Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met for high stakes talks on Sept. 24 at an urgent moment for the U.S.-China relationship, with the world’s preeminent powers divided on the war in Iran and still grappling to find common ground on trade and how to best navigate the jarring advances of artificial intelligence.
Russia is expected to carry out hybrid attacks at a greater frequency against NATO member states in the coming months, and there is a growing risk of a limited military attack, according to a new report from the Danish intelligence service. This assessment is part of the DDIS’ latest intelligence threat report, published Sept. 24 and focused on the deteriorating security landscape across Europe.
The Pentagon’s enterprise-wide generative artificial intelligence platform is continuing to see high levels of use across the department, with millions of civilians, contractors, and military personnel taking advantage of the service. In a discussion with Punchbowl News on Sept. 23, Defense Department Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Cameron Stanley said “as of last week, we've had over 2 million people in a week across all three models log in and use AI.”
Drone threats from criminal cartels currently present a “very real” danger on America’s southern border, according to U.S. military officials deployed there who said so-called “narco-terrorists” are increasingly adapting their technology-enabled tactics and tradecraft. Though they repeatedly declined to discuss details about the frequency, payloads, size, and proximity of such unmanned aerial system threats (citing operational security concerns), U.S. Joint Task Force-Southern Border personnel discussed their ongoing mission with a small group of reporters who were invited to cover Northern Command’s Falcon Peak 26.2 counter-drone exercise this week.
Jeff Bezos has invested $30 billion in Blue Origin since founding it in 2000, including his latest infusion of $2 billion, as the Amazon.com founder tries to build a company to rival SpaceX.
The Navy is launching a new Robotics and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Center that is tasked with creating the tactics, techniques, and procedures for unmanned systems in the Navy, the service announced Sept. 24.
L3Harris Technologies has completed the preliminary design review for 18 new satellites in development for the Space Development Agency’s missile warning, tracking, and defense-centric satellite constellation, the company announced Sept. 24.
The U.S. Air Force has selected 34 companies in 17 states to compete for construction and environmental projects under a contract program worth up to $3.5 billion through September 2034. According to a Pentagon notice released Sept. 23, work will be done across various locations in the United States.
NATO's top commander said on Sept. 24 the United States would continue to provide "critical but more limited capabilities" to the alliance as Europeans take up a greater role in defending the continent.
The Air Force Thunderbirds might be the most heavily photographed airplanes in the U.S. military. The Pentagon’s official photography archive lists over 20,000 photos and 500 videos of the team’s pilots and F-16 jets. But some of the most remarkable images ever released of the demonstration team were made public Sept. 21 inside the pages of a formal accident investigation report on the cause of a crash of one of the team’s jets last December.
