In the early hours of Oct. 14, Denys Sienik, the top Ukrainian diplomat in Washington, D.C., sent a frantic message to U.S. lawmakers: Ukraine was suddenly facing restrictions on its military-grade Starlink terminals, and he didn’t know why. The change, Sienik warned, would give Russia an upper hand in the war and make it tougher for Kyiv to intercept strikes against Ukrainian civilians.
The U.S. military has developed new strike plans that include potentially using the so-called “mother of all bombs” to target Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites should President Donald Trump give the order to resume combat operations either before or after the midterm elections, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
American service members have been awarded 202 Purple Hearts in the Iran war so far, officials told Task & Purpose, the vast majority to soldiers in the Army or Army Reserve. Purple Hearts are awarded to U.S. service members from all branches who are wounded or killed in support of U.S. combat operations.
Selected U.S. Marines and other members of the joint force are expected to go head-to-head against an AI-controlled adversary later this year in wargames that involve drone swarms and carrier strike groups, according to an administrative message released Oct. 14.
The United States is sending several hundred Army soldiers to train and conduct exercises with local forces in Latin America as the Pentagon expands its campaign to combat drug trafficking in the region, according to U.S. military officials.
China’s new airfield in Laos is a work in progress, with satellite imagery showing many areas where construction appeared to be ongoing even as it was officially opened at a September ceremony.
Russia targeted Ukraine with a "massive" aerial attack, including waves of drones, launching so many of them that "there was not a single hour when our skies were clear" for most of Oct. 14 and into the morning of Oct. 15, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Russia has nearly finished building a major new base for launching jet-powered drones in just six weeks, according to defense experts and a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, in the latest expansion of its attack capability close to Ukraine.
France will develop a next-generation combat aircraft domestically as a successor to the Rafale, after a joint project with Germany and Spain for a future combat air system collapsed earlier this year, Air and Space Force Chief of Staff Jérôme Bellanger said.
An overnight attack on the Borisoglebsk military airfield in Russia's Voronezh region hit six Su-34M bomber jets, destroying four and damaging two, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Oct. 15. "The Russians used them (the Su-34Ms) to terrorize our people. These aircraft were ready for new strikes on Ukraine and were equipped with aerial bombs," Zelenskyy said.
The Government Accountability Office is sending a clear message that every parent tells their child—two wrongs cannot and will not make a right. In this case, the Air Force inadvertently disclosed pricing information to one bidder for the $1.9 billion Eglin Operations and Maintenance Services II contract. EOMS II covers research, development, testing and training support work at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida. To make up for that mistake, the Air Force decided to release the information to all the bidders to even the playing field.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has come for data centers. Forces from both sides have recently ramped up attacks on infrastructure that serves as the backbone to web-connected services and artificial intelligence systems.
“Spending time with senior Ukrainian military officers who are directing their country’s war for survival is a reminder of how much lies behind the daily reports from the battlefield. Maps tell us where forces are positioned. Intelligence can identify capabilities and vulnerabilities. Neither fully captures the judgments, institutional constraints, or accumulated experience of commanders who must make decisions while lives hang in the balance,” writes retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Ahead of BYU's top-10 matchup against No. 2 Notre Dame, a team of F-35A Lightning IIs will fly over LaVell Edwards Stadium. Hill Air Force Base said its jets will fly just 1,000 feet above the stadium ahead of the game's kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17.
