Russia and China conducted a joint bomber flight that entered Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone on Wednesday, marking the first time the two countries have flown near the United States.
The North American...
The U.S. military is experimenting with potential future weapon systems at the ongoing Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise in Hawaii, using a weapon known as QUICKSINK during the biennial drill’s sinking exercise.
U.S. forces used QUICKSINK – born out of collaboration...
How to meet the logistics needs of Marines and sailors in an Indo-Pacific conflict is a major question in how the U.S....
The following is the July 8, 2024, Government Accountability Office report, FIREFIGHTING FOAM: DOD Is Working to Address Challenges to Transitioning to PFAS-Free Alternatives.
From the report
What GAO Found
The Department of Defense (DOD) has taken steps to eliminate use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF)—a product used to fight flammable liquid fires—at its installations. AFFF contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which may have adverse effects on human health, including effects...
https://news.usni.org/2024/07/10/gao-report-on-pentagon-transition-to-pfas-free-firefighting-foam
The following is the June 25, 2024, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Use of Force in Cyberspace.
From the report
Introduction
There are presently no internationally accepted criteria for determining whether a nation state cyberattack is a use of force equivalent to an armed attack, which could trigger a military response. Likewise, no international, legally binding instruments have yet been drafted explicitly to regulate inter-state relations in cyberspace. Self-defense and...
https://news.usni.org/2024/06/26/report-to-congress-on-use-of-force-in-cyberspace
The Pentagon must make modernization choices between legacy systems and new technology like lasers by evaluating each platform’s capability,the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said this week.
“The aircraft carrier battle groups have been enormously helpful” in deterring Iran and its proxies over the...
North Korea on Monday conducted a firing drill of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), with state media Korean Central News Agency reporting that it was a firing of “super-large multiple rocket units” simulating a nuclear counterattack and marking the first use of its Haekbangashoe nuclear weapon combined management system.
The purpose of the North Korean drill, which was overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong...
A Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) operates with guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) in the Arabian Gulf during exercise Phantom Scope, Oct. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon is betting that by fielding thousands of attritable autonomous systems across domains in fewer than two years, the United States can overcome China’s advantage of mass in manpower, ships, aircraft and missiles, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a Monday speech.
Speaking at...
Marine Corps MQ-9A MUX/MALE is formally unveiled during a ceremony for Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU-3), Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Aug 2, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 (VMU 3) introduced its new Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, last week.
The Marine Corps UAV squadron, the only one of its kind in the Indo-Pacific,...
https://news.usni.org/2023/08/08/first-marine-corps-mq-9a-reaper-squadron-now-operational
U.S. Capitol on Dec. 29, 2022. USNI News Photo
The Senate passed the annual defense policy bill in an 86 to 11 vote in the upper chamber on Thursday, authorizing the Navy to buy a total of 10 battleforce ships in the next fiscal year.
The Fiscal Year 2024 legislation authorizes the service to purchase one Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, two Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Virginia-class attack boats, two Constellation-class frigates, one San Antonio-class LPD-17 Flight...
https://news.usni.org/2023/07/28/senate-passes-ndaa-authorizing-10-new-ships