Poland’s defence spending is set to increase over the next five years as the country continues to move through a recapitalisation programme.

For 15 years, Air Force spouse Jessica Hulter was the parent of a daughter with profound medical needs—all that time, she faced the secondary challenge of navigating the military’s Exceptional Family Member Program, or EFMP.
Her daughter, Rebecca, was diagnosed with Rett syndrome after months of doctors trying to understand why she had stopped gaining weight, growing, and developing normally.
Also Read: The military’s EFMP families may feel PCS moves more
“The condition that my daughter had was not something that was immediately visible,” Hulter told We Are The Mighty.

Donald Vandergriff
Why Credentialism Fails Before the First Volley

Airforce Technology
The GEK800, designated the F143, is an 800-lb thrust turbofan engine intended for long-range missiles and uncrewed systems

J. Ho & M.

WSJ
Gen B.

Global Defense N.

This video describes the military situation in

This video describes the military situation in

Operation Epic Fury made clear that AI is now at the heart of American warfighting. Central Command used Claude through Palantir’s Maven Smart System platform to generate and prioritize roughly 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours of the campaign, at an operational tempo that more than doubled the opening phase of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Over 38 days, the campaign reached 13,000 total strikes, according to Pentagon data. Project Maven says that the program has accelerated targeting even further to 5,000 in a single day.

On June 26, 2026, the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, through its specialized firearms, ammunition, and explosives unit, raided a clandestine workshop in Rio das Pedras, on the city’s west side. Investigators said the group used a 3D printer seized at the scene to produce pistol frames and structural rifle parts in polymer and then completed them with metal parts. Early reports described those parts as imported, but police said on the day of the raid that they were still determining the metal’s origin.

This video describes the military situation in

The Russian Armed Forces are rapidly constructing numerous towers that integrated Pantsir short range air defence systems, with additional positions appearing on smaller scales elsewhere in the country. The development reflects how Russia is adapting to the growing scale of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks, which are historically unprecedented worldwide, and have forced the country to adopt novel solutions.

The Russian Armed Forces are rapidly constructing numerous towers that integrated Pantsir short range air defence systems, with additional positions appearing on smaller scales elsewhere in the country. The development reflects how Russia is adapting to the growing scale of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks, which are historically unprecedented worldwide, and have forced the country to adopt novel solutions.

It doesn’t take a military genius to know that an enemy acquiring your war plans could be an unmitigated disaster. Journalist Geraldo Rivera got kicked out of the Iraq War in 2003 for giving away troop movements on live television. General George McClellan won the Battle of Antietam in part because he had the Confederate battle plan.
There’s just a lot that could go wrong if the enemy has a clue as to what’s about to happen.

Trump Threatens to Bomb Oman – President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman. He made the remark on Monday, after Iran announced fresh progress toward an agreement with Muscat over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman Behaving ‘Badly’

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) arrives at Pier 88 during the International Naval Review (INR) 250 Parade of Sail in New York, July 4, 2026. The Parade of Sail marks the opening of INR 250, a multinational maritime celebration commemorating the 250th anniversaries of the U.S.

Trump Rules Out Extending Iran Deal, Iran Pushes Back Harder – As Iran steps up its rhetoric and promises to go on the offensive, the regime gave President Donald Trump a new deadline of just a few weeks to change course on the war, threatening to escalate military operations and attempt to break the U.S. naval blockade if Washington does not return to the terms of the failed June memorandum of understanding.

The warning, which was issued by a senior Iranian official on Monday, August 17, came as Trump also ruled out extending the 60-day U.S.

Russia and Ukraine continue to trade long-range strikes, overnight into Monday, August 17. At least 9 people were killed and 23 injured in Ukrainian attacks on Russia, according to Russian regional authorities, including eight deaths in the Belgorod region and another in Astrakhan.

In Ukraine, meanwhile, Russian strikes killed civilians in the Sumy and Donetsk regions and damaged a foreign-flagged commercial vessel near Odesa.

Putin Mach 2020 Russian Federation Photo Handout

Putin at a Conference 2026. Kremlin Handout Photo.

