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Bloomberg
Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria following Donald Trump’s order for US forces to pull back aided the Islamic State group and damaged ties with Kurdish-led militias, according to a new assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA’s assessment, part of a quarterly report, concluded that Islamic State “exploited the Turkish incursion and subsequent drawdown of U.S. troops to reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad.”
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Reuters
The Pentagon on Nov. 21 denied a South Korean news report saying that the United States was considering a significant cut to its troop numbers in South Korea if Seoul does not contribute more to the costs of the deployment.
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Breaking Defense
Despite rising budgets and high-level attention to electronic warfare, the Pentagon’s “efforts have been unfocused and are likely to fail,” warns a congressionally mandated study published Nov. 21. What the US needs, the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments report says, is a radically new approach that can outfox Russia and China.
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Jane's Defence Weekly
Draken International's first regenerated Dassault Mirage F1 multirole fighter that will be used in US Air Force adversary air training made its first flight in Lakeland, Fla., on Nov. 12, according to a company statement. The supersonic, radar-equipped Mirage F1 is one of 24 former military fighter aircraft being regenerated by Draken International and assisted by Paramount Group-subsidiary Paramount Aerospace Systems.
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Defense News
NATO allies worried US President Donald Trump will abandon the Open Skies Treaty have been told the administration views the arms control agreement as a danger to US national security, and that unless those nations can assuage such concerns, the US will likely pull out, Defense News has learned. At a meeting in Brussels last week, Trump administration officials laid out for the first time a full suite of concerns with the treaty and made clear they were seriously considering an exit.
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Military Times
The number of places where the US military spilled or suspects it discharged perfluorinated compounds has grown, Pentagon officials said Nov. 20, but they did not say where or how many sites are under investigation for possible contamination. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Robert McMahon said Nov. 20 that continued Department of Defense efforts to identify locations with potentially harmful levels of chemicals uncovered more sites, namely National Guard facilities.
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Defense One
Taking a page from the Air Force, the US Army is expanding its use of artificial intelligence that can predict when its aircraft will break, according to a top service official. If successful in upcoming trials, the technology will be used more broadly to help manage maintenance and spare parts, said James McPherson, the Army’s No. 2 civilian.
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The Hill
Senate Armed Services Committee leaders on Nov. 20 demanded the Air Force investigate reports that a major US military housing provider falsified maintenance records for years at a Texas base in order to gain millions of dollars in performance bonuses. Responding to a joint CBS News and Reuters report that Balfour Beatty employees routinely doctored its records at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) “urge the Air Force and appropriate federal law enforcement agencies to investigate this fully so we can truly understand what is going on and how pervasive this problem is,” according to a statement from the two lawmakers.
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Phys.org
Getting stuck on a muddy road is a hassle for anyone, but for the US Army it could be far more serious—a matter of life and death in some parts of the world. That's one of the reasons the US Air Force HQ 557th Weather Wing is now using data about soil moisture from a NASA satellite in the weather forecasts, warnings and advisories that it issues for the Army and the Air Force.
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Stars and Stripes
Two of America’s most important Pacific allies have agreed to participate in annual air force exercises in each other’s territory starting in 2020. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force will be a regular participant in the Pitch Black air drills, held every two years in Australia’s Northern Territory, the two countries’ defense ministers announced Nov. 20. The Royal Australian Air Force will also be a regular participant in Bushido-Guardian, a bilateral fighter exercise held in Japan for the first time this year.
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WTHR
A retired marine from Mooresville, Ind., is about to be reunited with a part of his life he never thought he'd see again.
