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Footage released by Yemen’s Houthis appears to show a Saudi National Guard AH-6i helicopter being struck by a loitering munition over Saudi Arabia’s Najran province, after the Saudi-led coalition said the aircraft crashed because of a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members. Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said on Oct. 18 that the […]View the full article

Slovenian turret maker Valhalla Turrets is preparing a new version of its Skythunder air defense system armed with General Dynamics Land Systems’ 20 mm M197 Gatling gun and 70 mm laser-guided rockets, designed to shoot down drones and protect critical infrastructure. The company announced the system as “coming soon” in a social media post and […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Magura uncrewed surface vessels, the drone boats that have sunk Russian warships in the Black Sea, took part in a U.S. Army exercise in Michigan, where they were used as floating launch pads for aerial drones. The boats appeared during Bayonet Quest 26, which the 7th Infantry Division, part of Multi-Domain Command-Pacific, ran across […]View the full article

A Russian military satellite has maneuvered to within about 5 km (3 miles) of a commercial radar imaging satellite owned by ICEYE and appears to be holding position there, in what independent tracker Jonathan McDowell said may be the first rendezvous in low Earth orbit between two active satellites without the consent of one of […]View the full article

Latvian company NATRIX, already a supplier of ground drones to Latvia’s armed forces, showed its battle-tested unmanned ground vehicle to Finnish military and security officials on Oct. 8, driving it through forest terrain and hauling cargo at an unmanned ground systems demonstration in Mikkeli, Finland. The event was organized by Millog, the Finnish defense maintenance […]View the full article

British defense technology company Stratonex Defence Technologies has unveiled VARAN, a modular unmanned ground vehicle concept designed to accompany and support forward units on the battlefield, with swappable mission equipment and the ability to navigate without satellite positioning. The company introduced the vehicle on social media and on its website, describing VARAN as a payload-agnostic […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has activated a new sustainment brigade for the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska, giving the Arctic-focused division its own formation to keep troops supplied and supported in some of the harshest conditions the U.S. military operates in. The 11th Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade (Arctic) uncased its colors on Oct. 16, 2026, at […]View the full article

Russia’s Tupolev says about 80% of the systems and equipment on its new Tu-160M strategic bomber have been modernized, and that the aircraft’s onboard electronics were designed as a modular architecture so newer systems can be swapped in later without rebuilding the whole suite. Tupolev General Director Yuri Abrosimov made the claims in comments published […]View the full article

The British Army’s new Challenger 3 tank has now driven 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and fired more than 200 main gun rounds in testing, and it is set to start a tougher phase of trials in November, according to its builder, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land. RBSL, the British-German joint venture building the tank, shared the […]View the full article

Furientis, a missile startup founded just last year, has been picked as one of four companies to fly interceptors in a U.S. Army shoot-off at the end of fiscal 2027, competing to supply a second missile for the service’s Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 air defense system. Co-founder and CEO Brody Franzen announced the […]View the full article

Canadian defense contractor Calian Group has won a five-year contract worth about CA$47 million ($33.2 million) to keep writing the scenarios behind NATO’s major command exercises at the alliance’s Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway. The Ottawa-based company said it won the contract after a competitive procurement and will continue an existing role as a […]View the full article

The British Army is looking for new ways to power its troops in the field, offering £2.45 million ($3.26 million) to companies that can develop better batteries, faster chargers and quieter alternatives to the diesel generators units rely on today. UK Defence Innovation, the Ministry of Defence’s innovation arm, launched the Tactical Power Challenge on […]View the full article

Naval Group has rolled out Rubis, the fifth of six Barracuda nuclear-powered attack submarines it is building for the French Navy, moving the boat out of its construction hall at the company’s shipyard in Cherbourg on Oct. 16, 2026. The submarine was transferred onto the yard’s floating shiplift platform in the presence of Catherine Vautrin, […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) has sailed all the way around Africa, stopping in Kenya, Ghana and Cabo Verde for fuel and supplies on a voyage of thousands of nautical miles from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa announced the completed transit on Oct. 14 in a release. […]View the full article

