LLOYD AUSTIN

Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The French troops who are being forced out of Niger were seen as a key line of defense in efforts led by the West, particularly the U.S. and France, to fight against jihadi violence in Africa’s hard-hit Sahel region.

A Ukrainian governor says Russia launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv, burning down a warehouse said to house humanitarian supplies and killing one man.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is urging defense leaders to “dig deep” and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles.

The top American military officer says North Korea may be able to boost Russia’s supply of artillery munitions for the war in Ukraine.

In the months since a single senator froze military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion policy, the uniformed officers affected have been largely silent, wary of stepping into a political fray.

Military officials say an Alabama senator's hold on top promotions in a clash over abortion policy raises national security concerns.

President Joe Biden has refused to approve conditions that lawyers for the defendants in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had sought in a possible plea bargain in the case.

A new report says the U.S. military academies must improve their leadership, stop toxic practices such as hazing, and shift behavior training into the classrooms in order to address an alarming spike in sexual assaults and misconduct.

The Czech Republic has completed the ratification of a defense treaty with the United States that deepens military cooperation and makes it easier to deploy U.S. troops in Czech territory.

U.S. officials say the Pentagon is developing plans to restructure the National Guard in Washington, D.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is warning that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief recently stepped down, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history.

The Pentagon is pulling 1,100 troops from the U.S.-Mexico border that it had deployed in response to a surge in migrant crossings.

The United States says it will expand its military industrial base by helping Australia manufacture guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years.

Four air crew members are missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order giving decisions on the prosecution of serious military crimes including sexual assault to independent military attorneys.

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. stands with countries fighting Chinese “bullying behavior” as he starts bilateral talks in Australia aimed at countering Beijing’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with Papua New Guinea leaders to discuss developing the Pacific Island nation’s military strength and deepening security ties, as the U.S. competes with China for influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

President Joe Biden has chosen Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Tonga, New Zealand and Australia next week as the Biden administration shifts its Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive in part to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

The Pentagon is announcing a new $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including four air defense systems and an undisclosed number of drones.

North Korea is staying silent about the detention of an American soldier who sprinted across the Koreas’ heavily fortified border as members of his tour group looked on in shock.

The top U.S. military officer says Ukrainian forces have a “significant amount of combat power” that hasn’t yet been committed to the war.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is waging an unprecedented campaign to try to change Pentagon abortion policy by holding up hundreds of military nominations and promotions.

The U.S. Marine Corps is without a confirmed leader for the first time in a century as Gen. David Berger stepped down as commandant and a Republican senator is blocking confirmation of his successor.

The Pentagon is announcing its plans for tightening protections of classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base.

The top American military officer says the U.S. is considering providing cluster munitions to Ukraine.

U.S. officials say United States and China have failed to overcome their most serious disagreements but were able to discuss them in a potentially constructive way and have agreed to continue talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked on a high-stakes diplomatic trip to China to try to cool exploding tensions between the powers that have set many around the world on edge.

Support is mounting for NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to have his mandate at the head of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military organization has seen no evidence that Russia has changed its nuclear posture.

NATO defense ministers are weighing future relations with Ukraine as Russia’s war on the country thwarts its hopes of joining the world’s biggest security alliance soon.

U.S. officials say a Navy admiral with extensive experience in the Indo-Pacific has been recommended to be the service’s next top leader.

The United States military has released video of what it called an “unsafe” Chinese maneuver in the Taiwan Strait on the weekend, in which a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the U.S. ship to slow to avoid a collision.

China’s defense minister has defended sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait, telling a gathering of some of the world’s top defense officials in Singapore that such so-called “freedom of navigation” patrols are a provocation to China.

American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says Washington would not stand for any “coercion and bullying” of its allies and partners by China, while assuring Beijing that the United States remains committed to maintaining the status quo on Taiwan and would prefer dialogue over conflict.

A U.S. official says CIA Director William Burns went to Beijing in May to meet with Chinese counterparts.

