Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Casualty Update 03 Aug 2015 [PDF]
• Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq AFPS 03 Aug 2015 -- U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• US Drones from Turkey Suspected to Hit al-Nusra Front VOA 03 Aug 2015 -- The Pentagon says the military launched its first armed drone missions out of Turkey's Incirlik Air Base during the past weekend.
• Obama authorizes airstrikes in Syria, raises risk of direct conflict with Assad Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- In a move to increase pressure on the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, US President Barack Obama has authorized using airstrikes to defend US-trained militants if they come under attack by the government forces or other groups.
• Pentagon Authorizes Air Support for US-Backed Forces in Syria Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- US President Barack Obama sanctioned the use of air-strikes to support military groups trained by the US armed forces, US media reported.
• Door open for peace talks with Taliban: Kabul Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- The Afghan government says it will keep the door open for peace negotiations with Taliban militants and other groups amid reports of the emergence of differences among members of the group over its new leadership.
• California Guard, Reserve Units Aid in Wildfire Containment AFPS 03 Aug 2015 -- California Air National Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists are assisting first responders in fighting ongoing wildfires in Northern California, the Pentagon's press operations chief said in a briefing here today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System Completes Successful Series of Intercept Flight Test Events MDA 03 Aug 2015 -- The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. Pacific Command, and U.S. Navy Sailors aboard the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a series of four flight test events exercising the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) element of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).
• US Successfully Tests Anti-Ballistic Missile System in Pacific Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- The flight test of US guided missile destroyer deployed with the Aegis system successfully was successful, according to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
• Cognitive computers primed to change the Air Force acquisition landscape AFNS 03 Aug 2015 -- Cognitive thinking machines that can critically analyze and process information accurately and at a rate faster than human capability are the type of meta-advance technologies that Sci-Fi fanatics dream of, and the Air Force is seeking to leverage this innovative technology in the world of acquisitions.
• Securing Alaska's airspace: Radar sites work around the clock AFNS 03 Aug 2015 -- All around Alaska and out into the Pacific, little white domes dot the mountainside, coastlines and islands -- the only tangible evidence of America's invisible armor.
• Mercy Departs Roxas City, Philippines NNS 03 Aug 2015 -- The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) departed Roxas City, Philippines, Aug. 2 after completing a 16-day mission stop for Pacific Partnership 2015.
• Fuel Tank Return to Service Completed by NAVSUP FLC Sigonella NNS 03 Aug 2015 -- Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Sigonella successfully completed a fuel tank return to service evolution on July 31, an event that occurs about once every ten years per tank.
• Russia establishes Aerospace Forces as new armed service - Defense Minister TASS 03 Aug 2015 -- The Aerospace Forces have become operational in Russia as its new armed service from August 1 in accordance with the Russian president's decree, Defense Minister, General of the Army Sergey Shoigu said at a conference call on Monday.
• Guarding Space: Russia Creates a New Branch of the Armed Forces – Aerospace Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia has created a new branch of its armed forces by merging the nation's air force, air defense, anti-missile and space forces into the Aerospace Forces; their first combat duty started on August 1.
• Russian Army Begins Howitzer Training in Republic of Dagestan Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- Artillery units in the Southern Military District are undertaking training with modernized 152 mm self-propelling howitzers.
• Russian Navy to Receive 17 Warships, 52 Support Vessels by Year's End Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- The Russian Navy will receive 17 warships and cutters, as well as 52 support vessels by the end of 2015, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday.
• Su-33 Northern Fleet Navy Flankers Enter Into Kola Arctic Service Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- The fleet of aircraft entered into service in defense of the air borders of the Kola area of the Arctic region following a ceremony on August 1; the aircraft is a naval fighter jet based on the Su-27.
• Russian army had 3 snap combat readiness checks in July - defense minister TASS 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia's Defense Ministry conducted in July a total of three surprise combat readiness inspections of troops - the Aerospace Defense Forces, checks in the Eastern Military District and the Northern Fleet, Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu said on Monday.
• Russian deputy PM suggests creating separate defense subprogram for engine-making TASS 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia's engine-making can be singled out into a separate subprogram of the country's integrated state program for the defense sector's development, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
• Russian Navy to Hold Joint Drills With Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia will hold joint naval drills with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea, according to Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Viktor Chirkov.
• Navy stages live-ammo drill in S. China Sea People's Daily 03 Aug 2015 -- The People's Liberation Army navy conducted its largest ever live-ammunition drill in the South China Sea last week, Chinese media reported.
• US agrees to expedite arms sales to Arab allies: Kerry Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- US Secretary of State John Kerry says Washington has agreed to speed up arms sales to Persian Gulf allies.
• August 3, 2015 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 03 Aug 2015
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 8/3/2015 The White House 03 Aug 2015

