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Finland’s Ministry of Defence has opened dialogue concerning new amendments to fast track reservist training to bolster border security.

BAE Systems wins a $12m DARPA contract to design approaches to diffuse the heat that degrades the performance of microelectronics.

Members of Congress are concerned that the Pentagon isn’t moving fast enough to scale artificial intelligence technologies to counter adversaries’ unmanned aerial systems, and lawmakers want senior officials to explain how they plan to address the problem.
Drone attacks have played a prominent role during the Ukraine-Russia war and the ongoing conflicts in the Red Sea and the Middle East. U.S. legislators have taken notice of this.

FILE: A Marine at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. (Lance Cpl. Alexia Lythos/U.S. Marine Corps).
A recently separated Marine threatened to go to “a rich white area and just start shooting,” as part of a series of social media posts in which he wrote that “my rampage will soon happen … I plan to now continue accumulating the necessary equipment to execute. Once all equipment is in, time will then tell. You all will die.”
Joshua Cobb was separated from the Marines in May and is now in federal custody.

The Romanian Air Force is to equip its F-16s with the AIM-9X Block II air-to-air missile. (Romanian Air Force)
The United States has approved the sale of 300 RTX AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles to Romania, announcing a potential USD340.8 million sale on 14 May.
The US Department of State approval covers the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of the missiles for the Romanian Air Force (RoAF) fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM Block 15 Mid-Life Update (MLU) combat aircraft, as well as training missiles, related equipment, training, and support.

A keel-laying ceremony for the Italian Navy’s new large oceanographic ship was held on 14 May. (Fincantieri)
Fincantieri held a keel-laying ceremony for the Italian Navy’s new large oceanographic ship (Nave Idro-Oceanografica Maggiore: NIOM) in Riva Trigoso on 14 May, the shipbuilder confirmed the same day.

The vessel is being procured as part of the Italian Navy’s hydro-oceanographic fleet renewal programme.

Details are still scarce, but reports indicate that the Russian airbase at Belbek, on the occupied Crimean peninsula, has come under heavy attack by Ukrainian forces. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that it countered an overnight attack by U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), a short-range ballistic missile that has made a significant impact since its first appearance in the conflict last fall. Initial photos from the aftermath suggest that at least one Russian ground-based air defense system was successfully targeted, however.

A UK Ministry of Defence image attached to a 13 May announcement of a GBP1 billion framework for the development of a hypersonic weapons capability. (Crown copyright)
The UK is to award contracts valued at GBP1 billion (USD1.26 billion) to companies and organisations across the country and overseas for the rapid development of a sovereign hypersonic strike capability.

This is a huge year for the F-16. The most successful 4th generation fighter of all time with nearly 5,000 jets produced just marked 50 years since its first flight. With orders for new Fighting Falcons, or Vipers as they are now popularly known, stacking up and second-hand models in high demand, the F-16’s future remains amazingly bright.

The US Navy is trying to develop directed energy systems like HELIOS to counter low-end threats. (Lockheed Martin)
While underscoring effective US Navy (USN) surface-fleet operations in the Red Sea since October, Rear Admiral Fred Pyle, USN surface warfare director, acknowledged a need to not only replenish weapons stocks but also to find additional options to defend forces against low-end threats.