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The US Army wants the F-35 to support its ground troops. It’s that simple. We hear volumes of information about the Marine Corps vertical-take-off-and-landing F-35B, Navy carrier-launched F-35C and Air Force F-35A - but what does the Army think of the emerging Joint Strike Fighter? Does the Army think the 5th-Gen stealth fighter would bring substantial value to targeting and attacking enemy ground forces in close proximity to advancing infantry? What kind of Close Air Support could it bring to high-risk, high-casualty ground war?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fulfilled an agreement he made with President Trump at the Singapore summit in June to return 55 boxes of remains of Americans killed in the Korean War. It's only a tiny fraction of the nearly 5,300 still missing but for at least one family, it provided closure. A faded photo is one of the few memories Charles McDaniel has of his father. He was just three years old when Master Sgt. Charles McDaniel went off to the Korean War and vanished without a trace. "He disappeared from history. I mean he was just gone....

News Intensifying Hurricane Willa Headed Directly Toward 10,000 Migrant Caravan Path Update 10/22: Hurricane Willa, as reported by the National Hurricane Center, is now a Category 5 hurricane.It appears that the migrant caravan, which has been reported to upward of 10,000 strong, might run into some extra trouble on their march to seek American asylum. A massive hurricane (named Willa) is set to cross the path that the migrants will eventually cross. There’s also a slightly smaller disturbance named Vincente to the south of Willa that meteorologists say will be consumed by the massively growing Willa, but will still...

After six years of design, development and testing in Amarillo, the Bell V-280 Valor is now in residence at the company’s flight research center in Arlington. The aircraft, designed primarily to carry troops into combat, is Bell’s entrant to replace the more than two thousand Blackhawk helicopters now in service with the U.S. Army. Bell, headquartered in Fort Worth, is competing against a Sikorsky/Boeing design in the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration. The two designs are radically different. The Valor is a tiltrotor, similar to the V-22 Osprey, which has been in service with the Marines for more than a decade....

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the United States on Tuesday started talks on how to share the defense costs of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. The two-day negotiations were launched in central Seoul to reach a new deal on South Korea's financial contribution to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The negotiation period can be extended, if necessary, as the current deal was set to expire by the end of this year, the Seoul ministry said. In consideration of the time needed for the parliamentary approval, the talks are required to be...

A Major in the UK Army, Yorkshire Regiment, is caught on an audio recording swearing up and down about nobody being allowed to have any social media connections to Tommy Robinson. This, days after young soldiers took a selfie with Tommy, resulting in an investigation and discharge of one (known as "soldierX"). The resulting campaign #iamsoldierx went viral, UK Army pouring in photo's - most with faces hidden - holding up "#iamsoldierx" signs. The issue has reached the top of UK government and they're now showing their fascistic nature to the entire military. Islam has taken over.

GERMAN Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen says the structures for a European Defence Union have been “activated”, and also hopes to develop a system that tells Europeans when to use their “forces”.

Forgive me but I'm compelled to ask fellow Freepers to watch and sign a petition (following link). A UK soldier has been discharged for having a selfie with Tommy Robinson. Tommy is a one man army against the Islamization of the UK and the state is desperately trying to silence him. World is watching. Now firefighters, police, soldiers are losing their jobs if they support him. We need to support this soldier - now lots of them are sending in photos with the caption "#IamSoldierX" www.standwithourlads.com

The UK insanity continues. British Army soldiers took a selfie with Tommy Robinson, now they're being 'investigated' - phones taken away and reports that one has been discharged. Tommy Robinson is now a living legend. It seems he is hugely popular with the UK military. The establishment can't shut him up. He is a warrior, a true selfless hero. For me, it is "Sir" Tommy Robinson. www.standwithourlads.com

The Pentagon identified the U.S. service member killed in action in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Thursday as Spc. James A. Slape. The 23-year-old from Morehead City, N.C., died of injuries from an improvised explosive device, the Pentagon said in a statement. Slape was assigned to 60th Troop Command, North Carolina Army National Guard, Washington, N.C.

North Korea has ordered its citizens to donate dog hides to the regime as part of celebrations marking the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea on October 10. The government collects dog hides ahead of the anniversary each year “to raise funds for the party”, the dissident Daily NK website reported, but this year the authorities have raised the amount of money that families who do not keep dogs are required to pay instead. “Although the party is asking for dog hides, there are not many houses that have the luxury of raising a dog...

