News
Back to 13-Marine squads and a new company for infantry battalions
The 13-Marine squad is back, and the Corps is creating a new company within the infantry battalion to meet its modern war-fighting needs.
Senate confirms Trump’s nominee for top Pentagon policy job
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, overcoming concerns that he has downplayed threats from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.
Trump promises $1 trillion in defense spending for next year
President Donald Trump this week unveiled plans for a $1 trillion defense budget next year, a massive increase that he claimed will provide the country with unmatched military strength for years to come.
Troops need better health care access, top enlisted tell lawmakers
Senior enlisted leaders called on lawmakers to help address ongoing problems with health care access for troops and their families during a congressional hearing on military quality-of-life challenges this week.
Pentagon begins outreach to reenlist troops booted for COVID vaccine
Defense Department announced the start of a new process to reinstate service members dismissed from the military after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
F/A-XX could be the Navy’s last piloted fighter, bring greater range
The Navy’s upcoming sixth-generation fighter may be its last manned fighter, the director of the service’s air warfare division said Tuesday.
Navy eyes ‘interchangeable’ CCAs with Air Force, lessons from MQ-25
While the U.S. Air Force plans to spend big and make Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones an essential part of its tactical fleet in the near future, the U.S. Navy is working to team manned and unmanned aircraft as well.
Air Force
F-35 office seeks to clarify $2.1 trillion cost ahead of budget release
For months now, a big number has been attached to the F-35: $2.1 trillion.
Space Force
Space Force to revamp training for a new era of space conflict
The U.S. Space Force is expanding its search for training and testing technologies and is now planning to put more than a half billion dollars toward the effort in a few years.
Time for Space Force to ‘clearly say’ it needs ‘weapons in space’: SPACECOM head
Gen. Stephen Whiting, the head of US Space Command, today put a capstone on the public campaign by top military space officials to reorient the US way of war to emphasize space is very much a new front for fighting — deliberately calling out the need for the deployment of “weapons” in space.
SpaceX secures majority of NSSL Phase 3 fiscal year 2025 missions
The U.S. Space Force’s Systems Command has assigned the first nine National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions under the Phase 3 Lane 2 contracts, with SpaceX capturing seven launches worth $845.8 million and United Launch Alliance (ULA) securing two missions valued at $427.6 million.
New Space Force ‘Orbital Watch’ initiative to share threat info with commercial operators
The Space Force today unveiled a new program, called Orbital Watch, designed to share unclassified information about threats on orbit with more than 900 commercial operators registered with Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Front Door — an effort that is being powered via cooperation with the Intelligence Community, US Space Command (SPACECOM) and the Pentagon’s Space Policy shop.
Defense
Compass Call electronic-attack plane makers eye overseas market
BAE Systems and L3Harris are halfway through delivery of the Air Force’s planned fleet of 10 EA-37B Compass Call planes and expect to deliver the final five in 2027 and 2028.
PHOTOS: The sights of Sea Air Space 2025 Day 2
The second day of Sea Air Space 2025 has come and gone, as attendees listened to senior military officials in panels and navigated dozens of industry booths showing off their wares.
GITAI creates US defense subsidiary to chase prime government contracts
GITAI has created a defense-focused subsidiary at its Torrance, California headquarters to pursue prime contractor roles in U.S. government contracts, the space robotics specialist announced April 8.
Epirus debuts high-power microwave weapon to knock out boat motors
Counter-drone company Epirus unveiled a new high-power microwave system capable of disabling manned and unmanned boat motors, it announced Tuesday.
Starlink’s rise in the defense market forces industry to adapt
For decades, military communications from space relied primarily on geostationary satellites positioned 22,000 miles above Earth. These distant spacecraft provide secure, reliable voice and data connectivity for United States defense operations worldwide, with a small club of operators — Intelsat, Viasat, SES and Eutelsat — dominating a market that has been dramatically disrupted by the rise of Starlink.
Veterans
Appeals court wary of Supreme Court reversal on case calling for housing LA homeless veterans
A California appeals court judge expressed concern Tuesday that a ruling ordering the Department of Veterans Affairs to build housing for homeless veterans on the grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center would be reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Veterans, service members detail health struggles from toxic exposure at domestic bases
Leading Democrats in Congress are turning their attention to service members exposed to toxins at domestic military bases and other environmental disasters who were left out of a sweeping law that extended veterans benefits to millions who were exposed to toxins in combat zones.
The post Headlines — April 9 appeared first on Aerotech News & Review.