The Department of Homeland Security has created an office that will work to streamline its efforts to prevent terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction against U.S citizens and interests.

The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office will consolidate key functions and steer DHS’ strategy against WMD threats under the leadership of James McDonnell, director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, the department said Thursday.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the creation of an office to unify intelligence, operations, interagency collaboration and international action is essential to address evolving terrorism.

CWMD aims to facilitate increased policy coordination, strategic planning and visibility into missions to stop national security threat actors that use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents and devices.

DHS noted intelligence analysis reports that indicate terrorists and non-state entities are utilizing battlefield environments to tests WMD capabilities previously accessible only to nation states.

Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke is scheduled to provide additional details on the CWMD Office at the Hudson Institute on Dec. 13.

The U.S. Air Force has received its newest Lockheed Martin-built C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which will support the military branch’s aircraft upgrade efforts.

The Air Force said Tuesday a team from the 37th Airlift Squadron brought the C-130J aircraft to Ramstein Air Base in Germany from Lockheed’s production facility in Marietta, Georgia.

The new plane will replace one of 14 C-130Js at Ramstein AB to mitigate potential issues with the aging fleet.

The Air Force regularly rotates aircraft among its units to extend service life as part of the Enterprise Fleet Management strategy.

C-130J is an updated version of the C-130 Hercules model and is designed to expand fuselage by 15 feet as well as extend usable space in the cargo compartment.

The upgraded aircraft also features a fully-pressurized cargo hold that supports rapid configuration for transporting troops, stretchers and passengers or airdropping forces and equipment into battle zones.

C-130J works to support medical evacuation, humanitarian, airdrop, cargo delivery, firefighting, aerial refueling, aerial spray and arctic operations.

The Defense Department is halfway through a cross-government review of the national security industrial base and expects working groups to come up with draft recommendations this month, Breaking Defense reported Monday.

An administration official said Peter Navarro, a White House adviser, and his staff will analyze, synthesize and assemble those recommendations into a report that is slated for submission to the president by April.

DoD’s office of manufacturing and industrial base policy led by deputy assistant secretary Eric Chewning and principal deputy chief Jerry McGinn oversees the review in collaboration with the departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, Interior and other federal agencies.

The official noted that the industrial base review will cover vaccine production, shipbuilding, strategic minerals, microchips and the U.S. workforce.

The review is part of an executive order Trump signed in July that seeks to evaluate the U.S. manufacturers’ capacity to support the defense industrial base and assess the availability of skilled labor to keep factories running.

The U.S. Navy has decided to deploy Littoral Combat Ships and Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport vessels instead of reactivating Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates to support U.S. Southern Command operations, USNI News reported Monday.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer asked Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, to send at least four LCS and T-EPF units to aid anti-trafficking missions of Southcom’s Joint Interagency Task Force South in 2018.

Spencer wrote the request in an internal memo obtained by USNI News.

“We discussed the idea of reactivating FFG-7 ships, but the process of evaluating alternatives identified better solutions using LCS and T-EPF ships,” Spencer noted.

SOUTHCOM conducts monitoring and armed support operations to stop illegal trade in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.