Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden announced a deal March 19 to fund the government ahead of a weekend deadline, breaking an impasse regarding money for the Department of Homeland Security, which had held up talks. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the DHS deal in a statement, saying it will allow Congress to finish funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in September. “House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible,” he said.
The U.S. Air Force has scrapped plans to flight test an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship armed with a laser directed energy weapon after years of delays. The Airborne High Energy Laser program for the AC-130J had for a time looked set to become the U.S. military's first operational aerial laser directed weapon. This all also comes amid a review of the AC-130J's current and future planned capabilities, which could see the gunships lose their 105mm howitzers, as part of a broader shift away from counter-insurgency operations to planning for a high-end fight.
The commander of an air control group at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., has died, the Air Force announced late March 18. “It is with heavy hearts that today we report the loss of Col Bruce ‘Munch’ Avriett, the 552nd Air Control Group commander,” the 552nd Air Control Wing, which the group falls under, posted on its official Facebook page that day along with condolences to family and friends.
The Air Force is interested in a “broad” range of engines that could potentially power its upcoming tanker fleet and has begun industry outreach to assess its options, according to a request for information (RFI) released by the service March 18. The RFI seeks input on the capabilities of existing engines and opportunities to scale them up, as well as the potential for introducing entirely new powerplants that would power the service’s planned future refuelers known as the Next Generation Air Refueling System (NGAS).
The U.S. Air Force plans to complete certification of the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk on its newest tanker by the end of this month, in spite of the fleet having been retired from “official” service.
Following a record hiring effort last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs needs to trim 10,000 full-time positions, mainly from its medical side, by 2025, officials said this month. VA officials said the reduction will largely be made through attrition—by not filling positions after employees depart or retire—and likely will primarily affect supervisory and support staff.
Ukrainian leaders say every inch of territory is worth fighting for, but their military is worn down after a failed counteroffensive last year and with a much-needed additional aid package stuck in Congress. Russia, with a larger army and a war economy clunking into gear, is pressing forward against its smaller neighbor.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is asking Congress for $11 billion more than the White House’s fiscal 2025 defense budget request, an amount that is three times greater than the wish list it submitted last year. Much of the money requested in the annual list, obtained by Defense News, would go toward constructing infrastructure to host U.S. forces in the region, classified space programs, munitions, and Guam defenses. The U.S. is aiming to bolster its presence in the region to deter China.
The Defense Innovation Unit, the Pentagon’s outpost in Silicon Valley tasked with integrating commercial tech into the military, is increasing its support of the Space Force’s efforts to shorten the time it takes to plan space missions. Maj. David Ryan, space portfolio program manager at the Defense Innovation Unit, said DIU is working with the Space Force’s Space Safari office to identify and select commercial providers for an upcoming responsive mission named Victus Haze.
The top two generals who oversaw the deadly evacuation of Afghanistan faced renewed scrutiny March 19. Retired Gens. Mark A. Milley and Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, career military officers who served in senior roles under both presidents, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee as part of its oversight investigation. Both men said that while the military had built a plan to withdraw all U.S. troops, diplomats, citizens, and at-risk Afghanistan in 2021, President Joe Biden instead decided to leave open the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and withdraw the military, setting conditions for security to crumble with Americans still in harm’s way.
A new report released March 19 gives the United States a “D” in defense modernization, the result of the Defense Department showing little improvement in transitioning the innovative gear from fledgling defense tech firms into mass-produced equipment available for battlefield use. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute released its second annual National Security Innovation Base report card, which assigns grades to key metrics tied to the Pentagon’s ability to leverage the work of the defense companies, startups, and research laboratories it depends on to develop leap-ahead technologies.
The seemingly phantom American “Ghost Army” was one of many problems plaguing the Wehrmacht in the summer of 1944. The Germans were not, as they believed, fighting a numerically superior American force, but battling artists, engineers, and inflatables. Now, after nearly a decade of research and grass-roots lobbying on their behalf, the masterful performers of the Ghost Army are slated to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.