U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has a “strong desire” to get its CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors back in the air as a Defense Department-wide grounding of the tiltrotor aircraft enters its third month. But that’s not without serious misgivings and an eye to future capabilities, AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind indicated Tuesday.
Bauernfeind, who spoke to reporters, including from The War Zone, at a round table during the Air Force Association’s Warfare Symposium in Colorado, cited the trio of investigations he’d commissioned after a Nov.

The UK MoD announced that sole source defence contracts will be delivered at a faster pace now that the SSRO has updated its price formula.

In the Europe aerospace & defence industry, there were 14 M&A deals announced in Q4 2023, worth a total value of $3bn, according to GlobalData’s Deals Database.

Patria, DSL and FFG announced that they will offer the German Bundeswehr its own configuration of the Patria 6×6 CAVS.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Navy is able to deliver over-the-air software and capability updates to ships through its secretive effort known as Project Overmatch.
While there have been experiments and technologies that the Navy has been using for years to demonstrate these types of updates, frequent deliveries only came about fairly recently.
“We did demos years ago where we were able to show them certainly it’s possible. But in terms of doing it as a matter of course, that’s come in the last probably a year-and-a-half or so,” Rear Adm.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Navy’s information warfare organization is learning lessons from operations in the Red Sea, seeing them as an enduring challenge.
“We need to increase the commander’s decision space. The battlespace awareness piece and the non-kinetic effects piece for integrated fires in the end. We did bring back lessons learned,” Elizabeth Nashold, deputy commander of Naval Information Forces, said at the annual WEST conference this week.

CEOBS director Doug Weir questions the “long-term viability of communities in Gaza” due to conflict-driven ecological degradation.

A graphic of the Sea Eagle-6 anti-ship missile that was launched by North Korea on 14 February 2024. (Janes)
North Korea claimed on 15 February that it successfully test-fired a new type of anti-ship missile known as the Padasuri-6 (Sea Eagle-6).
The test firing was conducted on the morning of 14 February and was witnessed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) disclosed in a statement the next day.
The weapon flew over the Sea of Japan (East Sea) for about 1,400 seconds before hitting a designated target vessel, read the KCNA statement.

The Royal Marines Commando Raiding Craft are now operational. (Crown Copyright)
The UK Royal Marines has inducted the first batch of revamped raiding craft designed for use on coastal commando raids.
The vessels, which have been redesignated as Commando Raiding Craft (CRC), are an upgraded version of the service’s in-service Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC). It is a multi-purpose craft that can be reconfigured, replacing the troop carrying and fire support variants.

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics
We put this question to the test in a hypothetical scenario between a U.S.

A. Wilson, S&S
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A veteran surface warfare officer took the helm of the U.S.

Jared Keller, Military.

Harper, DScoop
The organizations aim to demonstrate capabilities on orbit that could be used to detect and track hypersonic weapons and other advanced threats.

Shelbourne & LaGrone, USNI News
SAN DIEGO – The Navy will establish a second unmanned surface vessel squadron in the next few months, as the Pentagon accelerates unmanned systems development…

An influx of drones will be provided through an international coalition to strengthen Ukraine’s defence capabilities.

Semi-Deep State Admiral gaslights the reader on the true causal factors of poor recruiting and retention in the Biden Military

Public Domain

Admiral (RET) James Stavridis sometimes says things that are intellectually honest. But sometimes he doesn’t. He was one of the first on November 4, 2020 to announce and congratulate Biden as the winner of the “most secure election ever” (from CK).
I responded on Twitter and Linkedin and told Stavridis to put a sock in it.
Now Stavridis is on Bloomberg bemoaning poor recruiting and retention of the US Military.

The Sabrah light tanks – pictured above from the Philippine Army training exercise – have a combat weight of 30 tonnes. They are capable of attaining a maximum onroad speed of 72 km/h. (GDELS)
The Philippine Army (PA) has completed the initial training courses on operations, driving, and maintenance of Sabrah ASCOD II combat vehicles.