Dozens of stalls also burned at a market in Sloviansk.

Canada🇨🇦➡️Greenland🇬🇱➡️Icel

Russia has issued a furious threat after British-made drones were used by Ukraine to strike targets hundreds of miles into Russian territory.

Russia: UK is ‘Accomplice’ in Ukraine’s Attacks

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.

The Army is stepping into the fight against wil

Defense Department leaders instructed 30 American universities and specialized technology institutes to immediately audit their academic, financial and research connections to foreign entities that the government considers too risky or hostile to engage with.
The initiation of these probes, revealed on Monday, marks DOD’s latest move in a yearslong effort to counter what it views as adversarial influences infiltrating U.S. academia.

U.S. troops launched a major joint exercise in South Korea on Monday, just hours after a last-minute social media post from President Donald Trump that the annual event would be drastically curtailed. 
On Sunday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social — a social media service in which he owns a majority stake — that he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the American involvement in joint military exercises in South Korea. The post came on the eve of a major annual training event on the Korean Peninsula.

Defense tech maker Anduril, one of the primary performers on the Army’s Soldier Borne Mission Command program, recently delivered headsets to the Army for testing and is gearing up for the next phase of the prototyping effort, according to a top executive.
The SBMC project aims to develop soldier-worn heads-up displays equipped with augmented reality, night vision, AI, and command-and-control capabilities that can connect with other systems such as drones, among other features.

Russian strikes pummel infrastructure in Ukraine’s key port region overnight into Monday.

The Izmail district in the southern Odesa region is home to Ukraine’s biggest port on the Danube Delta, connecting war-torn Ukraine to its western neighbors.

Tu-22M Backfire Bomber from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-22M3 Russian Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A civilian Togo-flagged vessel sustained damage, and four people were injured in the attack, Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper announced.

Royal Welsh soldiers in action 🇬🇧🔥
3rd

The Air Force recently evaluated prototypes designed to enable airmen to control Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones from the ground via a portable system, the service announced Aug. 13.
Held at the Springfield Air National Guard Base in Ohio, the tests served as the initial assessment phase for the portable Command and Control Enclave (C2E) effort — a newly revealed capability being developed under the CCA program. The service is now a step closer to choosing a prime contractor that will serve as the C2E integrator, according to a news release.

Ukrainian drones struck another major Wildberries warehouse near Moscow on Sunday, August 16, setting fire to the sprawling logistics complex as Kyiv continued a month-long series of attacks on Russia’s largest online retailer.

The warehouse in Koledino, near Podolsk and roughly 30 miles south of central Moscow, was hit during a much larger overnight Ukrainian attack across Russia.

This video describes the military situation in

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.

240 days at sea continuously at sea – and

In mid-June, the United States and Iran agreed to a “Memorandum of Understanding,” also known as the Islamabad Memorandum, a ceasefire agreement that would take a step toward ending the war between the countries.

The agreement’s 14 points included a ceasefire, a commitment to respect each other’s sovereignty, and several other points meant to push various considerations, including opening the Strait of Hormuz and questions related to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, into future negotiations.

U.S. Air Force Maj.

President Donald Trump has often scrambled traditional notions of who is and isn’t an ally of the United States.

He’s often been more skeptical of NATO than any other U.S. president since the start of the alliance.

The F-22 Raptor performs a demonstration at the Mather Airshow in Sacramento, California, Sept. 23, 2018. The P-38 is a World War I-era fighter aircraft that was developed for the Army Air Corps. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lauren Parsons/Released)

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

Train smarter, fight stronger💪
From weightli

This week, as part of what has been described as its largest drone attack of the year and one of the largest of the entire war, Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russia.

And part of that was another attack on a facility run by Wildberries, the Russian e-commerce giant. Per Euronews, Ukraine hit a 250,000-square-meter complex in Podolsk near Moscow, which is reportedly Wildberries’ largest facility.

Ukraine Artillery Strike. Creative Commons Image.

