The company said the shared architecture allows Strigo hardware to be reconfigured for different missions, including air defense, missile defense and air-to-surface strike.

Lockheed calls the Strigo Product Center a storefront for “ready-now and near-ready” hardware that it said can be adapted to customer needs. The company said the modular approach also lowers life cycle costs, though it stopped short of citing dollar figures. Lockheed said it has made a $250 million internal investment in the product center to date.

The center was established less than two years ago and has already carried several concepts from initial design through testing, according to the release. The company said the center can move a concept from sketch to tested solution in months rather than years, allowing it to have parts on the shelf before the military even asks for them, in some cases.

Stacy Kubicek, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Sensors and Global Sustainment, said in the release that the product center’s emphasis on early research allows the company to “test and deploy new solutions at unprecedented speed,” adding, “That’s how we turn ‘what if’ into ‘what’s next’ faster than ever before.”

Lockheed said technologies developed through the Strigo family played a role in developing the Increment 2 seeker package for the U.S. Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is replacing the Army Tactical Missile System. The seeker package adds a sensor in a missile’s nose that locates and tracks its target in the final phase of flight.

Lockheed said it flew Increment 2 for the first time in March, travelling 350-kilometers, or more than 217 miles, in a flight that gathered performance data. The company did not report an intercept.

Strigo is the latest in a string of announcements this year in which Lockheed has pitched itself as building weapons faster and cheaper. In March, the company opened a Rapid Fielding Center that builds prototypes and early production runs under one roof, part of a larger plan to build or upgrade factories.

In July, it introduced the PAC-3 ACE, a Patriot interceptor it says will cost less than half as much as a PAC-3 MSE. These latest moves are pitched as supporting the Arsenal of Freedom, the Pentagon’s term for the munitions industrial base buildup.

Lockheed’s release was short on details regarding the size, structure or location of the Strigo Product Center. It did not name any contracts, customers or delivery timelines beyond the PrSM reference.

Anonymous allegations of misconduct that occur in the Navy or Marine Corps will not be processed as a complaint under the Military Equal Opportunity program, which seeks to address unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment, the service announced. Instead, service members are encouraged to use the confidential reporting system, though the anonymous system remains available.

“This does not prevent a commander from taking appropriate action in response to an anonymous report,” a Navy administrative message said.

The reform follows a September 2025 Pentagon memo that called for the anonymous reporting system to be replaced with a confidential complaint system in order to “foster a more effective support and resolution-based program.”

Through the confidential complaint system, sailors are asked to identify themselves and provide information regarding the harassment or discrimination complaint to Navy or Marine Corps personnel tasked with receiving those complaints.

The military branches will document the report and send the service members to support services without requiring them to upgrade it to an informal or formal complaint, though they have that option, the administrative message said.

Personally identifying information contained in the confidential report can be forfeited for revelation if aspects of the complaint involve serious bodily harm, death, or admission of intent to commit a crime.

The Navy said that it will still process anonymous allegations regarding harassment, hazing and bullying, pending further guidance.

Making false official statements during complaints may violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the Navy.

If a service member makes an informal complaint, the Navy and Marine Corps will offer conflict resolution methods in an attempt to resolve the situation. But the service member can still begin the MEO complaint process if they want to decline that remediation strategy or if the conflict resolution process doesn’t work.

Formal MEO complaints can be dismissed if the complaint is made more than 60 calendar days after the most recent incident occurred for an active-duty service member or 120 calendar days for a reserve service member; if the complaint doesn’t fall within the jurisdiction of the MEO office; if the complaint doesn’t yield enough information to investigate; if the incident was resolved; if a false statement was made; or if the individual who filed the complaint doesn’t comply with Navy requests for information.

The U.S. Navy first introduced a confidential option for reporting sexual harassment in February 2024, adding another way to document allegations of misconduct besides the formal, informal and anonymous ones offered.

Several months later, the Department of Defense Inspector General chastised the service for providing inadequate training and documentation methods for military officials handling the sensitive cases.

The Navy has made other notable updates to guidance surrounding serious instances of reported wrongdoing.

The service recently announced a new policy for sailors being investigated for sexual assault after a high-profile murder was committed by a service member previously charged with sexual assault.

Military personnel who are being investigated for alleged sexual misconduct, sexual assault or stalking will now only be permitted for brief relocation to shore commands, whereas prior policy only stipulated that a service member be temporarily transferred from their parent command to another command.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner arrived at Naval Station Mayport along with almost 300 sailors after a nearly nine-month deployment to the U.S. 4th, 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operations.

“Over the past almost nine months, this crew has demonstrated exceptional resilience and tactical proficiency across three different fleets,” said Cmdr. David Cook, commanding officer of the Hudner. “Their dedication is unmatched, and we are absolutely thrilled to be back in Mayport to reunite with the families and loved ones whose unwavering support made our success possible.”

Hudner departed Mayport for a scheduled deployment on Dec. 1, 2025, and made its way to the Caribbean Sea, where it provided support to Operation Southern Spear, a campaign the U.S. launched in September 2025 on the premise of reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the country.

As part of the efforts, the U.S. has launched 66 military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels, killing at least 196 people. The campaign has been divisive, with senators and legal experts questioning the legality of the strikes.

Hudner then transited to the 6th Fleet area of operations to support the readiness of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa.

Most recently, the ship participated in Operation Epic Fury, launching Tomahawk land attack missiles as the U.S. bombarded Iranian military targets, and helping establish maritime security in the region while the U.S. Navy enforced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon announced late last month that the base, located in North Charleston, South Carolina, would be renamed after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The renaming took place Monday with a ceremony attended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as state and local officials.

A late July memo, signed by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, directed staff to begin working with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston to rename the base, attributing the honor to Graham’s “decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”

Graham spent 33 years in the Air Force as an active-duty staff judge advocate, a South Carolina Air National Guard officer and a senior lawyer in the Air Force Reserve.

He died unexpectedly from an aortic dissection at the age of 71 in mid-July.

Graham was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and the Senate in 2002.

Graham was a member of the Senate Budget Committee, leading efforts to further military funding. Before his death, he secured $212 million for the Charleston base to go toward the Coast Guard for enhanced readiness.

