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
On February 17, 2026 the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the FAR and enforce Section 5949 of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act. The proposal bans federal agencies from acquiring semiconductor parts, products, or services traceable to SMIC, CXMT, or YMTC, with effectiveness slated for December 23, 2027. The rule expands to procurements below the $15,000 micro‑purchase threshold and includes commercial off‑the‑shelf items, while carving out commercial IT and telecommunications services until December 2028 and grandfathering pre‑2027 equipment. Contractors would need to conduct a reasonable inquiry, certify compliance, and flow the prohibitions down to subcontracts, though no proof of compliance is required at this stage.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has released a new supplier outreach leaflet titled “Find opportunities to become a supplier with the Ministry of Defence.” The eight‑page PDF (679 KB) and an HTML version outline how businesses can engage with Defence,...
Trump’s administration abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2023, replacing multilateral diplomacy with a “maximum‑sanctions” approach toward Iran’s nuclear program. The withdrawal re‑imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran’s oil sector and halted inspection mechanisms, prompting Iran to accelerate...
Maj. Gen. Sean Flynn, a New York Army National Guard officer, has become the top‑ranking American at NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum. He now serves as deputy chief of staff for operations, overseeing coordination of up to 250,000 troops...
I know the news cycle has moved on but are we just going to ignore that the President said a hospital ship was “on the way” to Greenland when it’s clearly headed to the Panama Canal and West Coast? ...
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that both China and Iran have expressed interest in replicating the Belarus‑Russia Union State's region‑to‑region cooperation framework. The declaration came during the Supreme State Council in Moscow, co‑chaired by Vladimir Putin, as the Union State...
The West Virginia National Guard hosted senior Qatar Military Police leaders to plan joint security for the upcoming National Scout Jamboree. Both forces will field roughly 40‑45 Qatari personnel alongside Guard members to manage crowd control, route security, and facility...
GE Aerospace has secured its first TrueChoice Defense contract, applying AI and advanced analytics to the J85 engine that powers the Air Force’s T‑38 trainer. The seven‑month deal, with an optional four‑year, five‑month extension, aims to boost engine readiness through...
General Atomics and Divergent will co‑keynote the 2026 AMUG Conference, presenting "From Hypercars to Defense Drones" on March 17 in Reno. The session highlights how a 2022 AMUG talk sparked a cross‑industry partnership that leverages additive manufacturing across aerospace and...
Raytheon ELCAN, a unit of RTX, secured a contract to supply a customized Specter DR 1‑4× sight to the German Bundeswehr as part of Germany’s soldier‑system modernization. The configuration pairs the variable‑power optic with an Aimpoint reflex sight for seamless...
Chainalysis reports ransomware victims paid only 28% of demanded sums in 2025, the lowest rate on record despite a 50% surge in attacks. Total on‑chain ransomware payments are near $820 million and could exceed $900 million as attribution improves. While the number...
Indra Sistemas still one of the better examples of a lot capital flowing into a relatively small market-cap sized EU defence theme
Textron Systems won a U.S. Army prototype contract to field its Damocles™ loitering munition under the Low Altitude Stalking & Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program. The system integrates a vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft with a GEN2 Explosively Formed...
The UK has reduced its Type 26 frigate programme from thirteen hulls to eight, while Norway has committed to buying at least five of the same design. Both governments are exploring the possibility of reallocating UK‑built slots to fulfill Norway’s order,...
Renewed fighting erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in January, prompting flight suspensions and mass cash withdrawals as civilians feared a repeat of the 2020‑2022 war. The previous conflict killed up to 600,000 people, displaced millions, and inflicted widespread sexual violence,...
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned allies not to treat Poland as a “sucker,” emphasizing the country’s resolve amid escalating Russian hybrid attacks and a surge in sanctions against Moscow’s shadow fleet. He highlighted Poland’s pivotal role during its EU presidency,...
Iranian and American negotiators held the third round of nuclear talks in Geneva on February 26, briefly pausing before resuming later that day. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Busaidi, who is mediating the talks, described the atmosphere as "creative and positive." The International...
