Defense Watch

Kyl Leaving Senate in 2019. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) will leave the Senate at the end of 2018, according to a Dec. 12 letter to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. Kyl, […]

GOP Push Back. GOP lawmakers are making a concerted push to convince President Donald Trump not to impose cuts on the FY ’20 defense budget, as he has been reported […]

DDG-56 Leaves Dry Dock. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) left its dry dock in Yokosuka, Japan following nine months of repairs after it collided with […]

A Hurd-Won Victory. Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas.) won his reelection race after his challenger, Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz-Jones, conceded in a statement issued Nov. 19. Their race ended with […]

UK F-35 Buys. The United Kingdom plans to order 17 new F-35B joint strike fighters, essentially doubling its fleet within the next six years. The new aircraft will be delivered […]

New Hacker Group. Symantec has discovered a new cyber attack group, called Gallmaker, that is targeting government and military organizations, specifically embassies located in an Eastern European country and defense […]

Election Security Update. Just ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that there are continued attempts to access election-related systems in the states and […]

KC-46 Goes International. The KC-46 flight test program is conducting a test called Integrated System Evaluation (ISE) to evaluate worldwide operations and military utility of the aerial refueling aircraft. On […]

Five-Year Term. Recent legislation signed into law by President Trump that authorizes a five-year term for the head of the Transportation Security Administration applies to the agency’s current administrator, David […]

Senate Confirms DoD Nominations. The Senate confirmed several Defense Department nominees during voice votes Oct. 11. They include: Army Gen. Robert Abrams for U.S. Forces-Korea commander; Vice Adm. Craig Faller […]