This video describes the military situation in

U.S. forces struck Iran again Sunday as senior commanders warned that the six-month war is stretching American forces and weapons supplies.

They struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terror group was observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines, according to U.S. Central Command.

A B-2 Spirit soars after a refueling mission over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, May 30, 2006. The B-2, from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

Ukraine has published a detailed assessment of Russia’s 3M22 Zircon missile, the two-stage Russian missile used in both naval and land-attack strikes.

The new assessment reveals not only how one of Moscow’s most advanced weapons works, but also the massive industrial network keeping it in constant production.

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.

Buk-M2E Air Defense from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Paratroopers and other soldiers from the divisi

Over the weekend, Russia launched a huge attack on a warehouse west of Kyiv, which killed 38 people, for one of the largest single-attack death tolls of the entire war, as well as the largest this year.

And more strikes are to come.

MLRS Firing Creative Commons Image

“Russian forces have begun preparations for massive strikes against facilities in Ukraine’s energy sector in response to the ongoing attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure and on Russia’s oil and energy complex,” Russia’s defense ministry said on Telegram this week, as cited by The Guardian.

Graduation week at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland is the moment you have been waiting for. It’s also a very hectic week. In partnership with Navy Federal Credit Union, we built the Air Force and Space Force BMT Graduation Guide. This free guide allows you to spend the week watching your Airman or Guardian instead of hunting for answers. View Your BMT Graduation Guide
Free Wi-Fi from Sandboxx
Cell service constantly drops out on the graduation grounds. Thousands of people arrive at once, and everyone is reaching for their phone at the same moment.

Russia’s long-anticipated escalation is coming, with Moscow saying it is preparing a new wave of “massive strikes” against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

The warning comes after weeks of speculation among analysts that Ukraine’s power grid could come under attack ahead of or during the winter.

Ukraine War Map. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed that a supertanker was struck by mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

The vessel reportedly struck two mines and caught fire in the early hours of Monday, 31st August.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) steams behind the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in the Persian Gulf on Jan. 31, 2006. The Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is conducting maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf.(DoD photo by Airman Apprentice Nathan Laird, U.S. Navy. (Released))

SIBUTU PASSAGE (Feb.

The conflict between the U.S and Iran, after several weeks of relative calm, appears to have rekindled, with the U.S. firing on Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, and Iran in turn launching missiles at bases elsewhere in the Middle East, in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, where U.S. troops are stationed.

However, the renewal of hostilities came as a Washington Post report said the Pentagon had been warned that further military action could overextend the military.

A U.S.

In warfare, inflicting damage on an enemy’s morale can be just as important as targeting its armed forces.

Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine has seen it make few gains since the conflict began in February 2022.

Artillery from Ukraine War Creative Commons Image

The 1,000km frontline has proven difficult to break through, with Russia’s military successes limited to towns and key villages, rather than major cities now under Russian control.

Ukraine has fought valiantly.

President Donald Trump is no longer “low-keying it” with Iran, it seems, with news this morning that the United States and Iran exchanged direct military attacks for the first time in more than a month overnight.

The strikes abruptly end a period of relative calm, raise the prospect of a return to regular military strikes, and come after the U.S. President shared an AI video overnight depicting Iran’s Kharg Island being destroyed.

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

Iran F-14 Tomcat Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

U.S.

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum, only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

Can America Keep the Iran War Going?: The United States’ war with Iran has now been going on for half a year. While the U.S. still has ample firepower to continue the campaign, senior commanders are warning that doing so is draining forces and weapons needed elsewhere. Senior commanders warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in an Aug. 14 classified assessment that prolonged large-scale operations against Iran are becoming unsustainable.

One person familiar with the document described the overall view as “too much for too long,” The Washington Post reported Sunday.

On Wednesday, two classes worth of soldiers will graduate from the Army’s newest Military Occupational Specialties, or MOS, training course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. A mix of new recruits straight from bootcamp and veteran soldiers retraining will officially become the Army’s new 15X tactical unmanned aircraft system specialists.
So far, the course has graduated more than 250 soldiers in almost a dozen training classes.
“The recruiting folks have been gangbusters on this and sending us people at the rate at which we can receive them,” said Col.

Trump posts an AI rendering of an Attack on Kharg Island – The nature of warfare changes over time, but the events of the last 24 hours — the president of the United States posting an AI-generated rendering of a specific attack at a specific location, leading to uncertainty about whether the attack actually occurred — had almost certainly never happened before now.

Amid the renewal of hostilities in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran on Sunday into Monday, which included the U.S.

The U.S. has conducted military strikes on Iran for the first time in over a month.

Two missile launchers on Larak Island – a small Iranian island close to the Strait of Hormuz – were targeted in the attacks on Sunday, 30th August.

AGM-158 Extreme Range LRASM. Image Credit: Industry Handout.

It marks the first time military action has been taken against Iran since Wednesday, 29th July.

Strikes by the Strait
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed Sunday’s attacks in a statement to Time.
CENTCOM spokesperson Capt.

