The North American Aerospace Defense Command said Jan. 19 that multiple aircraft are on their way to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. In an unusual move, NORAD’s announcement repeatedly said that the mission, which “will support various long-planned NORAD activities,” is a routine operation.
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 Active-duty Soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a potential deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials confirmed Jan. 18.
The U.S. military conducted a strike in northwest Syria on Jan. 16 that killed an al Qaeda leader with ties to an alleged ISIS gunman who killed three Americans in an ambush last month, according to U.S. Central Command.
China quietly mobilized thousands of fishing boats twice in recent weeks to form massive floating barriers of at least 200 miles long, showing a new level of coordination that could give Beijing more ways to impose control in contested seas.
After rounds of prototyping, the Navy is ready to deploy two of its medium-sized drone boats this year and even integrate one with a carrier strike group, according to a service official.
“Thirty-five years after Operation Desert Storm, the conflict remains the last major regional war fought—and decisively won—by the United States. That fact alone should give pause to anyone concerned with America’s ability to prevail in future conflicts against capable state adversaries. Yet the true significance of Desert Storm is not found in recounting the events of 1991 or celebrating a past victory. Its enduring value lies in understanding why it succeeded so decisively—and why the United States subsequently moved away from the very principles that made that success possible,” writes retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, Dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
U.S. forces have fully withdrawn from an air base in western Iraq in implementation of an agreement with the Iraqi government, Iraqi officials said Jan. 17. Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind down a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq by September 2025, with U.S. forces departing bases where they had been stationed.
One of the most cutting-edge topics in combat airpower is collaborative mission autonomy. This is the technology that teams a crewed aircraft, like an F-35 or B-21, with an uncrewed aircraft, like a CCA. Collaboration promises to unlock greater mission effects than what either plane could realize on its own. Heather Penney explores this with Steve Fino and Ryan Bunge from Collins Aerospace.
The Army’s top civilian leader said that the service will “kill NIPR” at multiple locations—likely starting next month—in an experiment to see if commercial internet solutions would be more effective. ... NIPR, which stands for Non-classified Internet Protocol Router, is the military’s communication network for unclassified information. Defense Department personnel can access commercial browsers or email through NIPR, for example, but the network is owned and secured by the military.
With much of the world’s attention on the growing rift between the United States, Denmark, and its allies over Greenland, the Royal Danish Air Force became the latest NATO operator to retire the iconic F-16 fighter. While the F-35A is already on duty to defend Denmark, the Danish F-16s will continue to serve with Argentina as well as Ukraine, the latter of which have already seen combat.
Syria’s president forced major concessions from the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led militia that has dominated the northeast of his country, after launching a lightning offensive to seize strategic assets from the group and announcing a cease-fire.
Federalized National Guard troops will remain deployed in Washington, D.C., through the end of the year, according to two officials. About 2,400 Guard members are currently stationed in the District, the officials said. With the exception of troops from D.C. itself, the forces have been drawn from Republican-led states, including Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ohio.
The United States Air Force's Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was retired in 2008, but it still has to go to work until at least 2034. Though it no longer sees combat, the Air Force has found a way to continue taking advantage of this retired fighter jet's utility, technology, and stealth capabilities through training exercises.
