News
Pregnant pilots and aircrew grounded for first trimester under new Air Force flying rules
Air Force pilots and aircrew who are pregnant will no longer be allowed to fly during their first trimester under revised flight rules announced by the service Tuesday. The move is one of several updates to rules for pregnant women that both restrict and loosen when they can fly.
Army identifies final soldier found deceased in Lithuania peat bog
The U.S. Army identified Wednesday the fourth and final soldier found deceased in a peat bog at a training site in Lithuania.
Veterans could get service dogs for free under proposed legislation
Army veteran Bob Ouellette and Cooper, a 9-year-old golden retriever, were outside the Capitol on Wednesday to support a bill that would fund $10 million annually for grants to provide service dogs to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
‘Utter chaos’: Amid confusing ban rollout, trans troops fight to serve
Army Maj. Erica Vandal has spent her entire adult life on active duty. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, she’s served her country proudly for nearly 14 years. Military service is in her blood. Her father also graduated from West Point and served in the Army for 40 years. One of her brothers is a former Marine Corps pilot, and another is an active-duty Navy pilot.
‘There’s a war on vets’: Dems launch plans to counter Trump’s VA moves
Angry over planned cuts at Veterans Affairs facilities and a lack of communication from department leaders about those moves, congressional Democrats are plotting confirmation holds, legislative obstruction and unofficial hearings in an attempt to create public outrage over the administration’s changes to veterans programs and benefits.
Air Force
Slingshot adapting satellite ‘fingerprinting’ technology for military applications
Slingshot Aerospace, a space data analytics company, has secured a contract from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX program to refine a technique for “fingerprinting” satellites in orbit using photometric data and artificial intelligence.
VENOM F-16s getting closer to first flight
A test program meant to pave the way for Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones took another step toward flight April 1 with the arrival of the last fighter jet to complete its fleet.
Defense
New AIM-120E variant of AMRAAM air-to-air missile hinted at by USAF
There are signs that a new AIM-120E variant of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) may now be in development.
India puts Metrea on contract for commercial air refueling, invests in helicopters
New Delhi has put private American firm Metrea under contract to provide air refueling for Indian Air Force training operations, as part of a military aviation modernization effort that also includes spending billions on new helicopters.
F-47 fighter program could see multiple versions built in increments
Boeing’s F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter may just be “Increment 1” of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) manned combat jet initiative.
Smaller rockets to provide key artillery firepower boost sought by Army
A new five-inch (127mm) artillery rocket Lockheed Martin is developing for the U.S. Army primarily as a low-cost training round could evolve into an operational munition.
Submarine surveillance system that’s rapidly deployable, unpredictable unveiled by Anduril
Defense contractor Anduril has rolled out a new, readily deployable undersea surveillance system called Seabed Sentry, which uses networks of small and relatively low-cost modular sensor nodes.
Veterans
Budget constraints, staff shortages force VA to rely on outdated medical technologies
Hospitals at the Department of Veterans Affairs lag behind commercial hospitals in access to life-changing medical technology because of budget constraints and staffing shortages, leaders of medical technology companies told lawmakers Tuesday.
Death of veteran found in car at California VA latest in string of suicides
A military veteran wanted by police was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a parked vehicle this week at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in the latest of a string of suicides connected to the VA Loma Linda Health Care System in California.
Library of Congress still collecting Vietnam vets’ memories 50 years after war ended
Jack Danner hit the beach in a landing craft on his first day as an American soldier in Vietnam in 1965, he expected to see bullets flying.
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