The U.S. and its NATO allies served notice Nov. 7 that they will formally suspend their participation in a 1990 treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe, marking the demise of another landmark arms control agreement. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s move follows Russia’s formal withdrawal from the accord on Nov. 7 and longstanding Western complaints that Moscow wasn’t honoring the terms of the treaty.
The days of the AC-130J Ghostrider’s hefty 105mm cannon may be numbered. U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command confirmed to Defense News it is considering removing this howitzer-sized weapon, used to carry out punishing strikes on ground targets, from the aircraft as early as 2026.
The first five F-16s that will be used to train Ukrainian pilots as part of a European initiative touched down in Romania Nov. 7. The arrival of the Dutch jets at the new training center is an important milestone toward the Ukrainian Air Force introducing F-16s itself, something that Kyiv long pushed for, and which is now also being assisted by a parallel training effort being run in the United States.
The White House cautioned Israel on Nov. 7 against reoccupying Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that his country could hold a security role there “for an indefinite period” once the war is over. “We’re having active discussions with our Israeli counterparts about what post-conflict Gaza looks like,” John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, told reporters.
In the event of a prolonged war in the Pacific, injured U.S. troops might be saved by blood provided by U.S. allies, thanks to a series of formal international blood pacts the military says will soon be in place.
The space tracking firm LeoLabs over the past year tracked two Russian satellites performing rendezvous and proximity operations. These satellites—Resurs-P3 and Cosmos-2562—conducted maneuvers that offer a glimpse of the potential hazards that U.S. and allied spacecraft could face in low Earth orbit, the company said.
Major defense contractors in the United Kingdom and Poland Nov. 7 finalized a landmark, $4.9 billion-plus agreement to develop a “next generation” extended-range air defense system for Poland, a move the British Ministry of Defense tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville acknowledged on Tuesday that there’s urgency to resolving his blockade that’s left more than 400 military promotions in limbo in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. In contrast to previous hardline statements, the Alabama Republican signaled a rare openness to ending the impasse ahead of a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP senators later on Nov. 7.
The Air Force’s vast fields of underground nuclear missile silos are rarely disturbed by more than the occasional wandering cow or floating spy balloon. But the service is now asking Congress to help with another unexpected danger: towering wind turbines, which are growing in number and size, and are edging closer to the sites each year.
An Air Force plan to relocate squadrons of elite close-air support airmen on Army bases, consolidating from eight locations down to just two, is alarming GOP lawmakers, who claim the move will harm military readiness and are pressing the service for more details. Tactical Air Control Party airmen are part of a special warfare job in the Air Force and embed with other services, such as the Army and Marines, to help scout and guide air support in the heat of battle. It's one of the service's toughest jobs and involves rigorous physical training and hazardous assignments.
The U.S. Air Force is shopping for a new contractor to operate the fleet of Boeing 737-600s, popularly known as “Janet,” that ferries workers from Las Vegas to highly secretive locations in the region.
These soldiers, dubbed ‘The Forgotten Bastards,’ saw heavy combat during the Black Hawk Down incident, but have yet to be recognized for their battlefield heroism.
