DefenceTalkMore bad news for US aviation giant Boeing: the US Air Force said Tuesday it had halted for a second time the acceptance of new KC-46 tankers due to ongoing quality issues. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed the March 23 decision — another setback in the already delayed air tanker program — during a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-refuses-boeing-tanker-deliveries-over-quality-issues-72249/

DefenceTalkUS Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Tuesday he was confident that Turkey would drop its plan to purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system and buy the US Patriot system instead. A day after Washington put a freeze on its joint F-35 fighter jet program with Turkey in protest to the S-400 deal, Shanahan […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-expects-turkey-to-buy-us-missile-system-72242/

DefenceTalkA former US Defense Intelligence Agency official will be jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty Friday to charges of attempting to sell classified information to the Chinese, the Department of Justice said. Ron Rockwell Hansen, 58, a former DIA operative based in Beijing, was arrested in June while preparing to board a flight to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-intel-official-pleads-guilty-in-chinese-spying-case-72215/

DefenceTalkThe United States will send an additional 3,750 troops to its frontier with Mexico, the Pentagon said Sunday, as President Donald Trump doubled down on his call for a wall to boost border security. Soldiers were originally deployed to the border under an order Trump gave before midterm elections in November as “caravans” of migrants […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-sends-3750-more-troops-to-mexico-border-pentagon-72103/

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon said on Monday (Jan 14) it would extend until Sept 30 the deployment of active-duty soldiers and Coast Guard members at the US-Mexico border, while expanding the mission to include surveillance and detection. Lengthening the troops’ mission past a Jan 31 deadline, the Pentagon said it was “transitioning its support at the south-western […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-prolongs-us-troop-deployment-at-mexico-border-72042/

DefenceTalkChina is on the cusp of fielding some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems — and in some cases already has surpassed its rivals, a Pentagon assessment released Tuesday found. An unclassified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency says Beijing has made enormous military strides in recent years, thanks partly to domestic laws forcing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-takes-lead-in-some-military-tech-pentagon-72040/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. military on Tuesday successfully conducted a test of a new ballistic-missile interceptor system, which is being co-developed with Japan. The launch marks the second successful test in less than two months for the SM-3 Block IIA missile and its associated technologies, which had previously experienced failures. According to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-conducts-latest-successful-test-of-us-japan-interceptor-71987/

DefenceTalkSAN FRANCISCO: Amazon chief Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the company’s bid for a major Pentagon cloud computing contract, saying it was important to support US defense efforts even if unpopular. “This is a great country and it does need to be defended,” Bezos said onstage during a question-and-answer session at the Wired 25th Anniversary […]https://www.defencetalk.com/bezos-defends-amazon-effort-for-pentagon-cloud-project-71900/

DefenceTalkDefense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday that the US military is adjusting tactics in Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to inflict heavy casualties on local forces. The Taliban are killing hundreds of Afghan army and police forces each month. The New York Times said the death toll is making it harder to recruit new soldiers. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-adjusts-tactics-as-afghan-army-toll-rises-mattis-71876/

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon has protested after US fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers west of Alaska, in the latest incident of its kind. F-22 Raptor fighters from NORAD intercepted and visually identified the long-range Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear” bombers overnight Tuesday, said the joint US-Canadian command, charged with aerospace warning and control for North America. The four-engine […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-protests-after-intercept-of-russian-bombers-71856/