U.S. Air Force Eyes Major Expansion of KC-46A Pegasus Fleet
The U.S. Air Force currently operates about 100 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tankers and is planning to grow the fleet to roughly 319 aircraft over the coming years. The expansion could eventually allow the service to retire the legacy KC-135 fleet, which has been in service for six decades. Although the KC-46 program has suffered from software glitches and other maturation issues, it remains the sole U.S.‑made tanker eligible for large‑scale replacement. Boeing stands to secure a dominant position in the strategic air‑refueling market if the plan proceeds.
Aerospace and Defense Startup Hybron Closes $25 Million Seed Round
Hybron, an aerospace and defense manufacturing startup, announced the close of an oversubscribed $25 million seed round led by Marque Ventures. Founded by Stanford and UC Berkeley alumni, the company unveiled the world’s first carbon‑fiber compressor blade that operates at full power...
Petrel’s Hybrid Drone Drops Armed FPVs During Test at Fort Polk
Petrel Technologies validated its AERO Sky hybrid VTOL UAV at Fort Polk during a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise with the 101st Airborne Division, successfully deploying armed first‑person‑view drones in live‑fire conditions. The Group 3 platform merges vertical take‑off, fixed‑wing endurance, ISR,...
Poland Blows Hole in Budget Rearming, but Global Military Spending Reaches All-Time High
Global military spending hit a record $2.6 trillion in 2025, up 2.9% despite the United States scaling back aid to Ukraine. Europe alone accounted for more than $804 billion, a 14% jump, with 22 of 30 NATO members meeting the 2% of...
SUPARCO’s PRSC-EO3 Satellite Launch Completes Pakistan’s EO Constellation
On 25 April 2026, Pakistan’s SUPARCO launched PRSC‑EO3 aboard China’s Long March 6, completing the nation’s three‑satellite electro‑optical (EO) constellation. The 500‑kg satellite entered a sun‑synchronous orbit, joining PRSC‑EO1 and PRSC‑EO2 to provide regular high‑resolution optical coverage for disaster management, agriculture, and resource monitoring....
Mobile Communication Restrictions in Moscow
Russia will impose "more severe" mobile communication restrictions in Moscow on May 5, 7 and 9 ahead of the Victory Day parade, limiting SMS, mobile internet and government‑regulated sites. The capital has already endured a three‑week internet blackout that crippled navigation apps and...
Navy Releases List of Ships It Plans to Inactivate This Year
The U.S. Navy announced it will inactivate 14 ships during fiscal year 2026, including two Los Angeles‑class submarines, an Ohio‑class ballistic‑missile sub, two Ticonderoga‑class cruisers, and a Freedom‑class littoral combat ship. The vessels will be recycled, dismantled, repurposed as logistics support...
China Threatens the EU with Broad Retaliation if Huawei and ZTE Are Banned From European Networks
China’s Ministry of Commerce submitted a 30‑page warning to the European Commission, saying the EU’s draft Cybersecurity Act – which would make the removal of high‑risk vendors like Huawei and ZTE mandatory – could trigger reciprocal trade restrictions on European...
Vect 2.0 Ransomware Acts as Wiper, Thanks to Design Error
Check Point discovered that Vect 2.0, a ransomware‑as‑service variant, unintentionally erases any file larger than 128 KB because it discards three of the four ChaCha20‑IETF nonces needed for decryption. The flaw turns the malware into a data wiper, leaving victims unable to...
HMMWV Builder AM General Debuts Combat-Ready Autonomous Vehicle
At Modern Day Marine 2024, AM General showcased its next‑generation unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) alongside the MIMIC‑V High Performance Truck. The UGV, built with partners Textron Systems, Carnegie Robotics and Moog, features a 250‑hp turbocharged 6.5‑liter engine and a modular...
Meet the 3-Star Insiders Say Will Be Space Force’s Next Top Leader
Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess is the leading candidate to replace Gen. Chance Saltzman as the Space Force’s next Chief of Space Operations, pending a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Schiess currently serves as the deputy chief of space operations for...