The article argues that military effectiveness in prolonged conflicts erodes primarily due to institutional stress rather than platform loss. It highlights logistics, energy, personnel, civil‑military coordination, and cyber/space vulnerabilities as decisive late‑phase factors, especially for Indo‑Pacific deterrence. Planners are urged...
CesiumAstro announced the acquisition of AI‑focused startup Vidrovr to embed artificial intelligence into its space‑based communications payloads. The deal, closed in late 2025, adds multimodal signal‑analysis and edge‑computing capabilities to CesiumAstro’s software‑defined phased‑array systems, including the Element satellite. By integrating...
Sierra Space announced that longtime defense executive Dan Jablonsky will assume the role of chief executive officer on March 2, succeeding interim CEO and founder Fatih Ozmen, who will remain board chair. Jablonsky previously led Ursa Major Technologies and Maxar Technologies, bringing deep aerospace...
Phantom Space has acquired launch assets from the defunct Vector Launch, including flight‑proven design elements and engineering data. The assets will be integrated into Phantom’s Daytona two‑stage rocket to cut development risk and accelerate its schedule. Phantom, which has raised...
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, a veteran negotiator backed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is spearheading a fresh push to revive a nuclear deal and avert U.S. military action. He frames Iran’s approach as “bazaar‑style” bargaining—patient, continuous, and strategic—while warning that...
“India After Operation Sindoor, Through the DIME Framework,” my latest in @RCDefense with @DaganLauren #india #OperationSindoor https://t.co/GKfP6zpp1F
Wright‑Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio’s largest single‑site employer, is emerging as a premier hub for additive manufacturing within the U.S. Air Force. The Rapid Sustainment Office recently awarded a $2.5 million contract to develop a nine‑foot fused filament printer, aiming to...
On December 25, the United States conducted its first airstrike against a jihadist stronghold in northern Nigeria, followed by the deployment of roughly 100 U.S. advisors to train local counter‑terrorism forces. The initial team is expected to be supplemented by...
Following the Christmas Day U.S. airstrike on a jihadist target in northern Nigeria, the U.S. has deployed 100 troops, more so advisors, to train local counterterrorism forces in Nigeria. Full Newsletter: https://t.co/uIZSP3p5af #nigeria #usmilitary #geopolitics https://t.co/j1BH1u6PXG
The UK Royal Navy’s Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) programme is advancing toward a hybrid air wing by 2040, with recent progress highlighted at the Defence IQ International Military Helicopter 2026 conference. Officials confirmed ongoing discussions to expand the deployment of the Peregrine...
In this episode of Net Assessment, Melanie Marlow (CSIS), Chris Preble (Stimson Center), and Zach Cooper (AEI) dissect the Trump administration’s proposal to build a new class of 30,000‑40,000‑ton "Trump‑class" battleships, dubbed the Golden Fleet. They examine the strategic rationale,...
Raytheon, an RTX business, has chosen ST Engineering iDirect's Manufacturing Competence Center in Erpe‑Mere, Belgium, to support the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) Block II program. The selection underscores the MCC’s proven ability to handle high‑complexity, high‑mix defense production and its...
China’s decades‑long dominance of rare‑earth processing is being challenged as the United States and allies pour over $8.5 billion into reshaping the supply chain. REAlloys Inc. has become the only North‑American company that can convert rare‑earth concentrates into metals and alloys,...
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia and Italy’s Fincantieri have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly manage the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) programme. The MoU will establish a joint venture that can involve other partners and will focus on the Full Combat...
ResidentBat is a custom Android spyware implant deployed by the Belarusian KGB to turn seized smartphones into persistent surveillance tools. The malware is sideloaded via Android Debug Bridge after physical access, granting extensive data collection and remote‑wipe capabilities. First disclosed...
One year after its launch, the Pentagon’s Golden Dome for America program aims to create a layered “shield” of sensors and interceptors to protect the U.S. homeland from aerial threats. The effort, a complex system‑of‑systems, is hampered by inter‑service integration...