After several weeks of tension and uncertainty, with no actual military strikes, it appears the shooting has resumed in the war between the United States and Iran.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. said it attacked Iranian troops who were preparing to “launch rockets armed with mines.”

201117-N-NH257-1123 NORTH ARABIAN SEA (Nov. 17, 2020) The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) steams ahead of the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) while participating in Malabar 2020 in the North Arabian Sea.

Top U.S. military commanders have warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that sustaining the current level of operations against Iran is straining America’s ability to respond to threats elsewhere, according to a classified Pentagon assessment revealed by The Washington Post.

The news of this warning comes after U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month, raising the risk that a conflict already six months old could again intensify.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard welcomed USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) for a Planned Incremental Availability Jan. 11.

Warsaw, Poland – Between now and the last time Russian President Vladimir Putin and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping met, developments have not moved in a direction that favors Moscow’s position and national interests.

The question is what the former KGB Lt. Col. will ask for in the way of assistance when the two sit down to speak to one another today in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The occasion is the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Treaty Organization (SCTO).

China’s Xi Jinping. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Warsaw, Poland – On 30 August, the Russian government extended a ban on the export of diesel fuel oil, marine fuel, and gas oil by producers. This will keep these bans in place past the originally planned end point at the end of August until 30 September. According to reports by Germany’s Deutsche Welle, this extension is designed to stabilize the Russian domestic petrol and other fuels market.

While this extension will add a month to the previous 31 August expiration date for fuel producers, a broader ban on several types of fuel exports will remain in effect until 31 January 2027.

On 28 August, a Ukrainian drone strike reportedly seriously damaged another one of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ (VKS) long-range Tupolev Tu-95MS bomber aircraft. After-action assessments indicate that the damage from the Ukrainian attack, which took off part of one wing of the bomber, is not repairable.

An image of the aircraft published on the Exilenova+ open-source intelligence X page shows the right wing is severed between the inboard and outboard Kuznetsov NK-12 counter-rotating turboprop engines.

Tu-95. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-95 Bear Bomber.

This video describes the military situation in

For a long time, U.S. Army veteran Jose Vasquez endured his dental issues with a soldier’s mentality.
Vasquez experienced tinnitus while serving from 1991 to 1995, but his oral health didn’t begin to decline until after he left the military, he told We Are The Mighty recently. Vasquez managed his pain around his busy schedule. Sometimes, that meant taking an ibuprofen or two. Other times, Vasquez simply tolerated the discomfort.
“I thought I was a tough guy, and this was going to go away,” Vasquez said to WATM.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has called for unity at home and across the Middle East last weekend, as Tehran begins to strengthen its internal security apparatus amid growing concern that, after six months of war and rising inflation, the civilian population could begin new anti-government protests.

In a written message on Sunday, August 30, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called on Muslim countries, particularly Iran’s Gulf neighbors, to unite against what he described as their “real enemy.

Navy Times
Maintenance delays for U.S.

James Holmes, 1945
The logic of the capital ship is impeccable.

USNI News

Rachel S. Cohen, FNN
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s policy update all but abandons the longstanding practice of purchasing software that is custom-built for military needs.

William Schneider Jr. & David A. Deptula, WSJ
The U.S. needs more than new weapons. It needs new ways of enlisting allies to produce weapons.

Russian Strike On Ukrainian Ammo Depot Kills 38 Near Kyiv – A Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian ammunition depot west of Kyiv has killed at least 38 people after stored shells, mines, drones and other explosives detonated. The strike became the deadliest overnight Russian attack so far this year.

The strike took place late on Friday, August 28, in the village of Myla in Kyiv Oblast’s Bucha district. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that another 20 people were injured, including two children, while four people were still missing.

Kim Jong Un at expanded Russian-North Korean talks, Vladivostok, April 2019. Photo: kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Kim Jong Un on Sunday overhauled the top levels of the military commands of North Korea, bringing in a new Minister of National Defense and promoting a top general who had stepped back from front-line duty in recent years back to a senior post on the country’s top military commission.

Lt Commander Pete Howell spoke to BFBS Forces N

Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and the Javelin Joint Venture (JJV) have agreed to collaborate on the in-country co-production of the Javelin All Up Round (AUR) anti-tank missile system in India.

CENTCOM Confirms U.S. Action Against IRGC Launchers On Larak Island. Earlier today, U.S. forces conducted strikes against two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This marks the first military action by the U.S. in the region in over a month, reports Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for CENTCOM. “The IRGC had positioned themselves to launch rockets carrying sea mines in the vicinity of international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Hawkins.

This video describes the military situation in

Quantum’s hype obscures a reality with real geopolitical stakes: the technology works and is advancing every day. Cameron Chehreh (IonQ), JD Dulny (Booz Allen), and Ben Gianni (GDIT) join Jonathan to discuss the race to Q-Day. They cover the shift to post-quantum cryptography, competing hardware modalities, emerging use cases, and why talent gaps and fragile supply chains mean the United States could be at risk of falling behind.Image: Jonathan Steffen via DVIDS.
The post The Quantum Stack and the Countdown to Q-Day appeared first on War on the Rocks.

