Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 29, 2017

Washington Post: Amid reports of increased civilian deaths, military says no changes to air rules

The U.S. military is not considering immediate changes to procedures governing airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, officials said on Monday, as the Pentagon defends the conduct of its air campaign against the Islamic State following a spike in reported civilian deaths.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command (Centcom), “is not looking into changing the way we operate, other than to say our processes are good and we want to make sure we live by those processes,” said Col. John Thomas, a spokesman for the command.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Thomas said that Centcom, which oversees the campaigns in Iraq and Syria, sought to use existing military guidelines “to discriminate appropriately civilian targets from military targets.”

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 29, 2017

U.S. denies loosening rules for avoiding civilian casualties in Mosul fight against ISIS -- CBS/AP

GOP lawmakers defend Trump military rules of engagement -- The Hill

Why the Spike in Civilian Casualties of US Military Action? -- Oona Hathaway, Newsweek

White House looks at stepping up military role in Yemen -- CNN

Trump: US troops 'fighting like never before' in Iraq -- CNN

Report: China's Man-Made S. China Sea Islands Nearly Complete -- AP

China has every right to deploy military assets on Spratly Islands – Beijing -- RT

US sees a resurgent Russian military expanding into Afghanistan, Libya -- CNN

Putin beefs up number of troops in military to nearly 2 mln -- TASS

Some 20 Topol-M, Yars mobile ICBM systems take part in massive Central Russian drills -- TASS

Is Russia Building a Nuclear-Powered Supercarrier? -- Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat

Satellite images may show North Korea readying for nuke test -- AP

Israel Upgrades Its Warships to Brace for Hezbollah Rockets -- Sputnik

U.K., France join forces for new anti-ship weapon -- UPI

Reforms planned for Germany's military after sex abuse scandal -- DW

German military carrying out structural reforms after sexual abuse scandal -- Reuters

German government finds eight alternatives to Incirlik military base in Turkey -- DW

Norway Inks Deal to Buy P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Planes From US -- Sputnik

Top US general in Europe says he hasn't briefed Trump on Russia -- The Hill

In Leadership Push, Navy Nixes Most Computer-Based General Training -- Military.com

Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman complete MAPS test -- UPI

Navy, Marines fighter jet shortfall may top 100 aircraft -- Washington Examiner

Will The Air Force B-21 Bring New, Next-Generation Stealth Technology? -- Scout Warrior

F-22 Pilots Welcome End of Old Missile on New Fighter -- Defense Tech

Trump names new head of F-35 program -- The Hill

Trump’s Favorite Fighter Jet Keeps Starving Pilots of Oxygen -- Bloomberg

US 'Walking on the Razor's Edge' by Building Global Missile Defense Shield -- Sputnik

Get Ready, Russia and China: The U.S. Military Has Big Plans to Sink the World's Navies -- Kris Osborn, National Interest

Are social media and the military incompatible? -- Chad Storlie, Washington Examiner

This Is How Russian Hackers Will Attack the US Next -- Nicole Softness, Defense One

Donald Trump, Palantir, and the crazy battle to clean up a multibillion-dollar Military procurement swamp -- Steven Brill, Fortune