Defense News and Headlines
Defense News and Headlines
Coda Octopus Group reported fiscal‑year 2025 revenue of $26.6 million, up 30.7% year‑over‑year, driven by a 30.5% jump in hardware sales and contributions from its newly acquired acoustic sensors unit. The company launched the ultra‑compact Echoscope NanoGen sonar and delivered the first untethered DAVD systems, both entering early‑stage U.S. and European defense evaluations. The Precision Acoustics Limited acquisition now accounts for roughly 20% of total revenue and boosted gross profit, while cash rose to $28.7 million with no debt. Management reaffirmed its intent to pursue additional M&A to expand recurring‑revenue streams.
Drone hit the al‑Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad’s Green Zone, sparking a roof fire but causing no casualties. Moments later Iraqi air defenses intercepted four rockets aimed at the U.S. embassy. The attacks coincided with Kataeb Hezbollah’s announcement of the death...
The White House released a seven‑page cyber strategy that prioritizes offensive capabilities, zero‑trust architecture, AI security, blockchain protection, and deregulation, but it stops short of outlining a national digital identity framework. The plan frames cyberspace as a geopolitical battleground and...
The U.S. Navy is overhauling its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs to speed up technology development and fielding. After a six‑month suspension, the service plans to centralize contract execution in a new Center...
A tweet‑sourced report claims that the Shahroud Space Center in northeastern Iran was heavily damaged by U.S. and Israeli air strikes, with 27 sites hit and roughly 70% of its facilities destroyed. Another tweet alleges that the Soviet Union’s 1974...
China’s defence research is accelerating through a "new nationwide mobilisation system" that merges state‑directed resource concentration with market‑driven efficiency. Despite a defence budget of roughly $277 billion—about a third of the U.S. total—estimates place its R&D spend at $20‑$50 billion, yet it...
President Donald Trump appealed to U.S. allies for naval support to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s recent attacks threaten oil shipments critical to global chip production. European and Asian partners responded lukewarmly, while India focused on securing safe...
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Industry Partnerships (OIP) has formalized a pipeline that awarded over 1,400 contracts worth $845 million to more than 6,800 firms for AI‑driven biometric and video‑analysis tools. Leaked records show projects ranging from smartphone‑based fingerprint...
The Department of Defense introduced its new chief information officer, Kirsten Davies, at the inaugural Power Breakfast of 2026. Davies outlined a roadmap for IT transformation, cyber resilience, and aligning the CIO office with the Pentagon’s “Arsenal of Freedom” strategy,...
Dubai International Airport, handling nearly 100 million passengers annually, suffered its fourth drone strike in 16 days on March 16, 2026, when a fuel storage tank was hit, forcing a temporary shutdown. The attack triggered fire, smoke, and an immediate suspension of flights,...
Nolan Peterson, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, warned in a Washington Post op‑ed that the drone‑centric conflict unfolding in Ukraine, driven largely by Iranian‑supplied Shahed loitering munitions, represents the most destructive form of warfare he has witnessed. He highlighted...
The Navy announced the creation of five new Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) covering Maritime, Undersea, Industrial Operations, Strategic Systems Programs, and the Marine Corps, expanding on the earlier Robotics and Autonomous Systems PAE. The reform consolidates contract, technical, lifecycle and...
The Department of the Navy announced the creation of five Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) organizations—Industrial Operations, Marine Corps, Maritime, Strategic Systems Programs, and Undersea—aimed at transforming its acquisition enterprise into a war‑fighting system. Senior leaders now hold cradle‑to‑grave authority, enabling...
U.S. European Command commander Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told the Senate that American forces and bases across Europe are central to Operation Epic Fury against Iran. RAF Fairford in the U.K. is hosting a fleet of 12 B‑1B Lancers and six B‑52...
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff reactivated a direct texting channel with Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi amid the two‑week war. The exchange, focused on ending hostilities, marks the first known direct contact between the parties since the conflict began. Iran’s foreign...
The Department of Homeland Security awarded a potential ten‑year, $178.6 million task order to Netizen, a service‑disabled veteran‑owned small business, for enterprise IT delivery and operations support to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. The contract covers service‑desk functions, Microsoft 365 deployment,...
