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Author: Michael
The Cuban Armed Forces have launched live fire air defence exercises, deploying modernised Soviet S-125 medium range surface-to-air missile systems, in what analysts have assessed to be a simulation of a U.S. assault on the country. This has occurred as the U.S. Navy deployed the nuclear powered supercarrier, USS Nimitz, and its strike group, into the Caribbean Sea. The exercises closely follow the bringing of charges by the United States against former Cuban leader Raul Castro and others in the country’s current and former leadership for allegedly conspiring to kill U.S. citizens.
Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry has shown the delivery of Russian nuclear warheads to equip Belarusian Armed Forces Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems, as part of the nuclear-sharing arrangement between the two countries that has been in effect since 2023. State media reported that several Iskander systems have been stationed in Belarus, while “special munitions,” the Russian military term for nuclear payloads, are stored separately at a secure facility.
The Russian Aerospace Forces scrambled Su-35 and Su-27 fighter aircraft to repeatedly intercept a British Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft operating near Russian forces over the Black Sea. The British Ministry of Defence on May 20 published footage of the incidents, which included a very close approach by a Su-35 that triggered the British aircraft’s onboard emergency systems and automatically disable its autopilot. A Su-27 subsequently made six passes directly in front of the RC-135, closing to within six metres of its nose.
The Chengdu J-20A — the upgraded variant of China’s J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter — is being assigned to top-tier PLAAF formations within direct operational reach of Taiwan and the First Island Chain. Senior National Security Editor Brandon Weichert argues the J-20A is best understood not as China’s answer to the F-22 Raptor but as a long-range battle manager — a flying quarterback designed to orchestrate the wider kill chain across PL-15 long-range missiles, drone swarms, naval forces, ground-based missile batteries and airborne early warning aircraft.
The U.S. Navy’s Block V Virginia-class fast-attack submarine adds an 84-foot Virginia Payload Module that triples Tomahawk cruise missile capacity from 12 to 40 per boat. The increase matters because Operation Epic Fury against Iran depleted nearly one-third of America’s prewar Tomahawk inventory — over 1,000 of 3,100, according to CSIS. The U.S. Navy is also retiring four Ohio-class SSGNs between 2026 and 2028, removing 616 Tomahawk cells, and twelve Ticonderoga-class cruisers, removing another 2,080 vertical launch cells. Tomahawks cost between $1.
The Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) — the joint sixth-generation fighter program between Britain, Italy, and Japan — is facing its first major crack. BAE Systems has warned that roughly 4,000 British engineers and personnel working on the program will be reassigned within ten weeks if the British government does not finalize longer-term contracts before the temporary bridge funding ends in June. Britain has already paid £686 million into Edgewing, the industrial venture combining BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co.
TAMPA, Fla. — While U.S. forces deployed to the southern border employ several fixed and mobile counter-drone systems, the top general in charge of stateside defense said troops lack adequate technology for patrols.
Within days of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, troops quickly flooded to the southern border as part of the administration’s crackdown on immigration, soon taking to mounted and dismounted patrols along the barrier.
Since then, the region has become what officials dubbed a testbed for counter-UAS systems, part of an effort to zap drones coming over the border. Gen.
Australia transferred 49 retired M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks to Ukraine as part of a roughly $160 million military aid package, with Washington’s approval. The tanks were being replaced in Australian service by newer M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams. Ukraine’s First Separate Assault Regiment then welded anti-drone cope cages, explosive reactive armor bricks, electronic warfare protection, anti-FPV spike barriers, and locally adapted communications onto the tanks before sending them into combat.
Israel operates a fleet of German-built Dolphin II submarines designed by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as the cornerstone of the country’s sea-based nuclear deterrent. The 225-foot boats displace 2,400 tons submerged, reach 25 knots, and use air-independent propulsion to stay submerged for up to 18 days. The INS Tanin and INS Rahav were commissioned in 2014 and 2016.