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Surabaya – On June 30, Indonesia’s state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia launched the third Tarlac-class Landing Platform Dock (LPD) it built for the Philippine Navy. This is the first “improved” ship from the follow-on two-ship contract ordered by the Philippines in 2022, with the fourth LPD also expected to be launched later this year. The ship, bearing pennant number LD-603, was launched at PT PAL’s shipyard in Surabaya, East Java. Compared with the first two LPDs already in Philippine Navy service, the third and fourth vessels feature several changes and improvements requested by Manila, including a larger side ramp door…

The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. Sometime in the next few weeks, the decommissioned Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser ex-USS Mobile Bay, the 7th example of her class built, will be sent to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by friendly forces, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Tarawa class ex-USS Peleliu (LHA-5) amphibious assault ship will also be pummeled to its doom by friendly fire. These are two very high-profile and vastly different targets, which will make for a uniquely interesting pair of SINKEX drills. The…

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier was recently in formal negotiations to compete against Jon Jones in wrestling, but Jones shut down talks. UFC legends Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones will likely never be friends. Despite being years removed from their two UFC showdowns, tensions between Jones and Cormier remain high, as evidenced by their time coaching against each other on ALF Reality 3, a Russian spinoff of The Ultimate Fighter. Cormier and Jones’ competitive fire reignited on the show, as the two teased a potential boxing or wrestling match to settle their long-standing feud. But as of this writing,…

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Monday struck down an effort by the Trump administration to exert greater political control over union elections at federal agencies, finding that the agency’s regulatory changes were “arbitrary and capricious” under federal law.Since 1983, representational matters—like requests to conduct a union election or for workers to choose from between multiple labor groups—have been primarily handled by the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s cadre of regional directors and their career staff. Appeals stemming from a petition—or subsequent election—are handled by the FLRA’s three-member board of political appointees, who are subject to Senate confirmation.But in March, the…

INS Dunagiri is the fifth Project 17A Nilgiri-class frigate to enter Indian Navy service. (Indian MoD)The Indian Navy (IN) commissioned three indigenously designed and built vessels on 21 June. The stealth frigate INS Dunagiri, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) INS Agray and the Survey Vessel (Large) INS Sanshodhak were commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata, West Bengal.All three vessels were designed by the IN’s Warship Design Bureau, along with the state-owned shipyard Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE). According to India’s Ministry of Defence, the indigenous content on these vessels exceeds 75%.Navy Chief Admiral Krishna…

The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to cease policing employee workstations and communal spaces for union paraphernalia, in an apparent victory for the National Treasury Employees Union, who sued to stop the practice earlier this month.Last month, IRS leadership issued a directive to its Facilities Management and Security Services personnel instructing them to confiscate NTEU-related materials from agency facilities using “whatever steps are necessary” short of vandalizing non-union property, purportedly to conform with President Trump’s executive order banning collective bargaining at the agency. Since then, the union has collected multiple reports of the agency taking NTEU-blazoned materials out of employees…

Teledyne FLIR OEM, a business unit of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), has introduced Prism™ Ground ISR, a ready-to-deploy software stack for ground-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) applications. Building on the recently announced Prism C-UAS, designed to counter aerial drone threats, Prism Ground ISR brings advanced computational imaging technologies and AI-powered perception capabilities to ground-based platforms. This enables the rapid detection, classification, and tracking of a wide variety of targets, including the detailed classification of specific types of military vehicles. Advanced Protection for Ground-Based Operations As security situations become increasingly complex, the need for continuous situational awareness also grows. Whether…

Iran Press TV Tuesday, 30 June 2026 5:43 AM Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot have discussed regional and international developments in light of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington and its implementation process. In a phone call on Tuesday, the two ministers exchanged views on efforts to end the US and Israeli regime’s aggression against Iran, as well as the latest regional and international developments related to the MoU’s provisions. Iran on Monday rejected a French-backed proposal to cooperate on demining the Strait of Hormuz, warning Paris against provocations that could…

On May 13, 2026, Air Force One landed in Beijing for President Donald Trump’s first state visit to China in nearly a decade. That same morning, the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations published a report titled The Evolving World and the Right Way to China-US Coexistence. The summit dominated global media coverage for two days. The report received almost none.The Beijing summit produced familiar imagery: honor guards, a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People, and carefully choreographed warmth. Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced that both sides had agreed to “strategic stability” as a framework for the…

U.S. Special Operations Command is looking for a small but long-range kamikaze drone. The goal is to develop an air-launched loitering munition “with an extended range and capabilities beyond the current SOPGM [Stand-Off Precision Guided Munition portfolio],” according to a June 26 SOCOM Request For Information. The response deadline is July 27. Launched at an altitude of 5,000 to 30,000 feet, the desired Air Loitering Munition must have a range of at least 75 nautical miles. Once over the target zone, it must have a loiter time of at least 40 minutes while orbiting at an altitude of 500 to…