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Since returning to the White House in January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has bullied, scolded, and coerced countries the world over—alienating friends, neighbors, allies, competitors, adversaries, and neutral states alike—with the United States becoming what the scholar Stephen Walt has described in Foreign Affairs as a “predatory hegemon.” Trump’s policies have created a vast global geostrategic vacuum, tailor-made for China to take advantage of by expanding its own presence and influence.For Chinese strategists and diplomats, however, taking advantage of Washington’s unforced errors has proved easier said than done. China’s opportunities to broaden its global footprint and advance its interests…

May 12, 2026 – Steadicopter Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of rotary unmanned aerial systems, introduced an advanced operational architecture for its Golden Eagle RUAS, unveiling a “Mothership” concept specifically designed for sustained operations in contested and denied environments. The concept transforms the rotary unmanned platform into a long-range aerial deployment carrier capable of transporting and releasing ISR drones and precision effectors deep into operational theaters while maintaining stand-off survivability. Modern conflict environments are characterized by layered air defenses, electronic warfare pressure, and the growing vulnerability of high-value aerial assets. Within these threat landscapes, survivability is no longer defined solely…

A national missile defense system, or Golden Dome, proposed by the Trump administration would cost $1.2 trillion to build and maintain over the next 20 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in a cost-projection analysis released Tuesday.Acquisition costs would total just over $1 trillion, said the CBO, a nonpartisan federal agency that provides budgetary analyses for Congress. The estimate is significantly more than the $185 billion the Trump administration set aside for the project in its proposed fiscal 2027 defense budget.That gap is due, at least in part, to the fact that there are no publicly available plans from the…

Stratom eXpeditionary cargo loader increases C-130 cargo capacity. Credit: Stratom. Stratom said that it has successfully demonstrated its eXpeditionary Cargo Loader (XCL), a lightweight remote control handling system intended for use with C-130 aircraft from austere airfields. The test, conducted in partnership with the US Air Force Research Laboratory Center for Rapid Innovation (AFRL), confirmed the XCL’s ability to operate in “austere and expeditionary environments”. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more In a release on 11 May 2026, Stratom said the loader met…

A year ago, Pete Hegseth handed the Army a to-do list that has reshaped the service’s capabilities and how it acquires new ones. But now he’s rethinking some of those changes.That includes the makeup of the Army’s aviation assets, the defense secretary suggested Tuesday during a House Armed Services Committee defense panel hearing into the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense-budget request.“I actually think it’s something we’re taking another look at,” he said in response to questioning from Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., whose district includes the Sikorsky factory that makes UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The Army’s portion of the Pentagon proposal would…

The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. Poland has confirmed it is going to arm its M28 Skytruck twin-turboprop utility aircraft for the counter-drone role, a development that is unique for a NATO air arm. This comes after the aircraft from which the M28 was derived, the Soviet-era Antonov An-28 Cash, has found notable success in the same capacity in Ukraine. You can read more about that in our recent coverage here. Speaking at a panel discussion on air superiority at the recent Defence24 Days event, Maj. Gen. Ireneusz…

Representatives of the CSG group and Turkish company FNSS Savunma Sistemleri today, on the opening day of IDEB 2026 in Bratislava, presented a strategic cooperation focused on the joint development and production of selected armoured platforms for European and other international markets. At the same time, the new CFL-120 Karpat combat platform was unveiled to the public for the first time. The medium tank, equipped with a 120 mm main gun, combines FNSS expertise in tracked armoured vehicles, CSG’s industrial and manufacturing base in Slovakia, and the firepower of Leonardo’s HITFACT® MkII turret. “Cooperation with FNSS represents an important strategic…

When Ronda Rousey was first set to star in the Roadhouse remake, it looked like her next major leap into mainstream Hollywood. Conor McGregor eventually took the role instead, and while the fighter-turned-actress hasn’t dwelled on the missed opportunity, her reasoning reveals something about how scripts get made in the industry. Speaking with Complex, Rousey explained what happened behind the scenes and why she ultimately passed on the project. The original plan had Rousey stepping into a classic action role, a moment that seemed to signal Hollywood’s readiness to build franchises around combat athletes. Instead, she found herself in a…

Former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev will have an opportunity to regain some of his lost aura when he tangles with ex-Bellator MMA welterweight Dillon Danis as part of the upcoming Real American Freestyle (RAF) event on June 13 in St. Louis, Missouri.What are you watching this weekend? UFC or Ronda vs. Gina?I’ll be locked on the APEX, since I have to do the play-by-play. If I wasn’t working, I would invite some folks over and watch the MVP card.Closes in 3 days • 37 total votesView resultsUFC Vegas 117MVP: Rousey vs. CaranoLittle bit of bothNeitherRec 1CommentsThin Stroke Comment Icon…

Mortal Kombat 2 is currently viewable at the movie theaters. In just three days, it was able to generate $63 million worldwide, nearly making back the $80 million in production costs within that span of time. Prior to the film hitting the theaters, the studio was already anticipating success considering that it was revealed that Jeremy Slater had already begun writing the third script. Evidently, the studio wanted to make Mortal Kombat into a trilogy. …