Joseph Trevithick, The WarZone
The Chief of Naval Operations says giving up on nuclear-powered surface combatants was one of the worst decisions his service has ever made.

Swagath, Naval Tech.
The plan sets out how the U.S.

Global Defense News
The U.S.

Losey, A&SF
There’s a growing consensus among experts, lawmakers, and Pentagon leaders that the Air Force should buy more than the planned minimum of 100 B-21 stealth bombers

Following reports on May 15 that a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 fighter achieved the type’s first ever kill against a Western fighter type, a Ukrainian Air Force F-16, analysts have widely speculated on the possible conditions of the engagement. Little was reported regarding the engagement, other than that an active radar guided air-to-air missile was launched to destroy the target at beyond visual ranges, and that the missile launch was recorded by Ukrainian monitoring channels.

U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caldell has provided new details on plans to transition the fleet to operating primary surface combat vessels powered by nuclear reactors. Caldell stated that the Navy’s complete abandonment of nuclear powered surface combatants after the end of the Cold War was “one of the biggest mistakes in its history,” adding that the newest nuclear-powered battleship being developed under the BBG(X) program will correct this mistake.

U.S. Naval Operations Chief Admiral Daryl Caudle has warned that the Fiscal Year 2026 budget did not account for the war against Iran, and that the Navy as a result has been forced to make extreme cuts to accommodate the costs of the conflict. “We’re burning bright … but it does come at cost, and it comes at operational costs,” he stated, adding that the Navy is rapidly depleting its fuel, maintenance funds munitions, andremaining operating hours.

This video describes the military situation in

A Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35S long range air superiority fighter has engaged and shot down a Ukrainian Air Force F-16AM fighter at beyond visual ranges using a radar guided air-to-air missile, according to local sources. The missile launch, an R-77 or R-37M, is reported to have been recorded by Ukrainian monitoring channels. The engagement, if confirmed, would make a landmark in Ukraine’s operation of the F-16, as while several of the aircraft having already been lost in combat, none were previously reported to have been shot down in air-to-air combat.

What if fielding more nuclear weapons makes the United States less secure, not more? That question is now at the center of a growing debate as the United States confronts a nuclear landscape shaped by two major nuclear rivals.China is rapidly expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal, while the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the last remaining nuclear arms control deal between the United States and Russia, has expired.

Ukraine has reshaped the battlefield with cheap, expendable drones. South Korea reads the signals and wants to match the scale. North Korea has been reading the same signals through a more direct channel. Since late 2024, North Korea has rotated thousands of troops through Russia’s war in Ukraine, alongside what is currently the world’s most combat tested drone force — tied with Ukraine’s, of course. Ukrainian defense intelligence reports that some of those troops have begun returning home and moving into instructor roles within the North Korean military.

I’ll be honest with you.
I’ve spent years covering the surveillance state. I’ve written about the digital ID push, the CBDC architecture being quietly constructed around us, the fact that your phone – right now, in your pocket – is a live feed to a corporate data apparatus that sells your behavior, your location, your associations, and your political views to anyone with a checkbook and the right API access.
I knew all of this. I wrote all of this.

On May 8, the Trump administration released pixelated imagery of strange, seemingly out-of-this-world objects and official reports by military pilots and other U.S. personnel about metallic spheres, flying discs and glowing orbs, via its first trove of interagency declassified “unidentified anomalous phenomena” files.
This highly anticipated records-drop follows a dedicated, yearslong public campaign led by veterans, former defense officials, researchers and other experts to force the disclosure of government-held UAP data.

A Navy sailor will be paid $60,000 by a Florida property management company that obtained an “unlawful” eviction notice against him, according to federal prosecutors. 
The legal effects of the eviction, according to court documents, turned the sailor “functionally homeless” while his wife was forced to live with her parents in a different state, according to court documents.
Rental Marketing Solutions, LLC, a St.

