hill on Feb. 18.
Northrop Grumman’s chief executive said Feb. 18 that the company has no plans to follow L3Harris’ lead to allow the Pentagon to take a financial stake in its solid rocket motors business, but hinted that some of its key suppliers may enter into similar investment agreements with the department.
“I recently participated in a panel at the Atlantic Council addressing an issue of critical importance: the potential impact of Vladimir Putin’s ongoing disinformation campaign. The central issues is this: What are the military facts of the Russia-Ukraine war, and how does that compare with what we are being told? The answer matters. Wars are not fought solely on battlefields. They are fought in perceptions and narratives that influence political will—and increasingly, economic expectations,” writes retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
When President Donald Trump formally announced the creation of a “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, he made a notable claim: that Canada had already asked to take part in the effort. ... Of course, relations between Washington and Ottawa have been rocky for almost the entirety of Trump’s second term, given repeated statements from Trump that he wants Canada to become the 51st state. ... Despite all that, Canada remains interested in taking part, at least in theory, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney told an audience in Montreal on Feb. 17.
After weeks of back-and-forth with AI company Anthropic, the Pentagon is actively talking with all four major U.S. AI players—Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI—to ensure the companies and the Defense Department are at "the same baseline" regarding Pentagon expectations, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering said Feb. 17.
The U.S. Air Force’s troubled Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program faces significant risks from software delays and an extended reliance on the aging Minuteman III system.
In the past two days, the U.S. Air Force has sent six of its 16 E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System radar planes to bases in Europe. Two of those jets are now headed to the Middle East, and the others will likely follow, as a massive buildup of U.S. airpower continues ahead of potential strikes on Iran. The deployment of nearly 40 percent of all Air Force E-3s underscores how critical the aircraft remain, but also the challenges of meeting intense operational demands with a rapidly aging and shrunken-down fleet.
Air Force Survival School at Fairchild Air Force Base trains aircrew for the moment they could become isolated behind enemy lines or stranded in hostile environments after a crash. The course, known as SERE training, teaches survival, evasion, resistance, and escape skills designed to prepare aircrew for worst-case scenarios. The training covers skills like emergency egress, water survival, long-term evasion, and recovery.
