Hidden among some fairly stark top-level figures for India’s 2021-22 defense budget is some positive news for suppliers to the country and for the Indian military’s stalled modernization process.

Like U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing, Deputy Defense Secretary Nominee Kathleen Hicks said she supports the nuclear triad, but was careful not to comment on specific programs.

A team headed by Spirit Aerosystems will lead the development and demonstration of a low-cost unmanned combat aircraft that could go on to operate as a loyal wingman for the UK’s Typhoon, F-35, and later Tempest manned fighters. 

The Pentagon made budgetary gains under former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, and now President Joe Biden’s newly installed defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, must lead the military through an anticipated era of flat funding.

The Finnish government is to issue a final request for proposals for its HX next-generation fighter contest by the end of January.

An investigation report released by Air Combat Command nearly a year after the crash that killed both crewmembers definitively concludes that pilot and co-pilot responded to an explosion that shut down the left engine by incorrectly shutting down the right engine. 

The House voted 326-78 and the Senate 69-27 on Jan. 21 to approve a waiver allowing U.S. Army Gen. (ret.) Lloyd Austin to serve as U.S. defense secretary.

On the job less than a day, the Biden administration made its first two appointments at NASA.