Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 6 described the performance of the air force in parts of the country as “unsatisfactory,” and said that steps are being taken to improve the response to large-scale Russian drone barrages of civilian areas.
The Trump administration on Feb. 6 alleged that China has conducted nuclear tests with low explosive power, challenging Beijing’s claims that it has upheld an international agreement that prohibits all nuclear tests.
China launched its experimental reusable spacecraft for the fourth time, once again maintaining strict secrecy around the mission. State media Xinhua announced the launch of reusable experimental spacecraft via a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Feb. 7 local time without providing a time for liftoff.
Two days after Elon Musk's SpaceX launched Starlink verification and blocked unverified terminals in Ukraine, the pace of Russia's offensive appears to be slowing, a Ukrainian military official told POLITICO.
U.S. President Donald Trump inked a new executive order, calling for national production interests to be taken into greater account when the U.S. sells foreign nations weapons, creating a new list of platforms to push on the market, and prioritizing arms sales for countries who invest more in their own defense spending.
Singapore is slated join the F-35 operator club once the first of its Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters enter service later this year, becoming the fourth Asia-Pacific nation to fly the fifth-generation fighter.
The Mitchell Institute team explores the top defense issues in Washington, D.C. and beyond. Topics include a defense budget update, the new National Defense Strategy, Department of the Air Force acquisition reforms, plus the latest in spacepower—everything from the SDA tracking layer to congestion with launch.
A top service official at the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command recently attempted to reassure skeptics that the service’s new space career field will not interfere with the Space Force’s missions. “It is not like we’re trying to encroach on their requirements, or their mission set,” Col. Felix Torres, commandant of the Army’s SMDC Center of Excellence, said in a recent interview.
The Air Force now prohibits Airmen from wearing Meta AI glasses and similar devices in uniform due to operational security risks. However, guidelines across the Defense Department regarding their use varies, with some services even experimenting with how smart glasses can improve certain missions.
The entire U.S. military is now pushing to acquire hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new drones, especially smaller types, in the coming years, spurred on by new direction from the Pentagon. In turn, a demand for new containerized launchers capable of rapidly deploying and, if need be, recovering those uncrewed aerial systems has now emerged.
President Donald Trump has taken the unusual step of tapping military leaders for high-level diplomacy, sending the top U.S. commander in the Middle East to talks over Iran’s nuclear program and positioning the Army secretary as a key negotiator on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Look closely at the commemorative flight suit patch for Super Bowl LX and you’ll notice what appears to be an anomaly: while the military aircraft flyover on Sunday is set to include Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighters alongside Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning fighters, the patch includes silhouettes of another advanced fighter jet: the Air Force F-22 Raptor. According to a planner for the flyover, that’s not a mistake, but evidence of operational needs taking priority.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are now underway in Italy, with more than 230 Americans on Team USA. And a sizeable number of those athletes and coaches are Active-Duty military.