“Beyond the uniform, Senator Graham has been a vital supporter to this base,” base Commander Col. Kenneth Shirley said during the unveiling ceremony. “His unwavering support to the installation’s mission was not just words. His support was cemented into the foundation that makes this base.”

In a speech Monday, Hegseth applauded Graham for “taking on a radical leftist ideology that had run rampant in the media, in academia and even among a few members of Congress,” which he said had curbed the military’s recruiting numbers under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The defense secretary pointed to the historic $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense budget currently under consideration by Congress, saying that Graham told Hegseth it was the “best military budget” he has seen since taking office.

“This department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute that Congress could give than to invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion,” Hegseth said.

The base mainly houses the 628th Air Base Wing, 437th Airlift Wing and the reserve 315th Airlift Wing, with a total force of over 90,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians and retirees across four installations. The base manages the force’s largest fleet of C-17 Globemaster II cargo aircraft.

Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division trained alongside Marines to outfit Neros Archer Strike first-person-view, or FPV, drones with C4 explosives to attack targets at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in South Korea.

It was the division’s first time using live ordnance with the system.

The training represents part of the military’s broader push to place attack drones directly in the hands of smaller units, giving them the ability to strike targets without relying on assets at higher echelons. Both the Marine Corps and the Army have created specialized units and groups dedicated to the small sky-fliers that have changed the course of modern warfare.

“At my level, the modernization with drones is allowing for on-the-ground troops to, rather than call in company-level or battalion-level assets, within their platoon or squad-sized element, be able to support long-range fires up to 20 kilometers,” said Pfc. Gavin Zerrull, a military intelligence systems maintainer and integrator who participated in the training.

Zerrull is also an FPV coach and operator with Talon Technologies, the “innovation arm” of the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, according to the Army’s early August release. The effort assesses unmanned aircraft systems for one-way strike missions, intelligence collection, surveillance and cargo delivery.

The Neros Archer Strike drones are made for long-range missions. As seen in photos released by the Army, the drone is small enough to be carried in one hand, with spindly, spider-like legs and antennas.

According to Zerrull, the platform has already been used in the war between Russia and Ukraine, where drones dominate the battlefield.

“What makes this different from a typical drone training event is the fact that we’re working with live ordnance and using a platform that has actively been tested in real-world situations in Ukraine,” he said.

In May, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced during a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing that the MQ-25A was moving into the low-rate initial production and deployment phase.

The aircraft is intended to relieve the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornets of the aerial refueling role, freeing up F/A-18E/F aircraft to focus on strike missions.

The memo, dated April 21, 2026, was recently published by the Pentagon within a Modernized Selected Acquisition Report. It was first reported by The War Zone.

The report notes that in March 2026, the USS Theodore Roosevelt Unmanned Air Warfare Center “became the first fully operational/deployable MQ-25 capable aircraft carrier,” with another UAWC aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan slated “to be operational/deployable at the end of [August] 2026.”

The Nimitz-class carrier USS George H.W. Bush was the first aircraft carrier on which the UAWC was installed and tested back in August 2024.

According to the Navy, the integrated Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System and the MD-5E Ground Control Station are the systems required for the MQ-25 air vehicle command and control — and are critical to the unmanned aircraft refueler’s operations.

In May, the Stingray reached milestone C, which in the defense acquisition process authorizes a program to transition from the engineering and manufacturing development, or EMD, phase into production and deployment, a process that in this instance has been nearly eight years in the making.

Inked in 2018, the $805 million Boeing-Navy contract covered the design, development, fabrication, test and delivery of four Stingray aircraft, a program that the service at the time estimated would cost about $13 billion for 72 aircraft, according to previous Military Times coverage.

Despite its first test flight running a year later than previously planned, on April 25 the Stingray inched closer to operability after completing an approximately two-hour flight around Mascoutah, Illinois.

With the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the fold and able to support MQ-25 operations, deploying the unmanned refueling drone is seemingly only a matter of time.

“This is the first pair of slacks being introduced to the fleet using our new modernized sizing,” said Dr. Brianna Plummer, Group Leader at the Navy Exchange Service Command’s Navy Clothing & Textile Research Facility. “We’ve already introduced two optional items — the Summer and Dress White female overblouses in both short-sleeve and long-sleeve in the new modernized fit sizing, which are annotated as fit types ‘Alpha,’ ‘Bravo’ and ‘Delta.’”

According to the release, the new fits are available to try on or purchase at NEX Norfolk, NEX Oceana and NEX Arlington, Virginia; NEX Great Lakes, Illinois; NEX Jacksonville and NEX Pensacola; Aviation Plaza, Florida; NEX San Diego; NEX Kitsap-Bangor, Washington; NEX Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and NEX Bethesda, Maryland, as well as online at myNavyExchange.com.

“It is our charge to ensure Sailors are fit for the fight, that means they are equipped with uniforms that fit correctly, are of a quality that performs, and represent professionalism in all tasks,” said Rear Adm. Jennifer Couture, former Director, Military Personnel Plans and Policy (N13). “Modernizing the Service Khaki slacks is a direct result of listening to our sailors, it’s a tangible example of how we’re modernizing uniforms to fit the needs of sailors today and strengthen readiness across the fleet.”

Made of 75% polyester and 25% wool fabric, the Service Khaki slacks feature two “back welt pockets” that will surely make any sailor say, “Thanks, it has pockets!”

While the focus of the Navy Exchange Service Command is currently on the modernizing of female uniforms, the release notes that male uniform sizes will also be evaluated and updated in the coming months and years.

The goal is to “integrate a 50mm ammunition solution to effectively track, engage, and defeat Class 1, 2, and 3 UAS threats,” according to the Army’s Sources Sought notice. The deadline is Aug. 31.

While the notice from the Army’s Project Manager, Maneuver Ammunition Systems office does not provide any technical specifications, it signals the Army’s interest in a rapid-fire cannon for counter-UAS, or C-UAS, defense.

In particular, the Army will conduct a live-fire demonstration using Northrop Grumman’s XM913 Bushmaster 50mm chain gun, with companies supplying 50mm ammunition for testing.

