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A U.S. Army intelligence aircraft was tracked flying over the Black Sea on Sunday, conducting a surveillance mission in support of U.S. defense operations, according to publicly available flight data. Data from Flightradar24 showed the aircraft, operating under the call sign BRIO66, flying racetrack patterns off the coast of Romania near Constanța before heading southeast […]View the full article

Newly elected Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wen, leader of Taiwan’s second-largest political party, sparked sharp debate after telling Deutsche Welle that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not a dictator,” arguing that he was “democratically elected” and that Russia has been “democratized for many years.” In her first interview with international media since assuming party leadership, […]View the full article

China’s state-owned defense conglomerate Norinco has developed a new low-cost suicide drone that mirrors the Iranian Shahed-136 in appearance and purpose, signaling Beijing’s drive to make mass-produced loitering munitions available for future conflicts. The Feilong-300D, revealed earlier at the Zhuhai Air Show, drew fresh international attention following reports that its unit price could be as […]View the full article

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing North and South Korea on Monday, a symbolic stop ahead of high-level talks between Washington and Seoul on the future of U.S. forces on the peninsula, South Korea’s defense ministry said. Hegseth toured the Joint Security Area (JSA) — the only portion of […]View the full article

The United States has intensified the use of its tethered aerostat radar system operating out of Lajas, Puerto Rico, expanding persistent airborne surveillance across the Caribbean amid growing regional security concerns. The long-standing system, equipped with the Lockheed Martin–built Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), has been flying more frequently in recent weeks, according to defense […]View the full article

The growing intermeshing of American and South Korea maritime industrial capacity is, rightfully, back in the news. Last week we discussed South Korea leaning in to help build auxiliaries. That’s solid JV ball, but news came out last week that they’ve managed to negotiate an opportunity to play on the varsity. Via Philadelphia Today. President Donald Trump announced last month on social media that the United States will share its nuclear submarine propulsion technology with South Korea, which plans to construct its submarines at the Philadelphia Shipyard, writes Justin Katz for Breaking Defense. “South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards, right here in the good ol’ U.S.A.,” wrote Trump. “Shipbuilding in our Country will soon be making a BIG COMEBACK.” Philly Shipyard was acquired by South Korea-based Hanwha last year from a Norwegian investment group in a strategic bid by the Asian country to advance its business with the US Navy. … Establishing a shipyard in Philadelphia capable of building nuclear submarines would be a huge undertaking that would take many years, if not decades, to accomplish. Given that South Korea and the United States have a history of war against the People’s Republic of China on the Korean peninsula, the Chinese reaction is not surprising. Via Choe Sang-Hun at NYT, “South Korea has long balanced its security dependence on the United States with its economic interdependence with China,” said Seong-Hyon Lee, a senior fellow at the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.–China Relations. “That equilibrium has effectively ended.” The submarine deal, if followed through, “marks Seoul’s transition from a balancing actor to a fully embedded partner within the U.S. framework,” he added. … The submarine agreement, coupled with South Korea’s massive investment pledge in the U.S., “signals a deep, structural integration of South Korea into America’s security and industrial ecosystem,” said ​Mr. Lee of the George H. W. Bush Foundation​. China has already expressed its discomfort. On Friday, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said South Korea and the United States should “do what is conducive to regional peace and stability, not otherwise.” I’m still trying to see how everyone gets there from here, but on balance, it is good news for all. For those who are familiar with the South Korean K1/K2 tank development, it might give you pause, but this is for South Korea and is worth the risk. South Korea has been wanting to get in the SSN club for a long time. Good on them for their persistence. I’m not sure how this will work out. The Philadelphia Shipyard, even at its heyday, never built nuclear powered ships of any kind. The South Koreans build a solid conventional submarine, the KSS-III that they offered to Canada recently, but nuclear submarines are at another level. Besides the infrastructure issues specific to nuclear shipbuilding at the shipyard that would need to be addressed, there is the fact that the U.S. nuclear workforce and hardware providers are already behind schedule with expected demands. While another yard is great, whoever is going to successfully solve those two structural issues needs superhuman abilities and one heck of a funding line. Besides bragging rights, should South Korea invest in nuclear submarines? As always, let’s go to the chartroom. The South Korean landmass is not large. It is roughly the same size as the U.S. state of Indiana but packs in the combined populations of California and New York. She does not have any overseas holdings. She does not have a desire/requirement to have global power projection abilities. She does not have ready access to the open seas. Her historical enemies are all located across coastal seas inside a couple of hundred nautical miles. She wants nuclear submarines, but a quick review of some fundamentals does not scream out a requirement for an SSN. Just the opposite, she seems to be a natural conventional submarine power, like the Italians. That is a lot of investment for something that may not be in the top-10 military requirement, but she clearly wants to be in the club. Does she, geography aside, look like a nation that could support a nuclear submarine program? Let’s do a little benchmarking. Six countries confirmed to have nuclear submarines; the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and India. Via AUKUS, we know Australia will…soon…sometime. Let’s call it seven. Throw in South Korea, and you have eight. For conversational reasons, we’ll just look at population, GDP, and military budgets to see if this is a club the South Koreans could play in. Let’s rack-n-stack-em. She can clearly make the observation that if Australia can do it, then can’t she? Our friends have a combination of FOMO and sibling rivalry. Having said that, you know who the 800-pound gorilla in this formula is on who should or should not be in the SSN club? Of course, it is the 800-pound sumo: Japan. If South Korea is going to get SSNs, for over a thousand years of reasons, Japan will want to play as well. How does she rack and stack if she was brought into the club? Especially with her defense budget increasing up to 2% of GDP in the next few years and her first-tier nuclear and conventional submarine industry…if she wanted to, I have no doubt it would be a competitive bet that Japan could build a domestic SSN faster than U.S.-South Korea would be able to build an SSN in the Philadelphia Shipyard. This isn’t the nuclear proliferation we usually think of, but AUKUS seems to have kicked it off anyway. NB: the numbers above are estimates and can slightly vary from source. However, I may have made a typing or transpositional error. If you see one, let me know in comments and I will correct later. Leave a comment Share This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. View the full article

