Today's Defense Pulse
U.S. Treasury expands sanctions on Iran-linked shipping network
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a new sanctions round targeting a global network of shipping firms, tanker operators and intermediaries tied to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trades. Entities in Hong Kong, the UAE, India, Qatar, Singapore, China, Liberia and the Marshall Islands were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Disciplined Growth Acquisition Corp raises $150M in IPO
Albany International Corp (AIN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Albany International reported Q4 2025 revenue of $1.2 billion and full‑year sales of $4.6 billion, the strongest top line since 2012. Adjusted EBITDA rose 11% YoY to $232 million in the quarter and $859 million for the year, pushing the margin to 19.7%, a 180‑basis‑point improvement. Management guided 2026 adjusted EBITDA to $975 million‑$1.025 billion, driven equally by pricing and volume, and announced $220‑$240 million of net capex focused on expanding proprietary nickel‑alloy capacity. The company’s end‑market mix is shifting toward aerospace and defense, now projected to exceed 70% of total revenue, while specialty energy gains momentum through long‑term contracts.
Leonardo DRS Inc (DRS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Leonardo DRS reported Q2 FY2025 revenue of $829 million, up 10% year‑over‑year, and adjusted EBITDA of $96 million, expanding margin to 11.6%. Bookings reached $853 million with a 1.0 book‑to‑bill ratio and total backlog grew 9% to $8.6 billion. The company raised its full‑year...
Air Force Issues New Guidance to Streamline Line of Duty Decisions for Reservists, Guardsmen on Extended Active-Duty Orders
The Department of the Air Force issued updated guidance on Feb. 1 to accelerate Line of Duty (LOD) determinations for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard members serving 31 or more consecutive days on active‑duty orders. The revision to DAFI 36‑2910...
IonQ Selected for Missile Defense Agency SHIELD IDIQ Contract
IonQ has been named an eligible contractor for the Missile Defense Agency’s SHIELD IDIQ contract, a multi‑year procurement vehicle with a $151 billion ceiling. The selection positions IonQ among more than 2,400 firms competing for future task orders that support rapid,...
Anthropic Says DeepSeek, Moonshot, and MiniMax Used 24,000 Fake Accounts to Rip Off Claude
Anthropic disclosed that three Chinese AI labs—DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax—used roughly 24,000 fraudulent accounts to conduct over 16 million interactions with its Claude models, targeting reasoning, coding and tool‑use capabilities. The coordinated distillation attacks extracted large‑scale training data, effectively stealing...
More Than Dashboards: AI Decisions Must Be Provable
Enterprise leaders are demanding proof of what AI systems actually did, not just what they were designed to do or what dashboards report. As AI moves into regulated, high‑risk environments, boards and auditors expect decision‑level evidence for each action. The...
DAF Increases B-21 Raider Production Capacity to Deliver Combat Capability Faster
The Department of the Air Force and Northrop Grumman have signed an agreement to expand B‑21 Raider production, leveraging $4.5 billion authorized in FY 2025 legislation. The deal raises annual production capacity by 25 %, compressing delivery timelines while preserving cost and performance...
B-2 Spirit Flies with Adaptable Communications Suite 4.0
Sierra Nevada Corporation and Northrop Grumman have completed the first flight of a B‑2A Spirit equipped with the Adaptable Communications Suite (ACS) 4.0. The upgrade embeds a secure, open‑mission computing environment that plugs the bomber into the Combined Joint All‑Domain Command...
Trump Denies Top US Officer Warned of Iran Strike Risks
President Donald Trump dismissed reports that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine warned against a war with Iran, insisting any conflict would be easily won. Trump posted on Truth Social that Caine never opposed military action and would...
Spain Arrests Suspected Hacktivists for DDoSing Govt Sites
Spanish Civil Guard arrested four alleged members of the hacktivist group Anonymous Fénix, accused of orchestrating DDoS attacks on government ministries, political parties, and public institutions in Spain and South America. The campaign intensified after the October 2024 Valencia floods, with...
