The Pentagon recently moved to issue a sole-source contract to a New Mexico-based nonprofit corporation that reportedly holds North America’s largest private collection of historical records documenting unidentified anomalous phenomena, including heaps of exclusive UFO case files that exist outside of the U.S. government’s expansive cache.

The next electronic warfare arms race could tur

U.S. Prepares to Sanction Banks – The United States is preparing to follow through on the biggest threats from Operation Economic Outcast, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying on Wednesday that Washington will begin targeting foreign banks, airlines, shipping companies, and other businesses that continue to help Tehran move money around the world. Speaking on September 2, Bessent said he expects to announce another sanction against a bank this week, followed by another the following week.

The United States military campaign against Iran is heating up again. Tuesday marked the largest U.S. attack on Iran since fighting paused in late July.

U.S. Central Command claimed it hit a slew of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military assets overnight following Iranian attempts to target commercial vessels and American forces in and near the Strait of Hormuz.

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F and F-35, both assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9, fly over the Point Mugu Sea Range in Southern California with a U.S. Air Force F-15 during Gray Flag 2024 on Sept. 24, 2024.

America’s emergency oil stockpile has fallen to its lowest level since 1982, just as renewed U.S.-Iran fighting again threatens traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and pushes crude prices sharply higher.

Oil Storage Falls by 3 Million Barrels

Oil Tanker. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Oil fields. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by more than 3 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 28, leaving 286.6 million barrels in storage, ABC News reported, citing Department of Energy data.

Iran has spent years under Western sanctions, but the regime in Tehran has spent that time finding ways to sell oil anyway.

And it has done so successfully, building a sprawling network of shadow-fleet tankers and intermediaries that have enabled it to sell huge volumes to China.

A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to the 345th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron is photographed after landing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025.

The Army has awarded a $464.8 million contract for a laser weapon designed to destroy the type of drones that Iran has launched against U.S. troops and partner nations in the Middle East for more than five months.
The service has selected the LOCUST X3 laser made by AeroVironment, Inc. for its Enduring-High Energy Laser program, according to a company news release.
The 30-kilowatt laser is specifically designed to counter mid-sized drones that the U.S. military refers to as Group 3 unmanned aerial systems, said John Garrity, vice president of directed energy systems at AeroVironment, Inc.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Ground Force has provided a further indication of how its extensive long-range fires arsenal could be employed in a potential conflict, with new ‘Steel Rain’ airburst munitions demonstrated from PCL-191 multiple-launch rocket systems. Footage shown several rockets detonating above a training range and dispersing large quantities of high-velocity metal fragments over the area below. The weapon appears intended primarily for suppressing personnel and lightly protected equipment rather than penetrating hardened facilities.

The future of air-launched effects is here🚀

The Army awarded AeroVironment a $464.8 million deal for its Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program, service and company officials announced, moving the system from a prototype to what the firm said was the first production contract for directed energy weapons in U.S. history. 
AV expects to deliver “well into the dozens” of its LOCUST X3 laser weapon systems to the service under the other transaction agreement over the next few years, said John Garrity, vice president of the company’s directed energy systems arm.

In the parlance of military training, two Marine officers faced a key “Go-No Go” test last weekend in their long-shot hopes of playing NFL football.
Both got their “Gos.”
Marine 2nd Lt. Landon Robinson was named one of the 53 players who will be on the roster of the Cincinnati Bengals when the NFL season starts Sept. 9, while 2nd Lt. Eli Heidenreich made the same cut with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By making that final 53-man roster, both are now tantalizingly close to completing a rare leap to the NFL after graduating from a service academy.

Japan’s requirements for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) have helped drive the development of an unusually large fighter, reflecting Tokyo’s need for substantially greater range, weapons capacity and endurance than anything previously co-developed by European states.

The chaos at the Pentagon continued this week, as Daniel P. Driscoll, the Secretary of the Army, resigned. Driscoll submitted his resignation to the president in person. Wednesday will be his final day in the role.

According to the New York Times, Driscoll had been clashing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, especially over the recent ouster of Army leaders. Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, in April and has not replaced him; the Defense Secretary has also pushed out three senior officers seen as possible successors.  U.S. Army Europe’s Gen.

In the latest Sub Life, we reveal how families

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, this week, appeared with Iran’s president and reiterated Russia’s longstanding support for Iran.

According to the Washington Post, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian appeared alongside Putin, thanked him for his support, and called for the two countries to work together to counter U.S. sanctions.

The Army test fires a Patriot missile in a recent test.

For military families, a deployment is measured in more than months. It’s birthdays, holidays, school milestones, family vacations, and ordinary weeknights spent waiting for someone to come home. So when a deployment suddenly gets extended, the math changes.
Also Read: Viral post offers hysterical ways to ragebait your service member—the comments are even funnier
Kendall Mariah is no stranger to the mental math of separation.