HireClearedTalent.com launched a dedicated marketplace that links federal contractors, subcontractors and small businesses with more than one million pre‑vetted security‑cleared professionals. The platform combines AI‑driven role matching with a network of over 100 live recruiters experienced in DoD, DHS, DOE...
The U.S. Navy has launched a market‑research effort to field single‑use Active Expendable Decoys (AED) for its F‑35 and F‑18 fighter fleets. The program targets an initial purchase of roughly 3,000 decoys per year, rising to about 6,000 units annually...
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden will roll out a common Nordic Combat Uniform (NCU) from 2026, a €425 million project that standardises functional elements while preserving national camouflage patterns. The initiative, launched in 2016, relied on extensive field testing across diverse...
TrendAI, the enterprise arm of Trend Micro, released patches for eight vulnerabilities in its Apex One endpoint security suite. Two critical CVEs (2025‑71210 and 2025‑71211) could let remote attackers upload malicious code and execute commands via the management console, while six high‑severity...
The UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) provides third‑country support—including accommodation, transport and medical care—to locally employed Afghan staff eligible for resettlement in the UK. Since its first publication in January 2021, the policy has been repeatedly updated, most recently...
The Myanmar military has turned its information operations into a decisive battlefield, deploying state media, Russian cognitive‑warfare expertise, and costly U.S. public‑relations firms to portray the National Unity Government (NUG) as corrupt and fragmented. Domestically, propaganda attacks the NUG and...
Russian officials have claimed that nuclear weapons are stationed in Ukraine, a charge that President Volodymyr Zelensky promptly rejected as false. The allegation emerges as both sides prepare for a new round of Ukraine‑US‑Russia peace negotiations, with Moscow hoping to...
The article argues that artificial intelligence is not a breakthrough that simplifies military campaign planning, but a tool that compresses routine cognitive work while masking the need for human judgment. AI excels at synthesizing guidance and producing coherent drafts, creating...
The U.S. Army issued a sources‑sought notice to find industry partners capable of delivering a standardized munition payload interface for uncrewed aerial systems, based on the Picatinny Common Lethality Interface Kit (CLIK) and the smaller Universal Payload Interface (sUPI). The...
The U.S. Air Force has launched the Polar Modernization LC‑130J program to replace its aging LC‑130H fleet with a digitally upgraded, ski‑equipped variant of the C‑130J. The initiative will study structural reinforcements, avionics integration, and thermal protections needed for Arctic...
Boeing received a $19.4 million contract modification from U.S. Special Operations Command to continue procurement of MH‑47G special‑operations helicopters. The funding extends production at Boeing’s Ridley Park facility through November 2030, sustaining the heavy‑lift, long‑range capability essential for special‑operations missions. The MH‑47G variant...
The article argues that the United States must restructure its Special Operations Forces (SOF) to confront adversaries’ gray‑zone tactics. It proposes dropping counterinsurgency and foreign humanitarian assistance from SOF’s core activities and adding Persistent Gray Zone Operations (PGZO). PGZO would...
Benjamin Moseman's analysis traces the evolution of U.S. space assets from the limited satellite reconnaissance of Operation Linebacker II to the fully integrated, real‑time intelligence that powered the 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer. The article shows how early shortcomings in space‑based situational...
Interesting read: How China is masking drone flights in potential Taiwan rehearsal -including as a Belarusian cargo plane on aircraft tracking sites https://t.co/1kOmwyYslj
Four years after Russia launched its full‑scale invasion, a draft U.S. peace plan proposes recognizing Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk as Russian‑controlled and allowing Russia to keep occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has rejected any...
The U.S. Air Force says the sixth‑generation F‑47 fighter remains on schedule for its first flight in 2028, just three years after Boeing won the contract. Gen. Dale White praised Boeing’s rapid personnel ramp‑up and highlighted the aircraft’s projected combat...
This distorts what Witkoff said. He was abstractly explaining why 60% enriched uranium posed a proliferation risk.
