Senior leaders of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps have established a joint task force to identify new tactics for soldiers to engage enemies in the battlefield as part of the service branches’ multi-domain battle concept development effort.

Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, and Marine Gen. Robert Neller have also produced a white paper about the concept that will be sent to Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for approval, the Army said Friday.

The Army Training and Doctrine Command leads the development of the concept that will involve soldiers’ use of land-based missiles to sink ships and utilization of cyber and electromagnetic tactics to help units get inside enemy territory.

Gen. David Perkins, head of the Army Training and Doctrine Command, said that the U.S. Army Pacific and Joint Pacific Command partnered to plan testing of warfighting ideas in the spring.

“I think what you’re absolutely going to find are combat vehicles that have multiple purposes and can operate in multiple modes,” added Perkins.

Brig. Gen. Patrick Doherty, former commander of the 82nd Training Wing at the Air Education and Training Command, has been appointed to lead AETC’s 19th Air Force unit, the Defense Department announced Friday.

He will lead the organization that trains more than 30,000 U.S. and allied aircrews, air battle managers, remotely piloted aircraft crews and weapons directors each year.

Doherty joined the U.S. Air Force in 1987 and previously held various leadership roles within the Air Force Personnel Command, 4th Fighter Wing, 335th Fighter Squadron and U.S. Forces Korea.

He has recorded more than 3,000 flight hours as a command pilot of F-15E, T-38A and B-52G/H aircraft.

He is a recipient of the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Combat Action Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award and the Meritorious Unit Award.

U.S. Army researchers are working develop new portable power technologies that can offer sufficient amounts of energy for extended periods and do not require added size and weight, C4ISR and Networks reported Friday.

John Edwards and Eve Keiser write Ashley Ruth, a chemical engineer at the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s command, power and integration directorate, noted the service branch considers the use of two specific battery models including primary and rechargeable battery technology.

“We want to see improved safety, lower costs, more power, more energy and expanded operating temperature ranges, all while being as small and lightweight as possible,” said Ruth.

“The harsh temperatures and possibility of projectile interaction is a reality for military applications, so we must develop power equipment that can handle extreme conditions without endangering the soldier.”

Army troops currently use the Conformal Wearable Battery technology that supplies centralized power to multiple C4ISR devices, such as the Nett Warrior situational awareness system, via a battery integrated into soldiers’ body armor.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has called for separate assessments of Boeing’s Air Force One aircraft replacement program and the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter aircraft after President Donald Trump raised concerns about the programs’ costs, Bloomberg reported Saturday.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said in a statement the reviews seek to “inform programmatic and budgetary decisions, recognizing the critical importance of each of these acquisition programs” and should start immediately, Nafeesa Syeed, Anthony Capaccio and Rick Clough write.

“We have been responsive in providing information to the Trump administration and we look forward to continuing that dialogue as this process moves forward,” Todd Blecher, a spokesman for Boeing, told Bloomberg in a phone interview.

Mattis said in a directive the deputy defense secretary will be responsible for the F-35 review that aims to identify ways on how to cut the fighter jet’s cost as well as compare the aircraft with Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet’s operational capabilities to determine whether the latter could be updated to serve as an alternative to the Navy’s F-35 version, Bloomberg reports.

The review of the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program aims to evaluate areas that could be targeted for cost-reduction efforts such as aircraft power generation, communications platforms, cooling systems and autonomous operations, according to a report by Rebecca Kheel for The Hill.

The Government Accountability Office said in a March 2016 report the procurement of two new Air Force One planes, which are expected to be operational by 2023, could reach approximately $3.2 billion in total cost, the report added.

President Donald Trump has instructed Defense Secretary James Mattis to perform a 30-day review of the U.S. military’s readiness in the war against the Islamic State militant group, the Washington Post reported Friday.

Dan Lamothe writes Trump also asked Mattis to create a plan to boost readiness by fiscal year 2019 within 60 days from the issuance of the executive order.

The report said the plan will cover strategies to address maintenance backlogs, training range availability, manpower shortages and time management related to military training.

The order also calls for reviews of the Defense Department‘s nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile defense.

Lamothe reported the president wants DoD to evaluate operations against unspecified near-peer competitors.

Trump proposed to grow U.S. Army troops to 540,000; expand the U.S. Navy‘s fleet size to 350 ships; increase the U.S. Marine Corps‘ infantry battalions from 24 to 36; and add approximately 100 U.S. Air Force fighter or attack aircraft during the presidential campaign.