Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Tom Kelly hosted a delegation of Vietnamese government officials led by Vice Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc for security talks in Washington D.C. The Oct. 1 meeting, the sixth US-Vietnam political security and defense dialogue, was the first such get-together since President Barack Obama and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang announced a new comprehensive partnership between the two countries in July. In a joint statement released after the meeting, the two parties noted the progress they have made in negotiating a civil nuclear agreement. They pledged to advance nonproliferation issues and strengthen cooperation in cyber defense, disaster response, and search and rescue. The two countries also promised to continue cooperation in resolving legacies of the Vietnam War, such as POW/MIA accounting, dioxin and Agent Orange contamination, and unexploded ordnance. The seventh US-Vietnam PSDD will take place next year in Hanoi.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.