Know What's Happening in Defense
Know What's Happening in Defense
Zelensky meets Syrian president to forge security cooperation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Syrian President Ahmed al‑Sharaa in Damascus, pledging security cooperation and joint food‑security projects. The visit follows Kyiv’s recent drone‑defense deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, highlighting Ukraine’s push to export its drone expertise to the Middle East.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Kraken Robotics acquires Colvya Group for $615M
Ukraine's 78th Air Assault Brigade has appointed Colonel Vladislav Tsika as its new commander. Tsika advanced from platoon leader to head of the 90th Airmobile Battalion and later served in the Lithuanian‑Polish‑Ukrainian Brigade and as deputy commander of the 77th Airmobile Brigade. He holds the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st‑3rd class, for personal courage in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty. The appointment was announced through the brigade’s official social‑media channels.
The United Nations Office of Counter‑Terrorism released a 2026 Practice Guide on artificial intelligence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE). It warns that extremist groups are exploiting AI to produce multilingual propaganda, deepfakes, and synthetic media, while only about...
Analysts label today’s geopolitical rivalry a "New Great Game" pitting the United States against a China‑Russia alliance. The contest spans Central Asia, the Middle East, the Arctic and the Indo‑Pacific, driven by competition for fossil fuels, rare‑earth minerals and strategic...
U.S. Army CIO Leo Garciga announced a rapid purge of legacy business applications, shutting down 100 systems in the past two quarters and cutting the total from roughly 800 to under 300. The consolidation focuses on enterprise‑wide platforms, low‑code/no‑code tools,...
Russia‑linked APT28 launched Operation MacroMaze, a campaign against Western and Central European entities from September 2025 through January 2026. The attackers delivered spear‑phishing documents containing a macro that calls a webhook.site URL, acting as a tracking‑pixel to verify document opening. The macro drops...
Since the start of President Trump’s second term, the administration has completed ten direct equity investments in private firms, highlighted by a $1 billion stake in L3Harris Technologies' rocket‑motor unit and minority positions in Intel and critical‑mineral suppliers. The moves target...
A financially motivated, Russian‑speaking threat actor used generative AI services to compromise more than 600 Fortinet FortiGate firewalls worldwide between January and February. The campaign avoided exploiting software vulnerabilities, instead leveraging exposed management ports and reused credentials with single‑factor authentication,...
If they are really going to do a $1.5T defense budget, additional heavy airlift assets (C-17 line restart or whatever) absolutely needs to be in that and in a big way. It's more important than the kinetic stuff (which even...
Industry briefings under the "Securing the Future of Space" campaign stress a sovereign‑commercial nexus to protect an increasingly congested Low Earth Orbit. Experts like Dr. Moriba Jah advocate a shift from space conquest to environmental stewardship, leveraging AI to monitor...
The U.S. State Department is withdrawing non‑essential personnel and their families from the embassy in Beirut as tensions with Iran rise. Roughly 50 staff members have been evacuated, though a core diplomatic team remains on site to maintain operations. The...
China’s reusable Shenlong space plane lifted off from Jiuquan on Feb 6, 2026, marking its fourth orbital mission. The vehicle’s prior flights ranged from a two‑day test to multi‑year stays, each releasing one or more satellites. Unlike the U.S. X‑37B, Shenlong...
Simple analogy on AI and cybersecurity. Security has never been solely a technology problem - it's largely a people problem. Complexity of business integration, misconfigurations, legacy systems, business transformations, M&As, etc. are all part of this industry we call cybersecurity. I can't remember...
Britain’s decision on the Chagos Islands is more than politics. It shapes how strategic rivals — especially China — interpret UK resolve, alliances and influence. This analysis explains why this matters in the context of great-power competition and what it reveals about...
Palantir Technologies, the US data‑fusion and AI firm, has secured contracts with the UK National Health Service and the Ministry of Defence. Critics argue the deals give a surveillance‑focused company access to sensitive citizen data. The firm’s platforms, already employed...