Ireland and the United Kingdom have signed a refreshed Memorandum of Understanding to deepen defence cooperation across air, cyber and maritime domains, driven by growing Russian hybrid activity. The agreement prioritises joint procurement, including shared naval frigates, UAVs, and advanced...
The United States is adopting a dual‑track strategy to counter Iran’s threats in the Strait of Hormuz while also deterring China’s growing regional influence. President Trump has pledged to protect energy shipments, emphasizing naval readiness and economic safeguards. Tehran’s aggressive...
Leslie Beavers, former Deputy CIO of the Department of Defense, now leads LB Insights to guide firms through the “valley of death” that separates tech innovation from operational deployment. At the Pentagon she helped launch digital modernization programs such as...
The U.S. Army announced plans for a new Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky to accelerate research, development, and production of key explosives such as RDX and HMX. The Sources Sought notice, due April 15, calls for...
EU foreign ministers signaled they will not deploy naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz until the United States clarifies its Iran strategy. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany needs explicit goals from the US and Israel before committing...
Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation creating Texas Cyber Command, which officially launched in September 2025 and is housed at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Led by Ret. Admiral TJ White, the command is legally required to build an...
Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo will ask the European Commission to reverse its decision to stop €20 million a month of funding for the Rwandan‑led peacekeeping mission in Cabo Delgado. The EU announced the cut will take effect after May 2026, following a U.S. Treasury...
UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard met German State Secretary Jens Plötner in Berlin to review progress on a joint Deep Precision Strike missile programme. The initiative aims to produce stealth cruise and hypersonic missiles capable of exceeding 2,000 km, with initial...
Taiwan’s Republic of China Navy received its first batch‑2 Tuo Chiang‑class catamaran corvette, ROCS Tan Chiang (PGG‑627), on March 11, 2026 at Lungteh Shipbuilding. The new vessel expands the fleet’s hit‑and‑run capability with a top speed of 44‑45 knots and...
Norway’s elite Long Range Reconnaissance Squadron is reviving the ancient quinzhee snow‑cave technique to evade modern drone sensors during Arctic operations. The unit, training alongside British Royal Marines and Canadian Special Forces, pairs these low‑tech shelters with cutting‑edge winterized drones...
A U.S. Air Force KC-135 refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq, killing six service members. Among the dead was Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, a 34‑year‑old mother of two from Kentucky, and three Ohio Air National Guard airmen. The aircraft...
Ukrainian forces depend on cloud‑based AI to coordinate massive drone swarms, but Russian electronic‑warfare can sever the uplinks, turning pre‑programmed drones into ineffective assets. Bandwidth constraints and energy shortages expose a critical compute vulnerability, prompting a shift toward a layered...
The Cl0p ransomware group claims a massive Oracle E‑Business Suite breach that exploited zero‑day flaws, affecting over 100 organizations. Among the victims, Broadcom, Bechtel, Estée Lauder and Abbott have not issued any public comment despite leaks of 2 TB, 870 GB and other...
Two weeks into the joint U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury, the campaign has dramatically degraded Iran’s military capabilities, destroying most of its ballistic‑missile launchers, crippling air defenses, and striking senior regime figures. The strikes have also hit economic lifelines, notably the...
The New START treaty between the United States and Russia expired on February 5, opening the door for the two powers to increase deployed strategic nuclear weapons for the first time in 35 years. President Trump rejected President Putin’s proposal to extend...
France’s long‑standing counter‑terrorism architecture is presented as a template for Europe, emphasizing its unique deradicalisation programmes and coordinated response to domestic extremism. The article notes that France remains the EU’s most frequently attacked nation in the 21st century, confronting right‑wing, left‑wing,...
RTX Raytheon has finished expanding its Redstone Missile Integration Facility in Alabama, raising Standard Missile‑3 and Standard Missile‑6 production rates by more than 50%. The boost is intended to replenish Pentagon missile stockpiles that were drawn down during recent operations....
Terra Industries, a Nigerian‑focused defence startup, is now fitting its UAVs with machine guns and rocket launchers, turning surveillance platforms into combat‑ready systems for the Nigerian military. The classified project will be operated remotely by military personnel rather than Terra’s...
