Defense Secretary James Mattis has authorized 4,000 National Guard troops to coordinate with governors in the U.S. border with Mexico to support the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to secure the area.

The Defense Department said Saturday the effort is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to deploy National Guard troops to protect the southern border and enhance the support for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, stated on Twitter that up to 500 troops were already ordered to go to the border.

The National Guard troops will contribute to the DHS border security mission with aviation, engineering, surveillance, communications, vehicle maintenance and logistical support services.

The deployed soldiers will remain under the command and control of their respective governors through Sept. 30.

The Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Army tested the interoperability between the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and the Patriot systems through a missile defense tracking exercise.

The MDA said Friday the Ballistic Missile Defense System’s Operational Test Agency supervised the Flight Test Other-35 that supports the materiel release of THAAD 3.0 software updates and the assessment requirement of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act.

The exercise involved the simulation of a live short-range Lynx target launched from White Sands Missile Range that was detected and tracked by the Patriot and the THAAD’s Army-Navy Transportable Surveillance Radar Model 2.

Soldiers from the Army’s 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade operated the missile defense systems that employed tactical data links to share and exchange information during the exercise.

The developmental and operational test did not include live intercepts.

The 2016 NDAA mandates the MDA and the Army to conduct a yearly evaluation of the integration and interoperability of the THAAD and Patriot weapon systems.

A Defense Department spokesperson has said that DoD aims to release the findings of its missile defense review within the month of May, Defense News reported Friday.

The Pentagon’s unclassified MDR strategy document will offer the public a comprehensive view of U.S. approaches to defend against homeland and regional missile threats.

In late 2017, Congress recommended that the department also explore methods to accelerate the development of technology platforms that could help increase the capacity of the country’s ballistic missile defense system during its review.

The Missile Defense Agency requested for a $2 billion increase to its fiscal 2019 budget as part of efforts to counter emerging threats from North Korea.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, in a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the department believes the U.S. Navy should not delay shock-testing of its $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford carrier, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

“We agree with your view that a test in normal sequence is more prudent and pragmatic,” Shanahan told SASC Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona).

The Navy previously asked Defense Secretary James Mattis to postpone the USS Ford’s shock trials for at least six years in a push to accelerate deployment of the supercarrier in combat duty and maintain an 11-carrier fleet.

Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Newport News Shipbuilding division built and delivered the first-of-class carrier to the service branch after it completed acceptance trials in May of last year.

The report said a shock test would help the Navy to determine if the ship can withstand underwater charges and mitigate any potential vulnerabilities.

An F-35B aircraft arrived Wednesday at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida as part of a two-day visit meant to inform U.S. Central Command senior leaders on the short-takeoff/vertical-landing aircraft’s capacities and limitations before it enters theater operations.

The Lockheed Martin-built aircraft is slated for its first combat deployment aboard the USS Essex amphibious assault ship to complement the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s air capabilities and support operations within Centcom’s area of responsibility, the U.S. Marine Corps said Friday.

F-35B is designed to perform full spectrum combat missions and counter adversarial threats to Amphibious Readiness Group/MEU personnel as well as U.S. or coalition assets.

The aircraft’s avionics system works to help pilots view battlefield information in real time and transmit sensor data to commanders in the air, at sea and on land.

“It’s a system of systems that’s flying; its got sensors and anti-axis aerial denial capabilities,” said Lt Col. Jaime Macias, chief of plans at Marine Corps Forces Central Command.