The Space Development Agency awarded AST SpaceMobile a $30 million firm‑fixed‑price contract to demonstrate its BlueBird satellite constellation can deliver resilient, low‑latency broadband directly to military radios. The "Europa" phase of the HALO program requires AST to complete a series of...
Optimizely, a New York‑based ad‑tech firm, disclosed a data breach after a sophisticated voice‑phishing (vishing) attack on February 11. Threat actors accessed the company’s CRM and other internal business systems, extracting only basic contact information and not sensitive customer data. The...
Operation Spiderweb in June 2025 demonstrated how Ukrainian forces hijacked Russian mobile networks to control and stream data from drones, disabling about 20 aircraft. The incident exposed a growing vulnerability as 4G/5G standards now embed native drone support, allowing off‑the‑shelf...
Desider, the monthly corporate magazine of the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), was launched on 26 January 2026. It is aimed at DE&S staff, the wider MOD, armed forces and industry partners. The publication delivers stories on operational...
Japanese micro‑satellite firm Axelspace secured an exclusive contract to supply optical imagery for the Ministry of Defense’s new satellite constellation. The agreement, part of a broader ¥283.1 bn project led by a consortium of Mitsubishi Electric, SKY Perfect JSAT, Mitsui &...
In late 2025 and early 2026 the U.S. Coast Guard and allied forces seized three oil tankers—M/T Skipper, M/T Centuries and Bella 1—after months of multi‑source intelligence proved they were moving sanctioned cargo. The operation underscores a new enforcement paradigm: governments...
Australia has taken delivery of two AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the United States under a Foreign Military Sales agreement, marking the first arrivals of a 29‑aircraft order. The delivery is part of Project Land 4503, with the remaining helicopters slated for...
Rolls Royce confirmed that its upgraded F130 test engines for the B‑52 Stratofortress will be delivered in 2027 following successful altitude and operability testing. The engines, which replace the aging Pratt & Whitney TF33‑PW‑103 powerplants, completed trials at the Air...
The U.S. Energy Department patched an identity‑verification flaw in its critical minerals portal that let outsiders register with email addresses mimicking official energy.gov accounts. Security researcher Ronald Lovelace uncovered the issue using subdomain enumeration and reported it through the department’s...
There's a continued repositioning of Navy warships in and around the Middle East as the U.S. openly deliberates an attack on Iran. On Monday, there are eight U.S. warships in the Arabian Sea: - The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln - The destroyers USS...
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has launched a statutory pre‑application consultation for its Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) at Cawdor Barracks, with the consultation window closing on 23 March 2026. An extensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been completed and all...
"Kostiantyn Milevskyi, Deputy Head of the Department for Coordination of Foreign Military Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has said that volunteer soldiers from 75 countries have joined units of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, with around 600 volunteer soldiers...
Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe, published an analysis in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences critiquing the U.S. National Security Strategy released by the Trump administration in November 2025. She argues the strategy leaves Europe squeezed between an...
Under AUKUS Pillar II, Australia, the UK and the US are testing next‑generation autonomous and uncrewed maritime capabilities. The latest Maritime Big Play exercise in Australia featured live‑fire trials of C2 Robotics’ Speartooth large uncrewed underwater vehicle and involved around 30 emerging systems....
The article by Cognyte’s Vice President highlights how Fusion Centers and AI‑driven data fusion are strengthening detection and interdiction of cross‑border human trafficking. Recent collaborative operations rescued hundreds of children and resulted in dozens of arrests, showcasing the power of...
Healthcare diagnostics firm Vikor Scientific, now operating as Vanta Diagnostics, disclosed a data breach affecting nearly 140,000 individuals. The breach was traced to Catalyst RCM, a revenue-cycle‑management vendor, whose compromised credentials allowed the Everest ransomware group to exfiltrate roughly 12 GB...
Chad shut its eastern border with Sudan after weekend clashes killed five Chadian soldiers and three civilians in the border town of Tine. The fighting involved Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and militia loyal to Khartoum, reflecting the spill‑over of Sudan’s...
British engineering firm BMT has opened the Digital Innovation & Simulation Centre (DISC) in Fareham, consolidating its maritime simulation, digital twin, and autonomy capabilities. The centre features the DNV‑accredited REMBRANDT navigation simulator, two 360‑degree pod simulators, a Remote Operations Centre,...
