Daily Report

April 14, 2026
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Edited by Greg Hadley with Courtney Albon, J. Michael Dahm and Todd South

Guard Leaders Tell Congress the Air Force Needs 100 New Fighters a Year

By Todd South
National Guard adjutants general from nearly two dozen states have signed a letter to Congress seeking multiyear funding for the Air Force to purchase between 72 and 100 new fighter jets per year to modernize the total force.The letter, sent to Congress last week, stresses the need for the Air Force’s active, Guard, and Reserve to recapitalize their decades-old fighter aircraft with newer jets such as the F-35A Lightning II, F-22 Raptor, F-15EX, and F-47.

What Satellites Reveal about China’s Military Expansion

By J. Michael Dahm
The world is changing—fast. And you don’t need to have exclusive access to bespoke intelligence capabilities to see those changes yourself. Open-source intelligence sources can now inform public debate on national security issues like never before. Commercial satellite imagery accessible with a credit card offers anyone a store of information about economic and military developments in areas once totally obscured to the public, including Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China.

Operation El Dorado Canyon

In Operation El Dorado Canyon, U.S. Air Force F-111s launch from RAF Lakenheath in England, are refueled in the air six times by KC-10 tankers, maintain complete radio silence, and are joined by Navy A-6s in a retaliatory raid against...

Radar Sweep

Flurry of Navy Minesweepers Appear to Be Heading Toward the Middle East

The War Zone

Apair of Avenger class mine-hunters homeported in Japan have been tracked sailing westward out of the Pacific Ocean in recent days. This comes as President Trump and other officials say an operation is taking shape to clear Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, which will be essential to fully reopening that critical waterway.

The Iran War Took a Toll on the Air Force’s Reaper Fleet

Task & Purpose

The MQ-9 Reaper, a staple for the U.S. since the turn of the 21st century, has remained a go-to asset for the military, even as recently as the war with Iran. But over the last few years, the U.S. has lost at least 35 Reaper drones—at least 16 were downed over Iran, 7 were shot by the Houthis in Yemen in Spring 2025, and 12 from other aircraft accidents recorded by the Air Force.

Pentagon CIO Announces New Appointments

DefenseScoop

Pentagon Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies announced several new additions to her team April 10 as she pushes forward with digital transformation efforts at the Defense Department.

Gift link

Saudi Arabia Is Pressing US to Drop Its Hormuz Blockade

The Wall Street Journal

Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table, fearing President Trump’s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes, Arab officials said.