A steel fabrication plant in the town of Chekhov, in Moscow Oblast, was struck by Ukrainian drones, the Kyiv Independent reported on Tuesday, citing monitoring channels on Telegram. The plant reportedly struck was the Hydrostalkonstruktsiya steel fabrication factory.

Also struck, per the report, was a third-party logistics warehouse in the village of Koledino, south of Moscow.

Shahed Drone from Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

In addition, a blackout was reported in Crimea, also overnight.

As fighting with Iran restarted in early July, the U.S. Air Force sent more fighter jets to the Middle East. The F-16s and F-35s based in Germany and the United Kingdom carry out multiple missions, but are also capable of suppressing enemy air defense operations.
Those missions, also known as SEAD or “Wild Weasel” missions, have become central to U.S. operations in the Middle East, as the military has waged extensive air campaigns over enemy territory in recent years.

Oman is leading the charge for a renewed round of negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, aiming to influence regional diplomacy. As a nation that sits just across from Iran, separated by the now-contested Strait of Hormuz (SoH), Omanis have struggled under the weight of being caught between their relationships with the United States and the Islamic Republic.

Oman’s newest attempt to get the US and Iran talking rather than shooting at each other centers around resolving the outstanding conflict over who controls the SoH.

Oil Tanker. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Blow Up | Military Motivation 2026
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Bundeswehr has contracted Rheinmetall to deliver 56 additional Elefant 2, with deliveries planned in 2026 and 2027.

After listing several major developments from the war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week delivered an extensive debrief of his nation’s intelligence findings. These reports are based on Russian operations uncovered by his Defense Intelligence Service (HUR) and the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) units operating in the field.

His list of findings, delivered on 25 July, was headlined by his report that Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for 30,000 North Korean People’s Army (KPA) soldiers.

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, the commander of the Navy brig USS Somers, didn’t want to make a rash decision.
As First Lt. Guert Gansevoort informed him that some crew members were plotting to overthrow him, Mackenzie did not become angry, according to a U.S. Naval Institute article. Instead, he instructed Gansevoort in an even tone to keep a close watch on Midshipman Philip Spencer, the scheme’s supposed ringleader.

During the first years of the war in Ukraine, the extensive military assistance that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) provided to Russia had provoked no end of debates as to whether the communist nation should be sanctioned accordingly.

Beijing’s has made numerous duplicitous calls for peace and has even offered to mediate the conflict. But at the same time, as one analysis from 2023 pointed out, the PRC is pushing its military assistance deliveries to Russia right up to the red line that means sanctions if it is crossed.

Su-35. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Su-35 Fighter.

N. Walter, IntEng
Anduril’s first Ohio-built Fury fighter rolls off the production line 557 days after the company announced its Arsenal-1 factory.

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The U.S.

Michael Marrow, BrDefense
An engine with so-called adaptive turbofan technologies “could” go on the forthcoming F-47 stealth fighter

NGD
DGX GB300 is an AI supercomputer built to process large-scale workloads, support advanced model development, and accelerate data analysis

Military.

Towards the end of his life, those around the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, who was frail and recovering from a stroke, kept him insulated from knowing the true economic and social situation inside the newly born Soviet Union.

The information was withheld from him on the orders of Joseph Stalin – as it was “for the good of Comrade Lenin’s health”.

Tu-160 Bomber from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

One of the measures considered at the time was the printing of a single, “special” edition of the Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda.

After four years of wartime spending, the Russian economy somehow continues to soldier on despite the ever-increasing cracks in its foundations.

Since the initial invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the first rounds of sanctions from the West, economists and analysts have been predicting Russia’s economic collapse for some time now.

Su-27 Flanker Fighter from Russia. Image Credit: National Security Journal.

An elevated port side view of the forward section of a Soviet Oscar Class nuclear-powered attack submarine. (Soviet Military Power, 1986) Image Credit: Creative Commons.

