Every crisis in the Middle East returns the world’s attention to the same stretch of water. When tankers are seized, or missiles fly near the Persian Gulf, oil prices move, insurers reprice risk, shipping reroutes, and the United States repositions naval and airpower to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The reflex is sound, because the strait carries volumes nothing else can. Alongside the maritime map, a second geography of energy security is taking shape: the pipelines, railways, power lines, and transit corridors linking the Caspian Basin and the South Caucasus to Europe.

This video describes the military situation in

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force has demonstrated one of the most important advantages of its fighter aircraft with the deployment of J-16s to Egypt for the Eagles of Civilisation exercises, as the aircraft traveled more than 6,000 kilometres in a single intercontinental range flight supported by YY-20A aerial tankers. The deployment provides a striking demonstration of the ability of China’s large fighters to operate over distances far exceeding those of Western aircraft.

Western-supplied tanks that Ukraine once regarded as among its most important battlefield assets are increasingly being kept out of direct combat due to their very limited survivability. A New York Times report on Ukraine’s 33rd Separate Mechanised Brigade found that German-built Leopard tanks are spending much of their time concealed beneath camouflage netting in forest positions in the Kharkiv region. Instead of spearheading assaults, some are now primarily used to recover damaged vehicles.

Chinese state media has revealed that its YY-20A aerial tanker performed an airborne command role during the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s deployment of J-16 fighters to Egypt for the Eagles of Civilisation 2026 exercise. Described as operating as an “airborne command node,” its ability to contribute to command and coordination in addition to providing aerial refuelling could make it significantly more valuable for operations than previously thought.

Why the secret trip to Russia? According to multiple news outlets, the American CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, 25 August, for previously unannounced meetings with senior Kremlin officials. Sources who spoke to CBS News also confirmed that the US Central Intelligence chief was in the Russian capital.

Reports of the CIA Director’s trip began not long after a US Air Force (USAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III (call sign RCH4555, tail number 07-7181) cargo lifter aircraft was seen landing at the VIP terminal of Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Before Operation Epic Fury, the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command transferred digital services across theaters for the first time, according to the unit’s top officer, so the Army’s Middle East hub could have network support in the event Iran targeted its critical communication infrastructure.
Maj. Gen.

Russia’s ‘grey zone’ activity

The Air Force announced Tuesday that VivSoft Technologies will develop and field a new platform intended to consolidate the service’s fragmented aircrew scheduling, training and readiness-management capabilities.
The company received a $100 million Other Transaction Authority production agreement for the Aerospace Readiness Enterprise System (ARES) program, which will consolidate multiple Air Force scheduling software tools into a single enterprise environment enabled by artificial intelligence. The service plans to begin rolling out ARES across major commands in 2027.

What changes when Royal Engineers leave the UK

All sailors and Marines will soon have to take a new yearly gas “mask fit” test after the two services amended their gas mask rules to meet the Pentagon’s recent overhaul of grooming standards.
The new annual Chemical, Biological Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) mask test requirements were recently published in official Marine Corps and Navy administrative notices, or ADMINs. The Marine Corps policy incorporates new pass-fail training compliance statuses while the Navy rules speed up the timeline for sailors to comply with the mask fit training and certification tests.

Is the Army making a mistake ending it’s

The end of World War II was over 80 years ago, and the number of Americans who served during the war is starting to number fewer and fewer. August 23, 2026, was a milestone for that dwindling number of veterans, as Roy Drinkard, World War II veteran and oldest living Marine passed away at the age of 106.
Also Read: TSA is adding dedicated security lines for military, veterans, and their families
Born on July 12, 1920 in Falkville, Ala., Drinkard’s father was a businessman who also served as the town’s mayor for 20 years. Young Roy attended St. Bernard Preparatory School in Cullman, Ala.

“Next decade is probably the most remarkable pe

President Donald Trump is approaching the November midterms with approval ratings holding at a record low, with voters evidently concerned that the war with Iran is unlikely to end any time soon.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 31% of Americans support U.S. military action against Iran, down from 34% earlier in August and 37% in March, shortly after the conflict began.

