The U.S., Japan and South Korea have begun a three-day naval defense missile exercise amid threats that North Korea may conduct a fire-test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Stars and Stripes reported Friday.

Kim Gamel writes the U.S. Navy’s Japan-based USS Stethem Arleigh Burke-class destroyer started the missile defense drills Friday with South Korea’s Sejong the Great guided-missile destroyer and Japan’s JDS Kirishima destroyer off the coast of the South Korean peninsula and Japan.

“The U.S. Navy continually seeks every occasion to strengthen relationships and interoperability with participating allies and partners while further developing maritime capabilities and capacity,” said Lt. Josh Kelsey, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Forces Korea.

Kelsey added the Aegis system-equipped vessels did not fire any missiles as they work to counter simulated threats in the 7th fleet area of operations, Gamel reports.

According to the Yonhap news agency, the exercise marks the third time the three countries have conducted similar missile defense drills.

The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group and approximately 6,000 sailors were scheduled Saturday to depart Norfolk, Virginia, and Mayport, Florida, for deployment.

The U.S. Navy said Thursday the deployment is part of a regular troop rotation that seeks to support crisis response, maritime security and theater security cooperation efforts as well as advance naval presence in both 5th and 6th fleet areas.

Rear Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander of the carrier strike group 2, leads GHWBCSG that is composed of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) aircraft carrier, CSG-2 staff and Carrier Air Wing 8’s nine squadrons and personnel.

Guided-missile cruisers USS Hue City (CG 66) and USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) as well as destroyer squadron 22’s staff and guided-missile destroyers USS Truxtun (DDG 103) and USS Laboon (DDG 58) also operate under CSG-2.

The service branch noted that CVW-8’s nine squadrons that include VFA-31 “Tomcatters” and VFA 213 “Fighting Black Lions” will leave several bases such as the Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida and NAS Oceana in Virginia.

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has demonstrated the flight capacities of a new “Hoverbike” electric quadcopter aerial resupply vehicle prototype designed to deliver supplies to warfighters in the battlefield.

The military service said Tuesday the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle was shown to William Roper, director of the strategic capabilities office at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and his staff members during their visit to the Aberdeen Proving Ground Laboratory.

“I think the visit was a great success… It gave us an opportunity to showcase to Dr. Roper ideas and also the progress we’ve been making in exploiting commercial UAS technologies.” said Tim Vong, associate chief of ARL’s protection division.

JTARV is intended to fly at ground-level or at high altitudes at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour upon its completion as Army researchers look into developing a hybrid propulsion system they believe could increase the vehicle’s range.

“We’re exploring increasing payload capacity to 800 pounds and extending the range up to 125 miles,” said Vong.

He added that JTARV team is also working on implementing an intelligent and mission planning program to the vehicle to support various operations.

JTARV is a joint effort between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Army and is being developed at the latter’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center in New Jersey.

Army Secretary Eric Fanning estimates it would cost $12 billion to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to increase the number of the service branch’s active-duty officers from 465,000 to 540,000, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Anthony Capaccio writes Fanning’s estimation is based on a formula that assumes that every additional 10,000 troops would require $1.6 billion to cover recruitment, military construction and equipment costs as well as annual expenditures and modernization needs.

Fanning told Bloomberg in an interview that he believes Army soldiers can grow into a “less effective, less capable force” if they are added without necessary resources.

He also warned that accelerated growth in force size may lead to enlistment of under-qualified recruits.

The U.S. Defense Department has spent a total of $10.72 billion on the air campaign against the Islamic State militant group since operations started in June 2014, DoD Buzz reported Thursday.

Oriana Pawlyk writes DoD’s latest figures indicate total spending on Operation Inherent Resolve has almost doubled from the $5.5 billion reported in 2015.

The U.S. Air Force accounted for approximately 67 percent of the costs while the U.S. Army paid for 17 percent; the U.S. Navy shouldered 12 percent; and the Special Operations Command contributed 8 percent, Pawlyk reported.

Forty percent of total costs covered air support; munitions accounted for 22 percent; and 19 percent went to logistical support, DoD Buzz stated.