Chips, Oil and Iran: Why US Is Raising Pressure on China Before Xi-Trump Talks
The United States is intensifying a multi‑front pressure campaign on China ahead of President Trump’s planned mid‑May summit with Xi Jinping. The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced 20 new export‑control measures that would tighten allies’ sales of advanced semiconductor equipment...
The United States Is Losing the Race for Central Asia’s Critical Minerals
The United States is falling behind in securing Central Asia’s critical‑mineral wealth, a region valued at roughly $46 trillion and home to at least 32 of the 60 U.S.‑identified critical minerals. While China and Russia together command about 70 percent of the...
CISA Adds Microsoft, ConnectWise Vulnerabilities to Active Exploitation Catalog
On April 29, 2026, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added two actively exploited software flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog: CVE‑2024‑1708 in ConnectWise’s ScreenConnect remote‑access tool and CVE‑2026‑32202 in the Windows Shell UI. The high‑severity ConnectWise bug enables...
Reliance on Chinese Green Tech Poses ‘Serious’ Risk for Europe, Experts Say
A new report warns that Europe’s heavy reliance on Chinese green technology poses serious economic and national‑security risks. China provides 98% of the continent’s solar panels, 88% of lithium‑ion batteries and 61% of inverters, creating a vulnerable supply chain. The...
Uavos Supplies Rotor Blades to DARPA Lift Challenge Teams
Uavos Inc. is providing carbon‑fiber rotor blades to U.S. aerospace startups competing in DARPA’s Lift Challenge, a program that demands unmanned helicopters lift four times their own weight. The blades employ Uavos’s multi‑cross‑layer carbon‑fiber construction, a NACA 23012 airfoil and optimized...
Bigger Defense Budgets Are Not Enough to Secure Europe
Europe is finally raising defense budgets after years of stagnation, but analysts say the surge in spending does not automatically close the capability gap. The continent’s strategic autonomy remains constrained by a shortage of critical technologies such as advanced sensors,...
How to Make CTEM Operational versus Aspirational
Continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) must evolve from a strategic buzzword into an everyday security rhythm. The piece outlines seven priorities—continuous asset reality, attacker‑centric exposure modeling, cross‑environment correlation, exploitability validation, dynamic reprioritization, outcome‑based metrics, and workflow integration—to embed CTEM in...
Braw in Foreign Policy on Trump’s Iran War and Strains on U.S. Allies’ Arms Exports
Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Security Initiative, warned in a Foreign Policy piece that the United States’ escalating war with Iran is forcing Washington to divert weapons earmarked for allies. This reallocation is creating shortages and delays in...
US Marines Help Gun Down Beach Invaders in Simulated Philippines Defense
Exercise Balikatan 2026 staged a live‑fire counter‑landing on Palawan’s west coast on April 27, with U.S., Australian, New Zealand and Philippine troops repelling a simulated amphibious assault. Over 500 soldiers participated in the beach drill, part of a larger multinational exercise...
France Risks Rafale Isolation as India Pushes Back
France’s Rafale F5 program is confronting isolation after the United Arab Emirates withdrew over technology‑transfer disputes and India signaled it will not close a deal without access to the aircraft’s digital architecture. Paris’s reluctance to share core optronics and software threatens...
Stalemate in USA-Iran Conflict Continues
Standard Chartered’s energy research chief Emily Ashford warned that the U.S.-Iran stalemate remains fragile, with the April 8 cease‑fire still in place but under pressure from new U.S. naval deployments. She noted that each day of deadlock costs barrels, drives inventory...
GSA Hits One-Year Mark for OneGov
The General Services Administration’s OneGov program, launched in April 2025, has consolidated federal tech purchases into 20 unified agreements with major vendors. In its first full year, GSA reports $1.1 billion in cost avoidance, driven by software discounts up to 90%...
COMMENTARY: A Year of OneGov: Over a Billion in Savings and Still Growing
The General Services Administration’s OneGov program celebrated its first anniversary, reporting $1.1 billion in federal cost savings. By consolidating technology purchases under a single customer, GSA negotiated discounts of up to 90% from major vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe and Google....
Zelenskyy Opens Door to Ukrainian Arms Exports in Wartime
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine will officially allow the export of surplus, domestically produced weapons even while at war. The new framework, overseen by the National Security and Defense Council, limits exports to production beyond state orders and requires...
