US marines with Marine Corps Systems Command fire a Stinger Missile from the Marine Air Defense Integrated System at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona on 13 December 2023. (US Marine Corps )
Marines recently got their hands on a Marine Air-Defense Integrated System (MADIS) for the first live fire of an initial rate production model, US Marine Corps (USMC) officials announced on 11 January.

Corie Weathers grew up as a self-described “Gen X latchkey kid” who loved playing Wonder Woman and saving people. 
“I didn’t realize it at the time,” Weathers shared, “but I think that was the core part of me that really longed to do something that made a difference. I also didn’t like to see people bullied and would frequently get into fights defending my brother even though he was older. It got so bad my parents had to move us,” she laughed. “I realized I am pretty feisty when it came to people who were hurting.

GlobalData intelligence indicates that Bangladesh’s defence spending is due to decrease amid post-pandemic shock.

The AI Governance Alliance has called for stronger collaboration to create a framework for AI, as industry leaders gather in Davos.

Northrop Grumman concludes depleted uranium delivery phase and shifts its focus to the development of next-generation ammunition.

The Defense Department has revised its classification policy on space programs in an effort to lower barriers for access and improve how the Pentagon collaborates with allies, industry partners and other stakeholders.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed off on the new policy memo in December, according to Assistant Secretary for Space Policy John Plumb. He said the updated policy addresses some of his concerns about over-classification and how it impairs the department’s ability to effectively conduct business and carry out missions.

Estonian-based SensusQ has demonstrated its efficiency in processing information during situations in military operations.

An artist’s rendering of the upgraded BriteCloud countermeasure for aircraft. (Leonardo)
The UK-based electronic warfare (EW) business of Leonardo has upgraded the large aircraft variant of its BriteCloud expendable active decoy (EAD) to meet the latest NATO STANAG-4871 self-protection standard and offer compatibility with new ‘smart’ countermeasure dispenser systems.

France has announced a package of air-launched munitions for Ukraine, including the AASM Hammer guided bomb. Although seen here in its baseline GPS/INS-guided version in front of French Rafale fighters, they will likely be used by Ukraine on the F-16. (Safran)
France is to send to Ukraine the Safran Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer guided bomb for the first time while pledging more MBDA SCALP EG cruise missiles. At the same time, Germany has refused to transfer the Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile.

Defense News
A week after releasing its first industrial strategy, the Pentagon is sprinting to meet with companies on how to put it into action.

Fanning, RCD

Fleming, RCD
Race in America is a complex question that we have no silver bullet for.

The report from GlobalData sheds light on the procurement landscape and investments involved in the Army, Air Force, and Navy of New Zealand.

Lockheed Martin has been selected to integrate AGM-88G high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARM) on F-35 aircraft.
According to an announcement from the United States Department of Defense, the beneficiaries of the initiative will be the United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, and foreign military sales customers. It covers the A, B and C variants of the multirole fighter aircraft.
In addition to integrating the missiles, Lockheed will establish F-35 Lot 17 reprogramming laboratories for the governments of Australia, Canada, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom.

BAE Systems and Leonardo UK have installed an advanced AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar on a fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon fighter for the first time in preparation for the system’s maiden flight later this year.

Pakistani intelligence sources said that the country’s air force aircraft entered Iranian airspace to attack the Baloch rebel group and then returned.

“Our forces launched air strikes against rebels inside Iranian territory. The targeted fighters all belong to the Baloch Liberation Front,” a Pakistani official said on January 18, referring to an Armed group demanding independence for Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Islamabad launched a raid against “anti-Pakistan rebel groups in Iran” days after Tehran launched missiles into the country.

“Pakistan this morning conducted a series of coordinated and highly accurate attacks against terrorist targets in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on January 18.
The agency said the attack was carried out based on “credible intelligence information about impending large-scale terrorist activities,” adding that “many terrorists were killed.

The White House spokesman said that Ukraine is consuming ammunition very quickly, many of which are only enough for the next 2-3 months or less.

“I don’t want to reveal Ukraine’s operational secrets, but it can be said that certain types of ammunition, such as artillery shells, HIMARS rockets and anti-aircraft missiles, are being consumed much faster than other weapons. “This causes Ukraine’s reserves to gradually run out,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on January 17.
Mr.

The US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III will virtually host the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group despite Congress pulling Ukraine aid.

It’s now almost two years into Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, and if you’re a Ukraine supporter, the past few months have not been encouraging. This summer and fall were meant to be a time of great returns for Ukraine. Amidst much fanfare, Ukraine launched its vaunted summer offensive in June. The campaign, bolstered by a major stockpile of Western-supplied armoured vehicles and ammunition, was meant to deliver a war-changing blow to Russian forces and liberate significant territory.