This video describes the military situation in

The S-400 long range surface-to-air missile system that forms the backbone of Russia’s air defence network has demonstrated a new ballistic missile strike capability in the Ukrainian theatre, with the system having been modified to launch RM-48U missiles against ground targets. These missiles have recently gained prominence for their use against industrial targets in Ukraine, with the attacks triggering a major fire in Kiev’s Sviatoshynskyi District.

Editor’s note: This is the sixth article in a limited series celebrating American defense technologies born from wartime and their effects on broader national security, politics, and society. This series will run for several weeks to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, and winners will be selected by a reader vote undertaken through our newsletter later this summer. Prior installments can be found at the Arsenal of Innovation page.

In the Pacific War, the U.S. Navy’s underwater demolition teams prepared the way for U.S. and allied amphibious landings on enemy-held islands. Through beach reconnaissance, obstacle breaching, mine clearance, and other missions, these teams paved paths for the first waves of amphibious assaults conducted by naval task forces and subsequent landings by marines and soldiers throughout the island hopping campaign.  These critical first steps of an amphibious operation were incredibly risky in World War II.

In the speech announcing his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin took only minutes to arrive at the original sin in his catalogue of Western crimes. Before Iraq, before Libya, before Syria, came Belgrade: “First a bloody military operation was waged against Belgrade, without the U.N. Security Council’s sanction but with combat aircraft and missiles used in the heart of Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has emphasised the importance of the Navy’s nuclear forces in the country’s deterrent, stressing its “huge significance.” Singling out the Posidon nuclear powered torpedo, which carries nuclear warheads, he observed: “As for the Posidon we have been talking a lot about, this uncrewed underwater vehicle is at the final stage,” he said at a meeting with Russian Navy servicemen. “We are about to complete [the work on it] and put it on combat alert.

The growing use of long-range one-way attack drones in the Russian-Ukrainian War has posed new challenges for air defence planning, leading militaries across much of the world to assess how best to economically intercept relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft without exhausting inventories of costly modern missiles. While Russia has increasingly relied on fighters to intercept Ukrainian drones approaching strategic targets, questions have been raised regarding the high cost of employing advanced air-to-air missiles against targets that often cost under $10,000 to produce.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi has publicly accused Ukraine of conducting covert operations on Iraqi territory, alleging that security forces have arrested several individuals who confessed to carrying out attacks on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence. This represents one of the most significant cases of Ukrainian intelligence operations extending beyond the European theatre and into the Middle East, following prior operations that similarly targeted Western adversaries in Syria, Sudan and West Africa.

The U.S. Air Force’s recent decision to expand production capacity for the B-21 Raider next generation stealth bomber appears intended to pave the way for a significantly larger fleet than the current program of record. The Department of the Air Force announced a $4.5 billion agreement to increase annual B-21 production capacity by 25 percent, accelerating deliveries while maintaining cost and performance targets.

Following confirmation that the world’s largest and most heavily armed combat ship the Admiral Nakhimov will re-enter service in the Russian Navy later in 2026, the nuclear powered warship’s advanced capabilities have gained considerable attention. The vessel stands out not only for being the longest ranged and fastest major surface combatant in the world, but also the most heavily armed, with 96 vertical launch cells for long range surface-to-air missiles from the S-400 system, and 80 more for cruise missiles including the hypersonic Zircon missile.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that large surface combatants will form the centre of Russian naval development, signalling that Moscow has no intention of abandoning ambitions to maintain a blue-water navy despite years of prioritising submarines and smaller missile ships. His remarks follow recent confirmation by Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Alexander Moiseyev that work is progressing on a new 9,500 ton ocean-going surface combatant, which has widely been interpreted as an announcement of a new destroyer program.

The unveiling of the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) surface-to-air missile for the MIM-104 Patriot long range air defence system as a much lower cost alternative to the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) variant currently in service has raised significant questions regarding the future of the U.S. and its strategic partners’ missile defence capabilities. Although Lockheed Martin has released relatively few technical details regarding the missile, its design is noticeably shorter and more compact than the PAC-3 MSE.