The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation a firm-fixed-price contract to supply two new G700 Long Range Command and Control Aircraft (LRCCA), citing the company’s exclusive capability to meet mission and schedule requirements. The contract, authorized under FAR 6.302-1, bypasses open competition due to Gulfstream’s status as the only qualified manufacturer able to […]View the full article

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is not currently weighing a deal to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, signaling a cautious approach to further escalation in the ongoing war with Russia. Speaking aboard Air Force One on November 2, Trump told reporters he was “not really” considering the idea of supplying […]View the full article

China on Monday cautioned that defense cooperation between nations should not be directed against any third party, after the Philippines and Canada signed a new military pact aimed at deepening joint operations in the Asia-Pacific. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that Beijing has “always held the view that defense and security cooperation […]View the full article

Sener Aerospace & Defence has completed the final demonstration of its COMMANDS project in Seville, marking a major milestone in Europe’s efforts to integrate crewed and uncrewed vehicles for future land operations. The event brought together senior officials from the Spanish Army, the Directorate General of Armament and Material (DIGAM), and representatives from several European […]View the full article

Australia’s Hypersonix Launch Systems has secured A$46 million ($30 million) in new funding to advance its hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft and engines. The Series A round was led by UK-based national security and frontier technology investor High Tor Capital, joined by European backers, QIC Ventures, and the Australian Government’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation. The investment is […]View the full article

Ukraine’s defense sector is facing an escalating brain drain crisis as skilled engineers and technologists leave the country amid the ongoing war with Russia. Despite a surge in military contracts and state-backed production expansion, companies say they are struggling to replace experienced specialists lost to emigration, mobilization, and security threats. Several Ukrainian defense manufacturers told […]View the full article

Cambodia has begun withdrawing heavy weapons from its border areas with Thailand, marking the start of a joint disarmament plan aimed at reducing tensions following months of military standoff. Cambodian state media released footage showing the removal of rocket artillery and self-propelled guns from designated sites in Preah Vihear Province. According to Cambodian reports, the […]View the full article

China is developing what appears to be a new generation of combat vessel that may operate without a crew, according to the report from Naval News. The mysterious ship, currently under construction at the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou, is believed to be a trimaran-style, semi-submersible missile carrier. Satellite images reviewed by defense analysts show a […]View the full article

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that relations between the United States and China “has never been better,” following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea and subsequent military talks in Malaysia. In a statement posted on X, Hegseth wrote, “I just spoke to President Trump, and we agree […]View the full article

Russia has launched a new nuclear-powered submarine named Khabarovsk, which the Kremlin claims could serve as a carrier for the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the submarine was launched at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, one of the country’s key naval construction facilities. According to the ministry, the ceremony marked […]View the full article

Following a suggestion from someone else on the Steam forum, I was able to find an almost 30 year old fix! Dr. Who's Harpoon Pages https://www.harpoonpages.com/harpoon1.htm The 4/04/97 update can be downloaded and imported into the Harpoon Classic 97 folder to replace the NAVC.res file (I created a backup of the original file just in case). When I ran the scenarios using that updated file, the ships all appeared correclty as Okean class instead of Kalinin class. The website also includes an update for the EC2000 scenarios. Were there any old bugs you can remember from those scenarios - anything I should look out for before deciding whether to apply that update as well?

United States President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Nigeria, saying the U.S. may launch military action against what he described as “Islamic Terrorists” responsible for the killing of Christians in the country. In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, […]View the full article

Brazil’s Army leadership has expressed interest in acquiring Türkiye’s Tulpar infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) following a high-level visit to defense manufacturer Otokar, signaling growing defense ties between the two nations. According to a statement from Otokar, “We are honored to host them and thank them for their visit.” The visit took place on October 31, […]View the full article

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has conducted new trials with an unmanned surface vessel (USV) in Hårsfjärden, south of Stockholm, as part of a three-year research and technology program commissioned by the Swedish Armed Forces. According to FMV, the tests focused on the vessel’s software, range, maneuvering, and emergency stop systems. “We have purchased […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy’s amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD-17) was spotted docked at St. Croix on October 30, according to newly released satellite imagery shared by SA Defensa. The defense monitoring outlet said the vessel was visible in European Space Agency Sentinel-2 imagery, showing the ship moored at port in the U.S. Virgin Islands. […]View the full article

The U.S. Central Command said on November 1 that one of its unmanned aircraft observed suspected Hamas operatives attacking and looting an aid truck in southern Gaza, an incident it said undermines ongoing international humanitarian efforts in the region. According to a release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the event occurred on October 31 near […]View the full article

A Chinese electronic surveillance vessel was spotted tracking joint U.S. and Australian naval exercises inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone this week, according to images released by the U.S. Navy and highlighted by open-source defense observers. Photos published by the Navy show sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) operating a […]View the full article

Open-source intelligence analysts have noted unusual flight activity involving several Brazilian military and government aircraft, with multiple air assets tracked heading north toward areas closer to Venezuela’s border, according to data from Flightradar24 and posts by the monitoring group Aviation and Naval Assets. The observed movement, which includes Brazilian Air Force transport and patrol aircraft, […]View the full article

Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec said it has delivered another batch of Su-35S multirole fighters to the country’s armed forces, continuing a steady flow of aircraft to operational units despite reported wartime losses. According to a statement from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), part of Rostec, the Su-35S fighters are designed to secure air superiority […]View the full article