Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Over 100 US forces diagnosed with brain injuries from Iran strikes: US officials Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- The US military is reportedly planning to announce a more than 50-percent rise in the number of cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among its soldiers following Iran's retaliatory strikes on an American military base in Iraq last month.

Defense Policy / Programs

• DOD Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Proposal DoD 10 Feb 2020 -- On February 10, 2020, President Donald J. Trump sent Congress a proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget request of $740.5 billion for national security, $705.4 billion of which is for the Department of Defense (DoD). The FY 2021 budget supports the irreversible implementation of the National Defense Strategy (NDS), which drives the Department's decision-making in reprioritizing resources and shifting investments to prepare for a potential future, high-end fight.
• Department of Defense Press Briefing on the President's Fiscal Year 2021 Defense Budget DoD 10 Feb 2020 -- Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Elaine McCusker; Vice Admiral Ron Boxall, director, Force Structure, Resources and Assessment, Joint Staff; David L. Norquist, Deputy Secretary of Defense
• FY 2021 DOD Budget Request Seeks 3% Pay Raise for Service Members DoD News 10 Feb 2020 -- President Donald J. Trump's request for $705.4 billion to fund the Defense Department in fiscal year 2021 prioritizes readiness and modernization, the strengthening of alliances, performance and accountability reforms, and service members and their families.
• Norquist: Budget Request Represents 'Next Step' in Implementing Defense Strategy DoD News 10 Feb 2020 -- The Defense Department's $705.4 billion budget request for fiscal year 2021 focuses on preparing the U.S. military for all-domain, "high-end" warfare, Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Norquist told reporters at the Pentagon.
• Air Force's proposed $169 billion budget focuses on 'great power competition,' readiness, establishing Space Force US Air Force 10 Feb 2020 -- The Department of the Air Force released a $169 billion budget proposal Feb. 10, which for the first time includes funding for the newly created U.S. Space Force while also focusing funds to help both services modernize, address threats from Russia and China, and sustain readiness.
• Press Briefing by Acting OMB Director Russ Vought The White House 10 Feb 2020
• Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, USAID Administrator Mark Green, and Experts on the President's Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development US Dept. of State 10 Feb 2020
• DOD Has Enduring Role in Election Defense DoD News 10 Feb 2020 -- Voting has begun for the 2020 presidential election primary season – but it's not the beginning of the U.S. government's defense against foreign interference and influence in our elections.
• AMC evaluating power-projection capabilities in Defender-Europe 2020 Army News 10 Feb 2020 -- The Army's strength lies in its capacity to project power, said Army Materiel Command's top officer, who will be evaluating AMC's ability to move and sustain more than 20,000 service members and close to 23,000 pieces of equipment during exercise Defender-Europe 20.
• U.S. Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Sign Logistics Interoperability Framework NNS 10 Feb 2020 -- Vice Adm. Rick Williamson, deputy chief of naval operations for fleet readiness and logistics (N4), and Rear Adm. Masatomi Dairiki, director general of the Logistics Department of the Maritime Support Office, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, signed a revised framework to improve cooperation and interoperability for maritime logistics Feb 5 at the Pentagon.
• USS Iwo Jima Completes Type Command Sea Trials NNS 10 Feb 2020 -- The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) completed Type Command (TYCOM) Readiness Evaluation Five (RE-5) sea trials, February 5, 2020.
• 388th, 419th Fighter Wings serve as core wing at Red Flag 20-1 US Air Force 10 Feb 2020 -- Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing, alongside reservists from the 419th Fighter Wing, are currently deployed for combat training with the F-35A Lightning II during exercise Red Flag 20-1.
• Hurricane Hunters fly atmospheric rivers US Air Force 10 Feb 2020 -- Members of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, commonly known as the Hurricane Hunters, are the cornerstone for data gathering efforts within storm environments. When they're not flying into hurricanes, they're providing aerial weather reconnaissance for atmospheric rivers over the Pacific Ocean.
• Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia to top NATO Ministerial agenda NATO 10 Feb 2020 -- NATO Defence Ministers will meet in Brussels this week (12-13 February 2019) to address key issues for the Alliance. Ahead of the two-day meeting, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg outlined the topics for discussion, including what more NATO could do to build stability in the Middle East, the Alliance's support for Afghanistan and challenges posed by Russia's missile systems.
• India - Integrated Air Defense Weapon System (IADWS) and Related Equipment and Support DSCA 10 Feb 2020 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System (IADWS) for an estimated cost of $1.867 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on February 7, 2020.
• Senior State Department Officials Previewing Secretary Pompeo's Travel to Germany, Senegal, Angola, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Oman US Dept. of State 10 Feb 2020

