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The Army is rapidly advancing capabilities in the Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program by deploying cutting-edge Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (SUAS) to Trans-formation in Contact (TiC) Brigades. In April, the PEO Aviation, Project Office UAS, responded to an urgent request to deploy Tranche 2 SUAS to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (Fort Campbell, Kentucky) in support of their rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. Both the Skydio X10D system and Teal Drones' Black Widow system will support Army TiC Brigades in developing and refining tactics, techniques, and procedures for employing networked reconnaissance and surveillance systems against emerging battlefield threats. (Photo Credit: Courtesy photo)

Expect to see more drones during training under new Pentagon rules

The Pentagon will soon allow local commanders to buy drones and authorize troops to fly them in training exercises, skipping steps that previously required higher-level approval.

Army M240B Machine Gun

The Army wants to replace the M240 medium machine gun

The Army is looking for a new machine gun to replace the M240, which has been in service since the late 70s. Details about the new weapon are scarce.

On May 16th 2025, Montana’s 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion hosted over a dozen British Army Soldiers of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry (RWxY) at the Limestone Hills Training Facility in a joint training event to help their armored crewmembers transition to the Challenger 3 tank which is currently in production. Training involved British armored crewmembers serving in their assigned roles on the M1A2 Abrams alongside our Montana National Guard Soldiers. This kind of joint training serves to enhance British Army readiness, build stronger allied partnerships, and project lethality on the battlefield. Lance Corporal Megan Fuller of the RWxY said, “I found it quite good. I think from our end getting everything cleared and organized to actually get over here and be able to fire on the platform has been a massive effort through our chain of command, but personally just being here on the ground, I’ve really enjoyed it. The RWxY is Britain’s Armored Reserve which features the Challenger 2 tank, now being upgraded to the Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank estimated to be fully operational by 2030. The Challenger 3 tank upgrade aligns with a continuing effort to standardize the interoperability, interchangeability, and lethality of NATO standard 120mm rounds for smoothbore main guns. According to Lieutenant Lyons of the RWxY, “There is really nothing like firing 120 millimeters of pure freedom.” Full video story to follow, so stay tuned. Photos courtesy of the 103rd Public Affairs Detachment

The Army has a novel solution to its drone problem: Shoot them with tanks

A new field manual for tankers drew online chuckles. But it puts the threat of drones on the battlefield at the center of tactics used by Army armor units.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael tour multi-domain autonomous displays in the courtyard of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., July 16, 2025.

Hypersonics, AI, drone swarms: Pentagon pours $179 billion into R&D

The largest research and development budget in Pentagon history gives us a look at where the U.S. military thinks the future of warfare is headed.

SMASH 2000L fire control system

Marines to field new smart scope to help shoot down small drones

The Marines will begin fielding the SMASH 2000L fire control system starting next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, with priority going to deploying units.

U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team under Title 10 authority and U.S. Marines assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines,1st Marine Division, provide protection to federal functions, property, and law enforcement personnel in Los Angeles, June 14, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is supporting federal agencies by providing military forces to protect federal functions, personnel, and property in the greater Los Angeles area. On June 7, the Secretary of Defense directed USNORTHCOM to establish Task Force 51 to oversee Title 10 forces supporting this mission. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Chase Murray)

Pentagon releases 2,000 National Guard troops from federal mission in LA

Soldiers from the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be released after five weeks in Los Angeles. Another 2,100 California National Guard troops remain under federal control.

Louisiana National Guard Soldiers stage at the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) compound, Camp ‘Bull’ Simons, Florida, ahead of their support for hurricane relief efforts on Oct. 10, 2024. The staging includes preparation of personnel and equipment to ensure a rapid and effective response to the anticipated storm impact. The collaboration between the Louisiana and Florida National Guard, and 7th SFG(A) strengthens disaster response capabilities and ensures readiness to support communities along the Gulf Coast. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Lee)

Louisiana National Guard base to be renamed for Confederate general’s dad

The name of the Confederate general was removed from the base in 2023, but will be restored, this time with his father as the namesake.

Nicole Malachowski was planning on a life-time career in the military until she tick-borne illness changed everything. Now she's advocating for better military training on the issue and fighting the stigmas that chronic patients face.

She was the first woman to fly as an Air Force Thunderbird. Then she got mysteriously sick.

Nicole Malachowski thought she would retire as a general but a tick-borne illness left her unable to fly and made her an advocate for prevention, awareness and erasing stigma.

