Here are five news stories and events to start your week from the editors at Military.com:
Cyberattack May Return as Workweek Starts, Officials Warn
Via Yuri Kageyama and Louise Watt at The AP: "The worldwide 'ransomware' cyberattack wreaked havoc in hospitals, schools and offices across the globe on Monday. Asia reported thousands of new cases but no large-scale breakdowns as workers started the week by booting up their computers. The full extent of the damage from the cyberattack felt in 150 countries was unclear and could worsen if more malicious variations of the online extortion scheme appear. The initial attack, known as 'WannaCry,' paralyzed computers running Britain's hospital network, Germany's national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies."
Senators to Discuss Requirements for Military Small Arms
The Senate Armed Service Committee's Airland Subcommittee, headed by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., plans to hold a hearing 3:30 p.m. Wednesday on military small-arms requirements. John M. Bednarek, a retired Army lieutenant general and former chief of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, and Robert H. Scales Jr., a retired Army major general and former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, plan to testify. As Military.com's Matthew Cox has reported, the Army plans to buy the Sig Sauer P320 for the Modular Handgun System program, canceled the XM25 airburst weapon contract, and may buy the Magpul PMAG polymer magazine.
Air Force Sees Unique Challenges in Deploying Stealth Fighters
Via Military.com's Oriana Pawlyk: "With initial overseas deployments of both the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F-22 Raptor completed, the Air Force has a better understanding of the unique maintenance challenges required by its most advanced stealth fighters. The service this month completed the F-35A's first training deployment to Europe and plans to permanently base a squadron of the aircraft on the continent, beginning in 2021. Air Force officials said much of the work needed to prepare bases abroad to accommodate the fifth-generation fighter jets comes down to the different processes for maintaining stealth technology on the aircraft."
Marines' Cold Weather Gear Faces Overhaul After Poor Showing in Arctic
Via Military.com's Hope Hodge Seck in Norway: "A hump through the snow-covered sub-freezing moonscape of the Arctic is the wrong time to find out your boots won't stay latched into your skis. But that's what happened to many troops from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, as they completed an extended stretch of cold-weather training in Porsangermoen, nearly 1,000 miles north of their headquarters position here at Vaernes. During this first deployment for Marine Rotational Force-Europe, troops spent weeks training and operating in gear they described as badly in need of an overhaul."
No Decisions Yet on Sending More Troops to Afghanistan, Somalia
Via Richard Sisk at Military.com: "Sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and Somalia is under active consideration but will likely await the return of President Donald Trump from his first foreign trip, which begins this week, according to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. At a White House briefing Friday, McMaster, the White House national security adviser, said, "The president has not made a decision yet on a course of action" in Afghanistan, where Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, has requested a "few thousand" more U.S. troops in addition to the 8,400 currently there.
-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
