All articles tagged with #military
Russia continues attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv braces for a possible major barrage; Ukraine tightens defenses and Ukrainian forces train with ground drones in the Kharkiv region, signaling a heightened security situation.
Israel carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after a Lebanese drone attack on northern Israel killed a Israeli soldier, signaling a renewed cross-border escalation.
The US military says it conducted self-defense strikes inside Iran, including at missile launch sites, signaling a sharp escalation in tensions between the two countries.
On Memorial Day, The Washington Post highlights how the evolving nature of modern warfare is increasing the number of women paying the ultimate price, including casualties from a drone strike near a U.S. position in Kuwait amid the Iran war, with personal stories like Ashley and Greg Pruitt illustrating the heartbreak faced by military families.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told West Point cadets in a commencement address that the White House would back their toughest decisions, urged them to prioritize lethality over likability and to ignore past rules of engagement, praised their fitness by saying 'you are fit, not fat,' and floated pardons for minor infractions.
The Kyiv Post profiles Ukraine’s Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment near Kharkiv, showing how Leleka reconnaissance drones work in tandem with Bulava loitering munitions and relay M2R drones for deep-rear reconnaissance, artillery correction, and strikes behind Russian lines from an underground command post with autonomous evasive tech and 24/7 monitoring against countermeasures.
The U.S. Space Force awarded contracts totaling about $437.6 million to Viasat and SES to build four small geostationary satellites for the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global (PTS-G) network designed to resist jamming and cyberattacks. The four satellites (Swarm 1) will be split evenly between Viasat and SES and delivered by March 2029 to enable X-band and Ka-band military communications in a swarm architecture to improve resilience. A second procurement of four additional satellites is planned for 2028, with deployment targeted for 2031; other contractors in the program include Astranis, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman.
Rocket Lab has won a $90 million U.S. Space Force contract to design, build, and operate two geostationary satellites using its Lightning bus to monitor objects in GEO. The program marks its first GEO satellite production effort and includes spacecraft manufacturing, launch integration, and up to five years of on-orbit operations. The satellites will carry Heimdall electro-optical payloads for space-domain awareness as part of a broader Space Force push to deploy distributed, commercially derived surveillance in geostationary orbit.
Ukraine said its forces overnight May 21-22 struck multiple Russian targets across occupied Ukraine and inside Russia, including air-defense systems, command posts, drone-control centers and ammunition depots, along with troop concentrations and river crossings in Bryansk and Kursk regions. Notable hits included an Osa air-defense system in occupied Donetsk, drone-control points in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, depots in Velyka Novosilka and Rovenky, a command center near Voskresenka, and a refinery attack in Russia’s Yaroslavl region.
US intelligence indicates Iran is rapidly rebuilding its military-industrial base, with drone production already resumed during a ceasefire; some assessments say Iran could fully reconstitute its drone attack capability in about six months, aided by continued Russian and Chinese support and less damage from US-Israeli strikes than anticipated, keeping Iran a regional threat if hostilities resume.
Ukraine says its drones hit a refinery deep inside Russia as long-range strikes escalate, signaling a widening of its offensive across the border.
A NATO air-policing Romanian F-16 shot down a drone suspected to be Ukrainian as it crossed into Estonia’s airspace, the first such Baltic incident after several incursions. Estonian radar detected the threat before entry; the wreckage remains unrecovered and residents were cautioned not to touch debris. Ukraine apologized for the incident. The episode comes amid broader Baltic tensions tied to alleged Russian electronic warfare aimed at redirecting drones toward NATO borders, and follows other drone-related incidents including a Latvian refinery strike that led to resignations.
Two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers collided midair during the Gunfighter Skies show at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho; all four crew members ejected and parachuted to safety, with one non-life-threatening injury. The crash is under investigation, with early analysis suggesting pilot error in a formation maneuver.
Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS that China’s chances of invading Taiwan in the near term are “pretty low,” arguing Beijing would prefer a Hong Kong–style, gradual transition and wouldn’t want to destroy key chip factories; he notes Xi Jinping has purged military leadership and lacks recent combat experience, but warns China’s manufacturing power and non-military tools make it a formidable adversary. Gates also mentions potential invasion options exist, and urges continuing arms sales to Taiwan despite delivery backlogs.
Four aircrew members safely ejected after two EA-18G Growlers from the VAQ-129 Demo Team collided during a Gunfighter Skies demonstration near Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; emergency responders arrived, and the incident is under investigation with the aviators being evaluated by medical personnel.