The U.S. military is scaling back DEFENDER-Europe 20, an exercise the Army has spent years building. Initially, the training exercise called for 20,000 troops, but on Wednesday, March 11, the U.S. European Command announced that the number was being cut back. The 60-day DOD travel ban to level 3 countries went into effect on March 13. Military.com writes: DEFENDER-Europe 20 was set to be the biggest deployment for an exercise in 25 years, , with 20,000 soldiers deploying from the U.S. and training with 17,000 allies. "In light of the current coronavirus outbreak, we will modify the … [Read more...]
Solar Unmanned Aircraft with Potential to Stay Airborne for a Year Takes Flight
BAE Systems’ solar-powered high-altitude unmanned aircraft called PHASA-35 took its maiden flight in February 2020, just under two years from its start date. The aircraft has the potential to fly in the stratosphere for a year and would help plug the gap between aircraft and satellite technology, providing 5G year-round surveillance and communications for the military and commercial customers at a fraction of the cost of satellites. The aircraft is powered by the sun during the day and runs on batteries at night. Read more from the BAE Systems press release: PHASA-35, a 35m wingspan … [Read more...]
Pentagon Report Finds ‘Unacceptable’ Flaws in the F-35’s Gun
The F-35 program has been moving quickly to fix hundreds of deficiencies but is only seeing a minor decrease in the overall number. As fixes are being made, new deficiencies are being found. An annual assessment by Robert Behler, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, says “software changes, intended to introduce new capabilities or fix deficiencies, often introduced stability problems and adversely affected other functionality.” One of the most notable deficiencies is in the F-35A accuracy of its GAU-22A gun, which the director of the Pentagon’s Operational Test … [Read more...]
Was Downing of U.S. Air Force’s E-11A “WiFi in the Sky” in Retaliation for Soleimani Strike?
US Air Force spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett has confirmed that one of the service’s four E-11A’s (11-9358) has crashed in the Afghanistan province of Ghazni. The E-11A BACN is described as a “WiFI in the sky” aircraft and is instrumental in bridging airspace and ground communications to warfighters in communications-challenged environments. The BACN fleet is comprised of four E-11A manned systems and four EQ-4B Block 20 Global Hawk UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). They provide lifesaving communications to soldiers on the ground and are instrumental in thousands of airstrikes. BACN’s first … [Read more...]
U.S. Military Locking Its Sights on Multi-Domain Operations
Experimental equipment is paving the way for multi-domain operations. A recent and highly publicized and anticipated test off the coast of Florida in December of 2019 used experimental equipment developed by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Honeywell called “GatewayONE.” It is a radio and antenna system that allows two-way data transfer between an F35 and F22. The Air Force plans on testing GatewayONE on a Kratos XQ-58 Valkrie drone in April of 2020. Oriana Pawlyk of Military.com fills us in on future tests the U.S. Air Force is planning, she writes (abridged): The U.S. Air Force plans … [Read more...]
Key Figures in U.S. Airstrike that Killed Soleimani
The key figures in the January 3 U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani have been identified, most notably Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and commander of Kataeb Hezbollah. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was listed as a terrorist in the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Some security experts are divided on whether Muhandis was specifically targeted or if he was a bonus kill. Iranian and Iraqi officials have so far confirmed the U.S. attack killed ten people in addition to Soleimani. Rikar Hussein and Mehdi Jedinia of Voice of … [Read more...]
Breakthrough in Israel’s Laser Air Defenses
Investments in laser technology have paid off for Israel’s Ministry of Defense as they reveal a breakthrough in high-energy laser defense. The laser interceptor dubbed “Iron Beam” is designed to take down aerial threats including rockets, drones, and anti-tank missiles. Anna Ahronheim of The Jerusalem Post explains that significant achievements have been made over the past year and a half as a result of collaboration between the ministry and defense companies, she writes (abridged): The ministry has been working for more than 10 years on powerful laser technology to enable the development … [Read more...]
Russia’s New Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Enters Combat Duty
Vladimir Isachenkov of the Associated Press is reporting Russia's new Avangard, capable of traveling 27 times the speed of sound, is now operational. He writes abridged: Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty. [...] The Russian leader noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit) resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The military said the Avangard is capable of flying … [Read more...]
New Secret Weapon is Like Dropping Anvils on Terrorists Heads
UPDATE: After Steve Schneider brought you this information on the Hellfire R9X back in May, the CIA ramped up its usage of these bombs developed to avoid civilian casualties. Since then it has taken on the nickname, the "Flying Ginsu." According to Popular Mechanics, the bomb has been used at least 8 times. The most recent known use was against members of Ahrar al-Sham in the first week of December. - E.J. Smith This is a variant of the Hellfire missile called the R9X. The secret missile has no warhead and is used by the U.S. to reduce civilian casualties by using kinetic energy. A regular … [Read more...]
The JEDI Battle – The DoD’s Push for an Enterprise Cloud
Cloud computing service providers Microsoft and Amazon have been locked in a battle to win the contract for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program. That battle has now come to an end, with Microsoft coming out on top. Since winning the JEDI deal, worth up to $10 billion over ten years, Microsoft has been moving quickly with hirings to prepare for its work with the DoD. Today the Pentagon operates over 500 separate cloud systems, which creates many seams and additional layers of complexity for America’s warfighters. The scattering … [Read more...]