The 30,000-pound GBU-57 bombs, also known as MOPs, used in this assault were designed to attack deep underground targets in locations that are hundreds of feet below ground level. 

Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed reporters at the Pentagon Thursday regarding the military’s planning and execution of the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which marked the first-ever operational employment of the MOP weapon.

Early testing of the MOP began roughly two decades ago under a technology demonstration effort led by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency before being transitioned to the Air Force. Super computers were used for modeling and simulation during the development of the weapon, Caine noted during Thursday’s briefing. The chairman said he met yesterday with two DTRA officers who “spent their life’s work” enabling and demonstrating the complex bombs.

The U.S. used these so-called bunker-buster bombs on two nuclear facilities — in Fordow and Natanz — last weekend. Caine noted that the U.S. targeted ventilation shafts at Iran’s nuclear facility in Fordow.

The MOP is “comprised of steel, explosive and a fuze programmed bespokely [for] each weapon to achieve a particular effect inside the target. Each weapon had a unique desired impact, angle, arrival, final heading and a fuze setting. The fuze is effectively what tells the bomb when to function. A longer delay in a fuze, the deeper the weapon will penetrate and drive into the target,” he explained.

The U.S. military decided to strike two of the ventilation shafts at Fordow as the primary points of entry into the underground facility. In the days preceding the attack, the Iranians attempted to cover the shafts with concrete to try to thwart an attack, according to Caine.

“I won’t share the specific dimensions of the concrete cap. But you should know that we know what the dimensions of those concrete caps were. The planners had to account for this. They accounted for everything. The cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon and the main shaft was uncovered. Weapons two, three, four  [and] five were tasked to enter the main shaft, move down into the complex at greater than 1000 feet per second and explode in the mission space,” he said. “There were six on each side. Weapons number six was designed as a flex weapon to allow us to cover if one of the preceding jets or one of the preceding weapons did not work.”

Two additional MOPs were used on Natanz. A total of 14 were dropped during Midnight Hammer.

During a previous briefing on Sunday, Caine said that early battle damage assessments suggested that the “massive ordnance penetrator” bombs dropped by U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers severely damaged Iran’s nuclear arsenal.

​​On Thursday, he said all of the MOPs used against Fordow went exactly where they were intended to go. 

“A bomb has three effects that causes damage: blast, fragmentation and overpressure. In this case, the primary kill mechanism in the mission space was a mix of overpressure and blast ripping through the open tunnels and destroying critical hardware. The majority of the damage we assess, based on our extensive modeling, was a blast layer combined with the impulse extending from the shock,” he told reporters.

Hegseth criticized recent reporting about an intelligence assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency in the wake of the attacks that suggested the airstrikes might not have damaged Iran’s nuclear program as much as senior Trump administration officials have claimed. Hegseth told reporters that there was “low confidence in this particular report.” 

Caine said the intelligence community is in charge of the battle damage assessments.

“But here’s what we know following the attacks and the strikes on Fordow. First, that the weapons were built, tested and loaded properly. Two, the weapons were released on speed and on parameters. Three, the weapons all guided to their intended targets and to their intended aim points. Four, the weapons function as designed, meaning they exploded. We know this through other means, intelligence means that we have,” Caine said. “We were visibly able to see them. And we know that the trailing jets saw the first weapons function, and the pilot stated, quote, ‘this was the brightest explosion that I’ve ever seen. It literally looked like daylight’” even though the attacks occurred in darkness.

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The event marked the first-ever operational employment of the weapon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Sunday during a press briefing at the Pentagon.

The 30,000-pound GBU-57 bomb, also known as the MOP, is designed to be capable of attacking underground targets. It can reportedly hit locations hundreds of feet below ground level.

“MOP is a large, GPS-guided, penetrating weapon with the ability to attack deeply-buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels. The warhead case is made from a special high‑performance steel alloy and its design allows for a large explosive payload while maintaining the integrity of the penetrator case during impact,” according to an Air Force description of the system.

Due to the bomb’s size and design, it can only be carried by the B-2 bomber. Each B-2 can carry two GBU-57s.

Early testing of the MOP began about 20 years ago under a technology demonstration effort led by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency before the technology was transitioned to an Air Force “quick reaction capability program,” according to a service fact sheet. Boeing was contracted in 2009 for MOP-aircraft integration efforts. In 2017, the MOP transitioned to an Air Force program of record, according to a report by the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation.

