US Space Force sends X-37B space plane on another secretive mission

WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle successfully lifted the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B test platform to orbit, continuing the vehicle’s experimental and largely classified mission.

The Dec. 28 mission was the X-37B’s seventh launch. The Boeing-built spacecraft serves as a testbed for new technologies for both the Defense Department and NASA. Its first flight was in 2010.

“This was a very important mission and our teams worked shoulder-to-shoulder to ensure a successful launch,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, commander of Space Launch Delta 45, said in a statement.

While details about the duration of its mission and most of the payloads X-37B is carrying are secret, one of its experiments is a NASA project called Seeds-2, testing how different seeds react to long-term exposure to radiation in space. The Space Force said in November the mission will also experiment with “future space domain awareness technologies.”

“These tests are integral in ensuring safe, stable, and secure operations in space for all users of the domain,” the service said.

The X-37B’s most recent mission, OTV-6, returned in November 2022. During that mission, the vehicle included a service module that allowed it to carry more experiments than previous iterations. Those included the Naval Research Laboratory’s Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module experiment — which used solar power to create radio-frequency microwave energy — as well as two NASA projects similar to Seeds.

That mission also included FalconSat-8, a small satellite developed by the Air Force Academy.

Thursday’s mission was the second to fly on a SpaceX rocket and the first to lift off on the company’s Falcon Heavy vehicle. The United Launch Alliance’s Altas V rocket flew the first five missions, and the sixth was carried by SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

China appoints new defense minister

BEIJING — China on Friday said it had appointed a new defense minister after months of uncertainty following the firing of his predecessor for reasons still unexplained.

The official Xinhua News Agency announced former naval commander Dong Jun would serve in the largely ceremonial role, but offered no comment on the reasons for the switch or the current circumstances of previous minister Li Shangfu, who has not been seen or heard from since August.

The uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the world’s largest standing military comes as Washington and its Asian allies are offering stronger resistance to China’s bid to assert itself as the dominant military power in the region.

Dong’s naval background is significant in that China has largely asserted its territorial claims using its massive force of warships, Coast Guard cutters and fishing boats acting as a maritime militia in the South China Sea. The People’s Liberation Army Navy has also expanded its range to the Mediterranean Sea, South Africa and beyond, while adding three aircraft carriers and a plethora of destroyers, nuclear-powered submarines and other latest-generation craft to its fleet.

Along with challenging the Philippines and other nations that hold maritime claims in the South China Sea, China challenges Japan for control of an uninhabited island group in the East China Sea and has engaged in deadly clashes with India along their contested border high in the Himalayan Mountains.

Li’s disappearance came amid what analysts have called a purge of officials in the highly influential military hierarchy, as well as those in the financial and diplomatic sectors, including former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, whose fate also remains unknown.

Speculation over the reason for the removals has ranged from corruption allegations to spying suspicions.

However, they also point to challenges facing the leader of the ruling Communist Party, head of state and supreme military commander Xi Jinping, who has made himself a long-term leader and waged a relentless campaign against all real or perceived threats to his hold on power, even as China’s economy stalls and its foreign relations have become more contentious over its support for Russia and other authoritarian regimes.

US announces new weapons package for Ukraine

The U.S. on Wednesday announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid to Ukraine unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that is stalled on Capitol Hill.

The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include an array of air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. The aid, provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, will be pulled from Pentagon stockpiles.

Zelenskyy asks Congress for more air defenses as Ukraine aid dwindles

In a statement, Marine Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesman said there is no more funding to replace the weapons taken from department stocks. And the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides long-term funding for future weapons contracts, is also out of money.

As a result, Garn said Wednesday, “Without the supplemental funding, there will be a shortfall in replenishing U.S. military stocks, affecting American military readiness.”

President Joe Biden is urging Congress to pass a $110 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs. It includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, with about half to replenish Pentagon stocks. It also includes about $14 billion for Israel as it fights Hamas and $14 billion for U.S. border security. Other funds would go for security needs in the Asia-Pacific.

