The Marine Corps Systems Command has partnered with U.S. Army‘s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory to explore methods to increase the mobility and performance of U.S. Marines’ M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle platform in extreme cold weather conditions.

The Army said Monday the project could last up to three years and will initially analyze the vehicle’s performance and limitations when it operates in a harsh environment.

MCSC and CRREL will also collaborate to develop laboratory test methods, while the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and its NATO partners will work to evaluate concurrent mobility investigations.

Hercules is designed to help military personnel recover different kinds of disabled and damaged vehicle such as  M1A1 Abrams tanks.

“CRREL is excited to help the Marines improve the M88’s mobility in cold regions and possibly extend that improvement to soft, muddy environments as well,” said Jared Oren, chief of CRREL’s engineering resources branch.

Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to discuss security challenges and mutual interests with some of his counterparts in Asia-Pacific during his visit to the region this week.

He will participate in the three-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers Meeting in the Philippines that will run through Wednesday, the Defense Department said Sunday.

Mattis will then lead a U.S. presidential delegation that includes Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to Thailand, to attend the royal cremation rites of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Thursday in Bangkok.

His APAC trip will conclude with an attendance to the 49th Security Consultative Meeting in South Korea, which Mattis will co-chair with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo.

Elaine Duke, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has discussed counterterrorism efforts with foreign leaders during a visit to the U.K. and a meeting of senior officials from G7 nations in Italy.

DHS said Saturday Duke met with her British counterpart Amber Rudd and with top officials from the U.K. Home Office to discuss terrorist threats and forge agreements on transatlantic cooperation.

Duke and Rudd agreed to work with technology companies on digital efforts to combat terrorists; help non-government partners counter terrorist trends and tactics through joint threat assessments and briefings; and collaborate on aviation security initiatives.

The interim DHS secretary also joined talks on information sharing; challenges posed by foreign fighters; and the push to mitigate online terrorist recruitment and radicalization during the G7 Interior Ministers’ Meeting in Ischia, Italy.

The gathering included representatives from technology companies such Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.

Duke also held bilateral meetings with leaders from Italy, Canada, France and the European Union to talk about existing partnerships on counterterrorism and aviation security as well as plans to expand such efforts.

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Trent Edwards has been assigned as director of budget operations and personnel at the service branch’s Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget.

The Defense Department said Friday Edwards most recently served as director of programming and financial management and comptroller at the Air Force Space Command, where he managed an approximately $10 billion budget for operations, maintenance and investment efforts in the military space and cyber areas.

He also led AFSPC’s efforts to establish a Program Objective Memorandum and provide accounting, financial planning and audit services to more than 35,000 space and cyberspace personnel.

The 27-year Air Force veteran previously commanded two controller squadrons, a mission support group, an air base wing and training wing as well as served as aide de camp to the Commander Air Education and Training Command and senior military assistant to the DoD comptroller.

Edwards was also deployed to Cuba as chief of staff for the Office of the Administrative Review of Enemy Combatants, Iraq as CJ8 to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force and Afghanistan as CJ8 for the NATO Training Mission/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, commander of the Pacific Air Forces, has emerged as the leading candidate to serve as the next chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, sources told Defense News.

O’Shaughnessy’s potential nomination and confirmation to the post would be the first time U.S. Navy officials would be passed over to lead PACOM, Defense News reported Friday.

He was appointed to serve as head of the Pacific Air Forces, PACOM air component commander and executive director of the Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff in 2016.

The 31-year military veteran previously served as deputy commander of U.S. forces in Korea and head of Air Component Command in the East Asian country for two years.

O’Shaughnessy is former director for operations at PACOM headquarters in Hawaii and former deputy chief for politico-military affairs for Asia on the Joint Staff.

The report noted that Adm. Phil Davidson, Fleet Forces commander, has come out as the Navy’s likely nominee to succeed current PACOM chief Adm. Harry Harris, who is expected to retire in 2018.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has called on Congress to authorize another round of base realignment and closures, DoD Buzz reported Friday.

“We have studied shortcomings of previous rounds and are confident the savings generated by a new BRAC in 2021 would save $2 billion or more annually,” Mattis wrote in the letter to heads of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

The Defense Department said in a congressional report accompanying Mattis’ letter DoD has failed to receive authorization to conduct a BRAC analysis for more than 14 years and that the military has approximately 20 percent in excess infrastructure.

The report also showed that the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force have approximately 29 percent and 28 percent in excess buildings and facilities followed by the Defense Logistics Agency at 13 percent and the U.S. Navy at 6 percent, The Hill reported.

“I must be able to eliminate excess infrastructure in order to shift resources to readiness and modernization,” Mattis wrote in the letter.