Know What's Happening in Defense
Know What's Happening in Defense
U.S. IDFC boosts reinsurance guarantees for Hormuz shipping to $40 billion
The U.S. International Development Finance Corp has doubled its reinsurance guarantees for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to $40 billion, adding major insurers such as AIG and Berkshire Hathaway. The step is intended to reinforce maritime security amid escalating regional tensions.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Kraken Robotics acquires Colvya Group for $615M
The article proposes converting decommissioned U.S. vessels into sea‑going factory ships and power‑plant ships to slash logistical delays in the Indo‑Pacific against a rising Chinese threat. It argues that current stockpiles could be exhausted within a week of conflict, making traditional resupply routes vulnerable. By retrofitting carriers such as USS John C. Stennis or the USNS John Glenn, the Navy could embed additive‑manufacturing, drone bays, and defensive systems on a mobile platform. The piece calls for an urgent feasibility study to fast‑track these conversions before the PRC’s capabilities outpace U.S. logistics.
Latest images of the An-225 at Hostomel.... the world’s largest plane has been a burned out wreck since the 2022 invasion. No restoration, just remains. Ukraine still talks about building a new one, but it’s not happening yet. The original is...
The National Homeland Security Association (NHSA) announced a call for presentations for its 2026 National Homeland Security Conference, set for August 10‑13 in Louisville, Kentucky. The event expects more than 1,000 attendees from federal, state, local, military, and private‑sector backgrounds....
The UK has extended the service of its Watchkeeper Mk 1 UAV fleet by two years, costing roughly £95.7 million. The eight‑aircraft loss rate and a £1.35 billion run‑up have left the programme plagued by reliability concerns. Maintaining the drones will consume about...
Threat actors are distributing trojanized gaming utilities through browsers and chat platforms to install a Java‑based remote‑access trojan (RAT). The downloader stages a portable Java runtime, executes a malicious JAR via PowerShell and cmstp.exe, then deletes itself and configures Microsoft...
In this episode, Tom Patton talks with Dr. Belinda Merchan, Chief Scientist at Slingshot Aerospace, about how AI is transforming space warfare training. Traditional training relied on scripted scenarios, but Slingshot’s agentic AI uses physics‑based models and proprietary tracking data...
FYI, these are the horrible fatal wounds inflicted by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine on the world’s greatest cargo aircraft, the Antonov An-225 Mriya. This is what we saw when we returned to the Hostomel airfield after the Russians were defeated...
The U.S. State Department authorized the voluntary departure of non‑essential personnel and their families from its Israel mission on Feb. 27, 2026, citing heightened safety risks amid escalating regional tensions. Embassy operations will remain open, though staffing levels may be adjusted....
The article argues that the United States must accelerate research on non‑invasive transcranial brain stimulation to keep pace with China’s rapidly advancing neuro‑technology programs. It reviews existing U.S. military trials—such as Halo Sport and DARPA’s Targeted Neuroplasticity Training—that show modest...
Poland and Slovakia inaugurated a Defence‑Industrial Dialogue in Bratislava on 3 March 2026, aiming to deepen joint defence production and technology development. The forum highlighted five priority pillars, including ammunition scaling, unmanned systems, and supply‑chain resilience, and introduced the SAFE (Security Action...
Japanese industrial giant Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) and IMIA, an operating company of ARMADA, have signed a strategic alliance to support the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet in Japan and the broader Pacific region. Under the agreement SHI will act as...
President Trump publicly rejected Nouri al‑Maliki’s nomination as Iraq’s prime minister, a move that back‑fired by rallying Shiite factions around the banner of national sovereignty. The episode exposes Iraq’s elite‑driven, communal power‑sharing system, where prime‑minister selection occurs outside parliament and...
Russian media are publicly acknowledging a sharp rise in Ukrainian drone attacks, citing the interception of 151 UAVs in a single night on 17 February 2026. The raids have forced temporary shutdowns at twelve Russian airports and caused civilian disruptions, including fires...
