DEFENSE.GOV NEWS

• Austin Looks to Build on Strengths of Alliances With South Korea, the Philippines
  The security environment in the Indo-Pacific is growing more complex and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will meet with allies in South Korea and the Philippines to continue efforts to strengthen the security environment in the region.
• Largest U.S.-Israeli Exercise in History Concludes
  Exercise Juniper Oak 23.2 involved roughly 6,400 U.S. service members alongside more than 1,500 Israeli troops.
• 'Sextortion' Human Trafficking Prevention Month Topic
  The Department of Defense is dedicated to eliminating human trafficking not only because it is a crime against humanity, but also because it disrupts the stability of U.S. national security interests.
• U.S.-Albanian Leaders Discuss NATO, Bilateral Relations
  U.S. and Albanian defense leaders met at the Pentagon to make a strong bilateral alliance even stronger, as the two nations marked the 30th year of their defense relationship.
• DOD Updates Autonomy in Weapons System Directive
  The Defense Department updated DOD Directive 3000.09, Autonomy in Weapon Systems, which governs the development and fielding of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems.
• DOD Modernization Relies on Rapidly Leveraging Commercial Technology
  The Defense Department must act quickly to identify priority technologies in order to gain and maintain an operational advantage over competitors.
• Ukraine, Asia Drove 50% Increase in FY22 Arms Sales
  The Defense Security Cooperation Agency last year saw a substantial increase in the arms sales it administers, including arms purchased directly by partner nations with their own funds and sales funded through the Foreign Military Financing program.