Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF / OND / OEF / OIR / OFS Casualty Update 27 Mar 2017[PDF]
• Counter-ISIS Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq AFPS 27 Mar 2017 -- U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 80 engagements against ISIS targets yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group Conducts OIR Missions Against ISIS NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is currently launching missions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) from the Arabian Gulf.
• Pentagon chief asks for deeper military involvement in Yemen Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Defense Secretary James Mattis has asked the White House to remove restrictions on US military support for Saudi Arabia and its allies engaged in a military offensive against Yemen that has caused significant civilian casualties, according to a report.
• US Could Lift Support Restrictions on Militaries Involved in Yemeni Conflict Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sent a memo to US National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster calling for provisions of "limited support" to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for their engagement in the Yemeni conflict, according to US media.
• Russian Defense Ministry Denies Claims of Arms Deliveries to Taliban Militants Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- The Russian Defense Ministry did not have any interaction with the Taliban terrorist group, according to ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.
• The Russian Defense Ministry has denied allegations of arms supplies to the Taliban TASS 27 Mar 2017 -- Russia does not supply arms to organizations recognized by the UN as terrorist, including the Taliban (the organization is banned in the Russian Federation), said the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov.
• Afghan ministers, head of security service survive impeachment vote Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Two Afghan ministers, along with the head of the country's security service, have survived a vote of no-confidence in parliament amid growing concerns that militants seem poised to seize control of more areas.

Defense Policy / Programs

• USS Port Royal Returns to Pearl Harbor NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- The guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73) returned from a 212-day independent deployment to the Arabian Sea, Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, South China Sea, Western Pacific, and Indian Ocean, March 24.
• Soldiers to receive lighter combat helmet Army News 27 Mar 2017 -- The Army awarded a contract Tuesday for a helmet that weighs an average of 22 percent less than the one currently in use but provides just as much protection, according to officials.
• 29th CAB partners with the 3rd CAB during Culminating Training Exercise Army News 27 Mar 2017 -- The 29th Combat Aviation Brigade continued its post-mobilization training and deployment validation here from March 6-14. The 29th CAB received support from 3rd CAB, their partner brigade under the Army's Total Force Partnership Program.
• Readout of Secretary Mattis' Meeting with Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs Dr. Khalid al-Attiyah DoD 27 Mar 2017
• Remarks by Secretary Mattis and Minister Al Attiyah at the Pentagon DoD 27 Mar 2017 -- Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Minister of State for Defense for Qatar Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah
• MWSS-171 undergoes Tanuki Wrath USMC News 27 Mar 2017 -- Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 conducted Exercise Tanuki Wrath at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, March 21-24, 2017.
• US, UK, France Commit to Increase Cooperation NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson met in London with the First Sea Lord of the United Kingdom, Adm. Sir Philip Jones, Royal Navy and Chief of Naval Staff, Adm. Christophe Prazuck, French Navy, March 27.
• USS Ohio Returns to the Pacific Northwest NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- The guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726) returned home to the Pacific Northwest, March 23, after being deployed for 20 months in the Pacific.
• USS Donald Cook Departs Cobh NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) departed Cobh, Ireland, March 25, 2016, after a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Irish relations as the two nations work together for a stable, secure and prosperous European region.
• US Marines, Sailors work with Sri Lanka Navy, Marine Corps for second time on deployment NNS 27 Mar 2017 -- 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) engagement.
• Bleak Math: US Air Force Eyes Cutting Flying Hours Over $1.3B Budget Shortfall Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- The continuing resolution that limits funding to the US military continues to put top service leaders into difficult situations.
• Trump urged Germany to pay $375bn NATO debt: Report Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- US President Donald Trump has reportedly called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to pay hundreds of billions of dollars Berlin owes to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a German minister says, calling the request "outrageous."
• He Said, She Said: White House Denies it Handed Merkel a Bill for NATO Defense Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- Various news outlets have cited unnamed sources to claim that President Donald Trump handed German Chancellor Angela Merkel a NATO defense invoice for approximately $377 million - but the White House is calling the claims fake news.
• Berlin Denies Claims About Merkel Getting Invoice From Trump to Pay Debt to NATO Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not receive any bill during the meeting with US President Donald Trump for money Germany allegedly owed to NATO, a German government spokesperson told Sputnik Monday.
• UK's NATO Southern Air Policing Mission to begin in May UK MOD 27 Mar 2017 -- RAF Typhoon fast jets will deploy to Romania from May for the UK's contribution to NATO's Southern Air Policing mission, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced today.
• Russia to Boost Artillery Firepower in Central Military District Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- In order to boost combat capabilities of the Missile Troops and Artillery, battalions of large-caliber artillery are being formed in the Central Military District (CMD), according to Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
• Japan leases military planes to Manila to patrol South China Sea Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- The Philippines has taken delivery of two Japanese military surveillance aircraft to help it patrol vital sea lanes in the disputed South China Sea, officials say.
• Taiwan Tapping US, Itself for New Weapons VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- Taiwan is pursuing a two-pronged upgrade to its armed forces as people on the island worry about recent shows of force by powerful rival China during a political stalemate.
• PLA Daily vows strict discipline for Chinese army People's Daily 27 Mar 2017 -- A total of 4,885 military officials were punished for disciplinary offenses in 2016, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) flagship newspaper reported Monday.
• 'Hostage' No More: India to Buy $1 Billion in Israeli Anti-Tank Missiles Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- The Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has circumvented conventional policy to ink a deal with Israeli state-owned Rafael Defense Company for thousands of new missiles.
• Iran Navy flotilla berths at India's Cochin port Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- An Iranian Navy fleet has docked at India's Port of Cochin in line with the Islamic Republic's policy of expanding its naval presence in high seas.
• India Bags Myanmar Torpedo Order Worth $38 Million Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- India has agreed to supply lightweight torpedoes to Myanmar in a US$ 37.9 million-contract which is said to be evidence of a growing arms race between Myanmar and Bangladesh. The torpedoes will be manufactured by government-owned Bharat Dynamics and private company L&T.
• Possessing nuclear weapons 'fundamentally incompatible' with humanity's aspiration for peace - UN official UN News 27 Mar 2017 -- At the start of a United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, a senior UN official highlighted that creating a world free of such weapons is a common obligation of all States – both nuclear and non-nuclear – and called for their inclusive engagement.
• Tajikistan To Hold Separate Military Maneuvers With U.S., Russian Troops RFE/RL 27 Mar 2017 -- Separate military maneuvers - one involving Tajik and U.S. forces and the other Tajik and Russian troops - are due to begin in Tajikistan on March 27.
• Non-Aligned Sweden to Devise New Foreign Military Aid Strategy Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- While Sweden remains formally non-aligned, it has been creeping closer to NATO and forming bilateral partnerships. Last week, a new enquiry was launched into the exact extent of the military help Sweden will be able to give and receive without breaking its age-old tradition of non-alignment.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, 3/27/2017, #29 The White House 27 Mar 2017

