Daily Report

July 11, 2016

F-35 Depot Finishes Milestone Modification

The Ogden Air Logistics Complex on June 30 delivered the 12th modified F-35A to Hill AFB, Utah, reaching the magic number needed for initial operational capability. The logistics center finished a depot-level modification to the F-35A’s fuel system, alleviating an...

Did They Forget About Airpower?

Warsaw, Poland—Airpower has received scant attention at the Warsaw NATO summit, while there’s been lengthy discussion of adding more ground battalions and brigades in the Baltic region and a beefed-up central Mediterranean naval presence. A US diplomat told reporters at...

Kabul It Together

Warsaw, Poland NATO has secured pledges from member nations to keep the “advise and assist” mission going in Afghanistan through 2020, although how the mission will be performed will be re-evaluated next year. “We will sustain the mission beyond 2016,”...

Training and Advising in Iraq

Warsaw, Poland NATO decided on Saturday that it will move its mission training Iraqi ground forces—now being done in Jordan—to facilities inside Iraq, no later than November. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters the mission was moving to become more...

Libya Offer on the Table

Warsaw, Poland No decisions regarding the situation in Libya emerged from the NATO summit in Warsaw. A senior alliance official, answering questions from the press, said NATO is on record having “offered Libya defense capacity building,” meaning advice on how...

Long Pole in the Tent

Warsaw, Poland To deal with a resurgent and threatening Russia, NATO will increase its forward-deployed forces, including four new battalions that will rotate in and out of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and there will be additional...

Members Only

Warsaw, Poland Montenegro will join NATO shortly, as soon as the 28 member nations ratify the decision, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week. He emphasized that “the door is open” to new membership, and no nation outside the...

Friends of the Club

Warsaw, Poland Neither Sweden nor Finland have raised the issue of membership in NATO at this week’s alliance summit, senior NATO officials told reporters Saturday, and NATO isn’t inviting them unless asked. “As a Norwegian,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in...

In the Black

Warsaw, Poland As a direct counter to Russia’s creating an anti-access air defense “bubble” over Crimea and parts of the Black Sea, NATO will step up its presence in Romania, stationing both additional sea and air assets there, NATO officials...

Next Summit

Warsaw, Poland Although it’s early to start thinking about the next NATO summit, likely to be held in 2018, some of the agenda items are already becoming clear, US diplomats told reporters in Friday background briefings. Some of those include...

US, South Korea Agree to Deploy THAAD

After years of discussions, the US and South Korean governments agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system on the Korean peninsula, the Pentagon announced on July 7. A joint working group will soon make a recommendation...

Pratt Receives $1.5 Billion F-35 Engine Order

Pratt & Whitney on Friday received $1.5 billion for the next batch of F135 engines for the Joint Strike Fighter, covering 99 power plants for all three variants of the jet. The contract is the 10th low rate initial production...

Consolidating Battlefield Airmen Training

The Air Force has selected eight installations in six states as candidates for possible consolidation of its battlefield airman training. The potential training locations, announced July 7, are Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, and Patrick Air Force Base in...