Army Astronaut Selected for NASA's Historic Artemis III Mission

June 10, 2026 | By Ronald Bailey, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command |

In a historic announcement that bridges the legacy of military service with the next phase of human space exploration, NASA announced that Army Col. Frank Rubio, assigned to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, will serve as a mission specialist on its upcoming Artemis III mission. The announcement, made yesterday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, places a soldier at the forefront of humanity's return to the lunar surface.

Rubio will join NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik and Andre Douglas, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, as they embark on a mission that will serve as a low-Earth orbit demonstration to test systems required for operations in the region between Earth and the moon's orbit. 

Rubio's selection is a testament to his recognized leadership, broad career experience and the technical expertise that soldiers bring to the nation's human spaceflight program.

"I am deeply honored to be selected for Artemis III, a mission that continues to build upon the foundation for the day Americans return to the surface of the moon," Rubio said. "My Army training has been an integral part of the experiences that have enabled me to be ready for this mission. Serving taught me to lead under pressure, how to stay calm when the stakes are highest, and how to put the mission and the people beside you above yourself." 

"To those who have served, and to every soldier and military family serving right now: you are the backbone of everything we do as a nation, including this," he continued. "I am honored to represent the Army on the highest ground."

Rubio is no stranger to making history in orbit. He holds the American record for the longest single spaceflight, having spent 371 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station during Expeditions 68 and 69 from September 2022 to September 2023.

During that unexpectedly extended spaceflight, Rubio completed 5,963 orbits of the Earth, traveled more than 157 million miles and conducted three spacewalks totaling 21 hours and 24 minutes. This extensive previous spaceflight experience, marked by deep resilience and adaptability, makes him uniquely qualified to serve under the demanding conditions that will be expected of him and the other Artemis III crewmembers.

Before his selection by NASA in 2017 as a member of Astronaut Class 22, Rubio built a distinguished 19-year military career as both an Army aviator and physician. A 1998 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he was a member of the Black Knights parachute team, Rubio served as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He flew more than 1,100 hours, including more than 600 hours of combat and imminent danger time during deployments to Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Following his service in the aviation branch, Rubio earned his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2010. As a board-certified family physician and flight surgeon, he completed his residency at Fort Benning, Georgia, and subsequently served as a clinic supervisor at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Rubio was stationed as a battalion surgeon assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, Colorado, at the time of his astronaut selection.

Rubio's selection highlights the critical contributions of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command NASA Detachment, located at the Johnson Space Center. The detachment bolsters NASA's human spaceflight program by providing active-duty soldiers and space operations officers who deliver leadership, technical expertise and risk management skills. 

Alongside Rubio, the detachment currently includes Army Col. Anne McClain, a veteran astronaut and detachment commander; Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Bailey, who in 2025 became the first Army warrant officer selected as an astronaut candidate; and two Army space operations officers and administrative personnel.

Since 1978, a select group of 20 Army astronauts and payload specialists have served at NASA. These Army astronauts and space operations officers not only provide vital human-machine interface and engineering expertise to NASA's operations, but they also bring back invaluable experience and information from NASA and aerospace industry partners to the Army.

"Congratulations to Col. Frank Rubio on his selection for the Artemis III mission," said Army Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. "His selection is a testament to his leadership, physical and mental toughness, and technical capability. The U.S. Army celebrates this milestone, and we at U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command are incredibly proud of him and the Army astronaut program."

According to NASA, Artemis III's primary objectives for its mid-2027 flight are to test and validate commercial human landing systems. The mission will focus on critical docking operations between the Orion spacecraft and these landing systems. It will also be an opportunity for NASA to conduct the first operational tests of new space suits in orbit.

NASA officials further stated Artemis III's flight will provide the flight experience and standardized vehicle configurations necessary to support subsequent operations. Data gathered from the orbit demonstration will directly clear the path for future crewed landings on the moon and eventual human missions to Mars.

War Department Signs $9.7B Technology Deal With Dell for Microsoft Services

May 28, 2026 | By C. Todd Lopez, Pentagon News |

The War Department announced today a five-year agreement to purchase Microsoft Services — a move expected to save the department $422 million annually. 