Notably, in fiscal 2024, the Air Force conducted two full-scale tests to “verify fixes to a B-2 integration issue,” according to a DOT&E annual report.

The Air Force has been pursuing a MOP modification program to integrate a “smart fuze” capability into the weapon. The so-called Large Penetrator Smart Fuze is intended to provide “increased probability of kill” against hard and deeply buried targets “by mitigating the risk of target intelligence uncertainty,” according to the DOT&E report. Defense officials on Sunday did not say whether the MOPs used in Midnight Hammer were equipped with the smart fuze capability.

Seven B-2s and a variety of other assets were involved in Midnight Hammer, which included U.S. attacks on Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan in Iran, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at Sunday’s press briefing.

Hegseth said the aim of the mission, which was ordered by President Donald Trump, was to “destroy or severely degrade” Iran’s nuclear program. Western officials were concerned that the Iranian regime could use the country’s nuclear materials and know-how to build weapons of mass destruction.

“At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 2:10 a.m. Iran time, the lead B-2 dropped two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons on the first of several aim points at Fordow,” Caine said. “The remaining bombers then hit their targets as well, with a total of 14 MOPs dropped against two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets were struck between 6:40 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. Eastern time … with the Tomahawk missiles [launched from a submarine] being the last to strike at Esfahan to ensure we retain the element of surprise throughout the operation. Following weapons release, the Midnight Hammer strike package exited Iranian airspace, and the package began its return home.”

Fighter jets went in ahead of the bombers to guard against enemy fighter aircraft and surface-to-air missiles. The Defense Department is unaware of any shots being fired at the U.S. military aircraft on their way in or out of Iran, Caine noted.

About 75 precision guided weapons were employed during the operation, including the 14 MOPs, according to Caine.

Dozens of air refueling tankers were also involved in the mission, he noted, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, and hundreds of maintenance and operational personnel.

On Sunday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social that the B-2 pilots who took part in Midnight Hammer had safely returned to their base in Missouri. The mission from Whiteman Air Force Base to Iran and back lasted about 36 hours, with the help of aerial refueling, according to U.S. Strategic Command.

Senior U.S. officials touted the operation as a success.

“The damage to the Nuclear sites in Iran is said to be ‘monumental.’ The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Hegseth described the mission as an “incredible and overwhelming success.”

Caine noted that a final battle damage assessment will take “some time” to complete. However, initial battle damage assessments “indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he told reporters.

Officials in the Trump administration over the weekend said they now hope to have a negotiated settlement to the conflict. They were waiting to see how Iran would respond.

On Monday, Iran launched missile attacks at a U.S. military base in Qatar.

“I can confirm that al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today. At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available,” a U.S. defense official said in a statement.

Updated on June 23, 2025, at 2 PM: This story was updated to include comment from a U.S. defense official about an Iranian missile attack on al Udeid Air Base on Monday.

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Congress funded the F/A-XX project to the tune of $454 million in fiscal 2025. However, the Defense Department wants to slash spending to just $74 million in 2026, according to budget documents viewed by DefenseScoop. Meanwhile, the DOD plans to spend $3.5 billion in the next fiscal year on the Air Force’s next-gen fighter, the F-47.

The 2026 request “slows” the Navy’s program “due to industrial base concerns of two sixth-generation programs occurring simultaneously,” according to the document.

Lawmakers this week expressed concern about the projected cuts.

“We know that in the FY ’25 [continuing resolution] there was $453.8 million … put towards that — I’ll get the number right — and in reconciliation $500 million. So you can see Congress is consistently pushing ahead and saying, ‘This is … where we need to go.’ And we’d be a little surprised if the support for this fell off, especially since we’re looking at the requirements and not seeing any change there,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said Thursday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Wittman asked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who was testifying during the hearing, if the requirements that military officials previously laid out for that platform are still the same.

“As we look at the threat picture out in the Pacific, the requirements themselves I think are still valid. I think it comes down to a question that many of the folks on the committee have talked about, and that’s the ability [for industry] to produce at a particular time. And I’ll defer to my civilian leaders on the timing and synchronization [of] that program. But we do need, you know, capability that is mobile, whether it’s F/A-XX or others, that enable us to win on the battlefield to the future,” Caine replied.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was testifying alongside Caine, said the fiscal 2026 budget request “funds the complete design of F/A-XX.”

However, he suggested the Pentagon is reevaluating plans for the program.

“We’re certainly reviewing it — working with the Joint Staff, working with the [combatant commands] — at its application around the globe. So it’s in the mix, but we recognize we need — we also need a capability as quickly as possible for the threats that we face,” Hegseth said.