Due to an accounting error that overvalued some of the weapons sent to Ukraine over the past year or more, there is still about $4.2 billion in restored drawdown authority. But since the Pentagon has no money to replenish inventory sent to Kyiv, the department will have to “rigorously assess” any future aid and its implications on the U.S. military’s ability to protect America, Garn said.

This is the 54th tranche of military aid taken from department shelves and sent to Ukraine, and it is similar in size and contents to many of the other recent packages.

U.S. defense and government leaders have argued that the weapons are critical for Ukraine to maintain its defense and continue efforts to mount an offensive against Russian forces during the winter months.

In a Pentagon briefing last week, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder noted the recent letter that the Defense Department comptroller sent to Congress warning that the U.S. will be using up the last of its replenishment funds by the end of the year.

“Once those funds are obligated, we will have exhausted the funding available for us to provide security assistance to Ukraine,” said Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. “We would, again, continue to urge the passage of the supplemental that we’ve submitted. … It is imperative that we have the funds needed to ensure that they get the most urgent battlefield capabilities that they require.”

The latest aid package comes as the war in Ukraine drags on into its 22nd month. Russia fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine and shelled a train station in the southern city of Kherson where more than 100 civilians were gathered to catch a train to Kyiv. And a day earlier, Ukrainian warplanes damaged a Russian ship moored in the Black Sea off Crimea as soldiers on both sides are struggling to make much progress along the front lines.

Russia, India discuss joint production of weapons amid Ukraine war

Editor’s note: Vivek Raghuvanshi, a journalist and freelancer to Defense News for more than three decades, was jailed in mid-May by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of espionage. The Indian government has released minimal information on his arrest. Sightline Media Group, which owns Defense News, has not seen any evidence to substantiate these charges and repudiates attacks on press freedom.

MOSCOW — India’s foreign minister met Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said relations between the countries are progressing even amid turbulent times.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s meeting was part of a five-day visit. At the start of the meeting, Putin said he would inform the Indian diplomat about the fighting in Ukraine, on which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a neutral stance.

“I know about his desire to do everything to resolve this problem through peaceful means,” Putin said.

India is increasingly important to Russia as a market for oil exports, the backbone of its economy, as Western sanctions curtail oil shipments.

“It is very important to make our trade interaction more sustainable. We need to think about how to achieve this,” Jaishankar said, according to a Kremlin transcript of the meeting’s opening.

Jaishankar also met with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, who said they discussed “the prospects for military-technical cooperation, including the joint production of modern types of weapons.”

India’s foreign minister praised the “all-time high” trade turnover between the two countries, which he said exceeded $50 billion in 2022.

“We expect to exceed that this year. And what is important is that this trade is more balanced, it is sustainable, and it provides for fair market access,” he said.

Army numbers smallest since WWII — what units face cuts in 2024?

The new year will likely prove to be one of significant force structure changes for the Army, according to its senior leaders.

Although the service has maintained for years that embracing multidomain operations will require it to “transform” its force structure into one leaders believe is suited to tomorrow’s battlefield, back-to-back recruiting shortfalls led top officials to admit by mid-to-late 2023 that some pending cuts are influenced by a deepening numbers shortfall. The Army finished fiscal year 2023 with only 452,000 active duty soldiers, its smallest force since 1940.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told Army Times in June that the service will see reductions to “close-combat forces” that were purpose-built for the War on Terror, in addition to other organizations based on their purpose or other factors like deployment rates.

Exclusive: Army secretary talks force structure cuts, SOF ‘reform’

Controversy erupted in October following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that 3,000 Army special operations troops could be cut. According to other media reports, the special operations community and Army leadership disagreed about the potential reductions, ultimately requiring mediation from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Although details on the cuts are scarce, service and special operations officials briefed Congress on the matter in October. The briefing included “Army structure changes, to include [special operations forces],” according to a congressional staffer, who spoke on condition their name not be used in order to discuss the private briefing. A significant portion of the special operations cuts are expected to fall on hard-to-fill empty billets, a defense official told Army Times in October.

