Browsing: All news

In a strangely singular admission, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the disruptive effect of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy sites across the country.

“As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course, these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems, that’s obvious,” the Russian president said during an interview with local Russian-language media. “Right now we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical.

The French Navy has formally accepted the Suffren class nuclear-powered attack submarine De Grasse into service, marking a major milestone in the service’s long-term efforts to transform its offensive combat capabilities and replace its aging Rubis class attack submarines.

The extent of China’s drone dominance — and how to decouple from it — has long been a source of debate and anxiety in Washington. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reignited controversy by publishing a visual analysis of military quadcopter components, exploring China’s advantages in parts manufacturing and cost. The director of the Defense Innovation Unit objected to the report, stating on X that “By leaving out the dozens of U.S. companies that have plunged into drone component manufacturing, this article disappoints.

On May 13, 2026, Air Force One landed in Beijing for President Donald Trump’s first state visit to China in nearly a decade. That same morning, the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations published a report titled The Evolving World and the Right Way to China-US Coexistence. The summit dominated global media coverage for two days. The report received almost none.The Beijing summit produced familiar imagery: honor guards, a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People, and carefully choreographed warmth.

Footage released by Chinese state media to mark the tenth anniversary of the Y-20 strategic transport aircraft, which has throughout the past decade been the largest aircraft of its kind in production in the world, has highlighted its role in supporting the air arm of the country’s strategic nuclear deterrent against the United States.

Following the delivery of the last of 108 M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks ordered to equip the Republic of China Army, analysts at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) have recently assessed the vehicles are prime examples of “dead weight” procurements because they are optimised for a kind of conventional land warfare that is far removed from the Army’s likely conflict scenarios.

The U.S. Air Force has disclosed for the first time that it has integrated the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the world’s sole type of stealth bomber, the B-2 Spirit, which represents a landmark development for the aircraft. The new capability was revealed after a B-2 launched an LRASM during a live-fire SINKEX as part of Valiant Shield 2026 exercises, targeting the decommissioned amphibious transport dock USS Juneaunorth of the Mariana Islands. U.S. officials declined to provide further details on this new capability.

A figure has been circulating on Russian military channels that captures how lethal the war in Ukraine has become for the men sent to fight it. Russian soldiers who reach certain stretches of the front, the bloggers claim, can expect to survive an average of 20 to 35 minutes. The number was relayed by Oxford historian Peter Frankopan in a Foreign Policy report and has not been independently verified, and it may be less a measurement than the grim shorthand of soldiers who have seen what the drones do.

The Simple Reason Taiwan Won’t Get the F-35: American support for Taiwan has steadily increased as China has expanded its military presence around the island, with billions of dollars in weapons sales approved, including F-16V fighter jets and HIMARS rocket systems, among other high-value military assets.

But one is still absent from the list: the F-35 Lightning II.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Sean “Rambo” Loughlin, pilot for the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, performs aerial maneuvers during a practice flight at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Jan. 6, 2026.

Russia’s oil crisis can no longer be ignored. Videos shared on social media show Russian citizens expressing their anger at the fuel pumps and fighting in the streets over access to fuel. Some videos show women breaking down in tears, with one explaining that she had waited so long in line for fuel that her car battery died. Regular Russian citizens are now feeling the impact of the war, and that’s precisely what Kyiv set out to do when it announced the ongoing 40-day campaign.