DefenseNews

At 53, I Took the Tough New Army Combat Fitness Test. Here's How It Turned Out

Matthew Cox took the Army’s new combat fitness test (ACFT) at Ft. Myer, Virginia, Friday morning. (Steven Beynon/Military.com) When I was first approached three weeks ago to take the Army Combat Fitness Test, my answer was no. Not just no, but hell no. I hadn’t taken an Army fitness test in 32 years and had no plans to start now. It took about a day, and another appeal by an Army officer I…
Read more
DefenseNews

US, Turkey remain divided over purchase of Russia’s S-400s

ANKARA, Turkey — Top U.S. and Turkish diplomats failed on Wednesday to overcome sharp differences over Turkey’s purchase of an advanced Russian air defense system, which Washington sees as a security threat. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish…
DefenseNews

Overmatch is fleeting: How the US Army’s multidomain task force will help the military remain dominant

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s multidomain task force might have started out as an experimental unit, but a new plan to operationalize it puts the unit front and center in competition, crisis and conflict against adversaries. The move is detailed in an Army whitepaper released March 23, in which the service acknowledges it must transform now to meet future challenges. “Although our Army…
Read more
DefenseNews

The US Navy inks a deal for a tenth Block V Virginia-class submarine

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy sealed the deal on a 10th ship in its latest iteration of the Virginia-class attack submarine, issuing a $2.4 billion adjustment on a contract initially awarded in December 2019. The original contract was for nine boats with an option for a 10th, which brings the total cost of the contract with Prime Contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat to $24.1 billion…
Read more
DefenseNews

US Air Force’s T-38 trainer could soon dogfight with augmented reality adversaries

WASHINGTON — In the future, when U.S. Air Force fighter pilots face off in aerial combat training missions, they could be dogfighting the video game version of Chinese and Russian warplanes at a fraction of the cost of using real jets like the F-22 Raptor. At least that’s the pitch the California-based company known as Red 6 is making to the service. For the past three years, Red 6 has…
Read more