NATO will make “significant improvements” to air and missile defenses as part of an overall plan aimed at deterring Russia, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Oct. 21.

NATO’s defense ministers are meeting in person for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brussels, where they will announce a new fund to develop disruptive technologies and attempt to exert more pressure on Russia after Moscow severed its diplomatic ties with the organization.

The U.S. Air Force has lost effectiveness by not having enough aircraft available and not flying them enough, and is undertaking a modernization effort that does not address current needs, the conservative Heritage Foundation says in its yearly assessment of military strength.

Aerospace supplier Meggitt says it still expects its acquisition by Parker Hannifin to proceed, despite an intervention by the UK government over national security concerns.

The U.S. military’s logistics infrastructure is vulnerable to both physical and cyber attacks and Capitol Hill needs to help the Pentagon defend its weak points, the U.S. Air Force’s top civilian said.

The Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has proposed adding about $10 billion to the Pentagon’s budget request, adding funding to accelerate missile tracking satellites, defense systems in the Pacific and 16 more C-130s.

The Turkish government is hoping it can use $1.6 billion that it paid for U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to pay for new-build F-16s and upgrades to its existing fleet.

Spirit AeroSystems plans to open a new National Defense Prototype Center to focus on the development and testing of high-temperature materials for the aviation, defense and space programs.