Saudi Oil Exports Reach Post-Ceasefire High Through the Strait of Hormuz: Saudi Arabia is now exporting crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz at its fastest pace since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire came into effect. It’s good news for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has remained consistently optimistic about restoring the flow of oil through the Strait, and for the global economy. Gulf energy exports are, for now, recovering after months of disruption – and even after a weekend of continued military hostilities.

BFBS Forces News reporters Simon Newton and Han

The Air Force is hitting refresh on electromagnetic warfare with its first new electronic attack aircraft in forty years. The EA-37B Compass Call is a modified business jet that some experts are already calling a “game changer” thanks to its speed, range, high service ceiling, and ability to upgrade quickly to keep pace with new technology.
But at the same time, other experts warn that the service will need more Compass Calls than the Air Force plans on buying to meet the challenges of the invisible battlefield.

Stalled on the battlefield, American and Iranian negotiators have slowly been hammering out the details of a tentative deal to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Both sides are at a seeming stalemate: in the face of overwhelming American and Israeli military power, Iran has been badly battered, but seemingly not beaten. Both sides need a deal, albeit for different reasons.

In a wide-ranging interview published just days ago by the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin directly addressed the current energy shortage experienced today in Russia — and acknowledged that Ukrainian drone and missile strikes are responsible for the fuel crunch.

“As for the attacks on critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, they are, of course, creating problems,” Putin said. “That is obvious. We are currently seeing certain shortages, although they are not critical.”

Neptune Missile. Image Credit: Government of Ukraine.

Israel’s Iron Dome has received additional upgrade with the defence system completing a series of tests against various advance threats.

Germany’s Rheinmetall has completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in Croatian company DOK-ING, in a move to strengthen its presence in the uncrewed vehicles sector.

Aaron Mehta & Ashley Roque, Breaking Defense
According to an internal memo obtained by Breaking Defense, the new role covers all ground vehicles, all small air vehicles and almost all sea…

Aviat.
Three crew members were recovered alive after an MH-60S assigned to the USS George H.W.

NatDef
A Seattle-based company was awarded a $20 million production contract to deliver autonomous ground vehicles to the Marine Corps amid rising demand from the war in Ukraine

Global Defense News
The U.S.

Bill Sweetman, Strategist
. . .

When Chloe Turner and her mother started going through boxes that belonged to her late grandfather, they found uniforms and flight logs from his time as a World War II naval aviator, along with a Purple Heart whose full story the family had never pieced together. 
“We found all this history we didn’t know anything about,” Turner told We Are The Mighty. “It was crazy.

Contrary to what you might think, the most important ally in the Middle East is not the state of Israel. In fact, it is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf Arab states. That’s because those countries have hosted the US military presence that has been the source of US military power in the region.

Washington and Riyadh Reconsider Each Other

U.S. Air Force Capt. Nick “Laz” Le Tourneau, pilot and commander of the F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team, performs an aerial demonstration during the Spirit of St.

America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is at less than 330 million barrels and falling like a rock. That’s a problem because, at least for now, the US is surviving by drawing heavily on the SPR amid the ongoing quasi-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

We anticipated $150 per barrel of oil considering that 20 percent of the world’s oil supply was blockaded by Iran (and the United States) in the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, oil prices have been declining at breakneck speed.

President Donald J.

Pompano Beach, Florida – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s paranoia is once again on full display. As rumors continue to mount about plans being hatched to remove him from power and as plots to assassinate him gain more credibility, the former KGB Lt. Col. is making, as they say, “the appropriate adjustments.”

When Putin makes one of his heavily scripted, fully controlled public appearances in locked-down locations, the organization charged with safeguarding him is the Federal Protective Service (FPS).

This video describes the military situation in

The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated a significant advance in human-machine teaming by showcasing its newest fighter type’s ability to operate alongside and control autonomous unmanned aircraft during Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 over the Philippine Sea. This followed the deployment of F-15EX fighters to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa for testing and training purposes, and highlighted the growing role of manned fighters as airborne command nodes for future unmanned formations. The demonstration reflects a broader shift in U.S.

During a recent conference on the People’s Liberation Army, I heard the same question posed to attendees and paper writers: “How would China react to U.S. force posture change X, Y, or Z?” or “How would the Chinese military respond to U.S. strikes in certain locations?” Having participated in dozens of unclassified wargames at the RAND Corporation and elsewhere, I hear a similar refrain when playing the “red team.”This is a reasonable and legitimate question.