US Pulls Nonessential Staff From Beirut Embassy as Tensions with Iran Ratchet Up
The United States ordered nonessential personnel and their families to leave the Beirut embassy as tensions with Iran rise. The move is described as a temporary safety precaution while core diplomatic staff remain on site. It coincides with a massive...
Are the US and Iran Moving Closer to War?
U.S. forces are assembling their largest deployment since the 2003 Iraq invasion as diplomatic overtures continue with Iran. Both sides have scheduled talks for Thursday, while Tehran declares openness to dialogue but also readiness for war. President Donald Trump's mixed...
DAF Exploring Lease Opportunities for Data Centers in Alaska
The Department of the Air Force is assessing interest in leasing land at three Alaska installations—Joint Base Elmendorf‑Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base, and Clear Space Force Station—for large‑scale commercial data centers. The Request for Information, released Feb 17, seeks vendor input...
Australia-UK Defence Industry Dialogue: Joint Statement
Australia and the United Kingdom revived their Defence Industry Dialogue on 23 February 2026, reaffirming commitment to the AUKUS partnership and deeper industrial cooperation. Ministers highlighted progress on AESA radar technology, joint submarine initiatives—including HMS Anson’s deployment to Perth—and plans to secure energetics...
Picogrid and Guardian RF Partner to Deliver Drone Defense for Space Launch Operations at Vandenberg Space Force Base
Picogrid and Guardian RF have secured a joint contract to protect Vandenberg Space Force Base from unauthorized drone activity. The deal integrates Guardian RF’s low‑SWaP Scout passive RF sensors with Picogrid’s Expeditionary Command and Control Nodes, creating a unified, real‑time...
_roibu_Alamy.jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Iran's MuddyWater Targets Orgs With Fresh Malware as Tensions Mount
Iran‑linked APT MuddyWater has escalated its campaign, dubbed Operation Olalampo, against organizations in the Middle East and Africa. The group continues to rely on spear‑phishing but also began exploiting public‑facing servers, delivering several previously unseen malware strains such as the...
Trump’s Cuba Policy Is Backing Mexico Into a Corner
President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a national emergency over Cuba and threatening tariffs on any nation that continues supplying oil, effectively targeting Mexico, Cuba’s primary oil source. In response, Mexico halted its daily oil shipments to Cuba,...
Six New York Army National Guard Soldiers Receive French Medal for Actions in Iraq
Six New York Army National Guard aviators were honored on Feb. 22, 2026 with the French National Defense Gold Medal with Bronze Star for rapid aerial support that rescued 34 French special‑operations troops during an Aug. 28‑29, 2023 firefight near Hawija, Iraq. The crews...
Supreme Court Declines COVID Vaccine Mandate Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear two Air Force cases challenging the Department of Defense’s COVID‑19 vaccine mandate, deeming them moot after the Pentagon began reinstating service members who had refused the shot. Plaintiffs, citing the Religious Freedom Restoration...
Airbus Presents Rotorcraft Concepts For NATO Study
Airbus Helicopters, together with Collins Aerospace, Raytheon and MBDA, has submitted two next‑generation rotorcraft concepts to NATO’s Next Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities study. The proposals include a conventional helicopter and a high‑speed compound aircraft that share common systems, training and maintenance...
Guard Leaders Gather for Domestic Ops Conference, Sync Emergency Response Plans
The National Guard Domestic Operations Conference convened Feb. 10‑12 at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, uniting senior Army and Air Guard leaders to synchronize homeland‑focused disaster response plans. Attendees examined recent hurricanes, wildfires and cyber‑induced infrastructure failures to develop a unified playbook...
Enigma Cipher Device Still Holds Secrets for Cyber Pros
The Enigma cipher machine, originally built in 1918 and later adapted by the Nazis, saw only a few hundred surviving units out of an estimated 35,000‑40,000 produced. Historian‑turned‑cybersecurity expert Marc Sachs will discuss the device’s historic failures at RSAC 2026, highlighting...