Walk into the Pentagon, climb the escalator, and an Uncle Sam-style poster points at you: “I want YOU to use AI.” It worked. GenAI.mil hit 1.5 million users in six months, and I have heard enough OpenAI-in-disguise pitches to last a lifetime. The adoption really is great, but the poster contains a problem. “Use” is the verb of tools, and the Department of Defense does not win by using tools. It wins by commanding forces.North of the Pentagon, a task force few know about operates in a Maryland basement.

China is rapidly expanding a highly secretive flight-test facility near the Lop Nur nuclear test site, creating a major new centre for the development and evaluation of advanced military aircraft. The expansion is particularly significant because the base has already hosted China’s two known sixth generation fighter types, which have been in flight testing since late 2024, suggesting that the facility is being prepared for a much larger role in China’s next generation air combat programs.

Holding back tears, Veterans & People Minister

The Russian Navy’s nuclear-powered battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov has completed sea trials, and is expected to be brought into active service in the coming weeks. This represents a major milestone for the Russian shipbuilding industry, the Northern Fleet, and the wider Navy, as the cruiser’s refurbishment and modernisation has represented by far the most ambitious program initiated for the post-Soviet surface fleet.

The U.S. military and Iran traded strikes overnight, after American forces hit an island in the Strait of Hormuz. The fighting is the first time the United States has struck Iranian targets since the end of July. 
U.S. forces struck two Iranian launch sites on Larak Island on Sunday, in response to purported preparations to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The small island is used by Iranian military forces and ships traveling through the strait on commercial routes pass by the small landmass.

The U.S. Army has confirmed it will delivery its M1E3 Abrams next generation main battle tank prototype to the 1st Cavalry Division for testing. Commenting on the delivery, Deputy Capability Program Executive for Ground Combat Platforms Michelle Link observed: “The M1E3 Abrams represents a bold step forward in modern vehicle design, combining advanced protection, reduced weight, and a smaller logistical footprint to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s battlefield.

The Algerian Air Force’s deployment of Su-30MKA fighter aircraft to Niger following a failed coup attempt has repressed a major landmark in defence ties between Algiers, and Central African states that recent extracted themselves from the European sphere of influence. The Algerian Defence Ministry announced that the deployment of two fighter squadrons had been made at the request of Niger’s military authorities, highlighting the long range of the aircraft and the country’s ability to provide logistical support for unexpected foreign operations.

The Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf region. Photo: SM Mirhosseini / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, resuming military operations against Iran for the first time in roughly a month after American forces observed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing to deploy sea mines into the critical shipping waterway.
U.S. Central Command spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins confirmed the strikes. “U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island today,” Hawkins said.

Russia’s Deadliest Overnight Attack This Year – Russia continues its overnight assaults against Ukrainian infrastructure, with a strike into Saturday morning killing 37 people being described as the deadliest of the year so far. An additional overnight assault into Ukraine on August 30 saw two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 130 drones fired at targets throughout Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and beyond.

The Clock Is Against Trump and His Two Economic Wars – U.S. President Donald Trump is fighting economic wars on two fronts. On the one front, he is attempting to force concessions from one of America’s closest allies. On the other hand, he is trying to economically isolate one of the country’s most ideologically determined adversaries.

In both cases, the methods differ — but they are similar in the sense that, in true Trump style, he is attempting to force concessions by brute force.

U.S. Military Leaders Warn Iran War Is Unsustainable: Even as US President Donald J. Trump ordered new strikes on Iran just a few hours ago, important questions are being raised as to how much longer the Pentagon can carry on the fight.

Senior U.S. military commanders, according to new reports, are warning that the war against Iran is becoming impossible to sustain, with ships and weapons being pulled from other parts of the world just to maintain the massive American military presence in the Middle East necessary to keep the situation from simply getting worse.

Elements of the 82nd Airborne Division currently deployed to the Middle East will remain in the region into next year due to “operational requirements,” the Army announced.
The extended deployment was announced by division commander Maj. Gen. Brandon R. Tegtmeier in a letter to military families, thanking them for their support of the deployed troops. Task & Purpose reviewed the letter, dated Aug. 30 and shared to social media including the Army’s unofficial subreddit. The Army confirmed the authenticity of the letter.

The Air Force’s Global Strike Command ordered airmen to stop using a communications test kit at one of its intercontinental ballistic missile bases after a review found potential residue of a carcinogenic chemical in it. 
On Friday, Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s ICMBs and nuclear bombers, said that it directed units to stop using AN/PRM-10 test oscillator set after polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs were potentially found in it. The 20th Air Force, which operates F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, is “immediately” stopping use of the tests.

The acting Secretary of the Navy ordered the Marine Corps to help a military spouse get her and her family back to the United States, after she took to social media to express concern that she and her kids might be stuck in Germany as she and her husband divorce.
The military spouse, identified by Task & Purpose’s sister publication We Are the Mighty as Jamie Lenio, said that she was worried she would be stuck in Germany if her divorce and custody proceedings happen while still in Germany. She identified her husband as an active-duty Marine who wishes to remain in Germany as a contractor.