The U.S. Navy needs to increase the number of fighters it buys to maintain its current inventory size, as F-35s are coming online too slowly while F/A-18E/F production sunsets and the service has not backed up its talk on the prioritization of unmanned aerial vehicles, a new think tank report argues.

The White House has nominated Adm. Christopher Grady, the current commander of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Forces Command, to serve as the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after a delay that raised concerns about a gap in the position.

As the Pentagon’s No. 2 military officer prepares to retire next month following decades of service, including leading key strategic and space commands, Gen. John Hyten’s biggest regret is how vulnerable the nation’s defense satellite system is to attack.

The Pentagon is hoping there are no schedule delays or overruns if defense industry employees do not get COVID-19 vaccines and leave their jobs as the deadline under President Joe Biden’s executive order approaches.

U.S. officials are in advanced discussions with Pakistan for a permanent agreement to use that country’s air space for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, and are still talking with other nearby nations such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for potential basing, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers.

The commander of the United Arab Emirates Air Force has visited Israel for the first time, as defense relations between the two countries warm following the normalization of diplomatic relations.

Lockheed Martin was by far the largest recipient of defense contracts in fiscal 2020 after receiving a 60% increase in Defense Department funding when compared to fiscal 2019, the Pentagon announced Oct. 21.

More NATO members have joined alliance efforts to develop new-generation ground-based air defense systems.