Military

AURORA, Colo. — The Air Force’s first two prototype collaborative combat aircraft have received their mission design series designations and will fly this summer, Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said Monday.
The CCAs, which are being built by Anduril Industries and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., are the first aircraft the Air Force has dubbed fighter drones. General Atomics’ CCA is now known as the YFQ-42A, and Anduril’s is the YFQ-44A, Allvin said in his keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association’s AFA Warfare Symposium here.
In Air Force nomenclature, fighter aircraft are given an F designation, and Q stands for drones. Prototype aircraft are also given a Y prefix, which these CCAs will drop once they enter production.
“For the first time in our history, we have a fighter designation in the YFQ-42 Alpha and YFQ-44 Alpha,” Allvin said. “It may just be symbolic, but we are telling the world we are leaning into a n..

A first-of-its-kind museum honoring recipients of the nation’s highest combat award is set to open later this month in Arlington, Texas — but the project is already dogged by controversy and outrage amid an apparent snub to one medal recipient.
A petition on behalf of the late Air Force Master Sgt. John Chapman, a combat controller whose fight to the death in thigh-deep snow during the March 4-5, 2002 Battle of Takur Ghar, Afghanistan, is among the first Medal of Honor actions caught on video, has so far gained nearly 25,000 verified signers and tens of thousands of dollars in donations to promote the cause.
The petition, which is hosted on Change.org, calls for the museum, a private enterprise, to create a dedicated exhibit honoring the airman.
Chapman’s sister and other advocates for his family say he was initially promised such an exhibit — and the family was even brought in to discuss it — but that plans were changed amid what appears to be a revival of a dark and long-standing int..

BERLIN — Austria will remain in the European Sky Shield Initiative and increase its defense expenditures to 2% of the country’s GDP annually under a new government, the incoming coalition announced on Thursday.
Previously it had appeared as though Austria would exit the German-founded Sky Shield air defense project under a far-right government. The negotiations between the extreme-right Freedom Party and the conservative People’s Party have since failed, paving the way for a more moderate coalition. Elections were held in September of 2024.
On Thursday, the incoming government, led by the conservatives and with participation of the social democrats and the economic liberals, announced that they had arrived at a coalition agreement, which includes a detailed plan of proposed policies and some appointments.
The three-way coalition – a historic first in Austrian history – is expected to present a relative continuation of the preceding Austrian government, which was..

PARIS — The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, proposed a plan that could free up around €800 billion ($841 billion) in defense spending over the next four years, as the continent prepares to face Russian aggression and help Ukraine to defend itself.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a five-point plan, dubbed ReArm Europe, to help pay for more security spending ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday. She said the world is seeing an era of rearmament, and the 27-nation bloc is ready to “massively” boost defense spending.
The plans include €150 billion in loans to member states to build up pan-European capacities in areas like air defense and ammunition, and activating a fiscal escape clause to let countries spend more on defense without triggering the bloc’s excessive-deficit procedure, Von der Leyen said.
If member states were to use the clause to raise defense spending by 1.5% of GDP on ave..

AURORA, Colo. — Lockheed Martin hopes to begin rolling out early Block 4 capabilities to the F-35 this summer, a senior company official said Monday.
Chauncey McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Lockheed’s F-35 program, said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s AFA Warfare Symposium here that the company plans to drop an update to the F-35′s Technology Refresh 3 software, which will enable new features.
The TR-3 software update will bring the aircraft type closer to being able to fly in combat, he said.
“Our warfighters are going to see a much higher increase of stability in that software” once the update is in place, McIntosh said.
TR-3 is a series of upgrades to the F-35′s computer memory, processing power, and displays, which are intended to make the jet more capable and pave the way for a subsequent series of more substantial improvements known as Block 4.
McIntosh said in a briefing with reporters Monday that Block 4 will bring the F-35 imp..

Radford, Va. — No one was injured in an explosion early Friday at a U.S. Army ammunition plant in southwestern Virginia, authorities said.
The explosion happened at about 12:30 a.m. in the ammunition production area of the plant, which produces superior-performing propellants, energetics and munitions, authorities with the Radford Army Ammunition Plant said in a statement.
Officials with the Army plant could not be reached for further comment regarding the size and nature of the explosion.
“Producing ammunition is a dangerous business,” the plant statement said. “Many safety protocols are put in place to ensure operators are exposed to as little danger as possible. Today’s incident shows the effectiveness of those protocols.”
The explosion is under investigation.

White House support for Ukraine appeared to completely collapse on Friday afterPresident Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian President during a tense Oval Office meeting between the leaders, accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not seriously looking for ways to end the ongoing conflict with Russia.
In a statement on social media following the meeting, Trump stated that Zelenskyy “is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want peace.”
White House officials did not immediately clarify whether Trump’s statement means a full end to U.S. military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, which has received nearly $70 billion in military aid from America over the last three years.
The Pentagon has said it has no more money to replace equipment it has sent to Kyiv, and Congress is unlikely to continue such support.
Trump expresses Russia-Ukraine war nearing end as..

YONAGUNI, Japan — This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill.
But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port.
All of the buildup has cemented the island as a front line in a potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own.
“As a child, I was so proud of this westernmost border island,” said Fumie Kano, an innkeeper on Yonaguni. “But recently, we are repeatedly told this place is dangerous, and I feel so sad.”
The militarization has been especially felt as the island’s population shrinks. There are less than 1,..