President Donald Trump has called his former Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, “the world s most over-rated general.” Once one of his most highly-praised cabinet members, the former Marine Corps general resigned last December.

Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff to President Donald Trump, has acknowledged that Trump used promised military aid to press Ukraine to investigate a U.S. domestic political matter involving the Democratic Party. The administration had denied for weeks that it had demanded the quid pro quo but Mulvaney has admitted the ploy to reporters.

The U.S. Army has refined its search for new rifles to three prospective suppliers of prototypes which would use a common 6.8mm round for not only the Army but also the Marine Corps and Special Operations Forces. The latest list, which could be refined further, includes AAI Corporation Textron Systems, General Dynamics-OTS and Sig Sauer.

Three proposals to supply some 210 infantry fighting vehicles have been received by the Czech Republic’s defence ministry. The competitors for the $2.2 billion contract are General Dynamics European Land Systems’ Ascod, BAE Systems’ CV90, and Rheinmetall’s Lynx. A fourth bidder, a joint venture between Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, opted not to compete, saying it would require a costly rebuild of its Puma platform.

Improvements in artificial intelligence technologies means that government procurement agencies need to renew how they approach industry, according to the World Economic Forum. It says in a discussion paper that traditional processes might not be suitable due to new and unique risks to manage and the possibility of unintended consequences.

The U.S. and Turkey have markedly different interpretations of the 120-hour northern northern Syria “ceasefire” announced Oct. 17. Turkey prefers “pause”, pending talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russia counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who supports Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. The deal struck by Erdogan and U.S. Vice-President Mike Pense requires Kurdish militias to withdraw from a "safe zone," but that zone hasn't been properly defined.

Bucking the US tradition of non-intervention in Canadian elections, former US President Obama stepped into the spotlight to sway voters by saying  "I hope our neighbors to the north support [Justin Trudeau] for another term." This is not Obama's first public endorsement of a foreign leader during elections.

Two years after the U.S. Army said that a new combat vehicle was among its top priorities, the floor at this week’s Association of the United States Army’s annual conference and trade show was crowded with robotic technologies. Prospective domestic suppliers have been joined by competitors from Germany and South Korea. Meanwhile, commanders are concerned about linking up all the new technologies available to them.

U.S. Cyber Command is working with the Department of Energy and industry on a more coherent approach to cyberattacks. A philosophy of “persistent engagement” is predicated on the notion of constant contact with potential enemies in cyberspace and officials have stressed this includes enabling other partners. It also includes using its unique authorities to operate outside U.S. networks as a way to provide warning for domestic agencies about potential threats.

U.S. companies sold more than $55 billion in weapons to foreign buyers in the 2019 fiscal year and LGen Charles Hooper, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, is looking to increase sales. He says that while they have long been a foreign policy instrument, government-sanctioned sales now are “a tool of first resort.” One of his levers is a continued push for furtgher reductions in various surcharges and other fees.

The House of Representatives has voted 354-60 for a resolution condemning the withdrawal of troops from northern and facilitating Turkey’s attack on the local Kurdish population. The vote saw 129 members of the president’s Republican Party join ranks with 225 members of the Democrat majority in the House. The resolution also calls on the U.S. to continue humanitarian support for Kurdish communities while working to ensure that Turkey acts with restraint.

Defender Europe 2020, a U.S.-led exercise involving at least a dozen NATO allies, is expected to be the largest military exercise in Europe in the last 25 years. Drills involving 37,000 personnel are to be held in 10 counties, mainly in Germany and Poland. U.S. forces and equipment are expected to begin arriving in February to prepare for the April-May exercise.

Capt. Kevin Domon-Grenier, Snowbird 5 in the RCAF’s CT-114 Tutor demonstration team, ejected safely from his Tutor jet just before an Oct. 13 airshow in Atlanta, Ga. There were no injuries on the ground when the aircraft crashed in a sparsely-populated area. The rest of the show was cancelled.

If test shots of precision strike missiles being developed by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin later this year are successful, they could set the stage for the U.S. Army to push its potential range parameters to at least 550km. The tests are scheduled for November and December at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy says modernization programs are threatened by budget haggling in Congress. “Our adversaries are investing in tomorrow today, unconstrained by a continuing resolution and singularly focused on shifting the current balance of power," he says, lamenting a congressional measure which could effectively freeze spending.

The U.S. Air Force says its newest missile early warning satellite has passed a preliminary design review. The Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared system is being built to replace the Space-Based Infrared System. Contracts for five of the new satellites have been awarded: three to Lockheed Martin for geosynchronous orbit and two to Northrop Grumman for polar surveillance.

Four more Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers and approximately 350 personnel from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, have been deployed to Royal Air Force Fairford in England. for integration and interoperability training. Six B-52s were flown to Fairford from Barksdale in April, the largest such deployment since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

Sikorsky’s “optionally manned” S-70 helicopter, one of the latest iterations of its Hawk platform, is being used to test autonomous technology which the company says can be easily retrofitted to other models. A fully-autonomous flight is expected next year.

