The United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran on July 12 over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing earlier in the weekend. Iran responded with attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman—the nation on the other side of the strait that Tehran has pressed to collaborate in managing shipping traffic.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is pushing its contractors to purge all Anthropic products from their systems by Sept. 1, almost a month ahead of a Defense Department-wide deadline, according to memos obtained by Breaking Defense.
Asked to picture an autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), most will describe the same thing: an unmanned, armed jet-powered drone flying alongside a manned fighter. That picture is already out of date. The CCA of 2030 will likely look less like a flying weapons magazine and more like the proverbial Swiss Army knife that can conduct electronic warfare in one sortie, relay targeting data in another, and loiter over contested territory doing missions that no manned fighter could risk doing.
Air Force leaders have clearly stated that it's time to think about resetting their mobility aircraft inventory—both tankers and airlifters. These mission sets are crucial for empowering modern military power. We chat with JetZero president and chief operating officer Dan Da Silva about how blended wing body technology could better meet these requirements going forward. We also discuss the importance of expanding America’s aerospace innovation and production capacity, including introducing new types of designs, adapting to new operational paradigms, or expanding the workforce where America builds airplanes.
The United States is already testing Ukrainian-made aerial and maritime drones and has given Kyiv “very positive feedback,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said July 9, the clearest sign yet that a long-stalled drone-production deal with Washington worth billions is moving ahead.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has tapped more than 120 organizations to compete for millions of dollars in prize money at a drone competition slated for early next month.
The Kremlin said on July 10 that Russia was in touch with Turkey about the fate of Russian S-400 missile systems which Ankara owns after a news outlet reported that Turkey was poised to transfer the air defense missiles to an unnamed Gulf country.
On July 10, federal agents delivered grand jury subpoenas to four New York Times journalists, arriving in some cases at their homes, days after the paper reported the Secret Service had urged President Donald Trump to leave Turkey aboard an older jet rather than his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
Seconds after an Iranian drone struck his unit’s operations center in Kuwait, an Army general responsible for the troops inside got up from the floor, grabbed his protective vest and helmet, and shouted an order to a Soldier beside him: “Get out!”
For four years, Russia has bet on outlasting Ukraine in a war of attrition. Now, as Kyiv’s drones inflict growing damage on both Russia’s army and oil industry, Moscow is finding out that time isn’t necessarily on its side.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was elected to the Senate in 2002 and was a close political ally of President Donald Trump, has died, his office confirmed early July 12. He was 71. ... Graham was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was seeking a fifth six-year Senate term in November. He was one of the most well-known members of the chamber and a key voice within the party on defense and foreign policy.
For the crew of a fishing vessel, time was the enemy. A fisherman onboard the Azteca 5, a Mexican-flagged ship sailing in the Pacific, had suffered “traumatic injuries” on July 6. The Azteca 5 and its sister ship the Franz were out at sea, roughly 700 nautical miles from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. ... That day, Coast Guard District 11 picked up their distress call and alerted members of the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing. A team of aircraft crewmen and pararescuemen or PJs quickly organized.