Pentagon briefs Hill on Army special ops cuts, vacant slots targeted

The cuts are intended to ensure the Army doesn’t become “hollow,” says Wormuth, deploying a term coined during the post-Vietnam era when some units existed on paper rather than in real life.

Military Times Deputy Editor Leo Shane III contributed to this report.

New Zealand naval chief talks future fleet, unmanned tech

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The Royal New Zealand Navy recently introduced three high-speed, 41-foot Littoral Manoeuvre Craft to its fleet of nine ships, and is now testing the Australian-made 22-foot uncrewed surface vessel Bluebottle.

But it has been difficult for the service to operate all of its maritime platforms amid recruiting and retention woes. In January 2023, a third of the Navy’s ships were docked due to a shortage of sailors, causing a loss of “significant flexibility,” the service’s top officer, Rear Adm. David Proctor, told Defense News at the time.

On Nov. 15, the Defense Ministry closed a request for information about replacing nearly the entire naval fleet. The Navy’s flagship — its 568-foot replenishment vessel HMNZS Aotearoa — has been in service for three years, but the remaining eight ships — two frigates, two inshore and two offshore patrol vessels, a sealift ship, and a dive and hydrographic ship — will reach the end of their service lives in the mid-2030s.

Defense News recently checked in with Proctor to discuss the state of the Navy, what’s planned for 2024 and ongoing efforts to strengthen the service. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

What responses have you received to the request for information for new ships?

A wide range of responses. Respondents included shipbuilders, system suppliers and maritime service providers, and the quality of information is an encouraging indication of interest in New Zealand’s defense. The responses are providing industry input to maritime fleet options in support of the Defence Capability Plan.

[Editor’s note: A New Zealand Defence Force spokesperson told Defense News after this interview the government received 49 responses to the RFI, but declined to provide further details.]

What’s next?

The development of the Defence Capability Plan is a process that explores a range of investment options to balance capability and resources. These options are assessed against extant defense policy. No decisions on specific ship types have been made at this point. The DCP will present investment options for government to consider.

Talk about the state of the Royal New Zealand Navy over the last year.

We have experienced a challenging year, with a declining workforce in 2023. Attrition is currently outstripping recruiting. But key measures and recruiting initiatives are underway to address this issue. The attrition rate is decreasing, indicating these initiatives are having a positive effect on addressing workforce issues.

How do you balance training against the deployment of forces?

The Royal New Zealand Navy is currently regenerating, following widely reported attrition and recruiting issues since the COVID-19 pandemic. This process is not without challenges as a result of the hollowness of the Navy.

In particular, the cohort where we are most short is needed to both keep the fleet at sea and to deliver specialist training ashore. This requires careful management and some compromise to maximize our ability to have ships at sea on operational deployments and/or providing at-sea training, while still being able to deliver world-class training ashore and transition to a sustainable training state.

What’s planned for the Navy in 2024?

The priorities for 2024 are to regenerate maritime capabilities in accordance with the Navy’s four-year regeneration plan, [which includes work on an integrated system to sustainably generate naval forces; a fresh focus on personnel capability to develop high-performing individuals and units; and a regeneration of combat capabilities]; continue the introduction and transition to new and upgraded capabilities; and improve maritime cooperation among Southwest Pacific partners by continuing to develop the effectiveness of the forum with Southwest Pacific heads of maritime forces.

As a small trading nation, New Zealand’s security is absolutely dependent on multinational organizations — like the World Trade Organization and the United Nations — and the rules-based international system to advance its interests. Specifically for the Royal New Zealand Navy, a number of key challenges and opportunities exist which, if achieved, would enable the service to improve its operational ability.

It is crucial that the Navy is able to continue reducing the current attrition rate and increase recruiting in order to regenerate the service and ensure the effective delivery of outputs.

As we continue to deliver our mission, which is to advance New Zealand’s interests from the sea as well as progress our strategic initiatives, we must also maintain our personnel and operational competencies as we transition to new capabilities. In addition, we must ensure that we put in place mechanisms that allow us to unlock the full potential and benefits from any new capabilities we are introducing. This will allow us to fully use the enhanced military platforms and technologies the government is investing in.

