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
President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Pentagon to prioritize coal‑fired electricity for military installations, framing it as a national‑security measure to bolster grid reliability and on‑site fuel security. The order calls for long‑term power purchase agreements with coal plants, while the Energy Information Administration projects coal generation will fall about 5% per year through 2027, dropping its share to roughly 15%. Concurrently, the Department of Energy announced six coal‑plant upgrade projects aimed at extending plant life and improving reliability. The policy seeks to create a demand backstop for a shrinking U.S. coal fleet.
NATO completed its first focused Operation Sea Guardian deployment of 2026, patrolling the Eastern Mediterranean from 21 January to 9 February. The Turkish frigate TCG Gaziantep led a mixed force of surface ships, submarines and air assets, delivering over 300 hours of ISR and...
The Florida National Guard’s Task Force Phantom has been deployed in Washington, D.C., to support the Safe and Beautiful mission amid an unusually heavy winter snowfall. Guard soldiers have been clearing snow from schools, assisting stranded motorists, and maintaining a visible...
The Golden Dome is an offensive weapon. In this interview, David Murrin explains how AI, hypersonic weapons, and maritime power are reshaping conflict—why Taiwan matters, and why strategic compression raises the risk of escalation. Watch the full conversation : canadian_prepper #Geopolitics #AI...
This is not about rhetoric. This is about influence that changes outcomes. This piece explores how Russia and China have shaped the thinking and incentives of Western political leaders in ways that matter strategically. If you want to understand why Western policy sometimes...
The FAA’s UAS test site program now includes nine locations across the United States, two of which opened in 2026, to validate critical drone technologies such as detect‑and‑avoid, BVLOS, and UTM. Test sites serve a dual purpose: they provide manufacturers...
I am old enough to remember how many know-it-alls last November said I was talking nonsense, and Russia would "never" propose an alliance against its "all-too-important" ally China. Well guess what. https://t.co/9TZCmGb4rZ https://t.co/DMqldPqWvG
Ukrainian drones struck Lukoil’s Ukhta refinery in the Komi region, igniting a blaze in the primary unit and a visbreaker. The attack follows a high‑precision strike on Lukoil’s larger Volgograd refinery earlier this week. Ukhta processes about 60,000 barrels of...
The article argues that war crimes and other international atrocities function as lucrative enterprises, yet they are rarely pursued through financial investigations. It calls for extending the global anti‑money‑laundering (AML) framework to treat the proceeds of war crimes as predicate...
The column argues that military autonomy should augment, not replace, commander authority by delegating specific tasks while retaining legal and ethical responsibility. It highlights three pillars—low‑cost, near‑exquisite systems, cross‑vendor interoperability, and a DevOps‑style hardware development model—as essential for trust and...
In 1993 a mid‑level CIA analyst refused to approve a Counter‑Narcotics conference in the Caucasus, citing security and logistical risks. The analyst’s objection drew the ire of senior officer Aldrich Ames, who repeatedly confronted him despite the analyst’s credentials. Months later...
India purchasing 114 Rafale jets. The biggest defense deal in India's history if it full goes through.
Iran’s missiles are its only credible deterrent, with bases, shipping lanes, and energy infrastructure in range. Tehran won’t cap missile stockpiles because it needs large numbers to overwhelm defenses and hit targets. With @DEsfandiary on @TheTerminal: https://t.co/zj7y46yUmH https://t.co/PrdB2GZY5w
Indonesia’s navy is pushing to have the former Italian carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi delivered before the TNI’s 81st anniversary on October 5, although a formal purchase contract has not yet been signed. The Ministry of Defence continues negotiations with shipbuilder Fincantieri and the...
Jacobs and PA Consulting have secured a four‑year extension from the UK Department for Transport to lead the National Security Science and Research (NSSR) programme. The consortium, which also includes QinetiQ, TNO, Iconal Technology, Cambridge University Technical Services and Prometheus...
China unveiled the Wing‑Loong X maritime combat drone at the Singapore Airshow, marking its first regional display. The UAV, designed for surveillance and strike missions, builds on the proven Wing Loong family and targets buyers unable to afford Western systems....