Footage sent to BFBS Forces News shows Ukrainia

Royal Marines honed their ability to conduct fa

This week, Israel and Lebanon are holding their third round of unprecedented direct talks on crucial issues, including borders, the disarmament of Hizballah, and ongoing Israeli military action. The United States, which is clearly driving these talks, views them expansively as seeking a “comprehensive peace and security agreement,” although one that is contingent on Lebanese action against Hizballah. Ironically, as the most injured party, the Lebanese government is the one that can least afford a comprehensive agreement that would isolate it at home.

On March 12, 2026, Letterkenny Army Depot confirmed the death of a soldier during training that morning. An investigation by Tasmin Mahfuz of WGAL, an NBC affiliate in Lancaster, Penn., has since revealed that Pfc. Krystofer Lopez (posthumously promoted to Specialist) was shot in the chest by an Army SIG Sauer M17 handgun.
Also Read: Why the Navy SEALs chose the SIG Sauer P226 over the M9
After speaking with Lopez’s parents, WGAL discovered that Lopez died on day one of firearms instruction.
“He said, ‘I got training tomorrow,’” mother Carmen Lopez told Mahufz.

This video describes the military situation in

Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***IranA month after negotiators met for historic high-level talks in Pakistan, Washington and Tehran seem closer to a breakdown of the ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 7 than a breakthrough.

Watch the journey United States Navy’s US

Those looking to take on the Army’s infamously difficult Ranger School will have to start by fixing bayonets, then run through smoke, razor wire, and machine gun bursts, hop in a trench, and stab the enemy with cold steel.
In April, Ranger Class 06-26 became the first to, well, take a stab at the school’s new bayonet course, a quarter-mile event in which students crawl through tunnels, sprint over open fields, and negotiate barbed wire fence lines. Along the way, students must drive their bayonets into silicone foes toting rubber Kalashnikovs and manning sand-bag machine gun nests.

A major counter-drone exercise taking place in Europe this month has demonstrated U.S. soldiers’ additive manufacturing prowess, according to an officer involved in the experimentation and training event.
The effort, dubbed Flytrap 5.0, is being held at Pabradė Training Area in Lithuania, May 1-15. Led by the American Army’s V Corps, it involves the 2nd Cavalry Regiment; 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command; 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment; the United Kingdom’s 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment; and other allies and industry partners.

It was a difficult night for the UK Armed Force

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The Royal Navy, already thinly stretched, is no

When a veteran passed away in 2023 from heart disease, their family asked the Department of Veterans Affairs for service-connected benefits they believed their death triggered. 
An automated system at the VA reviewed the request and two days later approved payments totaling $22,692.
But the system was wrong, an Inspector General report found in April, and not for the first time. 
In all, the VA system approved “at least” $2.7 million in incorrect payments between September 2023 and August 2024, the VA Inspector General found in a new report.

Where should the UK’s defence budget be s

The US Department of War (DoW) has awarded new framework agreements to several technology and defence firms as part of efforts to scale up its low-cost containerised munitions and hypersonic missile solutions.

Veterans with a disability rating might have seen the news that a new bill in the Senate would increase their disability payments. While it’s certainly good news (and necessary legislation), it’s just how the business of keeping disability payments in line with inflation is done.
On May 11, 2026, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran introduced S.4487 – Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2026. The bill would do exactly what its name implies: adjust benefits to match inflation and maintain purchasing power for veterans with service-connected disabilities.

This video describes the military situation in

Self-propelled artillery is driving the global artillery sector, with Europe and the Asia-Pacific way out in front as top markets.

Sweden Ballistics has raised €30m in funding to finalise the construction of its trinitrotoluene manufacturing facility in Nora, Sweden.

…the best we can do, really…

Ethan Gossrow over at Naval News did a detailed look at the carrier portion of the 30-year shipbuilding plan that gives some texture for those who, like myself, are concerned about the slow approach to bringing new carriers online.
Even though today is no different from any other day over the last half decade, there are those who will continue to try to explain why the USN’s CVNs are “obsolete” and not worth the investment.