Researchers unveiled HoneySat at NDSS 2026, the first high‑interaction satellite honeypot that mimics an entire CubeSat mission, including ground‑segment software and orbital dynamics. In three public deployments, attackers issued 22 authentic flight‑software commands, attempting to access ground systems, extract telemetry,...
The Space Force held its fourth Polaris Awards ceremony at the AFA Warfare Symposium, honoring Guardians who exemplified the service’s core values of Character, Connection, Commitment, and Courage. Winners included Maj. Adriane Payn, who prevented a $300,000 loss by fixing...
ISS Aerospace and Anduril UK announced a partnership to embed the ISSOS WASP launched effect into Anduril’s sovereign Lattice command‑and‑control platform. The integration, completed in a single day, was validated with a flight test at ISS Aerospace’s Oxford facility. WASP...
The article argues that the United States’ Indo‑Pacific strategy is incomplete because it largely ignores the western Indian Ocean and Africa, where China has established a growing military footprint, notably its base in Djibouti and expanding ties in Mauritius and...
Alpha Unmanned Systems and Turkish defence firm HAVELSAN have signed a strategic partnership to bring HAVELSAN’s advanced unmanned aerial platforms to Spain. Alpha will act as the exclusive distributor and lifecycle‑support provider for Spanish government and security customers, delivering training,...
The 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) reorients U.S. competition with China from a primarily military focus to an economic‑centric paradigm, emphasizing political warfare, gray‑zone activities, and supply‑chain resilience. It calls for leveraging alliances, reindustrialization, and civilian tools such as the...
The article argues that decentralized resistance networks collapse not because combat cells are penetrated, but because connector roles—couriers, logistics, safe‑house managers, communications technicians, and external liaisons—create high‑centrality nodes that become single points of failure. Modern counter‑network tactics such as F3EAD...
Federal immigration agents have begun adopting Special Operations Forces aesthetics and tactics, a shift highlighted by two fatal shootings in Minnesota in early 2026. Data shows only about 5‑6% of ICE arrests involve violent offenders, yet the agency has expanded...
Updated breaches are a bit messy when it comes to sending domain notifications. We only send ONE email per breach to domain subscribers, so you may get an alert for dump 1 but not for dump 2. It's probably worth...
The United States announced plans to deploy additional advanced missiles in the northern Philippines, positioning them as a deterrent against Chinese aggression near Taiwan and the South China Sea. Washington argues that mobile, land‑based systems complicate any Chinese offensive and...
Defence‑tech startup Constelli announced a $20 million Series A round led by General Catalyst, with participation from 360 One Asset Management and existing backer Pravega Ventures. The capital will fund R&D for next‑generation electronic warfare and communication payloads across drones, ground systems, naval...
100% agree @ShivAroor @AdityaRajKaul Israeli and Israeli-India systems were used to dominate the Pakistan Chinese proxy military during Operation Sindoor. Weapons such as IAI Harop kamikaze drone, Elbit SkyStriker loitering munition (India–Israel production), Rafael SPICE precision-guidance kits, IAI/Elbit Rampage air-to-surface missile,...
I gained a lot of respect for Dario for being principled on the issues of mass surveillance and autonomous killbots. Principled leaders are rare these days
The Navy’s Innovation Adoption Kit (IAK) is a new framework that fast‑tracks emerging technologies by using measurable metrics and structured pilot programs. Launched in October, the kit provides a standardized vendor template and a clear path from pilot to production,...
FAA closes airspace in Fort Hancock, Texas after reported use of anti-drone laser believed to have accidentally shot down a US government drone https://t.co/ACBL6Fs5jm
The Senate Armed Services Committee interrogated Mark Ditlevson, the White House’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, about the prospect of deploying National Guard troops to polling places. Ditlevson sidestepped a yes‑or‑no answer, citing legal constraints and...
Madhu Gottumukkala is moving from acting director of CISA to become DHS director of strategic implementation, while Nick Andersen steps in as CISA's new acting director. Gottumukkala's tenure was marked by several controversies, including a failed polygraph and misuse of...
The Department of Defense is phasing out the decades‑old DD Form 2875, replacing it with an automated Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) workflow. The new system will provision, authorize, and revoke user access within hours, generate immutable audit logs,...