Navy officials have said the F/A-XX is expected to be extra stealthy, have significantly longer range than the fighter jets that are currently in the fleet, and incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities.

The service also wants the manned jet to be able to team up with advanced drones.

“It will also, with the integration of AI and other technical advantages, allow us to have increased battle space management. And it will be our next platform that, instead of being man in the loop, will truly be man on the loop and allow us to have fully integrated architecture with our unmanned systems that we’re going to be fielding with concepts like the CCAs — whether it’s those collaborative combat aircraft, the small increased mass, or also teaming with larger unmanned vehicles that we may foresee into the future,” Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, then-director of the air warfare division, N98, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, said at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference in April.

At the same conference, acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby said the Air Force isn’t the only service that needs a sixth-gen fighter for a potential conflict against advanced adversaries like China.

“We need F/A-XX in the United States Navy,” he said. “We’re talking about a fight in the Pacific. We fight together as a joint force, so having that capability is very important for us.”

Many observers had expected the service to award a large development contract to either Boeing or Northrop Grumman in the spring.

However, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, who stepped into his new role in March, told lawmakers Wednesday that officials continue to look at force structure needs for the future.

“As it comes to next-gen fighters … we’re looking at the full composition of the air wing of the future. And so we have to focus on the capabilities and technologies for years to come that are going to win, and that includes manned and unmanned platforms that we have to look at,” he said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

He noted that he also has concerns about the industrial base and how some of the Navy’s other programs are faring.

“I do not have a lot of confidence. All of our programs are in trouble. We have number of companies that are not performing. We’ve got to get those done. So I think looking at this system, sixth-gen is important. And I know it’s important to the admiral [Kilby], he should always give you his best military advice. I think we’re looking at the whole panacea of what we’ve got and then … what makes the most sense to use in the future. And so I think we have to get more confidence in the [industrial] base,” Phelan said.

“This is a system that you know, as I said in my opening statement about readiness, readiness means, like ready, like today and then in the future — and how is that future changing and how do we think about that? And so that’s we’re looking at it, evaluating it, and trying to make sure that we’re not back here in two years saying, ‘We told you it was going to cost X, it’s actually going to be X plus 50, and by the way, it’s going to be late,’” he told the committee.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., said the Pentagon shouldn’t be cutting funding for the F/A-XX.

“We need that money for a lot of reasons,” she said at Wednesday’s HASC hearing. “China is … already testing and flying J-50s and J-36 fighters, which is their sixth-generation fighter. The Navy to be competitive with that has got to make that investment.”

The Trump administration has not yet submitted its full fiscal 2026 budget request to Congress. Lawmakers may end up appropriating much more money for the F/A-XX than the Defense Department proposes.

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The Trump administration announced in April that it awarded a contract to Boeing to build the F-47, a sixth-generation platform that’s part of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance initiative. Officials haven’t publicly disclosed how much Boeing received for the award due to classification of the project.

The DOD hasn’t publicly released full documentation for its 2026 budget request yet. But at a House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Pentagon leaders discussed some of the department’s plans for key programs.

The budget allocates $3.5 billion for the F-47, Hegseth told lawmakers.

The system is being built “to dominate the most capable adversaries and operate in the most perilous threat environments imaginable,” he said in written testimony to the committee.

The platform will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, be more sustainable and supportable, have higher availability, and take less manpower and infrastructure to deploy than the U.S. military’s fifth-gen fighters, he told lawmakers.

“The F-47 will significantly strengthen America’s air power and improves our global position. It will keep our skies secure — even as it ensures we are able to reach out adversaries wherever they may hide,” he said.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in written testimony to the committee that the jet is the world’s first sixth-generation fighter and will offer superior “adaptability” compared to platforms that are currently in the fleet. He asserted that it would ensure “continued U.S. air dominance for decades.”

A graphic shared last month by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin on the social media platform X, indicated that the F-47 will have a combat radius greater than 1,000 nautical miles and a top speed higher than Mach 2. In comparison, the fifth-gen F-22 and F-35A stealth fighters have combat radiuses of 590 nautical miles and 670 nautical miles, respectively. The F-22 has a top speed greater than Mach 2 and the F-35A has a top speed of Mach 1.6, according to the chart.

The service plans to buy upwards of 185 F-47s over the course of the program.

Hegseth also told lawmakers Tuesday that the 2026 budget will “fully fund” the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, which aims to field high-speed, next-generation drones that can fly with manned fighter jets like the F-47 and perform air superiority missions.

