Aerospace & Defense
The latest coverage of the Defense Department, State Department and aerospace industry.
Senate passes $3 billion emergency spending bill to plug part of VA budget shortfall
The Senate, scrambling to protect benefits for veterans, on Thursday passed a $3 billion emergency spending bill to plug part of a looming budget shortfall at the VA.
Zelenskyy set to meet Biden, Harris at White House to outline victory plan
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold separate meetings with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 26 at the White House, the administration said Thursday.
Russian military recruiting rates this year have fallen compared to 2023, say U.K. intel officials
Russian military recruitment rates for 2024 have decreased compared to the previous year, British military intelligence officials said.
Chinese aircraft carrier comes closer than ever to Japan
A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, leading Tokyo to convey its “serious concerns” to Beijing over China’s increasingly assertive military actions around Japan, officials said.
North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles in latest military display, neighbors say
North Korea on Wednesday test-fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, adding to its military demonstrations as tensions with Washington and neighbors escalate.
U.S. must prepare for new types of war, say heads of Defense Strategy panel
The war in Ukraine has shown that the U.S. must prepare for new forms of conflict and do a better job rapidly integrating new technology and capabilities with older systems, the chair of a panel examining the National Defense Strategy said Tuesday.
China adds hundreds of satellites for use in war; Russia building nuke to destroy enemies’ assets
China’s military is rapidly building up space capabilities, including more than 970 recently deployed satellites that would support attacks on U.S. aircraft carriers, expeditionary forces and air wings during a conflict, a Space Force intelligence report says.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeks avowal of independent Taiwan
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on American officials to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, separate from communist China.
Hawk vs. hawk: Harris, Trump tangle over who will be tougher toward China
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris disagree on many things, but both say they will pursue tough and confrontational policies toward China if elected president in November.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief says Russia faces losing superpower status if Kyiv wins war
Russia considers 2025 a pivotal year because a failure to secure a victory in Ukraine by 2026 will undermine the Kremlin’s goal of remaining a global superpower, Kyiv’s top military intelligence officer said over the weekend.
North Korea offers first-ever look inside uranium facility linked to nuclear programs
In a surprise disclosure, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been photographed touring a key nuclear arms facility, offering the world its first inside look at the regime’s most secretive program.
Rubio warns of China’s economic threat
Sen. Marco Rubio published a report this week revealing the successes and failures of China’s global campaign to obtain technology and dominate critical markets called “Made in China 2025.”
Secretary of the Army says it will have significant role in Asia as China tensions mount
The Indo-Pacific region may be a vast area covering much of the Pacific and Indian oceans, but that doesn’t mean the land-oriented U.S. Army will be on the sidelines in any future conflict with China, the service’s senior civilian leader said Thursday.
SpaceX blasts rocket regulations: ‘Starships need to fly’
Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX said this week that federal regulations stymie innovation and hurt U.S. dominance in space exploration.
Kremlin: White House already decided to let Ukraine hit Russian targets with long-range missiles
The Biden administration has already decided to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike targets deep within Russian territory and any hesitancy is merely political camouflage, a Kremlin spokesman said Thursday.
WATCH: Tech billionaire pulls off first private spacewalk from SpaceX capsule
A tech billionaire performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth on Thursday, a high-risk endeavor reserved for professional astronauts — until now.
Pentagon preps for military’s entrance into quantum computing era: ‘Might come very soon’
The Pentagon is bracing for a major breakthrough to accelerate the arrival of revolutionary quantum computers, with burgeoning initiatives to validate scientific discoveries and begin testing applications of the machines.
Blinken and Lammy arrive in Kyiv as Ukraine pushes for long-range strikes against Russia
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Kyiv on a joint visit Wednesday, as Ukraine presses the West to allow it to use long-range missiles against Russia.
The U.S.-Russia battle for influence in Africa plays out in Central African Republic
Hours after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled against his country’s top military leaders, his private army’s biggest client in Africa panicked, turning for help to his foe in the West.
Pentagon remembers losses, heroism in marking anniversary of 9/11 attack
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will host a ceremony on Wednesday in honor of the 184 people killed 23 years ago in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon. The private event will be for family members to remember their loved ones who were killed when Islamist radicals hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the building.
U.S. Pacific commander tells Chinese general to halt ‘dangerous’ incidents in South China Sea
The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific command, in the first direct communications in years with a senior Chinese general in charge of regional forces, warned Beijing was engaged in “dangerous” incidents in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Silence from Trump, Harris on nuclear North has South Koreans rethinking security
A growing divergence between the U.S. and South Korea on how to deal with the threat from North Korea will present knotty challenges no matter who wins the hotly contested U.S. presidential election this fall.
Israeli defense chief says a temporary truce with Hamas is possible. Ending the war is another story
Israel’s defense minister says the window is closing on an opportunity to reach a temporary cease-fire deal with the Hamas militant group that he believes could also bring calm to the country’s volatile northern border with Lebanon.
SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct the first private spacewalk
A daredevil billionaire rocketed back to space Tuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture farther than anyone since NASA’s Apollo moonshots.
North Korea’s Kim vows to make his nuclear force ready for combat with U.S.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday, after the country disclosed a new platform likely designed to fire more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the mainland U.S.
Biden abandoned 90% of Afghan allies in Kabul evacuation, House report finds
As the Taliban fighters were closing in on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, American diplomats stared at a pile of passports they had collected from Afghan allies who had assisted the war effort and were seeking a special visa to get them out of harm’s way.
House GOP highlights administration failings in report on botched Afghanistan withdrawal
President Biden was so insistent on a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that he disregarded the advice of his top security team and put politics ahead of U.S. national interests in the region, according to a scathing new comprehensive report by the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee.ked government in August 2021.
House Republicans release report blaming Biden for disastrous end to U.S. war in Afghanistan
House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming the disastrous end of America’s longest war on President Biden’s administration and minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.
Counterspies raise ‘insider leaks’ awareness; workplaces urged to watch out for phishing, vishing
Those who leak classified information are the target of a national “Insider Threat Awareness Month” being observed in September, according to the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, which warns that counterspies are stepping up efforts to address the problem both in government and private sector workplaces.
House Republicans tee up bill to partially fund $15 billion VA shortfall
Republicans have introduced a bill that would shore up part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ expected $15 billion budget shortfall and demanded that the Biden administration explain why the agency has a financial hole.
