WSJ
Fluidstack, an AI infrastructure company, is being advised on the loan by the bank started by Palmer Luckey, an early supporter of Donald Trump

Samantha Alexa, Military AI
A new U.S.

Global Defense News
The award supports a wider U.S.

Losey, A&SF
One year into a new campaign to boost readiness rates for the

Hope Hodge Seck, Navy T.

This video describes the military situation in

On the first night of the evacuation of Kabul, Aug. 15, 2021, a young mother found me in the crowd at Hamid Karzai International Airport. She had marked me, correctly, as someone who spoke her language. By the end of the night, she was pressing the body of her dead child into my chest and telling me, “You did this.” I have spent five years with that sentence.In a way, she was wrong about me. I had done nothing to her son.

This video describes the military situation in

The sixth generation fighter under development by China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has continued to make progress in flight testing, with growing quantities of footage showing the aircraft operating at both low and high altitudes. The fighter is broadly comparable in its dimensions to the country’s most capable fifth generation fighter type, the J-20, while a second sixth generation fighter type under development by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation has much larger dimensions and appears intended for operations across much longer ranges.

President Donald Trump says oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz at almost prewar levels. The reality is rather more complicated.

Only seven commodity vessels passed through Hormuz on Wednesday, September 9, according to preliminary ship-tracking data reported by Reuters on Thursday.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Colby Delia, 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron crew chief, and Airman 1st Class Olivia Ward, 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron crew chief, prepare for a B-1B Lancer to take off for a mission at Misawa Air Base, May 9, 2025.

Iran claims to have replenished enough missiles to carry out a prolonged war with the United States. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly claims the conflict will end after this November’s midterm elections.

One top Iranian official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg Iran did not plan to back down as a result of the U.S. naval blockade or U.S. attacks on Tehran’s tankers.

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

Last month, in an Axios story, sources in the Trump administration told the story of a clandestine effort to move shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran claiming it had closed it.

After that secret operation, the story said the U.S. could transport 10 million barrels of oil a day through the Strait, about half of pre-war levels.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Taylor “FEMA” Hiester, F-16 Viper Demonstration Team commander and pilot, performs aerial maneuvers in an F-16C Fighting Falcon during an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., March 15, 2025.

Ukraine just carried out the deepest confirmed strike inside Russian territory since the beginning of the war, having sent long-range drones more than 1,800 miles into Russian territory to strike two major gas processing facilities located in western Siberia.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said that the operation, conducted on September 9, targeted facilities at Novy Urengoy and sites in the Purovsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug — the central hub of Russia’s massive gas industry.

HIMARS Attack. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The Defense Innovation Unit will soon sponsor approved startups and non-traditional companies with certain temporary security clearances so they can participate in classified conversations to fully grasp the U.S. military’s real demands, ahead of winning major Pentagon contracts.
Senior defense officials on Thursday previewed a unique contracting solicitation that’s in the pipeline for release in the next few weeks and will prototype a process to grant venture-backed and other small businesses with fast-tracked Facility Security Clearances (FCL) held under DIU’s new Bridge Program.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday, September 9, to escalate the Iran war further by attacking the Pickaxe Mountain complex — an Iranian nuclear site buried deep underground and currently beyond the reach of known U.S. military technology.

New reports suggest the Pentagon is investigating classified ways of destroying the underground facilities.

OVER NEVADA — A B-1B Lancer from the 37th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., streaks through the sky.

US Air Force conduct interception training🇺🇸✈️ F-16 pilots took part in a mid-air exercise to work on their ability to intercept threats #fighterjets #jets #flying #pilots #shorts

Iran retaliates after US attacks its oil tanker

This video describes the military situation in

The top general in charge of securing and defending the Pentagon’s cyber infrastructure said Thursday that decades of delayed maintenance has left DOD networks increasingly vulnerable in the AI age, adding to the drumbeat of warnings across the field about agent-instigated hacks.
Lt. Gen.

When U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began in February and prompted Iran to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, some of the world’s leading energy analysts warned that oil prices could reach $200 per barrel.

On March 31, Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman emeritus of energy consultancy group FGE NexantECA, told Bloomberg Television that oil prices could surge to between $150 and $200 per barrel if the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz persisted for as long as eight weeks.

