Defense news

Follow @Defense_news_us

• The US needs ‘weapons in space,’ SPACECOM head says

  08-04-2025 21:55 via defenseone.com
  
  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The head of U.S. Space Command is calling for weapons to be deployed in space, the most explicit call yet for offensive space capabilities. “It's time that we can clearly say that we need space fires and we need weapon systems. We need orbital interceptors. And what do we call these? We call these weapons, and we need them to deter a space conflict and to be successful if we end up in such a fight,” Gen. Stephen Whiting said Tuesday at Space Symposi
  
  Read more

• Made in the USA: foreign defense companies eye bigger slice of the American pie

  16-05-2025 21:33 via defenseone.com
  
  Despite the Trump administration’s jarring shifts in foreign and trade policy, some international companies are laying plans to expand their defense business in the United States, executives said in interviews.Saab increased its American manufacturing footprint this past year, adding facilities in Rhode Island to build uncrewed underwater vehicles and munitions in Michigan. The company also has a presence in Indiana for the fuselage for the Boeing-Saab T-7 jet and deep tech research.&ldquo
  
  Read more

• The D Brief: Army Reserve’s Pacific plan; What Ukraine needs; Peace talks in Turkey; Misinformation studies cancelled; And a bit more.

  16-05-2025 17:18 via defenseone.com
  
  Army designating Reserve units for repeat deployments to INDOPACOM. As Army units from Washington state to South Korea prepare themselves for a potential war with China, the service has decided that it would like some of its reserve units to have that same Indo-Pacific expertise, Defense One’s Meghann Myers reported Thursday from AUSA’s Land Forces symposium in Honolulu.  “We ask our reserves to be globally available, but I want them to be regionally aligned,” M
  
  Read more

• Army designating Reserve units for repeat deployments to INDOPACOM

  16-05-2025 11:26 via defenseone.com
  HONOLULU—As Army units from Washington state to South Korea prepare themselves for a potential war with China, the service has decided that it would like some of its reserve units to have that same Indo-Pacific expertise, the head of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command said Thursday.With that in mind, U.S. Army Pacific in 2023 began selecting units to deploy repeatedly to the same locations, Maj. Gen. Gavin Gardner said at AUSA’s Land Forces symposium here, in an attempt to make rese
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Is Trump’s ‘F-55’ fighter jet real?

  15-05-2025 21:48 via defenseone.com
  
  “One of the things, for the people that are interested in the military, that I asked to look into—the F-35,” President Trump told an audience in Qatar on Thursday, launching into a minutes-long disquisition that left defense officials and aviation experts wondering just what he was talking about.“We’re doing an upgrade, a simple upgrade, but we’re also doing an F-55. I’m going to call it an F-55, and that’s going to be a substantial upgrade, but it
  
  Read more

• US spy chief fires intelligence leaders who disputed Trump’s Venezuela-gang claims

  15-05-2025 18:37 via defenseone.com
  Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired two top officials on the National Intelligence Council in a move aimed at ending the “weaponization and politicization” of the intelligence community, a spokesperson for her office confirmed Wednesday. Gabbard terminated NIC acting director Mike Collins and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, weeks after the intelligence body wrote an assessment that contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims about Venezuelan gang membe
  
  Read more

• The D Brief: New jets announced; Border-ops funding shift; Putin’s no-show; Europe’s trillion-dollar problem; And a bit more.

  15-05-2025 17:21 via defenseone.com
  Trump calls for “F-55” and “F-22 Super” aircraft: During his multi-day trip to the Middle East, President Trump pitched two new U.S. military jets while standing beside top U.S. aerospace executives Thursday in Qatar. “One of the things that, for the people that reach us in the military, I asked to look into, the F-35,” Trump told his audience in Doha.“We’re doing an upgrade, a simple upgrade, but we’re also doing an F-55. I’m going to
  
  Read more

• Pacific multidomain task forces are looking for long-range drones

  15-05-2025 11:24 via defenseone.com
  
  HONOLULU—Drones that can fly long distances in stormy Pacific weather are at the top of the wishlist for the 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force, which is now part of the Army’s rapid experimentation and fielding “Transformation in Contact” program.All three of the Army’s MDTFs are now part of TiC, combining the development of a new type of unit with the next generation of Army acquisitions.“We know where our gaps are, and we live in them every single day,” Brig
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Emil Michael, former Uber exec, confirmed as undersecretary for research and engineering

  15-05-2025 00:07 via breakingdefense.com
  
  In written testimony from March, Michael indicated he would look to review the structure of the R&E office, while pushing to shift a culture he described as “overly risk adverse.”
  
