Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — Senate Budget Committee chairman Lindsey Graham wants to keep the year’s first GOP-led reconciliation bill focused on funds for immigration enforcement and not defense, he said today — while leaving open the possibility of a second, defense-focused reconciliation bill in the future. During a hearing on the fiscal 2027 budget, Graham opened by saying that the Senate would move on a reconciliation bill narrowly-tailored on funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term. Instead, he seemed to point to a forthcoming supplemental funding request — which will include…

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Since the United States began to blockade Iran’s ports on Tuesday, 13 ships have heeded warnings from U.S. warships to turn back, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is leading the blockade, Gen. Dan Caine said at a Pentagon press briefing with sailors prepared to board any commercial vessels that attempt to cross the blockade line.In addition to ships, there is a “massive, massive force of fighters, intelligence aircraft, helicopters, and other embarked forces, to include aerial refueling tankers that are up overhead this blockade area,” Caine said, indicating a chart…

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Finland’s first F-35A was rollout in December last year. Credit: © Lockheed Martin Corporation. A Finnish Air Force pilot flew the F-35A fighter aircraft for the first time on 15 April 2026, marking an advancement in Finland’s F-35 capability deployment. The flight occurred at Ebbing Air Force Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, US, as per a video shared by the Finnish Air Force on X. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more This event followed the initial flight of Finland’s first F-35A multirole jet,…

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The United States has announced that it will not renew the sanctions waivers that had permitted the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil without facing penalties.India was among the key beneficiaries of these waivers, which allowed it to continue securing Russian oil supplies during a period of global disruption, particularly after tensions in the Strait of Hormuz left several vessels stranded.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the general licences covering Russian and Iranian oil would not be extended.He explained that the waivers only applied to oil already loaded onto vessels before March 11, and that those supplies had now been…

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WASHINGTON — If the US Army gets its way, it will not be buying additional M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) howitzers next year as it looks at alternative options to fill the gap, service Secretary Dan Driscoll told lawmakers today.  “We are looking at a mobile tactical cannon, which can in place … [in] 40 seconds versus 15 minutes [with the PIM] which matters a lot with the drone threat,” Driscoll told members of a House Appropriations subcommittee today.   “If you look at the [fight] in Ukraine on either side, it’s really hard to move out and get fires ready…

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week instructed department leaders to terminate most of the department’s collective-bargaining agreements, more than a year after President Trump signed an executive order banning federal employee unions from many agencies on national-security grounds.In an April 9 memo obtained by Government Executive, Hegseth gave his deputies 24 hours to take action to cancel most union contracts.“I hereby direct the termination of all collective bargaining agreements  to which the department is a party, not subject to a court order enjoining implementation to which the department is a party, not subject to a court order enjoining implementation of…

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Rendition of Northrop Grumman’s Glide Phase Interceptor. Credit: Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman has received an additional $475.3m from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to accelerate development of its Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI).   With this modification, the total value of the GPI programme rises to just over $1.3 billion.  Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more Awarded under the Prototype Project Other Transaction Agreement, the contract aims to advance the programme with an expedited timetable, targeting a Preliminary Design Review by 2028.  The latest funding will support further critical flight tests intended to reduce…

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India is preparing to invite bids within the next three to six months for the construction of a 220 MWe Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR-200).This project is being jointly developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), marking a significant step in the country’s nuclear energy ambitions.The BSMR-200 is designed to serve as a standard model for future reactors, providing a template that can be replicated across different sites to accelerate India’s nuclear expansion. Its modular nature is expected to enhance efficiency, safety, and scalability, aligning with global trends in advanced…

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