The Army adopted its battle rifle in 1963 and has spent 55 years looking for a replacement for the M-16 and its variants. They might have found it in Martin Grier’s Colorado Springs garage. Grier, a self-described inventor who has worked at a local bed and breakfast, built the new “ribbon gun” with a hobbyist’s tools. It looks like a space-age toy drawn by a fifth-grader. But goofy origins and cartoon-looks aside, this could be the gun of the future. The Army is studying Grier’s gun and has ordered a military-grade prototype. ... The specifications are incredible, four 6 mm...

South Korea's Army said Friday it has put a drone combat team in operation, a move to take advantage of the country's advanced ICT prowess. The unit is part of a new "ground intelligence unit" established under the wing of the Third ROK Army (TROKA), headquartered in Yongin, just south of Seoul. ROK is the acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. Army officials hope that the country's first drone battalion will help sharply enhance combat capabilities as a potential game changer in future warfare. "In the midst of rapidly changing strategic circumstances, the role and mission...

WASHINGTON —The U.S. Air Force has selected Boeing to replace the service's aging fleet of UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, which are currently tasked with security missions as well as protecting America's nuclear missile arsenal. The long-awaited Pentagon contract is worth $2.4 billion for up to 84 aircraft. The service awarded Boeing approximately $375 million for the first four helicopters on Monday.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, right as the U.S. negotiates the removal of nuclear missiles from North Korea, is set to consider a new Army general to head U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams will testify in a committee hearing Tuesday on his nomination to command U.S. Forces Korea and two other key military commands in South Korea. The Army general would take charge of 28,500 troops stationed in the South after a year of rollercoaster relations, and as President Trump considers a second summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the regime’s...

A jury has ordered a female blogger to pay an Army colonel she accused of rape a total of $8.4million in damages. Susan Shannon, 52, who now lives in Everett, Washington, first alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Army Colonel David 'Wil' Riggins in 1986, while they were both cadets, on her blog in 2013. She said she waited three decades to come forward about her experience because of the army's 'code of silence'.

Soldiers from a Colorado National Guard space battalion who visited the Pentagon on Sept. 5 said they have no idea what role, if any, they would have in the Space Force that President Trump has proposed. But they did provide a glimpse into the daily grind of space warfare. When they are called up for duty, soldiers from the 117th Space Battalion go to war zones to help commanders on the ground get what they need from space: satellite imagery, weather analysis, early warning of a missile launch, communications and navigation. A space team includes six soldiers — two officers...

The military has dropped charges against a United States Army chaplain and his assistant for refusing to conduct a marriage retreat for a lesbian couple. The women filed a discrimination complaint, which the military investigated. The investigation led to a report charging Major Scott Squires and Sergeant Kacie Griffin with dereliction of duty. While a chaplain at Fort Bragg, Squires reportedly told a soldier he was unable to conduct a marriage retreat that included her and her same-sex partner because of the requirements of his church. Under the army's policies, every United States Army Special Operations Command commander is responsible...

[snip]The Army requires http://www.campbell.army.mil/Installation/Environmental_Handbook/Documents/LBPManagementtPlan_DEC2014.pdf abatement when certified testing identifies deteriorating lead paint in base homes. Yet it also "discourages" this type of lead-paint inspection https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/workplacehealth/ih/Pages/Lead.aspx, in part because lead abatement can be costly. These homes put military kids at risk. Reuters obtained medical data from the Army showing that at least 31 small children tested high for lead at a Fort Benning hospital over a recent six-year period. All tested above the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's threshold for elevated lead levels – 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Any child who tests high warrants a public health...

The Army has formally terminated its effort to develop a 25 mm airburst weapon, the largest of nearly three dozen ways a Pentagon watchdog has said the military could save $2.3 billion in defense spending. The ill-fated weapon, known as the XM25 and nicknamed "The Punisher," was once hailed as a game-changer for ground troops who would be able to use it to target enemies hiding behind cover. But it came under closer scrutiny several years ago after schedule slippage, cost overruns and aborted operational testing in Afghanistan. In 2016, the Pentagon inspector general recommended that the Army consider ending...