Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***IranU.S. strikes on Iranian soil tapered off in August after frequent exchanges throughout July. The hiatus seems more of an adjustment in tactics to wear down Iran’s finances rather than further degrade its military capability: A combined “one-two punch” of a physical blockade against Iran’s maritime trade and increased sanctions measures, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week said, “have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country.” Iran will…

Trollhättan, 21 August 2026 – Less than a year after launching a collaborative programme with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), GKN Aerospace today unveiled its UAV demonstrator, marking the first public presentation of the platform and a major milestone for the programme. Joakim Andersson, President Engines, GKN Aerospace, said: “One year ago, this was an idea and an ambition. Today, we are unveiling the first tangible result of that work. That achievement reflects close collaboration with FMV, the Swedish Armed Forces and the combined expertise of teams across GKN Aerospace.” The initiative was announced in November 2025 with the objective…

Bottom lines up front KYIV—It was near midnight, and I was on an overnight train passing through Kyiv on the way back from meetings with Ukrainian commanders in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Pavlohrad, when my compartment door was thrown open and the lights flipped on. A voice called out, “Get up now. There’s a ballistic missile coming our way. We have to get off the train.” There was no time to think, only to calculate: How many minutes do we have? Will we ever get back on this train? I grabbed my passport, wallet, and phone. The first boom came as…

The estimated number of sexual assaults on U.S. military personnel continued to decline in 2025, extending a downward trend that began in 2023.The Defense Department’s Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, released Friday, estimated that 20,492 active-duty service members, including 9,860 women and 10,632 men, were sexually assaulted in the year preceding the fiscal year 2025 survey, down from 29,000 in 2023.The 2025 figures represent a drop in sexual assaults from roughly 35,900 in 2021.“The FY 2025 report underscores our ongoing commitment to maintaining high standards, protecting our people, and building a unified, ready, and lethal fighting force,”…

Türkiye’s MARLIN unmanned surface vessel (USV) has completed mine-laying trials using the MALAMAN smart bottom mine, adding a new mission set to the Turkish Navy’s first operational USV. The demonstration included the release of MALAMAN mines in both remotely controlled and autonomous modes. According to information released by state-owned Anadolu Agency on August 17, the work covered the design and production of a mine carriage and release arrangement, as well as the integration of mission-planning interfaces and algorithms for autonomous mine-laying operations. MARLIN was developed by Sefine Shipyard and ASELSAN under the coordination of Türkiye’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB).…

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearing the six-month mark of the Iran war and facing diminishing stockpiles of key weapons, the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Tehran, promising an “economic D-Day” against a country that has withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions. With sparse details, President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.…

Tom asks: “Sorry for this stupid question. I have read a lot of the red Loeb, but never understood how the Auxiliary forces were managed. By Roman officers, or were they independent?” Join us on Patreon patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

When it comes to a fight, there is always the question of “what if?” Andy Souwer: “What if I didn’t go down? What if my opponent didn’t land that punch on my stomach? These thoughts can linger in our minds and make us wonder about different outcomes. For example, when talking with Lucas Achterberg from Germany yesterday [after the SENSHI 19 gala night], I couldn’t help but think, what if he hadn’t been hit in the stomach?” Would things have turned out differently? It’s natural for these kinds of questions to arise, and they can even give us motivation to…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org Vital infrastructure at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, is suffering due to years of deferred maintenance and climate-related stressors, government auditors said in a new report. The Government Accountability Office said in the report released Aug. 21 the Defense Department had more than 736,000 facilities worldwide in fiscal 2025, and about one-third of those buildings are more than 50 years old. With its budget limited,…

Cris Cyborg’s PFL Tampa championship fight has been spoiled by her opponent badly missing weight.Saturday’s main event was to be for Cyborg’s featherweight title, but challenger Ketlen Vieira weighed in at 152.2 pounds, seven pounds over the 145-pound limit for a championship bout.Cyborg shared video of Vieira’s weigh-in gaffe, which you can see below.The bout will proceed as a non-title affair at a catchweight, with Vieira, who recently parted ways with the UFC, forfeiting a percentage of her purse as penalty.Cyborg later reacted to the situation, speaking to ESPN Brasil.“Today, when I went to weigh in, I found out that…