Defense Watch

BALTOPS 2023. The 52nd NATO Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2023 maritime exercise is set to start in Tallinn, Estonia on June 4, lasting through June 16. The alliance’s primary Baltic region […]

Berger: Change COCOMS? Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger said he thinks it is time to look at changing the structure of combatant commands (COCOMS) given changes since the current structure […]

Fourth Frigate. The Navy awarded Fincantieri Marinette Marine $526 million on May 18 to exercise an option for the detail design and construction of the fourth Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, FFG-65. […]

Advantage China. A Navy official on May 11 told a House panel part of the reason China’s military shipbuilding capability is so much larger, when it comes to pure numbers, […]

Nuclear Command and Control. U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), says that “we are in the beginning steps” of AFGSC’s nuclear […]

CCA Operational Experimentation Unit. The U.S. Air Force plans to use Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat as part of an operational experimentation unit for the service’s planned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). […]

Space Experiments. U.S. Space Force’s small launch and targets division at Kirtland AFB, N.M., has awarded an $11.5 million contract under the Orbital Services Program-4 to Alameda, Calif.-based Astra Space […]

Tricky Challenge. Enabling U.S. Navy strike fighter aircraft to carry hypersonic missiles and stow them safely on aircraft carriers may be a knotty technical challenge. Last month, the Navy awarded […]

New USV. Saildrone, the developer of small unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for security, science and environmental missions, last week introduced its 33-foot Voyager mid-size USV, which is designed for near-shore […]

Fighter Fall. The U.S. Air Force’s fiscal 2024 budget request proposes the divestment of 131 fighter aircraft, including 42 A-10s, 57 F-15 C/Ds, and 32 Block 20 F-22 aircraft while […]