Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- November 22, 2017

Members of the U.S. Army Special Forces provide training for Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi at Makhmur camp in Iraq, Dec. 11, 2016.

Newsweek: Trump’s Secret War? U.S. Military’s Presence In Middle East Has Grown 33 Percent In Past Four Months

President Donald Trump has increased the number of U.S. troops and civilians working for the Department of Defense in the Middle East to 54,180 from 40,517 in the past four months, representing a 33-percent rise.

This number doesn't even account for the big rise in troops stationed in Afghanistan since Trump announced his new strategy for the fight against the Taliban in late August.

These figures, first pointed out on Twitter by Dr. Micah Zenko, a foreign policy expert, come from the Pentagon's quarterly reports on personnel. In other words, these numbers are no secret, which raises concerns about the apparent lack of discourse over the expansion of the U.S. military in a region in which it already has a long, complicated history.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- November 22, 2017

Air Force: Afghanistan airstrikes spike while anti-ISIS bombings decrease -- Military Times

US air campaign in Libya moves south -- Threat Matrix

Argentina sub: What happens when a submarine vanishes -- BBC

Time, oxygen running out fast for crew of missing sub -- CBS/AP

Japan-Based US F-35s Plan "Show of Force" Near Korean Peninsula -- Scout Warrior

South Korea: Nuclear Submarines Not Worth the Cost -- Terence Roehrig, The Interpreter

Russia’s state arms program for 2018-2025 costs over $321 bln -- TASS

‘They Will Fight’: NATO Readies Forces Vs. Russia -- Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense

Here Is the Russian Short-Range Missile That Has NATO Worried -- Popular Mechanics

How a French firm beat out Japanese companies in Australia’s submarine tender -- Defense News

India Successfully Test-Fires Supersonic Brahmos Missile From Su30MKI -- Sputnik

Boeing joint venture preps to overhaul Saudi Apache helicopter fleet -- Defense News

U.S. Plans to Expand Naval Engagements in Southeast Asia Using Littoral Combat Ships, EPFs. -- USNI News

US Navy tries new sleep guidelines after deadly Asia-Pacific ship collisions: report -- The Hill

US B-21 Raider Long-Distance Bomber Program Remains Shrouded in Secrecy -- Sputnik

Senate defense spending bill $50B lower than what authorizers want -- The Hill

Cochran recommends budget-cap busting defense bill -- Defense News

‘Going to break this force’: Air Force warns cuts, manning woes could hurt war zone fight -- Air Force Times

Laughlin Air Force Base suspends flying operations after fatal T-38 crash -- Air Force Times

4th F-35 Software Drop Enables New Small Diameter Bomb II-2020s -- Scout Warrior

Military investigators find additional remains of US soldier in Niger -- The Hill

The US Military Is Preparing for War in Space: We're Drafting Laws to Be Ready for It -- Newsweek

Boston Dynamics’ robot dog isn’t quite ready for the US military says this analyst -- CNBC

Military Members on Pence Detail Reassigned for Bringing Women to Hotel -- NBC

Pentagon investigating behavior of military personnel on Trump's Asia trip -- Politico

Federal court puts stop to Trump's transgender military ban -- ABC News

Video showing racial slurs by Marines to be probed -- The Hill

Military overhauls retirement system in biggest shift since World War II -- FOX News

VA study shows parasite from Vietnam may be killing vets -- AP

How hypersonic flight could transform air combat -- Gareth Evans, Air Force Technology