Determinants and Evolution of the Russian Concept of Information Warfare
The article maps the evolution of Russia's information warfare doctrine from Imperial-era morale operations through Soviet psychological warfare to today's hybrid strategies. It highlights how Moscow blends propaganda, cyber attacks, and covert forces to shape narratives and destabilise opponents without...
New Commander Appointed to Lead 78th Air Assault Brigade
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...
AI and PCVE: A Practitioner’s Guide From the United Nations
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...
With Three Contestants, the Globe’s New Great Game Is On
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...
Army Tackling Its ‘Achilles Heel’ of IT Modernization
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,...
APT28 Targeted European Entities Using Webhook-Based Macro Malware
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...
Government Equity Investments Open a New Frontier for Industry
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...
600+ FortiGate Devices Hacked by AI-Armed Amateur
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,...
Defense Budget Must Prioritize Airlift Over Kinetic Weapons
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...
Securing the Future of the Orbital Environment
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...
US Pulling Non-Essential Staff From Embassy in Beirut Amid Iran Tensions
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 Mysterious Shenlong Space Plane Recently Launched on Its 4th Mission. What Is It Doing up There?
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...
AI Boosts Cybersecurity, Yet Humans Remain Essential
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 Chagos Choice Signals Resolve to China
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 Deals Are a Threat to Our Data Rights as UK Citizens | Letters
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...
Trillion-Dollar Aid Can't Fix Crumbling Logistics Infrastructure
The Arsenal of Freedom needs trucks, ships, barges, but our infrastructure is crumbling. @PeteButtigieg had a trillion dollars and failed, Army Corps is failing. @PeteHegseth didn’t just answer my question, he beat me to the punch by hours. https://t.co/L63oHDrDlQ
Secretary of War: Merchant Marine Essential for Industrial Rebuild
Here it is folks. The moment my 100k followers have been waiting for…. “We can not rebuild our industrial base without the US Merchant Marine. They are critically important,” @PeteHegseth, Secretary of War 🫡 https://t.co/HYvWum8qFA
AST SpaceMobile Wins $30 Million Contract for Military Broadband Demo
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...
Winter Greenland Deployment of Navy Hospital Ships Impractical
“Sending the U.S. Navy’s hospital ships USNS Mercy or USNS Comfort to Greenland in late winter would face major obstacles from peak sea ice, a lack of available icebreaker escorts, and ports too shallow for the ships’ deep drafts” https://t.co/xI3xIjrRbh
Pentagon Speeds up Navy Stealth Fighter, Boosting Boeing, Northrop
Just in on long-delayed F/A-XX (Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon will accelerate development of a next-generation stealth fighter jet for the Navy after previously pushing back — a move that could benefit either Boeing Co. or Northrop Grumman Corp., which are...
Ad Tech Firm Optimizely Confirms Data Breach After Vishing Attack
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...
Rapid Chaos Creation Gave US Army Edge in Baghdad
“We created chaos faster than they could adapt.” The American Army’s ability to operate in ambiguity became a decisive advantage inside Baghdad. https://t.co/Icc6ylQSli
General Minihan Warns U.S. Airlift Shortfalls Amid China Threat
Straight Talk On State Of U.S. Airlift Capabilities From General Who Ran Air Mobility Command General Minihan's frankness about the China threat ended his career, but now as a civilian, he has much more to say. Exclusive: https://t.co/voeW7vfCc8
Mobile Networks Face New Cellular UAV Exploitation Risks
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...
Ukraine Says Russian Spies Use Telegram, Urges Restrictions
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...
Marines Retire Harvest Hawk Kits, Ending C‑130 Close‑air Support
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
Promotional Material: Desider 2026
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...
Iran Hints at Quick Nuclear Deal Amid US Military Buildup
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...