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The U.S. Navy has announced the development of a nuclear powered surface combat ship, colloquially referred to as the Trump class battleship, which would mark a major shift for the service’s power projection. The United States has not laid down a nuclear powered surface combat ship in almost half a century, since the USS Arkansas was laid down in 1977, with the extreme production and sustainment costs of such ships having been considered prohibitive.

Leading U.S. jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has completed a fully digital assembly readiness review for its XA103 adaptive engine, which is the major design-phase hurdle before the procurement of hardware to build the first prototype.

Expert on the F-35 fifth generation fighter program Abraham Abrams has in a recent interview on his new book on the program provided insight into its possible future modernisation, responding to a question on whether the fighter would likely in future integrate laser weapons or hypersonic missiles. His answers highlighted the global scale of the F-35 program, and in particular the large number of countries with highly developed economies and defence sectors which operate the aircraft and can potentially contribute to producing new weapons or subsystems.

The inaugural Best Jumpmaster competition at Fort Benning, Georgia, began in a similar style as many of the Army’s “Best” competitions: with competitors taking a PT test and starting off on a long ruck march.
But as the 28 competitors made their way over the 13-mile course, they stopped along the way to be graded on a variety of jumpmaster skills. Then over the course of the three-day event, the paratroopers were put through skill tests that ranged from aircraft inspections and crew briefings to packing or “rigging” a parachute.

The Coast Guard plans to grow its fleet of interdiction teams who hop onto fast-moving cocaine submarines and fast-rope onto oil tankers to make mid-ocean seizures, according to service officials and a fiscal 2027 budget proposal.
In all, the Coast Guard wants to spend about $80 million to add more than 650 personnel to its Deployable Specialized Forces units and a new Special Missions Command overseeing them.

The Missile Defense Agency is planning to deliver a provisional capability to defend against hypersonic weapons in the near term as it continues development of more advanced systems.
Under a new effort dubbed “Project Maverick,” MDA intends to conduct a flight test of a defensive system to prove the agency’s ability to track and defeat hypersonic missiles in fiscal 2027, according to the organization’s latest budget request. If the demonstration is a success, the resulting capability could serve as an interim counter-hypersonics capability until more advanced systems are fielded.

Much of the work of the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office is classified, but the secretive organization’s director recently shed light on the capability areas that the SCO is focused on.
The office, which aims to rapidly prototype and transition “game-changing,” high-tech solutions to address near-term challenges, is executing a $1.7 billion budget this year, according to SCO chief Jay Dryer.

More than 50 applications are under review for the Defense Department’s new pilot program offering small and medium-sized businesses free, two-year commercial evaluation licenses for hundreds of curated, government-owned patents, according to a senior official overseeing the work.
This “Defense Patent Holiday” effort is designed to let non-traditional suppliers and other firms explore, prototype, and test military technologies for commercial or defense applications without paying the usual upfront fees.

A non-profit group’s offer of $150 towards the rising cost of gas for Air Force and Space Force enlisted troops proved to be so popular that it will run out of money today, just hours after opening for applications, according to the group.
The Air & Space Forces Aid Society, or AFAS, announced the program last week and opened an online application portal Monday for a one-time grant to eligible airmen and guardians between the ranks of E-1 and E-6.

Statement by Chief Pentagon Spokesman, Sean Parnell, on “Establishment of the Department of War COVID-19 Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force” and “Reinstating Service Members Unjustly Discharged Under the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Mandate” Memorandums 
The Department of War continues to take decisive action in support of the many Service members adversely impacted by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.