The Senate on July 23 confirmed Mark Esper to be the 27th defense secretary by a vote of 90-8, and hours later President Donald Trump officially swore him in during a White House ceremony. Esper sailed through his confirmation process, which officially began eight days before the vote when his name was formally submitted to the Senate. The White House on July 23 also formally nominated Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist to be deputy secretary of defense. Read the full story by Brian Everstine.

The Air Force is setting up a small expeditionary annex to Prince Sultan AB in Saudi Arabia to host fighter aircraft and US Army Patriot missiles. Airmen from 25 different Air Force Specialty Codes are participating in the construction. Air Forces Central Command on July 22 released a video highlighting the construction at the base, being led by Air Force RED HORSE and contingency response airmen. Read the full story by Brian Everstine.

LAS VEGAS—The Air Force wants all the help it can get to tackle a wicked problem like multidomain operations. AFWERX—a multifaceted Air Force group broadening the service’s outreach to small businesses, helping grow startups, and touting fast prototyping over traditional acquisition—is trying to level the playing field so more companies can contribute to the future multidomain enterprise. The organization’s “Fusion Xperience” conference a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip brings together around 120 companies that responded to the Air Force’s call for tools that enable “rapid decision-making and coordinated response across multiple domains.” Startups stand shoulder-to-shoulder with major defense contractors; venture capitalists can scope out potential investment opportunities. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen.

The USS Boxer on July 18 may have downed two Iranian drones, not just one as previously reported, during a “complex” altercation in the Strait of Hormuz, the top US official in the region said. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, told CBS News aboard the USS Boxer that there was “a complex tactical picture, we believe two drones were successfully engaged.” CENTCOM in a statement said the Boxer observed a “splash” for one drone, but didn’t for the other. The Pentagon and President Donald Trump announced July 18 that the Boxer was harassed by an Iranian drone at a close range. The Boxer “took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. McKenzie said he is confident two drones were brought down, but “there may have been more” that the military is not aware of. The July 18 incident is one of a series of recent incidents involving Iran in the Persian Gulf, including last month’s downing of a Navy RQ-4. —Brian Everstine

The National Security Agency’s first-ever cybersecurity directorate, charged with bringing its cyber and foreign-intelligence taskings under a single umbrella and combating risks to America’s defense-industrial base and national security systems, will go operational on October 1. Anne Neuberger, who previously served as the NSA’s deputy operations director and its inaugural chief risk officer, will head the directorate and report directly to agency boss and US Cyber Command boss Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, the agency said in a release. The agency said the new directorate is meant to breathe new life into the agency’s “white hat mission,” which will, in turn, create opportunities for new cybersecurity partnerships and clients. “It will also build on our past successes, such as Russia Small Group, to operationalize our threat intelligence, vulnerability assessments, and cyber defense expertise to defeat our adversaries in cyberspace,” the release said. Additionally, the directorate is expected to foster better collaboration with the agency’s intragovernmental partners, including CYBERCOM, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.––Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Airmen at Whiteman AFB, Mo., have set a new mark for engine mission capability across the entire Active Duty Air Force, and did so with one of the service’s most complex airframes. The 509th Maintenance Group recently reached a 375% war ready engine level for the base’s B-2 stealth bombers, meaning the base has almost four times as many engines ready as needed for the Air Force’s war tasking at a given time, according to an Air Force release. “Their ability to deliver spare engines is critical to ensuring we meet our annual flying hour commitments and, more importantly, the team is delivering safe and reliable aircraft to our aircrew members every time we fly,” Col. Mark Riselli, commander of the 509th MG, said in the release. To reach the goal, airmen said they worked closely with Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Global Strike Command, General Electric, and Northrop Grumman to make sure they had to support, equipment, and parts to improve readiness.