President Biden’s top military adviser says the U.S. has resolved that people—not computers—should continue making life-or-death decisions in war. Responding to widespread concerns about the power of artificial intelligence, Gen. Mark Milley said U.S. policy—unlike that of some “adversarial countries”—is “to ensure that humans remain in the decision-making loop.” The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reflected on the changing nature of warfare in an interview on the eve of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, when thousands of U.S. and allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany.
Now that debate around Ukraine getting F-16s is largely concluded, the questions of where the jets will come from and what weapons will be provided with them loom large. There has been a remarkable amount of precedent already set for transferring advanced weapons to Ukraine that can be used by the F-16.
A major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed June 6, flooding villages, endangering crops and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, which sits on the Dnieper River in an area Moscow has controlled for more than a year. Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area, where the river separates the two sides.
Ride in a Ukrainian Mig-29 to experience flying low and fast to avoid Russian radar. Ukraine believes replacing some of its Soviet-era fighter jets with American made F-16s can give it a decisive advantage over the Russians.
Capitol Hill is turning its attention to a 5.2 percent pay bump troops are slated to get next year after lawmakers struck a deal to avert a default on U.S. debts that capped government spending. The deal limited spending levels for next year's defense budget at the same amount of money the Biden administration requested in its budget submission to Congress earlier this year, and a 5.2% raise was included in that request.
Troops with LGBTQ+ family members have been forced to move to new bases because of harassment at school, a Department of the Air Force official said. “When I'm forced to move families from installations, because their school will do nothing when their LGBT kid is being bullied—that worries me, because that's distracting from the mission, that's detracting from our readiness,” said Alex Wagner, assistant Air Force secretary for manpower and reserve affairs.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants to pass a supplemental spending bill this year to address threats from China, he told reporters June 6, while also suggesting the next Ukraine aid package would come in “at a much smaller level” than before. The proposition from Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., comes amid a flurry of proposals from defense hawks on Capitol Hill to bypass the $886 billion military spending top line laid out in the debt ceiling deal that President Joe Biden signed into law over the weekend.
Virtually every part of the Department of the Air Force’s drive to modernize is being shaped by Secretary Frank Kendall’s seven Operational Imperatives—lines of effort that address the most important and urgent challenges facing the Air Force today. Now, the department and industry are working together to develop solutions for each imperative, and the results will likely change the Air Force and Space Force for the next generation. Keep up with all the latest news on each Operational Imperative.
The Space Force’s primary acquisition command is seeking to establish a new, consolidated budget basket for commercial tech and services to underpin its multi-pronged effort to more rapidly and effectively take advantage of industry innovation, according to a senior officials responsible for the effort.
On June 6, 1944, 79 years ago, over 160,000 Allied troops were sent to cross the English Channel onto the beaches of Normandy, France. The ensuing operation, Operation Overlord—launched by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and known in the U.S. as “D-Day”—was the first of many in the fight to liberate Western Europe from Adolf Hitler’s grasp. After almost eight decades, the largest amphibious operation in history has become saturated with numerous tales of valor and lore, but not all of them are true. Today we are breaking down fact from fiction, myth from verity.