Navy’s Unmanned Task Force turns to a venture capital-inspired process to find investments

The Unmanned Task Force is hyper-focused on finding solutions to specific warfighter problems that can be solved with unmanned technologies in a five-year timeframe.

National Reconnaissance Office expands use of commercial satellite imagery

The contracts — awarded to Maxar, BlackSky and Planet — are part of NRO's response to a growing demand for commercial satellite imagery.

Commentary

The DoD’s cyber force must partner with industry to compete at the speed of relevance

While cyber is essential to many areas of DoD operations, it is not its main function.

Automated maintenance tool tracker wins top $225K prize at US Air Force competition

Two runners-up also took home $125,000 prizes each for their own ideas.

B-21 first flight to come in 2023

The rollout of the Air Force’s next stealth bomber is still expected later in 2022.

Marine Corps seeks ‘information command’ in Force Design 2030 update

“We believe that in a conflict with a peer adversary, first moves may be in space and cyber, so we must enable our” forces “to integrate with, and have access to, those capabilities now,” reads the update.

Photos show China has fielded another semi-submersible transport ship

The official China Military Online website showed the semi-submersible heavy ship Yinmahu transporting a Type 958 air-cushioned landing craft.

Poland requests six additional Patriot batteries from the United States

Poland wants a package of "omnidirectional radars, missile launchers, and a stock of missiles,” Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said.

New Zealand to train Ukrainians on L119 howitzer

Known as the M119 in the U.S., the gun has a range of more than 10 miles, and New Zealand’s military has used the weapon since the 1980s.

Australians bring Wedgetail to Black Flag test as US preps for AWACS replacement

After finishing up at Black Flag, the Australian Wedgetail flew to Tyndall Air Force Base to take part in an air-to-air live fire evaluation event.

US Army terminates Strategic Long-Range Cannon science and technology effort

The Army has zeroed out funding for the Strategic Long-Range Cannon science and technology effort to focus on other long-range precision fires priorities.

Commentary

The US defense budget’s latest casualty is readiness

To advance future capabilities that provide for long-term readiness, the armed services need well-trained, knowledgeable warfighters who have the capacity to integrate modernized systems into sustained arsenals. Instead, the budget’s reductions come at a point when the operational tempo of the force continues to increase as capacity investments are falling.

Ukraine to get Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark amid Russian Black Sea blockade

Denmark will arm Ukraine with with modern Harpoon anti-ship missiles to protect its coasts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after concluding the latest U.S.-led meeting of international defense chiefs to coordinate military aid for Ukraine.

Congress and Pentagon seek to shore up strategic mineral stockpile dominated by China

Congress has repeatedly authorized multi-million-dollar sell-offs of the U.S. strategic minerals stockpile over the past several decades, but Washington’s increased anxiety over Chinese domination of resources critical to the defense industrial base has prompted lawmakers to reverse course and shore up the reserve.

More nations expected to sign up for Pentagon’s Ukraine aid group

A group of international defense chiefs convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to coordinate military aid for Ukraine is likely to be larger when it meets for the second time on Monday.

Military commands spent pandemic money on space analytics, IT upgrades

The U.S. military commands responsible for North America misused at least $19 million in COVID-19 relief money on space-related data analytics connected to the Pentagon’s JADC2 endeavor, as well as office information technology upgrades, investigators said.

Commentary

Winning in Ukraine: a French perspective

Besides their military support for Kyiv, France and Germany are also mindful of leaving the door open to a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Pentagon making progress on cybersecurity amid challenges, watchdog says

“Safeguarding federal computer systems has been a longstanding concern,” the GAO wrote in a May 19 memo to congressional committees, noting cybersecurity has been “on our high-risk list since 1997.”

SOFIC

Why Latin American partners need a better way to share intel than WhatsApp

Better tools could help with a host of regional problems.

Republicans lay battle lines over Biden’s plan to retire B83 megaton bomb

Congressional Republicans are pushing back against the president’s plan to retire an aging nuclear weapon, decrying the effort during a series of hearings this week dedicated to the administration’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear forces and atomic energy.

SOFIC

Pentagon tech chief wants an ‘all in one’ sensor

It is one of several critical technologies that Heidi Shyu, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, included in remarks at SOFIC.

Ukraine getting battalion’s worth of artillery in new $100 million aid package

The U.S. is sending Ukraine another $100 million in military assistance, including heavy artillery and counter-artillery radars, the Biden administration announced Thursday.

SOFIC

Lasers, water landings, crewless ops: Upgrades are coming for the C-130 family

The 1960s-era design continues to transform.

Israel launches Edge of Tomorrow program to improve lethality, bring in new tech

Edge of Tomorrow is meant to ultimately deliver thousands of systems, as well as technology later developed based on those systems, for operational use.

What’s new in Navy and Marine Corps unmanned boats

The more the Navy experiments with unmanned systems, the more it's learning what it needs — and what it doesn't.

Commentary

Why a ‘Buy Allied’ approach matters

There are at least four essential reasons why making the U.S. aerospace and defense industry exclusively “Made in America” is neither feasible nor desirable.

British military feels out industry for helicopter buy worth over $1 billion

The New Medium Helicopter competition will likely be colored by the question of which company can generate jobs and skills for the country.

Here are the high-end weapons Zelenskyy hopes the new Ukraine aid bill will provide

The Senate has passed a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine that will enable the Biden administration to transfer more advanced, high-end weapons systems in order to counter Russia.