Gaining the right balance between effectiveness and efficiency is required to successfully introduce the future Navy while minimizing cost to New Zealanders. This will be done by ensuring we do the right things the right way so we can optimize effort and prioritize resources — for example, personnel, maintenance, finances, and ships and shore infrastructure.

Greater focus on capacity building within our region and the development of a body of knowledge on maritime security and strategic matters will continue to enhance the Navy’s position as subject matter experts in the maritime security domain. Increased engagement with partner navies, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutes and other government agencies will enhance the Navy’s ability to make a difference and will promote a wider understanding of the value of the service.

Of course, it’s worth noting the volatile security environment as well as the need to be ready to provide the government with options covering the full spectrum of maritime military operations, including combat and lethal force in defense of New Zealand, our allies and our interests.

How is recruiting going?

The Royal New Zealand Navy acknowledges that a naval candidate in 2024 is vastly different to one who would have joined in 2004. Access to technology and a reliance on fast responses can mean candidates may expect those same timelines from their recruiter. However, standardized assessment processes are required for us to accurately evaluate candidates and make sure we abide by our security, medical and academic standards.

This has involved robust action plans to enhance the recruiting approach, such as the development and publishing of operating processes, technical upgrades to operating systems, updates to minimum entry requirements, and the ongoing development of recruiters’ skills.

How are you balancing the varying levels of experience between new and seasoned sailors?

After a period of heightened attrition, the average level of experience across the Navy has fallen. Significant overseas ship deployments in both 2022 and 2023 have helped begin to rebuild these, as will deployments planned for 2024 and 2025.

A small but significant number of highly experienced subject matter experts have been used to provide guidance in their areas to those at sea and at the beginning of their careers.

What could the service gain from the trilateral AUKUS agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States?

It remains to be seen what opportunities might exist for New Zealand under the second pillar of AUKUS, [which involves cooperative efforts to develop and field undersea capabilities, among other advanced technologies].

Decisions on this matter will be for ministers.

How has New Zealand’s nuclear-free policy affected the Navy?

The impact has been in relation to our Navy’s engagement with the U.S. Navy. But the relationship has largely moved beyond past differences over nuclear policy that impacted ship visits for a period of time. The Wellington Declaration of 2010 and the Washington Declaration of 2012 have enabled a notable reengagement between the two navies.

How do you view China’s maritime growth?

China continues to modernize its military. New Zealand is fully invested in collective security approaches alongside our key partners and in supporting the international rules-based system.

What is the Navy doing with uncrewed platforms at sea?

The Navy and Defence Force currently use a number of small uncrewed systems for a variety of tasks, and are undertaking experimentation to investigate their potential for greater use in a broader range of roles. In support of the Defence Capability Plan, the fleet is considering uncrewed capability as part of a solution set for the future Navy.

[Editor’s note: The military spokesperson also told Defense News the Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel is set to undergo an initial confirmation of standard operating procedures, which would allow the Navy to build confidence and experience with the system as well as launch trials to support other government agencies, while gradually increasing range and duration of use around the country’s waters. The level of endurance the platform offers at sea, alongside its onboard cameras and radar, could benefit maritime patrol missions. The spokesperson noted Bluebottle is a quiet platform able to carry a towed array sonar.]

[The Navy leased the Martac-made Mantas T12 uncrewed surface vessel for three months in mid-2022. The spokesperson told Defense News the service used the platform to better understand such technology. Martac’s chief marketing officer, Stephen Ferretti, told Defense News in 2022 the T12′s sensors include electro-optical/infrared cameras for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, as well as multibeam, single-beam, side-scan and other sonar types for object detection and hydrographic surveying missions.]

What will Franchetti mean for the fleet?

Adm. Lisa Franchetti was confirmed in November as the Navy’s next chief of naval operations following a monthslong congressional blockade that kept the service’s first female leader from taking the top job.