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

A new handbook gives troops pointers on how to scan the sky for drones, how to estimate the length of a football field, and reminders that innocuous things like the shine of their glasses or left-behind MRE garbage can give their position away.
Published Tuesday by the Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force – 401, the 2026 Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Quick Reference Guide includes drone tactics, techniques and procedures and a catalogue of drones and counter-UAS technologies currently in the U.S. inventory, including lasers, jammers, and interceptors.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to make a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump said on Wednesday, 9th September, that he had a “great” telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart earlier in the week, discussing the possibility of an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion.

ATACMS Like Used in Ukraine Creative Commons

However, questions remain about the likelihood of an agreement between the two warring nations after four and a half years of conflict.

The UK Government appears to have decided that live-fire exercises for the British Army’s premier tank regiment is not a leading priority.

U.S. President Donald Trump this week said that he believes the war with Iran will end in the coming months, but not before the November midterm elections.

The president, based on recent events and statements by officials in Tehran, suggested that the Islamic regime is looking to inflict as much pain as possible to weaken Washington’s negotiating position and lose the Republicans the midterm elections.

A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base takes off from Oscoda, Michigan, Aug. 5, 2025.

This year’s U.N. General Assembly officially opened on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The annual gathering gives diplomats and leaders a valuable opportunity to press their foreign policy priorities and engage — formally and informally — with both partners and adversaries. Most heads of state will arrive later this month for the General Debate that begins on Sept. 22. The General Assembly will wrap up on Sept. 28.U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior officials have strongly criticized the United Nations, withdrawn from multiple U.N. organizations, and reduced funding.

Guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) transits the Persian Gulf. Photo: U.S. Navy / Public Domain
Iran deployed a new type of anti-ship missile fitted with an electro-optical seeker to attack US warships for the first time last night, in a major escalation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its warfare against US forces operating in the vicinity of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Flying across the world with modern GPS is not much harder than using a navigation app in your car, which is why most military planners expect the global satellite system to be knocked out early in any major future conflict.
To prepare for a no-GPS sky, a Pentagon test flight last month over Alaska made a major leap toward how the U.S. military plans to fly to and from targets without the satellite system, overseen by the Pentagon’s newest technology unit.

The Underground Warfare Defining Eastern Ukraine’s Battlefields – Eight Ukrainian soldiers sent into a trench near Pokrovsk were out of action within 24 hours. The next four lasted less than 10 minutes.

A few hundred yards away, six men hidden in two fighting holes held out for 10 days.

Switchblade Drone. Image Credit: Industry Handout.

French volunteer Édouard Maurin, who served with a Ukrainian special-purpose battalion in 2024 and 2025, described the two positions this week in the War on the Rocks.

Following a commitment by the Army to transition to the Joint Laser Weapon System program within the next two years, the Pentagon’s critical technology chief is putting the pressure on other services to do the same. 
The Defense Department awarded two contracts for the JLWS program to nLIGHT Defense, a high-powered laser company based in Colorado, and Lockheed Martin for an initial value of $86 million with a ceiling of $847 million.

The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history turned more than a few ordinary Americans into heroes. Their stories of heroism on 9/11 are an inspiration to us all, one that will long outlive the perpetrators of the attacks.
Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives on September 11, 2001, after al-Qaida hijackers flew airplanes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York. More than 6,000 were injured.
Also Read: Youngest FDNY firefighter killed on 9/11 honored with ESPN documentary
Tens of thousands of people typically worked in the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, and most escaped.

AeroVironment has received the first international purchase order for its LOCUST laser weapon system, designed to counter smaller drones.

Northrop Grumman has teamed up with SandboxAQ to demonstrate quantum sensing magnetic navigation on its Lumberjack UAS.

This video describes the military situation in

The Little League World Series (LLWS) has seen its players go on to play professionally in the MLB and even NFL and NHL. Despite this, only a single player’s number has been retired from the LLWS. Michael Cammarata, who played in the 1991 LLWS, went on to become a New York City firefighter. He was the youngest of the 343 firefighters who were killed on 9/11.
To observe the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and celebrate Cammarata’s life, ESPN’s E60 released “Living On: The Michael Cammarata Story” at the start of the 2026 LLWS on August 19, 2026.