Contractors are asked to provide “a detailed description of the company’s capabilities pertaining to C-UAS, proposed C-UAS system architecture, fire control/sensor integration, detailed draft test or demonstration plan, and how the platform will successfully employ the 50x228mm ammunition against the specified target set. In addition, the response shall provide a detailed, estimated timeline and schedule to design, integrate, and deliver a weapon system ready for a live-fire demonstration.”

The cannon is intended to destroy a broad range of drones, from Group 1 to Group 3. This includes tiny quadcopters all the way to medium-sized UAVs weighing up to 1,320 pounds and traveling at 250 knots.

Such drones have emerged as perhaps the biggest threat to armored vehicles, which have been largely driven off the front lines of the Ukraine war because of masses of UAVs.

US Army wants a surface-to-air missile that can destroy small drones

The XM913 is slated to be the primary weapon on the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle, which is intended to replace the M2 Bradley. In 2023, the Army awarded contracts to American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics Land Systems to develop prototypes for the XM30, formerly known as the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle.

The XM913 weighs 692 pounds and can fire single shots, bursts, or up to 200 rounds per minute. It will fire the XM1203 Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot with Trace, or APFSDS-T. More significant for targeting agile and fast drones, the XM913 will use the XM1204 High Explosive Airburst with Trace, or HEAB-T.

HEAB-T “will most likely be the standard ammunition, replacing the High Explosive (HE) ammunition in service today that relies solely on a point detonating fuze capability,” claimed a 2020 Army news release.

HEAB-T will use a programmable fuze with point detonate, point detonate delay and airburst modes.

“Today, a gunner uses high explosive rounds fired from the 25mm M242, and has to walk rounds into each target to achieve the desired effects,” the news release said. “With the HEAB-T, the gunner can depart from this type of engagement. By using airburst mode, the round will be programmed with range to the target — and other important factors — for maximum lethal effect with an order of magnitude fewer shots.”

While “flak” was once thought obsolete because of surface-to-air missiles, armies are turning to cannons and machine guns as cheaper alternatives to using $4 million missiles — or wearing out manned fighter jets — to destroy a $20,000 drone.

Ukraine has had some success in creating dense belts of short-range anti-aircraft cannons and mobile machine guns to stop Russian drones.

Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, who was leading V Corps, was removed from command. The Army did not provide the date of his removal or disclose a reason for his departure but confirmed in a statement that “the matter has been referred to the appropriate authority in accordance with Army regulations.”

Brig. Gen. John B. Mountford, the deputy commanding general of readiness for V Corps, is serving as the acting commanding general.

According to the Army last week, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Feltey, who was selected for promotion to lieutenant general, is set to assume command of V Corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Before assuming command of V Corps in April 2024, Costanza served as the Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe-Africa. He also commanded the 3rd Infantry Division.

V Corps oversees ground forces in Europe, including those along NATO’s eastern flank. The Corps works with allied forces to integrate defense, counter-drone systems and long-range fires in the region. Costanza was the Corps’ second commanding general since its reactivation in October 2020.

In 1991, he commissioned as an armor officer from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The removal was not political and had nothing to do with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, an Army official told Military Times.

Costanza’s removal comes amid mass leadership shakeups at the Pentagon. Since entering the position, Hegseth has removed or replaced at least a dozen senior leaders.

In early July, U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, who previously led the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division, unexpectedly relinquished command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The Army did not provide a reason for his departure.

Citing the pro forma “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” Loe was relieved of his command by Rear Adm. Kevin Brown, commander of Naval Medical Forces Pacific, per the release.

Loe served as the NMRTC commanding officer beginning in July 2025 and has since been temporarily reassigned to NMFP. Capt. Robin Bennet will serve as the interim commanding officer.

The Navy noted that the “relief of the CO does not impact the command’s operational readiness.”

Based in California, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Lemoore delivers healthcare to more than 32,000 active duty, retired military, and civilian beneficiaries from shore-based and operational commands, according to the Navy’s website.

According to his biography, the Texas-born Loe completed his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, in 1995 and his Master of Science in Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Texas, in 2001. In 2012, he completed his Doctor of Nursing Practice at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center.

After a civilian nursing career, Loe joined the Navy and deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, where he embedded as the training team leader responsible for all forward operating base departments that supported over 3,000 Afghan Army and 400 NATO personnel. Before serving as NMRTC’s CO, Loe worked as the officer-in-charge of the Branch Health Clinic Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the 2009 Association of the United States Navy Bea Ratner Nurse Corps Junior Officer of the Year.

Frank Kendall, who served as the 26th Air Force secretary from 2021 to 2025 during former President Joe Biden’s administration, recently spoke with news outlets and has been quoted in their stories concerning the Qatari-donated jet’s security features.

Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a Friday social media post that Kendall’s access to classified information and his ability to hold any “sensitive” position is forfeit, effective immediately.

“This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet,” Parnell said in the post.

“Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty,” he continued. “Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.”

Former high-ranking officials, such as Air Force secretaries, usually retain access to sensitive information after leaving their posts, allowing them to serve as consultants to the current administration or as contractors as needed.

Following his departure as Air Force secretary, Kendall now serves as a national director on the Air & Space Forces Association board and as a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

AFA and CAP did not immediately respond when contacted by Military Times.

Although Parnell did not name a specific publication to which Kendall supposedly shared unauthorized information, the former Air Force secretary has recently been quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, expressing skepticism on the short time frame of the Air Force One’s modification schedule.

In a July article, two sentences in The New York Times are attributed to Kendall, in which he says that a mix of security, communications and support is missing from the jet since “time didn’t permit all the normal Air Force One modifications.”

“With the Iran situation, this could be of concern,” Kendall told the Times. “Frankly, I’m surprised to see this plane used outside the U.S.”

Earlier this month, Kendall was also quoted in a Wall Street Journal article published less than a week before his clearance was revoked, voicing uncertainty about the plane being “maxed out” with more security features fit for presidential use after President Donald Trump announced a month prior that the jet would be sent for upgrades.

The temporary Boeing 747 has faced scrutiny over its use by Trump as the Air Force awaits the 2028 delivery of two Boeing VC-25Bs that have succumbed to scheduling delays and cost overruns.

