The White House has directed federal agencies that they have 30 days to remove TikTok from all government-issued devices. Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in guidance issued Feb. 27 that all executive agencies, and those they contract with, must delete any application from TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, within 30 days of the notice, with few exceptions.
This will be the year that the law is changed to allow all medically retired veterans to receive full retirement and disability checks—not just veterans with more than 20 years of service, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) vowed Feb. 28. “This is a top priority for nearly every veterans service group,” Tester, the chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said during a news conference. “We’ll take our marching orders from them. They're the folks that served.”
The Pentagon will have secure access to leading-edge semiconductors manufactured at facilities receiving funding from the $53 billion Chips Act, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, ensuring the industry can supply the military with the advanced chips it needs for modern weapons systems.
Ukrainian-made UJ-22 drone has come down in Russia within 70 miles of Moscow. This appears to be the closest a Ukrainian uncrewed aerial system has gotten to the Russian capital and follows the unexpected deployment of additional air defense assets there last month. This incident is also just one of a recent flurry of apparent Ukrainian drone attacks, or at least attempted attacks, on Russian targets.
Nearly a month after Berlin gave European allies permission to send German-made tanks to Ukraine, the flow of tanks so many leaders vowed would follow seems more like a trickle. Some nations have discovered that the tanks in their armory don’t actually work or lack spare parts. Political leaders have encountered unanticipated resistance within their own coalitions, and even from their defense ministries.
Military strategists will be studying the reasons behind Russia’s confounding failure to rapidly defeat Ukraine for years to come. But there is one point upon which they seem to have quickly reached agreement: low-cost, easy-to-use drone technologies are playing a pivotal role in repulsing Russia’s advances. But the imperative to build large numbers of low-cost drones must be balanced with the strategic and operational demands facing the U.S. Air Force in the Indo-Pacific, which look very different from those now facing the Ukrainians.
U.S. officials briefed top congressional leaders on Feb. 28 about documents with classified markings that were in the possession of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence. The closed-door briefing to the so-called "Gang of Eight"—the top Republicans and Democrats currently in congressional leadership—was expected to provide more information on the nature of the documents.
Ukraine is widely assumed to be preparing a spring offensive to take back lost territory from Russian invaders. In the meantime, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already launched another offensive of great importance to the country’s future. He is battling what Andrii Borovyk, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, described in a telephone interview from Kyiv as “our internal enemy number one: corruption.”
A pair of Iranian warships pulled into Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 26, USNI News has learned. The government of newly-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave permission for IRIS Makran and IRIS Dena to dock in the country shortly after returning from a state visit to Washington, D.C. Brazil had initially given permission for the two ships, which deployed from Iran last year, to make a port visit in January, but that was delayed after U.S. pressure.
Russia’s economy, restricted from Western financial networks and the U.S. dollar, has embraced a burgeoning alternative: the Chinese yuan. The Chinese currency’s rise inside Russia deepens ties between two countries that have long rivaled each other for global influence but have grown closer amid shared discontent with the West.
Even as Taiwan awaits the delivery of 66 F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2026, it is facing a personnel shortage that could meaningfully undercut the island democracy’s ability to defend itself if China attacks. Nowhere is the problem more critical than in Taiwan’s elite ranks of fighter pilots, who are dealing with near-daily incursions by Chinese warplanes.
As the U.S. Space Force takes steps to make its satellites more resilient against an enemy attack or a mishap in space, the service’s launch enterprise is making similar moves on the ground. The service is “taking analytical steps” and building operational concepts to ensure its launch ranges can operate in adverse conditions, including national disasters, or enemy attacks.
In a bid to build up weapons supplies for new offensives in Ukraine, Russia is counting on the support of North Korea and Iran, according to NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. He warned Feb. 28 that Moscow is “reaching out” to the authoritarian regimes for more arms, adding that China “may be providing lethal support.”
The Defense Department is increasing its scrutiny of U.S. arms and other aid flowing to Ukraine, the department’s incoming inspector general told lawmakers on Feb. 28. Robert Storch, who spent years working to uncover corruption in Ukraine long before Volodymyr Zelenskyy became president, told the House Armed Services Committee that the country’s top leaders have promised to remain tightly focused on the issue of corruption. Still, Storch said, “We're in the trust-but-verify business.”
The Cape Cod Space Force Station announced the introduction of a robotic guard dog on Feb 27. Technically known as an “unmanned ground vehicle,” the robot dog has a number of sensors that allow it to keep an eye on its surroundings. The robots are made by Boston Dynamics, with additional hardware and software capabilities supplied by its partner Asylon.