The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to two U.S. officials. This latest package will include missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defense system, munitions for howitzers and tanks, Javelin rockets, mine-clearing equipment, 12 million rounds of small arms ammunition, and demolition munitions, said a U.S. official.
DARPA, the Pentagon agency that funds moonshot technology innovations, is hosting a two-year competition for artificial intelligence experts to create new ways to bolster the world’s cybersecurity. The competition launched Aug. 9 at the cybersecurity conference Black Hat in Las Vegas. It asks participants to create tools that can be used by anyone to help identify and fix holes in software to keep hackers from exploiting them.
The National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and U.S. Space Command signed an agreement to improve threat intelligence sharing with commercial satellite operators. The agencies last month signed a Commercial Space Protection Tri-Seal Strategic Framework that is intended “to better enable protection of commercial remote sensing space assets vital to the intelligence collection mission,” said Peter Muend, director of the NRO’s Commercial Systems Program Office.
The way modern Airmen and Guardians prepare for the future fight is changing, with live, virtual, and constructive training offering new ways to practice essential skills. Learn more about how virtual and augmented reality, simulated environments, and other technologies are helping train warfighters everywhere from the cockpit to the maintenance depot.
The Airmen have five seconds. Poised next to nearly three tons of cargo — plastic barrels of water—these loadmasters aboard a C-17 airlifter know the stakes. If they airdrop the precious supplies too early, the cargo ends up in the Pacific Ocean. Too late? Same result. When the countdown hits zero, the barrels zip down the open ramp and dip off the edge. White parachutes unfurl and the cargo sails to its destination: a dirt strip on the edge of Tinian, the tiny island outpost 100 miles north of Guam.
After lengthy negotiations with the two aerospace giants, the Air Force has secured agreements from Lockheed Martin and Boeing to obtain technical data packages (TDPs) for two new helicopters, according to service officials. Speaking during the Life Cycle Industry Days conference on Aug. 1, Air Force HH-60W program manager Tracy Patrick and MH-139A program lead Lt. Col. Jacob Debevec both stated that negotiations over TDPs for the respective aircraft have been successful, with data set to be delivered in months.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is planning a first flight test of some elements that will make up the air and missile defense architecture of Guam in December 2024, the agency’s acting director said Aug. 9 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. The test will involve the Navy’s Aegis weapon system deployed to Guam and the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor, Rear Adm. Doug Williams said. He is serving as the acting director while the nominated director, Maj. Gen. Heath Collins, awaits Senate confirmation.
What’s the best way to take out a highly maneuverable, hypersonic missile that bounces off the atmosphere and screams towards its terrestrial targets? In the view of a senior military official, just take the thing out before it even launches, of course. Rear Adm. Sean Regan, NORTHCOM director of operations, told the annual Space and Missile Defense (SMD) Symposium in Huntsville, Ala., on Aug. 9 that rather than only trying to knock a missile out of the sky, his command’s new strategy for future defense of the homeland leans heavily on emerging technologies and capabilities, including directed energy weapons, autonomous vehicles, and electronic warfare to take out adversary missiles and other threats before, or shortly after, they get off the ground.
Ten Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense zone on Aug. 9 accompanying five Chinese warships engaged in "combat readiness" patrols, the island's defense ministry said, the second such incursion this week. Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activity near it over the past three years, as Beijing steps up pressure to try to force the island to accept its sovereignty.
The Marine Corps identified the MV-22 Osprey part that was failing and causing dangerous hard clutch mishaps in 2010—more than a decade before the mechanical problem resulted in the deaths of five Marines, according to a document obtained by Military.com. The document, drafted by the service, also reveals that the Marines and the manufacturer made several efforts to fix the problem years before the deadly 2022 Osprey crash in the California desert.
President Biden issued an executive order on Aug. 9 that authorizes the Treasury Department to regulate certain U.S. investments into Chinese entities involved in activities related to semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence systems—all of which are technologies that could fuel Beijing’s military modernization and intelligence capabilities.
Imagine you work the tower or deck of an aircraft carrier. Pretty exciting, huh? Sorry about all the hearing loss. Now, what are the most exciting things you can imagine flying by? An F-18 flying high off in the distance? Pretty standard. An F-14 buzzing right by the tower? Very 1986 of you. How about a B-52 BUFF flying below the deck, just over the waves? You either have a very active imagination or already know about the 1990 Air Force flyby of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.