“We believe in the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the loyal wingman concept, this idea that you project power more robustly through autonomous [and] semi-autonomous systems … that amplify our lethal effect,” he said.

Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who is performing the duties of Pentagon comptroller and chief financial officer, said the 2026 budget request includes $804 million for CCA.

The Air Force has given fighter designations to the CCA prototypes that General Atomics and Anduril are developing, referred to as YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively. Both companies have started ground testing of their systems, and senior defense officials on Tuesday said first flights are expected to take place before the end of this fiscal year.

According to the graphic shared by Allvin last month, CCAs will be stealthy and have a combat radius greater than 700 nautical miles. Their top speed is classified.

The Air Force plans to buy more than 1,000 of the next-gen drones in increments.

Last week, the service announced that an Experimental Operations Unit for CCA was elevated to a “fully operational squadron equivalent” during a June 5 ceremony at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

According to a press release, the unit will integrate into the Virtual Warfare Center and the Joint Integrated Test and Training Center Nellis to “conduct realistic simulations and refine non-materiel considerations of CCA employment concepts in a virtual environment.” It also plans to conduct “live-fly experiments to verify simulation results and optimize tactics, techniques and procedures.”

“Our experimental operations will ensure that CCA are immediately viable as a credible combat capability that increases Joint Force survivability and lethality,” Lt. Col. Matthew Jensen, EOU commander, said in a statement.

The Air Force aims for the F-47 and CCA drones to be operational before 2030.

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During a keynote address at the AI+ Expo in Washington hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project, which brought together some of the biggest companies in the tech sector as well as smaller vendors with more niche capabilities, Caine suggested legacy systems and old ways of doing business won’t be sufficient for maintaining military superiority in the future.

“Peace in our nation will not be won by the legacy systems that we’ve had or the legacy thinking. It will be determined by the entrepreneurs and innovators and leaders, both in government and out of government, that create overwhelming strength. It will be won by our breakthroughs in AI, cyber, autonomy, space, energy, advanced manufacturing, data, compute, you name it. And we need your help with this,” he said.

New capabilities can improve command-and-control systems, decision-making, mission execution and survivability, he noted. However, the Pentagon needs industry to scale new technology to the point that it becomes a “strategic differentiator.”

U.S. adversaries are sharing tech and intelligence, enabling them to field advanced capabilities faster, he warned.

“And on our end, the barrier for entry for technology, for disruptive tech, is low, but the barrier to government business is high, frankly, too high. And yet, the changing nature and character of warfare is happening right before our eyes. We’ve seen examples of that, most recently as this weekend” when Ukraine attacked Russia’s strategic bombers with cheap drones, Caine said. “We’ve got to go faster, my friends. And that’s mostly, in many cases, on us in … the government. Together, though, we’ve got to be focused on fighting the next war, not fighting the last war, and we need entrepreneurs both in the private sector and in government.”

He added that the Defense Department needs to “do some work” to improve the requirements process and be “better buyers.”

“I know this from my time in the private sector where I tried to sell things to the government when I was an entrepreneur. It’s hard,” Caine said.

He has previously touted his experience in the private sector, including at his confirmation hearing.

After retiring from the military and before his return to service to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Caine was a venture partner at Shield Capital, an advisor for Thrive Capital and a venture partner at Ribbit Capital, among other roles.

The chairman noted that reform efforts are already underway at the Defense Department.

In recent years, the Pentagon has tried to expand its acquisition ecosystem by attracting non-traditional contractors and encouraging investors to back startups working on defense-related technologies.

In his speech Wednesday, Caine pointed to progress made by organizations like the Silicon Valley-headquartered Defense Innovation Unit, which has outposts in major tech hubs across the country and works with nontraditional tech vendors via commercial solutions opening contracting mechanisms.

“We’ve got to drastically scale that capability and that culture inside the joint force, the entrepreneurial culture, which I believe is one of America’s great tools. We’ve got to change our willingness to accept risks, and we’re going to do that,” he said.

The chairman noted that he needs to make sure the joint force is integrated across the globe within the combatant commands and among the services.

“We’ve got to connect them with our interagency allies and partners, including founders and funders, and scale that capability in order to meet the challenges that we need to,” Caine said. “We can do more.”

Caine is a former F-16 pilot who has held a variety of roles throughout his military career, including with the active-duty Air Force, National Guard and the special operations community.

When it comes to relying on advanced tech at the tactical edge, resiliency is key for mission success, he noted.