The U.S. Army plans to test up to 15 counter-drone and base protection systems in Morocco next spring and aims to get the ones that work into soldiers’ hands within 180 days, under a new fast-track effort run by its Africa-focused command and a rapid acquisition team. U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, known […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has added three small companies to a contract worth up to $5.4 billion for privately flown “Red Air” adversary aircraft and close air support training, including a firm that flies small planes made to mimic enemy drones and cruise missiles. KestrelX of Driggs, Idaho, A2G International of Melbourne, Florida, and Fleet […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy is paying Huntington Ingalls Industries another $99.1 million to take USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002), the last of its three angular Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers, through sea trials as the ship is fitted to carry hypersonic missiles. The contract modification, announced by the U.S. Department of War, raises the ceiling on an […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has given Boeing a contract worth up to $80 million to keep developing and improving the MQ-25A Stingray, the uncrewed tanker designed to refuel fighter jets from aircraft carrier decks. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, announced by the U.S. Department of War, covers system improvements, development and integration of new aircraft configurations, production readiness […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has awarded the Bell Boeing joint venture $90.8 million to continue redesigning the V-22 Osprey’s flight control system, including new flight control computers and cockpit interface units for the tiltrotor aircraft flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and a foreign customer. The order, signed on Oct. 15 […]View the full article

There are certain people who, due to the quality of their work, the content of their character, and their downright excellence and dedication to their chosen field, influence generations of people. In a way, they become a benchmark, a reference point, an ideal. In naval history, for the last few generations of naval officers, one name has risen to the top of everyone’s list, Dr. Craig L. Symonds. Dr. Symonds passed away earlier this week. Craig L. Symonds, beloved scholar, writer, professor, husband, father, and grandfather, passed away at home on Tuesday, October 13th from complications due to cancer. He was 79. Craig was born and raised in Anaheim CA on December 31st, 1946 to Lee and Virginia Symonds. After graduating from UCLA in 1967, he began graduate studies at the University of Florida where he met his wife Marylou Symonds (nee Hayden). They married in 1969 and had their son, Jeff Symonds. Drafted for Vietnam, Craig was assigned to teach Naval History at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. After finishing his service in 1975, Craig returned to Florida to finish his dissertation, and then was hired by the United States Naval Academy as a professor of history in the fall of 1976. Craig taught history at the Academy for the next thirty years, including an exchange year in Dartmouth, England at Britannia Royal Naval College, and retired as one of its most decorated professors. He won the yard’s highest awards for teaching (thousands of former students can attest to his dynamic classroom), research (Craig wrote fifteen books on the Civil War and the US Navy while at the Academy), and civilian service. His last book on the Civil War, Lincoln and his Admirals, won the Lincoln Prize in 2009. He also won the Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement award in 2014, and returned to the Naval War College in Newport to serve as the Ernest J. King chair from 2019-2021. Upon retiring from the classroom, Craig shifted the focus of his writing to World War II, writing four books for Oxford University Press that ultimately led to his receiving the Pritzker Military Museum and Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2023: The Battle of Midway, Neptune, World War II At Sea, and Nimitz at War (which also won the Gilder-Lehman Military History Prize). In 2025, he published Annapolis Goes To War, the story of the Naval Academy class of 1940, and his final book, Twelve Battles that Changed America, will be released posthumously next year. Dr. Symonds made his first appearance here back in 2009 on Claude Berube’s recommended Christmas books. A decade ago, I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Symonds and Claude on a limited-run podcast, Warrior Writers. At that time, we used the now defunct BlogTalkRadio program and, sadly, that means that the podcasts are no longer available. I do have the audio from our weekly conversations offline, though. In honor of Dr. Symonds, I think I am going to look at how I can bring this series back. They are timeless, really. That’s the least I could do for his memory. 79 good years, Craig. Fullbore. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Share Leave a comment View the full article

Shield AI has released new details on how its Hivemind autonomy software steered two Taiwanese uncrewed boats through a joint patrol off southern Taiwan, fusing radar and ship-tracking data into a single picture and switching the pair from patrol to escort duty without an operator directing each move. The U.S. company described the July demonstration […]View the full article

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on Oct. 16, 2026, with the cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) and the destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73), as the strike group prepares for the U.S.-Japan exercise Keen Sword. The three ships of Carrier Strike Group 9 pulled into Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, […]View the full article

A newly fielded U.S. Army Typhon missile battery assigned to Europe has fired its first Tomahawk cruise missile, launching it during a live-fire at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, on Sept. 28, 2026, in what the service said was the third Typhon launch within the continental United States. The Mid-Range Capability Battery of […]View the full article

The U.S. Marine Corps has turned a 2nd Marine Division artillery battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, into its first medium-range missile battalion, built around a launcher that fires Naval Strike Missiles at enemy ships from land. 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment was formally re-designated on Oct. 9, 2026, under the service’s Force Design 2030 […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has asked industry for a lighter version of its planned autonomous missile launcher and wants working prototypes ready to fire live munitions in Australia during the Talisman Sabre 2027 exercise in August 2027. The service released a request for solutions briefs for the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher-Lite, or CAML-Lite, on Oct. 15. […]View the full article