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U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping left their Washington meetings last week with a list of eight “deliverables and understandings.” The list covers trade, artificial intelligence and Iran, along with diplomatic and symbolic commitments. It is not eight separately signed treaties or completed deals. A proposed military crisis agreement appears separately, and neither government has announced that it is in operation. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping participate in an arrival ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) China’s published list identifies these eight outcomes: Strategic stability: The leaders agreed…

Washington, D.C., 29 Sep 2026 – Today, the U.S. Navy announced its plans to procure 30 Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels following the completion of Phase I at-sea testing marking a key milestone for the program and demonstrating the Department’s commitment to deliver asymmetric capability to Fleet warfighters to counter evolving threats. Production Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements were awarded to Galliano Marine Services, HII, and Saronic Technologies following successful at sea testing. Each agreement includes the procurement of 10 MUSVs, at an average procurement cost of $40,000,000 per vessel. The first MUSVs are scheduled to be delivered to the Navy…

Key PointsSweden will contribute Gripen fighters to NATO’s integrated air and missile defense over Poland from October, Defense Minister Pål Jonson said.The jets will mainly operate from Sweden, with a smaller forward presence in Poland, to protect a logistics hub supporting Ukraine.Sweden will send JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets back into NATO’s air defense mission over Poland from October, where they will help protect the hub in the country’s southeast that funnels military and civilian aid into Ukraine, Defense Minister Pål Jonson said on Sept. 30. Most of the aircraft will fly from bases in Sweden, with only a smaller…

The U.S. Air Force tapped Boeing for a $2.38 billion contract to produce 22 F-15EX Eagle II aircraft, using previously available funds from the congressionally provided reconciliation to maintain procurement before the fiscal year deadline.The award is under Lot 7, which accounts for current programmatic realities, according to a recent release, meaning it includes the effects of the 2025 production disruptions and inflation in the defense industrial base.“Lot 7 reflects a disciplined approach to executing available resources while balancing the realities affecting defense production,” Brig. Gen. Timothy Helfrich, portfolio acquisition executive for the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate, said in…

Speaking directly to active-duty E-6s and O-3s at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s unveiled six major strategic initiatives that will govern the Department’s direction for years to come, one of them being the creation of the Autonomous Warfare Command. Here is the text of the Memorandum for Senior Pentagon leadership Commanders of the Combatant Commands Defense Agency and DoW Field Activity Directors. Quantico, Sept. 30, 2026 – After its Cold War victory, the U.S. steadily reduced its budget allocation for defense. Our military adapted by buying fewer, increasingly sophisticated weapons – a strategy that worked for…

Separating from the military sets off a series of financial deadlines that don’t run on the same schedule, and most of them aren’t automatic. Health coverage, life insurance, Department of Veterans Affairs disability filing and retirement account decisions all run on their own separate clocks, and missing any one of them can mean a gap in coverage or a benefit that closes for good. Here’s how the sequence goes, from before separation through the end of the first year. Before Separation: 90 to 180 Days Out The window to start planning opens well before your separation date. Veterans and service…

Abstract High powered microwave weapons will play a central role in the anti-drone operations of militaries in the coming years as they are deployed onto battlefields. Its ability to bypass electromagnetic hardening methods and its practically unlimited magazine capacity makes it a key asymmetric weapon to counter the swarms of drones that modern militaries are beginning to field.  Introduction As drones become a central component of militaries across the world, nations are scrambling to find effective ways to counter the waves of unmanned systems they now face on the battlefield. Many of the defensive measures, ranging from jamming to “counter-drone”…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.—Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced plans for a new four-star command to lead the military-wide drive to field autonomous systems along with five other initiatives at what he promised will become an annual “State of the Force” address here Sept. 30. Hegseth plans to launch the Autonomous Warfare Command within a year as a combatant command endowed with “service-like authorities, built to scale autonomous and robotic…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion-turned-Featherweight contender Aljamain Sterling returns against red-hot prospect Kevin Vallejos in the UFC Qatar co-main event on Nov. 21, 2026, inside Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Al Rayyan, Qatar.The announcement came somewhat out of nowhere.“I was told I had an hour to give an answer, and I had just gotten off the mats,” Sterling told Yahoo Sports. “I didn’t even get a chance to talk to my team. I guess the negotiations were already in the works, and the opportunity would have gone to someone else.”“These things move quickly,” Sterling continued. “It…

Since the beginning of July, Russian drones and missiles have been terrorizing Kyiv with exceptional intensity. Air raid sirens blare day and night, warning residents of oncoming fire and sending people running underground. Many of the drones have been shot down, but not all, and the ballistic missiles have largely gotten through, destroying buildings and killing civilians; so far, roughly 100 have died. The bombardments have become so intense that, in recent weeks, Ukrainians have been posting a grim joke on Instagram and TikTok: “Thank God I live in Kyiv, so I do not have to plan for the future.”Kyiv…