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U.S. pilots over Syria will defend themselves if attacked by Russians, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday, following a report that Russia will treat U.S. or coalition aircraft as targets if they fly over areas in western Syria controlled by Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry made the threat Monday after a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Su-22 after that plane bombed U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that are working with the U.S. to defeat the Islamic State on Sunday. "Any aircraft, including planes and drones of the international coalition, detected in the operation areas west of the Euphrates River...

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declared Monday that he was "shocked" upon his return to the Pentagon by the poor state of the U.S. military's readiness for combat. He put most of the blame on Congress for its inability to approve budgets on time or repeal a law that strictly limits defense spending. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Mattis said Congress has "sidelined itself from its active constitutional oversight role" by failing to deliver a steady stream of funding to pay for new weapons and other critical gear. "It has blocked new programs, prevented service growth, stalled...

For months after President Trump's inauguration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was the only Senate-confirmed appointee from the new administration at the Pentagon. But after a slow start, Trump's Pentagon says key positions, including dozens of jobs that don't require congressional confirmation, are being filled. "It's moving. It's definitely moving much faster than it was," said Dana White, assistant to the secretary for public affairs. "We've got a nice rhythm going now, we've got at least two-thirds of the Senate-appointed [positions] at least identified, or in process."

Washington (CNN)The Pentagon on Tuesday will for the first time test its ability to shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile using its own upgraded long-range interceptor missile in what is being widely seen as a test of US ability to counter a North Korean missile launch. The test, which will take place in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, comes just two days after Pyongyang fired a short-range ballistic missile that traveled an estimated 248 miles, splashing down within Japan's exclusive economic zone. In a Monday tweet, President Donald Trump joined the leaders of South Korea and Japan in condemning...

Assigns case to Muslim chaplain who graduated from radical Islamic school raided after 9/11. The Pentagon has agreed to formally review an anti-terror training program taught to special forces by a private contractor for material deemed offensive to Islam and Muslims, even though the Muslim group that lodged a complaint against the allegedly “Islamophobic” program has been accused by the Justice Department of supporting terrorism and is currently banned from outreach activities by the FBI. The instructor hired to teach the program says he fears his class might not get a fair hearing, because military brass have assigned the review...

As Pentagon looks for strategies to pressure into denuclearization, officials worry that intercepting missiles could escalate tensions and risk war. The US military is considering shooting down North Korean missile tests as a show of strength to Pyongyang, two sources briefed on the planning told the Guardian. As tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threaten confrontation in north-east Asia, the Pentagon is looking for ways short of war to pressure North Korea into denuclearization, particularly if Pyongyang goes forward with anticipated sixth nuclear test. The option, which defense secretary James Mattis has briefed to Congress, has yet...

In the wake of warnings that America's power grid could be vulnerable to attack by nations such as North Korea, the Pentagon is developing a solution. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency and BAE Systems are developing alternative communication networks for use in the event of a cyberattack on the grid.

More Winning… You’re Going to Get Tired of Winning… During the 2016 campaign Donald Trump complained that NATO countries were not contributing their fair share to the alliance. He was right. The United States pays more than any other country to prop up the alliance. Via CNN Money On Wednesday NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a joint press conference at the White House that allied spending was up $10 billion because of President Trump. This was after Trump repeated his request for NATO countries to keep their side of the agreement.

US intelligence agencies are finalizing a plan to eliminate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, an anonymous high-level Pentagon source said. One source claims that according to a leaked document, the US plan includes disguising a small building opposite Kim's primary office in the DPRK building. The disguise would turn the smaller building into a "Pizza Hut" selling both normal and poisoned pizzas. According to a South Korean military official, the US will work under South Korean command. US special agents will form a special brigade under South Korean command, which the natives would tailor to meet the area's unique requirements....

President Trump selected Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green for Army secretary after his initial pick backed out two months ago, the White House announced Friday evening. Green was rumored in mid-March to be the leading candidate for the military post. If selected, the gubernatorial candidate would have to put his state political ambitions on hold, though the payout, for a much bigger position on the federal level, would be an upgrade even from governor. The 52-year-old physician has served three tours overseas and later created AlignMD, an emergency room management firm. He joined the state Senate in early 2013 and...

