Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

The finding supports/confirms FAS needs an evaluation approach that distinguishes between the reseller’s and the VAR’s value/price to the customer. Roger Waldron June 19, 2026 12:56 pm 3 min read On June 2, the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service posted on its Interact Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Community site a “Summary of Results of Request for Information (RFI) about IT Hardware procured through Value Added Resellers (VAR)” (the summary). The summary outlined key insights gleaned from the 136 responses received in response to FAS’s January RFI. The RFI sought commercial market information from stakeholders “to enhance the Government’s understanding…

The contemporary discourse on drone-driven warfare rarely suggests the end of maneuver, but it highlights an increasingly perilous gap between tactical movement and force survivability in a hypertransparent environment. Against this backdrop, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s sustained commitment to amphibious armor invites examination of how a high-end force intends to bridge that gap in the contested littoral space. The recent discovery of a mine-clearing variant built on China’s new amphibious armored vehicle chassis, successor to the Type-05 series, shows that Beijing is not pivoting away from the littoral zone in the face of drone proliferation. Instead, China’s defense industrial…

Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Moscow on Thursday, hitting the Russian capital’s oil refinery for the second time this week in what Kyiv cast as a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in the city.“We don’t want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a voice message sent to reporters on a WhatsApp group. “But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.”Russia, for its part, fired missiles into Kyiv, also for the second time this week, following the attack that damaged…

ROME — Italy has confirmed it will not fund the purchase of U.S. weapons due to be delivered to Ukraine, the latest sign that Rome is seeking to place limits on its defense spending.Addressing the Italian parliament this week, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy had decided against backing the NATO Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) scheme, under which nations agree to fund the purchase of U.S. arms which are then transferred to Ukraine.“We have said no from the beginning, and it is still a no,” Crosetto said, in reference to PURL.This month, NATO said contributors have now pledged nearly…

On Wednesday, Kevin Warsh—at his first press conference as Federal Reserve chair—pointed out that inflation in the United States has been “running well ahead” of the central bank’s 2-percent inflation goal. Warsh has already moved fast to implement his desired policy “regime change” at the US central bank. For example, he shortened the Fed’s rate policy statement and opted to stop giving “forward guidance,” both of which signal to the public the future course of monetary policy. He also launched five task forces to study potential overhauls—yet he reasserted the Federal Open Market Committee’s unambiguous and unanimous commitment to price…

Conor McGregor and Max Holloway have started selling UFC 329 the way only two veterans can: with a mix of humor and grit. During a recent exchange, McGregor asked Holloway how he was feeling after the five-round loss to Charles Oliveira, and Holloway flipped it back with one of McGregor’s old lines about only counting finishes. McGregor’s answer, “I like this. Go ring the bell,” showed that the jab landed cleanly enough to get a laugh instead of a fight-night glare. UFC 329: Max Holloway Fires Back at Conor McGregor, Ends Exchange With a Laugh McGregor and Holloway first fought…

On 19th June 2026, Naval Group, MESKO and TELESYTEM signed an agreement to demonstrate MESKO’s Piorun missile capacity onto Naval Group’s Rampart during future naval exercises. Naval Group press release This agreement marks the first step of a mutually beneficial strategic cooperation intended to support the future integration of the missile into the launching system.  In an asymmetric and complex operational environment, providing innovative options to manage different type of threats remains the highest priority for Naval Group, MESKO and TELESYTEM. The three companies will explore the integration of PIORUN missile onto the Rampart to offer an integrated European solution…

Although some of the recently announced changes to U.S. troops levels in Europe have been signaled for a year or more, they have nonetheless unnerved America’s allies and potentially emboldened Moscow. American troops have been in Europe for decades not merely to underwrite NATO treaty commitments but more specifically to safeguard the country’s most important trading and investment relationship in the world.Cutting U.S. troops in Europe places transatlantic trade and investment ties in jeopardy, but additionally, the decision represents a potential missed opportunity – Washington risks giving away something for nothing. Russia wants U.S. troop reductions in Europe, and it’s…

Carlos writes: “Hi Murray, Even though I’ve been an AWM subscriber for long, I only recently started listening to the podcast. I love the AWA episodes, and the regular group podcasts too. I have a two-part question for AWA. First, I have read in various places that there were certain requirements to be admitted as a legionary in the Army of the Principate. For example, I’ve read in a popular magazine (not AWM!) that legionaries needed to be at least 1.80 m tall. This sounds difficult to believe. I have also often read that all legionaries needed to be able…

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, tests your knowledge of basic concepts and skills and produces two types of scores. One determines what branch in the military you are eligible for (the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), and the other the specific jobs are qualified for (lines scores). The AVAB provides you with several scores shown as percentiles: AFQT score Standardized Scores (Subtest Scores) Composite Scores (Line Scores) So, what do all these scores mean? This article will answer that and how the scores are calculated. AFQT: What’s a Good Score? Each military branch has its own minimum…