"The Department of War is taking a definitive step forward to advance our digital infrastructure to deter near-peer adversaries by awarding a five-year, $9.7 billion Core Enterprise Technology Agreement to Dell Federal Systems," said Kirsten A. Davies, DOW chief information officer. "This second-generation blanket purchase agreement will streamline and consolidate critical Microsoft software and services across the Department of War, the intelligence community and the U.S. Coast Guard." 

The agreement provides the department with access to Microsoft 365, advanced cloud subscriptions and critical on-premises licensing; it's the department's largest to date. 

"This CETA acts as part of the digital connective tissue essential for Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control ... this ensures our warfighters have the tools for just-in-time data sharing, supports our pivot to [artificial intelligence] and data analytics, and undergirds uninterrupted operational continuity for our most sensitive and disconnected environments," Davies said. 

Previously, across the department, dozens of separate contracts provided services to the same groups who will now receive the services under a single enterprisewide contract. The consolidation of contracts ensures service members and department civilians continue to have access to the same services, but now those services will cost less and save taxpayer dollars. 

"This enterprise approach is not just about capability, it's also about delivering on [Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's] promise to be responsible stewards of the American people's resources — taxpayer money," Davies said, noting that the new agreement is not new funding. 

Because the new contract and old contracts are with the same vendor, the funding does not change; the transition will be seamless for those involved. 

"We are achieving unprecedented scale and cost efficiency," Davies said. "This blanket purchase agreement is expected to save the department an initial $422 million annually, a figure we actually expect to rise as we fully consolidate our IT services." 

The new contract also allows warfighters to focus on what matters, she said. 

"This puts the tools in a warfighter's hands, where they need them," Davies said. "They don't need to worry about an enterprise software capability — they can worry about warfighting. They can focus on the mission, and we focus on the tools to support them in the mission." 

The agreement is scheduled to begin June 1 and includes Microsoft products such as Windows Enterprise Operating System and Office Professional Plus, along with cloud and hybrid capabilities. It also provides the digital foundation for Combined Joint All-Domain Combined Command and Control, the overarching concept to link sensors, weapons and decision-makers, as well as seamlessly share data across the armed forces and with coalition partners.

Department of War Publishes Second Release of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Files on WAR.GOV/UFO

May 22, 2026 |

Statement Attributable to Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell: 

Today, the Department of War is publishing the second release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and additional files will be released on a rolling basis.

Since the site's launch on May 8, 2026, WAR.GOV/UFO has received over 1 billion hits worldwide, highlighting the unprecedented levels of interest in both this topic and the Trump administration's historic transparency effort. The Department of War and our agency partners are actively working on the third release of UAP files, which will be announced in the near future.

Defeating the Swarm: Project Flytrap Accelerates NATO's Counter-Drone Lethality

May 19, 2026 | By Army Sgt. Max Elliott, U.S. Army V Corps |

Above the pine forest of the Pabradė Training Area, Lithuania, roughly 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border, a small quadcopter rises into a sky shared with dozens of other drones. Friendly and adversary, sensor and strike, American and British. Below it, soldiers are learning, in real time, what it takes to fight as a squadron in three dimensions.

"Right now, we are implementing these systems at the troop level, company level and squadron level," said Army Staff Sgt. Mateus Nunes, an infantryman assigned to Echo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "We are just seeing how they work."

This is Project Flytrap 5.0, a U.S. Army V Corps counter-unmanned aerial systems initiative that, over the past year, has scaled from the individual soldier to the squadron level against the same low-cost drones reshaping the modern battlefield.

The exercise, which began April 30 and ended today, is part of Saber Strike 26. The exercise puts the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, in the lead, with the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the United Kingdom's 3rd Parachute Regiment integrating and testing more than 50 industry-provided technologies, including radars, radio frequency defeat systems, kinetic interceptors, launched effects and unmanned ground vehicles. The systems were networked across a combined U.S.-U.K. tactical data architecture and tested against a live opposing force.

The program's arc has been deliberate. Iterations 2.0 through 4.0, carried out in Germany and Poland between May and August 2025, tested which counter-UAS equipment belonged at which echelons and developed and standardized initial small-unit level tactics for fighting drones. Flytrap 4.5 at Putlos, Germany, last November, tested the next generation of industry technology and sharpened individual operator proficiency. Now, Flytrap 5.0 is the first to integrate these systems at a squadron scale.

