Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. This time last year, Antelope Reef was mostly submerged underwater and barely visible unless you were steaming past at low tide. New satellite imagery, provided to TWZ by Vantor, showcases what the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can construct after 10 months of nonstop dredging: a nearly 1,500-acre artificial island with a deep-water port, 2,000-plus-foot quay capable of berthing warships, and the beginnings of a 10,000-foot-long military-grade runway. Hardly recognizable today, Antelope Reef has become the latest, and one of the largest,…

Alberto Blas has spent much of his bare-knuckle career making short work of opponents, but the BKB super featherweight champion insists he is ready if Brandon Birr turns their rematch into a long night at BKB 58 on August 29. Blas will defend his title against former BKB featherweight champion Birr at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, where the bout is part of a championship card headlined by heavyweight king Gustavo Trujillo against Mark O’Neil. Blas enters the fight with an 8-0 BKB record and eight stoppage victories. Seven of those finishes came in the opening round, creating…

As the Space Force takes on new, multi-billion-dollar national security programs, the service has awarded a new contract to keep those projects on track and on budget, Defense One has learned. The service’s Space Systems Integration Office awarded Integrate, a Seattle-based firm, a multi-million dollar contract for its AI-enabled project management program. Last year, the company netted a $25 million contract with the Space Force’s Mission Manifest Office to manage the service major multi-payload launch operation project. Now, as the service embarks on massive programs such as building the Space Data Network and the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator, the service…

Every U.S. airline has some kind of frequent flier program that allows flyers to earn miles for every trip they take that can later be redeemed for discounted travel. American Airlines has launched a different kind of program that puts those miles to use for military charities. American Airlines’ new “Miles for Heroes” program allows its AAdvantage® frequent flyers to donate their airline miles to organizations that support the country’s military community. Starting this month, American Airlines’ fliers can donate miles to three organizations— the Gary Sinise Foundation, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and the Medal of Honor Foundation—tying the effort…

For eight decades, the United States was the world’s foremost entrepreneur of soft power: the country that built the institutions, vocabulary, and infrastructure of attraction-based influence that Joseph Nye would later conceptualize. In the span of roughly a year, it has become something radically different: a target market where wealthy foreign states, chiefly in the Gulf, now cultivate American elites, universities, and policymakers the way Washington once cultivated theirs. That system is now beginning to run in reverse. The United States is no longer exporting influence alone; it is increasingly importing it. Wealthy foreign states, particularly in the Gulf, are…

Around one-third of group-level CPOs who responded to Procurement Leaders’ Ovation pulse survey said they dedicate less than an hour a week to personal development. For a further 45%, it’s less than two hours. Taken together, it means that fully three-quarters of C-level procurement executives at the world’s largest, most complex companies are spending less than 20 minutes a day on their personal growth and development. This is, of course, understandable. The nature of the global business environment, the increasing complexity of the role, and the sheer volume and frequency of disruptions make a CPO’s working week demanding, draining and…

A weapon designed when propeller aircraft and armored vehicles dominated the battlefield is now appearing in a fight increasingly shaped by cheap drones. The KPV Heavy Machine Gun seems like an unlikely counter-drone weapon, yet its enormous 14.5 mm cartridge has given the Soviet-era design a surprisingly long second life.The KPV Heavy Machine Gun entered Soviet service in 1949, originally as a heavy machine gun built around the powerful 14.5×114mm cartridge. That ammunition had its roots in Soviet anti-tank rifles, giving the weapon considerably more punch than conventional machine guns.But the KPV Heavy Machine Gun’s story didn’t follow a straight…

Two U.S. tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria’s defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the Balkan country angered Iran.The United States, which has been at war with Iran since Feb. 28, requested their temporary deployment under an agreement governing the joint use of military facilities. Iran said at the time that their deployment would constitute complicity in “aggression and war crimes”, a charge that Sofia dismissed.The two U.S. Air Force KC-135 planes left Bulgaria on Friday, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters.The U.S. authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.…

The BFG® Integrated Stealth Harness (ISH™) Combines Three Critical Systems Into One Certified Platform A gun belt carries the equipment needed to do the job. A restraint system keeps a professional connected during aircraft operations. A climbing harness provides certified protection when the mission moves into vertical terrain. Traditionally, those have been three separate pieces of equipment. The Blue Force Gear® Integrated Stealth Harness, or ISH™, brings them together. The patented ISH combines a combat gun belt, rotary-wing restraint system, and independently certified Type C sit harness in one lightweight platform. It allows trained professionals to carry their equipment on…

Jiri Prochazka recently set the record straight on rumors surrounding his next fight. He also admitted that he is ‘sure of one thing.’ The former light heavyweight champion had a recent back-and-forth with Paulo Costa, and there was also speculation that the two would fight at UFC 332. Earlier this year, in April, Prochazka had even suggested that Costa and Magomed Ankalaev were the potential opponents he had in mind. However, it looks like there is no fight set for the man from the Czech Republic, at least for now. Taking to Instagram, where he shared a boatload of photos…