Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Contracts U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND L3Harris Technologies Inc., Clifton, New Jersey, is being awarded a $613,974,867 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H9224126DE001) comprising a mix of firm-fixed-price and cost-reimbursement contract line items for contractor logistics support of the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures system in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026 procurement; and fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance, funds in the amount of $40,743,234 are obligated at time of award. This award is a non-competitive contract in accordance with Federal Acquisitions Regulation 6.302-1. USSOCOM, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE AAR…

Last fall, the U.S. Marine Corps had virtually no first-person view attack drones. That’s changed quickly. This episode is about how a team of marines at Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico went from a cold start to building a Marine Corps-wide first-person view drone training system. Ryan was pleased to welcome some great marines onto the show: Col. Scott Cuomo, CWO5 Steve Pearsoll, CWO3 (Gunner) Troy Hotaling, GySgt Jude Stewart, GySgt Justin Creasman, and Sgt Timothy Brockup.Since we recorded this episode, Cuomo has changed command and is off to his next assignment.This episode was brought to you by Onebrief. Learn…

The Department of Veterans Affairs currently has 367 documented artificial intelligence use cases supporting everything from medical appointments and disability claims to customer service and records management. However, veterans seeking medical care or VA benefits may encounter artificial intelligence without realizing it.The VA’s recently released 2025 AI Inventory identifies 215 of those use cases as high-impact systems. Although VA officials say safeguards and human oversight remain in place, veteran advocates say veterans are more likely to trust AI systems if they understand when they are being used and what role they play.For Navy veteran Markus Williams, the issue surfaced during…

The U.S. Army is moving ahead to meet the Defense Department’s direction to cut the number of military moves. Army officials announced they’re cutting more than 12,000 relocations in fiscal 2026 and more than 13,600 in fiscal 2027, in an effort to provide more stability to soldiers and their families. The Navy and the Marine Corps haven’t established specific numbers of military moves targeted for reduction in 2026 or 2027, service officials told Military Times. Both noted that their reviews are ongoing, and key milestones are tied to implementation in 2027. The Air Force did not respond to questions about…

The Pentagon’s drive to field new weapons faster risks outpacing the independent office meant to catch problems before those systems reach troops, according to a Government Accountability Office report released June 30. GAO based the findings on an audit it conducted from January through June 2026.The Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) is the Pentagon’s independent authority on whether new weapons work as intended before reaching the field. In fiscal 2024, DOT&E received $10.6 million specifically to expand its oversight of programs using the Pentagon’s middle tier of acquisition (MTA) pathway, a streamlined process designed to field…

In 2025, Ofek Riemer, Daniel Wajner, and Ehud Eiran wrote, “Populists vs. Spies in Israel and Beyond,” where they argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship with Israel’s intelligence agencies could have grave consequences for Israel’s democracy. A year later, we asked them to revisit their arguments.Image: U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia Commons In your 2025 article, you argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s clashes with Israel’s internal intelligence agency, Shin Bet, is a hallmark tactic of populist leaders and could have grave long-term consequences for Israel’s liberal democracy. A year later, what is the dynamic like between Netanyahu and the intelligence…

Henry Knox led a 300-mile expedition during the winter of 1775, transporting 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge while crossing snow, frozen rivers and mountainous terrain. The successful delivery of that artillery helped force the British evacuation of Boston and marked the Continental Army’s first major victory, ultimately paving the way for freedom and the origins of a new nation. Roughly 250 years later, eight runners from across the United States—including two current military service members (Marine Corps, Navy) and one veteran (Army)—are doing their best reenactment. In honor of the nation’s founding and to those who serve it…

ROME — The tri-nation industrial consortium behind the GCAP fighter program is set to get its next major contract before the Farnborough airshow this month, after the U.K. came up with essential funding on the day that cash flow for the jet was due to run out.Sources close to the program told Defense News the next contract was made possible by the U.K.’s timely commitment of £8.6 billion ($11.4 billion) over four years to the U.K.-Italy-Japan jet program in its its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which was published on Tuesday.The cash means the three nations can now hand a…

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has turned its signature naval drone – the little boat that drove Russia’s fleet out of the western Black Sea – into a launch platform for first-person-view attack drones, putting Kyiv’s strike reach beyond the coast.The Sea Baby, a strike boat built and operated by Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, can now carry six to eight FPV drones in side compartments that open during an attack, alongside thermobaric Shmel rockets, according to Russian accounts of the boats operating around the Kinburn Spit, roughly 40 miles east of Odesa, shared by Forbes.Ukrainian officials count on the autonomous…

Justin Gaethje knew the craziness of MMA would always give him a glimmer of hope to accomplish the one thing he never did.Gaethje cashed in on that hope with an eye-opening upset win over Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC White House. “The Highlight” was a two-time interim title holder, and previous two-time undisputed title challenger — where he got finished by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Charles Oliveira — and was on the wrong end of one of the biggest knockouts in UFC history against Max Holloway at UFC 300.When asked by his coach Trevor Wittman about his doubts…