"We are transforming to enable offensive maneuver in a drone and electronic-warfare saturated environment, and Flytrap is essential to making that happen," said Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. "This effort is about getting technology into the hands of soldiers, in the field, to figure out what works and what doesn't. Then we share those lessons across the Army, the joint force and with our allies."

Flytrap 5.0 is formally nested inside the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, NATO's warfighting concept in the land domain. EFDI links digital architecture and operating systems across nations to detect and decide faster, leveraging artificial intelligence to process data faster, to connect units and effects to strike faster and at scale. It also means reducing the cost curve in defeating drones and incorporating cheaper attritable systems. 

"Success in Flytrap 5.0 is a little different than other exercises — in some ways failure is still success," said Army Maj. Jared Whitaker, the V Corps technical integration and assessment lead for Project Flytrap. "The industry [that] creates these systems can get immediate feedback, make hardware and technical changes rapidly — so that when those systems are fielded to soldiers, they've already got a look by soldiers and will perform significantly better than in the past." 

Flytrap 6.0 will take the program to the brigade level. That is an order of magnitude for more platforms, soldiers and decisions, and at the level at which V Corps intends to fully validate the capability. Until then, the pine forest at Pabradė is the proving ground.

Department of War Invests $191M to Expand and Enhance the Solid Rocket Motor Industrial Base

May 15, 2026 |

The DoW announced today the latest in a series of investments in the solid rocket motor industrial base: an April 20, 2026, investment of $27.3 million in DPA Title III funds to Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company (PacSci EMC), in Chandler, Arizona. It supports DoW's objectives to expand the munitions industrial base, bolster supply chain resiliency, and increase domestic production in strategic priority areas.  

"The DoW is focused on rapidly expanding and accelerating munitions production, driving a surge in demand for SRMs," said Michael Duffey, the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment. "Strengthening supply chains through smart investments will help alleviate SRM shortfalls by increasing capacity and reducing manufacturing lead times for key components."

Since December 2024, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (OASW(IBP)) has made nine investments in the solid rocket motor (SRM) industrial base under a recent Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement (DIBC OTA) solicitation totaling $191 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III funds. 

PacSci EMC will use their investment funds to expand the production of the universal Arm Fire Device (AFD), a critical safety component in SRM applications, by scaling up proven production capabilities to serve high-volume manufacturing needs for SRM programs. The company will create a fully integrated manufacturing facility that houses all necessary production and support processes, thereby enhancing operational efficiency, reducing potential errors, and streamlining delivery systems.

The prior SRM investments made under the same DIBC OTA solicitation include: 

• A $5 million investment in Systima Technologies Inc., part of Karman Space & Defense, to increase SRM nozzle production capacity.
• A $27.7 million investment in R.E. Darling Co., Inc. to establish expanded capacity and a modernized manufacturing capability for SRM case insulation materials.
• A $12.6 million investment in Americarb Inc. to develop a solution for converting woven rayon fabric into carbonized rayon phenolic, a crucial polymeric ablative material utilized for insulating rocket nozzles in SRMs.
• A $20.9 million investment in General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems to increase SRM nozzle production capacity and capability, becoming a new supplier for composite rocket nozzles and insulators. 
• A $5.1 million investment in SPARC Research LLC to establish a dedicated and affordable supply of rocket motor components for the SRM industrial base, supporting improvements to high-performance propulsion systems.  
• A $9.3 million investment in ICF Mercantile LLC to establish the first domestic production source of rayon filament cellulose precursor rayon, which will in turn support the production of Carbon Phenolic Ablatives used in SRM and Re-Entry Body heatshields.
• A $25.2 million investment in Materials Resources LLC to demonstrate SRM prototype production capability that will provide the Department with agile production of SRM metallic cases via additive manufacturing using MRL's scalable manufacturing cells.
• A $58 million investment in Anduril Industries, Inc. to modernize and expand its SRM production by modifying existing production facilities and improving the manufacturing processes by which it produces SRMs.