  Read more

• Delaying Navy’s F/A-XX next gen fighter risks US being ‘outmatched’ by China, key lawmaker says

  14-05-2025 23:26 via breakingdefense.com
  
  “We cannot wait,” Rep. Ken Calvert said. “Further, we cannot expect to grow the defense industrial base by undermining it.”
  
  Read more

• Lockheed expects June award of ‘combined’ F-35 production deal

  14-05-2025 22:38 via breakingdefense.com
  
  “What our customer is telling us now is to expect lot 18 and lot 19 to be combined into a single award,” said Lockheed Chief Financial Officer Evan Scott.
  
  Read more

• Army prepping for Pacific conflict with prepositioned equipment, logistics hubs

  14-05-2025 22:38 via defenseone.com
  
  HONOLULU – The Defense Department has struggled to get U.S.-made diapers to commissaries in Korea in the past, the former head of the Defense Commissary Agency said Tuesday, so logistics in the Indo-Pacific has a long way to go to be ready for war with China. Preparing for conflict requires not just manpower and sophisticated weapons, but the logistical might to get everything where it needs to go while enemies are trying to jam up the system. “Now we may be at a point wher
  
  Read more

• Top SASC Dem skeptical that Air Force fields F-47 in ‘two or three years’

  14-05-2025 21:30 via breakingdefense.com
  
  “I would be very pleased but very surprised that they could deliver within two or three years,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
  
  Read more

• Trump still has ‘hope’ for Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel, but hurdles lie ahead: Experts

  14-05-2025 20:46 via breakingdefense.com
  
  “I think that … rapprochement is in deep freeze and will remain in deep freeze until sometime after Gaza is resolved,” one analyst told Breaking Defense.
  
  Read more

• Army Vice to aviation community: Cuts hurt, but ‘not making them would hurt more’

  14-05-2025 19:45 via breakingdefense.com
  
  Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division will be the first to receive FLRAA, said Gen. James Mingus.
  
  Read more

• Trump, Qatar sign agreements to go ahead with $2B MQ-9B, $1B counter-drone orders

  14-05-2025 19:04 via breakingdefense.com
  
  Both deals had previously been approved, but the White House said today’s signings “mark President Trump’s intent to accelerate Qatar’s defense investment in the U.S.-Qatar security partnership — enhancing regional deterrence and benefitting the US industrial base.”
  
  Read more

• Pentagon considers big shifts for Sentinel ICBM, drone wingmen in FY25, draft documents say

  14-05-2025 17:47 via breakingdefense.com
  
  The Air Force could cut about $1 billion from the Sentinel ICBM and add hundreds of millions of dollars for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingmen program, a draft April proposal says.
  
  Read more

• The D Brief: Defense-exports deal; F-47 specs; China’s Gulf inroads; Air Force One dangers; And a bit more.

  14-05-2025 17:22 via defenseone.com
  
  At $142 billion, the White House claims it has “signed the largest defense sales agreement in history” following President Trump’s arrival to the Middle East this week for talks with regional officials, including Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday. The equipment allegedly falls under five categories: “(1) air force advancement and space capabilities, (2) air and missile defense, (3) maritime and coastal security, (4) border security and land forces mod
  
  Read more

• Belgium signs declaration with Poland to boost air power and MANPADS capabilities

  14-05-2025 14:41 via breakingdefense.com
  
  The plan from Belgium to acquire hundreds of MANPADS comes at time when Europe is investing heavily in rearmament initiatives and urgent efforts to shore up its defenses.
  