Exposed, damaged pipes at the Palau Hall barracks at Andersen Air force Base

Damaged, moldy barracks in Guam are getting a $297 million makeover

The military wants to replace housing at Andersen Air Force Base after the level of disrepair made headlines.

Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, walk the final mile of the 12-mile ruck march during E3B on Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Sept. 21, 2024. E3B is a week-long testing event that gives Soldiers the opportunity to earn the Expert Infantryman Badge, Expert Soldier Badge, or Expert Field Medical Badge. Soldiers must pass the expert physical fitness assessment, day and night land navigation, soldier tasks including weapons, medical and patrol lanes, and a 12-mile ruck march, in order to earn their badge. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Catessa Palone)

The Pentagon is throwing $200 million at ‘Grok for Government’ and other AI companies

The Pentagon is set to spend nearly a billion dollars for AI with four major Silicon Valley tech firms, Google, xAI, OpenAI and Anthropic.

U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Jendrzejewski, middle, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing command chief, dons an Explosive Ordnance Disposal bomb suit with the help of Staff Sgt. Joshua McCoy, left, and Staff Sgt. David Knapp, both 386th Civil Engineering Squadron EOD team members, within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 29, 2025. An EOD bomb suit can weigh over 80 pounds, but leaves the hands exposed because of the requirement for maximum dexterity, precision and sensitive handling. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Timothy Leddick)

Air Force rolls out age- and sex-neutral fitness test for EOD techs

All Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, troops will be held to a new, four-event physical fitness test in August with gender-neutral scoring.

U.S. Army Spc. Luke Tilley, a shower and laundry specialist from the 1225th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 464th Quartermaster Company, Michigan Army National Guard, process laundry from service members in the field during Exercise Northern Strike 24-2 at Camp Grayling, Michigan, Aug. 10, 2024. Northern Strike 24-2, one of the Department of Defense's largest reserve component readiness exercises, is scheduled to take place at Michigan's National All Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) from August 3-17, 2024. Over 6,300 participants from 32 states and territories and several international participants will converge at the NADWC. Northern Strike is the premier reserve component training event designed to build readiness with joint and partner forces in all domains of warfare. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Scott Thompson)

Army bids farewell to laundry specialists

Goodbye, you sudsy soldiers who waged a war against grime, grit and cammies starched with sweat. Wherever you went, better hygiene and higher morale followed.

Airmen from the 109th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron, Hawaii Air National Guard, tune a receiver at the start of Resolute Space 2025 on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, July 8, 2025. Nested under the 2025 Department of the Air Force exercise series, Resolute Space 2025 demonstrates the Space Force’s preparedness for complex, large-scale military operations by exercising our ability to operate in a contested, dynamic environment against high-end threats on short notice across the service and with joint and international partners. (U.S. Space Force photo by Lt. Col. Victoria Hight)

Space Force is training for ‘orbital warfare’ in its largest exercise yet

Hundreds of Guardians are taking part in the Space Force’s Resolute Space 25, meant to test readiness for space-based combat.

A man fishes in front of the Russian Navy Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier moored off the coast of the town of Limassol, in the Meditteranean island of Cyprus on February 27, 2014. AFP PHOTO / YIANNIS KOURTOGLOU (Photo credit should read Yiannis Kourtoglou/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia might finally be done with its perpetually broken aircraft carrier

The Admiral Kuznetsov, the seemingly cursed “ship of shame,” could be scrapped soon, after a troubled service. 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem awards Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Ruskan, aviation survival technician, with the Coast Guard Distinguished Flying Cross Medal, July 11, 2025, in Kerrville Texas. Ruskan earned the award for his extraordinary heroism and rescue of over 165 people in the wake of the devastating flash flooding near Kerrville. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Hillard)

Coast Guard rescue crew awarded Distinguish Flying Crosses, Air Medals for actions in Texas

The team aboard Rescue 6553 saved nearly 200 people trapped by the deadly flood this past week.

The CV90 is a great vehicle, so why doesn’t the US buy it?

The CV90 is a great vehicle, so why doesn’t the US buy it?

Foreign weapons like the CV90 are ready, able, and affordable, but U.S. policy and Pentagon preferences keep us from buying them.

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Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 to cover the military and veteran community from a rank-and-file perspective, and continues to do so with accurate reporting and great storytelling to this day. Our journalists have reported on the front lines of the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota and the war in Afghanistan. We’ve uncovered American veterans being abused in Kuwaiti prisons, deported veterans being forced to work for Mexican cartels, and drawn national attention to a longstanding legal rule barring service members from suing the government — even in the face of gross negligence.

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