MilitaryView

Russia is Building New T-80 Tanks.
The T-80BVM version represents an evolution of the T-80BV model, incorporating an improved 125 mm cannon and a 1,250 HP gas turbine engine.
Russia’s production of improved T-80 tanks reflects an attempt to compensate for significant military losses suffered by turning to updated older models.
The War Context and the Reaction of Russian Armor Production
T-80
During the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has suffered a significant reduction in its armored arsenal, losing over 3,000 tanks.

MilitaryView

With drones changing warfare, US Army revives ’20-year’ Chinook project

In a move that elected officials say could keep the assembly line at Boeing’s plant in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, busy for 20 years, the US Army has canceled an attack helicopter proposed by rivals Lockheed Sikorsky and Bell Textron and transferred funds to upgrade Boeing’s Chinook helicopters and smarter drones.

Chris, Zack, and Melanie sat down to talk about the new National Defense Industrial Strategy. Is this document really a strategy? What are the biggest problems we need to fix with respect to our defense industrial base? Considering the state of where we are now, is it even possible to get our industrial house in order in the near term to deter or prevail in a conflict with an adversary? Chris has a grievance for those who couldn’t believe Donald Trump’s recent NATO comments (where have they been for the last eight years?), Zack thanks Rep.

Here’s a question: If you could add $200 billion to the defense budget — or wave a magic wand and pass every needed reform to defense procurement, personnel, business and budget processes, and other areas crying out for change — which would you do? For many defense professionals, the answer is obvious: Show me the money. With crises breaking out around the world, from Ukraine to Gaza to the South China Sea, some observers of U.S. defense strategy warn that the United States isn’t spending enough on its military.

The GM200 MM/C mobile radar in the compact antenna test range at Thales Nederland. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)

Thales Nederland has tripled its radar production over the last few years,
Janes
learnt while attending the company’s handover of the first Ground Master 200 Multi Mission/Compact (GM200 MM/C) radar to the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) in Hengelo, Eastern Netherlands, on 14 February.

US Army Medevac UH-60L Black Hawk seen at Kandahar Airfield. DARPA is exploring new ways to produce battlefield medicines at front-line bases and outposts. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
A new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) programme aims to accelerate drug manufacturing in austere environments, such as forward operating bases (FOBs), generating data and processes to evaluate new paradigms for real-time regulatory approval.

Hessen
departs Wilhelmshaven naval base on 8 February, bound for the Mediterranean.
(Bundeswehr/Julia Kelm)

The German Navy has despatched its Type 124 Sachsen-class air-defence frigate FGS
Hessen
(F 221) to the Mediterranean ahead of the launch of the European Union’s (EU’s) new naval operation to protect merchant shipping against attacks by the Ansar Allah group (commonly known as the Houthis) in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Artist’s impression of the Boeing E-7/E-7A Wedgetail in UK Royal Air Force colours. The USAF’s E-7 version is largely based off the UK’s version. (Boeing)
The US Air Force (USAF) is “having a hard time getting a price agreement with Boeing” on purchasing E-7 Wedgetails, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall told reporters on 13 February.
The service intends to purchase 26 E-7s through 2032 to replace the Boeing E-3 as its sole airborne early warning aircraft type. Two E-7s are on contract.

The Russian Navy’s Ropucha-class Project 775 LST
Tsesar Kunikov
(158).
(Yoruk Isik)
The Ukrainian Defence Intelligence (GUR) claims that its Group 13 unit has conducted a successful attack against the Russian Ropucha I-class tank landing ship (LST) Tsesar Kunikov using Magura V unmanned surface vessels (USVs).
Video footage released by the GUR on its Telegram channel on 14 February shows USVs approaching a Ropucha I landing ship and at least two detonating against its port side. The LST is then shown listing heavily to port before sinking.

A digital twin of the French Army’s VBCI infantry fighting vehicle is being developed by KNDS and Arquus that will eventually become their key offering for the modernisation and maintenance of the army’s vehicle fleets. (Nexter)
KNDS and Arquus will develop a digital twin demonstrator of the Véhicule Blindé de Combat d’Infanterie (VBCI) 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) in support of the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) and Defence Innovation Agency.