Trump first traveled within the U.S. in the modified jet in July, but then a week later made a last-minute switch to an older Air Force One, instead, following the NATO summit in Turkey as tensions escalated with Iran.

The president said he flew on the older plane for “old times’ sake,” but also told reporters in Ankara that he was “number one on the kill list” for Iran, which borders Turkey.

SensorMAX, developed by Lockheed Martin, uses AI and machine learning to analyze acoustic sensor data, update the sensor model — and then immediately transmit the updates over the air to anti-submarine warfare, or ASW, platforms.

During RIMPAC maneuvers near Hawaii, Navy MH-60R helicopters dropped sonobuoys, which fed data to SensorMAX. It in turn assisted the crews with target identification.

“Ground operators retrained SensorMAX’s models on new sounds in minutes, then transmitted AI-enhanced undersea intelligence OTA [over the air] using an encrypted data link directly back to the helicopter and the fleet,” according to a Lockheed Martin news release.

Lockheed described the system as the “Navy’s AI portable sonar expert.”

“Taking in subsurface acoustic data from a network of sensors, SensorMAX provides a continuous data stream to the aircrew and sends information to the ground station,” the company continued. “When a new target is identified, system operators label the identified noise signature, retrain the model on the new data and push a small update packet back to the aircrew.”

The system allows aircrews to manage up to eight simultaneous sonobuoy surveillance feeds, “doubling the capacity of legacy capabilities,” Lockheed said.

The company estimated that each retraining cycle for the model takes under five minutes.

SensorMAX integrates data from a variety of sensors, which makes it useful for air and ground operations as well as naval, according to Lockheed Martin.

“Lockheed Martin’s collaboration with FUSE Inc. enables secure, resilient software delivery to deployed aircraft, allowing SensorMAX’s trained AI models and mission software to be updated rapidly without interrupting operations,” the company said.

“By demonstrating platform-agnostic AI intelligence and classification, the future fleet can leverage any acoustic sensor to expand the protective ring around high-value assets and accelerating the ASW kill chain,” Lockheed Martin continued.

China is also integrating AI into ASW. Chinese media claimed last year that researchers had developed AI which evaluates data from multiple sources, including sonobuoys as well as data on water temperature and salinity.

The contract, awarded through the Office of Naval Research, will result in the delivery early next year of a High-power Microwave Autonomous Vehicle Operational Capability (HAVOC) system that can autonomously identify drone targets to be dropped from the sky with an electromagnetic pulse.

The award follows prototype testing of the similar Expeditionary Directed Energy Counter-Swarm (ExDECS) weapon prototype that Epirus delivered to the Corps for testing last year under a $5.5 million contract.

Compared with ExDECS, the HAVOC system will have three times the power, improved ruggedness and range and autonomous capabilities intended to simplify decision-making for human operators, the company said.

“We’ve tripled the power density nearly in this system. So think of it, from a laser point of view that a lot of people are familiar with, like going from a 50-kilowatt to 150-kilowatt type laser in the same size package. So that directly kind of contributes to lethality, range, these types of things,” Epirus CEO Andy Lowery told Defense News in an interview. “We’ve also very much increased the reliability of the system and its suitability for various types of weather, types of different locations, dust, and all of that, where the Marines are dragging this thing around.”

Lowery called the increase in the weapon’s effective range “significant,” though he said he couldn’t give specifics.

Epirus says its microwave energy beams, powered by gallium nitride transistors, deliver a precise “force field” blow of interference that can take out swarms of drones with minimal collateral damage.

“We’re specifically useful with defending critical points that just have zero fail – cannot get hit – or defending mobile formations,” Lowery said, “Which is a lot of times what the Marines are looking for when they’re [operating] their expeditionary units.”

The HAVOC system will be delivered with a universal sled mount “for seamless integration across the Marine Corps’ manned and unmanned ground vehicle fleets,” according to an Epirus announcement.

The counter-drone advances the Marine Corps is making parallel the work of the Army, which signed a $66 million deal with Epirus in 2023 for the Leonidas counter-drone weapon prototype. Since receiving the first Leonidas system in late 2023 for testing, the service has deployed the systems to the Middle East and Pacific on an experimental basis. Last year, the Army inked a nearly $44 million contract for delivery of two of the systems. Shortly after, Epirus announced the system had downed 49 aerial drones in a single pulse during a live-fire demonstration.

Testing and evaluation with the Army, particularly in deployed environments, helped develop the requirements for the ruggedized and mobile HAVOC system, Lowery said.

“We realized sort of where the system was strong and where it needed to be improved, and so we’ve incorporated all of that learning into this second generation and getting it into a production-ready state,” he said. “We went through some monsoons, actually, and one of our systems was found to have a little bit of a leak in it … some of those monsoons were like dunking it underwater. So we improved upon the waterproofing and the dust-proofing.”

The Marine Corps is likely to build HAVOC into its existing expeditionary drone defense infrastructure following rigorous testing. The service is now fielding the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS), a counter-drone weapons package mounted on two lightweight all-terrain vehicles that can be transported via helicopter or MV-22 Osprey.

“No single system’s a panacea, and neither are we,” Lowery said. “But we provide the goalie kind of thing before the final puck gets in the net, where you’ve had leakers or you have overwhelmed your other systems through quantity, mass, swarms. And we’re the final line of defense against those types of threats.”

The “Summer Surge Incentive,” announced this week with other recruiting reforms, is open to current members who reenlist and airmen transferring from active duty or the Air Force Reserve.

The incentive, first reported by Task & Purpose, comes as other services are offering large bonuses to retain talent. The Army is offering bonuses exceeding $200,000 to keep aviation warrant officers in the ranks, and the Navy is offering up to $150,000 for select aviation roles.

In addition to the bonus, the Guard said that it is now sending its highest-performing recruiters to wings struggling to meet recruiting goals, rather than limiting them to their home states. Other initiatives include a 179% increase in local market funding and a social media collaborator program.

U.S. Air Force Col. Mark Williams, director of Recruiting and Retention for the Air National Guard, said the changes are meant to modernize the force.

“It is all part of an effort to continue reaching individuals seeking purpose, growth and the opportunity to make a lasting impact,” he said.

