The Army will execute Nidal Hasan via firing squad, the Department of Defense announced Monday night. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of carrying out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people before being stopped.
The use of a firing squad was approved by President Donald Trump, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X. Trump’s approval came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method to the president, Parnell said. It will be the first time a firing squad has been used on a member of the U.S. military in an execution in decades.

The Army has grounded more than half of its fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters over renewed concerns about a new transmission system.
The pause in flying is the second safety-related stand-down for the Army’s frontline attack helicopter in two months after an August halt lasted just over a week.
Officials announced Friday an “immediate, temporary pause in flight operations” for AH-64E Apache helicopters with Improved Drive System transmissions.

President Donald J. Trump just went off on CNN for sharing what he perceives to be “Fake News.” Their reporting indicated that the president’s party was set for a colossal defeat in the coming Midterm elections.

But President Trump wants the world to know he’s winning (even though he’s not on the ballot).

FILE PHOTO — The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. A dramatic leap forward in technology, the bomber represents a major milestone in the U.S. bomber modernization program.

Despite operational setbacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears optimistic about his continued attempts to invade Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale attack against the country in February 2022.

Speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Forum in early October, Putin attempted to shift the narrative of the war, pointing to European powers as the aggressors and oppressors instead.

Tu-160M Bombers from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-160 Up Close. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Russian officials are downplaying concerns over a possible outbreak of the pneumonic plague, a severe lung infection that has a fatality rate approaching 100%.

The fears stem from an incident in Siberia after a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute died following an alleged accident at a facility that studies the bacteria.

President Donald Trump has promised $5,000 checks to every adult American citizen should the Republicans win the midterm elections next month.

The proposal has been described as everything from a pay-in-the-sky campaign promise to an attempted bribe, and most political observers agree it will join the “DOGE Dividend” and tariff rebates as proposals from Trump’s second term that are unlikely ever to become reality.

Donald Trump Speaking at CPAC. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Donald Trump Giving a Speech. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.

While the United States and much of the global economy have been put through the wringer thanks to the war of choice that the United States and Israel initiated on February 28, the Islamic Republic of Iran — the target of that war of choice — has not had an easy ride.

Indeed, the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) by the United States Navy and the semi-regular escort missions of oil containers passing through the SoH have clearly harmed Iran’s already tenuous economy.

B-1B Lancer Bomber in Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Image Credit: Harry J.

Iran has begun producing ballistic missiles with ranges beyond the approximately 2,000 kilometre limit it has publicly maintained for decades, according to Mohammad Akramiya, a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces. The announcement marks a significant shift in Tehran’s stated missile policy and occurs amid a protracted ongoing conflict with the United States. “The Iranian authorities have decided to increase the range of our missiles due to the ongoing conflict with the United States,” Akramiya said.

Polish city Lublin has reopened Cold War shelte

It is currently unclear who really controls the Strait of Hormuz. On the one hand, oil transit through the strategic waterway seems to have increased, with some tracking agencies noting a surge to near pre-war tanker-transit levels in September. However, oil prices remain high, suggesting the market is not yet confident the surge signals a long-term positive trend. Meanwhile, Iran continues to attack civilian tankers in the Strait, while the Houthis in Yemen continue to attack Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure.

National Cadet Week is underway!

Russia Bombards Ukraine With Jet-Powered Drones – Russia launched another massive drone attack against Ukraine overnight into October 5, and almost a quarter of the 205 drones used in the attack were new jet-powered weapons that are much faster, and therefore more difficult to intercept, than the propeller-driven Shahed drones that once dominated the battlefield.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia launched a total of 205 drones, including decoys, in an assault that began at roughly 6 pm local time on Sunday, October 4.

Hundreds of soldiers officially switched jobs into two new career fields in the Army last week, a major shift as the force works to adapt to new technologies. About 600 soldiers transferred into a job created specifically for space operations, while warrant officers became the first to graduate from a new robotics and autonomous weapons course.
The troops joined two new military occupational specialties, MOSs, on Oct. 1. The 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist is an enlisted MOS, meant to support the Army’s expanding space operations.

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.Western coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

Defense agencies are facing an AI onslaught. With as much as $30 billion slated for fiscal 2027 to purchase and enable next-generation AI hardware, cybersecurity, sensors and related software, defense officials are being bombarded with AI-enabled capabilities from every direction.
At the same time, those same agencies carry the herculean task of rationalizing and modernizing technology systems while also forcing stricter security compliance rules on defense contractors. That’s requiring officials to make difficult choices amid dueling initiatives, at an ever-quickening pace.

As Americans continue to grapple with the seven-month-long conflict between the US and Iran, and as they fork over more at the pump, reports suggest the supply of oil to the States from the Middle East is finally starting to reach pre-war levels.

Iran continues to exert its power over oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but analysts point to several factors that have seen oil supply to the US reach 92% of the volume it typically received prior to the US and Israel kicking off a direct armed offensive against the Islamic country.