Shareholders in United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon are scheduled to vote Oct. 11 on a proposed merger which would create one of the largest defense and aerospace companies in the world. The proposed all-stock deal, unveiled in June, would result in a company called Raytheon Technologies, which would be second in the U.S. aerospace and defence sector only to Boeing in terms of revenue.

The Liberal Party’s campaign platform for the Oct. 21 federal election devotes just 315 words (page 70) to reaffirming Canada’s long-standing defence commitments. They include “stronger oversight and responsible investments” as well as continued involvement in international peacekeeping and expanding role in NATO and the UN, including more funding.

The Congressional Budget Office says the U.S. Navy would have to spend $200 billion more than its original budget of $600 billion to expand its fleet to 355 ships over the next couple of decades. The latest forecast assumes all ships proposed in the USN’s latest plan but the fleet mix could change as the Department of Navy considers large unmanned vessels. The USN currently has 290 vessels but would need to commission 304 replacements and additions by 2034 to attain its stated target

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says there was “no blackmail” by U.S. President Donald Trump during a July 25 telephone conversation which has fuelled the push for Trump’s impeachment. Playing down suggestions that Trump pressed him to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid to help Ukraine battle Russian-backed separatists, Zelenskiy says he only learned afterward that the U.S. had blocked the aid.

President Donald Trump’s proposed Space Force as a sixth branch of the Department of Defense is being questioned by members of the Sustainable Defense Task Force within the Washington-based Center for International Policy. Pointing out that its development depends partly on how the current National Defense Authorization Act addresses parallel proposals, the task force argues against its creation because of the increased bureaucracy, “unworkable” high-tech weaponry and overall cost.

Legislators on both sides of the U.S. Congress are alarmed by reports that the White House is considering withdrawal from the 2002 Open Skies Treaty. The pact enables the U.S., Russia and 32 other countries, including Canada, to conduct short-notice flights over each other’s territories to monitor military movements.

The first of three new U.S. Navy guided missile “stealth” destroyers won’t be fully combat-ready until next year, close to six months behind schedule. It is the latest slip in a $23-billiion program already six years behind schedule. The previously undisclosed delay for the first, the USS Zumwalt, has been confirmed by the USN. Completion of the hull and mechanical and engineering installations at General Dynamics in Maine will be followed by testing on the east Coast and then combat systems activation in California by Raytheon and BAE Systems.

There are three potential contenders for a U.S. Army contract to procure 651 infantry squad vehicles capable of being parachuted into theatres of operation. Oshkosh-Flyer, Polaris-SAIC and General Motors have until Nov. 13 to deliver two vehicles for testing.

The Netherlands has confirmed a planned procurement of nine more Lockheed Martin F-35s, which would increase its fleet to 46. The €1-billion acquisition would be “the foundation” for a third squadron, which would require an additional six aircraft. That would facilitate the air force’s objective of having four available for NATO missions while providing domestic defence.

The importance of civil nuclear power as a tool for geopolitical influence is highlighted in a new report released by the Helsinki-based European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Citing case studies of situations in Belarus, Hungary and Finland, the report concludes, among other things, that “nuclear energy employed as a tool for any hostile intent has a different logic compared to oil and gas, for example, which have more explicit physical and logistical dependencies.”

A hitherto unknown unit within Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, is reported to be conducting operations to destabilize Europe and its allies. The New York Times quotes a retired GRU officer as saying that Unit 29155 is comprised of agents who carry out assassinations and other missions designed to foment unrest abroad.

As commander of U.S. Central Command for three years until his retirement last March, Army Gen. Joseph Votel was responsible for overseeing operations across the Middle East, including the campaign against ISIS. He says President Donald Trump’s decision to “seemingly” abandon Kurdish partners could not come at a worse time. “The decision ... threatens to affect future partnerships at precisely the time we need them most, given the war-weariness of the American public coupled with ever more sophisticated enemies.” Now a non-resident Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Votel previously commanded the U.S. Special Forces Command and the Joint Special Operations Command.

President Donald Trump says he'll meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House Nov. 13. The announcement came on the heels of the U.S. leader’s promise of “big trouble” if any Americans are injured in Turkey’s proposed incursion into northeastern Syria.

A Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification process being set up by the U.S. Department of Defense is designed to measure the effectiveness of industry suppliers’ cybersecurity practices. The CMMC would be managed by a nonprofit organization mandated to certify their effectiveness.

The U.S. Air Force has met its recruitment goals for 2019 but its retention of personnel apparently means a reduction in the number of personnel moving to the USAF Reserve. Part of the ongoing problem is aggressive private-sector competition for pilots and other personnel.

A $325.2-million Department of Defense contract for Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter depot maintenance equipment has been awarded to the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies Corp. It includes two full-scale engine mockups and four test modules. Most of the work will be done in the U.S.