DefenseNews

GCAP fighter jet designers push to keep weapons, drone options open

ROME — The new sixth-generation GCAP fighter should be able to carry a wide variety of armaments and work with any number of different “Loyal Wingman” drones, a leading official on the UK-Japanese-Italy program has said. British defense ministry official Group Captain Bill Sanders said the under-development platform needed to have a weapons bay ready to accept any armament used by the…
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DefenseNews

Experts: Full nuclear weapons tests would backfire on US

Resuming full testing of nuclear weapons — as President Donald Trump called for last week — would be unnecessary, costly, undermine nonproliferation efforts, and empower the nation’s adversaries to use their own tests as intimidation, experts told Defense…
DefenseNews

US Air Force wants 1,558 fighters for low-risk wars. Can it get there?

The Air Force told lawmakers it needs a fighter fleet of 1,558 manned, combat-coded fighters to carry out and sustain operations at a low risk, nearly 300 more than it has now. In an August report signed by Air Force Sec. Troy Meink, which was obtained by Defense News, the service said it needs to “grow to minimize risk” over the next decade, as it focuses on modernizing its current…
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DefenseNews

Army’s clock must now start ticking faster when a soldier goes missing

A new U.S. Army directive orders commanders to act within hours — not days — when a soldier goes missing, giving them three hours to classify a service member as “absent-unknown” and eight hours to notify the soldier’s family once the absence is discovered. The change, issued by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll last week, compresses what sometimes can be a slow, inconsistent process for…
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DefenseNews

Two drones swoop near Estonian base housing US troops, 1 shot down

Two drones raised alarms in the South Estonia region of Estonia on Oct. 17 when they appeared near the Reedo military barracks, resulting in one of the drones being shot down, according to an Estonian press report this week. The base, home to Estonia’s 2nd Infantry Brigade, currently houses U.S. troops of the Army’s 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment. Defense News requested a comment from…
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