Tag: military industrial complex

USAF Explains Additional F-15EX Buys During Budget Brief

AFP attended the four hours of budget briefings at the Pentagon yesterday as part of the Pentagon Press Corp.

The Department of the Air Force’s Fiscal Year 2027 President’s Budget request marks a fundamental strategic shift. This budget departs from previous practices and makes a conscious effort to prioritize investment in modernization and readiness, recognizing both as essential and non-negotiable. With a total request of $338.8 billion, this 38% increase over the FY26 enacted position is a generational investment designed to supercharge our Defense Industrial Base, sharpen our military readiness, and secure enduring Air and Space superiority.

The budget truly is procurement wish list dream for all of the services, which we will write more about later today.

Part of the procurement buy for fiscal 2027 includes 24 F-15EX aircraft, in a sustained production run to more than 260 airframes.

I question the Air Force officers delivering the briefing about concerns we have heard from retired flag officers about the vulnerability of the F-15EX in a high-threat environment as shown by 4 F-15s being shot down during Operation Epic Fury, by far the aircraft impacted by hostile and friendly fire.

The answer I received was the need primarily in the Pacific of an airframe that can load a large amount of weapons for possibly stand-off offensive fires.

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‘Insulting’: AES sent victims’ family $50 gift card, T-shirt in wake of deadly TN explosion, attorney says

Attorneys for the families of two victims in last year’s deadly munitions plant explosion are condemning Accurate Energetic Systems’ “reckless” behavior before the tragedy and the company’s “insulting” response.

In a Thursday press conference, the legal team representing the families of victims Steven Wright and Reyna Gillahan said Accurate Energetic Systems rejected their $150 million pre-litigation demand. Their rejection came 45 minutes before the attorney’s deadline of Monday afternoon.

“We got an announcement of their defense, which their position is that workers’ compensation in Tennessee is the exclusive remedy for any injury in the workplace,” said attorney Darren Richie.

He said that the $150 million demand on a tight deadline may have seemed “outrageous,” but that was intentional.

“I wanted AES to tell me I was being outrageous. So I could turn around to them and tell them, no, your conduct and behavior, AES, is outrageous,” he said.

The press conference offered new insights into AES’s communication with families in the wake of the deadly explosion and how the victims’ loved ones grieve.

WSMV4 has reached out to AES representatives for comment on these accusations.

AES offers victims’ families ‘insulting’ gift card, shirt

So far, AES has done three things for the victims of the people killed after thousands of pounds of explosives detonated at their Hickman County plant: hosted a barbecue food truck event and sent them a $50 Walmart gift card and a T-shirt with a picture of their deceased loved one, according to Richie.

“Needless to say, that’s insulting,” he said on Thursday.

The lawyer also expressed shock that AES has declined to give families the contact information for their insurance.

“That is a professional courtesy that gets exchanged all the time to facilitate resolution of claims. But they denied it. That shows us how they really feel about their employees,” he said.

He said the team plans to file a lawsuit to demand more from AES.

“And besides saying, oh, I’m sorry, providing some barbecue, gift card, and a t-shirt, they’re acting as if nothing happened. And they’re acting as if they don’t bear any responsibility,” he said. “Well, there’s more than a hundred ways that they bear responsibility here. I want them to step up and take responsibility.”

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Air National Guard Leaders Urge Congress To Fund Dozens Of New Fighter Jets Annually To Reverse ‘Oldest, Smallest, Least Ready’ Air Force

Leaders of the Air National Guard are pressing Congress to dramatically accelerate fighter jet procurement, warning that the U.S. Air Force is operating at historic lows in age, size, and readiness.

In a letter sent earlier this month to key congressional appropriators, adjutants general from 22 states with Air National Guard fighter units called for funding at least 72 new fighter jets in the fiscal 2027 budget, with an optimal target of 108 aircraft per year across the entire Air Force.“

The United States Air Force is the oldest, the smallest, and the least ready in its 78-year history,” the letter states. “We must build a fighting force that will win,” reports Stars and Stripes.

The signatories argue that simply shifting older “legacy” fighters from active-duty units to the Guard and Reserve does not constitute true modernization. “Cascading legacy fighters from the active component to the reserve component is NOT recapitalization,” they wrote.

Specific Procurement RequestsThe generals are urging Congress to approve multiyear procurement authority for:

  • A baseline of 48 F-35A Lightning II and 24 F-15EX Eagle II fighters per year.
  • Scaling up in future years to 72 F-35As and 36 F-15EXs annually, reaching the 108-aircraft target.

These new jets would replace aging fleets of F-15C Eagles, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, and F-16 Fighting Falcons still in service.

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Belgium seizes arms shipment sent from Britain to Israel

Two shipments from Britain of military components bound for Israel have been seized in Belgium, which has banned aircaft carrying military equipment for Israel from stopping in the country or using its airspace. 