21:58 .   Russian Defense Ministry summons U.S. military attache, cuts off communication with Pentagon on Syria (Part 2) http://www.interfax.com/news.asp  

Even before her now-famous MSNBC comments explaining why "you have the leaking" on alleged ties between Trump officials and Russia, former defense official Evelyn Farkas had undertaken a media campaign to pressure her old colleagues in the Obama administration -- even Barack Obama himself -- to disclose what they knew. Farkas, who left the administration in 2015 after serving as a deputy assistant secretary of defense, raised eyebrows in the March 2 interview on MSNBC when she said there had been a rush to share information before President Trump took office. “I was urging my former colleagues, and frankly speaking,...

Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, the F/A-18 fighter family has come to dominate Navy carrier decks — and supported a base of more than 200 military contractors in Southern California. With a stealthy replacement rolling off assembly lines, though, its days seemed to be numbered. Now, thanks to an unexpected lift from the Trump administration, the latest version of the fighter jet could catch a second wind. President Trump has requested $2.32 billion for 24 new F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft in a supplemental budget request for fiscal year 2017. That comes after months of Trump tweets and...

Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis wants to nominate a senior fellow at a Soros-funded think tank as undersecretary at the Pentagon, as the embattled Cabinet official continues to clash with the White House over prospective nominees. Politico reports that Mattis wants Rudy deLeon — a senior fellow at the far-left Center for American Progress (CAP) — to come on board as undersecretary for personnel and readiness. DeLeon previously served in the Clinton administration as deputy secretary of defense. During that time, Gen. Mattis served as his senior military assistant. DeLeon worked for Boeing as senior vice president from 2001 to...

Why Is General Mattis Nominating the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’s Stooge’? A familiar face from the Obama disaster in Egypt. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’ pick for undersecretary of defense for policy, Anne Patterson, is problematic. Politico briefly explains why: If nominated and confirmed, Patterson would hold the fourth most powerful position at the Pentagon -- and would effectively be the top civilian in the Defense Department, since both Mattis and his deputy, Robert Work, were military officers. As ambassador to Egypt between 2011 and 2013, Patterson worked closely with former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist government. She came under...

A familiar face from the Obama disaster in Egypt. Reprinted from PJ Media. Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.  Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’ pick for undersecretary of defense for policy, Anne Patterson, is problematic.Politico briefly explains why: If nominated and confirmed, Patterson would hold the fourth most powerful position at the Pentagon -- and would effectively be the top civilian in the Defense Department, since both Mattis and his deputy, Robert Work, were military officers.   As ambassador to Egypt between 2011 and 2013, Patterson worked closely with former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his...

A Pentagon-led preliminary plan to defeat Islamic State has been delivered to the White House and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will brief senior administration officials later on Monday, a Defense Department spokesman told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters that it was the framework for a broader plan and looked at Islamic State around the world, not just Iraq and Syria. Davis said the plan would define what defeating Islamic State meant and was one that would rapidly defeat the militant group. He added that Mattis would discuss the plan, which is primarily a written one with...

<p>During a Friday briefing, Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the Pentagon had officially switched the name of the Islamic terrorist group, ISIL, to ISIS according to Fox News.</p> <p>Changing the name from ISIL to ISIS was important for the Pentagon to do for a few different reasons. Under the Obama administration the preferred acronym was ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.</p>

Ahead of a highly anticipated report the Pentagon will deliver to the White House on a new plan to defeat the Islamic State group, the biggest change employed by the military may be in the name of the enemy itself. The Defense Department now officially refers to its primary foe in Iraq and Syria as "ISIS," according to a memo the Pentagon issued earlier this month. Since the campaign began in 2014, military officials grappled with President Barack Obama's preferred "ISIL," short for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a more regionally sensitive and accurate translation of the...

The Defense Department might propose that the US send conventional ground combat forces into northern Syria for the first time to speed up the fight against ISIS, CNN has learned. "It's possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time," one defense official told CNN.