Nearly a quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but for many, the emotions of the day remain raw as ever. On Sept. 11, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The commemorations were punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.
The United Nations Security Council on Sept. 11 condemned recent strikes on Qatar's capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel's ally the United States.
Cyber defenders need AI tools to fend off a new generation of AI-powered attacks, the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said Sept. 10. Artificial intelligence has reshaped cyber, making it easier for hackers to manipulate data and craft more convincing fraud campaigns, like phishing emails used in ransomware attacks.
With two years until its 2027 zero trust deadline, the Pentagon is revving up its cybersecurity efforts, with plans for a new strategy, detailed guidance, and the review of dozens of “granular” action plans for defense organizations.
The Pentagon last month held its first “Top Drone” school for drone pilots to demonstrate their skills in a threat-representative environment. The event took place as part of the Defense Department’s Technology Readiness Experimentation, or T-REX, a semiannual showcase and evaluation staged at Camp Atterbury in Indiana.
The Pentagon’s chief information officer is undertaking yet another reform of the Defense Department’s IT enterprise—this time focusing on streamlining its classified networks to enhance data sharing and interoperability.
Lockheed Martin is in “very active” conversations with the Pentagon about the concept of a fifth-generation-plus F-35 that would include some of the technologies the company has developed for its sixth-generation fighter concepts, Lockheed’s chief executive said Sept. 11.
The White House’s selection for the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sept. 11 he supports a number of changes to the Pentagon’s budgeting process put forward by a 2024 congressional commission. “The [commission’s] report comes up with a lot of very common sense recommendations,” Gen. Christopher Mahoney, who is currently the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and AeroVironment have demonstrated the ability of a Switchblade 600 loitering munition to deploy from an MQ-9A Reaper unmanned air vehicle. The work took place during July at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds Test Range, says GA-ASI.
With the current growing tensions between Venezuela and the United States, it’s worth recalling a little-known aerial mission that the U.S. military launched to interdict narcotics coming out of Central and South America back in the 1990s. Most notably, the announcement earlier this week that 10 F-35s will deploy to Puerto Rico startled some, but it is actually far from unprecedented. In fact, something similar was happening for years, decades ago. This was Coronet Nighthawk, which employed U.S. Air Force fighters to patrol against suspected drug traffickers.
