The South Korean Defence Project Promotion Committee on May 22 approved a $352 million contract to procure U.S. SM-6 anti-ballistic missiles, which were designed for integration on the Mk-41 vertical launch systems that are integrated onto the country’s destroyers. Shortages of the missiles following the U.S. assault on Iran are thought to have contributed to a protracted delivery schedule, with the missiles are only expected to become operational in 2033. The SM-6 is the newest type of anti-ballistic missile in the U.S. Navy’s arsenal, and was previously in service only in the U.S.
Author: Michael
This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with Catarina Buchatskiy, the co-founder and director of analytics at the Snake Island Institute, a Kyiv-based defense analytics center, and Viktoriia Honcharuk, the institute’s director of defense technologies. We asked them to share their views on how Ukraine’s military and defense firms turn battlefield feedback into rapid innovation, what Western investors and defense tech companies can learn from Ukraine, and what a future Ukraine-West defense industrial partnership might look like.
The Department of Defense does not primarily have a cyber recruiting problem — it has a cyber talent management problem. The military already possesses serious qualification frameworks, scholarship programs, credentialing systems, and selection tools. What it still lacks is a system tying assessment, training, assignment, performance, and retention together across an entire cyber career.In March 2026, the department announced at its Cyber Workforce Summit 2.0 an effort to reinvent the cyber workforce. Called Cyber Command 2.
During Congressional testimony from Department of Defense leadership last week, Representative George Whitesides asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, “How does canceling a command-initiated review support a culture of accountability?” But before the secretary could answer, Whitesides instead decided to direct the question to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine. Clearly uncomfortable with the question, Caine replied, “What you are alluding to … is a partisan question.
The Russian Armed Forces Battlegroup North have deployed TOS-1A thermobaric rocket artillery systems under itsnuclear biological, and chemical defence units to destroy key Ukrainian targetsin the Sumy Region. According to a platoon commander in the region, the system’s operations have been making a significant contribution to the advancement of Russian units along the entire line of contact. Targets destroyed within a 24 hour period using the systems have included five Ukrainian Armed Forces strongpoints and four unmanned aerial vehicle control posts.
Anglesey based RAF Valley takes on Cyprus based
Acting U.S. Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao has confirmed that the delivery of $14 billion worth of defence equipment to the Republic of China Armed Forces has been temporarily suspended, which is expected to exacerbate the already considerable delays to defence supplies to the island-based forces at a strategically critical time. Speaking at a Senate committee hearing, Cao stated that the pause is intended to allow for the replenishment of U.S. stockpiles following the 39 day U.S.-led war against Iran. He added that deliveries will resume once they are approved by on Capitol Hill.
Following the announcement that the Russian Armed Forces and allied Belarusian forces were conducting large scale nuclear forces exercises, which included units across the breadth of the two countries’ territories from Eastern Europe to the Pacific, the launches of six separate types of nuclear-capable missiles have been confirmed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on Belarus’ effective handling of nuclear weapons since the two countries entered a nuclear sharing agreement in 2023, observing that Belarusian personnel have shown considerable skill in handling the new high-impact armaments.
The U.S. Navy’s Orca XLUUV — Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle — is an 84-foot autonomous submarine drone with a 6,500 nautical mile range, built by Boeing under a 2019 Navy contract that began with DARPA’s Manta Ray program and Northrop Grumman’s prototype before Boeing inherited the production line.
The Orca Could Change Naval Warfare and Submarines Forever
If you are of a certain age and perhaps a member of the Baby Boom or “X” generation, you may remember a 1977 movie by the name of Orca: the Killer Whale.