Author: Defenceline Webdesk
Hours after Iranian drones damaged U.S. Navy facilities in Manama, Bahrain, U.S. Navy Central Command told all servicemembers and contractors who live and work in and around the base that the area is no longer safe and they will receive money to stay in a hotel elsewhere. An email obtained by Defense One titled “evacuation of Juffair”—the neighborhood in southern Manama that is home to Naval Support Activity Bahrain—says NAVCENT “has concluded that the Juffair boundaries are no longer assessed as safe for US personnel.” The closure came Saturday night local time, after Iranian drones hit the base and multiple high-rise residential…
A total of 54 Watchkeeper drones were acquired, of which eight were lost in accidents. Credit: UK MoD/Crown copyright In 2025 the UK Government opted to maintain the Watchkeeper UAV for two more years, through to 2027 Operational with the British Army since 2014, the Watchkeeper programme has been plagued by problems Maintaining the Watchkeeper UAVs in service will cost nearly 75% of the budget allotted for their planned replacement The cost to maintain the ineffectual Wk450 Watchkeeper Mk1 UAVs for an additional two years beyond the planned departure in 2025 will amount to over £95m ($128.1m), according to newly…
Iran has launched a barrage of missiles towards Israeli territory, marking a dramatic escalation in the long-simmering conflict between the two nations.The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack on Saturday, February 28, 2026, shortly after a joint US-Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iranian soil. This direct confrontation follows weeks of heightened tensions amid stalled nuclear negotiations.The IDF swiftly activated its multi-layered missile defence systems, including the Iron Dome and Arrow interceptors, to counter the incoming threats. Sirens wailed across Israel as the Home Front Command issued urgent mobile alerts, directing civilians in targeted areas to seek shelter immediately. Initial reports indicate…
F.P. Sempa, AllOTSEGO Every February on or near the birthday of George Washington (February 22), a member of the United States Senate reads George Washington’s Farewell Address. The… Source link
WASHINGTON – Late last year, government employees forged a copy of a license to buy hazardous, radioactive material. They created shell companies, then placed orders, generated invoices and paid two U.S.-based vendors.The scheme worked. The employees successfully had the material shipped, complete with radioactive stickers on the side, then confirmed delivery.But the workers were actually investigators from the Government Accountability Office, the congressional watchdog, and they were testing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s ability to regulate the sale and procurement of dangerous materials.The act, and a subsequent report from the GAO, alarmed Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who is now calling on…
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is moving to halt Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd’s confirmation to run U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, arguing that the nominee lacks the relevant credentials required for the post.Rudd, who serves as deputy commander at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has not previously held a military cyberintelligence role.In a letter lodged in the Congressional Record on Wednesday, Wyden — a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee — wrote that Rudd “does not have the background that would allow him to immediately step into” the role of leading the foreign eavesdropping agency and digital combatant command.Wyden also took…
UK Prime Minister has been criticised for defence spending delays. Credit: Press Connect / Shutterstock.com The Defence Investment Plan was due in Q3 2025, before slipping inexorably through winter and possibly the spring Delays to defence spending by the UK Government is an act of “self-harm”, according to the union Unite The UK Government cannot develop a coherent narrative as it lurches from one crisis to the next Amid increasing uncertainty among UK defence suppliers at the continued absence of the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), a lack of clarity by the UK Government regarding when the document will be…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Israel on 25-26 February 2026 has marked a watershed moment in bilateral relations, culminating in 17 historic agreements that span defence, trade, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and beyond.This summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has elevated the India-Israel partnership to the status of a “special strategic partnership,” signalling a deepened commitment to mutual security amid evolving global threats.At the heart of the visit lay defence cooperation, with India securing major procurement deals for advanced Israeli weaponry tailored under the Make in India initiative. A flagship agreement involves Rafael Advanced Defence Systems supplying SPICE-1000…
Andrew Davies, The Strategist In Most Secret War—a book that everyone interested in the interaction between science, intelligence analysis and military affairs should read—R V… Source link
WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence and autonomous robots could hold the key to improving the lethality and performance of close combat units. Front-line infantry personnel have long suffered casualties in higher proportion to other positions, with those soldiers comprising 90% of U.S. military combat deaths since World War II.During the Trump administration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis created the Pentagon’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force to examine capability shortfalls and address what the department head saw as decades-long gaps in the equipping and training of close-combat units.While leadership of the task force now falls to the Army rather than the defense secretary,…