Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The rationale behind Golden Dome’s mandate for space-based boost-phase defense made some sense. If orbiting interceptors could hit an enemy missile very early in flight—before it could deploy countermeasures—they would avoid the Achilles’ heel of defense systems that target missiles in midcourse. But now the Pentagon and contractors are proposing to also use space-based interceptors for midcourse defense, which would jack up the cost while defeating the purpose of going to space in the first place.Today’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, system and its 44 ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California are designed to intercept warheads during their 30-minute travel…

On February 03, 2026, Airbus announced that the French Navy will be the first operator of Aliaca vertical UAS as the deliveries are set to start in May 2026. Airbus press release The French Directorate General of Armament (DGA) has ordered a new version of the SMDM (“Onboard Mini Aerial Drone Systems for the Navy”) from Airbus Helicopters (via its subsidiary Survey Copter). This UAS will  now be delivered in the new vertical take-off and landing configuration (VTOL). The DGA has ordered a total of 34 Aliaca systems for the French Navy since 2022. Deliveries of this new version will…

China and Russia are churning out millions of drones while the United States has little capacity to build them at scale. Rep. Pat Harrigan of North Carolina introduced the SkyFoundry Act to change this, and it got rolled into the latest National Defense Authorization Act.  This law authorizes a government-run facility capable of producing one million small drones annually, cutting China out of our supply chains and ending years of procurement delays. It’s a truly new way for the government to work with multiple industry partners. Harrigan joined Ryan to discuss how SkyFoundry is supposed to work, the tradeoffs of…

U.S. policymakers need to energize their engagement with the midtier arms producers fighting for a larger slice of the global arms market. They should look most urgently at Pakistan, whose cost-effective weapons and growing ties to China make it a country of increasing geopolitical importance.Islamabad’s expanding defense industry, exemplified by its JF-17 fighter jet, has drawn interest from buyers across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Pakistan has demonstrated an ability—uncommon among emerging suppliers—to bundle production with training, maintenance, and operational support. Under Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s armed forces have grown more capable and outward-looking , positioning Islamabad as an…

After the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump revived talk of acquiring Greenland, commentators reached for old clichés: the rebirth of the Monroe Doctrine, the return of great-power spheres of influence, the end of Pax Americana. But these episodes revealed something more exceptional. The world today has only one true sphere of influence. The United States alone dominates a vast home region, not merely as a buffer against competitors such as China and Russia, but as a hemispheric base from which American power and commerce can project outward, largely unconstrained by rivals.This configuration has no…

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – When Senior Airman Hannah Lillund heard her neighbors screaming for help last year, her training took over. Because of that, an infant is alive today. Lillund’s quick actions to clear baby Eumi’s airway became a powerful reminder across the Kaiserslautern Military Community that these skills can make a huge difference in the lives of those around us. For Airmen, dependents and anyone with base access, that readiness begins long before an emergency happens. At Ramstein Air Base, Germany, one of the most accessible options to receive CPR and first aid training is through the American…

02 February 2026 12:51 Today, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Vasily Osmakov met with Union Minister of Defence of Myanmar General Maung Maung Aye in Naypyidaw (Republic of the Union of Myanmar). During the event, the current state of affairs and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation in the military field were discussed. At the end of the talks, the sides signed a plan for the Russia-Myanmar military cooperation for the period 2026-2030. Department of Information and Media Affairs of Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation NEWSLETTER Join the…

Raytheon has completed a ballistic test of the United States Army’s Next Generation Short Range Interceptor, a new man-portable air defense missile intended to replace the Stinger, the company announced on Feb. 2, 2026. According to Raytheon, the test demonstrated the interceptor’s ability to track drone targets and be launched from a shoulder-fired system. The […]

Expanded island-building work | Ladd Reef, South China Sea | 11 Nov. 2025Move from access to operational certainty in high-tempo security environmentsAcross the Asia-Pacific region, intelligence operations are being pushed to operate at unprecedented speed and scale. Persistent maritime competition, rapidly unfolding military exercises and gray-zone activity demand space-based intelligence that is not only accurate, but predictable and timely.Commercial satellite imagery has dramatically expanded access to space-based intelligence. High revisit rates, global coverage and increasingly capable sensors have transformed how defense and security organizations monitor activity. Yet despite these advances, many intelligence workflows still rely on a “best-effort” collection model that prioritizes access over assurance.In today’s operational environment, best effort is no longer enough.Why best-effort collection…

Axios is described as a drone‑agnostic, multi‑payload delivery solution, conceived as a modular mission subsystem rather than a single proprietary drone. This “delivery kit”, exhibited at the Singapore Airshow 2026, can be integrated on different unmanned platforms, designed to be scalable so it can be adapted to several platform classes and a variety of payload profiles. This concept allows operators to align the same delivery solution with different airframes, according to mission constraints and national inventories Operationally, Axios is specifically positioned for last‑mile public security and close‑range operations, meaning short‑range missions in urban or tactical environments where responsiveness and precision…