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South Korea’s security is no longer confined to the peninsula. That is the real lesson from the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. And if decision-makers in Seoul didn’t understand this before, they surely understand this now.The U.S.-South Korean alliance was built to deter North Korea, defend South Korea, and stabilize Northeast Asia. That mission remains indispensable, but a serious disruption in the Strait of Hormuz now hits South Korea directly through energy imports, shipping, industrial production, and economic confidence.

Belgian Chief of General Staff Frederic Vansina has stressed that European states need to urgently strengthen their defences, and have an approximately four year window to build up a sufficient capability to deter Russia without U.S. support. He stressed the necessity of European militarisation over the next four years, adding that Ukraine was “buying time for us,” and “that’s why we support them so strongly.” By 2030, he stated, “the war in Ukraine, we hope, will be over. Russia will be there with its army of 650,000 to 700,000 seasoned troops.

Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters were scrambled on April 20 to intercept Russian Su-30SM fighters, which were escorting Tu-22M3 strategic bombers over international waters in the Baltic Sea at the time. The mission was carried out under Sweden’s Quick Reaction Alert system in coordination with NATO allies. The Gripens remained in close proximity, and maintained visual contact with both the bombers and their escorts throughout the encounter.

Multiple Russian government sources have issued explicit warnings regarding European production and supplies of unmanned attack aircraft to Ukraine, in several cases indicating that these facilities could become targets.

The Space Force has terminated its contract with RTX for the Global Positioning System’s Next-Generation Operational Control System (OCX) after years of technical issues and delays, the service announced Monday.
The decision was made by Tom Ainsworth, acting service acquisition executive at the Department of the Air Force, according to a Space Force press release. OCX’s cancellation comes after a government-led testing program revealed significant issues with the system that are unresolvable, according to the service.

The Marine Corps is prototyping artificial intelligence tools to inventory aviation supplies and predict aircraft maintenance issues, officials said, a burgeoning initiative the service hopes will help shed “outdated” ways of keeping its flying fleet ready.
The effort, officials said, is meant to help maintainers and logisticians quickly identify needed aircraft parts, order those parts more efficiently and then — with an AI system the Marine Corps intends to roll out this summer — forecast replacements based on historic performance data.

The Air Force’s long-beloved, flying tank of a plane, the A-10C Thunderbolt II, got yet another stay of execution Monday, when Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced that the “Hog” will keep flying through 2030.
Beloved by generations of ground troops and attack pilots alike, the A-10 was set to fully end operational service by the end of 2026. The Air Force has been closing A-10 squadrons for the last several years, and the service graduated its last class of A-10 pilots at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in early April.

As the Navy hustles to operationalize a mix of low- and high-tech drones that extend the fleet’s reach and combat power, its highest-ranking officer is looking to launch a new Warfighting Development Center that specializes in training and deployment tactics for robotic and autonomous systems.
“We need to move these capabilities from individual units into composite mission sets, including contested logistics,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said Monday.

After a yearlong delay, the Navy expects to choose which company will build its sixth-generation fighter jet — known as F/A-XX — in August 2026, according to the service’s top admiral.
“The need for the F/A-XX is unquestionable. Peer competitors and even lesser adversaries are improving their anti-air capabilities. We expect a down-select in August of this year,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told reporters Monday on the sidelines of the Sea Air Space conference.

On Sunday, Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli fast-roped from helicopters onto the deck of the Iranian cargo ship M/V Touska to take custody of the vessel, the first seizure of the week-long U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports. The Touska was first disabled by sailors on the Navy destroyer USS Spruance, who fired several shots from its 5-inch MK 45 gun at the vessel’s engine room.