The U.S. Navy is looking to add a new “standoff” anti-submarine warfare weapon system to its arsenal and is reaching out to industry to see what capabilities companies have to offer.
The market research effort, which kicked off Tuesday with the release of an RFI, is in support of the service’s Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo (SAA-LT) program.
SAA-LT is billed as a next-generation delivery system being developed to counter emerging threats in undersea warfare and “expand the range” of drones and manned aircraft that can conduct anti-submarine operations.

Air Force 2nd Lt. Leah R. Borsich was one of eight people killed when a plane carrying her team crashed while trying to land in foggy conditions at a remote radar site in western Alaska, service officials announced.
Borsich, 23, was a project programmer with the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron, an Air Force news release says. She was assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

What if your mid-air tanker didn’t need a

Britain has said it will give Kyiv access to confidential missile technology. On a visit to Kyiv for Ukrainian Independence Day on Monday, August 24, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the new plans.

The catch: the proposals are unlikely to bear much fruit until 2027 at the earliest, and what Ukraine requires right now is existing missile stockpiles with projectiles capable of intercepting Russian ballistic attacks.

The U.S. State Department is drawing up plans to return diplomats to embassies across the Middle East.

Embassies that were previously evacuated at the beginning of the war with Iran include countries that have been targeted during the conflict, such as Israel.

President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a meeting of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Official White House photo by Joyce N.

A new exhibition has opened in London documenti

The Trump administration’s threat to inflict secondary sanctions on countries engaging with Iran has prompted outrage in Beijing.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast,” a campaign to isolate Iran from the global financial system. Such a shake-up comes as peace talks have ground to a halt, almost six months into the conflict.

Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.

Donald Trump Back in 2016. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Throughout 2026, the Trump Administration has pursued a variety of strategies to deal with Iran.

Much of that time has been consumed by full-on war, sometimes interrupted by negotiations and ceasefires.

President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, signs an Executive Order approving the Ambler Road Project in Alaska, Monday, October 6, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

President Donald J.

Keeping sea lines of communication open in time

This video describes the military situation in

Last week, the White House vowed to unleash an “economic D-Day” on Iran amid the ongoing war.

Yet when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the campaign on Monday, a New York Times analysis suggested that Washington’s offensive amounted to a sanctions package, warning that much harsher measures could be around the corner.

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and wife Jennifer Hegseth, signs an executive order creating a new White House commission focused on military families, Monday, August 3, 2026, in the Oval Office.

British factories manufacturing weapons for Ukraine may face attacks from “unknown sources,” a top Kremlin adviser said on Monday.

Andrei Fedorov, who served as Russian deputy foreign minister in 1991, issued the warning following the news that Britain would release classified information to aid Ukrainian manufacturing of long-range SCALP cruise missiles.

Sea Baby Drone Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Neptune Missile. Image Credit: Government of Ukraine.

Two Killed in Overnight Drone Attacks on Russian Oil Refinery – Two people have been killed after Ukraine struck an oil refinery in southern Russia in an overnight drone attack.

The Afipsky refinery, located in Russia’s Krasnodar region, was targeted in the latest assault by Kyiv on Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Putin in Meeting Creative Commons Photo

Kremlin Speech by Putin. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

American Special Forces are conducting joint operations with local troops against drug cartels, and more U.S. military assets are incoming, Ecuadorian officials said last week. The announcements come nearly six months after the U.S. and Ecuador carried out their first joint strike against a group inside the country, which officials labeled as drug traffickers.
A local official said U.S. Green Berets have been operating in the Esmeraldas province, carrying out joint operations with Ecuadorian forces, according to reports from Agence France-Press and UPI.

The Trump Administration appears to be pursuing a different strategy in its quest to find an exit from the Iran conflict: Economic pressure, in what the president and Treasury Secretary are calling “Economic D-Day.”