Huntington Ingalls Industries has officially begun the fabrication of the thirteen Flight III Arleigh Burke class destroyer, the future USS John F. Lehman, which is a heavily enhanced variant of a late Cold War era design that currently comprises almost the entire U.S. Navy ocean-going surface combat fleet. The Flight III is the latest and most capable evolution of the Arleigh Burke class design, and incorporates substantial improvements in air and missile defence while retaining the proven hull and propulsion system of earlier ships.

Following the return of the Russian Navy’s most capable surface combat ship to its home port in Severomorsk in late June, the Kirov class nuclear powered cruiserAdmiral Nakhimov has been confirmed to have integrated a new air wing comprised with modern Ka-27M anti-submarine warfare helicopters. This is particularly significant not only due to the considerable requirements for anti-submarine capabilities under the Navy’s Northern Fleet, but also because Kirov class cruisers were built to accommodate he largest embarked aviation component of any non-carrier surface combatant.

Photo of Ellis Zacharias speaking on his radio show (1948-49). Wikipedia.
If you haven’t read Secret Missions: The Story of an intelligence officer (1946) by former Captain Ellis Zacharias (and later Rear Admiral), consider putting it on your summer reading list. It’s a great, informative window into 1920s-40s US Naval Intelligence.
Captain Zach, in southern California, was an early monitor of German and US Nazi activity, with earlier work in Japan that continued throughout his career.
After WWII, Ellis became a kind of post-WWII intelligence celebrity.

The Russian Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant has complete the production of 20 Su-35 fighter aircraft ordered by the Iranian Air Force, with the Iranian Defence Ministry currently paying for their sustainment in Russia before they are transferred to facilities in the country. This follows leaked Russian military industrial correspondence in late 2025 revealing that 16 Su-35s were at the time in production to meet Iranian orders.

New footage has shown the Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighter in a new air-to-air combat configuration, the purpose of which remains uncertain. The fighter is the sole type of its generation to have been produced outside the U.S. and China, and has been more intensively combat tested than its foreign rivals due to its important role in the Russian-Ukrainian War. The fighter was seen with two R-73/74 short-range infrared-guided air-to-air missiles mounted beneath its wings, together with what appears to be a previously unseen targeting pod beneath the left engine nacelle.

The Republic of China Air Force has achieved a significant milestone in modernising the anti-ship capabilities of its F-CK Ching Kuo fighters with the first test launch of the Hsiung Chia anti-ship missile. The test was conducted over the Jiupeng weapons test range on Taiwan Island’s southeastern coast. Although the Republic of China Ministry of National Defense has not publicly disclosed detailed performance figures, the test suggests the missile has moved from captive-carry and integration trials into live weapon evaluation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the US to “muzzle its pets in Tel Aviv” after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Iran’s supreme leader was effectively “marked for death.” The exchange comes the same day that indirect US-Iran talks began in Doha, illustrating that diplomatic negotiations and military deterrence are continuing side by side. Of course, the spat raises questions about how durable the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) actually is.

They say you should never meet your heroes. In the U.S. military (and American law enforcement), few cultures are as mythologized, idealized, or as idolized as the ancient Spartans. Author Andrew Bayliss introduces us to the real Sparta in his new book, “Sparta: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Superpower.”
Also Read: An ‘undead’ general thrashed the Spartans after his execution
Bayliss is a Associate Professor of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham.

A new report from The Wall Street Journal alleges that, behind the scenes, U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing for the possibility of a return to military operations against Iran.

According to the report, the president held multiple discussions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine about potential new strikes against Iran, but ultimately decided against them, hoping that peace talks in Qatar and beyond will succeed.

Pompano Beach, Florida – Denys Shtilyerman is the chief designer at the Ukrainian drone firm Fire Point, which designs and produces the famous FP-1 attack drone. This is the same drone that has just hit one of Russia’s largest refineries in the Tyumen region of Siberia. Serious destruction to the site was evident in satellite images of the attack’s aftermath, several of which were published on the Telegram channel Dnipro Osint.

The Royal Navy Rugby League team is not called

The ongoing military conflict and the increasing drone strikes by Ukraine on Moscow have resulted in a quandary for Russian President Putin.

He’s facing the uncomfortable truth that seemed unfathomable four years ago. The war is slipping away, and the world can see it.

Su-25. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

And worst of all, his hated enemy, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, is openly taunting him with each passing drone strike on Moscow.

Putin has no answers and doesn’t know what to do.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth established a new direct reporting portfolio manager for unmanned offensive and defensive systems — dubbed DRPM-UxS — to serve as the “single joint integrator” for almost all of the Pentagon’s autonomous and drone assets, investments and operations.
In an official memorandum to senior Defense Department and military leaders dated June 29, Hegseth called UxS “the most consequential battlefield innovation of this generation” and laid out instructions to set up the new hub to ensure that the agency is moving “at the speed this moment demands.