Iran is Divided on Whether to Continue Fighting – Iran’s authoritarian regime is in crisis.

An obvious statement, undoubtedly, given six months of war with the United States and Israel. The country has been battered militarily, the economy is collapsing, much of its previous leadership is dead, and food shortages could plunge the country into civil unrest.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II from the 924th Fighter Group of the 944th Fighter Wing fires its 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun during Exercise Desert Hammer 25-1 at Barry M. Goldwater Range East near Gila Bend, Ariz., Nov. 14, 2024.

Diesel Prices Are Rising to Record Highs – And That’s Bad News for Donald Trump: Experts are warning that the United States could face diesel shortages this coming winter.

Diesel reached record highs earlier this week amid a re-escalation in the Middle East and Russia’s recent export ban on the commodity.

Vice President JD Vance attends a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Monday, April 7, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Emily J.

In 2025, Michael Hunzeker and Yuster Yu wrote, “Taiwan’s Biggest Problem in Steeling Itself for War With China is Cultural,” where they argued major cultural changes were needed in both Taiwan’s military and civilian society if it were to be competitive in a conflict with China. A year later, we asked them to revisit their arguments.

Iran’s Economic Squeeze Gets Tighter – Six months into the U.S.-Iran war, inflation is accelerating, and Iran’s oil exports have collapsed.

Iran’s year-over-year inflation rate reached 84.4% in August, according to Central Bank figures reported by IranWire, while the rolling 12-month rate climbed to 65.1%. The rial has traded at around 2 million to the dollar on the open market, and food prices are rising considerably faster than the headline inflation rate.

Iran Claims It Killed U.S. Troops in Biggest Exchange of Fire in Weeks – Iran is publicly challenging the United States to reveal what it claims are American casualties from a major overnight missile attack in Jordan. The claim comes as the war between Washington and Tehran returns to direct military exchanges after roughly a month of relative calm. Iran launched a barrage of missile and drone strikes against American military facilities across the Middle East early on Wednesday, September 2, following extensive U.S.

286 days at sea. 5,000 sailors.

This video describes the military situation in

Germany is investigating two suspected sabotage attacks on its electricity grid within 24 hours.

Blackouts Averted

Putin in August 2025. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Police opened investigations after separate attacks in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia disrupted power infrastructure Tuesday.

Neither caused widespread blackouts, but the western attack knocked five lignite-fired generating units with a combined capacity of 4,200 megawatts off the grid, according to operator RWE.

Almost every day of the year, state-of-the-art

The war in the Middle East is once again escalating after over a month of non-combat between the United States and Iran.

Both sides had not struck one another since the end of July prior to last weekend, but U.S. strikes on Iranian rocket launchers have prompted retaliation from Tehran.

Aircraft Carrier in the Sunset. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

F-16 in Sunset US Air Force Photo

It marks the end of a chapter in the six-month conflict, in which both sides opted for an economic war instead.

An Issue of Mines
On Sunday, 30th August, the U.S.

New information suggests that Russia has been secretly helping Iran to build a new generation of supersonic cruise missiles that could dramatically escalate the current conflict, allowing the Iranian military to threaten American aircraft carriers and other naval vessels in the Middle East. A new investigation has revealed deep military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran under a program codenamed C430L.

The US Department of War (DoW) has awarded a contract to Kymeta for the supply of over 100 Osprey u8 satellite terminals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian airspace is unsafe amid ongoing drone attacks.

In his nightly address on Tuesday, 1st September, Zelensky warned airlines and insurance companies not to assume Russian airspace is safe.

Bohdan, a drone pilot from the Unmanned Systems Battalion of Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade, pilots an FPV drone in Donetsk Oblast during active battle operations. Photo: David Kirichenko

U.S. Air Force Maj.

The Iran War, it appears, is back on, as the United States struck various targets in Iran on Tuesday, while Iran hit back.

According to News Nation, the Pentagon said that the U.S. struck several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-associated sites, including “air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communication sites.”

An Air Force F-22 Raptor executes a supersonic fly by over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. John C.

American Rheinmetall and General Dynamics Land Systems have delivered their XM30 mechanised infantry combat vehicle prototypes to the US Army.

WARSAW, POLAND – As conversations with sources in Washington and Moscow have now revealed, CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s undercover visit to Moscow was planned to include interactions with several senior Russian figures. Those interactions were also to include a meeting with the most senior individual of all – Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But due to specific points in the messages Ratcliffe was to deliver to Putin, the former KGB Lt. Col., who has ruled Russia for 27 years, canceled the meeting.

Putin in a Meeting. Russian Federation Photo.

