News
Pentagon identifies US soldier killed in Afghanistan –
The Defense Department on Oct. 5 released the name of the soldier who was killed last week in Afghanistan.
Lawmaker: It’s time to end the war in Afghanistan –
To mark the 17th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D. Ariz., wants to finally end the conflict.
Pentagon denies report that Trump may fire Air Force secretary –
The Pentagon’s top spokeswoman is dismissing a report that President Trump is considering firing Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson over her lack of enthusiasm for the new Space Force military branch.
Business
State Department cleared $70 billion in foreign military sales requests for fiscal 2018 –
The U.S. State Department approved just under $70 billion in foreign weapon orders in fiscal year 2018, as the Trump administration stepped up its focus on increasing defense sales abroad.
Boeing, Embraer partnership on KC-390 could involve engineering collaboration –
Boeing and Embraer’s interest in broadening their partnership on the Brazilian firm’s KC-390 cargo plane has been no secret, with executives from both companies discussing the possibility of a joint venture in the wake of a tie-up of their commercial business.
U.S. clears armed helicopters for Iraq, surveillance aircraft for Canada –
The U.S. State Department has cleared a pair of proposed military sales — armed helicopters for Iraq and surveillance planes for Canada — with a joint price tag of more than $380 million.
New Pentagon report points to problems in the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base –
The U.S. shipbuilding industry has contracted during the past two decades and is indicative of the financial pressures squeezing the entire defense industrial base, according to an unclassified version of a new Pentagon report released Oct. 5.
Lord OKs F-35 operational test, evaluation –
It’s official — the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will begin operational test and evaluation next month, marking one of the most significant transitions for the closely watched program. Next summer, presuming no show stoppers appear during OTE, the program will move to full production.
Rafael, Lockheed Pitch Spike Missile For Army Helicopters –
Three weeks ago, U.S. Army experts traveled to the Negev Desert to watch a test of the latest, longest-range version of Rafael’s Spike missile. Fired from an Israeli AH-64 Apache, the same gunship used by US attack helicopter squadrons, the Spike NLOS struck a target 20 miles away — four times the range of the standard US Hellfire.
Defense
Trump set to shuffle top generals –
As President Donald Trump grapples with a number of huge foreign policy challenges over the coming months, he is going to have to make some key decisions on the generals who advise him and lead the U.S. military.
Has safety improved a year after Navy and Marine aviation crisis? –
Aviation woes continue to dog the Navy and Marines but ongoing reforms will make a difference, the top flight officers for both services predicted Oct. 5.
Army Rapid Capabilities Office realigned to focus on top modernization priorities –
The Army’s Rapid Capabilities Office, established just over two years ago, isn’t going to be just about rushing to develop electronic warfare, position, navigation and timing, and cyber capabilities.
New Next-Gen Combat Vehicle outfit takes on light tank, personnel carrier –
The Army’s new Next-Generation Combat Vehicle’s modernization arm is expanding its scope from prototyping next-generation vehicles and ground robots to also guiding more near-term programs through the procurement process.
Oshkosh robot trucks could roll out to the Army by 2020 –
Simple subtraction explains the impetus for self-driven supply convoys: For every autonomously driven vehicle, that’s one fewer human driver needed, and likely one or two fewer human escorts in the vehicle itself. Fewer humans means fewer injuries and deaths whenever the convoy encounters violence, like an ambush or an improvised explosive device.
U.S. Army’s SAW, M4 replacements will both fire this more accurate and deadly round –
The Army has selected 6.8mm as the new common round for both its Squad Automatic Weapon and M4 replacement.
This armor-wrecking LAV with 2,000 Marines, sailors will be steaming toward Norway –
Nearly 2,000 Marines and sailors will be headed to Norway to participate in one of NATO’s largest military exercises in more than a decade, dubbed Trident Juncture.
Marines connect F-35 jet to HIMARS rocket shot for first time –
The Corps has been experimenting with an innovative slew of ways to use its rocket precision artillery system known as HIMARS.
Veterans
Veteran jobless rate falls to 3.4 percent in September: report –
The veterans unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent in September while the overall jobless rate was at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent, reflecting the economy’s continuing strength in its eight-year recovery from the recession, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Oct. 5.
Claude Rowe Jr., Tuskegee Airmen veteran, is buried with honors at Fort Rosecrans –
Claude Alexander Rowe Jr. of Chula Vista, Calif., who served in the armed forces of two allied nations during World War II, was laid to rest Oct. 5 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego with full military honors, including a gun salute and a “missing man” formation flyby of World War II-era fighters.