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 27, 2017

Other Conflicts

• 27 March 2017 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 27 Mar 2017
• Children paying the heaviest price as conflict in Yemen enters third year - UN UN News 27 Mar 2017 -- As the escalation of the conflict in Yemen enters its third year this week, the top United Nations humanitarian official has called on the parties to the conflict to commit to political dialogue and resolve the situation or risk an unending manmade crisis.
• Saudi jets bomb northwestern Yemen with banned munitions Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Saudi warplanes have pounded Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada with at least two cluster bombs despite a global outcry against the use of such internationally-banned weapons by Saudi Arabia.
• Kurdish-led forces capture Tabqa airbase west of Syria's Raqqa from IS control People's Daily 27 Mar 2017 -- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fully captured the Tabqa airport west of the northern city of Raqqa on Sunday, following battles with the Islamic State (IS) group, the SDF spokesman told Xinhua.
• More militants leaving last bastion in Syrian city of Homs Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- A second group of militants and their families are leaving the last opposition-held neighborhood in the western Syrian city of Homs under a deal signed last year with the Damascus government.
• U.S.-Backed Fighters Capture Key Air Base In Northern Syria From Islamic State Fighters RFE/RL 27 Mar 2017 -- A U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance in northern Syria says it has driven Islamic State (IS) militants out of a strategic air base that was the site of an IS massacre in 2014.
• HNC Calls for Syria's Assad to Step Down, Be Held Accountable for Alleged Crimes Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- The Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) delegation head, Nasr Hariri, stated that "no less than 2,000 including 275 women, and several hundreds of children" have been killed as a result of the aerial campaigns of the Syrian government since the start of the ceasefire.
• US Central Command Backs Syrian Rebel Claim Tabqa Dam Structurally Sound Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- US Central Command announced that Tabqa dam that lies on the Euphrates River upstream from the Syrian city of Raqqa remains structurally intact, as claimed earlier by anti-government forces advancing on the city about 25 miles to the south.
• Some 1,300 People, Including 436 Militants, Leave Syria's Homs Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- A total of 1,276 people, including 436 militants, left the al-Waer neighborhood in the Syrian city of Homs on Monday under an agreement with the authorities on a local truce, an informed source in the country's security services told Sputnik.
• Syrian Democratic Forces Deny Allegations of Tabqa Dam Being Damaged Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- SDF on Monday refuted media reports about the Tabqa Dam partly collapsing.
• Iraq, US Investigate Scores of Civilian Deaths in Mosul VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- The U.S. military says the death of civilians in Iraq's northern city of Mosul is "a terrible tragedy" and that it is investigating allegations that airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition killed as many as 100 civilians there earlier this month.
• Near East and North Africa: Conflicts threaten to erode gains in region's zero-hunger battle UN News 27 Mar 2017 -- As the escalation of the conflict in Yemen enters its third year this week, the top United Nations humanitarian official has called on the parties to the conflict to commit to political dialogue and resolve the situation or risk an unending manmade crisis.
• Boko Haram kills three civilians in NE Nigeria for collaborating with military Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- The Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group has raided a village in northeast Nigeria, killing three civilians on suspicion of collaborating with the military.
• Myanmar army chief defies UN calls, defends crackdown on Rohingya Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Myanmar's army chief has defended an ongoing crackdown against the persecuted Rohingya Muslims minority in Rakhine State after the UN pledged to probe a campaign of killing and torture by security forces there.
• Pakistan building fence along Afghanistan border Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Pakistan says it has started building a fence along its volatile border with Afghanistan in an attempt to restrict the movement of militants that cross over the frontier and launch attacks.
• Kenyan troops kill 31 Shabab militants in Somalia's Jubbaland Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Kenyan troops deployed in neighboring Somalia have carried out a raid on militants of the al-Shabab Takfiri group, killing at least 31 of them.
• More than 30 al-Shabab Militants Killed Somali, Kenyan Officials Report VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- More than 30 al-Shabab fighters were killed when African Union and Somali forces attacked two of the armed group's bases in southern Jubaland, according to Somali and Kenyan officials.
• Aid Groups Determined to Continue Operations in South Sudan VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- Unidentified assailants took the lives of six aid workers in South Sudan on Saturday, the highest number killed in a single incident since South Sudan's conflict began in December 2013, according to the United Nations.