The article argues that Japan must step up its role in Micronesia to help counter China’s expanding footprint across the Western Pacific. The United States relies on COFA agreements that provide billions in aid and unrestricted base access, yet implementation...
Collins Aerospace successfully demonstrated its Sidekick mission‑autonomy software on a General Atomics YFQ‑42A uncrewed jet, completing a four‑hour autonomous flight controlled from the ground. The test, part of the U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, proved seamless integration...
BAE Systems has rolled out the CV9035 MkIV infantry fighting vehicle for Slovakia, part of a €1.3 billion contract for 152 CV90 variants. The first unit left the production line in the second half of 2025 and is now undergoing tests...
A Pennsylvania National Guard team from the 28th Infantry Division captured the innovation prize at the Army’s inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition. Their Project R.E.D. uses AI‑driven object recognition and a 3‑D‑printed carbon‑fiber robotic arm to retrieve downed drones for intelligence...
The United Kingdom has unveiled a comprehensive Indo‑Pacific strategy that ties Euro‑Atlantic security to a free and open Indo‑Pacific, emphasizing flexible, values‑based partnerships. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent China visit secured visa‑free travel for UK citizens and greater market access for...
The European Union is accelerating its engagement with the Indo‑Pacific, highlighted by high‑level visits to India and new free‑trade agreements with Indonesia and a pending deal with India. This pivot reflects two structural shifts: a push for strategic autonomy away...
This is a good article but I would add one thing: there are different target priorities and level of threat at different ranges in the kill zone. This is somewhat similar to air defense bubbles you see on maps that...
After a terrorist attack yesterday in Lviv, Ukraine's Minister of the Interior Ihor Klymenko said that the Russian intelligence services communicate with Ukrainian agents through Telegram in at least half of the cases. He said it is impossible to ban...
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and the U.S. Air Force completed a joint autonomy exercise at Edwards AFB, pairing an F‑22 Raptor with the MQ‑20 Avenger unmanned jet. The test used government‑reference autonomy software and a tactical data link to let...
KC-130J’s Hellfire Missile-Firing Harvest Hawk Kits Retired By Marines Developed to turn USMC C-130s into close air support platforms during the Global War on Terror, Harvest Hawk's relevance has waned. https://t.co/FWdjbg1wcs
Iran Signals Possible “Fast Deal” To Be Made In Nuclear Talks As U.S. Military Build-Up Grinds On Iran may be softening its negotiating stance as pressure builds in the form of hundreds of combat aircraft and dozens of warships arrayed around...
The United States faces a looming energy gap as AI data centers demand an estimated 47 GW of new power by 2030, roughly half of the nation’s current nuclear output. Policymakers are reviving the nuclear agenda, with the DOE pledging to...
Exclusive: I recently spoke with @OfficialCSAF for his first interview in the job. Including his perspective on coming back to lead the service, the challenges facing the Air Force and his perspective of how to address them. A read to...
To Trump, limited air and missile strikes on Iran may look like a quick win. But without a clear objective, limited campaigns often turn into long, costly endeavors. Iran gets a vote too and its response may defy US expectations....
Schiebel announced the formation of a dedicated UK legal entity to capitalize on growing British defence opportunities. The move follows the successful deployment of its Peregrine rotary‑wing UAV with the Royal Navy, delivered in partnership with Thales UK. Schiebel also...
After being glimpsed in a @aerosociety Lecture in https://t.co/Zm9M2njU6V in 2025 - @AirbusHeli reveals next generation rotorcraft concepts for #NATO #NGRC requirement. 2 concepts - a high-speed compound chopper and an advanced conventional design #avgeek https://t.co/PxLWEs1hSO
The U.S. State Department ordered non-emergency personnel to evacuate the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon @FoxNews https://t.co/Mo1ipVwEuD
Minister of Defense Fedorov said that he is working on a comprehensive mobilization reform. https://t.co/7MHcCnXjnQ https://t.co/y5PT8u4NMw
