News
Anduril unveils ‘Copperhead’ line of autonomous underwater vehicles
Anduril Industries unveiled a new family of autonomous underwater vehicles called Copperhead, designed to meet military and commercial needs for larger fleets of uncrewed maritime vessels.
Firing of top cyber general ‘sets back’ US military and intel operations, makes America ‘less safe,’ lawmakers of both parties say
Following the Thursday firing of Gen. Timothy Haugh, who led the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, lawmakers criticized the Trump administration, both for the decision to let him go and for not providing a reason.
Army cites glaring failures in drone attack in Jordan that killed US troops
A drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan last year was most likely preventable, according to a military investigation that determined that numerous failures — from complacency and indecisiveness to outright negligence — contributed to the worst assault on American troops since the fall of Afghanistan.
Maya Angelou memoir, Holocaust book are among those pulled from Naval Academy library in DEI purge
Books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library this week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office ordered the school to get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
Hero rat sets Guinness World Record for detecting landmines
Landmines remain an ever present danger on battlefields. That’s for both soldiers in an active conflict and civilians once a war is over. Millions of anti-personnel landmines are buried around the world, and while groups work to remove them safely, in recent years they’ve turned to a novel tool to help: Rats. And one rat based out of Cambodia has now detected more landmines than any other rat in history.
Air Force
B-2 stealth bombers deployed to Diego Garcia have been striking targets in Yemen
The U.S. Air Force has used B-2A Spirit stealth bombers to attack Houthi targets in Yemen during the recent campaign against the rebel group, a U.S. official told The War Zone. That campaign began March 15 with a series of aviation and missile strikes against the Iranian-backed group. You can read more about the deployment of B-2s to the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia here.
USAF F-35 squadrons at Lakenheath near full readiness
The U.S. Air Force is poised to fill out its full complement of F-35 fighters and reach full operational capability with two squadrons at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom this year, according to the head of the U.S. European Command.
Very close encounter between F-35 and Su-35 caught on cockpit camera
A video has emerged showing what looks to be a very close encounter between a Russian Su-35 Flanker-E and an Alaska-based U.S. Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. A variant of the Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber is also seen in the footage.
Air Force Academy superintendent proposes cutting civilian staff
The Air Force Academy superintendent is proposing to cut civilian faculty positions without hiring uniformed instructors to replace them — a change that could eliminate some majors.
Air Force backtracks on banning personal pronouns from email signatures
The Air Force says it’s again allowing airmen and civilian employees to put their preferred personal pronouns in their email signatures and correspondence, backtracking on a Trump administration restriction after recognizing that a law exists protecting the practice.
Space Force
Space Force issues $13.5 billion in contracts to 3 launch firms
The U.S. Space Force announced more than $13.5 billion in launch contracts Friday to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin for missions that will fly between fiscal years 2027 and 2032.
From support to ‘warfighting’: Space Force releases first ‘capstone’ operations doctrine
The Space Force’s new “capstone” doctrine document officially puts into action the two-year campaign by Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman to refocus the service’s traditional mission of providing critical support functions to the rest of the US military toward waging war “in, from and to space.
Defense
UAE’s defense giant expands footprint in Brazil with anti-drone and missile agreements
UAE’s defense giant EDGE Group is further expanding its footprint in Latin America and specifically Brazil with new agreements to produce counter-drone systems and to advance to the next phase in an anti-ship missile project, according to the company.
AC-130J Ghostrider gunship launches Black Arrow Small Cruise Missile in new video
The Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, has completed a guided flight test from an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, the weapon’s manufacturer, Leidos, has confirmed. The Black Arrow, which is intended to carry a range of different payloads, and not just a kinetic warhead, arrives at a time when the Pentagon is looking at harnessing the potential of lower-cost weapons that can be readily produced at scale to meet the likely demands of future conflicts.
With NGAD loss and hazy future for F-35, Lockheed Martin weathers scrutiny from Wall Street
After a loss on the Air Force’s F-47 program and its withdrawal from the Navy’s F/A-XX competition, Lockheed Martin is facing questions from Wall Street about how the company responsible for both of the US military’s fifth-generation fighters now finds itself shut out of the sixth-generation fighter market.
Missile Defense Agency opens door to commercial firms for ‘Golden Dome’ project
The Pentagon is looking beyond traditional defense contractors to tackle one of the most ambitious components of its proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system: space-based interceptors that would destroy enemy missiles in flight.
Leonardo expands Saudi defence ties with new agreement
Leonardo has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to deepen industrial collaboration across the aerospace and defence sectors, building on the momentum of an earlier agreement signed in 2024.
Veterans
VA leaders to halt mortgage rescue program launched last year
Veterans Affairs officials next month will end a 10-month-old mortgage rescue program for veterans in danger of losing their homes, following significant Republican criticism over the effort.
