Military and defense news covering armed forces, defense contracts, military technology, strategic developments, and national security.
The Pentagon dismissed Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and reporter Lara Korte. The firings followed Slavin and Korte's unauthorized participation in a CBS segment about the newspaper's overhaul, while Lederer was removed for refusing to fire his staff at Pentagon leadership's direction.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll plans to leave his Pentagon role by the end of 2026 following a months-long turf war with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The friction includes conflicts over personnel decisions and strategic direction, notably after Hegseth ousted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April.
The Pentagon reported a third consecutive annual drop in sexual assault reports for fiscal year 2025, falling to 7,998. Defense officials view increased reporting as a positive trend indicating greater confidence in the military's reporting system and support for victims.
Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited successfully manufactured and test-fired India's first fully indigenous AK-203 assault rifle, named 'Sher', at its Amethi facility. CEO Maj Gen S K Sharma confirmed that every component was sourced from Indian industry, marking complete end-to-end indigenisation under the Make in India initiative.
Russian military officers conducted readiness planning for potential mobilization in the Kaliningrad exclave, detailing procedures to house, feed, and arm local residents. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Russia aims to build a total force of 500,000 by 2027, potentially targeting peripheral regions while ramping up ballistic missile production.
An Anti-Corruption Data Collective investigation identified 152 accounts with a 97.2 percent win rate, accumulating $8 million in profits from inside US military information. These "orca" accounts placed large long-shot bets before cashing out and disappearing, raising fears of compromised national security secrets.
The Globe and Mail editorial board argues that Canada's Liberal government lacks a credible strategy to meet NATO defense spending targets. The piece contends that nominal budget increases are misleading due to accounting changes, inflation, and currency fluctuations, obscuring the gap between political promises and actual military capability.
Adm. Frank Bradley warned that AI-enabled deception threatens future military operations and increases the likelihood of large-scale conflict. He highlighted how malign actors, including Russia and China, use scalable synthetic media to undermine trust in digital information.
Iranian state television released footage of Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi visiting an underground ballistic missile facility, where he claimed significant production increases over the past year. State media also reported that suicide drone output has tripled since the war began, signaling a rapid recovery in military manufacturing capacity.
The article argues that the Trump administration is expanding military arrest powers at the southern border through a new Justice Department opinion, allowing troops to detain individuals just outside designated national defense areas. This legal shift raises concerns among immigrant advocates and experts regarding the boundaries of domestic military authority.