“My time as a Special Forces officer taught me that two of one thing is [only] one, and one of one thing is none. So we’ve got to be able to build resilient technology [so] that if the power fails or something like that, we’re still capable of doing it,” Caine said.

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Caine will also become a four-star as he steps into his new role as the president’s top military adviser.

President Donald Trump surprised many in February when he announced Caine — a retired Air Force three-star at that time — as his choice for chairman after firing Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown.

Caine is a former F-16 pilot who held a variety of roles throughout his 34-year military career, including with the active-duty Air Force and National Guard, the special operations community and the CIA.

During his confirmation hearing, he also touted his business experience and said he would bring an “entrepreneurial spirit” to the Pentagon as it pursues commercial technologies and other modernization initiatives.

Caine was previously chairman of the national security advisory board at Voyager Space, a venture partner at Shield Capital, an advisor for Thrive Capital and a venture partner at Ribbit Capital, according to his LinkedIn bio.

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Caine could play a key role in making recommendations to Trump about shaking up the Defense Department’s acquisition enterprise and deciding which major programs to cancel. The president earlier this week issued an executive order on “Modernizing Defense Acquisition and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base,” directing DOD leadership to complete a comprehensive review of all major defense acquisition programs, submit a plan to reform the Pentagon’s acquisition processes, and develop a plan to “reform, right-size, and train the acquisition workforce.”

Caine will enter his new job amid an effort by Pentagon leadership to slash DOD’s civilian workforce, conduct a far-reaching regulatory review, examine contracts, and work with DOGE to cut spending that the Trump administration deems wasteful.

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Caine, President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is a former F-16 pilot who held a variety of roles throughout his 34-year military career, including with the active-duty Air Force and National Guard, the special operations community and the CIA.

But at Tuesday’s hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee, he also highlighted his private sector experience.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur and investor in the business sector while a citizen soldier in the National Guard,” Caine noted. “I’ve also had the privilege of serving alongside incredible business leaders, starting and scaling companies as an entrepreneur. And along the way, I learned what a different kind of grit looks like. Our American entrepreneurial spirit is a force multiplier, and my time as an entrepreneur has made me a better general officer and leader. And if confirmed, I’ll bring more of that spirit into the joint force.”

After his recent retirement from the military, Caine became chairman of the national security advisory board at Voyager Space, a venture partner at Shield Capital, an advisor for Thrive Capital and a venture partner at Ribbit Capital, according to his LinkedIn bio.

“I also may be the only officer ever nominated for this position with experience in the venture capital world, an experience I will draw on as the DoD looks to modernize its business systems and revitalize America’s Defense Industrial Base,” Caine wrote in his responses to advance policy questions from senators.

Caine’s confirmation process comes as the Pentagon is trying to buy more technologies from the commercial sector, including software and hardware, and bring more nontraditional companies into its acquisition fold. The department’s Silicon Valley-headquartered Defense Innovation Unit has been spearheading many of these efforts.

Caine told lawmakers that the U.S. commercial marketplace is “teaming with innovative solutions” for defending the nation. However, the biggest challenge is bringing them into the force.

“The Department must work to exploit these solutions via rapid prototyping programs, defense innovation organizations, and congressionally granted authorities,” he wrote.

The DOD needs to make investments that promote resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, closer collaboration with commercial industry, flexible acquisition, and support from international allies and partners, he suggested.

“The Joint Force should re-evaluate its interactions with industry and fight for access to the commercial space, leveraging organizations like the Defense Innovation Unit,” Caine wrote.

The Pentagon’s research and engineering directorate has been focusing on 14 “critical technology areas” as it pursues next-generation capabilities, including hypersonics, FutureG wireless technology, advanced materials, integrated network systems-of-systems, directed energy, integrated sensing and cyber, space technology, quantum science, trusted AI and autonomy, microelectronics, renewable energy generation and storage, advanced computing and software, human-machine interfaces, and biotechnology.

Caine noted that DOD also needs to spend more money on advanced manufacturing technology.

“Investments in advanced manufacturing will have impacts across the listed 14 critical technology areas and enable the United States to produce complex components and systems more quickly and cost effectively. If confirmed, I’ll work with [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth to refine the development and acquisition of these technologies in order to enable rapid employment to meet the needs of the Joint Warfighter to fulfill the Administration’s strategy,” he wrote.

If confirmed, he promised to work with Hegseth and his team to evaluate the budget for next-gen capabilities.