The race to replace outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has put MAGA in an uncomfortable spot. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) has emerged as a reported shortlist candidate, according to reporter Nick Sortor, who cited two U.S. officials. The problem: Mast once volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces — and a growing number of America First voices say that disqualifies him from leading the United States Army.
“Nobody who has worn a foreign military uniform should be leading our Army,” the sentiment circulating in MAGA circles goes.

Due to the latest intensification of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, at least 12 people have been killed and 20 injured. Those killed were in Kyiv and other locations across the region and included two children, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and other officials.

Six of the casualties reported were workers from Ukraine’s national railway service, the state-run Ukrzaliznytsia company.

Tu-160 Up Close. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-160 bomber Creative Commons Image

They were killed when a rail depot was hit in Kyiv.

WARSAW, POLAND – In his 1 September 2026 address, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over.” He elaborated on the reason for his statement in saying that “drone-infested skies are no place for civilian aviation.”

The Ukrainian President Zelensky issued a warning to commercial air carriers and their passengers, stating that Russian airspace is “completely unsafe” due to the presence of Ukrainian drones operating throughout areas, including the corridors normally used by civilian and commercial aircraft.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he will nominate acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to be the permanent Secretary of the Navy. Trump referred to Cao as a “true WARRIOR” and implored the Senate to confirm him immediately.
President Donald Trump will nominate acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to permanently serve in the position, the president calling Cao a “true WARRIOR” and saying he needs a “Patriot” to lead the Navy and Marine Corps.

While the final week of August marked the return of college football, none of the military service academy football teams played last weekend. That is about to change. On Saturday, September 5, Air Force, Army, and Navy will watch their teams open the season with home games.
The Army Black Knights will kick off at noon Eastern time against the Bryant Bulldogs. The Air Force Falcons will open their season at 1 p.m. against the Duquesne Dukes. Then at 3:30 p.m., the Navy Midshipmen will take on the Towson University Tigers in an all-Maryland matchup.

A U.S. Sailor assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 31 conducts preflight checks on an F/A-18E Super Hornet during Operation Epic Fury. Photo: U.S. Navy / DVIDS (Public Domain)
CENTCOM said it conducted a “wave of strikes” against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, targeting air defense systems, radar, ships, mine laying assets and communications. The action came after the IRGC continued to attempt to attack commercial ships and U.S. forces, CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM announced in a post on X that over 50,000 U.S.

Across the expanse of modern military history, from the insurgent mortar belts of the Euphrates River Valley to the heavily contested maritime corridors of the Middle East, one foundational principle of counter-network operations remains absolute. You cannot defend your way out of an asymmetric attrition fight. When an adversary possesses access to cheap, mass-produced offensive weaponry and is driven by an unyielding ideological commitment to disrupt regional stability, playing passive defense is a recipe for strategic exhaustion.

Warrior M.
Seconds matter in modern combat.

GDN
The U.S.

Aviationist
During the recent Project Convergence Capstone 6, an H-60M Black Hawk crew employed an Altius-700 Air-Launched Effect to autonomously find the target, pass data across the…

Kevin Eyer, RealClearDefense
The recent troubles aboard USS Benfold (DDG 65) have produced precisely the wrong lesson in the public sphere.

AvWeek
The U.S.

The Spanish Defence Ministry has become the latest European customer for South Korea’s K9 Thunder 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, with Hanwha Aerospace signing an export contract with Spanish defence company Indra Sistemas on August 31. The agreement expands South Korea’s position Europe’s leading suppliers of modern artillery systems. The contract is linked to a major Spanish artillery modernisation effort reportedly valued at approximately €4.55 billion ($5.3 billion).

Finland’s defence market will register steady through through the next decade as Helsinki continues its rearmament programme.

This video describes the military situation in

This video describes the military situation in

As the war in Ukraine progressed, Russian strikes increasingly degraded Ukraine’s terrestrial communications infrastructure, steadily deepening Kyiv’s dependence on SpaceX’s Starlink. The satellite constellation became indispensable for crucial military functions, including command and control, drone operations, and artillery fire coordination, with no readily available European alternative should access be withdrawn.This reality exemplifies the idea that today, governments rely on critical infrastructure that is privately owned and globally embedded.

In August 2024, special forces from five Ukrainian military intelligence units crossed the Black Sea to raid Russian-held Kinburn Spit. The commandos of these units — Chimera, Aratta, Stuhna, Paragon, Terror, and the Siberian Battalion — landed, fought, destroyed equipment, and withdrew. Two years later, in July 2026, Ukraine returned, but left the soldiers behind. Instead, an uncrewed surface vessel carried a ground robot across the water and released it onto the shore. The robot, equipped with a Wolly 7.