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After a two-week availability period, the Midrats Podcast is back! SummaryIn this episode, we explore current geopolitical tensions, military readiness, and strategic challenges facing the US and its allies, emphasizing the importance of preparedness and international cooperation. You can listen at this link or via the Spotify widget below. Show LinksRussian restrictions on Estonia’s borders Curfew on Russia’s Border with Estonia, Holger Roonemaa on Substack Great Circle ballistic arcs over Greenland Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, by Michael B. Oren Operation Red Sea Regatta Shipfinder Hormuz Tracker Hormuz Strait Monitor Strait of Tiran Italy tires of EU military bureaucracy with Operation Aspides Department of War IG report on Operation Epic Fury Ukrainian FP-7 Pelican SRBM USAF Ponders Restart of C-17 line, Joseph Trevithick in TWZ Deadly escalation in Black Sea attacks prompts fears of even higher food prices, Joanna Partridge in The Guardian The US air force admitted to deploying weapons in space. Don’t expect the White House to explain why, Richard Luscombe in The Guardian Key TopicsRussian border curfews and testing NATO responses Gray zone operations in Europe and suspected incidents The importance of naval power and the Strait of Hormuz US energy independence and refinery capacity issues The strategic significance of Greenland and the Arctic Space dominance and the importance of cislunar space European NATO capabilities and weapon shortages The role of alliances and international cooperation in security Takeaways Russian testing of border restrictions signals potential for future escalation European nations are underprepared for modern missile threats US needs to rebuild and modernize its heavy airlift capabilities Greenland’s strategic importance is increasing and must be secured Control of key maritime choke points is critical for global security Space dominance is essential for future military and economic power European navies lack sufficient missile defense capabilities Energy infrastructure vulnerabilities pose national security risks Chapters00:00: Introduction to Geopolitical Tensions and NATO 02:04: Russian Border Curfews and Testing NATO Responses 03:55: European Operations and Weapon Shortages 06:09: The Strategic Importance of Greenland and the Arctic 10:01: Energy Security and Oil Refinery Capacity 15:10: Straits of Hormuz and Global Oil Transit 22:02: Black Sea, Yemen, and Middle East Tensions 30:00: Naval Power and the US Surface Fleet 36:06: European Naval Capabilities and Weapon Shortages 45:11: Space Power, Cislunar Space, and Future Threats 59:47: International Alliances and Strategic Cooperation 01:05:02: Conclusion: Preparing for a Dangerous World 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

Combat medics from Ukraine’s 1st Separate Medical Battalion traveled to Sweden last week to share their experience evacuating wounded soldiers under drone threat, meeting with medical personnel from the Swedish Armed Forces’ Life Guards regiment, according to a Life Guards post and a LinkedIn account from the Ukrainian company that built the ground robot involved […]View the full article

Five companies posted the top scores in the close-quarters battle category of Gauntlet II, the latest round of testing under the U.S. Department of War’s $1 billion Drone Dominance Program, according to results the program released and companies confirmed this week. Neros topped that category with a score of 88.1, followed by ORQA US LLC […]View the full article

The U.S. Space Force wants companies to pitch satellites that can chase down and inspect objects in orbit on short notice, according to a request for information Space Systems Command published September 18. Space Systems Command asked industry September 18 to pitch designs for a spacecraft that can chase down another object in space, close […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force will hold a two-day industry day October 20-21 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to brief companies on a new mission computer upgrade for its F-16 fighter fleet, according to a notice posted September 18 by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The event covers the Next-Generation Mission Computer program, an […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy is asking defense companies to pitch designs for a carrier-launched combat drone that could fly, fight and land on aircraft carriers alongside manned fighters, according to a request for information released August 31 by Naval Air Systems Command. The RFI covers the first increment of the Navy’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, run […]View the full article

The U.S. Space Development Agency released a formal request for proposals September 18 for ground stations that will receive data from its next generation of missile-tracking satellites, with proposals due November 2. The solicitation covers Ground Entry Points, or GEPs, for the agency’s Resilient Missile Warning Tracking satellites in low Earth orbit. These ground stations […]View the full article

While some military hardware ages out quickly, the Army’s Avenger air defense system has instead spent nearly four decades getting upgraded piece by piece, and this week it received another one: a new contract worth up to $25.2 million for infrared sensors that let its crews spot targets in the dark. The Defense Logistics Agency […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Leidos an $85 million ceiling contract for digital design tools meant to help engineer future aircraft, the second company in as many days to win a spot under the same research program that Anduril Industries joined a day earlier. The Air Force Research Laboratory made the award to Leidos, […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has awarded a $10.6 million contract for Raybird unmanned aircraft hardware and services to Skyeton Inc., the American arm of Skyeton, a Ukrainian company that has spent the past several years proving the drone in combat over Ukraine. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, issued the firm-fixed-price contract after soliciting bids […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has awarded Kato Engineering a $49.3 million contract to keep maintaining the power system behind the electromagnetic catapults on its Ford-class aircraft carriers, covering engineering support, repairs and spare-parts sourcing through 2031. The contract covers the Energy Storage Subsystem of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, the technology that replaced traditional […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has added $76.6 million to a Lockheed Martin contract for continued design work on the next generation of the Trident II D5 nuclear missile, part of a long-term effort meant to keep the submarine-launched weapon in service into the 2080s. The modification adds to an existing contract with Strategic Systems Programs, the […]View the full article