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Francis Beaudette, former commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, joins Ryan to discuss how his family history, service, and books shaped his path into and time in the Army. Together, they talk through his years as a young officer during Operation Desert Storm, the wars that followed, the present and future challenges of special operations (and how they aren’t that different from the past), and the difficulty of learning the right lessons from the wars of today. Thanks to Legion Intelligence for sponsoring the event at which this episode was recorded.

Ukraine’s campaign of long-range attacks inside Russia continued on Monday, less than 24 hours after it launched one of its biggest drone barrages of the war.

Six Russians Killed

Flamingo Missile Handout Photo

FP-5 Missile From Ukraine Creative Commons Image

According to Russian officials, six people were killed and four wounded in the attack, including a 14-year-old in the Belgorod village of Koloskovo close to the border with Ukraine.

The war with Iran was complicated again on Monday, August 17, when two drones launched from Iranian territory targeted the office of Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the residence of one of the region’s most senior security officials.

The attacks caused material damage but no casualties, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

F-15EX Eagle II In the Sky. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

F-15 Fighter Taken on July 19, 2025. Image Credit: National Security Journal.

“Anyone out there in my shoes, don’t try

Iran is no longer simply defending itself against the United States — its military leadership is now preparing to escalate, shifting to a “fully offensive” strategy that could see attacks expand beyond the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East.

On August 17, Reuters cited a senior Iranian official who said the change is coming because Tehran has lost faith in any diplomatic efforts to end the war.

U.S. Air Force Capt.

The US Central Command (Centcom) has initiated the formation of Task Force Falcon Strike, the nation’s first multinational and multidomain attack drone unit.

The top two commanders of a special operations training wing in the New Mexico Air National Guard were removed from command on Aug. 14, state officials confirmed to Task & Purpose Monday. 
Col. Christopher George was fired as the commander of the 150th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The wing’s deputy commander, Col. Jeffry Heggemeier, was “reassigned,” according to a statement from the New Mexico National Guard. Both officers were removed from their roles by Brig. Gen.

M1 Support Services has been awarded a $10bn contract to provide Initial Entry Rotary Wing training for the US Army over a 26-year period.

On Aug. 17, 2026, the U.S. Navy and RTX announced a massive contract for Tomahawk missiles. Manufactured by Raytheon, an RTX business, the Tomahawk is the Navy’s primary long-range munition… and the service is running out of them. To replenish its stockpiles, the Navy awarded Raytheon an unprecedented $22.9 billion contract.

Ukraine, overnight, launched one of its largest attacks of the entire war, as hundreds of drones targeted the Russian capital of Moscow.

According to DW.com, Ukraine launched a “sustained overnight assault,” which Russia says killed at least six people. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 201 of the 600 drones launched at Moscow were destroyed. The Russian regional governor, meanwhile, called it “one of the most massive drone attacks (against Moscow Oblast) in recent memory,” while the BBC called it the largest attack by Ukraine in 2026.

Switchblade Drone.

What comes next for the RAF’s iconic Hawk T1?

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington is on the move. The supercarrier is en route to the Middle East, where it is set to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln following one of the most strenuous carrier deployments in recent naval history.

The rotation will offer the Lincoln’s crew a route home after nearly nine months at sea.

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) cruise side-by-side in the Philippine Sea June 18, 2006, during exercise Valiant Shield 2006.

This video describes the military situation in

In recent years – and with increasing frequency in recent months – Russia has been either suspected or accused of numerous actions that violate the territorial integrity and threaten the security of NATO member nations. These include airspace violations, drone incursions, sabotaging undersea communications and data cables, and – most recently – landing a drone with a high-yield explosive warhead at a NATO heavy airlift terminal at Halle Airport in the East German city of Leipzig.

Moscow has now added a new act of aggression to its list of dirty tricks.

On Aug. 5, 2026, a federal court ruled that aspects of the 1934 National Firearms Act, including the registration of short-barreled rifles, shotguns, and silencers, was unconstitutional. The government was given a seven-day stay on the ruling to appeal, but the Department of Justice took no action.
Also Read: TSA is adding dedicated security lines for military, veterans, and their families
Just after midnight on Aug.