Congress will authorize the Defense Department secretary to raise the number of ground-based interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Fort Greely in Alaska by up to 28 in an effort to counter missile threats posed by Iran and North Korea, Defense News reported Friday.

The fiscal 2018 defense policy bill’s congressional conference report would also direct the DoD secretary to create a draft plan for future GBI capacity at any location determined in the ballistic missile defense review that is set to be released by the end of the year.

The report noted that existing missile fields could accommodate 104 GBIs and that the Pentagon should carry out construction work to ensure that existing missile fields can support additional interceptors.

DoD should submit within 90 days of the review’s release a report on alternatives to boost the capability of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense platform and meet infrastructure needs to raise the number of GBIs across the country, the conference report added.

The U.S. Army has developed networked acoustic emission sensors designed to scan an H-60 Black Hawk for airframe damage.

The Army said Thursday, Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center have developed a technology that can instantly notify flight crew on structural damage upon occurrence.

The effort began around 2015 with the ARL’s studies on rotorcraft airframe health monitoring.

“Future Army airframe structures are required to be lighter, safer and ultra-reliable,” said Mulugeta Haile, research aerospace engineer at the ARL.

“To achieve these the Army must adopt a combined strategy of implementing advanced structural design methods, improved structural materials and integrated damage sensing and risk prediction capabilities,” he added.

Haile also stated that they chose acoustic emission because other methods including ultrasonic and radiography still require an external energy source which may affect other systems within the aircraft.

Haile, along with a team consisting of Jaret Riddick, Nathaniel Bordick and other ARL partners, worked together to clarify the the mechanisms of the full-scale damage detection system that employs signal distortion control parameters, acquisition timing control and 3-D printed sensor capsules.

The Army currently makes use of the phase maintenance paradigm method for aircraft sustainment.

The phase maintenance paradigm requires scheduled inspection and maintenance, making the method costly and inefficient.

The Army’s new damage detection technology may cut maintenance costs and enable repairs to commence upon demand.

The Senate approved Mark Esper, vice president of government relations at Raytheon, to serve as U.S. Army secretary through an 89-6 vote Wednesday, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.

His confirmation came four months after President Donald Trump nominated him for the service’s top civilian post.

“I’m also confident that [Esper] will call upon his experience in the private sector to bring a reform mindset to the many challenges facing our Army such as the readiness crisis and the urgent gaps in capabilities and modernization,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona).

Esper previously served at the Defense Department as deputy assistant secretary for negotiations policy under the administration of former President George W. Bush and as a staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Armed Services panels.

He is a retired lieutenant colonel who served in the Army for over two decades.