HG S2 (Intel Bot)

The Swedish defense company announced Monday that it has received an order for two GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft from an undisclosed country in the Middle East, a deal valued at roughly $1 billion. Deliveries are scheduled for 2030, and beyond that, Saab isn’t saying much. The company cited the sensitive nature of […]View the full article

NATO leaders wrapped up their summit in Ankara, Turkey, in July 2026 having announced more than $50 billion in new defense procurement deals, covering everything from precision strike weapons to air and missile defense systems, according to the alliance’s own summit declaration. Alongside that headline figure, member states also committed to a five-year, $40 billion […]View the full article

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on July 27, 2026, setting a new authorized size for the Russian Armed Forces at 2,426,130 personnel, of which 1,535,000 are uniformed troops, according to the text of the decree published on Russia’s official legal information portal, pravo.gov.ru. The order, numbered Decree 526, formally amends a 2004 decree that […]View the full article

To start off with—usual caveats apply. Yes, this is Axios, but Barak Ravid is a serious reporter that I have no evidence that he has a history of making stuff up. I also know that the Trump administration is pretty good at message control and minimizing leaks…especially on national security issues. I also know that is DC, which is leaky for both official and unofficial reasons. As such, I’ll put forward an opening bet that this is 51% close to right. If I had to place the odds: 10% this is fake news; 20% chance this is an unofficial leak; 70% it is an official leak. Ambient noise and transmission loss of about 30%…so we’re seeing something—good chance—but not quite what happened…but good enough I think to comment on. As such, let’s look at what looks like a Cliff’s Notes version of a decision brief as reported by Ravid in Sunday: Top U.S. military commander in Middle East advised halting Hormuz bombing. The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. Brad Cooper, recommended stopping the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz because it has reached the limit of its effectiveness, according to two sources with knowledge of his position. Admiral Cooper looks to be doing exactly what he is supposed to do from an Operational Planning perspective. He received Higher Direction and Guidance (D&G) and Commander’s Intent (CI) in what looks like a Sequel Plan to whatever started months ago, and worked out a series of Courses of Action (COA) to meet the D&G/CI. You want to give the Principal options, but you also want to make sure you give a clear recommendation of which COA he should pursue. Sometimes, the Principal will take your recommendation as is. Perhaps with a few minor changes, or direction to—if you’re like me and bring three COA to the briefing—instead go with one of the not-recommended COA, or something between the two. If you’ve done a really bad job, or were not privy to information you should have been known, you’ll be told to go in a completely different direction. All that is normal and expected. Each COA has its advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses—more risk in one area, less in others. Some have certain assumptions, others do not. It is an art, not a science. Earlier in the week, Admiral Cooper gave his recommendation on the way forward to the Pentagon, the joint chiefs and the White House, the sources said. He stressed that the two weeks of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz area had significantly degraded Iran’s ability to attack ships. Cooper noted that the designated bombing targets had been mostly exhausted. … He stressed that the two weeks of strikes in the Strait of Hormuz area had significantly degraded Iran’s ability to attack ships. Cooper noted that the designated bombing targets had been mostly exhausted. This looks to be part of Cooper’s Commander’s Estimate of the Situation that informs his recommendations. As this is an ongoing operation, this can and should change as facts change on the ground. The CENTCOM commander said a possible next step would be to resume major combat operations to finish the 20% of targets the U.S. military designated but didn’t strike during Operation Epic Fury. Absent a decision to return to major combat operations, he stressed there was no point in continuing the bombing campaign of the previous two weeks, the sources said. I’ve seen that “20%” number in a few places and sounds about right. I would hazard a guess that that 20% is nationwide, not limited to the Strait of Hormuz. As such, that other 20% is most likely your 3rd and 4th tier targets not worth taking the risk of losing an aircraft and crew behind enemy lines. We got good/lucky once, no need to try our luck again. At this point, we just need to let the J2 house cook. Find those military targets that threaten the Strait of Hormuz, take care of them as needed, but otherwise husband resources. As I’ve made myself clear over the last few months, mostly on the UNCLAS Read Board Podcast, I was supportive of a more limited punitive expedition and cautioned against expanding the initial mission set. It appears we are returning to centerline. If Ravid’s reporting is correct, then perhaps we are resetting to a more pragmatic and realistic stance towards Iran. Good. 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