Defense Industry

• Contracts For Feb. 10, 2020

Other Conflicts

• 10 February 2020 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 10 Feb 2020
• Yemeni forces shoot down Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Najran Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition while flying in the skies over Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Najran.
• 30 killed, women and children abducted in Nigeria's Borno Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- Takfiri terrorists have killed at least 30 people and abducted women and children in a raid in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno.
• Hospitals in Yemen attacked, disrupting healthcare for thousands of vulnerable civilians UN News 10 Feb 2020 -- Attacks on health facilities in Yemen's Marib province, East of the capital Sana'a, have left some 15,000 people – many of them displaced from other parts of the country – with severely limited options for medical care, the UN said on Monday.
• Sudan reconsidering role in Saudi war on Yemen: Minister Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- Sudan says it is reconsidering its participation in Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen and drawing down its forces.
• Syrian army captures strategic town in Aleppo People's Daily 10 Feb 2020 -- The Syrian government forces captured a strategic town in the south of Aleppo province in northern Syria on Saturday, a war monitor reported.
• Turkey says 5 soldiers killed as Syrian army advances in Idlib Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- Five Turkish soldiers have been killed in an attack by advancing Syrian government forces against a Turkish military post in northwest Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry says.
• Turkish Troops Killed In Attack In Northwest Syria RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- Turkey says five of its soldiers have been killed and five others wounded as a result of shelling by Syrian government forces in Syria's northern province of Idlib.
• Turkish Soldiers Killed in Syria as Tensions with Damascus Escalate VOA 10 Feb 2020 -- Turkish and Syrian forces engaged in a deadly clash Monday in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. The latest escalation in fighting comes as Ankara continues to reinforce its troops in Idlib, while Russian-Turkish diplomatic efforts to end the violence remain deadlocked.
• Residents Flee 20 Rakhine Villages in Surge in Myanmar Fighting After Local Internet Ban Radio Free Asia 10 Feb 2020 -- More than 1,100 residents from 20 villages in Myanmar's war-torn northern Rakhine state have fled a surge in fighting between government troops and the rebel Arakan Army, a local administrator and a lawmaker said Monday.
• Dungan Incident Just Kazakhstan's Latest Interethnic Violence RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- Interethnic violence has broken out again in southeastern Kazakhstan, this time involving ethnic Kazakhs and members of Kazakhstan's Dungan community.
• Kazakh President Replaces Regional Governor Following Deadly Ethnic Clashes RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has sacked the governor of the southern Zhambyl region following deadly ethnic clashes in the area over the weekend.
• Kazakhs Start Returning Home From Kyrgyzstan After Weekend Ethnic Violence RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- More than 1,000 Kazakh nationals have crossed from Kyrgyzstan into neighboring Kazakhstan on February 9, following reports of inter-ethnic clashes that erupted two days earlier in a cluster of five villages of Kazakhstan from which many fled and entered the next-door country.
• Chinese military planes cross median line of Taiwan Strait CNA 10 Feb 2020 -- Chinese military aircraft crossed over the median line of the Taiwan Strait and into Taiwan's airspace on Monday for the first time in nearly a year, as Beijing continued military maneuvers near Taiwan for a second straight day.
• PLA conducts drills near Taiwan island for 2 days in a row Global Times 11 Feb 2020 -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday launched joint drills featuring naval and air forces near the island of Taiwan, one day after it conducted a combat readiness drill which saw its warplanes encircle the island.

News Reports

• Schumer Asks Defense Watchdog to Probe Trump Impeachment Retaliation VOA 10 Feb 2020 -- U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer asked the Defense Department watchdog on Monday to investigate what he said was "shameful" and "Illegal" retaliation by President Donald Trump against a witness who testified against him at last year's impeachment hearings.
• Chinese Military Personnel Charged with Computer Fraud, Economic Espionage and Wire Fraud for Hacking into Credit Reporting Agency Equifax US Dept. of Justice 10 Feb 2020 -- Indictment Alleges Four Members of China's People's Liberation Army Engaged in a Three-Month Long Campaign to Steal Sensitive Personal Information of Nearly 150 Million Americans
• Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Indictment of Four Members of China's Military for Hacking into Equifax US Dept. of Justice 10 Feb 2020
• US Charges Chinese Military Officers With 2017 Equifax Hack VOA 10 Feb 2020 -- Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with hacking U.S. credit reporting giant Equifax in 2017 and stealing the personal data of nearly half of all Americans, U.S. law enforcement officials announced on Monday.
• High-Tech Spy Games Have US Revamping Its Strategy VOA 10 Feb 2020 -- Rapidly advancing technology and an explosion of new adversaries is forcing the United States to change the way it is fighting back.
• Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Daily Briefing Online on February 10, 2020 PRC MofA 10 Feb 2020
• On-orbit construction mission of China's space station to kick off People's Daily 10 Feb 2020 -- China's Long March-5B carrier rocket arrived at the Wenchng Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province on Feb. 5 and is scheduled to make its maiden flight, launching the prototype of China's new manned spaceship in April.
• S.Korea, U.S. hold talks in Seoul to discuss Korean Peninsula affairs People's Daily 10 Feb 2020 -- Senior diplomats from South Korea and the United States held talks in Seoul Monday to discuss the Korean Peninsula affairs, according to local media reports.
• Radioactive material 'a magnet for groups with malicious intent', warns UN nuclear watchdog chief UN News 20 Feb 2020 -- Government ministers and other high-level representatives from more than 140 countries, on Monday adopted a new declaration to enhance global nuclear security and counter the threat of nuclear terrorism.
• Sinn Féin victory throws down the gauntlet at the British establishment Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- The Irish Republican group, Sinn Féin, has achieved an historic breakthrough in the Republic of Ireland's general election.
• Azerbaijan's ruling party wins majority of seats; intl. observers, opposition question results Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party has won a majority in snap parliamentary polls, amid violation claims by both international observers and the opposition.
• El Salvador soldiers occupy parliament as president issues warning over loan Press TV 10 Feb 2020 -- A group of Salvadoran soldiers armed with automatic weapons have briefly occupied El Salvador's parliament while President Bukele issued an ultimatum to lawmakers to approve a loan, which the government needs to equip crime-fighting forces.
• Armenia To Hold Referendum On Constitutional Court Amid Spat With Pashinian RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- Armenia is set to hold a referendum on constitutional changes in April, in an attempt by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to remove a majority of judges at the country's Constitutional Court.
• Early Vote Results Give Azerbaijani President Majority Needed For Power Shift RFE/RL 10 Feb 2020 -- The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) is set to gain a majority of seats in the Caucasus country's single-chamber parliament, following snap elections that observers say will allow President Ilham Aliyev to remove elites associated with his father in a consolidation of power through reforms.