Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — The May 28 explosion on the test pad of Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy lifter at Cape Canaveral is unlikely to have an impact on the Space Force’s national security launch schedule, industry officials and experts said. Even if it takes the company as long as a year to get back into orbit due to the damage to the pad, the Space Force’s current plans don’t envision manifesting the rocket under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 program until 2028 at the earliest. “For NSSL, there’s time to get [New Glenn] back on track,” said one…

Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has announced that his coalition government will provide parents $312 for the birth of a third child and $416 for a fourth child under the state’s proposed population management policy. The policy marks a decisive shift from the language of family planning to what the government now calls “population care.” The anxiety underlying the move is not entirely without basis. Andhra Pradesh’s fertility rate has fallen, with the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, which covers the 2019-2021 period, estimating the state’s total fertility rate at 1.7 children…

India has revived its long-dormant plan to acquire small submarines, with the Navy now actively weighing indigenous designs from Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) against foreign offerings from Italian firms such as Fincantieri and Drass. reported The Print.The decision will hinge on whether the government opts for a home-grown solution under the Buy India (IDDM) category or pursues a direct foreign purchase.The Indian Navy is seeking at least two Special Operations Vessels (SOVs) along with Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) to support covert missions by its elite Marine Commandos (MARCOS). These platforms, often referred to as midget…

Andrew Latham, RealClearDefense Nobody expected the Vatican to weigh in on autonomous weapons with something worth reading.

WASHINGTON — The Air Force has lifted the grounding of the T-38 Talon after some aircraft were able to clear an inspection process, according to an Air Force spokesperson. Inspections began last week, the spokesperson confirmed to Breaking Defense today. It’s not clear how long it will take for the entire fleet to be inspected and resume normal operations.   The Air Force announced May 19 it was grounding the fleet of training jets “[o]ut of an abundance of caution” after a T-38 crashed in Mississippi on May 12. Both pilots safely ejected. The cause of the Mississippi mishap has not…

In late May, the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan announced that the country’s tourist intake within the first four months of 2026 increased 29 percent compared to the same period last year, with the overall number of tourists exceeding 4 million.  The latest figures are part of a broader trend that has transformed Uzbekistan into one of Central Asia’s fastest-growing tourism destinations. Last year reportedly 11.7 million people visited the country, a 46.8 percent increase, or 3.7 million more, than in 2024.  Although the statistics indicate that tourists come from over 200 countries across the globe, the majority come from…

India has formally issued the Letter of Request to France for the acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter jets in a government-to-government deal valued at approximately ₹3.25 lakh crore, reported renowned news agency ANI.The Acquisition Wing of the Defence Ministry dispatched the LoR last week to French officials, marking a decisive step in one of the largest defence procurements in Indian history.According to senior Defence Ministry sources, the arrangement will see 94 of the Rafale jets manufactured in India under a partnership between Dassault Aviation and an Indian company, while the remainder will be delivered directly from France.This marks the first…

Aviationist U.S. officials are investigating the possibility that the F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran could have been struck by a Chinese-made shoulder-fired Man-Portable Air Defense… Source link

The United States appears set to embark upon a significant military buildup. President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget increases funding for shipbuilding, aircraft production, missile production, Golden Dome, and many other critical programs. What should not be lost in the shuffle, though, is the need to redeploy theater nuclear forces to the Western Pacific. North Korea routinely threatens to turn American, South Korean, and Japanese cities into a “sea of fire.” China continued to build up its nuclear arsenal, including precision missiles designed for low-yield nuclear attacks in East Asia. Yet Washington has, since the end of the Cold War, not deployed…

India’s expanding export of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles is steadily transforming the strategic landscape of the Indo-Pacific, with the system poised to encircle the entire South China Sea.This development signals a decisive shift in regional deterrence strategies, as Southeast Asian nations increasingly adopt land-based missile systems to counterbalance China’s growing naval power projection.The BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, is renowned for its speed of nearly Mach 2.8, precision strike capability, and versatility across land, sea, air, and submarine platforms. Its extended-range variants now offer strike envelopes exceeding 400 kilometres, making them a formidable tool for coastal defence and…