Oil Tanker. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Seven months after the war in the Middle East began, Iran still claims control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Over the past several months, both sides have made reopening the vital waterway a top priority, as the Strait’s closure continues to devastate the global shipping market.

A joint team consisting of F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force flight test members, U.S.

Russia Makes Life Harder for Those Who Wish to Dodge the Draft – Russia is making it increasingly difficult for young men to avoid military service, tightening restrictions on everyday civilian life as the Kremlin tries to replenish an armed forces battered by more than four and a half years of war in Ukraine.

Men aged 18 to 30 face tighter restrictions on property transactions unless they can show they have complied with Russia’s military registration requirements.

President Donald Trump has admitted that the war with Iran could cost his party the midterm election, as high fuel prices and dissatisfaction with the conflict threaten the GOP’s control of Congress with just four weeks to go.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, October 1, Trump said that it’s “possible” the conflict could hurt Republicans when voters go to the polls, though he argued that voters should be rewarding his administration for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon instead.

It was the final curtain call for Wing Commande

Russia is ramping up attacks on key bridges in Kyiv after four consecutive days of strikes on vital infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital.

The Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge was struck on Sunday morning for the second day in a row after a previous drone assault damaged the road surface and trolleybus wires, injuring two people.

HIMARS Strike Creative Commons Photo

U.S.

Russia is ramping up attacks on key bridges in Kyiv after four consecutive days of strikes on vital infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital.

The Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge was struck on Sunday morning for the second day in a row after a previous drone assault damaged the road surface and trolleybus wires, injuring two people.

HIMARS Strike Creative Commons Photo

U.S.

Just across from Kherson, on the other side of the Dnipro River, lies Oleshky, a Ukrainian city Russia has occupied since 2022.

Though Oleshky’s prewar population was about 25,000, only about 6,000 are believed to still live there.

MSTA-S Russian Artillery. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

MSTA-S Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Those who remain face an acute shortage of basic necessities: food, clean water, and electricity.

They have a surplus of the things in Ukraine that are the antithesis of life: land mines, shelling, drone attacks — and Russian occupation.

Just across from Kherson, on the other side of the Dnipro River, lies Oleshky, a Ukrainian city Russia has occupied since 2022.

Though Oleshky’s prewar population was about 25,000, only about 6,000 are believed to still live there.

MSTA-S Russian Artillery. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

MSTA-S Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Those who remain face an acute shortage of basic necessities: food, clean water, and electricity.

They have a surplus of the things in Ukraine that are the antithesis of life: land mines, shelling, drone attacks — and Russian occupation.

An Army reservist injured in an Iranian drone attack on U.S. forces in Kuwait was awarded a Purple Heart. The March 1 attack was the first and deadliest strike on Americans in the war so far, and marked Iran’s first retaliation in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, launched on Feb. 28.
Army Reserve Lt. Col. Robert J. Connolly received a Purple Heart for wounds he sustained from a one-way drone attack on the attack on U.S. units at the Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1. Six Reserve soldiers died in the attack.

Donald Trump Says 18 Troops Have Been Killed in Iran War After Reporting Confusion – U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that 18 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives since the Iran war began in February.

Trump made the comments at a rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday, 2nd October, and his figure matches the Pentagon’s.

U.S. Sailors prepare an F-35C Lightning II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, to launch from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), June 1, 2026. Abraham Lincoln is deployed to the U.S.

The U.S. Air Force is conducting market research to support efforts to beef up its point defense capabilities in South Korea against small unmanned aerial systems and other drones.
A new RFI released Monday to support “Project Iron Sentry” noted that 7th Air Force, which is headquartered at Osan Air Base, is seeking “combat-proven, theater-wide C-sUAS/C-UAS capabilities” from vendors eligible under the Pentagon’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program.

The US has withdrawn its bombers, but the reaso

Back in September, during his address at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, President Donald Trump made an audacious proposal: $5,000 checks for every American adult if Republicans win both houses of Congress in November.

“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” the president told the crowd at the Dallas convention. He called it the “Trump Dividend.”

President Donald Trump signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office, Thursday, April 24, 2025.

It’s difficult to see how Iran’s predicament can improve in the context of its conflict with the United States and Israel.

The war is now in its eighth month, and an unfavorable situation seems to be getting worse for Tehran.

A U.S. Sailor, assigned to Airborne Command and Control Squadron 124, signals the launch of a Carrier Air Wing 8 E-2D Hawkeye aircraft on the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Nov. 29, 2025. U.S. military forces are deployed to the U.S.

The global military ammunition market is forecast to grow significantly over the next decade, led by North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Iran Is Finding New Ways to Disrupt Middle East Oil – Iran’s attempts to choke off Middle Eastern oil exports aren’t working as well as they once did, but that doesn’t mean Tehran is out of options or that the region’s energy crisis is ending.

In fact, signs suggest the battle over Middle Eastern oil exports may simply be changing, with even bigger, longer-term problems emerging.

