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The latest X-37B mission’s “laser communications demonstration will mark an important step in the U.S.

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General Dynamics Electric Boat

Garrett Rice, RealClearDefense
Empowering Small and Medium Shipyards Through Strategic Reform

Israeli’s Ministry of Defence has responded strongly to an apparent banning of its officials from attending the upcoming DSEI defence event.

British Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed that the Japan will for the first time deploy F-15 fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom, as part of plans for unit-to-unit exchanges with the British Royal Air Force. Although the Japan Air Self-Defence Force has significantly increased its engagement across the Western Pacific, while hosting fighters from multiple Western Bloc states on its territory with growing frequency, the deployment of F-15s would be an unprecedented development that will more deeply involve Tokyo in European security dynamics.

Over nearly 40 years in uniform, I saw war shift from the massed battles we braced for in the Cold War, to pinpoint strikes on terrorists, and now to a battlefield ruled by autonomous machines, torrents of data, electronic deception, long-range missiles, and unblinking surveillance. As rivals sharpen their edge and field a generation raised on digital tools, the U.S. military should seize every advantage to stay ahead in training — especially one few expect: gaming.

A pair of Italian Air Force F-35 fighters forward deployed to Amari Air Base in Estonia were reported on August 28 to have intercepted one of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ small number of An-124 strategic transports, which are by far the largest transport aircraft fielded outside the United States. The 32nd and 6th Wings at Amari Air Base are currently operating as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, as the South European state has played a disproportionate role in bolstering Western Bloc air power both in Eastern Europe and in the Pacific.

Key Points and Summary – The 2009 decision to prematurely halt F-22 Raptor production at just 187 aircraft was a “catastrophic, shortsighted” blunder that now haunts the U.S. Air Force.

-Driven by the fighter’s high cost and a myopic focus on the counter-insurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the move ignored future threats from peer competitors.

-Today, as China and Russia field their own advanced fighters, the U.S. is left with a “ghost fleet” of its most dominant air superiority fighter—a force too small to be strategically relevant in a great-power conflict.

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led a delegation to Syria that met with Syria’s transitional President, Ahmed al-Shara’a, on August 25. She was accompanied by US Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC). She also met with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, during the trip.

The Great Syria Rethink for America 
The trip comes as the US continues to do outreach to Syria and support its new government.

Key Points and Summary – Facing the threat of dwindling Western support, Ukraine is rapidly building a domestic air defense industry from scratch.

-With Soviet-era interceptors running low, Kyiv is fostering a network of dozens of private companies, testing new interceptor drones and missile designs, some directly on the battlefield.

-This effort includes creative “FrankenSAM” hybrids, like Buk launchers firing American Sea Sparrow missiles.