Gen. Daniel Allyn, U.S. Army vice chief of staff, has said the service branch plans to sustain the 11th Combat Aviation Brigade in South Korea and build four Apache battalions under its 2017 budget plan, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Allyn told reporters that the plans are based on recommendations from the National Commission on the Future of the Army that will build on readiness, Jen Judson wrote.

The commission recommended the service branch keep the 11th CAB amid the Army’s decision to cut down to 10 CABs while the four Apache battalions will be given to the Army National Guard.

Allyn further said the Army is developing new technology such as long-range missiles and counter-drone systems, Breaking Defense reported.

He added the service branch initially aims to counter single intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and eventually deny swarm attacks, Sydney Freedberg wrote.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has met with Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman to discuss security matters in the Middle East and other areas of defense cooperation, DoD Buzz reported Monday.

Richard Sisk writes Carter and Lieberman held a closed-door meeting at the Pentagon prior to the latter’s visit to a Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

Lieberman participated in a rollout ceremony of the first Israeli F-35 joint strike fighter on Wednesday, Inside Defense reported.

The Defense Department said in a statement Israel is the first foreign partner recipient of the F-35, which will support the Middle Eastern country’s military.

Sisk reports Carter and Lieberman also discussed Israel’s procurement of the F-35I, with the country’s total order currently at 33.

The Defense Department has officially welcomed Eric Fanning as the new secretary of the U.S. Army during a full-honor arrival ceremony held Monday at Summerall Field on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

Fanning, formerly undersecretary of the Army, was confirmed as the 22nd Army secretary in May after President Barack Obama nominated him to the post in November 2015, the Army said Monday.

“I looked to him to help me recruit and attract a talented and innovative team of civilian and military leaders, many of whom are with us today,” said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Carter added that Fanning and Army Chief of Staff  Gen. Mark Milley will lead the branch at a time when the Islamic State organization, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran pose global-scale threats.

Carter said both Fanning and Milley will jointly oversee the Army through the conflicts in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa and Central and South America amid dwindling budgets.

Randall Walden, director and program executive officer of the U.S. Air Force’s rapid capabilities office, has said the value of the engineering, manufacturing and development contract for the B-21 Long-Range Strike Bomber aircraft should remain classified, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Richard Whittle writes Walden said at a Mitchell Institute event that the disclosure of the EMD contract value would be “too insightful for the adversaries to get a sense of what they can do (and) what the U.S. can do in building that next generation bomber.”

“Releasing that, releasing other things that may be more insightful to our adversaries, I don’t think helps the taxpayer… the warfighter, because all we’re doing is, we’re putting them at risk,” he added.

Vivienne Machi also reports for National Defense that Walden told event attendees in Virginia that the EMD phase of the B-21 bomber program will cost approximately $23.5 billion based on an independent cost estimate.

He also said that the service branch expects to achieve initial operational capability for the B-21 aircraft by 2030 and continue fleet deployment operations through 2060.

Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force vice chief of staff, said during a Senate panel hearing to discuss his nomination for the chief of staff post that he agreed with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) that the service branch should reveal the value of the B-21 development contract.

Northrop Grumman received a contract in October to develop the B-21 plane.