World Leaks, a high‑profile extortion group, has introduced a new Rust‑written malware called RustyRocket, according to Accenture research. The tool provides stealthy persistence on both Windows and Linux systems, using heavily obfuscated, multi‑layered encrypted tunnels to exfiltrate data and proxy...
The Trump administration has temporarily shelved a suite of technology security measures targeting Chinese firms ahead of the April Trump‑Xi summit. The paused actions include a ban on China Telecom’s U.S. operations, restrictions on Chinese equipment in data centres, and...
The Small Business Administration announced it will terminate 154 Washington, D.C. firms from the 8(a) Business Development program after a data‑call revealed they exceeded statutory net‑worth, asset and income thresholds. The companies collectively received $1.3 billion in federal contracts, including roughly...
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a tool for cybercriminals, enabling faster, lower‑skill attacks and fueling a surge in deep‑fake‑driven scams. At the same time, AI‑powered personal assistants such as OpenClaw expose massive amounts of user data, raising urgent security concerns....
Lockheed Martin and Fujitsu signed a contract on Feb. 12 to supply the Power Supply Line Replaceable Unit for the SPY‑7 radar’s Subarray Suite on Japan’s Aegis System Equipped Vessels (ASEV). The PS LRU provides regulated power to the radar modules,...
The 157th Air Refueling Wing of the New Hampshire National Guard conducted a four‑day nuclear operational readiness exercise from Feb. 5‑8. The drill simulated strategic deterrence missions, testing the wing’s ability to generate and sustain aerial refueling for nuclear‑focused operations. Central to...
The United States released its 2026 National Defense Strategy after internal debate, marking a notable shift from earlier documents that labeled China as the foremost security threat. The strategy coincides with a record $901 billion defense budget, with President Trump promising...
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius rejected calls for an independent European nuclear deterrent, reaffirming that NATO’s US nuclear umbrella remains non‑negotiable. He warned against premature speculation that the alliance is dying and cited the U.S. National Defense Strategy’s guarantee of...
Taiwan announced on February 6 that the National Chung‑shan Institute of Science and Technology and Kratos successfully completed a systems integration test of the Mighty Hornet IV drone, a Taiwan‑specific variant of the US‑made Firejet. The test proved the platform can carry a...
The U.S. Department of War unveiled the National Defense Strategy 2026 (NDS‑26), shifting emphasis from pure deterrence to an "offensive defense" posture. The doctrine calls for rapid, homeland‑based power projection, citing operations against Venezuela and Iran as proof points. It...
Former exec at exploit development firm Trenchant, owned by L3Harris, admitted to selling internal hacking tools to a Russian broker. Did the company notify the vendors whose products were exploited so that they could be patched? https://t.co/4wKJgZoIkl
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, last night Russia launched 24 Iskander-M / S-300 missiles, 1 Kh-59 / Kh-69, and 219 Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas one way attack drones. https://t.co/Ro7NLJFEVe https://t.co/1yuwfFOjrm
Fortem Technologies secured a multimillion‑dollar Department of Homeland Security contract to protect the 2026 FIFA World Cup venues with its net‑based DroneHunter interceptors. The company will deploy TrueView R30 radar, SkyDome command software, and kinetic net‑capture drones, marking its second...
The last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control agreement has expired, which means for the first time in decades, we're in a world with no active nuclear arms control. Full Newsletter: https://t.co/xC3wEhL4Wr #nuclear #geopolitics https://t.co/0MOAOnpJJh
The United States is positioning cislunar space as the next geopolitical arena, leveraging NASA’s Artemis program and the Artemis Accords to set soft‑power norms. Cislunar real estate near the lunar south pole is scarce, and early standards for communications, navigation,...
Congress faces a looming partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security as the two‑week stopgap expires Friday. Without a deal, agencies such as the Coast Guard, CISA, TSA, Secret Service and FEMA would see non‑essential staff furloughed and essential...