In 1857, unrest surrounding elections in Washington, D.C., was so out of control that President James Buchanan called in the Marine Corps.
As Marines faced off against the so-called Plug Uglies—violent rioters hired to intimidate voters and seize polling places—the Commandant of the Corps, Archibald Henderson, walked the streets. Henderson was not in uniform, but his mere presence meant he was a target.
Related: Remembering 250 years of Marine Corps Commandants
It wasn’t long before the Plug Uglies fired at Henderson.

The F-35 Joint Program Office is preparing to modify the fifth generation fighter’s In-Line File Encryption Device software to support quantum-resistant algorithms, responding to the security challenges posed by China’s considerable and growing lead in quantum computing capabilities. The hardening of the aircraft’s core cryptographic systems against quantum-powered cyberattacks is expected to be critical to its ability to operate, particularly in Pacific war contingencies.

Following confirmation that the Iranian Navy had deployed its North Korean origin lightweight attack submarines for operations the Strait of Hormuz, most notably the Ghadir class which was produced under license based on Korean designs and technologies, significant questions have been raised the ships’ ability to threaten high value U.S. Navy assets at sea. An assessment of the performances of other types of diesel-electronic submarines with comparable capabilities against the U.S. Navy during simulated exercises provide valuable insight into potential vulnerabilities which U.S.

The UK will acquire 72 RCH 155 howitzers to bridge a capability gap created after it donated all of its previous AS90 artillery to Ukraine.

Freedburg, BrDef
The forthcoming Wraith Shield software update uses the existing antenna to scan for drone control signals, identify enemy ones, and jam them

The Aviationist
Pratt & Whitney and General Electric completed the Assembly Readiness Reviews of XA103 and XA102 engines, activating their supply chains to prepare for the assembly of the…

IntEng
Anduril and Leidos are among the companies selected to help produce thousands of new low-cost cruise missiles

GDN
Leidos has secured a $2.7 billion U.S.

Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven
As China unveils sophisticated stealth prototypes like the J-36, the Navy faces a critical ultimatum: accelerate its sixth-generation fighter or risk losing…

This video describes the military situation in

This video describes the military situation in

Modern air and missile defense is approaching a structural limit. The model that protected forces over the past two decades remains effective, but only within a narrower envelope than current threats demand. A new approach is required, built on fire-control-level integration, disaggregated survivable architectures, affordable magazine depth, and the integration of offensive action as the central element of defense.I am a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general and now lead international business development and strategy for Northrop Grumman in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

The phone rang at 3:45 pm on a Friday afternoon. We were winding down for the weekend when the caller ID lit up — it was the counterterrorism analyst in our office we affectionately called “CT Brian.” When he called, it was never good news. An al-Qaeda-affiliated group seized an American aid worker. Her captors were preparing to move her within the hour and special operations forces needed cyber to pinpoint her location in 30 minutes or less. An assault team stood by, ready to launch — if we could tell them where to go. Weekend plans evaporated. Screens brightened.

Ryan sits down at the Cogs of War mic for the last time to introduce Jonathan Panter, the new host and executive editor of Cogs of War. Jonathan shares his background, from naval officer to scholar. They discuss major defense tech issues, and Jonathan shares what he hopes to accomplish at the helm of Cogs of War. Image: Cpl. Jacquilyn Davis via DVIDS.
The post Meet the New Host of Cogs of War appeared first on War on the Rocks.

On April 1, 2026, Russian officials announced the liberation of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic — for the third time. The first announcement came under then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in July 2022. The second one, in July 2025, came from the “republic’s” own head. By that point, Shoigu had already been reshuffled to the Security Council of the Russian Federation, but not for lying about Luhansk. The neat reports about Russia’s successes kept coming.

Colombian contractor units operating in the Ukrainian theatre have been deployed to reinforce the Ukrainian Army 21st Separate Mechanized Brigade near the Velikaya Rybitsa settlement in the Sumy Region, where engagements with Russian forces are ongoing. This follows reports from a number of sources, including French war correspondent Laurent Braillard, that the number of South Americans participating in combat operations against Russia was “exponentially growing.” Colombians and Brazilians are by far the most numerous.