Caine told senators that there’s “room for improvement” in how investments in next-gen capabilities are synchronized across the department.

“There is a lot of good work going on, but I do have some concerns that innovation entities are actually colliding with each other in the incubation process. The DOD must have a greater level of collaboration between entities in order to maximize the return on the [U.S. government’s] invested capital,” he wrote.

He said he’s “encouraged” that there are new leaders coming into the department with substantive business backgrounds. Although he didn’t mention any by name, Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, Navy Secretary John Phelan and other senior officials were wealthy businessmen and investors when they were tapped by Trump to serve on his national security team during his second term.

Pentagon leaders need to have an “entrepreneurial mindset” as they pursue reforms, Caine said.

Trump surprised many in February when he announced Caine, an unconventional pick, as his choice for chairman after firing Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown.

Caine is expected to garner enough votes to get confirmed. Republicans have a majority in the Senate with 53 GOP members. Apart from Hegseth, who narrowly won confirmation in January, Trump’s nominees for top Pentagon posts during his second term have been confirmed by comfortable margins during final voting.

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Hunt-forward operations involve physically sending defensively oriented cyber protection teams from the U.S. military’s Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) to foreign nations at their invitation to look for malicious activity on their networks. These operations are mutually beneficial, officials have said, because they help bolster the security of partner nations and provide Cybercom — and by extension, the United States — advance notice of adversary tactics, allowing the U.S. to harden systems at home against these observed threats.

In responses to lawmakers’ advance policy questions ahead of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine stated that Cybercom hunt-forward missions in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility discovered Chinese Communist Party malware on multiple foreign partner networks.

Southcom’s area of responsibility includes the landmass of Central and South America and adjacent waters and the Caribbean Sea. It encompasses 31 countries, 12 dependencies and “areas of special sovereignty,” according to the command.

These hunt-forward operations are conducted at the invitation of host nations. Details about specific countries where Cybercom conducts these ops are highly sensitive, and permission of the host government must be gained before public disclosure.

It’s no secret that China has interests in South American nations and Beijing has deployed cyber capabilities for a variety of malicious activities.

Cybercom did not confirm or deny the assertion by Caine, noting in a statement it routinely assists partners that request support in securing their cyber posture against foreign malicious activity across all geographic areas of responsibility.

“This strengthens our Allies’ and Partners’ cybersecurity posture, and makes it more difficult for foreign adversaries to threaten all of us. USCYBERCOM’s core mission is to defend the nation in cyberspace. By policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyber operations, plans or intelligence. No operation will be publicly disclosed without the partner nation’s consent,” a Cybercom spokesperson said of hunt forward operations.

Cybercom conducted its first hunt-forward operations in Latin America a couple of years ago. Officials have stated in the past that the CNMF conducts about two dozen defend-forward operations per year with foreign partners on foreign government networks to hunt and find Chinese, Russian and Iranian threats, among others.

In written congressional testimony last year, Cybercom commander Gen. Timothy Haugh noted that CNMF deployed 22 times to 17 nations for hunt-forward ops, with active operations occurring simultaneously in all geographic commands for the first time. Those activities led to the public release of more than 90 malware samples for analysis by host nations’ cybersecurity community.

“Such disclosures can make billions of Internet users around the world safer on-line, and frustrate the military and intelligence operations of authoritarian regimes,” he wrote.

Hunt-forward operations were credited with mitigating the effects of Russian cyber ops against Ukraine during its 2022 invasion. Cybercom sent personnel to Ukraine ahead of the invasion and helped harden their networks.

Caine also addressed, in his policy question responses, the hotly contested debate about the dual-hat arrangement in which the commander of Cybercom is also the director of the National Security Agency. Proponents believe the military can benefit from the unique intelligence insights and resources of NSA, leading to faster decision-making and operational outcomes. Opponents argue the roles are too powerful for one person to hold and relying on the intelligence community’s tools — which are meant to stay undetected — for military activities poses risks to such espionage activity.

Caine told lawmakers he believes the dual-hat should be maintained, agreeing with the findings of a 2022 study that found the role should be strengthened as well.

“The Dual-Hat arrangement provides the ability to look across both organizations and has empowered both USCYBERCOM and NSA to fulfill their missions better than each could do alone. It promotes agility and enables intelligence to be operationalized rapidly,” he wrote. “It also facilitates relationships with key foreign allies and partners in part because the corresponding foreign organizations with signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cyber operations missions are fully integrated, operating under a Dual-Hat leadership structure. The span of control, does however, place a burden on one leader.”

