President Donald Trump again put off his threats of a major military escalation with Iran in favor of diplomatic efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz after senior advisers, including the Vice President, voiced concerns, multiple sources and a U.S. official told ABC News.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham met July 27 at a British naval base and discussed joint drone projects and Ukraine’s urgent need for ballistic missile interceptors to counter Russian attacks.
“American defense strategy depends on airpower. That has been true for decades, but the demand signal is sharper now. The United States expects its Air Force to deter China, reassure allies in Europe, defend the homeland, respond to crises in the Middle East and remain ready for major war. Those missions are spread across different theaters, different timelines and different levels of risk. They all assume that enough combat airpower will be available when needed,” writes Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-S.C.)
With the U.S. running low on expensive guided munitions, the Pentagon is pushing yet another project to develop cheap, long-range weapons that can be mass produced. ... DOD is putting out a call for long-range, autonomously guided Ground-Based Affordable Mass, or GBAM, weapons that cost less than $250,000 apiece.
he U.S. Air Force is “threaded in tight” with the work Australians are doing with the MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft, according to the service’s top officer in the Pacific. This was underscored by the MQ-28’s participation at a major exercise earlier this year, lessons from which are feeding into the Air Force’s evolving plans for its forthcoming Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone fleets. Deep integration between the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force opens the door to American personnel potentially ordering Australian MQ-28s around in the future, too.
Ukrainian drones have hit military-supply lines connecting Russia and Iran through the Caspian Sea, exploiting a new front in two increasingly intertwined wars.
The Trump administration’s deadly military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the United States, but they’re prompting criminal organizations to develop new strategies and tactics and undermining traditional investigative methods, according to a previously unreported assessment by the Drug Enforcement Administration, a closed-door congressional briefing, and interviews with current and former U.S. and foreign officials.
L3Harris has reached a framework agreement with the Pentagon to ramp up solid rocket motor production for PAC-3 missiles and THAAD interceptors over the next seven years, the department announced July 27.
The general in charge of the Pentagon’s most critical weapons development programs pointed to an Ohio-manufactured weapon as evidence that military acquisition has turned a corner for the better. In an address July 27 at the Dayton Convention Center, Air Force Gen. Dale White, the director of critical major weapons systems for the Department of Defense, pointed to the Collaborative Combat Aircraft—produced by Anduril Industries—as a substantial success so far.
Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier during a keynote speech July 27 gave a blunt assessment of the service’s current state, calling it “older, smaller, and less ready than it needs to be to defend the homeland and deter aggression in the Pacific.”
History’s totally engrossing, thoroughly addictive smash hit “Modern Marvels” is back for WWII. Three episodes of the timeless series will cover the superweapons developed by both the Axis and the Allies, the gargantuan megaprojects both took to hasten an end to the war, and the smaller (yet still crucially important) gadgets they developed in an effort to get an edge on the other side.