New shipping data published on October 5 shows that Middle Eastern crude exports exceeded pre-war levels on September 24 and between September 27 and 29, reaching 19.5 to 22.5 million barrels per day.

This video describes the military situation in

Middle East Oil Exports Beat Pre-War Levels – But Nothing’s Guaranteed – Something remarkable is happening in the Middle East, but it shouldn’t be confused with Iran losing control of the Strait of Hormuz. Despite Iran’s continued efforts to disrupt shipping through the water, which include ongoing strikes, crude oil exports from the region are starting to tick up — and they even briefly exceeded pre-war levels during the final week of September.

But several factors suggest the recovery is fragile and could reverse at a moment’s notice.

Oshkosh Defense received a follow-on order of Heavy Equipment Transporter A1 platforms from Optimum Vehicle Logistics for Morocco.

Could President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war in Iran, and the long war that has followed, cost him one or both houses of Congress in the midterm elections next month?

Very possibly. And the president has admitted as much.

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at the 450th mile of the new border wall Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, near the Texas Mexico border. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.

Hidden deep below the surface, the Royal Navy&#

The start-up behind the Pentagon’s counter-drone marketplace, Kaizen, picked up a five-year indefinite-delivery, indefinitely-quantity enterprise agreement worth up to $49 million from the Army, with an initial task order in the tens of millions focused on classified work.  
Delivered through the service’s Digital Capabilities Contracting Center of Excellence (DC3oE), the award allows select Army organizations to use Kaizen’s application layer system, one meant to streamline typically clunky military workflow tools.

Japan’s newly designated Type 25 Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile has been seen operating at Camp Fuji, providing the first ever view of the country’s first domestically developed high-speed glide weapon in frontline service. New video footage shows the missile system arriving at a firing position, raising its launch canisters, and subsequently withdrawing, offering a detailed look at the operational procedures being developed by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

With summer nearly over, many Ukrainian farmers have harvested much of their crop. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine was one of the world’s leading exporters of key foodstuffs, including wheat, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil, barley, and other grains. Despite the war, this past summer was productive.

But while the country’s agriculturalists harvested most crops successfully, Ukrainian farmers face a major bottleneck: the closure of Ukraine’s Black Sea port infrastructure, through which most of the country’s food exports must travel.

Some Iranian leadership is being surprisingly honest about the dire state of the country’s economy, with one of the most senior security officials in Tehran warning that the Islamic Republic is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, delivered the assessment during a high-level government meeting on Saturday, October 3, attended by President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior ministers.

U.S. Air Force Capt.

The Air Force Falcons emerged as the lone service academy winner in Week 5, defeating the Navy Midshipmen 14-9 in the opening matchup of the 2026 chase for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy on Saturday afternoon. Later that evening, the Army Black Knights sustained a 31-29 road loss to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
All three academies found themselves in tightly contested games, with Air Force holding off Navy after building an early lead and Army mounting a late rally that came up just short in Ruston.

This video describes the military situation in

The U.S. and its allies’ recent efforts to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz appear to have hit a key benchmark. However, there are new reports that Iran is stepping up attacks on vessels in the area, indicating that the recovery is fragile and could be reversed.

According to data from the tracking firm Kplr, which Reuters cited, crude oil exports from the Middle East exceeded pre-war levels on four of the seven days in the final week of September.

The Irish Department of Defence has ordered two types of Thales air-surveillance radar under an agreement signed with France’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA).

After transforming modern warfare with aerial drones, Ukraine is going one step further, using unmanned ground vehicles in conjunction with aerial drones and electronic warfare to push Russian forces back around the strategically important city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.

An offensive launched by Ukraine’s Third Army Corps in May, but only reported publicly in September, has reportedly reclaimed 176 square kilometers of territory in northern Donetsk Oblast, according to corps commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi.

A native of Wisconsin, Bob Schultz joined the Marine Corps and served aboard the USS California during World War II. Schultz plans to attend the 85th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December. In the lead-up to Veterans Day on November 11, 2026, the 104-year-old Schultz spoke with We Are The Mighty about his military service. (Edits were made for clarity.)
“The parts of my childhood that I remember were mostly unhappy, because it was the Great Depression. We didn’t have any money. My dad lost his job. We lost the house, and so I worked as a kid at a farm for 10 cents an hour.

Much of President Donald Trump’s appeal has always been his ability, or at least his promise, to rescue the American economy.

While the administration doubles down on the idea of a new American “Golden Age,” the American people are seeing things differently.

President Donald J. Trump attends the finale of the inaugural Patriot Games youth sports competition at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

The U.S. Navy is seeking industry support for a major redesign of the mission planning environment used by F-35 fifth generation fighter squadrons, with the planned effort expected to run for five years and potentially be worth between $50 million and $100 million. The F-35 Mission Planning Environment is a ground-based component of the fighter’s wider mission-support architecture.

Josh Luckenbaugh, NDM
A new Army program inviting industry to co-invest in modernization projects that could provide both commercial and warfighting benefits has resulted in several…