Kyiv could run out of defensive missiles if Russia keeps up its fierce air-strike campaign, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned late April 6, as he renewed calls for more military aid from allies. “We must increase the number of long-range anti-aircraft defense systems," Zelenskyy said in an interview with a Ukrainian broadcaster. He cited particularly the need for Patriot missile batteries, saying 25 more of the U.S. systems would be needed.
The Israeli military says it has reduced the number of ground troops in the southern Gaza Strip following the conclusion of its monthslong operation in the city of Khan Younis, raising questions about the future of its offensive in the enclave amid pressure from the U.S. to reduce the war’s humanitarian toll.
The Biden administration is scrambling to finalize essential components of its plan to install a floating pier off the Gaza coast for processing food deliveries and other desperately needed humanitarian aid, as famine looms and some U.S. officials doubt whether the military operation is even necessary.
For the first time in nearly two years, U.S. and Chinese defense officials met this week to discuss unsafe and aggressive ship and aircraft incidents between the two militaries in the Pacific region, restarting a dialogue that Beijing abruptly ended in a dispute involving Taiwan.
When Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced a sweeping reorganization Feb. 12, one of the shifts was to elevate Air Forces Cyber to a standalone service component command to reflect the importance of the cyber mission to the joint force and across the department. However, not much detail has been provided regarding what exactly that means or what an elevated AFCYBER will look like.
Under a new manpower plan that will cover the state Guards in all 50 states and 4 territories, [Brig. Gen. Brian Kile] told Task & Purpose, he fears he may be the commander who has to oversee the Alaska ANG failing to live up to its commitments. Though best known for its backcountry civilian rescues, the Alaska ANG’s 2,400 members maintain four separate 24/7 air defense missions under U.S. Northern Command.
The Defense Department is prioritizing space like never before, assistant secretary of defense for space policy John Plumb said April 5. Plumb, who recently announced he will step down after two years on the job, previously served in the Pentagon during the Obama administration, and he noted the stark contrast in how space issues are now being handled compared to a decade ago.
With fears of slipping F-35 delivery schedules plaguing some European customers of the Lockheed Martin-made warplanes, defense officials in Poland and Italy said they don’t expect their fleets to be affected by the vendor’s technical problems in rolling out a key upgrade for the jets.
Norway will double its military budget over the next 12 years by increasing spending by 600 billion NOK ($56 billion), part of a “historic” new defense plan announced by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that prioritises heavy investment in new frigates and submarines to push back against Russian maritime influence in the High North and Atlantic Ocean.
Air Force maintenance teams are pulling a decommissioned B-1B Lancer bomber out of the boneyard and plan to put it back into active-duty service to replace another Lancer that was damaged in a fire. The resurrected aircraft, nicknamed “Lancelot,” was retired to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., also known as the boneyard, almost three years ago, according to a photo caption of the aircraft in a news release.
On a windy pier overlooking the USS Arizona memorial and the USS Missouri, Adm. Stephen Koehler took the helm of U.S. Pacific Fleet on April 4, replacing Adm. Samuel Paparo, who will take command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command next month. Pacific Fleet includes 145,000 troops, 200 ships, 1,200 aircraft, and two numbered fleets, all “positioned and responsible for the maritime domain that covers half the globe,” INDOPACOM commander Adm. John Aquilino, himself a former commander of the fleet, said. The job entails commanding naval forces in “the world’s most concerning theater, against our world’s most dangerous adversaries,” he said.
Ensuring that critical equipment is protected from extreme weather cycles is a top priority for military bases the world over—case in point being the decision of Japan's Naha Air Base to temporarily move a number of its F-15J fighters to higher ground in light of a recent tsunami warning. Imagery was recently released by the base showing some of its F-15Js chocked up along a civilian road.