The Guard also instituted a policy allowing wings that maintain at least 90% manning strength to temporarily fill positions above their authorized numbers.

The change, according to Chief Master Sgt. James Chubb, chief of the Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention Accessions Branch, said was designed to prevent recruiting momentum from stalling once units reach their prescribed limits.

“One of our greatest challenges is balancing recruiting success with limited authorized vacancies,” Chubb said in the announcement. “As recruiters successfully fill formations, available positions naturally become scarce, creating an artificial ceiling on continued growth.”

For fiscal year 2026, the Air National Guard is looking to recruit 8,842 enlisted airmen, 1,123 line officers, 68 chaplains and 53 warrant officers.

The event, scheduled for Oct. 26-30 at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, will bring together military personnel, government employees, industry and academic partners and contractors supporting the government. Participants will choose one of two tracks: developing AI agents on the Defense Department’s GenAI.mil platform or advanced AI development using the service and school’s resources.

The hackathon’s intent, according to the message, is to “generate practical, digital solutions that solve registered requirements while accelerating the Marine Corps’ ability to integrate AI-enabled capabilities into operations.”

Participants will spend at least two full days hacking — at the unclassified level — before final presentations and judging on the fourth day.

Those interested must apply by Oct. 9. Chosen attendees will be notified by Oct. 16.

The military’s push toward AI and automation is being driven in part by the sheer volume of information expected on a future battlefield. During an exercise earlier this year, the Army found that a large-scale conflict could require troops to process as many as 1,500 targets a day, which is a workload far beyond what a headquarters staff could manage without automation.

Schiess will succeed Gen. Chance Saltzman, who has served as Chief of Space Operations since November 2022 and is expected to retire later this month. Upon assuming the position, Schiess will be promoted to four-star general, becoming the Space Force’s senior uniformed officer and serving as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

President Donald Trump nominated Schiess in May following Saltzman’s planned retirement.

Schiess currently serves as deputy Chief of Space Operations, a role in which he oversees the Space Force’s global operations, readiness, sustainment and training. Before joining the Space Force headquarters staff, he commanded U.S. Space Forces–Space, overseeing military space operations and integrating space capabilities in support of combatant commanders worldwide.

Earlier in his career, Schiess served as an Air Force missile officer and held assignments in military launch, GPS and satellite communications before commanding the 21st Space Wing and the 45th Space Wing. His 34-year military career also includes operational, staff and joint assignments supporting U.S. Central Command, U.S. Space Command and multinational operations.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in July, Schiess told lawmakers the Space Force must continue organizing, training and equipping Guardians to defend U.S. space capabilities, protect the joint force from space-enabled attack and deliver the capabilities needed to support military operations across the full range of missions.

Space Force must continue to rebuild civilian personnel staff after cuts, chief nominee says

“Our purpose is not confrontation, but deterrence, ensuring no adversary believes aggression against the United States will succeed,” Schiess told the committee.

He said he would work to ensure Guardians remain ready, the service’s capabilities remain resilient and its partnerships remain strong.

In written responses to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Schiess said he would prioritize strengthening the connection between force design, acquisition programs and combatant commanders’ operational requirements.

He also said he would focus on expanding launch infrastructure, improving the Space Force’s testing enterprise and continuing efforts to strengthen the acquisition workforce needed to field new capabilities more rapidly.

In Wednesday’s announcements, the company explained that its Missionforce National Security platform received Impact Level 5, or IL5, authorization, meaning it is “trusted” to address the “most sensitive, unclassified missions.”

Kendall Collins, the chief executive officer of Missionforce and Government Cloud at Salesforce, said the platform is “modernizing government IT” and that they’re “building the trusted AI backbone for America’s national security.”

According to the announcement, Missionforce is the DoD-authorized variant of the commercial Agentforce platform, which is a network of AI agents designed to support analysis and decision-making.

This is the latest application of the technology since Salesforce won the $5.6 billion contract to build Missionforce in January. In early July, Salesforce said the Air Force deployed Missionforce with the 441st Vehicle Support Chain Operations Squadron to help manage its $13.5 billion fleet of over 84,000 vehicles across nearly 389 locations.

The company called the approval a “milestone” because it moves the national security and defense entities “beyond predictive AI and chatbots” and onto “autonomous AI execution.” The AI agents will have access to controlled unclassified information as well as unclassified National Security System data.

While Missionforce is tailored for government use, the underlying technology is based on Salesforce’s commercial Agentforce 360 platform, which the company introduced in late 2025.

Ryan Von, a writer for Salesforce Ben, a publication that covers the company’s products, described Agentforce as Salesforce’s “boldest leap into AI,” and called the latest 360 variant, “the most powerful version of the tool yet.” He said it’s marketed as able to deliver “accurate, context-rich responses across text and voice.”

In an early review of the commercial platform, Von said demonstrations were promising. Still, he suggested the AI performed best on routine, keyword-based requests while struggling with more complex questions, such as personalized recommendations.

For the Army HRC, the company said AI agents will “provide around-the-clock support, respond to routine inquiries, summarize case histories, and surface relevant policy and career information from approved Army sources.”

According to the company, HRC handles more than 1,500 personnel cases each day. Salesforce estimates the AI agents could save roughly $6 million annually while handling more than 55 million conversations a month.

Bill Pessin, SVP of Missionforce National Security at Salesforce, said that the platform will allow the human staff to “focus more on the complex, career-defining decisions that directly affect the readiness and lives of our Soldiers and less on the mundane tasks that can be handled by AI.”

The airlifter, tail number 01-0194, assigned to the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was parked overnight at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas on March 4, 2025, when severe storms and microbursts of up to 80 mph sent two private Bombardier Challenger jets careening into it.

Video shot that morning showed one of the business jets come to rest beneath the C-17’s wing. The same storm system damaged numerous aircraft at airports across the metroplex.

The collision damaged the C-17’s left-side door, fuselage and nose. The crew flew it home with a Boeing-qualified and Air Force-approved temporary nose panel and landing gear down.

Back in Ohio, maintainers repaired the door and fuselage but determined the left nose panel had to be replaced, which is where the job stalled.