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for August 03, 2015
• Russian shipbuilders 'spare no effort' to fulfil state defense order - USC corporation TASS 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia's United Ship-building Corporation (USC) is doing its best to fulfil its liabilities under the state defense order, USC President Alexey Rakhmanov told TASS on Monday.

Other Conflicts

• 3 August 2015 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 03 Aug 2015
• ASEAN Ministers Set to Push for South China Sea Agreements VOA 03 Aug 2015 -- When the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meet in Malaysia later this week, the ministers are expected to take a strong stance on peace and stability in the South China Sea.
• Iraq: UN officials underscore need to bring perpetrators of Sinjar tragedy to justice UN News 03 Aug 2015 -- United Nations officials have reiterated the need to bring perpetrators of last year's tragedy, in which militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked as many as 200,000 civilians – most of them from vulnerable communities – causing them to flee to Sinjar, to justice as well as to increase protection for women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence.
• Dial A for Aid - Iraq's new humanitarian hotline IRIN 03 Aug 2015 -- An angry man with a moustache gesticulates with a mobile phone. He is one of 15 mukhtars (community leaders) in a meeting with UN staff at a camp in northern Iraq. They are responsible for telling their neighbourhood what aid they can expect from humanitarian organisations. "Look," he shouts, "don't you know that the World Food Programme is giving food to Daesh?" (slang for the so-called Islamic State or ISIS)
• ISIL militants kill over dozen Iraqi women in Mosul Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- Members of the Takfiri ISIL group have executed more than a dozen women in Iraq's embattled northern city of Mosul as they continue perpetrating crimes against humanity on a large scale in the areas under their control.
• Iraqi Kurdish leader vows to avenge crimes against Izadis Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has pledged to take revenge for the appalling crimes committed by Takfiri ISIL militants against the Izadi community.
• Turkish Public Fears Jihadists More Than Kurds VOA 03 Aug 2015 -- Ankara has promised not to let up in its air strikes against the PKK as part of its declared twin-pronged war against the Kurdish rebels and Islamic State extremists. But the Turkish public appears reluctant to support the PKK crackdown.
• Crimean Tatar Congress Calls For 'Immediate' End To Russian Annexation RFE/RL 03 Aug 2015 -- A world congress of Crimean Tatars has called for 'all necessary measures' to be taken to return Crimea to Ukraine following Russia's takeover and annexation of the peninsula last year.
• Ex-PM Azarov, In Moscow, Proclaims 'Salvation Committee' For Ukraine RFE/RL 03 Aug 2015 -- Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has announced the formation of a 'Ukraine Salvation Committee,' calling for 'total regime change' through early elections and vowing to 'restore order in our home.'
• Boko Haram in Nigeria Kill 13 People, Army Strikes Back, 178 Captives Saved Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- Militants, believed to be from Boko Haram, launched an attack on a village in Nigeria, killing 13 people Sunday, according to witnesses. The Nigerian air force has repeatedly bombed terrorists' positions and the army announced it has rescued 178 captives.
• Nigerian army frees 178 held captive by Boko Haram Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- Nigeria's army says it has rescued 178 people, including over 100 children, held hostage by Takfiri Boko Haram terrorists in the restive northeastern state of Borno.
• Pakistani forces kill five militants in northwest Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- At least five militants have been killed during a fierce fighting with soldiers in Pakistan's troubled northwestern tribal areas near the Afghan border, security sources say.
• Russia forces kill 6 more militants in North Caucasus Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- Russia's counter-terrorism agency says its forces have killed at least six militants in a shoot-out in the troubled North Caucasus region.
• Attack on soldiers in north Mali kills 10 Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- At least 10 soldiers have been killed in the northern Mali region of Timbuktu in an apparent terrorist attack against their camp.
• Central African Republic: Security Council condemns attacks that killed peacekeeper UN News 03 Aug 2015 -- The members of the Security Council condemned today in the strongest terms the attacks against a convoy of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), which were perpetrated on Sunday in Bangui and resulted in the death of one peacekeeper.
• UN peacekeeper killed in Central African Republic Press TV 03 Aug 2015 -- A United Nations peacekeeper has been shot dead in the Central African Republic (CAR) during a firefight with gunmen.
• UN-backed international forum delivers roadmap for Somalia's future UN News 03 Aug 2015 -- The United Nations and its partners have welcomed the significant commitments made at a recent high-level forum in Somalia that will be critical to the future of the Horn of Africa nation, including the holding of inclusive elections.