As the United States and China vie to establish new partnerships and expand influence with Asia-Pacific nations, the top defense officials from both nations are preparing to try to win support this weekend from their regional counterparts, diplomats and leaders at a security forum in Singapore.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is stressing the importance of communication between Washington's and Beijing's defense authorities.

China has responded to complaints from the United States about a Chinese fighter jet's dangerous interception of an American Air Force plane in international airspace over the South China Sea by demanding an end to such flights.

The U.S. military says a Chinese fighter jet flew aggressively close to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, forcing the American pilot to fly through the turbulent wake.

Prospects for a renewed military dialogue between China and the U.S. remain dim, with Beijing saying their defense chiefs will not hold a bilateral meeting while both are attending a weekend security conference in Singapore.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he hopes that training for Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 fighter jets will begin in the coming weeks.

The Air Force fighter pilot about to be nominated as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff got his callsign by ejecting from a burning F-16 fighter jet high above the Florida Everglades and falling into the watery sludge below.

President Joe Biden will announce Thursday that he is tapping a history-making Air Force fighter pilot to serve as the nation’s next top military officer, according to a U.S. official.

President Joe Biden’s decision to allow allies to train Ukrainian forces on how to operate F-16 fighter jets — and eventually to provide the aircraft themselves — seemed like an abrupt change in position but was in fact one that came after months of internal debate and quiet talks with allies.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says he won’t support a fellow GOP senator’s blockade of military nominees, backing Democrats and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who have said that the holdup is harming national security.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Under a proposed rule change, foreign citizens and companies would need U.S. government approval to buy property within 100 miles of eight military bases.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says the American military has deployed forces and is developing options to assist in the potential evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel from Sudan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the United States will begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use and maintain Abrams tanks in the coming weeks, as the U.S. continues to speed up its effort to get them on the battlefield as quickly as possible.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has sought to tamp down any discord between the U.S. and its allies over the massive U.S. leak of classified documents.

The age of the 21-year-old airman charged in one of the most significant U.S. intelligence leaks in recent memory has been the focus of a growing question: Why would the nation give someone so young access to some of its most important secrets.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says it’s important that Turkey decides to allow Sweden to join NATO “sooner versus later.”.

The Air Force says it is investigating how a lone airman could access and distribute possibly hundreds of highly classified documents, and in the meantime has taken away the intelligence mission from the base where the leaks took place.

Ukraine’s leaders say they don’t see a major U.S. intelligence leak as gravely damaging future offensives.

It's been less than a week since news of highly classified military documents on the Ukraine war surfaced, sending the Pentagon into full-speed damage control to assure allies and assess the scope of the leak.

The Pentagon says online leaks of scores of highly classified documents about the Ukraine war present a “very serious” risk to national security and senior leaders are quickly taking steps to mitigate the damage.

Five days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire his defense minister set off a wave of spontaneous protests and a general strike that threatened to paralyze the country, forcing the Israeli leader to suspend his divisive plan to overhaul the judicial system.

The top U.S. military officer says the Pentagon “has a long ways to go” to beef up its munitions stockpiles and ensure the country is ready for any large-scale war.

President Joe Biden says the U.S. will respond “forcefully” to protect its personnel after U.S. forces retaliated with airstrikes on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Pentagon leaders have told Congress that the U.S. military must be ready for possible confrontation with China.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles says his country made no promises to the United States that Australia would support its ally in any future conflict over Taiwan in exchange for American nuclear-powered submarines.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a number of improvements in access to mental health care to try to reduce suicides in the military.

The Pentagon has released video of what it said was a Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone before the warplane clipped the drone’s propeller in international airspace, leading to its crash in the Black Sea and raising tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley have spoken to their Russian counterparts about the destruction of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea after an encounter with Russian fighter jets.

Russia and the United States ratcheted up their confrontational rhetoric over a U.S. surveillance drone that encountered Russian warplanes and crashed near the Crimean Peninsula.

Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military academies shot up during the 2021-22 school year.

Israel's prime minister has been airlifted to the country's main international airport for an official overseas trip after throngs of protesters prevented him from driving there as they demonstrated against his contentious plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Israeli police say a Palestinian gunman opened fire on a crowded street in central Tel Aviv, wounding three people before he was shot and killed.

The Pentagon says the first class of 635 Ukrainian fighters has finished a five-week advanced U.S. training course in Germany on sophisticated combat skills and armored vehicles that will be critical in the coming spring offensive against the Russians.

North Korea has threatened to take “unprecedently” strong action against its rivals over a series of military drills planned between South Korea and the United States.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearing the one-year mark, Estonia’s military leaders are warning that if Vladimir Putin is not stopped now, he could entangle the region in a much larger conflict, perhaps one with even larger security implications for the U.S. Kristjan Mäe is the head of the Estonian Ministry of Defense’s NATO and EU department.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is playing down the importance of Finland and Sweden joining the world’s biggest security organization at the same time.

Ukraine has renewed its appeal to Western countries for fighter jets to help frustrate Moscow’s almost year-long invasion.

The White House is defending the shootdowns of three unidentified objects in as many days even as it acknowledges that officials had no indication the objects were intended for surveillance in the same manner as the high-altitude Chinese balloon that traversed American airspace earlier this month.

China's Defense Ministry says it refused a call from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon because the U.S. had “not created the proper atmosphere" for dialogue and exchange.

When a giant Chinese balloon made an uninvited visit to the United States, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin turned to a hotline system set up with Beijing to defuse the situation.

A United States general has said that American forces and their allies in Asia are ready for battle after years of joint combat exercises.

The United States is rebuilding its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after it closed its bases there.

The Navy has shifted to an all-underwater search for pieces of the massive Chinese spy balloon a U.S. fighter jet shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

COVID-19 vaccinations are no longer required for military personnel.

The U.S. is expanding it military presence in Asia, in a string of moves aimed at countering Beijing and reassuring Indo-Pacific allies that America will stand with them against threats from China and North Korea.

The Philippines says it is allowing U.S. forces to broaden their footprint in that Southeast Asian nation.

North Korea says it’s prepared to counter U_S_ military moves with the “most overwhelming nuclear force” as it warned that the expansion of the United States’ combined military exercises with rival South Korea is pushing tensions to an “extreme red line.”.

The United States and the Philippines have announced plans to expand America's military presence in the Southeast Asian nation, with access to four more bases as they seek to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the United States will increase its deployment of advanced weapons such as fighter jets and bombers to the Korean Peninsula as it strengthens joint training and operational planning with South Korea in response to a growing North Korean nuclear threat.

U.S. special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia.

President Joe Biden says the U.S. will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of persistent arguments that the tanks were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.

Western defense leaders meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany have failed to resolve divisions over possibly providing battle tanks and other military aid to Ukraine.

The top national security officials from the U.S. and Japan have unveiled plans to strengthen the alliance to help counter threats from North Korea and China.

The Pentagon has formally dropped its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, but a new memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also gives commanders some discretion in how or whether to deploy troops who are not vaccinated.

Top national security officials from the United States and Japan are expected to agree to changes in the joint defense posture this week as the two nations confront rising threats from North Korea and increasing aggressiveness from China.

U.S. military forces around the world will no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

A bill to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense has passed the Senate and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

A bill to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military has passed the House.

Congress’ move to eliminate the Pentagon mandate that all U.S. service members get the COVID-19 vaccine delivers a victory for lawmakers and troops who oppose getting the shot.

The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military would be rescinded under the annual defense bill heading for a vote this week in Congress.

China's Defense Ministry says the country strictly adheres to a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons “at any time and under any circumstances."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making clear he wants to keep the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops, as Republican governors and lawmakers press to rescind it.