North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters Sept. 28, its neighbors said, a day before U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was to visit South Korea. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the North Korean missiles lifted off 10 minutes apart from its capital region and flew toward the waters off its east coast.
Lockheed Martin and Verizon are experimenting with 5G-enabled drones and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance payloads in an effort that could ultimately enhance U.S. military command and control and in-the-field targeting abilities. The two companies said they were able to securely share and analyze real-time data and other intel captured by a swarm of drones via fifth-generation wireless networks, both private and public.
When L3 Technologies and Harris Corp. merged in 2019, executives touted lofty goals of competing against the largest defense firms. Three years later, L3Harris Technologies is winning Pentagon deals worth billions of dollars, and its CEO Chris Kubasik envisions even more growth. “We're punching above our weight, and we need to continue to grow, including acquisitions, to get to scale, to be able to compete on a level playing field,” Kubasilk said in an interview.
France and the United Kingdom both announced important hikes in their defense budgets this week. But where the U.K. remained vague as to what the extra money would be spent on, France gave precise details about how it plans to spend the extra euros. Under a new budget proposal, France’s defense budget in 2023 would be €43.9 billion ($42.2 billion), an increase of €3 billion ($2.89 billion, a 7.4 percent raise) over the 2022 figure.
A 600-year-old Japanese sword that had been in American possession since World War II was returned to the Japanese in a private ceremony Sept. 19 at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The momentous ceremony was attended by prominent U.S. Air and Space Force leaders including Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, a Japan-America Air Force Goodwill Association (JAAGA) delegation representing the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and AFA’s Chairman of the Board Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force No. 14 Gerald R. Murray (ret.). During the ceremony, the sword passed from AFA President retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright to the President of JAAGA, retired Gen. Sugiyama, JASDF.
A new study from the Pentagon shows that 77 percent of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs, or having mental and physical health problems. A slide detailing the findings from the Pentagon's 2020 Qualified Military Available Study shared with Military.com shows a 6 percent increase from the latest 2017 Department of Defense research that showed 71 percent of Americans would be ineligible for service.
The new $1.1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine, announced by the Pentagon on Sept. 28, includes counter-drone capabilities as well as more powerful radars for unmanned aerial systems. Drones have played a key role during the Ukraine-Russia war for both sides, and the U.S. is providing the Ukrainian military with unmanned systems as well as the means to defeat them.
Thanks to the hard work of its maintenance Airmen, an Air Force EC-130H electronic warfare aircraft named “Caesar” just received black-letter status following an inspection at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. In a branch where even the youngest fighter jets rarely achieve such status, the black letter EC-130H is a remarkable accomplishment. Caesar is a seasoned 49 years old: The turboprop plane was first delivered to the Air Force in 1973, the same year the U.S. military withdrew from Vietnam.
Colorado’s senators in a Sept. 27 letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall argue that a final basing decision on U.S. Space Command needs to be made as soon as possible in light of the Ukraine conflict and China’s expansion in the Pacific. The letter marks yet another push by Colorado lawmakers to reverse the Department of the Air Force’s January 2021 recommendation that Space Command, currently located at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., move to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.
A bus of endurance athletes from around the globe left Nairobi, Kenya, and rumbled across hundreds of miles into the wide-open wilderness of Eastern Africa. After their seven-hour journey, the cramped and sweaty passengers stepped off the bus and into their base camp at the Lewa Conservancy. That was just the beginning. The runners would embark on a 143-mile ultramarathon, across four wildlife conservancies in support of wildlife rangers who protect Africa's most endangered species. First across the finish line was an Air National Guard member from Hampton Falls, N.H.—Senior Master Sgt. Jeff Delorey, the superintendent of health services with the 157th Medical Group.