Author: Defenceline Webdesk

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced this evening that Adam Telle will step in as the acting Army secretary, “effective immediately.”  Telle, currently serving as the  Senate-confirmed assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will take the Army’s top civilian role following today’s departure of Secretary Dan Drisoll, who handed in his resignation Monday. He will jump the line on Michael Obidal, the undersecretary of the Army, a position which commonly becomes the acting secretary in such cases. “He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.According to his Army bio, Telle…

The footage of the avalanche that triggered devastating floods along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers near the China-Nepal border on August 26 is deeply sobering. The road, bridges, customs, and immigration office with China, and the entire settlement and traditional bazaar along the riverbank, were wiped out in a moment.  In the wake of the flood, the Nepali government deployed security forces, including the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force, as first responders. Nepal has put more than 20,000 security personal into responding to the disaster, possibly the largest such deployment since the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake.…

The relationship between Japan and Thailand is closer than ever. Interdependence across economics, security, and human exchange has deepened, bringing shared benefits and opportunities alongside new challenges in the form of supply chain vulnerabilities and transnational crime. Understanding the Japan-Thailand relationship today requires a clear view of both its “light” and its “shadow.” Diplomatic relations between Japan and Thailand date to the 1887 declaration of friendship (officially, the Declaration of Amity and Commerce Between Japan and Siam), with the 140th anniversary falling in 2027. The two countries have built a close relationship grounded in a long history of exchanges and…

A White House official warned U.S. space companies last week that if they attend  an upcoming international summit in France, it might appear they’re supporting policies that go against their own country’s interests. Space advocates say the move discourages needed cooperation.An industry insider told Defense One that Charles Powell, the assistant director for space and spectrum in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology policy, said in a call on Aug. 27 that space companies that attend next week’s International Space Summit in France “might be used as a prop to support policies counter to U.S. interests.” Politico, citing…

In this episode of The Pentagon Buzz, Breaking Defense’s Ashley Roque tells viewers about her recent reporting on the Janus program, which aims to install nuclear microreactors at five stateside Army bases beginning in the fall of 2028. Subscribe to our Pentagon newsletter to get the latest information from the building delivered directly to you. Source link

With UNCLOS conciliation proceedings between Thailand and Cambodia now formally under way, Thailand is preparing to engage constructively. We would have preferred to resolve the matter directly with Cambodia. Direct diplomacy is usually faster, less cumbersome and, when there is sufficient political will, more effective. But Thailand is a State Party to UNCLOS, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. We accepted the process and will take part in good faith, with the interests of the Thai people and our sovereign rights firmly in view. That willingness to engage through international law should not be mistaken for a…

The wars in Ukraine and Iran offer insights into modern war, such as the balance between offense and defense or between interceptors and one-way attack drones, but there’s a key aspect of the next-generation battlefield that the fights lack: widespread aerial combat between opposing air forces — a likely key component of a potential US-China war. Establishing temporary US air superiority in that war will require more than fighter-based firepower. Contemporary air-to-air combat relies on airborne early warning (AEW) and aerial refueling aircraft. These high-value airborne assets (HVAA) provide the critical information and fuel for air combat in the Western…

During a state visit to Brazil in late July 2026, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called for a deeper partnership between Brazil and South Korea built on the following three pillars: commercial aircraft, critical minerals, and K-Beauty. While the first two are familiar agenda items across modern strategic partnerships, the third is decidedly not. Cosmetics rarely share space with jet manufacturing and rare earths, and their place on Lee’s diplomatic agenda reveals a lot about the Korean beauty industry’s growing role in Seoul’s foreign policy calculus.  Lee’s comment came at a Korea-Brazil business roundtable in São Paulo on July 28, where…

Modern uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) have turned airspace defense into a fast-moving, asymmetric contest. Low-cost, high-impact options for attacking critical infrastructure and high-value assets have shown that traditional, radar-centric point defenses struggle to keep pace.  Protecting our defense infrastructure and assets has evolved into an asymmetric warfare exercise, where sub-$1,000 systems collapse traditional air superiority and create vulnerabilities to our sensor networks, bases, and personnel. AV’s Halo_Shield is designed for this environment: a modular, distributed counter-UAS (C-UAS) architecture that fuses passive and active sensor data, and distills them into a coherent command-and-control (C2) picture in AV_Halo software. Halo_Shield is installed…

Central Asia is building a new energy system. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are rapidly expanding solar and wind generation and battery storage, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are expanding their hydropower capacity, and governments across the region are investing in stronger cross-border electricity connections. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are also both moving ahead with nuclear power. These projects are usually discussed as separate parts of the region’s energy transition, but they are increasingly connected by single, critical variable: water. Climate change is making Central Asia’s hydrology less predictable just as electricity demand is growing. Drought can constrain hydropower, extreme heat can increase power demand,…