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Stars and Stripes
The top U.S. general is making his debut this week at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where defense chiefs are preparing for a leader summit in June that is expected to focus on deterrence and spending. Gen. Dan Caine, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was deliberating May 14 with top U.S. and European commanders on plans for bolstering the alliance.
The War Zone
The future of the U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation stealth fighter program is still being reviewed by the Pentagon, White House, and Congress, a U.S. official told The War Zone May 14.
DefenseScoop
The Senate May 14 voted 54 to 43 to confirm businessman Emil Michael as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and the Pentagon’s chief technology officer. In that position, Michael will serve as the primary advisor to the secretary of defense and other Defense Department leaders on tech development and transition, prototyping, experimentation, and management of testing ranges and activities.
Air Force Times
President Donald Trump’s trip to Qatar is off to a flying start. Like Saudi Arabia a day earlier, Qatar didn’t bother waiting for Trump to land before setting out to impress him with a fighter jet escort. As Trump flew in to Riyadh May 13 and then in to Doha May 14 as part of his Middle East trip, he received ceremonial escorts from each country’s F-15 fighter jets, exceptionally rare sights.
Military.com
Two companies that had contracts aimed at educating troops say they have suddenly had their popular programs eliminated as the Trump administration continues efforts to cut costs at the Pentagon and congressional dysfunction shortchanges the department.
The Washington Post
A hotline connecting air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and their counterparts at the Pentagon has been “inoperable” since March 2022, a Federal Aviation Administration official confirmed May 14, further evidence of poor safety coordination between federal agencies responsible for the airspace where a midair collision in January killed 67 people.
Military Times
During testimony before the House Appropriations Committee May 14, Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby acknowledged recent operations in the Red Sea “have highlighted the strain on our munitions industrial base.” Officials are working to close that gap, but current production lines may not be sufficient for that resupply.
C4ISRNET
Varda Space Industries, a California-based, in-orbit manufacturing company, recovered its third reentry capsule May 14, providing new data to support the Air Force Research Laboratory’s hypersonic research efforts.
Military.com
Social media accounts have been spreading a claim that a former top official in the Air Force who was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier this year was charged with treason and sentenced to be hung by the military. It isn't true.
Task & Purpose
An Air Force accident report released this week laid out what happened when ducks and jets met in mid-air, including the quick actions by the experienced pilot that led to a safe emergency landing, and the grisly results for the waterfowl.
Bloomberg
The Trump administration called its $142 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia “the largest defense sales agreement in history.” Critics aren’t so sure. The deal, announced as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week, appeared ambitious and sweeping, touting purchases linked to the air force and space, missile defense, coastal security, and various other upgrades.
SpaceNews
Lawmakers raised alarms May 14 over reported plans by the Trump administration to slash funding for commercial satellite imagery procurement—a move critics say could undercut U.S. intelligence capabilities and contradict stated White House priorities.
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Inside Defense
The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are in talks to accelerate the contract award for Lot 19 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter "potentially into the second quarter" by combining it with Lot 18, company Chief Financial Officer Evan Scott said May 14.
The Wall Street Journal
While flying above the Arctic Circle last spring, a team of NASA scientists testing a new radar system over northern Greenland detected something unusual.Deep into the ice sheet, their instruments showed, sat a cluster of settlements connected by a network of tunnels, like a bygone civilization frozen in time. What the scientists saw on their screens wasn’t a lost civilization but remnants of a U.S. military base built under the ice during the Cold War.
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Stars and Stripes
The Coast Guard needs more money and long-term investments in new ships and aircraft to keep up with the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal crossings and drug trafficking along the southern border, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard told House lawmakers May 14.
The New York Times
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is moving the assembly of the president’s daily intelligence brief from the CIA headquarters to her own complex, according to officials briefed on the move. The brief, a summary of intelligence and analysis about global hot spots and national security threats, is overseen and presented to the president by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But CIA officers write much of the analysis in the document and produce it, pulling together articles and graphics on the agency’s classified computer systems.
POLITICO
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg joined President Donald Trump in Qatar Wednesday for a signing ceremony for 160 new planes—but not the one the president really wants.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
An Army company at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, has issued a policy prohibiting vulgar language and rude gestures after an investigation found that profanity was rife within the unit, said Tiffany Wood, a spokeswoman for the base.
