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News March 19, 2026 Dan Taylor Technology Editor Military Embedded Systems Image via BAE Systems NASHUA, New Hampshire. BAE Systems won a contract from Robins Air Force Base in Georgia to support and sustain the AN/ALQ-221 Advanced Defensive System for the U.S. Air Force’s U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, the company announced in a statement. Under the contract, BAE Systems will provide field service support for the aircraft’s electronic warfare system, conduct repairs, and deliver software updates intended to help the system identify and counter new threats, according to the statement. The AN/ALQ-221 system combines radar warning and electronic countermeasures to give…

U.S. service members will now be granted religious exemptions from grooming standards only on “sincerely held religious beliefs,” according to a recent Pentagon memorandum.Current service members and those applying for military service who request an exception for religious reasons must provide “a sworn written attestation affirming the requester’s belief is sincerely held and religious in nature,” according to the March 11 Department of Defense memorandum. In their requests, service members must provide statements describing the specific religious beliefs that are held and explanations of how the current clean-shaven grooming standard conflicts with their exercise of religion, per the memo.Troops must…

Selective Sovereignty in the Law of War | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University wpDiscuzInsert

Members of the Australian Army and NZ Army provide security at a beach landing during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. (Gordon Arthur)ANZAC partners Australia and New Zealand held foreign and defence ministerial consultations in Canberra on 17 March, with one outcome being a decision to forge even closer military ties.Australia’s Minister of Defence Richard Marles and New Zealand’s Minister of Defence Judith Collins operationalised the alliance with what they called the Anzac 2035 Vision.The aim of the vision is to be “able to operate seamlessly as an increasingly integrated, combat-capable Anzac force by 2035, while remaining respectful of our status as…

A-10 Thunderbolt IIs are strafing boats in the Straits of Hormuz as part of President Trump’s war on Iran, and at least some experts say it shows why the venerable aircraft should remain in service.”The A-10 Warthog is now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast-attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday. The Defense Department posted images of the A-10 flying in U.S. Central Command airspace this week. CENTCOM praised the Warthog’s capabilities, noting in an X…

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs FM Sa’ar: “Israel has an interest in Lebanon joining the circle of normalization and peace in the region. The obstacle to this is Hezbollah.” Type: Press Releases Topic: Foreign Policy, Terrorism Secondary topic: Hezbollah, Iran Publish Date: 18.03.2026 Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar spoke today (Wednesday, 18 March 2026) with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot and discussed with him the issues of the war in Iran and particularly Lebanon. . FM Sa’ar: “I spoke with my French counterpart, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, about the war…

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Japan’s new electronic-warfare aircraft, converted from a Kawasaki C-2 tactical cargo hauler, took to the sky for its maiden flight this week.The EC-2 plane, ridiculed by judgy aviation enthusiasts for its bumpy body, took off from Gifu Air Base on March 17, checking a key box in the envisioned plan of fielding the aircraft for operations in March 2027.The Japan Air Self-Defense Force – or JASDF for short – stated, “We’ll continue working toward its introduction to improve capabilities in the electromagnetic domain, and to strengthen the cross-domain operations capabilities.”When deemed ready the aircraft will be…

On February 28, 2026, Iran suffered coordinated missile attacks from Israel and the United States. The breakdown of diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program was followed by heavy bombing of civilian infrastructure and military sites. The assault on Teheran victimized a girl’s school (with more than 170 casualties) as well as the highest echelon of the Islamic Republic’s administration – including its Supreme Leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was in office since the Cold War, in 1989. This event provided the apex to a 3-year long war of mutual attrition between the regional powers, ignited by unprecedented missile…

A pair of U.S. Navy counter-mine vessels that are homeported in Bahrain arrived in Singapore this week, according to a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesperson.The Independence-class littoral combat ships USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa entered the U.S. Seventh Fleet area of responsibility earlier in the week, the spokesperson said, stopping first in Malaysia for a port call.Each ship is equipped with a mine countermeasures mission package designed to detect and destroy naval mines.“Tulsa and Santa Barbara are conducting scheduled maintenance and logistics stop in Singapore,” the spokesperson said. The two nations, according to the spokesperson, have an agreement to allow…

Real American Freestyle will celebrate its one-year anniversary by returning to Cleveland for RAF12 on Saturday, August 22, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, with the event streaming live exclusively on FOX Nation as part of the league’s extended broadcast partnership. RAF is positioning its twelfth event as a homecoming, bringing the league back to the arena where it staged its first full-scale fight-night show and introduced its unscripted professional freestyle format to a national audience. Branded as “wrestling’s new main stage,” RAF has built its concept around Olympic-caliber freestyle wrestling contested under USA Wrestling rules, presented with production values that mirror…