Just when you thought the chances for peace were over, it looks like President Donald Trump is reversing course again and reopening indirect talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The forty-seventh president is absolutely living up to his image as a leading reality television star with all this will-we-won’t-we tension over the war.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), back, steams alongside the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the Mediterranean Sea, April 24, 2019. The John C.

The British Army polo team have won the Sassoon

After days of speculation about the future of U.S.-Iran peace talks, reports confirm that negotiators from the two countries held indirect technical talks in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.

The technical discussions focused on the passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and a return to full negotiations that could bring about a lasting ceasefire.

Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford–class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S.

Image by Cvoellmy

Washington, D.C. – In a significant move to accelerate the development, acquisition, and integration of unmanned systems across the U.S. military, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has issued a memorandum announcing the creation of a new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager (DRPM) for Unmanned Systems.

The Strait of Hormuz may never return to its pre-war status. The strategic waterway, through which more than 20 percent of oil and natural gas transit, is chock-full of sea mines.

Ships are languishing while awaiting permission to pass through the strait, and commercial traffic has been significantly affected.

ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 4, 2020) The Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transit the Atlantic Ocean, June 4, 2020.

Littoral Combat Ship Deck Gun U.S. Navy.

The Navy is currently searching for a missing crew member from the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier after an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from the ship crashed in the Arabian Sea, service officials have announced.
The helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush “conducted an emergency water landing” about 3:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, according to the officials with the Navy’s 5th Fleet, which overseas the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean.

🏉 The British Army Rugby League teams put on

One aspect of total warfare is that civilians often suffer. Russia and Ukraine have bombarded each other without mercy throughout the conflict.

Both sides are used to ducking for cover and entering bomb shelters at all times, and the threat from missiles and drones is a recurring nightmare for all involved.

A U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine awaits offloading at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023. The M1A1 training is expected to last several weeks and will include live fire, crew qualification, maneuver, and maintainer training.

This video describes the military situation in

Russia Forced to Import Gasoline Thanks to Ukraine War: After reports revealed Moscow was seeking fuel imports from Kazakhstan, the Kremlin confirmed on June 30 that it is looking to import gasoline from abroad for the first time in years. The shock admission reveals the extent of the damage being done to Russian energy infrastructure as part of its ongoing long-range strike campaign.

The Kremlin confirmed that discussions are underway with multiple foreign suppliers to purchase fuel – a remarkable development for one of the largest oil exporters in the world.

In 2025, Ofek Riemer, Daniel Wajner, and Ehud Eiran wrote, “Populists vs. Spies in Israel and Beyond,” where they argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship with Israel’s intelligence agencies could have grave consequences for Israel’s democracy. A year later, we asked them to revisit their arguments.Image: U.S.

The New York Times reported that Iran and Oman are moving forward with plans to collect transit fees from ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite public objections from the United States, according to an Iranian official and four diplomats who are involved.

If enacted, the plans would represent a significant change from Oman’s previous stance on charging fees to transit the strategic waterway.

(August 15, 2008) With SH-60 helicopters moving pallets of supplies both USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USNS Bridge (T-AOE 10) work together during a replenishment at sea or RAS.

Amazon Web Services and Anduril debuted a new co-product offering Tuesday that officials billed as purpose-built for military commanders and first responders who need cloud-grade computing, storage and AI capabilities in remote areas, or places where connectivity is severely degraded or denied.
During the AWS Summit, experts from both companies demonstrated the hardware and briefed a small group of reporters on the underlying technologies that are already deployed in real-world warfare.

Are the ceasefire and peace framework with Iran dead? It is looking more and more like this is the case. President Donald Trump has even been given options by his national security team to resume all-out warfare against Iran.

While he has considered going the violent route, Trump has decided to give negotiations a chance for now.

Donald Trump at Turning Points USA. Image by Gage Skidmore.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has reportedly briefed the president on a new war plan even though the two countries are supposed to keep the peace and talk it out for the next six to seven weeks.

No aerosol deodorant. No vaping.

This video describes the military situation in

The Army said the M7 rifle production line has

A former soldier was found guilty of stealing more than $1 million of Meals-Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, from Fort Bliss, Texas.
Joseph Lavar Davis, 47, was convicted by a Texas jury for a heist that included tens of thousands of MREs worth more than $1.1 million, Department of Justice officials announced Tuesday. 
The MRE theft took place between February and August 2020 and included 200 pallets of the field rations. Each pallet contains roughly 576 MREs, according to federal court documents.