Latest U.S. Department of Defense News

China balloon: Many questions about suspected spy in the sky
WASHINGTON (AP) — What in the world was that thing? The massive white orb that drifted across U.S. airspace triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and blew up on social media. China insists the balloon was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological...

Chinese balloon soars across US; Blinken scraps Beijing trip
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying on sensitive military sites despite China's firm denials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing...

Pentagon: Chinese spy balloon spotted over Western US
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down over concerns of hurting people on the ground, officials said Thursday. The discovery of the balloon puts a...

US releases Guantanamo prisoner once tortured at CIA sites
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military officials said Thursday they have freed and sent to Central America a onetime al-Qaida money courier who had completed his sentence, ending an imprisonment that included torture at clandestine CIA sites and 16 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. ...
Pentagon says Chinese spy balloon spotted flying over US; has decided not to shoot it down due to risks

US military kills senior Islamic State official in Somalia
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The operation carried out on Wednesday targeted Bilal al-Sudani, a key...

$2.5 billion aid sends Strykers, but no tanks, to Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will send 90 Stryker combat vehicles and an additional 59 Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in addition to hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. It is the latest aid package timed to help Ukraine push back against...

Coast Guard monitoring Russian spy ship on patrol off Hawaii
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian spy ship has been patrolling off the coast of Hawaii but so far has remained in international waters, the Pentagon said Thursday. While the appearance of a Russian surveillance ship along the U.S. coastline is not unusual, this one has attracted more...

Expanded US training for Ukraine forces begins in Germany
BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.S. military's new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces began in Germany on Sunday, with a goal of getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to fight the Russians in the next five to eight weeks, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint...

UM leads research into hybrid super reefs to defend coasts
MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. military has an idea to save its seaside bases from some of their most relentless foes: flooding, erosion and storm surge. The Defense Department spends billions of dollars to repair hurricane- and flood-related damage to its bases; in 2018, a particularly...