  Read more

• Keeping Black Hawk and rotary wing aviation essential with launched effects, autonomy and MOSA

  14-05-2025 14:24 via breakingdefense.com
  
  [Sponsored] With a demonstrated ability to integrate capabilities in hours with MOSA, Black Hawk can give the Army a decisive advantage across theaters.
  
  Read more

• JSOC commander likely to be SOCOM pick, sources say

  14-05-2025 03:30 via defenseone.com
  
  The Trump administration is expected to nominate Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley to lead U.S. Special Operations Command, according to sources familiar with the matter. Two former senior defense officials, a former senior military official from the special operations community, and a current senior military official said that Bradley, a Navy SEAL who now leads Joint Special Operations Command, is the frontrunner to replace Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, who took command of SOCOM i
  
  Read more

• F-47 will have 70% better combat radius than F-22, Air Force says

  14-05-2025 03:05 via defenseone.com
  
  The Air Force’s F-47 fighter jet will fly some 70 percent farther without refueling than today’s F-22s, allowing tankers to stay farther from the fray—a key advantage in a potential Pacific conflict. The planned sixth-generation fighter will have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles, according to an infographic posted Tuesday on X by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin. Combat radius refers to the distance an aircraft can travel and still have enough fu
  
  Read more

• Trump’s Qatari Air Force One would pose massive security risks

  13-05-2025 22:34 via defenseone.com
  
  President Donald Trump’s plan to use a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar as an interim Air Force One would produce massive security risks since the administration will likely forgo needed modifications to make the jet secure, according to former defense officials. Overhauling the Qatari royal family’s Boeing 747-8 to meet the rigorous standards required of a U.S. presidential aircraft would take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But Trump wants the jet by the end
  
  Read more

• How China’s tech giants wired the Gulf

  13-05-2025 22:03 via defenseone.com
  
  President Donald Trump is embarking on a trip this week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, where his agenda includes Air Force One replacements, crypto deals, and the Gulf states’ desires for U.S. concessions on nuclear and microchip security restrictions. Yet lying in the background of this trip is a new strategic and technological reality: the Persian Gulf is quickly turning into China’s favorite testbed for the next-generation of digital infrastruct
  
  Read more

• Space stalwart Troy Meink confirmed as Air Force secretary

  13-05-2025 20:51 via breakingdefense.com
  
  Meink, most recently the principal deputy director for the National Reconnaissance Office, is a relative anomaly amongst President Donald Trump’s picks for top Defense Department leaders, having an extensive history of working within the US government.
  
  Read more

• Fiber optic is the answer for DoD’s ever-increasing network bandwidth needs

  13-05-2025 20:43 via breakingdefense.com
  
  [Sponsored] “Data needs to find fiber” is the only way to achieve secure ultra-low latency security for GovCloud applications and AI demand.
  
  Read more

• DIU expands ‘Hybrid Space Architecture’ vendor pool, plans 2026 pilot

  13-05-2025 20:15 via breakingdefense.com
  
  HSA is aimed at creating a “hack-proof” internet in space comprising commercial and government SATCOM birds to underpin the Defense Department’s Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control concept to link sensors and shooters in real time.
  
  Read more

• Space Force should get a quarter of Pentagon spending, if DoD is serious about countering China

  13-05-2025 19:23 via breakingdefense.com
  
  Christopher Stone in this op-ed argues that since China sees Space as the most important domain, the US should give more money to the Space Force.
  
  Read more

• AI is helping the Pentagon go from finding targets to predicting threats

  13-05-2025 19:14 via defenseone.com
  TAMPA, Florida–Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth has satellite imagery for virtually every corner of the globe. But what keeps him awake at night are not the threats he knows about. It’s the ones he or the intelligence analysts under him might miss.  “Warning is the big behemoth for us,” the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency told Defense One on the sidelines of the Global SOF event here, “When you're talking, ‘Are we keeping an eye on all t
  
  Read more

• At nearly $142 billion, White House claims largest defense deal ‘in history’ with Saudi Arabia

  13-05-2025 18:13 via breakingdefense.com
  
  Details about purported deals are scarce, but one analysts told Breaking Defense, “When the Trump factor is involved, we should not dismiss any possibilities.”
  
  Read more

Follow @Defense_news_us on Twitter!