The U.S. Space Force’s top officer says the scale and scope of Russian and Chinese threats to American assets in orbit, including demonstrated abilities to conduct very close proximity operations, is “of paramount concern.”
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman’s comments came today ahead of the disclosure of a still largely unknown serious national security threat, which still-unconfirmed reports say may involve a Russian space-related capability. You can read more about that is known about that threat now in The War Zone‘s earlier reporting.
“Very concerning.

FILE: Sailors stand in formation during a pass in review graduation ceremony at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill., Sept. 6, 2019. (Petty Officer 1st Class Spencer Fling/U.S. Navy).
The Navy has updated its uniform policy so that sailors are now allowed to put their hands in their pockets.
Now take a deep breath.
“The restriction on placing hands in pockets while in uniform is rescinded,” according to Navy Administrative Message 031/24, which was released on Wednesday.

AURORA, Colo. — Congress’ inability to approve a budget for fiscal 2024 has forced the Air Force to put a number of command-and-control modernization efforts on the back burner, the service official charged with the initiative told reporters Wednesday. 
Federal agencies have been operating under a continuing resolution since the beginning of October, meaning spending for the Defense Department and other agencies has largely been frozen at fiscal 2023 levels. The budget instability has caused Brig. Gen.

MilitaryView

GE Aerospace’s DMRJ Engine: Powering Future Aerospace Innovation
The company GE Aerospace, a subsidiary of General Electrics, has carried out a pioneering test of an advanced propulsion system, fusing rotary detonation and ramjet technologies. This development marks a milestone in hypersonic propulsion, promising more efficient, faster and cheaper aircraft and missiles.
Technical details of rotary detonation engine and its performance
The rotary detonation engine (RDC) proposed by GE Aerospace differs radically from traditional combustion engines.

MilitaryView

Goodbye to the Warthog: The Post-A-10 Era begins
Goodbye to the Warthog: The Post-A-10 Era begins at SAt Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; it’s time to say goodbye to the Warthog, the famous A-10 aircraft. This marks the beginning of a new era in military aviation. Let’s explore this transition.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has fired two ballistic missiles from launchers disguised as standard shipping containers that were hosted aboard one of its sea base-like vessels. This particular combination, which has not been seen to date, greatly expands the reach with which those weapons could be used to strike potential targets by surprise, especially given that shipping containers can be embarked on any vessel that has the space to accommodate them.

Eight Marines received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for their exceptional performance in their respective special duty assignments, ir B-billets, as recruiters, drill instructors, combat instructors and Marine Security Guards. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ethan Miller.
Four Marines were named the top performers across the service’s special duty ranks, which includes drill instructors, recruiters, combat instructors and Marine security guards. The four were recognized at a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps just outside Washington, D.C.

As the Pentagon’s ambitious Replicator initiative comes into fruition, it’s being informed by — and simultaneously informing — the military’s existing governance structures and policies for making and using lethal autonomous weapons, senior officials say.
The ultimate aim of Replicator, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and others leading it, is to establish a replicable process via which the department can adopt innovative technologies at a much more accelerated pace than ever before.

The long-delayed Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), first promised to Ukraine in February 2023, has finally arrived on the battlefield. This marks the introduction of a powerful new standoff strike capability for Kyiv, something we have explored in depth in the past.

It looks like that the newly to Ukraine delivered GLSDB missiles are already in use. Russian channels share this video which apparently show a tail section.
The operational range of these missiles is 150 km (90 miles).
Source: Telegram / Ratnik2nd#Ukraine pic.twitter.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — As the Pentagon prepares for a potential conflict with China, it finds itself in the midst of a revolution with vast implications for warfighters, according to the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
“We are in the middle of another epochal change. And that is the dawn — and I do mean the dawn — of the information revolution,” Adm. Samuel Paparo said Wednesay at the annual WEST conference.

The Chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee has turned heads with a public plea for President Joe Biden’s administration to declassify information related to an unspecified “national security threat” that has been described as “serious” and “destabilizing.” Multiple reports now say the matter has to do with raw intelligence on a Russian space-related capability of some kind, although we cannot independently confirm that at this time.