News Reports

• House Intel Chairman Met Source on White House Grounds VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- The chairman of the U.S. House intelligence committee, David Nunes, met a source on White House grounds before making his disclosure last week that President Donald Trump was caught up in "incidental" surveillance, according to his spokesman.
• Senate Panel to Question Trump's Son-in-law on Russia Meetings VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and key adviser, Jared Kushner, has agreed to be questioned as part of a Senate investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to the White House.
• Russia's Navalny Jailed And Fined Over Protests; U.S., EU Condemn Mass Detentions RFE/RL 27 Mar 2017 -- A Russian court has ordered opposition leader and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny to be jailed for 15 days for disobeying police, one day after he was arrested near the site of a demonstration in central Moscow.
• Russian Court Jails, Fines Opposition Leader Over Mass Protests VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- A court in Russia sentenced opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny on Monday to 15 days in jail for resisting police and fined him 20,000 roubles, about $350, for organizing what authorities said was an illegal, mass protest in Moscow.
• Russian Opposition Figure Navalny to Face Court Over Unlicensed Rally Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny will face a court hearing in Moscow on March 27 over organization of an unauthorized rally, his lawyer Olga Mikhailova told Sputnik on Sunday.
• Bahrain Says It Dismantles 14-Member 'Terrorist' Cell RFE/RL 27 Mar 2017 -- Bahrain says it has broken up a 14-member "terrorist" cell suspected of a bomb attack on a bus in February and of plotting to assassinate senior government officials.
• Britain Wants Social Media Sites Cleared of Jihadist Postings VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- Islamic State propagandists are seeking to capitalize on last week's terror attack in London, which left five people dead and 40 injured, by flooding YouTube with hundreds of violent recruitment videos.
• S. Korean prosecutors seek to arrest ex-president Park over corruption scandal People's Daily 27 Mar 2017 -- South Korean prosecutors on Monday sought to arrest Park Geun-hye, the country's former president who was impeached in a historic ruling earlier this month, over a corruption scandal embroiling Park and her longtime confidante.
• South Korea prosecutors seek ex-president Park's arrest Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- South Korean prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant for ousted president Park Geun-hye, who has become vulnerable to prosecution and potential incarceration following the loss of her political immunity.
• South Korea Prosecutors Seek Detention Warrant for Ousted President Park VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- Prosecutors in South Korea Monday requested an arrest warrant for impeached former President Park Geun-hye on charges related to the alleged multimillion-dollar bribery scandal that forced her from office.
• Hong Kong Set to Arrest Protest Leaders VOA 27 Mar 2017 -- Nine Hong Kong activists were informed Monday that they will be arrested for their involvement in the student protests of the Umbrella Movement of 2014 and charged with creating a public nuisance.
• North Korea Warns of Attack 'Without Warning' as Western War Games Continue Sputnik 27 Mar 2017 -- In the midst of ongoing joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has stated that it may attack without warning against what it claims are preparations for an enemy invasion by the West.
• Missing Belarusian Opposition Leader Freed After Three-Day Detention RFE/RL 27 Mar 2017 -- Three days after he went missing ahead of a large antigovernment rally, Belarusian opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich has been released from what he said was a KGB jail and returned home.
• Nearly 5,000 academics dismissed since coup attempt: Turkish opposition Press TV 27 Mar 2017 -- Turkey's main opposition party says nearly 5,000 academics have been sacked by the government since last summer's failed coup.