For many, work slows as the winter holidays draw near. Not so for Franchetti, who has already begun visiting sailors around the world and spent Thanksgiving aboard the deployed aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.

Jan. 1 will launch Franchetti’s first full year in office. Her stated priorities have so far aligned with those of the Navy’s previous top officers: The fleet must be ready to fight at a moment’s notice, and sailors and their families must be taken care of.

Franchetti spoke with Navy Times in December about how combat ship exclusion laws impacted young women like her decades ago, and how the service’s culture has changed since then. She has also spoken out on social media about how suicide has affected her family.

Senate finally confirms Adm. Franchetti as Navy’s top officer

In a message to the fleet following former CNO Adm. Mike Gilday’s retirement in August, Franchetti urged sailors to stay the course.

Franchetti wrote that the Navy is in the midst of a “decisive decade,” and that the sea service has “commenced a once-in-a-generation transformation of our Navy in order to develop, design and deploy the weapons and tools we need to compete and win, both now and in the future.”

“I am proud to serve beside you and will rely on your continued commitment to our Navy and our Constitution,” she wrote. “Thank you for what you do, and please pass my thanks to your families and support networks for what they do to keep us ready — every day — to fight and win against any adversary, any time.”

Watch for Franchetti to spearhead new policies to achieve those priorities as part of her historic first full year.

Watch Pakistan test new long-range precision strike weapon

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan successfully test-fired a new indigenous long-range precision strike weapon with a range of about 249 miles, according to the military’s media branch.

This distance is a considerable leap over the existing Fatah 1 round, which has a range of about 87 miles.

The Fatah 2 is “equipped with state of the art avionics, sophisticated navigation system and unique flight trajectory,” Inter Services Public Relations said in Wednesday’s announcement.” Based on footage of the test released by ISPR, the Fatah 2 appears to be a two-round guided multiple launch rocket system based on the Chinese Taian TAS5450 eight-wheel drive chassis.

Its predecessor, the Fatah 1, is manufactured by Global Industrial Defence Solutions. The conglomerate says the Fatah 1 is intended “to precisely attack and destroy enemy’s group and area targets, such as military bases, massive armored troops, missile launching sites, large airports, harbors and other important facilities.”

The Fatah 1 is an eight-round guided multiple rocket launch system based on the same Taian chassis as the 10-round A-100 multiple launch rocket system in service with Pakistan.

The Fatah 2 test “marks another step in Pakistan’s efforts to field multiple precision strike artillery systems with variable ranges to hold adversary targets at risk,” said Frank O’Donnell, a nonresident fellow with the Stimson Center think tank’s South Asia Program and a senior research adviser at the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network.

The fact Pakistan developed the weapon, he added, demonstrates the country has learned lessons from recent or ongoing conflicts.

“When viewed in the context of Pakistan’s parallel efforts to field a similarly diverse arsenal of combat drones, its implementation of certain lessons — which the military feels the Azerbaijan-Armenia and Russia-Ukraine wars have reinforced — become clear,” O’Donnell told Defense News. “They include the advantages of assigning adversary precision ground bombardment missions to relatively low-cost artillery and combat drone systems, preserving manned fighter aircraft for higher-end strike missions and interception of their counterparts.”

India’s S-400 air defense system is likely a key target of the Fatah 2, he added, as Pakistan could fire the weapon as a decoy to create “greater room for a combat drone to strike the S-400 itself in the midst of the bombardment.”

Russian frigate enters service, with plans for hypersonic armaments

MOSCOW — Russia has commissioned the frigate Admiral Golovko, the country’s first ship built to launch Zircon hypersonic missiles, the government announced.

At the Dec. 25 flag-raising ceremony, President Vladimir Putin said that by 2035 the Severnaya Verf shipyard will build a series of small- and medium-displacement corvettes. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had previously announced that all frigates and corvettes under construction would be armed with Zircon missiles.

However, experts have doubts about Russia’s ability to build both the vessels able to launch Zircons and the missiles themselves in the planned timeline.