The wars in Ukraine and Iran crossed paths this week when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Iranian involvement in the Russian invasion, pointing to Shahed drone technology currently being used by invading forces.

Speaking during an interview with Sky News, Zelensky made the accusation and cautiously suggested that the link between Russia, Iran, and North Korea in the Ukraine conflict should be considered.

Iran’s Drones That Russia Is Using. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The wars in Ukraine and Iran crossed paths this week when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Iranian involvement in the Russian invasion, pointing to Shahed drone technology currently being used by invading forces.

Speaking during an interview with Sky News, Zelensky made the accusation and cautiously suggested that the link between Russia, Iran, and North Korea in the Ukraine conflict should be considered.

Iran’s Drones That Russia Is Using. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Ukraine’s Long-Range Sanctions Are Changing Daily Life in Russia: Despite Moscow’s best efforts to mitigate the damage caused by Ukraine’s long-range strikes on energy infrastructure, Russia’s fuel crisis is only deepening, with regional authorities introducing restrictive rationing measures. While drivers struggle to access the fuel they need to live their daily lives, freight companies and businesses are also being forced to adapt to new and persistent fuel shortages.

Ukraine’s Long-Range Sanctions Are Changing Daily Life in Russia: Despite Moscow’s best efforts to mitigate the damage caused by Ukraine’s long-range strikes on energy infrastructure, Russia’s fuel crisis is only deepening, with regional authorities introducing restrictive rationing measures. While drivers struggle to access the fuel they need to live their daily lives, freight companies and businesses are also being forced to adapt to new and persistent fuel shortages.

No Good Options for Trump on Iran: President Donald J. Trump, following the realization that the sustained airstrike campaign against military targets inside the Islamic Republic of Iran was not working as planned, the forty-seventh president, who campaigned on “no new wars,” must now decide if he de-escalates the Iran War or expands it.

The White House has paused its airstrikes for a third night. Washington insists that it is a strategic pause to give negotiations a chance. Yet, the Pentagon says it is ready to resume hostilities if this diplomatic window fails.

A U.S.

No Good Options for Trump on Iran: President Donald J. Trump, following the realization that the sustained airstrike campaign against military targets inside the Islamic Republic of Iran was not working as planned, the forty-seventh president, who campaigned on “no new wars,” must now decide if he de-escalates the Iran War or expands it.

The White House has paused its airstrikes for a third night. Washington insists that it is a strategic pause to give negotiations a chance. Yet, the Pentagon says it is ready to resume hostilities if this diplomatic window fails.

A U.S.

Three-Day Pause In Strikes Sparks Diplomatic Push: The United States and Iran have now gone three consecutive days without reported attacks as regional mediators reportedly intensify efforts to revive negotiations between Washington and the Islamic regime to prevent another major escalation in the Middle East.

The pause follows almost two weeks of nightly strikes by U.S. forces against Iranian military infrastructure and a series of retaliatory attacks by Tehran and its regional allies.

U.S. Air Force Maj.

Three-Day Pause In Strikes Sparks Diplomatic Push: The United States and Iran have now gone three consecutive days without reported attacks as regional mediators reportedly intensify efforts to revive negotiations between Washington and the Islamic regime to prevent another major escalation in the Middle East.

The pause follows almost two weeks of nightly strikes by U.S. forces against Iranian military infrastructure and a series of retaliatory attacks by Tehran and its regional allies.

U.S. Air Force Maj.

The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General urged the U.S. Navy to establish a more permanent workforce with specialized skillsets to meet serious current and emerging demands associated with a vital underwater network that combines seabed technologies with data-processing assets to monitor and classify submarines.