Europe is split on its future relationship with the United States under President Trump. Eastern European NATO members such as Romania and Lithuania argue for tighter security cooperation and participation in the critical‑minerals ministerial, citing Russian aggression. In contrast, France,...
On August 21, 1967, VA‑196’s A‑6 Intruder squadron suffered its worst day of the Vietnam War when four aircraft attacked the Duc Noi railway yard under heavy clouds and intense SAM/AAA fire. Two planes were hit by surface‑to‑air missiles and three...
Alpha Unmanned Systems and Parallel Flight Technologies have teamed up to convert Parallel Flight’s Firefly Group 3 UAV to heavy‑fuel operation. The effort leverages Parallel Flight’s Parallel Hybrid Electric Multirotor (PHEM) architecture, aiming for long‑endurance, heavy‑lift missions in naval and expeditionary...
In this episode Madeline Field examines four 2026 Pentagon reforms—a defense‑innovation memo, an AI memo, an executive order on industry standards, and a pilot commercial‑license program—assessing how they reshape the innovation ecosystem and procurement. While the memos aim to streamline...
On this day in 1994, the winter Olympics in Lillehammer were hit with a cyber attack. https://t.co/AZfPpQUjAr https://t.co/xox3MFDt75
You cannot make this up. US administration is directing the Department of Defense to buy coal power and spending $175m to keep ageing coal plants running. Coal plants average 44 years old. Many are costly and prone to outages. Markets, not ideology...
The episode examines how overinvestment in elite capabilities—whether elite pilots in WWII Japan or modern high‑cost platforms—creates a survivability paradox that undermines long‑term combat effectiveness. By concentrating resources on a few "gilded" assets, militaries must boost survivability, driving up costs,...
Meanwhile in Russia’s Ukhta. The local refinery keeps getting hit by drones as we speak. 1,800 km away from the Ukrainan border. https://t.co/TZMDIrIIg6
The United States has intensified its embargo on Cuba, cutting oil shipments and tightening sanctions under President Trump and Senator Rubio. The fuel shortage has reduced electricity to three‑to‑six hours a day and halted public transport, forcing Cubans onto bicycles...
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Stumpf recounts a six‑month stint with the Security Assistance Group‑Ukraine, where planners had to adapt traditional military decision‑making to a three‑actor environment involving the U.S., Ukrainian partners, and Russian adversaries. Lacking direct command over Ukrainian forces, the...
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals ruled in Wolverine Tube, Inc. that the Air Force’s stop‑work order, issued under FAR 52.242‑15, automatically expired after its 90‑day limit because the government never cancelled or extended it. The Board rejected the Air...
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The U.S. Air Force 40th Airlift Squadron and the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s No. 40 Squadron flew their C‑130J Hercules aircraft together during a training sortie at the Advanced Tactics Aircrew Course near Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on August 21, 2025. The sortie was part...
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On August 21, 2025, a U.S. Air Force C‑130J Hercules of the 40th Airlift Squadron and a Royal New Zealand Air Force C‑130J of No. 40 Squadron landed together at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, after completing the Advanced Tactics Aircrew Course. The course, run...
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On February 11, 2026, the 35th Civil Engineer Squadron and the 35th Logistic Readiness Squadron executed a combined casualty and vehicle‑recovery exercise at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Firefighter Tadakatsu Kumagai demonstrated stretcher‑pull techniques on a simulated wreck, highlighting the drill’s...
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U.S. Airmen from the 35th Civil Engineer Squadron and the 35th Medical Group executed a combined casualty and vehicle recovery drill at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Feb. 11, 2026. The exercise simulated a combat environment where rescue teams and...
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On Feb. 11, 2026, U.S. Air Force personnel at Misawa Air Base conducted an inter‑unit casualty and vehicle recovery exercise. Airman 1st Class Josiah Smith and 35th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters simulated a car wreck to test emergency response protocols....
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On Feb 11 2026, the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base staged an inter‑unit casualty and vehicle recovery drill, simulating a car wreck to evaluate rapid response. Multiple units coordinated to extract injured personnel and recover disabled vehicles, sharpening joint operational...
