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Defense One
‘5 bullet points’ email now a weekly task for Pentagon civilians
The “five things I did this week” email just became a weekly task for Defense civilians.On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added to guidance he issued last week, instructing the department’s roughly 760,000 civilian employees to send…
Pentagon is placing probationary employees on leave in advance of mass firings
Mass firings began at the Defense Department this week, with multiple organizations receiving direction to place targeted probationary employees on administrative leave pending official action by the department.There are 55,000 total…
The D Brief: Russia pounds Ukraine; Trump disavows NATO principle; Europe talks nukes; DOGE’s oops;…
Russia’s Ukraine invasion, day 1108Russia’s military unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine just days after U.S. President Donald Trump halted the transfer of air defense munitions to Kyiv. Some 67 missiles and 194…
General Atomics says it’s ready to pump out up to 18 CCAs per month
AURORA, Colo.—General Atomics says it’ll be ready to mass-produce its collaborative combat aircraft prototype after first flight this summer, its president said—soon after Air Force leaders debuted a new designation for such robot…
Pentagon freezes government credit cards in DOGE cost-savings push
The Defense Department has put a spending freeze on civilian employees’ government credit cards, according to two memos issued Tuesday and Wednesday, forcing department civilians to cancel all scheduled non-essential travel and return from…
F-35 to get new software this summer—but there’s no date yet for planned full upgrade
AURORA, Colo.—Lockheed Martin is aiming to release new software to U.S. F-35 jets this summer, a “step” towards the full, combat-ready version of the TR-3 upgrade, according to a company executive. “It's really the customer's…
CIA is terminating some probationary employees
The CIA has begun terminating some probationary employees—generally, people with one to two years on the job, who have fewer civil service protections—the intelligence agency confirmed Thursday.The firings come a week after a federal…
The D Brief: Deportation costs; DOGE cuts; Pressure on Ukraine; Campaign-planning AI; And a bit…
Trump’s costly deportation driveThe United States has at least temporarily stopped using military aircraft to deport people, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing cheaper civilian alternatives that have been known about…
Pentagon to build AI for war planning in Europe and Asia
In a bid to accelerate military decision-making—particularly in the European and Indo-Pacific regions—the Pentagon has hired Scale AI to prototype an artificial-intelligence program to help plan military campaigns, test battle scenarios,…
Space Force hopes it gains from Hegseth’s budget shift
The Space Force’s vice chief hopes his service gets upgrades with some of the $50 billion per year that Pentagon leaders want to shift around in upcoming budgets.“We are woefully underfunded in ‘protect and defend’” systems, Gen.…
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