Last month, the British news website Declassified, Belgian NGO Vredesactie, Irish news website The Ditch, and the Palestinian Youth Movement alerted authorities in Brussells of a shipment travelling from Britain to Israel through Liege airport. 

The consignments left Britain on 23 March and were siezed at Liege airport in Belgium on 24 March.

They were searched by a specialised engineer who found “fire control systems and spare parts for military aircraft”, which had not been properly declared.

Belgian authorities reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the affair but have declined to name the firms involved in the complaint.

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Last US Convoy Exits Syria After Brutal 14-Year Regime Change Proxy War

Widespread reports on Thursday say the very last US military convoy has finally departed Syrian territory, with the years-long occupation of the primarily northeast oil and gas rich sector over in a ‘mission accomplished’ fashion.

It brings to a final close the 14-year long bloody proxy war which overthrew the Assad government and ultimately installed a pro-US/Saudi axis puppet, in the person of founding Syrian Al Qaeda Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now known as President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Hundreds of thousand of people lost their lives in the regime change war, with the country and its economy left in a sanction-starved and conflict-demolished state of ruins.

The US-backed Syrian Foreign Ministry declared Washington had decided to “complete its military mission” in the country. “The Syrian state is today fully capable of leading counter-terrorism efforts from within, in co-operation with the international community,” it said, happy to now be back in control of the domestic oil and gas supply.

The ministry “welcomes the completed handover of military sites where United States forces were previously present in Syria to the Syrian government,” adding that “the handover of these sites was carried out … in full coordination between the Syrian and American governments.”

While Pentagon propaganda had for years touted an ‘anti-ISIS’ mission, the real purpose of the troop presence was to cut off Damascus under Assad of its sovereign natural resources, and to arm and prop up a Kurdish-Arab coalition called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

All the while, the CIA supported Sunni hardline jihadists who were indistinguishable from ISIS in their ideology in the fight against the Syrian Army, and the civilian population which often largely supported the secular Ba’ath government. The broader strategy has long been to destroy the Tehran-Baghdad-Hezbollah ‘Shia axis’ – even if that meant using ISIS as a tool of regime change.

Ironically, in the process of this US handover of oil and gas facilities back to post-Assad Damascus, the Kurds were thrown under the bus. Their dream for an autonomous enclave (Rojava) once again proved illusory, and in the long term the Kurds will find themselves at the mercy of Sunni fanatics on the one hand, and Turkish state under Erdogan on the other.

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Pentagon Turns to World War II-Era Tactic in Bid to Ramp Up Weapons Production: Report

The Trump administration wants automakers to put the pedal to the metal to help rebuild America’s weapons stockpiles, according to a new report.

As wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have consumed missiles and other weapons, the Trump administration is turning to a tactic from World War II in order to resupply as fast as possible, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Top executives at General Motors and Ford have been approached, the outlet reported, citing sources it did not name. GE Aerospace and machinery producer Oshkosh have also been approached.

The War Department “is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage,” a Pentagon official said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called for American manufacturing to be on a “wartime footing.”

Talks with manufacturers began before the war against Iran, with the goal of strengthening national security by increasing the military’s ability to quickly increase production of weapons and technology to meet emerging needs.

Defense officials sought input from companies that do not perform extensive defense work about barriers that need to be addressed by the government, such as the process for bidding and contracting.

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Application Denied: Another Dive into the Failures of Military Bureaucracy and COVID-19 Mandate Relief

On September 23, 2021, an active-duty Air Force officer who has served for 18 years submitted a request for a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 shot mandate. Four and a half years later, there is still derogatory paperwork in his personnel file, leaving him ineligible or significantly disadvantaged for all career advancement and more.

This story provides an update on developments from September 2025 and March 2026, reinforcing J.M. Phelps’ assertion that the Board of Correction of Military Records (BCMR) is “ineffective” and frequently highlights the widespread “bureaucratic malfeasance” within the military institution, providing little more than a “half measure” to service members, as in the case of Air Force Captain Anthony Monteleone.

Furthermore, concerning Air Force BCMR (AFBCMR), the situation underscores how their decisions are a direct affront to the goals of President Donald Trump and Department of War (DOW) Pete Hegseth to restore the military.

Case in point: On April 3, 2026, AFBCMR issued a “finding” that flatly denied any relief whatsoever to Capt. Monteleone. Given the overwhelming mountain of evidence reviewed by J.M. Phelps and provided to the Board, one can only conclude that the Board continues to undermine the efforts of President Trump and his appointees within the Department of War. This bureaucratic obstruction appears aimed at continuing the denial of mandated relief to those who suffered under the military’s unlawfully enforced COVID-19 shot mandate, which was rescinded in January 2023.

