Capitol Hill is preparing to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a joint session of Congress this week, Axios has learned. Zelensky has not left Ukraine since Russia launched its brutal invasion on Feb. 24, unleashing incalculable suffering on the Ukrainian people and triggering shock waves throughout the global economy.
The Pentagon’s Cyber National Mission Force has been supporting Ukraine’s digital defense with daily consultations, a collaboration that has helped unearth thousands of warning indicators of potentially compromised Ukrainian computer networks, a top U.S. cyber commander said. The United States had a team of nearly 40 people from the force in Ukraine to help the country shore up its defenses before all U.S. troops were withdrawn from the country before the Russian invasion.
The U.S. Army and Air Force recently teamed up to demonstrate how a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft could be used to refuel M1 Abrams tanks. The exercise was intended to explore how this could be done all while the C-130J’s engines are running, a method that is often employed in an operational environment when dwell time needs to be kept at a minimum. However, doing so between a Super Hercules and an Abrams is a particularly intriguing development, and it isn't clear if this has been demonstrated before, and if so, how much.
U.S. troops have captured six suspected fighters with the Islamic State group, including an alleged senior ISIS operative, amid an uptick in raids conducted in Syria this month. U.S. Central Command announced on Dec. 20 that U.S. troops had launched three helicopter raids in eastern Syria over the past 48 hours. One of the prisoners was identified as “al-Zubaydi,” an alleged senior member of ISIS who is accused of being involved with the planning ISIS attacks in Syria, a CENTCOM news release says.
The U.S. Defense Department formally raised the status of a critical, but clandestine cyber force, a move that underlines the military’s evolving role in the digital domain. U.S. Cyber Command boss Gen. Paul Nakasone on Dec. 19 officiated a ceremony establishing the Cyber National Mission Force, or CNMF, as a subordinate unified command.
A nearly $4 billion U.S. Air Force contract has been awarded to ensure the ongoing operation of a strategic base in Greenland, the Defense Department said in a statement. The $3.95 billion deal, awarded to Nuuk, Greenland-based contractor Inuksuk A/S, provides for an array of operation and maintenance requirements at Thule Air Base—the military’s northernmost site. The main mission there involves monitoring polar-orbiting satellites and staying on the lookout for ballistic missile launches, as well as supporting any additional needs north of the Arctic Circle.
The world watched in horror as Russia invaded Ukraine, causing massive loss of life and—much less importantly, but still sadly—the destruction of the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mriya. After two years of canceled summer air shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aviation reporters got to go back to the UK for the Farnborough Airshow and Royal International Air Tattoo. And after many, many years of speculation, the B-21 bomber finally made its first public appearance.
The Department of Veterans Affairs' medical budget will see a 22 percent increase this coming year under the sweeping government spending bill released Dec. 20. Lawmakers are set to approve $118.7 billion for veterans medical care for 2023, which is $21.7 billion more than was approved for 2022 and is equal to the amount requested by the VA earlier this year.
Every Dec. 24, North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, detects an unusual blip on its radars. On Christmas Eve, an object flying "faster than twilight" measuring an estimated 75 candy canes long, 80 lollipops wide and weighing in at 75,000 gumdrops rockets through North American air space, according to data on NORAD's website. American F-22s and Canadian CF-18s quickly scramble to get eyes on the target.