“Despite the statements about the start of serial production, this is still a piece[-by-piece] production,” Pavel Luzin, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Defense News.

The vessels will likely use “a universal launcher, which includes Kalibr, Oniks and Zircon missiles. Given that the Zircon missile is more expensive, the basis of the anti-ship armament of these vessels will be Kalibr and Oniks. In addition, there are few carriers for Zircon,” Luzin added.

The Severnaya Verf shipyard, a subsidiary of United Shipbuilding Corp., is currently under contract to build or prepare to launch seven Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates, also known as Project 22350. Three frigates of this type are in service with the Russian Navy.

Russia is also developing a modernized frigate, dubbed Project 22350M, and plans to build 12 of the ships.

“Severnaya Verf has produced three warships over the past three years, but plans to produce two frigates per year only of this class,” according to a Russian military expert and lieutenant colonel in the reserves.

“United Shipbuilding Corp. wants to create new shipyards, although they have problems with the old ones. The Severnaya Verf lacks a new boathouse; repairs, modernization and additional equipment are needed,” the officer told Defense News on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.

In addition, Steregushchiy-class corvettes under projects 20380 and 20385 are to be armed with Zircons. Ten corvettes are in service, and nine are reportedly under construction, with plans for a total fleet of 29. But as a result of sanctions, “high quality components for the creation of radar complexes and diesel engines are either impossible to obtain or very expensive,” the officer explained.

“Because of this, many things need to be developed independently from scratch. But I am not sure that the Russian industry is ready for this. It would be long, expensive and with unclear results, and the corvette was supposed to be cheap. It is not clear how manufacturers will solve these problems and coordinate this with the Defence Ministry,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, it’s unlikely industry can produce the Lider-class destroyer, according to the state-owned media organization RIA Novosti, citing an interview with Aleksey Rakhmanov, the general director of United Shipbuilding Corp. And the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy is set to be decommissioned, per Russian media.

Attack on Russian ship

Earlier this week, Ukrainian aircraft damaged a Russian ship moored in the Black Sea off Crimea, both countries said, bolstering Ukrainian morale after battlefield disappointments and doubts about the future of Western aid.

The attack marks a recent setback in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

The planes fired guided missiles at the landing ship Novocherkassk, which is moored at a base in the city of Feodosia, Russia’s Defence Ministry said. Video on Russian and Ukrainian social media showed an explosion in the port.

Ukrainian authorities claimed the ship was destroyed. They said it was likely carrying ammunition and possibly drones.

The 360-foot Novocherkassk can carry 10 tanks and 225 sailors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New in 2024: A new slate of officers takes over

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin entered the service’s top job in November 2023 with a challenge for airmen: Don’t take your foot off the gas.

Allvin, a career mobility pilot and strategist who previously served as the Air Force’s No. 2 officer, believes airmen stand at an inflection point between how past wars were fought and what tomorrow’s conflicts will demand.

“We have accelerated change, and now must turn this momentum into outcomes,” he said in prepared remarks at a Nov. 17 welcome ceremony. “The time to execute is now.”

To avoid losing on the global stage — and jeopardizing America’s superpower status — the four-star wants to continue a multibillion-dollar modernization of the Air Force arsenal to rival China, crafting more relevant training and agile deployments, and ditching outdated rules that can hinder airmen’s well-being.

As chief of staff, Allvin oversees an approximately $180 billion portfolio and around 689,000 uniformed and civilian employees across the globe. His right-hand man will be Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, a career special operations airman who was confirmed Dec. 19 as the service’s four-star vice chief of staff.

Also newly confirmed are Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, who will move from running Pacific Air Forces to Air Combat Command, and Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, who will take over as PACAF’s top officer, among other nominees for senior roles. They’ll need to ensure the force can juggle myriad conflicts around the world without significant growth, and convince a restive Congress to fund those plans.

“We face a security environment which grows more complex by the day and a pacing competitor which continues to advance at an alarming rate,” Allvin said Nov. 6. “We have a responsibility to lead and advance the integration of the joint force. … We must now follow through.”