SWAP Hub Earns DoW Year 2 Award Investment From NSTXL
The Department of War’s second‑year awards channel an additional $200 million into the Microelectronics Commons, with the Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub securing roughly $25.4 million for five high‑impact projects. Funding supports an integrated RF GaN effort for next‑generation 5G/6G defense amplifiers,...
U.S. Air Force, Space Force Make ‘Explicit Shift’ in RDT&E Funding, Experts Say
The U.S. Air Force and Space Force’s FY2027 budget request shifts RDT&E dollars away from early‑stage research toward operational system development. Applied research in the Air Force faces a $338 million cut, while the Space Force trims advanced component development by...
OSIbeyond Launches Compliance as a Service (CaaS), Eliminating Upfront Costs for CMMC Compliance
OSIbeyond, a managed IT and cybersecurity firm serving the Defense Industrial Base, launched a Compliance as a Service (CaaS) solution that shifts CMMC compliance from a costly, project‑based model to a subscription‑based, fully managed service. The offering bundles secure Microsoft...
Drone Diplomacy Wins Ukraine Valuable Allies, but Now It Must Deliver
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has turned Ukraine’s low‑cost drone expertise into a diplomatic lever, securing new defense and drone contracts across Europe and the Middle East. The country signed deals with Germany, Norway and the Netherlands this month, building on earlier...
Royal Navy Chief Says Russia Remains ‘Gravest’ Threat to UK Subsea Security
Russia is deemed the gravest threat to the United Kingdom’s subsea security, according to First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins. Over the past two years, Russian naval activity in UK waters has risen by nearly a third, prompting the...
ARX Robotics, Supacat Collaborate on Robotic Mobility for Land Forces
ARX Robotics and UK‑based vehicle specialist Supacat have signed a memorandum of understanding to co‑develop autonomous and optionally crewed land systems for British and NATO forces. The deal pairs ARX’s uncrewed ground vehicles and Mithra AI software with Supacat’s high‑mobility...
KMT Deputy Chair Attacks Speaker Han over Special Defense Budget
Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT) is in turmoil after deputy chair Chi Lin‑lien threatened to expel Legislative Speaker Han Kuo‑yu for allegedly supporting a NT$800 billion (US$25.3 billion) special defense budget. The government’s eight‑year plan seeks NT$1.25 trillion (≈US$39.5 billion), while the KMT caucus proposes...
State CISOs Losing Confidence in Ability to Manage Cyber Risks
Statewide chief information security officers are losing confidence in their ability to manage cyber risk, with only about 25% feeling "extremely" or "very" confident that state assets are protected—a sharp drop from nearly half in 2022. The decline coincides with...
China’s Sanctions Hit Europe’s Emerging Drone Doctrine
On April 24, China’s Ministry of Commerce placed seven European defence firms on an export‑control list, banning dual‑use items over alleged arms links to Taiwan. The sanctions target Germany’s Hensoldt, Belgium’s FN Herstal and FN Browning, and four Czech companies, cutting off...
Spirit Electronics Named Authorized Distributor for Microchip Technology, Expanding High Reliability Semiconductor Access for Defense and Aerospace Programs
Spirit Electronics announced it is now an authorized distributor for Microchip Technology in the Americas, giving defense and aerospace customers direct, DFARS‑compliant access to Microchip’s high‑reliability semiconductor portfolio. The partnership covers radiation‑tolerant and radiation‑hardened MCUs, MPUs, FPGAs, power devices and...
First Sea Lord Speech at RUSI
In his inaugural Lord Fisher lecture, the First Sea Lord outlined a sweeping "Hybrid Navy" transformation that blends traditional warships with uncrewed and autonomous platforms. The plan accelerates procurement—cutting some acquisition cycles to three months—and focuses on three flagship programmes:...
Will the 2028 NATO Summit Not Take Place?
NATO officials are weighing whether to abandon the long‑standing tradition of annual summits, with the first possible break slated for 2028. The discussion stems from concerns that yearly meetings heighten intra‑Alliance tension and complicate long‑term planning, a sentiment amplified by...