Mr. Richard Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserves, representing the AFBCMR and operating under the full delegated authority of the Secretary of the Air Force, stated that when it comes to Capt. Monteleone’s case, “the [AFBCMR] determined there was insufficient evidence of error or injustice. Accordingly, your application is denied.”

Sadly, for the author of this article, Mr. Anderson’s statement brings to mind the idiom, “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that.”

The Board’s stated reasoning behind this decision was that, although the entire mandate was ruled unlawful, the guidance from Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness, Anthony Tata, to the branch BCMRs did not specifically state that all [emphasis mine] service members harmed by the entire COVID-19 mandate must be granted relief. Instead, in their interpretation [emphasis mine], his guidance indicates that only those punished for solely refusing the order to take the shot itself were eligible for remediation under the guidance.

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THE OPERATOR: A Counterintelligence Officer Built the UFO Disclosure Movement. He Never Left the Payroll.

There is a version of this story that is comfortable to tell. A patriot inside the Pentagon discovers the government is hiding evidence of non-human intelligence. He resigns in protest. He goes public. He fights for the truth. Congress listens. The walls begin to crack.

It is a good story. It has a hero, a villain, and a ticking clock. It has been told on Joe Rogan, on 60 Minutes, on the History Channel, in the halls of Congress, and in a bestselling book cleared for publication by the same Department of Defense that supposedly tried to silence its author.

We are not going to tell that story.

We are going to tell you what happens when a career counterintelligence officer, confirmed as recently as 2022 to be on the government payroll, builds an information architecture designed to control what you believe about the most extraordinary claim in human history. And we are going to tell you what happens to the people who ask the wrong questions.

THE RÉSUMÉ THEY WANT YOU TO SEE

Luis “Lue” Daniel Elizondo enlisted in the United States Army in 1995. He spent two decades as a Counterintelligence Special Agent. The formal designations are MOS 35L and 35M. The informal job description is this: you learn how to identify threats, recruit assets, manage deception operations, run information campaigns, and neutralize anyone who disrupts your mission.

His deployments included Korea, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and South America. He managed classified intelligence operations at Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Seven, the most restricted facility in the detention complex, running missions against al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hezbollah. His final DoD performance evaluation, dated 2016, praised his ability to manage highly classified programs on a global scale. According to Keith Kloor’s reporting in Issues in Science and Technology, the evaluator noted his office had “identified and neutralized 6 insider threats” and “co-authored 4 national-level policies involving covert action.”

Read that last line again. This is not an analyst. This is not a bureaucrat who stumbled onto UFO files. This is a professional whose government formally evaluated him on his ability to write and execute covert action policy. Covert action, by definition, involves narrative control, plausible deniability, and the manipulation of target populations.

His employer assessed him as excellent at all of these things.

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‘The Deck Might Melt’: The USS Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier Can’t Fly New F-35C Stealth Fighters

The USS Gerald R. Ford was meant to mark a new chapter in naval aviation for the United States Navy, but the lead ship of its new class of American aircraft carriers still lacks the full modifications necessary for consistent F-35C operations. 

The issue, of course, is larger than just hot exhaust. 

It reveals the Navy’s tendency to introduce impressive platforms before the supporting system around them is fully ready.

Just think about what it took to build the Gerald R. Ford. It is the largest aircraft carrier ever constructed. The Navy integrated a host of new technologies to support the carrier and ensure it stayed ahead of American rivals. 

Everything from the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), and even the ship’s onboard plumbing, was reimagined in a way that the Pentagon believed would make the Ford-class the dominant class of carriers—unmatched, really—for decades to come.  

After high cost and schedule overruns, the Ford was finally launched. It cost taxpayers $13 billion to build, and many of the new onboard systems—including the EMALS and AAG—did not function correctly.

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Why Did US Bring So Much Hardware and Troops to Rescue One Pilot From Iran?

The US effort to rescue an F-15 pilot downed in Iran could indeed have been a cover for an attempt to seize Iran’s uranium stockpile, considering the large number of aircraft, helicopters, and special forces personnel involved, Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs expert Farkhad Ibragimov tells Sputnik.

However, such a mission would be a bad idea, as five or six thousand troops simply wouldn’t be enough for a ground operation, he warns.

“In order to conduct a full-scale ground operation — not to conquer Iran’s territory but to at least affect its nuclear program — the US would need at least 500,000 troops, maybe more,” Ibragimov explains.

The US military could also have deployed so much hardware for the rescue operation to show that they are willing to go to great lengths to save their man, given how a captive US pilot would afford Iran serious leverage, not to mention that the Democratic opposition in the US and even Trump’s own supporters would raise hell if a US serviceman got captured by Iran.

Meanwhile, the US currently finds itself in a precarious situation and yet continues to vastly underestimate the situation in Iran.

“The US believes that by launching a small ground operation in select coastal regions of Iran, they could seriously destabilize the situation in the country,” Ibragimov notes. “This is rather absurd and rash thinking.”

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