The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early July 16, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain and Kuwait before dawn.
President Trump is leaning toward expanding U.S. military operations in Iran after days of briefings from top aides, U.S. officials said. Options include stepping up airstrikes, sending ground forces to seize Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz and bombing a fortified site that could be used for covert nuclear work.
“That is the central flaw in the ‘air littoral’ construct: it mistakes a physical portion of the battlespace for an organizing theory of warfare. Airpower is organized around missions and effects, not arbitrary bands of altitude. Renaming low-altitude airspace does not create a new domain, clarify responsibility, or produce a strategy—and risks creating confusion about roles and responsibilities,” writes retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
The Air Force is scrambling to get employees across the service back online after weeks of rolling cybersecurity quarantines locked numerous troops and civilians out of their computers, sometimes for days.
Elevated by its new status as an official Pentagon Field Activity, the Defense Innovation Unit is maturing with funding and permanence under the leadership of its new director, Owen West, who welcomes the pressure his team is under to speedily deliver “measurable” weaponry and combat power to the U.S. military.
The U.S. Space Force’s soon-to-be retired top officer urged support for his service’s programs, the same day as House lawmakers said they would approve only a fraction of the funds the Trump administration requested for major space efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as the country’s minister of defense after just six months in office as part of a major shakeup in Kyiv’s leadership.
The Army could award contracts for its high-profile Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher program next month, according to Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s portfolio acquisition executive for Fires. Lozano also announced that the Army is currently “negotiating a contract” with AeroVironment for the service’s Enduring-High Energy Laser program, the Army’s first program of record for a new family of high-energy lasers designed to take down airborne threats, primarily drones.
hina’s mysterious next-generation combat aircraft have dominated headlines since a pair of sixth-generation designs broke cover in late 2024. But while those aircraft understandably command attention, the single most important fighter in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is arguably the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon.
The U.S. Space Force expects to see an initial capability of space-based Airborne Moving Target Indication in the next two years—though that will likely be more regional than the service's top leader had hoped.
The Pentagon has barred the release of a government watchdog report on the F-35 fighter plane program, the Defense Department’s most costly weapon system that has been riddled with performance issues and increasing costs.
The Pentagon will begin screening Active-Duty service members 30 and older for testosterone deficiency every year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced July 15, framing the move as a readiness measure while leaving any resulting treatment up to the individual.