Boeing was unable to find a vendor willing to build tooling for a single nose panel, according to the Air Force. After an unsuccessful repair attempt, the jet was looking at a year in storage followed by another year of repair work, sidelining one of only nine C-17s the wing counts as mission-essential.

The wing turned to the Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO), a Life Cycle Management Center division at Wright-Patterson that hunts for ways to fabricate parts the supply chain can’t deliver.

Engineers there deemed the panel a good candidate for incremental sheet forming, or ISF, in which a robot presses a flat metal sheet into shape a little at a time. Because the machine follows a digital path rather than a mold, tooling is unnecessary.

Working with the University of Dayton Research Institute, the team began production in January 2026. Boeing, along with maintainers from the wing, installed the finished panel in July, and 01-0194 took to the skies again July 30, nearly 17 months after the storm.

“This is a tremendous win for our maintenance group,” Col. Karen Gharst, the 445th Maintenance Group commander, said in a statement. “Using the ISF technology to rapidly produce an otherwise unobtainable part allowed us to avoid a prolonged work stoppage.”

The event marks the first incrementally formed part to fly on an Air Force aircraft.

Boeing closed the C-17 line in 2015, and the Air Force expects to fly the fleet into the 2070s, meaning this may not be the last time the service has to hunt for parts nobody makes anymore.

The RSO is currently working on parts for a KC-135 and an F-15.

The official in charge of tracking the Navy’s finances mocked the smell, weight and appearance of subordinates and made hiring decisions that appeared to show bias in favor of other African American women, a new report from the Pentagon’s top watchdog finds.

The 42-page probe concludes that Donjette Gilmore, auditor general of the Navy Audit Service, made a habit of harassing and belittling subordinates, creating a hostile work environment and reducing some employees to tears.

Of 27 witnesses interviewed by the Inspector General, 23 said they had personally witnessed, experienced or heard about this behavior.

Specific comments alleged by witnesses included, “Oh, your perfume stinks. She stinks. You stink;” “Oh, my God, you look like a witch;” “No. Let’s take the stairs because [you need] the exercise;” “Your clothes are too tight;” and “You need to stop eating cookies [because] [y]ou don’t need to eat cookies,” among others.

Employees reported being berated and told to “shut up” in staff meetings and mentioned instances in which two single parents were targeted with derogatory comments.

“Nobody told you all to have kids,” Gilmore allegedly said.

Additionally, according to the report, she created a culture of fear around reporting alleged misconduct.

“Witnesses told us that they and their colleagues were afraid to file complaints against Ms. Gilmore and that no safe or effective channel existed to address their harassment allegations,” investigators wrote. “They believed that previous complaints were ignored and mishandled and that Ms. Gilmore would find out they complained against her.”

Eight witnesses also said Gilmore tried to hide negative feedback from command climate surveys administered in 2023 and 2024, ordering that specific comments be redacted on briefing slides.

This week, the Navy published new guidance on transparency in the administration of command climate surveys. Officials did not confirm to Military Times whether the guidance was linked to the IG report on Gilmore.

“A strong and positive command climate is the bedrock of our warfighting advantage. Because our people are our most valuable asset, a command climate that fosters trust, respect, and psychological safety is not a ‘nice to have’; it is a combat multiplier,” the Navy administrative message states.

The report also finds that Gilmore’s behavior in 17 different hiring actions showed a preference for external candidates and non-competitive practices and thus “created an appearance” of favoritism. Eight African American women were hired to fill 13 of the 17 roles, with some of them being selected for more than one position, the probe found. Nine of the hires were made without a competitive selection process.

Witnesses, who the watchdog noted included seven current and former Audit Service employees who are Black women, also alleged Gilmore made racially specific comments about hiring and employees, including stating “that she needed to keep an employee by keeping him happy because ‘he is white.’”

In addition, the report concluded that Gilmore misused her role in various ways, most notably by pressuring a subordinate to submit sexual harassment allegations as part of an extended effort to discredit another official, Ronnie Booth, who’d previously been selected over her in 2018 to become the Navy’s auditor general.

“Ms. Gilmore took other extraordinary steps in her efforts to discredit Mr. Booth,” the IG found. “Specifically, Ms. Gilmore:

• sent anonymous letters to other potential victims;
• solicited congressional support for her selection as AG in conjunction with the adverse information about Mr. Booth; and 
• coordinated her actions and shared information about the harassment allegations with a Washington Post reporter."

The DoD IG did find in 2021 that Booth had sexually harassed a dozen female Naval Audit Service employees over the course of more than two decades, engaging in a “pervasive pattern of sexual harassment and quid pro quo sexual propositions.”

Booth retired under the shadow of harassment allegations in 2019.

Gilmore, who previously directed the Navy’s public-private partnership housing reviews, became auditor general in 2022. Between May 2023 and June 2024, the Navy received six complaints alleging favoritism, harassment and misuse of her position.

In responses provided to the IG, Gilmore denied wrongdoing, at times claiming she did not recall specific alleged interactions and comments. She also told the IG that she couldn’t remember the passcodes to government-issued cell phones that were seized by investigators and that she didn’t know where a missing SIM card was, according to the report.

In a message to Military Times, Gilmore said that, on the advice of her attorney, she was unable to comment.

As of Thursday, Gilmore appears to remain in her position as the Navy reviews findings.

“We have received and are currently reviewing the DOW IG report,” a Navy spokesperson told Military Times. “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and are committed to workforce accountability. We have no further comment on the matter at this time.”

Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, directed the activation Tuesday, describing Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, or JTF-WHEM, as a purpose-built joint task force that will provide unified command and control at the tactical and operational levels, while integrating military capabilities with the 18 partner nations of the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, or A3C.

SOUTHCOM Media Relations Officer Steven McLoud told Military Times the activation of JTF-WHEM “represents an evolution from Operation Southern Spear,” reinforcing the command’s whole-of-government, multinational approach to defending the homeland while building on the successes of Operation Southern Spear.

McLoud said JTF-WHEM serves as SOUTHCOM’s “action arm,” focused on what he described as imposing “total systemic friction” against threats across the hemisphere.

He said the task force builds on Operation Southern Spear, which employed “precise kinetic strikes and maritime interdiction operations” to disrupt illicit trafficking and undermine entrenched criminal networks, by advancing efforts to disrupt, dismantle and defeat narcoterrorism networks.