The new investment in PacSci EMC is one of five investments made by the DPA Purchases Office totaling $482.6 million since the beginning of fiscal year 2026. The Warfighting Investment, Resourcing, and Execution (WIRE) Directorate oversees DPA Purchases. For more information on the WIRE Directorate, please visit: https://www.businessdefense.gov/ibr/wire.html.

About the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (OASW(IBP))

The OASW(IBP) works with domestic and international partners to forge and sustain a robust, secure, and resilient industrial base enabling the Warfighter, now and in the future. OASW(IBP) also uses a Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement (DIBC OTA) to solicit new ideas for research or prototype project solutions for critical supply chain resiliency focus areas.  This OTA underscores the Department's ongoing dedication to safeguarding the integrity of our crucial supply chain and promptly giving our Warfighters the materials and technologies they need to accomplish their missions. To learn more about the DIBC OTA, please visit: https://www.dibconsortium.org.

Combined Space Operations Initiative Principals' Board Meets to Advance Combined Operations Efforts

May 12, 2026 |

The Combined Space Operations (CSpO) Initiative Principals' Board convened on April 17, 2026, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Senior representatives from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States met to address the rapidly evolving security dynamics of the space domain.

Principals noted that the space domain has become more complex and less secure. While space systems underpin our economies and societies, space is increasingly contested by actors who continue to develop offensive capabilities that put our shared interests at risk.

Emphasizing the urgency created by the changing global security environment, Principals concurred on reviewing their approach to ensure that the Initiative remains fit for purpose. Moving forward, members will further prioritize and align the Initiative's activities to protect and defend the freedom of access and use of outer space.

The CSpO Initiative will redouble its efforts to deliver capabilities in support of combined operations, with a particular focus on Multi-National Force Operation OLYMPIC DEFENDER (MNF-OOD). Established in 2013 to synchronize efforts to strengthen resilience and deterrence against malicious acts in space, MNF-OOD recently successfully demonstrated the collective ability of allied nations to detect events in space, including threats to space systems. By aligning these multinational efforts, the CSpO Initiative seeks to enhance collective security and operational readiness to respond to hostile space activities.

Senior officials are scheduled to reconvene in December 2026 in Oslo, Norway, to review progress on CSpO's strategic objectives and ensure the Initiative remains responsive to the shifting security landscape.

Site Selections Announced for Directed-Energy Counter-Drone Program

May 6, 2026 | By Army Lt. Col. Adam Scher, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 |

On behalf of the War Department, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 selected five installations to participate in the directed-energy counter-unmanned aircraft systems pilot program included in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.  

This initiative will accelerate the fielding and evaluation of advanced directed energy capabilities to protect critical infrastructure, military installations and homeland missions. The locations were deliberately selected to support rigorous testing and operational assessments across diverse environments and mission sets.  
 
They include key southern border installations: Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and Fort Bliss, Texas, as well as Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. 
 
"Countering unlawful and adversarial drone activity is a homeland defense imperative," said Army Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, Joint Interagency Task Force 401 director. "There is no 'silver bullet' to address this challenge, and this pilot program integrates cutting-edge technology into the department's broader counter-drone toolkit."  
 
These capabilities, including high-energy lasers and high-powered microwave systems, are among many counter-UAS tools available to commanders as part of a layered defense. The technology enables service members to disrupt and defeat unlawful or adversarial drone activity while minimizing risk to surrounding personnel and infrastructure. 
 
Developed in close coordination with the services, U.S. Northern Command and the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot program builds on several recent milestones that have advanced the safe domestic employment of directed-energy systems. These include:

• A joint DOW-FAA demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, validating that the systems do not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft. 
• Operational systems employment in support of the southern border mission. 
• The recent DOW-FAA safety risk assessment that established procedures for future use while protecting the national airspace.

"Our collaboration with the FAA and the successful demonstration at White Sands were pivotal steps forward in our counter-UAS efforts," said Army Col. Scott McLellan, deputy director of the task force. "We showed that directed-energy systems can counter drone threats while preserving the safety of air travelers. This pilot program now allows us to translate that progress into evolving operational capability for the homeland."

During the next 180 days, the department will finalize deployment plans with installation commanders, enabling operations to begin later this year.