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How many nuclear weapons is enough? The question has haunted policymakers and scholars for 80 years. Early in the Cold War, the United States expanded its nuclear arsenal rapidly in response to the Soviet threat. But beginning in the 1980s, as the two nuclear powers sought ways to reduce nuclear risks, arms treaties helped cut the size of those arsenals significantly, and stockpiles decreased by 80 percent. Now, circumstances are pushing the United States to consider the size of its nuclear arsenal once again. Over the past six years, China has nearly tripled the number of nuclear weapons it has,…

A Tomahawk missile is fired from the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Spruance in the Gulf, in February 2026. Raytheon’s new contract award and its focus on building production rate and missile numbers reflect the Navy’s desire to boost its Tomahawk operational force level. (US Navy)The United States has awarded US company Raytheon (an RTX business) a USD22.9 billion multi-year contract to accelerate production of the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile.The contract will also underpin production of more weapons. In a 17 August statement, Raytheon said the seven-year deal “supports the annual production ramp to more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles…

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 U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts. On Aug. 23, Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere “executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” according…

Tonight, the UFC returns to the Meta Apex for Season 10, Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series, featuring another five-fight card with fighters looking to earn UFC contracts by impressing UFC CEO Dana White. In the first two weeks, 10 fighters have already secured contracts, and more will add their names to that list tonight. The final fight of this week’s Dana White’s Contender Series card features a bantamweight showdown between Bella Mir and Alex Apodaca. Mir enters the bout with an undefeated 4-0 professional MMA record. She boasts three first-round submission victories. “Lady” is an NCAA champion and…

Legal action under military law is being taken against U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson, known for his repeated public calls for President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Watson was formally charged with 10 counts under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Air Force confirmed to Military.com. Charges include three rare counts of showing contempt toward government officials. He faces charges under Article 88 for contempt toward officials, Article 92 for dereliction of duty and Article 133 for conduct unbecoming an officer. A charging document Watson’s attorney shared with CNN lists three specifications under Article 88, five under Article 92 and…

A coalition of unions that represent roughly half of all civilian federal employees sued the Trump administration Monday, seeking to halt a pair of recent regulatory changes that erode federal workers’ civil service protections and instill unprecedented power in the government’s dedicated HR agency.The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, centers on a pair of regulations finalized by the Office of Personnel Management this year: one requiring agencies to follow a forced distribution when conducting performance appraisals—effectively limiting how many employees receive top ratings—and another granting OPM the ability to fire employees across government for post-appointment…

Bella Mir’s arrival will have to wait.On Tuesday night, Week 3 of Season 10 of Contender Series took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, headlined by what was supposed to be a fait accompli with Bella Mir finally taking her place inside the UFC. Instead, Alex Apodaca delivered one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, earning herself a UFC contract, along with four other fighters on the night.Alex Apodaca def. Bella Mir Heading into the fight, Mir was the biggest betting favorite in Contender Series history — and one of the biggest favorites in MMA history, period…

The U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory has officially marked a critical milestone in Force Design modernization efforts with the technical acceptance of the first Ancillary Surface Craft (ASC) prototype. Designed to navigate challenging maritime geography and bridge logistical gaps, the ASC represents a major leap forward in the Corps’ ability to sustain Stand-in Forces within contested littoral environments, particularly in the Pacific. USMC press release By using a partnership intermediary contracting strategy, the ASC program moved rapidly from concept to construction, placing work with a non-traditional shipbuilder to shorten the path to a fielded prototype. Contracted to Birdon America in…

Europe is experiencing a sustained acceleration in defence procurement. Programmes across land, air, maritime, cyber and space domains are moving forward at compressed timelines. Production rates are increasing, supply chains are under pressure, and delivery milestones are advancing. These developments reflect a clear and widely shared objective: strengthening Operational Capability within a demanding security environment. Within this acceleration, Operational Availability of Systems in defence, implementing the necessary capabilities, deserves particular attention. Operational Availability describes the proportion of time a system is ready for use under defined operational conditions. It is the opposite of downtime, which means non-available. It connects acquisition…

Ukraine appears to be slowly losing the war against Russia, ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters, warning that Kyiv has a window of several months to make key decisions needed to turn the tide in its favor.Fedorov, a young reformer whose dismissal last month sparked weeks of protests, said Ukraine lacked any overall vision for how to win the four-year-old conflict and was hobbled by its failure to innovate.Ingrained corruption and patronage networks, as well as a lack of political independence in government institutions, were also holding the country back, he said in an interview. “I think that there’s…