TWO SOURCES CONFIRM ‘NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT’ NARRATIVE

Image by Alisdare Hickson

Two sources so far have confirmed to CDM that the ‘national security threat’ being talked about in Congress is allegedly a ‘nuclear weapon’ being placed in orbit by the Russian Federation.
Such a weapon could be used as an electromagnetic pulse to essentially destroy American electrical infrastructure.
Millions would die for lack of food, clean water, medicine, etc.

Defense Department leaders have long recognized the need for more unified information-sharing platforms across the military services. However, as global conflicts increasingly occur without regard to territorial borders, efforts to overcome the technical barriers separating siloed information enclaves among NATO allies and other coalition partners are taking on new urgency and momentum.
Read the report.
Central to those efforts is the renewed vision for creating interoperable “Mission Partner Environments” (MPEs), asserts a new Scoop News Group report sponsored by GDIT.

If you’ve served in the military, or know someone who has, chances are you’ve been frustrated about the mystical world of military benefits. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack, except the haystack is the size of Texas and the needle is a specific form in triplicate.
Enter MyVetBENEFITS, the superhero app we’ve all been waiting for. Forget the endless, soul-sucking internet searches. With MyVetBENEFITS, you’re just a few taps away from uncovering the benefits that Uncle Sam’s been hiding from you.

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** After weeks of rumors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finally dismissed Valeriy Zaluzhny as the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces on February 8, 2024.

The Pentagon’s chief weapons tester is increasing its ability to assess threats from radio frequency-enabled cyberattacks.
An emerging vector, these attacks and operations primarily involve gaining access to targets through the RF spectrum by exploiting wireless or “over-the-air” systems.
While the U.S. military is looking to increase its ability to use these types of operations, adversaries are as well.

Two sets of satellites from the Space Development Agency and Missile Defense Agency are scheduled to be launched together Wednesday as the organizations aim to demonstrate capabilities that could be used to detect and track adversaries’ hypersonic weapons and other advanced threats.
One batch includes four L3Harris-built systems that will complete Tranche 0 of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which will include a total of eight missile-tracking space vehicles and 19 data transport satellites on orbit.

IperionX has announced that its furnace has passed regulations to begin low-cost production of titanium for the US Department of Defense.

Mission training complexes will be used by General Dynamics Information Technology to train more than 200,000 soldiers.

Maybe the most striking exhibit on the floor of the Air Force Association’s Warfare Symposium in Denver, Colorado was the Air Force Research Laboratory’s MUTANT bending body missile. We profiled the fascinating MUTANT program a year ago, which you can read here. TWZ’s Jamie Hunter got a full update on the swiftly-moving program from AFRL’s Dr. Ben Dickinson on the show floor, including details on the concept’s upcoming test flight program. If successful, MUTANT’s articulating body flight control system could revolutionize missile technology.

Ukraine has claimed the destruction of another warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Ropucha class landing ship Cesar Kunikov (also written as Tsezar Kunikov) being the latest victim of explosives-laden naval drones off the coast of Crimea. Ukrainian officials claim that the landing ship was sunk in the overnight attack and available imagery shows the vessel capsized.

Veni, vidi, vici.@DI_Ukraine released video of the successful strike on the russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov. pic.twitter.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Deterrence against adversaries’ use of capabilities within the electromagnetic spectrum could be difficult to assess given the secretive nature of the environment and the desire to mask high-end jamming tools and waveforms from the enemy, according to a recently retired flag officer.
“The electromagnetic spectrum, radio frequency, is going to be on fire should we go to combat. The deterrence of what we have versus what they have, it’s going to be hard to measure,” Jeffrey Trussler said at the annual WEST conference.

A still from the video shows an Iraqi soldier setting up an AN/TPQ-49 radar. (Iraq MoD)
The Iraqi military now has the AN/TPQ-49 radar, it was revealed on 10 February when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a video showing Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah visiting the Artillery Branch Directorate.