Door Open for Taiwan to Enter 'Non-Red' EU Drone Supply Chain: Expert
European policymakers are wrestling with fragmented economic‑security authority, making it difficult to build a unified "non‑red" drone supply chain that limits reliance on China. Experts say the split between EU‑wide trade rules and national defence control creates policy gaps that...
AI Export Controls Are Not the Best Bargaining Chip
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced export‑control bills and the Chip Security Act aims to block advanced chips from reaching China, treating semiconductors as the AI chokepoint. Analysts argue that this hardware‑centric view is outdated because AI progress now...
Nigeria Moves to Mandate Organisations to Disclose Cyber Attacks Amid Rising Threats
Nigeria’s tech regulator, NITDA, announced that banks, fintechs and other organisations must disclose cyber‑breaches or at least share threat intelligence. The push follows a weak reporting record – only 37% of financial institutions filed fraud incidents in 2023 and fraud...
Hundreds of Internet-Facing VNC Servers Expose ICS/OT
Forescout’s latest research reveals that roughly 1.8 million RDP and 1.6 million VNC servers are exposed to the public internet, with a significant share linked to critical industries in the United States and China. Among these, 91 000 RDP and 29 000 VNC instances...
Hutt City Council Confirms Phishing Attack, Data of Hundreds Potentially Exposed
In March 2026 the Hutt City Council suffered a phishing attack that compromised email accounts, exposing identity details of five individuals and potentially financial information for up to 732 residents. The council swiftly secured the affected accounts, notified the Privacy...
Autonomous Defense Startup Scout AI Raises $100M Series A to Build Foundation Model for Unmanned Warfare
Scout AI announced a $100 million Series A round, led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates, to accelerate its Fury foundation model for autonomous military operations. Fury is designed to serve as a decision‑making layer that coordinates unmanned systems across air, land,...
How AI Boosts Cybersecurity Defenses
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity by delivering real‑time anomaly detection, predictive analytics, automated response, and deeper forensic insight. The same technology also empowers threat actors with deepfakes, AI‑generated phishing, and self‑learning malware, creating a two‑sided sword. Experts advise firms to...
Teledyne FLIR OEM Launches Prism C-UAS Software for Extended Small-Drone Detection Range
Teledyne FLIR OEM unveiled Prism C‑UAS, a software stack that pushes small‑drone detection beyond conventional thermal systems by identifying targets with fewer than four pixels. The solution blends patented denoise and up‑sampling algorithms with AI‑driven perception, delivering longer detection windows...
Trump’s Golden Dome Exposed as False Sense of Security
A recent Senate hearing highlighted that the United States’ homeland missile defenses are ill‑matched to today’s diverse, high‑speed threats. The Ground‑Based Midcourse Defense, the sole system against intercontinental ballistic missiles, has a 57% success rate in 21 tests and fields...
What to Look for in an Exposure Management Platform (And What Most of Them Get Wrong)
The article dissects exposure‑management platforms, outlining four architectural approaches—stitched portfolios, data aggregators, single‑domain specialists, and fully integrated solutions. It argues that only integrated platforms can correlate diverse exposure types, validate exploitability, and map realistic attack paths across on‑prem, cloud, and...
British-Norwegian Maneuvers
The Royal Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy have launched the Tamber Shield ’26 naval drills in the Bergen fjords, running from 28 April to 14 May. The exercises feature Wildcat helicopters, Skjold‑class corvettes, the frigate Fridtjof Nansen and a newly formed British drone...
North Korean Hackers Are Duping Freelance Developers with Fake Interviews to Steal Cryptocurrency and Deliver Malware — Sophos Warns the...
North Korean state‑backed group Nickel Alley is luring freelance developers through fake job interviews on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr and LinkedIn. The scheme convinces victims to download malicious npm packages or clone compromised GitHub repositories, installing the PyLangGhost RAT that...
Checkmarx Confirms Data Stolen in Supply Chain Attack
Checkmarx confirmed that a supply‑chain attack on its open‑source KICS project resulted in the theft of source code, employee data, API keys and a 96 GB archive. The breach originated from the Trivy supply‑chain compromise on March 23, 2026, which allowed the...