Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

German naval shipbuilder TKMS has indicated that it would, in principle, be open to involving suppliers from the halted F126 frigate program in the construction of a second batch of MEKO A-200-class ships for the German Navy. By Lars Hoffmann / hartpunkt TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard announced that a supplier day will be held to discuss this. As he stated during a telephone conference with journalists presenting the results for the first nine months of the fiscal year, TKMS has also requested a bid from NVL, now Rheinmetall Naval Systems, to provide shipbuilding services for the second batch of MEKO…

The Next Age of Strategy: Finding Your Next Favorite RTS For a generation of players, myself included, Age of Empires II isn’t just a game; it’s an institution. For well over two decades now, Age of Empires II is still the gold standard of real-time strategy, defined by its perfect blend of history and historical progression, satisfying base-building, crisp combat and unit control, and a timeless art style that’s immediately identifiable, even by players who are not familiar with the real-time strategy (RTS) genre. But if you’ve conquered every campaign, mastered every civilization, and are searching for a new challenge…

The Pentagon’s recent memorandum marked a milestone in military health policy, mandating annual testosterone screening for all service members over 30 and directing the creation of an advisory council to address Operator Syndrome. This action puts health and human performance optimization front and center as a readiness issue.Human performance optimization, or HPO, is intended to improve health and readiness force-wide. Operator Syndrome, meanwhile, is a clinical construct that describes the cumulative health effects experienced by special operations personnel. Comprehensive assessments of the two will require Pentagon leadership and the advisory council to establish a standardized, evidence-informed framework to assess special…

A Texas-based aviation company beat out Bell and Lockheed Martin to lead the transformation of Army helicopter training, the service announced on Thursday.The Army awarded M1 Support Services its Flight School Next contract, a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity worth up to $10 billion for up to 26 years. It’s the culmination of a months-long competition aimed at converting the service’s Initial Entry Rotary Wing school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to a contractor-owned and -operated model. Officials expect the change to reduce costs by taking helicopters, instructors, and maintenance out of the service’s hands and pushing pilots to focus on aviation fundamentals.”This is…

Receiving the Medal of Honor requires the recipient to commit to an action that risks their life “above and beyond the call of duty.” This means no one involved would blame the person for not performing the action. Sometimes, this means taking on an enemy while outnumbered; sometimes, it means rescuing a battle buddy from certain death. For U.S. Army Staff Sgt. George Hall, it meant both — only, the person he rescued was himself, and he had to cut off his own leg to do it. George John Hall was a native of Massachusetts who joined the Army long…

Of all the fundamental BJJ positions, there’s one that shows up MUCH less often than the others in modern jiu-jitsu competition. That missing position is the knee mount or the knee ride. In high-level competition, you see guard, side control, mount, back and turtle all the time, but knee mount hardly ever shows up for more than a moment or two. In part, this is because knee mount is a transitional position – pinning the other guy with your body weight transmitted through the knee buys you a moment or two to adjust your grips, finalise the guard pass, and/or…

With the war in Ukraine now grinding into its fifth year, the Republic of Moldova has moved from the margins of the European security debate to a far more strategically exposed frontline partner of the West. Traditionally viewed as a forgotten ‘frozen conflict’ of a state undergoing a slow and painful post-Soviet transition, Moldova has become increasingly understood in Brussels and NATO capitals as another ‘test’ for Europe’s ability to stabilise fragile Western-leaning democracies under Russian pressure. Moldova’s current trajectory holds implications way beyond its capital city, Chişinău, and now include issues such as Black Sea security and wider EU…

All four combatants will take the dais for the UFC 331 pre-fight press conference, streaming LIVE at 5 p.m. ET in the embedded video above.“It was an extremely positive surprise the way Pantoja responded to the injury,” American Top Team strength and conditioning coach Everton Oliveira told Sherdog.com. “It was a serious one, but he didn’t have to undergo surgery. The following week, he was already doing physical therapy. Thanks to his dedication and commitment, his recovery was amazing. Let’s say that if the UFC had needed him to return in May, he would have been ready. Before the injury,…

KYIV, Ukraine — Though U.S. President Donald Trump promised Kyiv a license to build Patriot missile interceptors last month, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have begun putting the brakes on a joint-production deal as executives weigh what is “feasible” and the licensing runs into Washington’s red tape.American officials are backpedaling too. Trump on July 20 told the Financial Times that the U.S. has to be “a little bit careful of who we license to.” Despite that, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday posted on X that the two sides have “now reached an agreement.”The glacial progress may reflect American defense giants’…

Water and energy infrastructure have become one of Iran’s main levers of deterrence against the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi recently made it clear to Gulf states that if the U.S. military renewed large-scale strikes on Iran, their critical infrastructure would be struck. Iranian forces’ operational history over the past six months confirmed the threat’s credibility.Kuwait first reported damage near a desalination plant early in Operation Epic Fury, when debris from an intercepted drone struck the Doha West facility. Then, on March 7 and 8, Iran claimed a desalination facility on Qeshm Island had been attacked, and in response,…