According to McLoud, JTF-WHEM coordinates U.S. military actions targeting cartels and narcoterrorist networks while leveraging the commitment of Americas Counter Cartel Coalition member nations through expanded bilateral and multilateral cooperation in border security, countering threats and protecting critical infrastructure. He said enhanced cooperation and information sharing support the president’s national security strategy, the defense secretary’s national defense strategy and SOUTHCOM’s theater priorities.

According to SOUTHCOM, JTF-WHEM will serve as the command’s operational headquarters for executing missions across the region.

The command said the headquarters integrates intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, operational planning and multinational coordination while supporting intelligence sharing, combined training, interoperability, partner-capacity building and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

SOUTHCOM said the task force is intended to increase operational effectiveness against transnational criminal organizations and other threats affecting the United States and partner nations.

“JTF-WHEM strengthens our ability to work alongside trusted allies and partners, synchronize military capabilities and apply sustained pressure against the networks that threaten our collective security,” Donovan said in a statement. “Together, we are increasing security across the hemisphere and protecting our homeland.”

Donovan also said, “Together with the 18 nations of A3C, we are changing the way we confront these threats.”

Gen. Donovan selected Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin Jarrard to command the new task force. Jarrard most recently led U.S. military support to U.S. Department of State-led disaster relief operations following the June earthquakes in Venezuela.

Boeing’s BSU-111/B Payload Delivery Unit is a wing-and-turbojet engine kit that converts a 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) into a long-range JDAM (JDAM LR) dubbed the GBU-75. The result is a gravity bomb with the reach of a cruise missile.

Boeing said it has spent nearly $100 million of its own money on the program.

“Scaling production of the GBU-75 will provide the fleet with an affordable, sustainable solution designed to eliminate long-range land and sea-based threats to U.S. and international forces,” said Bob Ciesla, vice president of Boeing Precision Engagement Systems.

The BSU-111/B wing-and-engine kit is the latest modification to the JDAM family, which has previously seen the gravity bomb receive a tail kit that steered it roughly 15 nautical miles and a wing kit that further stretched that distance to 40.

The Kratos-designed TDI-J85 engine pushes that past 300.

The JDAM LR’s capabilities go beyond land strikes. The QuickStrike Long Range mining variant pairs it with a bomb carrying a ship-tracking sensor. Boeing has shown concepts loading large numbers onto Air Force bombers, though no Air Force buy has been announced.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, buys JDAM for both the Air Force and U.S. Navy. The first GBU-75s are bound for the Navy.

The Navy demonstrated the weapon back in April, when Super Hornets released two JDAM LRs over the Point Mugu Sea Range off California.

The April 1 round separated cleanly, fired up its engine and flew 34 minutes before landing within meters of its target. The April 3 round added altitude changes and maneuvering. Each covered roughly 200 nautical miles.

When announcing those tests in April, Capt. Sarah Abbott, the Navy’s Precision Strike Weapons program manager, emphasized the need to give the fleet’s JDAMs greater standoff range.

“As Naval Air Forces in theater continue to rely heavily on JDAM systems, the program recognizes a critical need to provide the fleet with greater standoff range,” she said. “This new capability allows pilots to engage targets from significantly safer distances, maintaining a tactical advantage in contested environments.”

Reusing existing infrastructure is a key aspect of the program’s appeal.

Navy budget documents describe JDAM LR as a modification to the baseline program, built on the existing production line and guidance hardware. Any jet that can drop a conventional JDAM can carry the new variant without modification, according to Boeing’s release.

The award, which had not appeared in the Pentagon’s daily contract announcements as of Aug. 5, is an undefinitized action, meaning Boeing began work before the two sides agreed on a price. The Government Accountability Office has long called these contracts risky because contractors are reimbursed for allowable costs, regardless.

Boeing’s release did not say how many GBU-75s the contract buys, how much they cost or when deliveries begin.

In addition to the removal, the service announced the establishment of the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, aimed at correcting “years of fragmented requirements, resourcing, and acquisition practices that dispersed accountability, complicated industry engagement, and slowed delivery to the warfighter,” the memo states.

Christopher Miller was selected to serve as the acting DRPM RAS and will concurrently take over Gassler’s previous role as Portfolio Acquisition Executive RAS. He will report directly to William Toti, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of the Navy.

“We are at an inflection point in naval warfare, and the Department has been approaching robotic and autonomous systems through arcane processes that do not deliver capabilities at the speed our Sailors and Marines need,” said Toti. “Secretary Cao has directed us to replace that model with clear accountability, faster decisions, and a relentless focus on the warfighter.”

The move comes only weeks after the RAS unit was caught in the crosshairs of a federal lawsuit after the Navy tweaked the acquisition framework for the medium unmanned surface vehicle program twice within the past two years.

Two defense technology companies — Blue Water Autonomy and Saildrone — filed lawsuits in federal court on July 14 after being excluded from the U.S. Navy’s newest unmanned surface vessel acquisition program.

The two companies allege they were kicked out of contention for the Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel Family of Systems program after the Navy failed to comply with its own requirements, among other errors.

2 defense tech companies sue US Navy after losing out on MUSV program

Blue Water Autonomy called the Navy’s decision to remove it from consideration for the MUSV request for prototype proposal “capricious” and not “in accordance with statute or regulation.”

Gassler was the first to serve in the portfolio acquisition executive role after the service strove last December to streamline its acquisition processes in an effort to purchase more drones and unmanned autonomous vehicles for the Navy.

Gassler concurrently served as the Deputy Director for Project Overmatch, a position she has held since her appointment to the Senior Executive Service in October 2024. In that position, she served across the Navy, Joint Services and with Coalition and Allied partners to design, develop and field the Naval Operational Architecture, according to her bio.

Under the settlement agreement, NCNG agreed to restore Timothy Stanhope’s access to its Facebook page and make reasonable efforts to unhide his comments.

The agreement also requires the Guard to revise its Facebook moderation policy. It can no longer block users or remove, hide or filter comments simply because they are deemed “inappropriate.”

However, comments will still be subject to Facebook’s community standards, and each side agreed to pay its own legal fees and court costs.

