The Republic of China Army’s 584th Armoured Brigade has deployed newly operationalised M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks for battalion-level urban operational readiness and infrastructure protection exercises in the Hsinchu area, alongside multiple other armoured vehicle types. The Republic of China Ministry of National Defence reported that the exercise is aimed at validating the unit’s ability to respond to changing battlefield circumstances and protect key targets.

"Thank you for your commitment and dedication"🗣️ The Chief of the Air Staff has thanked personnel and their families for helping keep the nation safe Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth noted how hard it can be to be away from families at Christmas, thanking them for their dedication #RAF #Airforce #RoyalAirForce #Military Subscribe to Forces News: http://bit.ly/1OraazC Check out our website: https://www.forcesnews.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForcesTV Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forcesnews/?hl=en X: https://twitter.com/ForcesNews

Reventec won the Innovation award in the 2025 Army Technology Excellence Awards for its Tracked Vehicle Suspension 80° Arc Position Sensor.

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President Donald Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act last week. At more than 3000 pages, the document reflects a series of negotiated changes to Defense Department policy, contracting authorities, compliance, and new opportunities.While the bill contains many exciting new provisions and increased compliance burdens, its true impact will depend on the department’s follow-through.

The U.S. Air Force faces a compelling and capable adversary in China’s air force. The U.S. Air Force cannot overcome this adversary’s range and numbers solely by buying more crewed combat aircraft. Having recognized this, the Air Force has taken to experimenting with “affordable mass” in the form of autonomous combat aircraft.The largest component of the effort to achieve affordable mass is the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, with the first increment of collaborative combat aircraft entering flight testing this year.

The United States has signaled that it wants to take a fresh look at the legal tools used to identify and prosecute terrorist groups. Its most recent move concerns the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational organization that — despite the violent and destabilizing activity of some of its national branches — would not usually be designated in its entirety as a terrorist organization. Rather than announcing a decision outright, U.S.

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As we move deeper into the winter months, doctors are sounding the alarm about a more aggressive flu season already spreading across the globe.
According to a recent report from Fox News, a new strain of Influenza A — H3N2, subclade K — is driving a surge in cases, including here in the United States. Public health experts are calling it a “perfect storm” strain due to its severity, rapid spread, and the fact that this year’s flu vaccine does not directly match the variant.

President Trump in Palm Beach, FL, along with Secretary of War Hegseth, Secretary of State Rubio, and Secretary of the Navy Phelan announced the initiative to build new ‘battleships’ for the U.S. Navy. These ships will be large, and heavily armed said POTUS.
Trump disclosed the country will start building two of the vessels, but move to as many as 25 as fast as possible.
U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan — “The future Trump-Class Battleship, the USS DEFIANT, will be the largest, deadliest, and most versatile, and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans.

“Our first job is to get to the bottom of the p

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In one of the latest moves by the Defense Department to build up its AI workforce, the Naval Postgraduate School has announced a new one-year master’s degree program in artificial intelligence.
The accelerated program — which will include 21 courses and require residency in Monterey, California, where the school is located — is open to qualified active-duty military officers and DOD civilian employees who have a computer science background, according to NPS, which indicated that interested candidates can apply through the organization’s admissions office.

The 12 Days of Christmas like you’ve never he

🗣️”Absolutely out of this world”
World War

“It’s been a great year, I wish you all a

In January, the Pentagon announced that it was sending 1,500 soldiers and Marines to the U.S.-Mexico border to augment 2,500 service members already deployed there in support of ongoing U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations. 
Nearly 8,500 troops are currently assigned to the border mission, according to officials with Joint Task Force-Southern Border, the name of the command running the military’s mission there.
The additional troops were sent following President Donald Trump’s Jan.

What is it like to live next to the Russian war

Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey, the overseer of the modernization of the Air Force’s command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM) enterprise, has been nominated for promotion to three-star and to serve as military deputy for the service’s acquisition, technology and logistics directorate at the Pentagon.
The nomination by President Donald Trump was submitted to the Senate last week and officially announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday.

Led by HMS Prince of Wales, the deployment cove

A major legal ruling in 2024 has reshaped how veterans may use their GI Bill education benefits. The Rudisill v. McDonough decision instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs that veterans with multiple qualifying service periods can now draw from both the Montgomery GI Bill  – Active Duty (Chapter 30) and the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), potentially accessing up to 48 months of combined education assistance.

German Armed Forces have placed an order with KNDS Deutschland for 84 RCH 155 wheeled howitzers, following a contract agreed through ARTEC.

The Swedish Armed Forces have mandated the FMV to procure enhancements for the Patria XA 203 vehicles from Patria.

“You’re an inspiration to the nation”🗣

Do you think winning Powerball means you can cash out and walk straight into retirement? It’s a rumor that pops up every time the jackpot hits the stratosphere, usually passed around formations like a half-remembered safety brief.
The truth is a little less Ritchie Rich and a lot more paperwork. 
1. You get an automatic discharge. 
This one is the barracks lawyers’ favorite, and the most wrong. There’s no clause in your military contract that causes it to magically burst into flames when you hit a jackpot like you’re at Hogwarts.