Secretary Scott Bessent announced how the new sanctions would work on Monday afternoon. According to the New York Times, and as previously teased by President Donald Trump and Bessent, the idea is economic sanctions, including on countries that help Iran or do business with it in any way.

The UK and Ukraine have signed a major agreement to collaborate on AI, with the focus on developing enhanced military capabilities and new technology solutions.

Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, has named Česká letecká servisní (ČLS) as its first authorised distribution centre for Black Hawk helicopter parts in the European Union.

WE OWN THE NIGHT | Military Motivation
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Ukraine began its war on Russia’s oil industry in the early days of the war.

But its campaign of drone strikes on refineries, storage tanks, oil sea transport terminals and other infrastructure did not widen into a systemic assault on this vital sector of Russia’s economy until late 2024 and on into 2025.

Putin New Year’s Message. Image Credit: Russian Government.

As an essay from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) described last month, Ukraine struck “Russia’s Central Nervous System.

The UK has committed to handing over blueprints for the UK-France-designed Storm Shadow/Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée – Emploi Général (SCALP EG) cruise missiles to Ukraine.

This will allow Kyiv to manufacture its own missiles, which it has been launching not only from the Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters donated by France, but also from the Ukrainian Air Force’s (PSU) pre-war fleet of Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bombers.

Su-35. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Su-35 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

As Ukraine celebrates its 35th year since being restored to independent status, leaders and representatives of the Coalition of the Willing met in person and via video conference in the capital, Kyiv.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz chaired the meeting alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

T-72 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

T-72 Like Those Fighting in Ukraine.

The gathering also took place one day after Ukraine had commemorated the 23 August National Flag Day.

Everett Bartlett will never forget the huge cloud of smoke.
Bartlett was only 10 years old on April 21, 1958, when he saw the disturbing image off in the distance, a few miles from his school in Henderson, Nevada. The boy was outside at the time and didn’t know what to make of the smoke. He just knew it was bad.
“It looked like a mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb,” Bartlett recalled to KSNV, Las Vegas’ NBC television affiliate, in 2025.

Ukraine has carried out some devastating attacks on Russian infrastructure in recent weeks, using drones and other weapons to strike at Russia’s energy facilities, as well as at warehouses owned by Wildberries, the “Amazon of Russia,” and other locations. Many of those strikes have been deadly, including the deaths of civilians.

Does this represent a change in Ukraine’s posture when it comes to civilian casualties? Politico’s European arm looked at that question this week.

NextGenDef.

Ceder & Oliverio, Navy T.
Vague operational planning and a lack of transparency during U.S.

Global Defense News
The U.S.

BrDefense
The Navy said that the missile is designed for 4th, 5th, and 6th generation aircraft platforms.

AWeek
During the Ford’s deployment, the ship’s air wing conducted a sortie generation rate test to evaluate how EMALS

This video describes the military situation in

Spain’s defence market is forecast to grow across all combat domains, although fluctuations are expected in the naval sector.

Judged by the initial strategic goals set by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022, Russia’s military lost its war against Ukraine some time ago. Yet Russia’s armed forces have not stopped fighting and continue to prosecute large-scale combat operations in a brutalizing, protracted war sucking up much of Russia’s assets of national power, from pure military capacity to foreign policy priorities to considerable societal and economic resources.

This video describes the military situation in

The confirmed delivery of the first J-10C fighters to Uzbekistan Air Force has represented the most significant milestone in for the service since its creation following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, as it moves to phase Soviet-era combat aircraft out of service. Reports indicate that Uzbekistan has placed orders for 24 J-10C fighters, the first two of which were delivered in July, which will allow it to fully phase its Soviet-built MiG-29s out of service.

Footage from Russia has provided a first look at a new production batch of Su-34 strike fighters, with the aircraft still in yellow factory primer and expected to be delivered to the Aerospace Forces in September. Russia has significantly accelerated production and delivery of Su-34s, with the aircraft being ordered in greater numbers than any of the country’s other fighter types since the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

L Todd Wood sits down with former US Army Officer Mark Castillon to talk about the treachery going on in the force.
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