DAYTON, Ohio — After a B-52H Stratofortress test aircraft crashed last month, the Air Force is on track to have a replacement bomber ready to resume testing by the end of 2026, according to service officials.
The Air Force is still analyzing what caused a B-52 bomber to crash on June 15 while taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in California on a mission to try out its new radar kit. The incident killed all eight crew members on board.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wa

A Yak-52 gunner of the Ukraine’s 11th Separate Army Aviation Brigade “Kherson” shoots down Russian Shahed drones with small-arms fire over Odesa region, says Ukraine Military.
The footage, reportedly recorded over the Odesa region, was released by Ukraine’s 11th Separate Army Aviation Brigade “Kherson.”
The aircraft is flown by a pilot in the front cockpit while a second crew member engages low-flying drones from the open rear cockpit, reported SOFX.
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Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that his country had successfully struck a ship in the Caspian Sea that was transporting cargo of a military nature that was linked to both Iran and Russia — a move that underlines how intertwined the wars in Ukraine and Iran have become.

More emphatically, President Zelensky explained that Russian assistance to Iran would be considered unacceptable in the future.

The Navy is requiring that sailors under investigation for allegations of sexual assault or stalking only be transferred to shore commands in response to the death of a sailor, said William Speaks, a spokesman for the Chief of Naval Personnel.
“This revision was taken as a result of reviews by the Navy in the wake of the murder of Petty Officer 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz by a fellow Sailor,” Speaks told Task & Purpose.
No further information about those reviews was immediately available.
Resendiz was assigned to the destroyer USS James E. Williams when she went missing in May 2025.

During the last four years, a period of relative calm reigned over Yemen, a peaceful time in a country that had been rent asunder by war between Saudi Arabia, which backed the Yemeni government, and the Houthis.

Originally a small Shia group of rebels in Yemen’s rugged northern area, the Houthis captured Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, in 2014 with the backing of Iran, triggering Saudi intervention into what was initially a civil war. But the Saudi intervention in Yemen was far from a success.

F-35 Fighters Ready. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The British Army men’s 7’s rugby un

This video describes the military situation in

A recent report from Foreign Policy has Russia turning to extraordinary financial measures to maintain its war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin is not facing imminent economic collapse, though.

Putin Back in 2023. Image Credit: Russian Federation

Putin in June 2021 Russian State Media Photo

Instead, it is confronted with a far more challenging prospect: finding politically acceptable means to finance ongoing military operations.

The planned and controversial Russian mobilization planned by President Putin may not be as large as thought after all.

The North Korean military is rumored to be sending an additional 30,000 troops to bolster the flagging Russian forces in Ukraine.

Russian T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The South China Morning Post wrote that in addition to the 30,000 troops, Pyongyang is also sending additional missile launchers to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Australia’s flight-ready uncrewed aircraf

According to President Zelenskyy, Russia is trying to bring in more North Korean troops into Ukraine, as Russia seeks to expand its gains in the Donbas.

Pyongyang reportedly sent around 20,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region to help expel Ukrainian forces from the region during Kyiv’s ill-fated Kursk incursion.

T-72 Tank from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Now, Moscow is allegedly seeking to bring in another 30,000 troops from North Korea to strengthen the front lines.

North Korea has played an interesting role in the war in the Russo-Ukrainian War so far.

Ukraine Is Producing Hundreds Of Long-Range Drones Every Day: Drone manufacturer Fire Point, one of the largest private arms manufacturers in Ukraine, revealed on July 28 that it is now producing approximately 100 long-range Flamingo cruise missiles every month alongside hundreds of FP-1 and FP-2 long-range drones every day. The figures, disclosed by Fire Point Chief Executive Officer Iryna Terekh during an interview with The Guardian, demonstrate just how far Ukraine has come since the beginning of the war, transforming its weapons industry into a long-range missile and drone powerhouse.

On the heels of a large multinational exercise, the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces said he’s “impressed” with the Royal Australian Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft program.
A production representative MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone, built by Boeing, was integrated into the recently concluded Valiant Shield 26 event in the Pacific, which was led by the United States and included participation from Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.