Readout of Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis’ bilateral engagement with Chinese Minister of National Defense GEN Wei Fenghe at the 2018 ADMM-Plus
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Minister of National Defense GEN Wei Fenghe on the margins of the 2018 ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting (ADMM-Plus). The leaders discussed a broad range of defense and policy issues. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of dialogue, risk reduction, and open lines [...]
Pradman Kaul details Hughes’ global satellite broadband ambitions
DALLAS — The United States is home to the two most successful broadband satellite operators in the world: Hughes and Viasat. Both companies redefined high-throughput satellites by launching spacecraft with more than 100 gigabits per second of Ka-band capacity over North America around the beginning of the decade. Both companies also filled those satellites to the brim with customers — mostly [...]
Indo-Pacific Command Chief Receives Old Salt Award
WASHINGTON -- Traditions underpin the Navy. The United States Navy sails state-of-the-art ships, flies fifth-generation aircraft and stalks threats with the latest hunter-killer submarines. But the customs and traditions of the service going back to John Paul Jones and Stephen Decatur still guide sailors. The Navy continued a tradition yesterday as Adm. Kurt Tidd, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, [...]
C-Band Alliance doubles spectrum offer to 200 megahertz
WASHINGTON — Members of the C-Band Alliance on Oct. 22 increased the amount of spectrum they are willing to part with in the United States, aligning their plan more closely with that of the Federal Communications Commission as a deadline for input looms. The group, led by Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat — four of the world’s largest satellite operators [...]
ISIS-Controlled Syrian Mosque Destroyed, Navy Ships Transit Taiwan Strait
WASHINGTON -- A U.S.-led coalition airstrike leveled a Syrian mosque today among other buildings used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to attack the Syrian Democratic Forces, Army Col. Rob Manning, the Pentagon’s director of press operations, told Pentagon reporters today. While mosques are generally among those buildings that have protected status from targeting in wartime, Manning explained [...]
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Loffredo Fresh Produce Co. Inc.,* Des Moines, Iowa (SPE300-19-DP-341; $9,000,000); and Greenberg Fruit Co.,* Omaha, Nebraska (SPE300-19-DS-731; $27,000,000), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract under solicitation SPE300-16-R-0042 for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. These are 54-month contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are [...]
NASA makes progress on fixing Hubble gyro
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Engineers have made progress correcting a faulty gyro on the Hubble Space Telescope, making NASA optimistic the space telescope can resume normal operations in the near future. Hubble has been in safe mode since the failure of the third of its six gyroscopes Oct. 5. While the telescope can operate normally with just three gyros, one of [...]
Thales Group reports boost in space revenue
WASHINGTON — Government demand for space systems drove a “recovery of space orders” for Thales Group this year, offsetting a slump in commercial telecom satellites, Chief Financial Officer Pascal Bouchiat said Oct. 18. In a call with analysts, Bouchiat said it is too early to determine if demand for commercial telecom satellites will rebound. However, government demand — what [...]
Air Force extends high year of tenure for E-4s through E-6s
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The Air Force is extending the high year of tenure for senior airmen through technical sergeants beginning Feb. 1, 2019.The memo, signed Oct. 18, 2018, extends the high year of tenure from eight to 10 years for senior airmen, from 15 to 20 years for staff sergeants and from 20 to 22 years for technical sergeants.Airmen [...]
USNS Comfort Begins Medical Site Set—up in Ecuador
ESMERALDAS, Ecuador (NNS) -- A team comprised of more than 900 personnel, embarked aboard USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), commenced their first mission stop as part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Oct. 20. "The Comfort team has put in a ton of effort to get this medical mission from sea to shore,” said Capt. William Shafley, [...]
U.S. Navy Holds Ceremony to mark First Dedicated UAS Test Squadron
NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER AIRCRAFT DIVISION, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy commissioned its first Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) test and evaluation squadron during a ceremony Oct. 18, at Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s Webster Outlying Field. The new unit, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (UX) 24, flies over 23 fixed and rotary wing UAS including the [...]
U.S. Forces Ready for NATO Exercise Trident Juncture 18
KEFLAVIK, Iceland (NNS) -- More than 14,000 U.S. service members from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps will take part in Exercise Trident Juncture 18, which begins Oct. 25, 2018. The month-long exercise will take place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and [...]
Roscosmos to complete Soyuz accident investigation this month
WASHINGTON — The final report into the launch failure that forced the abort of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled for completion by the end of the month, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos announced Oct. 20. In a brief statement, Roscosmos said the state commission investigating the Oct. 11 accident met Oct. 20 and approved a “preliminary report” on [...]
Space Force policy memo being drafted to establish new military branch
WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday will hold a meeting of the National Space Council at the National Defense University to discuss the next steps toward creating a Space Force as a new branch of the U.S. military. During the last meeting of the council on June 18, Trump ordered the Pentagon to set up a Space Force [...]
President Trump visits Luke AFB
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- President Donald J. Trump visited Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Oct. 19, to discuss military weapons and technology capabilities and learn about the 56th Fighter Wing’s pilot training mission.After touring a static display of the F-35A Lightning II and other military equipment, Trump convened with cabinet members, congressmen, and defense industry leaders in [...]