Rocket Lab Corporation, the publicly traded space company known primarily for its small satellite launch vehicles, announced a $266 million multi-launch contract with the U.S. Space Force, the branch of the Department of War responsible for military operations in and through space, marking the largest single launch agreement the company has ever secured. The deal […]View the full article

The U.S. Army, Navy and Space Force have tested an electronic warfare system at sea for the first time, and its name alone tells you what kind of punch the Pentagon expects it to pack. The joint services put a maritime version of a system called Hammer of the Gods through its paces in mid-July […]View the full article

The U.S. Army reported that during Project Convergence-Capstone 6, a large-scale experimentation event hosted at Fort Irwin, California, Army Aviation demonstrated a networked strike sequence over the high desert in which two reconnaissance drones located and identified a threat before a third, weaponized drone flew in to finish it off, according to a story by […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy handed a brand-new missile maker $70 million to build a cheap cruise missile, and it says this is only the opening move. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition confirmed that PAE Munitions, the Navy’s precision-strike acquisition arm, awarded CoAspire, a company it described as […]View the full article

With increased defense spending becoming the new normal and growing uncertainty on the alliance’s eastern front as the Russo-Ukrainian War enters its fifth summer, the Ankara NATO summit was more than just a photo-op. Returning to the Midrats Podcast to discuss the major takeaways will be Jorge Benitez. You can listen at this link, or via the Spotify link below. SummaryIn this episode, Dr. George Benitez discusses the recent NATO summit, focusing on defense spending, alliance strategies, and the evolving threats from Russia, China, and Iran. He provides insights into NATO’s strategic shifts, the importance of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, and the challenges of modern military logistics and industrial capacity. Show LinksThe Ankara Summit Declaration NATO Summit history NATO nations’ defense spending as a percentage of GDP Robert Gates’s 2011 speech Patriot missiles produced in Germany TakeawaysNATO has increased defense spending by 20% since 2023, with a goal of 5% of GDP. Ukraine’s military readiness and combat experience are vital for NATO deterrence. The alliance’s focus on China has waned, despite growing threats from Chinese cooperation with Russia and Iran. European defense industries are expanding production, e.g., Patriot missile manufacturing in Europe. Geography and proximity to Russia heavily influence NATO members’ defense budgets and perceptions of threat. Chapters00:00: Introduction and overview of NATO summit 02:07: Dr. Benitez’s insights on NATO’s recent summit 04:12: US leadership and NATO’s Article 5 reaffirmation 05:50: Defense spending commitments and burden sharing 08:10: Russian threat and European defense efforts 12:22: Geography and threat perception in NATO 20:00: Ukraine’s role and NATO expansion 37:55: China’s evolving role and NATO’s strategic focus 45:25: European defense industries and supply chain resilience 01:01:17: European and NATO industrial cooperation 01:02:40: Closing remarks and follow-up Dr. Jorge Benitez is Associate Professor of International Relations at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. Before he joined the faculty of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Dr. Benitez served as a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, where he regularly briefed senior US and foreign officials on national security issues. Earlier in his career, he served as Assistant for Alliance issues to the Director of NATO Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He also worked on international security issues at the Department of State and the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. You can follow his coverage of security issues on X @NATOSource. Dr. Benitez received a B.A. with honors from the University of Florida, where he majored in both Political Science and History. He later graduated with an M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. 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

A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian-linked drone over the Black Sea on Sunday morning, marking the third such intercept in just three days, and Romania’s president says the country has had enough. President Nicusor Dan confirmed that Romanian Air Force pilots downed the drone at 10:13 a.m. local time roughly 12 kilometers […]View the full article

