Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that Defense Secretary Ash Carter has assured his U.K. counterpart, Michael Fallon, that the two nations will continue to maintain close defense ties, DoD News reported Friday.

Terri Moon Cronk writes the two countries will also continue their respective roles in global security issues including support for NATO operations against the Islamic State.

“The two leaders committed to work together to strengthen international partnerships that have helped ensure security for the U.S., U.K., Europe and the world,” said Cook.

DoD News noted 246 strikes have been conducted in support of local ground forces in Manbij, Syria since operations began in May. Government forces have also cleared more than 70 percent of Fallujah in Iraq.

DoD officials and counterparts from South Korea and Japan have also discussed strategies to address recent missile launches from North Korea, the report added.

The U.S. Army has completed the final deployment of older Kiowa Warriors that will be replaced by the AH-64D Apaches, Army Times reported Sunday.

Luke Carberry Mogan writes members of 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade have arrived in South Korea for the final service of the OH-58D units and will return to Fort Bragg in nine months.

“Although it is sad to see the aircraft be retired, it is also exciting to see the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade modernize to meet the realities of an evolving mission,” said Capt. Adan Cazarez, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade public affairs officer.

The National Guard will redistribute its Apache units to the army in exchange for UH-60 Black Hawks, as part of the Army’s Aviation Restructuring Initiative that works to retire legacy systems, the report said.

The report noted Apache units features 16 laser-guided Hellfires, 76 Stingers and a front-mounted 30mm chain gun and reaches top speeds of up to 170mph.

Army Times added Apaches can be integrated with unmanned aerial vehicles such as the RQ-7 Shadow UAV for surveillance and other military operations.

Defense officials from U.S., Japan and South Korea have held a discussion via videoconference regarding recent North Korean missile launches believed to have fallen in the Sea of Japan.

DoD News reported Friday Kelly Magsamen, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, Yoo Jeh-seung, South Korea’s deputy defense minister for policy, and Satoshi Maeda, Japan’s director general for defense policy, led the trilateral interagency video conference.

“These and other North Korean missile launches are violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions that explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology,” said Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary.

The report said U.S. Strategic Command officials confirmed the launch of two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles from North Korea.

DoD News added the three defense leaders urged North Korean officials to refrain from “provocative actions” that affect peace and security that can strengthen the resolve of the international community.

U.S. officials will continue to work with, South Korea, Japan and the international community to address the actions of North Korea, the report said.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has said conflicts on Earth can reach space in the future and the U.S. is preparing to address that possibility.

James took part in a breakout session at the Center for a New American Security’s annual conference in Washington to discuss U.S. views and strategies on the space enterprise, the U.S. Air Force said June 20.

James told discussion moderator Elridge Colby that space has become “contested” and “congested” due to an increase in commercial enterprises and countries that engage in space missions.

“From the standpoint of the United States, we are particularly concerned because we see that there are some countries around the world that are investing and testing in ways that are worrisome to us,” said James, a 2016 Wash100 recipient.

“There’s been a lot of momentum that has occurred just in the short two and a half years that I’ve been a direct observer on the scene in terms of strategy and budget and getting our heads around the fact that a future conflict on earth one day could extend to space.”

James further noted potential space attacks can be addressed with military, economic and diplomatic responses which the president will determine after possible consultation with international allies.

The U.S. Air Force is considering whether to adopt United Technologies‘ ACES 5 ejection seat for the F-35 fighter jet as a replacement for the Martin-Baker US16E version, Defense News reported Monday.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the service branch’s lead uniformed acquisition officer, told Defense News the service branch sent a letter to the F-35 Joint Program Office to learn the potential costs and challenges of switching ejection seats, according to the report by Aaron Mehta.

“We believe it is prudent to look at what it would take to qualify the ACES 5 seat as a potential risk mitigation step if additional things happen as we go through the testing of the Martin-Baker seat,” Bunch said.

“We have to have a seat that covers the whole envelope, all the demographics, from lightweight pilots to people who are [heavier], to be able to cover and allow them to be able to get out of the aircraft that we’re going to ask them to operate,” he added.

The F-35’s current ejection seats raised concerns inside the Air Force on safety when the branch learned that pilots weighed under 136 pounds were at a higher risk of injuries during ejection, Mehta noted.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection has begun to collect public comments on a proposal to add a question to U.S. arrival and departure record forms in order to collect information on foreign travelers’ social media identifiers.

CBP said in a Federal Register notice posted Thursday that it will also add the proposed question to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization in compliance with the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 that President Barack Obama signed into law in December as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016.

ESTA is designed for use by foreigners who plan to travel to the U.S. through the Visa Waiver Program.

CBP said in the notice that it plans to collect foreign travelers’ social media data to aid its investigation of “possible nefarious activity and connections.”

The agency noted that it will summarize and submit the feedback to the Office of Management and Budget to facilitate the review and approval process for its data collection request in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Comments to the proposal are due Aug. 22, according to the notice.