News
Hegseth’s younger brother is serving in a key role inside the Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s younger brother is serving in a key position inside the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser, Hegseth’s office confirmed.
Military families in Key West sue Balfour Beatty over allegations of squalid, toxic housing conditions
A group of nearly 200 current and former residents of Naval Air Station Key West has filed a lawsuit claiming that the contractor the Navy used to maintain family houses on base has committed fraud and negligence for at least a decade and exposed them to dangers ranging from toxic mold to asbestos.
Navy divers, Polish forces to aid in recovery of missing US soldiers
A specialized U.S. Navy dive crew and a unit of Polish Armed Forces engineers were traveling Friday to a training site in Lithuania to help with the recovery of four U.S. soldiers who were first reported missing Tuesday.
US Naval Academy ends affirmative action in admissions
The U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission to the service institution, a response to an executive order by President Donald Trump, according to federal court documents made public Friday.
US shipbuilding in a ‘perpetual state of triage,’ watchdog says
The U.S. Navy is hoping to nearly double the amount of battle force ships in oceans around the world within the next three decades — a jump from 296 ships, including submarines, aircraft carriers and destroyers, to 381.
Air Force
Delta flight diverted to avoid Air Force jets at DC airport, FAA says
A Delta Air Lines passenger flight departing Reagan National Airport on Friday was diverted to avoid a potential collision with a group of Air Force jets, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
More A-10 Warthogs deploy to the Middle East
“Several” Warthogs and more than 300 airmen are deploying as the U.S. military builds up forces in the region amid ongoing fighting with Houthi militants in Yemen.
Major F-47 revelations were just dropped by former Air Force Secretary
Significant parts of the veil of secrecy over the origins of Boeing’s F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter, and the decisions and tradeoffs made along the way, have now been pulled back.
US air base on Okinawa sounds ‘space debris’ alarm
Kadena Air Base briefly ordered all its residents to shelter-in-place early Sunday morning due to unspecified space debris, according to the 18th Wing.
Space Force
Space Force greenlights Rocket Lab, Stoke for future launches
The US Space Force has given the thumbs up for two new launch firms, Rocket Lab USA and Stoke Space, to compete for future contracts worth up to $5.6 billion over the next five years, Space Systems Command (SSC) announced Thursday.
Defense
Avalon air show saw booming attendance, despite DoD guidance restricting travel
Industry showed up in force at the show, boosting foot traffic for a well-attended air show. American officials, however, were reticent to engage with the press, in contrast to their Royal Australian Air Force counterparts.
Rafael saw record sales in 2024, with almost half from outside Israel
Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems saw a 27 percent growth in sales in 2024 compared to the year before, according to company figures released this week.
5 companies, 5 parts: Honeywell pilot seeks to build out AUKUS sub industrial base
Transferring defense technology from one country to another is typically a complicated affair. But a new pilot program Honeywell recently secured from the US Navy for one stage of the AUKUS program — the sale of Virginia-class submarines from the US to Australia — aims to smooth out the process to get the submarine industrial base stood up as quickly as possible, according to a company executive.
Veterans
Lawmaker warns government ‘savings’ could cost vets critical services
The House’s top Democrat for veterans policy supports finding ways to save money at the Department of Veterans Affairs. But he worries the White House’s current approach to that goal will end up costing veterans access to care and benefits as it looks for savings.
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