Michelle Scott, an attorney with the Center for Individual Rights, which represented Stanhope, called the settlement a victory for free speech.

“When a government agency opens an official page for public comment, it cannot treat that page as a one-way bulletin board where praise is welcome but criticism is censored,” Scott said. “Government officials don’t get to invite public comment and then censor the citizens who take them up on their invitation.”

In a statement about the lawsuit, CIR said the case was about more than “one person or one post.” Instead, it said, the lawsuit was about protecting the public’s right to criticize the government in online public forums.

According to the complaint filed in March 2025, Stanhope was blocked from NCNG’s Facebook page after years of commenting on its posts.

Although superior officers had confronted him about his comments while he was still serving, the Guard did not block him until after he retired in 2023.

The complaint said Stanhope frequently criticized what he viewed as mismanagement by Guard leaders.

In 2019, he commented, “so when do we get the results from the leader[’]s test?” in response to a post about a combat fitness test.

In 2021, he criticized what he described as the Guard’s “ill-conceived and hastily planned” deployment to Washington, D.C., following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In 2023, he responded to a post announcing an officer’s promotion by sharing the officer’s mugshot from a previous drunken driving arrest along with a news article about the incident.

The complaint also cited several posts Stanhope made on his own Facebook page that tagged NCNG, making them visible on the Guard’s page.

In a statement, Stanhope said the settlement affirms that “constitutional rights are not optional.”

“The right to speak freely includes the right to criticize the government, and that right doesn’t disappear when the conversation moves online,” he said. “Officials don’t get to pick and choose which opinions are allowed. I’m glad the Guard finally agrees.”

Nearly a month later, some military families say the changes have made it harder to find information about child care, community programs and installation services.

Army Directive 2026-17, Optimizing Digital Media, required many subordinate units and installation organizations, including Army Community Service, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, Child & Youth Services, military treatment facilities and other organizations to discontinue standalone Army social media accounts. Instead, those organizations are expected to communicate through higher-level command or installation accounts.

When introducing the directive in July, Army leaders said the changes would “ensure a clear, unified voice, reduce operational risk, and improve information access for Soldiers, Families and the public.”

During the first month of implementation, organizations across the Army, including Fort Bragg Army Community Service and U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria Family and MWR, notified followers that their standalone social media pages would be closed and directed audiences to installation-level accounts for future updates.

This week, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, notified followers that its Instagram account would be managed by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington as part of its compliance with Directive 2026-17, reflecting the Army’s larger effort to centralize official communications.

Some military families said the transition has changed how they access day-to-day information.

LeAnn Nichols, an Army spouse, said the loss of organization-specific pages disrupted a network she relied on while searching for child care and staying connected with installation resources.

“Military families should never struggle to take advantage of the programs that are meant to support and empower our families,” Nichols said.

Nichols said that Army hospital and MWR pages had become one of the easiest ways for families to learn about available services and questioned why those accounts were removed.

“Statistics show many military families don’t take advantage of programs that they are eligible for, and could really use,” Nichols said. “Now it will be even more difficult to find the information we need on a regular basis.”

Nichols’ concerns come as child care continues to rank among the most significant quality-of-life challenges facing military families.

According to Blue Star Families’ Military Family Lifestyle Survey, one-third of active-duty family respondents identified child care as one of their top concerns. Among respondents experiencing child care challenges, 67% cited long waitlists or a lack of available spaces.

Michael Hanson, an Air Force spouse living in an Army community, said the consolidation has changed how his family experiences installation life.

“The installation feels like it’s gone dark,” Hanson said. “It’s back to COVID times where we’re all living in isolation. But even in isolation, we had social media to stay connected. With the military taking us all over the world, how can we not rely on the social highway?”

Army Directive 2026-17 allows commanders to request exceptions when they can demonstrate a mission-critical requirement that cannot be met through existing communication channels.

Military Times asked the Army how it is measuring whether the directive has improved information access and whether it has collected feedback on implementation. The publication also asked whether any exceptions have been approved, what communication channels it expects families to rely on in place of organization-specific social media pages, and whether the Army has collected data on the effectiveness of the new communication model in its first month.

The Army did not respond before publication.

The Trump administration in December announced its intention to build a new class of large surface combatants, designated as the Trump-class guided missile battleship.

If built, the 35,000-ton nuclear battleship, according to the report, will be the most heavily armed surface vessel the U.S. Navy has ever built, possessing anti-air, land-attack and anti-ship missiles, hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, large lasers and a rail gun.

“If built to those specifications, the ship would be the largest surface combatant in the world and larger than any surface combatant built for the Navy since World War II,” according to the report. “It would be more than three and a half times the size of the Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer and more than twice the size of the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer.”

The Navy projects that between 2028 and 2056 it will build 15 Trump-class guided missile battleships, with the subsequent 14 costing $18 billion each. By contrast, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy’s premier nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, cost approximately $13.3 billion.

By 2058, the total tonnage of “large surface combatants to be constructed would need to increase by 60 percent,” which the report notes “could be a challenge for the shipbuilding industry.”

The shift away from small surface combatants would mean that by 2035, shipyards would need to produce 12% greater tonnage under the 2027 plan than under the 2025 version, according to CBO’s estimation.

To keep pace with the service’s aims, the Navy would need to build a battleship about every other year from 2028 to 2056, the report notes, while continuing to produce two DDG-51 destroyers per year.

Last March, the Government Accountability Office released a report detailing nearly two decades of lackluster progress in U.S. shipbuilding. According to the GAO, not enough ships have been built, newly constructed ships are failing to function as expected and ships are being delivered up to three years later than ordered.

In a statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Shelby S. Oakley, a director at GAO, said that unrealistic expectations of costs and timing have diverted resources and introduced delays in shipbuilding, with the result that Navy programs and shipbuilders have been “effectively made to operate in a perpetual state of triage.”

The report also notes that while the price tag will be immense up front, over time, by switching to nuclear power, it would reduce the battleship’s operating costs by eliminating the need to purchase fuel. The GAO did not provide an estimate of possible savings.

Since the December announcement, the cost of Trump-class battleships has been a moving target, with the updated $23.4 billion roughly six billion more than the initial Navy projection.