Ahead of his own confirmation hearing in January, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote to senators that he would “bring these debates to conclusion, consult with Congress, and make final recommendation for the way ahead.”

At the end of the first Trump administration, officials made a last ditch effort to sever the dual-hat, but it ultimately was not brought to fruition. Press reports prior to Trump’s inauguration for his second term indicated the administration wants to end the dual-hat relationship.

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Caine is more of a mystery than some previous nominees for the post who held more high-profile positions prior to being picked for the job. He recently retired from the Air Force as a three-star and he’s never served as a combatant commander, service chief or vice chief, although he held a variety of roles during his long military career.

Trump surprised many in February when he announced Caine as his choice for chairman after firing Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, who had been elevated to that position by President Joe Biden.

The commander-in-chief officially submitted Caine’s nomination to the Senate March 10, and the nominee has been meeting privately with lawmakers in the run-up to Tuesday’s hearing.

Caine’s oral and written testimony will offer the public and members of the national security community more insights into his thinking on a variety of defense issues.

Here are a few of the hot topics that may come up when the nominee goes under the spotlight:

SignalGate

There is bipartisan concern among lawmakers about a recent incident that came to light when it was revealed by the Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg that he was included in a message chain on Signal — an encrypted but unclassified messaging app — where some of the president’s closest advisers discussed forthcoming strikes targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. The group included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, national security adviser Michael Waltz and other officials.

Some have dubbed the controversy “SignalGate”.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Ranking Member Jack Reed, D-R.I., sent a letter last week to the Pentagon’s acting inspector general requesting a probe of the incident and raising questions about the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information and sharing such info with people who don’t have proper security clearance.

Although Caine wasn’t involved in the controversial Signal chat, he may be asked his opinions on the use of certain information technologies by DOD officials for communications and related security issues.

Current and former defense officials told DefenseScoop last week that SignalGate underscores a need for secured chat options for government and military insiders.

AI and autonomous weapons

Caine will have a forum at the hearing to air his views on the Defense Department’s modernization initiatives, which are wide-ranging and include new weapons platforms as well as software, networking tools and other enablers.

Of particular interest to some will be his perspective on using artificial intelligence and highly autonomous systems for military applications.

Pentagon leaders are keen on developing and deploying AI capabilities for back-office functions and battlefield operations. However, there have been longstanding concerns about the risks involved with allowing military platforms — particularly lethal ones — to have a large degree of autonomy.

The Defense Department defines an autonomous weapon system as “a weapon system that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by an operator. This includes, but is not limited to, operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems that are designed to allow operators to override operation of the weapon system, but can select and engage targets without further operator input after activation.”

Meanwhile, the military is also exploring generative AI technology, including large language models.

For example, the Defense Information Systems Agency is launching an experimental cloud-based chatbot for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command that will allow users to test the tool on classified networks.

However, there are concerns in the national security community and elsewhere about the potential downsides of genAI, including the risk of “hallucinations” where models produce inaccurate, misleading or biased results that could create problems for the humans who are trying to leverage them.

Caine may offer his views on the best use cases for AI and any guardrails that he feels are important to mitigate risks.

DOGE

The Pentagon, like other federal agencies, is pursuing controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, which include cuts to programs and the workforce.

Pentagon leadership is aiming to reduce DOD’s civilian workforce by 5-8 percent — or upwards of 50,000 employees — via multiple pathways.

On March 28, Hegseth signed a new memo about “Initiating the Workforce Acceleration and Recapitalization Initiative.” The SecDef is reopening the deferred resignation program and also offering early retirement to eligible civilian workers as he seeks to “maximize participation.”

Hegseth has also instituted a civilian hiring freeze — while allowing for some exemptions — and the department intends to fire certain probationary workers.

The Pentagon chief has said he wants to reinvest the savings from these efforts into high-priority warfighting capabilities.

Caine will likely be asked for his views on DOGE and other personnel issues, which could include how he thinks any savings should be reinvested and which parts of the workforce should be protected from cuts.

Combatant command reorg

The U.S. military has seven geographic combatant command: Indo-Pacific Command, European Command, Central Command, Africa Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Space Command.

The other CoComs include Cyber Command, Special Operations Command, Strategic Command and Transportation Command.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Pentagon officials are considering consolidating some of the combatant commands, including folding together U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command as well as Southern Command and Northern Command — among other organizational changes — as a cost-cutting measure.

