Moving more U.S. ships and aircraft into the Middle East region has deterred Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf, the commander of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command said Oct. 4. The U.S. in July ramped up forces in the region after Iran harassed ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway. The Pentagon deployed a portion of the Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group with a Marine expeditionary unit.
The military service academies are all following the spirit of a nearly one-year-old law that allows cadets and Midshipmen who have children while enrolled to continue their education, even though the Pentagon is nearly a year behind schedule on releasing a formal policy. A Department of Defense official told Military.com that the formal written policy enabling cadets or Midshipmen to retain parental guardianship while attending an academy “will be published soon.”
The Air Force plans to activate the first two of four squadrons within its new spectrum warfare wing Oct. 25 with their primary focus on assessment and readiness. The squadrons are part of the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group, which sits beneath the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing. This first-of-its-kind wing, created in 2021, is focused on three missions: rapid reprogramming, target and waveform development, and assessment of Air Force EW capabilities.
The Space Force's Rapid Capabilities Office is working with the Hyperspace Challenge accelerator to identify companies with mature space technology of potential use to the Space Force and the rest of the Defense Department. The partnership is a first for the six-year-old business accelerator, which had previously focused on helping innovative startups win U.S. government contracts in the growing space domain.
The 13-year-old U.S. Cyber Command had grown dramatically in size, power and bureaucratic heft since its creation in 2010. Its most recent expansion came this week, with the beginning of a new federal fiscal year Oct. 1, when new fiscal and hiring authorities granted by the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act came into effect.
More than one million Iranian rounds of munitions that were seized by the U.S. military late last year have been sent to Ukraine to assist the effort repel Russia’s invasion, Central Command said. The seizure occurred as Iran was sending weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Booz Allen Hamilton won a seven-year $630 million contract from the U.S. Space Force for systems engineering and integration of satellite systems used for missile warning, environmental monitoring and surveillance, the company announced Oct. 4. Based in McLean, Va., Booz Allen is a large consulting firm that provides management and technology services. The Space Force contract is for support services of satellite programs run by the Space Systems Command’s space sensing program office, including the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) and legacy constellations.
A leading House lawmaker is downplaying the value of an Air Force and Pentagon proposal that would allow services to start working on new programs before Congress officially passes a budget funding them. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told Defense News last week he is “still on the other side” of backing the so-called “quickstart” proposal. Instead, Wittman said from his office on Capitol Hill, “Congress needs to do its job” and pass spending bills on time.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) launched bipartisan legislation yesterday to establish the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer's Governing Council intended to oversee the Defense Department's future AI priorities. The legislation stipulates the CDAO has the power to own any data the department collects with the goal of maintaining technological and strategic advantage over adversaries.
Game maker Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty Endowment have a lot to celebrate this year, and they're kicking off the party on Oct. 5 with the annual C.O.D.E. Bowl, a gaming tournament that brings together U.S. military esports teams and those from the United Kingdom (and, for the first time, Canada) armed forces—along with top “Call of Duty” streamers—to compete for the C.O.D.E. Bowl trophy and bragging rights.