Author: Michael

The Space Force wants $340 million from Congress in fiscal 2024 to create more robust operational testing and training environments for guardians to hone their skills and readiness for high-end combat, the service’s top officer said Wednesday.
The request comes as the U.S. is facing growing threats to its space systems, including cyber warfare activities; electronic attack platforms; lasers designed to blind or damage satellite sensors; ground-launched missiles; and “space-to-space orbital engagement systems” — in other words, satellites that can attack other satellites.

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In 2010, to save the European A400M “Atlas” transport aircraft program, which was then threatened by cost overruns and delays, the original customer countries [France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, and Turkey] granted an extension of 3.5 billion Euros to Airbus, of which 1.5 billion were in the form of refundable advances, guaranteed against future exports of this aircraft.
And the addendum to the contract that was signed then [of more than 1,000 pages…] contained a clause that authorized customers to reduce their orders by up to ten aircraft.

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via Telegram Messenger

A video has surfaced that allegedly shows a close pass involving a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper and a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet, the two types that were involved in a collision over the Black Sea yesterday. Readers of The War Zone can get fully up to speed on what is known about this incident in our initial reporting here. Since then, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has added his comments on the incident, describing it as a “hazardous episode [that] is part of a pattern of aggressive, risky, and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace.

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The Army is looking to take advantage of new authorities for the digital age and will be making the argument to lawmakers that it needs more flexibility in tech areas such as artificial intelligence that don’t fall within typical budgeting cycles of traditional hardware.

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Photo composite of Sarah Cavanaugh. (VFW Department of Rhode Island and Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Wesley Timm.).

A Rhode Island woman convicted of falsely claiming to be a combat-wounded Marine as part of scams to defraud veterans charities out of more than $250,000 has been sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the Justice Department.

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U.K. Defense Ministry

We are learning more about the ambitious effort to build a new line of nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines for the U.K. and Australia that is a key part of the three-phased plan officially unveiled yesterday in San Diego.
The Australian Defense Ministry (MoD) provided some additional details in a document it released about how those boats – which at the moment are set to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in the early 2040s – will be built.

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An RAF and Luftwaffe Eurofighter scramble out of Ämari Air Base in Estonia under the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission. (Crown Copyright)
Eurofighter combat aircraft from the UK and Germany intercepted and shadowed the first Russian aircraft of a joint NATO Baltic Air Policing mission on 14 March.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that one Royal Air Force (RAF) and one Luftwaffe Eurofighter operating out of Ämari Air Base in Estonia conducted the intercept of a Russian Aerospace Forces (VKA) Ilyushin Il-78 ‘Midas’ tanker.

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