The latest *Uncanny Valley* episode spotlights a growing clash between AI startup Anthropic and the Pentagon over a $200 million defense contract that includes strict prohibitions on domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The hosts also dissect the rise of “agentic” versus...
Guardians in the Space Force’s orbital warfare unit, Mission Delta 9, received a live satellite launched on Feb 12 as part of the USSF‑87 mission, giving them a realistic platform for offensive and defensive space‑maneuver training. The new asset replaces earlier on‑orbit...
The U.S. Space Force activated U.S. Space Forces Northern (SPACEFOR‑NORTH) on Jan. 30, 2026, shifting its posture from global support to dedicated homeland defense. Headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, the component serves as the space service arm of U.S. Northern...
The Department of Defense awarded LinQuest Corp. a $44.9 million cost‑plus‑incentive‑fee modification to its existing Space Systems Command (SSC) contract, raising the program’s cumulative face value to $810.7 million. The funding, split between operations, maintenance and RDT&E, will support additional systems engineering,...
This Is What The EA-37B Compass Call Electronic Attack Jet Can Actually Do The EA-37B is meant to disrupt enemy communications, playing havoc on their command and control and shattering their kill chains. Full interview with its makers: https://t.co/TeN3vqd4ot
The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) is now being implemented through agency deviations, with the Department of Defense (DoD) issuing class deviations covering most FAR parts from 1 to 52. Twenty‑four agencies have already adopted RFO Part 12, and the DoD’s...
Senior Air Force leaders and industry experts convened at the Air and Space Forces Association’s 2026 Warfare Symposium to outline the Air Force’s Future Force Design. The initiative reorients acquisition toward integrated lethality, survivability and persistent connectivity rather than counting...
The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) received a major re‑authorization embedded in the FY2026 NDAA, boosting its contingent liability limit to $205 billion and expanding geographic eligibility for ICT projects. The bill creates a $5 billion equity revolving fund—though unfunded—and grants new...
Outside of the obvious platforms, the one aircraft that likely had the most impact overall on the success of Operation Absolute Resolve that saw the capture of Maduro was the EC-130H Compass Call. It is the king 'discombobulator' that few...
Fintech firm Marquis, which serves over 700 banks, filed a lawsuit against firewall vendor SonicWall after a ransomware breach exposed client data for roughly 780,000 individuals. SonicWall later disclosed that a breach of its own firewall configuration backups affected all...
USS Gerald R. Ford’s Imminent Arrival Off Israel Comes As Negotiations Grind On While both sides seem hopeful about future talks, the window for strikes is now opening and will only get wider with each passing day. Latest: https://t.co/nUQkwDjIwV
U.S. and Iranian officials held a third indirect nuclear round in Geneva, with Omani mediator Badr al‑Busaidi reporting "significant progress" and promising technical talks in Vienna next week. Tehran floated a framework to suspend enrichment for three to five years...
The United States and Iran held a third round of indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, with Omani mediation reporting significant progress and technical discussions slated for Vienna next week. Simultaneously, Washington has launched its largest Middle East military buildup since...
U.S. Space Force looking to offensive use of satellites in any future space battle with China. https://t.co/8p2HpilCCx
Hunting tunnels. A great post highlighting how complex but vital it is for Hamas tunnels to be located and destroyed.
The first Australian‑made AS9 Huntsman self‑propelled howitzers have rolled off the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Geelong, marking the next phase of the LAND 8116 programme. The debut follows an earlier batch built in South Korea and initiates...
Project Compass, a Europol‑led operation backed by 28 nations including the Five Eyes, began in January 2025 to dismantle the transnational youth‑focused cybercrime network known as The Com. Since its launch the initiative has secured 30 arrests, fully or partially...
Australia’s new national emergency warning system, AusAlert, has seen its projected cost explode from an initial $10 million to an estimated $132 million. Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain framed the increase as an investment in community safety rather than a blowout. The system...
Just in: The Pentagon’s first kamikaze drone unit is ready to participate if President Donald Trump decides to launch strikes on Iran, according to US officials and analysts. https://t.co/DOPGwxi339