The Pentagon disclosed that F‑35 Lightning II jets conducting strikes in Operation Epic Fury over Iran are still equipped with the older TR‑2 software, as the planned TR‑3 upgrade has been stalled. The TR‑3, part of the Block 4 modernization, promises...
Researchers at Cofense have uncovered a new phishing campaign that hijacks the LiveChat SaaS support platform to steal sensitive data. The attackers impersonate Amazon or PayPal, using email lures that direct victims to a LiveChat‑hosted page where a human‑operated operator...
Matthew Kroenig, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center, was interviewed on CNN on March 13 to defend President Trump’s approach toward Iran. He claimed that recent U.S. actions, including expanded sanctions and calibrated military signaling, are deliberately weakening...
The article argues that the US‑Israeli war with Iran is being shaped more by what technology permits than by strategic objectives, a phenomenon the author labels feasibility bias. It notes that military leaders are increasingly choosing actions simply because they...
Africa is emerging as a strategic source of rare earths and critical minerals as the United States seeks alternatives to China-dominated processing. The continent hosts vast deposits, including DRC cobalt, Zimbabwe lithium, and new rare‑earth projects in Namibia, Tanzania, and...
L3Harris introduced the XL‑300P, a redesigned P25 handheld that adds a built‑in LTE‑5G modem and satellite direct‑to‑device (NTN) capability. The device can switch among P25, Wi‑Fi, commercial LTE bands—including Band 106—and T‑Mobile’s Starlink‑backed satellite service, with an AI‑driven selector that chooses...
Handala Hack, an Iranian state‑linked group known as Void Manticore, has been conducting coordinated wiper attacks using compromised RDP sessions and the legitimate mesh‑networking tool NetBird. The actors gain initial access via stolen VPN credentials, dwell for months, harvest domain admin...
South Korea’s defense establishment is reviving anti‑aircraft gun systems as a primary tool against the surge of low‑cost drone attacks. Modern gun platforms such as the radar‑equipped K30 Biho and the upcoming Cheonho vehicle employ programmable airburst ammunition to engage...
A Russia‑linked hacker group known as Laundry Bear launched a new espionage campaign against Ukrainian entities in February, distributing a backdoor called DrillApp hidden in documents about Starlink terminals and the Come Back Alive charity. The malware activates through Microsoft...
South Korean analysts estimate North Korea earned between $7.67 billion and $14.4 billion from troop deployments and arms exports to Russia since 2023. More than 20,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia, delivering artillery shells, rocket systems and ballistic missiles....
The U.S. Navy is now awarding the historic Craftmaster Insignia to sailors operating medium unmanned surface vessels, marking the first formal recognition of the emerging USV community. Lt. Miles Graham’s Chimera Detachment Alpha, which fields platforms such as Sea Hawk,...
Operation CamelClone targets government, defense, diplomatic and energy agencies in Algeria, Mongolia, Ukraine and Kuwait, using spear‑phishing ZIP archives that contain LNK shortcuts to launch PowerShell commands. The shortcuts download a JavaScript loader, HOPPINGANT, from the public file‑sharing site filebulldogs.com,...
The ongoing Middle East war is creating chokepoints that could restrict the flow of chemicals, equipment and other inputs essential for semiconductor manufacturing. Rising power costs in Taiwan, the hub of advanced chip production, add further pressure on fab operations....
Swedish defense firm Saab announced a restructuring that will merge its Kockums division with most of the Naval Combat Systems unit into a newly created business area called Naval, effective April 1 2026. The new division will be led by Mats Wicksell,...
A Department of Defense Inspector General report found that retired Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto left a tube containing Secret‑classified maps on a chartered train traveling from Ukraine to Germany, losing control of the material for about 24 hours before it...
France unveiled the FLP‑T 150, a 150 km long‑range guided rocket artillery system developed by ArianeGroup and Thales. The ITAR‑free launcher, mounted on a Mercedes‑Zetros 8×8 truck, carries eight rockets in a single container and uses sub‑decametric GPS/INS for single‑digit meter...