When Donald Trump got involved in the Iran War in February, coming off the successful intervention in Venezuela, it was almost certainly with the idea that the conflict would end with a quick U.S. victory over a regime long hostile to the United States.

After all, Trump had, in his presidential campaigns, repeatedly vowed to keep the country out of open-ended foreign wars, while implying that his opponents would get into such wars.

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, Friday, August 14, 2026.

Footage from Lebanon has shown one of the largest air strikes on record as a result of an Israeli air strike on a major underground Hezbollah military complex beneath the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon. The more than 1,100 tons of explosives reportedly used produced a seismic event, which registered as a 4.1-magnitude earthquake. The operation highlights the extraordinary scale of underground infrastructure constructed by Hezbollah over decades and the growing importance of subterranean warfare in Israel’s campaign to establish a security zone along its northern frontier.

Military members in jobs deemed to be closest to combat will have to keep up higher scores on their annual fitness tests under new Pentagon rules, though each service will decide on its own what those standards will be.
A memo released Aug. 31 by the Department of Defense will require all “combat arms” troops — jobs whose duties and training are primarily aimed at direct combat — will need to maintain fitness scores of at least   70% in their service-specific fitness tests.
 Notably, the requirement applies to the regular service fitness tests.

Could this be the British Army’s next 4×

Ten years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attempted to put 9/11 in perspective.
September 11, 2001, began as a picturesque day in Manhattan. It ended with nearly 3,000 dead after terrorists plowed hijacked planes into both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The death toll would have been higher if not for the heroes on United Airlines Flight 93 who overpowered the terrorists and caused that aircraft to plunge into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  
On 9/11, America mourned and came together.

On Wednesday, Russia hit a border crossing near Ukraine’s border with Moldova. Also, in the last few days, Ukrainian drones have plunged into a gas-producing region 1,800 miles into Russia.

Two Civilians Killed in Odesa

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) with the 1st Battalion, 181st Field Artillery Regiment fires toward a designated target at Yausubetsu Training Area, Hokkaido, Japan on Sept. 20, 2023. U.S. Army soldiers and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) members participated in showcasing their artillery prowess in front of VIPs and dignitaries. (Photo by U.S.

Oil prices rocketed above $100 per barrel on Wednesday, September 9, as fighting in the Middle East escalated.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted again, but so were some alternative routes and infrastructure that have helped keep oil moving over the last six months of conflict.

Aircraft Carrier. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Brent crude surpassed $101 during trading on Wednesday, building on a rally that has increased the international benchmark by around 25% since August.

This time, the increase was caused by U.S.

This video describes the military situation in

New insight into the design concepts influencing the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s sixth generation stealth fighter has been provided in a recently published paper by researchers from the Shenyang Aircraft Design & Research Institute. The institute is associated with development of the second of China’s two known sixth generation fighter types, referred to by netizens as the ‘J-50,’ which was first seen in flight testing in December 2024 alongside the much larger sixth generation fighter developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation.

NextGenDefense
Smart red blood cells use gene-editing techniques to detect physical exertion and respond by producing proteins that improve oxygen delivery to tissues

Allyson Park, NatDefense
As autonomous systems continue to define modern warfare, the United States is locked in a race for drone dominance, but the real competition is the speed of…

Trimble, Aviation Week
AI-enabled air combat is close to operational reality

Stars&Str.

John Croxton, Defense One
Maven Smart System (MSS) has replaced “six, eight, ten” systems that the military used to analyze data, AI chief says

If there is a revolution brewing in the automation of white-collar work, you wouldn’t know it at the Pentagon. Here, the typical action officers, staff who tackle the daily work of the bureaucracy, perform essentially the same duties as their predecessors in 1996 or 1956: creating charts, authoring papers, delivering briefings, and coordinating across offices. Given the promise of AI tools, allowing this staff ecosystem to remain stuck in the past represents a dangerous failure to adapt, especially as senior leaders criticize the workforce for lacking organizational speed.

For eight years I helped decide whether American counter-terrorism money was working.As a programs advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism from 2018 to 2025, I oversaw about 20 projects in East Africa worth roughly $80 million a year. None of that money moved without a performance monitoring plan. We established baselines before work started and agreed on indicators in advance. When a project underperformed, or the reporting came late, we withheld funding. Reporting tracked activities against those metrics across the life of the program.