Uzbekistan’s president just got a firsthand look at armored personnel carriers, a self-propelled howitzer, and an upgraded Soviet-era tank rolling out of a factory that barely existed five years ago, and the visit signals a country quietly building its own domestic arms industry from scratch. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the Nurafshon Makhsus Tekhnika enterprise in […]View the full article

An unmanned boat has launched a drone into the air over open ocean, all without a single person on board either vehicle, and the demonstration could change how the Royal Navy watches its own waters. British maritime robotics company ACUA Ocean and American sensor and drone manufacturer Teledyne FLIR Defense confirmed they completed two days […]View the full article

A French rocket engine just fired 21 times in a row, and the company behind it says the hardware survived well enough to fly again. That combination, repeated ignition and confirmed reusability, is exactly what a small aerospace startup needs to prove before anyone lets its hypersonic drone near real flight testing, and this week […]View the full article

The UK Ministry of Defence announced this week that it has chosen the Tekever AR5, a surveillance drone built by the UK-based company Tekever, to replace the British Army’s aging Watchkeeper fleet under a deal worth up to $533 million over the next ten years. The program, called Project CORVUS, will see the Army field […]View the full article

A North Carolina Air National Guard unit, part of the U.S. military’s part-time reserve force, wants to give its people the ability to quietly fly themselves into places a helicopter would get shot down trying to reach, and the shopping list it just published reads less like a defense contract and more like gear for […]View the full article

The U.S. Department of the Air Force published a market research notice this week seeking companies capable of designing, developing, prototyping, manufacturing and fielding what it calls a Semi-Autonomous Collaborative Platform, government shorthand for an uncrewed jet aircraft smart enough to fly and fight alongside a piloted fighter without a human controlling every move. The […]View the full article

U.S. Marine Corps attack and utility helicopters are heading into a major upgrade built specifically to carry the next generation of weapons, and the electrical rewiring needed to make that possible just landed a $33.6 million contract. Naval Air Systems Command handed Bell Textron, the Fort Worth, Texas manufacturer that builds both helicopters, the deal […]View the full article

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency awarded Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems, a Fort Worth, Texas company, an estimated $333 million contract to supply spare parts and repair services for the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, a fighter pilot’s helmet that doubles as a targeting computer. The system, known in defense circles by its acronym JHMCS, […]View the full article

The U.S. Space Development Agency, the Pentagon office building America’s next generation of missile-tracking satellites, awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems a contract with a ceiling of $400 million to develop the ground segment for Tranche Three of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, the government’s name for a sprawling network of satellites meant to give American […]View the full article

Three countries have taken a real step toward keeping their new stealth fighters flying without shipping them back to Texas every time something breaks, and the Pentagon just handed Lockheed Martin $23 million to make it happen. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Fort Worth, Texas defense giant that builds […]View the full article

An electric motor smaller than a coffee mug might decide whether America’s drone army flies during the next crisis, and the U.S. Army has placed a nearly $80 million bet on building that motor at home instead of buying it from a country Pentagon planners increasingly view as an adversary. The Department of War announced […]View the full article

A single explosion at one South Korean missile factory has exposed just how fragile the supply chain behind the country’s booming arms export business really is, since many of the components that go into a guided missile can only be built by one qualified company in the entire nation. The Korea Times reported that the […]View the full article

Romania shot down a second drone in its own airspace within 24 hours on Saturday morning, a milestone that would have been unthinkable for a NATO member just weeks ago and now marks the second time in two days that Romanian pilots have opened fire inside their own country’s skies. President Nicușor Dan announced the […]View the full article

North Korea has resumed sending Russia one of its deadliest ballistic missiles, a weapon that started this war as a punchline for its terrible aim and has since become one of the most accurate short-range missiles in Moscow’s arsenal. That’s according to Polkovnik GSH, an open-source intelligence account with close ties to Ukraine’s armed forces, […]View the full article

A Formula 1 engineering firm has unveiled a nearly supersonic combat drone designed to fly wing to wing with fighter jets, and it costs less than a fraction of what those crewed aircraft run. MGI Engineering announced the launch of the T-022 Vortex, describing it as the first UK-built Autonomous Collaborative Platform of its kind, […]View the full article