News Reports

• Kerry: Gulf Council Sees Iran Deal as Regional Security Staple VOA 03 Aug 2015 -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers have agreed that, once fully implemented, the Iran nuclear deal will contribute to their region's security.
• Araqchi: Majority of Iranians support JCPOA, pleased with it IRNA 03 Aug 2015 -- Deputy foreign minister and top nuclear negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said here on Monday that according to authentic opinion polls the majority of Iranians both Support the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and are also pleased with it.
• Vienna deal opening new chapter for whole region: Zarif IRNA 03 Aug 2015 -- Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the nuclear deal between Tehran and the 5+1 could in fact serve as a point of departure for the whole region.
• Achievement of Iranian administration beyond expectation: Rouhani ISNA 03 Aug 2015 -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the achievement of his administration in resolving the nuclear issue has been beyond initial expectations.
• Kerry Meets With Gulf Allies Over Iran Nuclear Deal RFE/RL 03 Aug 2015 -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is seeking to reassure allies in the Middle East that the Iran nuclear deal will make the region safer.
• Al-Qaeda Militants Accuse Islamic State Of Being A Con RFE/RL 03 Aug 2015 -- Daghestani militants from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate have accused the Islamic State (IS) group of conning new recruits with misleading hype and spin.
• China Calls US a 'Cyber Bully' After Unfounded Cybertheft Allegations Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- China has warned the US to "think twice" before lashing out at Beijing due to unfounded hacking accusations, cautioning that it is "strongly determined to protect the safety of its cyber space and reserves all rights to counter any outside threats and intrusions", the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.
• U.S. should think twice before retaliating against China over unfounded hacking charges People's Daily 03 Aug 2015 -- The United States is on the brink of making another grave mistake under the name of protecting cyber security, as it is reportedly considering retaliatory measures against China for unfounded hacking accusations.
• Egyptian President Signs Laws, Allowing to Schedule Parliamentary Elections Sputnik 03 Aug 2015 -- Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed the electoral laws that allow setting up the parliamentary election date.
• Ban greatly concerned over ongoing deterioration of security in post-election Burundi UN News 03 Aug 2015 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced concern over the situation in Burundi, where the security situation continues to worsen following the recent elections, and strongly condemned the assassination yesterday of General Adolphe Nshimirimana.
• Uganda's Museveni Bids as Mbabazi Defects From Ruling Party VOA 03 Aug 2015 -- Last Friday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni picked up nomination forms that will allow him to stand for president in 2016. That same day, his political rival Amama Mbabazi defected from the nation's ruling political party, saying he will run as an independent.