Wicker and others have expressed concerns about such reports. It would be surprising if members of the Senate Armed Services Committee didn’t ask Caine for his views on how such a reorganization of the CoComs and other components would impact readiness and U.S. military capabilities.

America’s role on the world stage

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of Caine’s most important tasks would be to provide the president advice on international conflicts and tensions.

At Tuesday’s hearing, he’ll have an opportunity to offer his thoughts on various geopolitical hotspots — from the war in Ukraine to tensions with China in the Pacific.

Caine’s confirmation process is taking place as the Pentagon is trying to prepare for a potential fight with the People’s Liberation Army, a highly advanced adversary. Some U.S. officials are concerned that Chinese forces may try to invade Taiwan sometime in the next few years. In such a scenario, the United States could be draw into a major war in the region.

However, the American military is also being tasked to conduct operations in the Middle East against groups like the Houthis and ISIS. Meanwhile, tensions are running high with Iran after Trump recently threatened to bomb the country if it doesn’t reach a deal regarding its nuclear program.

The Trump administration is also pushing Europeans to take on more of the leadership burden in NATO as Washington seeks to focus more on the Indo-Pacific and the homeland. At the same time, it’s pressuring Ukraine to reach a peace agreement with Russia, but some lawmakers, including Wicker, are wary of Moscow’s intentions.

Meanwhile, Trump has expressed interest in annexing Greenland and asserting American control over the Panama Canal. And closer to home, U.S. troops have been deployed to the border with Mexico to bolster security and the administration has designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Historically, as uniformed military officers, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been expected to be apolitical and nonpartisan. Nevertheless, Caine may face questions from lawmakers trying to gauge his level of support for the MAGA and America First movements.

Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, previewed a potential line of questioning during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” in February.

“There are obviously a great many questions that we’re going to raise with him, but I think we have to give him the opportunity to make his case and also to make clear that he is going to be willing to speak truth to power, willing to give his best military advice to the president, not just tell the president what he wants to hear — and also to be open and share with the Congress the facts on the ground, not be a political spokesperson for the president. So those are part of the issues that we’ll address as we go forward,” Reed said.

Barring a disastrous permanence at the hearing, Caine is expected to garner enough votes to get confirmed. Republicans have a majority in the Senate with 53 GOP members. Apart from Hegseth, who narrowly won confirmation in January, Trump’s nominees for top Pentagon posts during his second term have been confirmed by comfortable margins during final voting, including his picks for deputy secretary of defense, secretary of the Army and secretary of the Navy.

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His confirmation hearing, scheduled for April 1, will be Caine’s most high-profile public appearance since Trump plucked him from relative obscurity after firing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown and announcing his intent to nominate Caine to replace him.

Trump officially submitted his nomination to the Senate on March 10.

If confirmed, Caine would become a four-star general and Trump’s top military adviser amid international conflicts and a major modernization push by the Defense Department to acquire new AI capabilities and other high-tech systems, as well as buy software and other tools more rapidly. The Pentagon is also in the midst of DOGE reviews, hiring freezes and efforts to reduce the DOD’s civilian workforce by more than 50,000 people.

Caine was an unconventional choice to take on the U.S. military’s top role. He had already retired from the military and didn’t hold a four-star rank before being tapped.

Trump has praised Caine for his efforts to combat the ISIS terrorist group during his first administration.

“He’s a real general, not a television general,” Trump said in February during remarks at an investment summit in Miami. “We have the greatest military in the world, but we don’t have the greatest top, top leadership.”

The nominee is a Virginia Military Institute graduate and former F-16 fighter pilot, who held a variety of roles during his decades-long military career. His last assignment was associate director for military affairs at the CIA, which ended in December 2024, according to his Air Force bio.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” in February that he wasn’t familiar with Caine, who will be subject to “careful review” by the committee.

“There are obviously a great many questions that we’re going to raise with him, but I think we have to give him the opportunity to make his case and also to make clear that he is going to be willing to speak truth to power, willing to give his best military advice to the president, not just tell the president what he wants to hear — and also to be open and share with the Congress the facts on the ground, not be a political spokesperson for the president. So those are part of the issues that we’ll address as we go forward,” Reed said.

Barring a poor performance at the hearing or unflattering revelations about his prior conduct, it’s likely that Caine will be confirmed. Trump’s most controversial nominee for a top Pentagon post during his second term, Pete Hegseth, narrowly won confirmation as secretary of defense in January despite unanimous opposition from Democrats in the Senate.

After recently meeting with Caine, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement saying the nominee had his full support and would help “Make Our Military Great Again” as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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