An Army OB-GYN doctor at Fort Hood, Texas, has been charged with filming dozens of his patients. Advocates are now questioning whether policies to provide chaperones during sensitive exams were strong enough to keep them safe in situations with an innate “power imbalance.”
In December, Army prosecutors charged Maj. Blaine McGraw with 54 counts of indecent visual recording in a Uniform Code of Military Justice case that has over 40 victims thus far. Army investigators have contacted nearly 1,400 of McGraw’s patients from Carl R.

“We rely on what you do”🗣️
The Prime Minis

…do we really appreciate what we are letting drift away?

Though written from a distinctly Australian perspective, there is a great article from the Australian Naval Institute, Pax Americana to Pax Sinica, that would be a great way to start your week.
What I find most useful is that it efficiently outlines why, from Washington, to Brussels, to Canberra, serious people should not simply shrug their shoulders as the U.S. Navy, foolishly, has allowed itself to become the world’s #2 navy, and fading.

Molly Parks, Washington Examiner
The U.S.

Military Watch
The U.S. Navy has brought its first Flight III Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, the USS Jack H.

CDR Salamander, CDR Salamander
She was commissioned on May 3rd, 1975, less than a week after the fall of Saigon.

John Keller, M+A Electronics
CAML is to be an autonomous crewed or uncrewed air-transportable offensive and defensive missile launcher to augment or replace existing Army launchers.

The Aviationist
L3Harris announced on Dec.

Gen. Sir Gwyn Jenkins visited Washington a few weeks ago and was kind enough to invite Ryan to the British Embassy for a nice chat about the U.S.-U.K. alliance, the threat landscape, his vision for delivering seapower, learning from Ukraine, acquisition reform, the future of the Royal Navy — which currently faces serious challenges but also key opportunities, and so much more.Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2025
The post The First Royal Marine to Become First Sea Lord appeared first on War on the Rocks.

Lithuania is one of the three Baltic states now

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The Estonian Defence Ministry has signed an agreement with the South Korean defence manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace to procure Chunmoo rocket artillery systems, expanding on prior orders for six Chunmoo launchers. Commenting on the procurement, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur observed: “Deep-strike capability in the form of HIMARS already exists for us, but creating a second complementary system is extremely necessary… Chunmoo has a firing range of up to 300 kilometres, and they are working to go further, up to 500 kilometres.

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series exploring key AI policy choices faced by the Department of Defense and Congress. Please also read the first, “Four AI Policy Choices Policymakers Can’t Afford to Get Wrong,” second, “Warfighters, Not Engineers, Decide What AI Can Be Trusted,” and third, “Operating AI in the Gray Zone: Drawing Clear Lines Before They Blur.”Whenever the U.S. national security community becomes anxious about a new “transformational” technology, the plot tends to be a familiar one.

The Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, remains the deadliest one-day battle in American military history with nearly 23,000 casualties, including over 3,600 deaths. While the monument observing the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion” stands at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the true high tide of the Confederacy arguably came on a late summer day at Sharpsburg, Maryland, beside the swiftly flowing Antietam Creek. The U.S.

The United States Armed Forces conducted an armed takeover of a large tanker in international waters, the Centuries, which was carrying up to two million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil to China. Coast Guard and Navy forces operating with MH-60T helicopters, and reportedly including a Maritime Security Response Team, spearheaded the takeover. The oil was owned by the China-based firm VSatau Tijana Oil Trading.

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Portuguese Air Force Chief of Staff General Joao Cartaxo Alves has confirmed that the Portuguese Defence Ministry plans to procure between 14 and 28 F-35 fifth generation fighters , providing long awaited confirmation that the aircraft has been favoured over ‘4+ generation’ rivals. Regarding the urgency of procuring the aircraft to replace the ageing fleet of F-16A/B fighters, he observed: “The Air Force has never had an aircraft in active service for so many consecutive years… Thirty-one years for the most recent F-16s, nearly forty for others.

The Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighter has for the first time flown while integrating a new engine, referred to only as Product 177, marking the beginning of a new phase of the program. The state defence conglomerate Rostec announced that specialists “begun flight tests of the ‘Product 177’ engine as part of the fifth-generation Su-57 aviation complex,” and that it performed within normal parameters while demonstrating its reliability.

Poor visibility. Strong winds. A heavy fog along the way. When the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing got the call that someone on a cruise ship more than 100 miles off the coast needed an emergency medical evacuation, conditions were already challenging.
The 129th Rescue Wing was called into action late on Dec. 16, after a 79-year-old passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship was reported unresponsive, according to the Air National Guard.

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The holiday season is here, and while many families are gearing up for celebrations, it’s just as important to recognize that, despite its nostalgia, this time of year can also bring pressure and emotional weight.
Read Next: 3 Really good news stories you might have missed in 2025
For military spouses, this season comes with a unique set of hurdles. Many are navigating PCS moves, deployments, financial strain, and the constant expectation to be “strong,” all while trying to create holiday magic—often without their service member or a nearby support system.

These are the Top 10 news stories from across the defence desk in 2025, covering developments on land, at sea, and in the air.

French President Emmanuel Macron on December 21 confirmed plans to replace the French Navy’s sole and ageing aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle with a next generation carrier under the Porte-Avions Nouvelle Generation program, with French media outlets reporting that the program was approved to enter a two-phase design and development activity as early as December 2020. Work on nuclear propulsion components for the program reportedly began in 2024, while the final order will be placed under the 2025 budget. The program is projected to cost 10.

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A special moment for the Royal Navy as The King