Melanie, Chris, and Zack debate whether the international order is fraying and if so, what to do about it. They focus in particular on the recent Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and discuss how the United States should respond. Melanie questions Liz Truss’s support of expedited defense exports to China and Chris laments the lack of communication around Lloyd Austin’s delegation of authority while Zack makes Chris a job offer he can refuse. Episode Reading:  Gideon Rachman, “America and a crumbling global order,” Financial Times, December 4, 2023. C.

Work on the first of 16 F-16 Block 70 aircraft for Bulgaria was officially launched on 16 January. (Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin has begun building the first F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft for Bulgaria at its Greenville facility in South Carolina.
The manufacturer announced the milestone on 16 January, saying seven Block 70 aircraft for Bulgaria are now in various stages of production. One of these, factory serial MY-01, was signed by Bulgarian Minister of Defence Todor Tagarev.

LATACC is primarily being funded by the European Defence Fund and includes a range of companies specialising in key technology areas such as cloud software, communications, sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence, and system resilience in challenging environments. (Thales)
A project to enhance and accelerate collaborative combat for European land forces has been launched following the signing of a grant agreement between Thales and the European Commission, the company announced on 17 January.

South Korean MoD
Ukraine received bad news about the potential donation long-range air-launched cruise missiles from Germany today. Around the same time, Kyiv also got some welcome news regarding supply of similar missiles from France.
The German parliament overwhelmingly voted down a non-binding measure on delivering Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles to Ukraine on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron, however, announced late Tuesday night that his country will deliver an additional 40 SCALP-EG cruise missiles.

Getty Stock Images
The U.S. conducted its fourth round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen today, a preemptive attack against missiles, a senior U.S. administration official told The War Zone.
Today’s attack follows a preemptive strike against Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles on Tuesday. The U.S. previously struck a Houthi radar site with a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile fired by the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Carney on Jan. 13. That came after U.S. and U.K.

This extended coverage and the ability to detect targets at long range gives Russia a significant advantage in monitoring and managing hostile or contested airspace.
Reports indicate that Russia maintains nine A-50s and A-50Us for airspace control, operating mainly over Kursk, Voronezh, Crimea and the Black Sea.
The crucial role of the  A-50 AEW&C in Russian VKS operations
Recently, Russian media has shed light on the A-50, an airborne radar platform used by the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS).

The B-21 seen during its maiden flight from Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, in November 2023. Andrew Kanei
The U.S. Air Force’s first B-21 Raider stealth bomber is now conducting test flights from Edwards Air Force Base in California. This marks an important step forward in the development of this highly advanced aircraft, which just flew for the first time last November.
An Air Force official confirmed to The War Zone that the initial B-21, one of six pre-production examples the service plans to acquire, flew a sortie from Edwards today.

Unknown author
In many areas of Europe, it’s hard to escape the visual reminders of World War II’s devastating impact. Numerous buildings, bunkers, and military installations that survived the war, both in Germany and across the continent, attest to this. However, in the mid-1980s the discovery — or, rather, re-discovery — of three German U-boats entombed in an abandoned U-boat bunker in Hamburg brought to light an altogether unknown history.

Unlike every former nuclear-powered carrier in the U.S. Navy that’s been produced at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding dockyard, the future Ford-class carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80) that’s now in the works there will be the first ever to be completely designed on computers and tablets, and physically built using digital manufacturing capabilities.
During separate briefings at HII’s new Arlington office on Jan. 8, two of its top executives spotlighted some of the company’s latest metrics and the milestones they’re eyeing in 2024.

USN
At least one type of ad hoc air defense system developed as part of a Pentagon initiative dubbed FrankenSAM is now in service, according to Ukrainian officials. One of these systems scored a kill against an Iranian-designed, Russian-built kamikaze drone in Ukraine just last night.
Col. Yuri Ignat, the Ukrainian Air Force’s top spokesperson, told The War Zone that FrankenSAM systems are now in use and that one knocked down at least one Russian Shahed-type kamikaze drone overnight.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the best comic series adaptations in the world today. Did you know that Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man were written by a Navy veteran though? That’s right, Alvin Sargent, two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter for Julia and Ordinary People, served in the U.S. Navy.

Sargent attended high school outside Philadelphia but dropped out to join the U.S. Navy during World War II. He confessed during a 2008 interview with the Writers Guild Foundation, that he really made the move to ensure he would get a diploma.

