A court-martial convened March 10 for Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was sentenced in federal court last year to 15 years in prison for leaking highly classified military documents after the most consequential national security breach in years. Teixeira pleaded guilty last year to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. He faces additional military charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice in the court-martial, held at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
House Republicans’ yearlong continuing resolution for fiscal 2025 includes $892.5 billion for defense, boosting the defense topline about $6 billion above the FY24 spending limits but slightly below the $895 billion forecasted for this year.
The U.S. Air Force is asking for turbofan engine concepts in the 35,000-50,000-lb.-thrust range that could power a wide range of commercial and military aircraft efforts, including a new type of commercial airliner, a military variant of a blended wing body (BWB) airlifter or tanker, and a reengining program for the Boeing C-17 fleet.
The Trump administration may resume U.S. military and intelligence support for Ukraine if its leaders commit to a peace process during a high-stakes meeting March 11 in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters.
Kurdish-Led SDF Agrees to Integrate Into Syrian State Institutions, Presidency Says The Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, has signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said March 10. The deal was signed by interim Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF's commander Mazloum Abdi. Groups backed by Turkey have clashed with the SDF, the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria.
A third Marine Corps squadron of F-35B Lightning II fighters arrived in Japan, marking the latest step in the service’s efforts to modernize its deployed forces in the Indo-Pacific. The squadron—Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214, also known as the Black Sheep—arrived March 7 from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. The deployment is the first rotational assignment for the F-35B under the Marines’ Unit Deployment Program, which cycles units through the region to bolster readiness.
Washington and Beijing have begun discussions about a potential “birthday summit” in June in the U.S. between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Trump and Xi, through their representatives, have expressed interest in a summit since Trump won the election in November. The latest talks on a potential summit in the month when both leaders celebrate birthdays signal a willingness from both sides to inject some goodwill in the relationship amid trade tensions that have unsettled global markets and businesses.
For more than 80 years, a cornerstone of the United States’ military strength has been its unparalleled ability to project power through the air. Washington has the most sophisticated fleet of combat aircraft in the world. But the U.S. fleet is shrinking, and its airpower advantage appears to be eroding.
A tanker carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military was hit by a container ship off northeast England March 10, with the collision igniting a blaze on both vessels, causing multiple explosions and forcing both crews to abandon ship.
Members of the U.S. Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31) contributed to an important increase in live-fire testing of the secretive AIM-260A long-range air-to-air missile last year, it has emerged. The Joint Advanced Tactical Missile is a joint program that the Navy is working on together with the U.S. Air Force.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is making a concerted effort to accelerate its artificial intelligence efforts over the next year, creating new AI leadership roles and pushing more resources toward its computing infrastructure. But NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth said he wants NGA to commit more funding toward AI efforts and establish new standards and leadership roles that allow it to better leverage the technology.
Through extensive flight tests earlier this year, Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky has proven the capability of a “rotor blown wing” unmanned aircraft system that can fly like a helicopter or an airplane, the company announced March 10. The drone is a 115-pound, battery-powered twin prop-rotor aircraft that the company said can be scaled larger, “requiring hybrid-electric propulsion.”
In the shadow of escalating tensions between Europe and the United States over NATO commitments and the war in Ukraine, a persistent myth about the F-35 Lightning II has exploded online: the notion that the Pentagon has embedded a “kill switch” in the fifth-generation fighter jet, allowing it to remotely disable or impair the aircraft operated by foreign allies.