Before an F-35 fighter jet can land at a new base and start flying real missions, someone has to build the entire support system around it first: spare parts stocked on shelves, specialized tools laid out, technicians trained, and computer systems wired into the global network that keeps the jet running. That unglamorous but essential […]View the full article

Russia has begun building underground production space for its Shahed and Geran attack drones at the Alabuga industrial zone in Tatarstan, according to Ukrainian open-source intelligence analyst Dnipro Osint, who estimated roughly 42,000 square meters of underground area has already been constructed there. Dnipro Osint said the shift underground appears to have followed earlier Ukrainian […]View the full article

Bath Iron Works said the future USS Quentin Walsh, a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is now one of the ships taking shape at its Land Level erection stage, the point where large prefabricated hull sections are joined together before launch. General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine marked the milestone alongside National POW/MIA […]View the full article

Turkish defense manufacturer ASELSAN demonstrated in live trials in Konya province that three of its airborne systems can work together on Bayraktar TB2 drones to detect, jam and photograph enemy radar in a single coordinated sequence, the company said, in a demonstration attended by more than 15 international defense delegations. The trial combined three pods: […]View the full article

Leonardo DRS will build the electric propulsion system for South Korea’s next-generation KDDX destroyer, the company announced, supplying technology for what will be the Republic of Korea Navy’s first full-electric-drive surface warship. DRS signed the contract with Doosan Enerbility, which will work alongside the American company to build the ship’s complete power and propulsion system, […]View the full article

A Philippine government ship carrying fuel to Filipino fishermen was struck by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Friday, the latest collision in a South China Sea dispute that has grown more dangerous and more frequent throughout 2026. The Philippine ship, BRP Datu Magat Salamat, belongs to the country’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Defense Forces destroyed a Russian S-400 air defense launcher in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast on Sept. 17, using FP-1 drones, according to Fire Point, the Ukrainian company that builds the drone. Fire Point said the launcher had been modified by Russian forces to strike ground targets and had previously been used against Kyiv. The company […]View the full article

The Battle of Leyte Gulf. The world's largest naval battle. Every type of action, night and day, for days, from air-to-air to battleship action. No one did it better than The History Channel, back in its prime (imagine this using modern computer simulation), in taking the time to put the battle into context. Get a cup of coffee. It is a two-part series, and in the opening of Part 1, as they describe the state of the Imperial Japanese Navy, ponder a bit if, in 2026, looking toward the next Great Pacific War, we are preparing ourselves to be the U.S. Navy of 1944, or the Imperial Japanese Navy of 1944. If you build yourself for a short war—founded on a hope/cope of Deterrence by Denial or Deterrence by Punishment—and your deterrence, you will be faced with a long war. Those who understand war know that only those with the vision, capacity, and capability to fight a long war win the long war. Population, culture, industrial capacity, access to resources. Rack-and-stack. While that is bouncing around in your nogg’n, let’s get back to 1944. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Leave a comment Share View the full article

Finland’s first two F-35A fighter jets landed at the Lapland Air Wing in Rovaniemi on Sept. 18, opening the operational phase of a 64-jet purchase meant to replace the Finnish Air Force’s aging F/A-18 Hornet fleet. The two aircraft, tail numbers JF-510 and JF-512, left Lockheed Martin’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 15 […]View the full article

Former DRDO Chairman Samir Kamat said India has exported its Akash surface-to-air missile system to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, extending New Delhi’s defense export reach into Central Asia for the first time. The Akash is a medium-range air defense system built to intercept aircraft, helicopters, drones and cruise missiles. Bharat Dynamics Limited manufactures the missile, using […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has awarded Sikorsky a $234.5 million contract modification to build 16 new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, bringing the total value of the underlying contract to $356.3 million. The fixed-price-incentive modification adds to contract W58RGZ-26-C-0008, which the Army and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, first signed earlier this year. Work will take place […]View the full article

The Air Force Research Laboratory has added $16.4 million to a Castelion Corp. contract for developing a low-cost, mass-producible long-range strike weapon, the latest in a rapid series of government awards backing the company’s Blackbeard hypersonic missile. The modification brings the total value of this particular contract to $37.2 million, up from $20.9 million. Work […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Anduril Industries a contract worth up to $85 million to develop computer-based design tools for future aircraft, part of a push to design and test new systems digitally before building physical hardware. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, made the award under a program […]View the full article