From left to right: Andrew Webber, Lance Lawrence, and Jericho Skye Magallon, three U.S. military veterans who have been killed in Ukraine. (Photos courtesy of Karla Webber, Terrie Lawrence, and Ralph Magallon).
Karla Webber is one of five family members of American military veterans killed in Ukraine who have come to Washington, D.C., to plead with lawmakers to approve more military assistance for the Ukrainians.w
Webber’s son Andrew, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, and went on to deploy once to Iraq and Twice to Afghanistan.

Operation Cyclone was the CIA’s most expensive covert military assistance program during the Cold War. Initiated in 1979, the operation lasted until 1989. The aim was simple but strategic — bleed the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, just like the U.S. had been bled in Vietnam.
President Jimmy Carter approved this covert action following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. His National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was instrumental in pushing for U.S. involvement. Brzezinski saw the Afghan resistance as a golden opportunity to embroil the Soviets in a quagmire.

BAE Systems
A Eurofighter Typhoon has finally been fitted with an advanced ECRS Mk 2 radar, a cutting-edge active electronically scanned array (AESA) system with a unique positioning mechanism that will allow the Typhoon to realize its full potential.
The long-awaited radar, also known as Captor-E Mk 2, will provide Royal Air Force Typhoons with a host of new capabilities that will ensure the aircraft can better complement the U.K.’s F-35B stealth fighters. The new radar could also attract interest from Typhoon export customers.

Last week, an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a top Hizballah commander, Wissam al Tawil, renewing fears that the war in Gaza could spark a broader regional conflict. This comes after months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hizballah since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 and an Israeli airstrike that killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh al Arouri in Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 2. We asked four experts to tell us more about this conflict and how it might develop. Read more below.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Zachary Van Nuys
Dozens of recent shoot-downs over and around the Red Sea have provided an unprecedented amount of data on the performance of the U.S. Navy’s sprawling air warfare apparatus. It’s not just the United States that can leverage these events for critical insights. Adversaries, specifically China, can, as well.
The swatting-down of many Houthi cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as dozens of drones, by U.S.

Army criminal investigators are investigating the circumstances inside an Army-run daycare center in which a child was repeatedly touched inappropriately by another child. Photo by Scott Finger.
Army criminal investigators are investigating the circumstances inside an Army-run daycare center in which a child was repeatedly touched inappropriately by another child.

Iran’s Foreign Minister and Pakistan’s Prime Minister met in Davos hours before Tehran’s missiles killed two children in Balochistan.

The tech giant has been accused of working with the People’s Liberation Army to develop Chinese military artificial intelligence.

A Bayraktar TB2 carries a Desert Sting 16 guided bomb during an integration test flight. (Edge)
The Emirati defence group Edge is working with Baykar to integrate its Desert Sting guided bomb on the Turkish company’s Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it was announced on 17 January.
In a statement, Edge said the plan is to initially integrate the Desert Sting 16 (DS-16) with the TB2 before the end of this year as part of its strategic alliance agreement with Baykar, with other payloads to follow.

Image by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General Mark Milley (USA, Ret) has been spotted at Davos with his entourage.
This is the same Mark Milley who went behind President Trump’s back to the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the Commander-in-Chief’s authority.
The same Mark Milley who helped prevent the National Guard from deploying to the capitol on Jan 6, 2021, then lied about it, likely to aid the ‘fedsurrection.

Saab’s MSHORAD has been selected by the Sweden for an investment of SEK 300m, providing advanced protection on the battlefield.

The German Navy has acquired six Revolution ROVs from Canadian company Deep Trekker. (Bundeswehr/Nguyen)
The German Navy has taken delivery of six new Deep Trekker Revolution remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the German armed forces has confirmed.
The new ROVs, which were procured by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to meet an urgent operational requirement, will be deployed by the German Navy’s 3rd Minesweeper Squadron for mine-warfare tasks, including port and hull inspection.

The first ECRS Mk 2 E-Scan radar has now been fitted aboard Eurofighter test aircraft ZK355/BS116 ahead of flight trials scheduled to begin later in 2024. (BAE Systems)
BAE Systems and its programme partners have progressed with the integration of European Common Radar System Mark 2 (ECRS Mk 2) electronically scanned (E-Scan) radar for the UK, fitting the first radar aboard a Eurofighter Typhoon test aircraft.

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisition announcements in the global aerospace and defence sector.

Mike Cote, Providence Deterrence is built over decades, but can crumble in an instant. And that instant is now.

Keith Payne, NIPP

L. Thompson, Forbes
Nuclear war is by far the biggest military threat to national security, and the threat is growing.

Corey Dickstein, Stars and Stripes
The Army is overstaffed with infantry and armor lieutenants and needs some of them who were commissioned in 2021 to move into combat-support jobs, service…

Zita Ballinger Fletcher, History Net
Was this sword Ulysses Grant’s good luck charm during the Civil War?