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Biden said the United States will protect Taiwan. But it’s not so clear
After the president’s remarks at a CNN event, the White House was quick to say that the US policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the island’s defense had not changed.

United States to enter into formal agreement to use Pakistani airspace for military operations in Afghanistan
The Biden administration told lawmakers that the United States was on the verge of reaching a formal agreement with Pakistan for the use of its airspace to conduct military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan, according to three sources familiar with the details of a classified briefing with members of Congress that took place on October 22.

There could still be hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan, ex-US envoy says
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former chief negotiator for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, has spoken publicly for the first time since his resignation.

US calls on North Korea to stop missile testing and resume talks
On October 24, a senior U.S. diplomat urged North Korea to refrain from further missile testing and resume nuclear diplomacy, days after the North fired its first submarine ballistic missile in two years.

Business

L3 Harris Wins $ 120 Million Contract to Upgrade Space Force Electronic Jammers
The US Space Force awarded L3Harris Technologies a $ 120.7 million contract to upgrade a ground-based communications jammer used to block adversaries’ satellite transmissions.

KAI unveils electric base trainer
Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, presented a conceptual model of an electric-powered basic trainer this week at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Expo 2021 at a Seongnam Air Force Base, Fair south of Seoul.

Defense

Cancers strike US fighter pilots and aircrew at higher rates, Air Force says
Almost 30 percent higher likelihood of testicular cancer and about 25 percent of skin and prostate cancer, according to the most comprehensive military study to date.

Lawmakers alarmed by hunger in U.S. military families
The Senate Appropriations Committee, in a report released this week accompanying its new defense spending bill, expressed concern over reports of thousands of military families suffering from hunger.

Congress faces decision on overhaul of military justice
Lawmakers are set to finally overhaul the military justice system in a bid to mitigate an epidemic of sexual assault after years of failed Pentagon efforts, though it remains to be seen how far they will go.

Army expects Guard soldiers to receive vaccine by December if they deploy
Army National Guard troops must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the December deadline, not the previously announced date of June 2022, if they will be mobilized on federal orders, according to a policy brief obtained by Military.com.

Stripping the military bases of Confederate names stirs up passions
The history of the Civil War casts a long shadow in Virginia, the birthplace of Confederate generals, the scene of their surrender, and now a hub of controversy over the renaming of military bases that honor rebel leaders.

Veterans

California veterans forced to leave home to ask for assisted dying
They have served the nation on distant and often hostile shores, putting their bodies and minds at risk for their country. Now, in the twilight of their lives, residents of the Yountville Veterans Home in Napa County are asking for the opportunity to end their life if they are terminally ill, at peace, at home, in their own beds.