I - On Defense Podcast

For review: 1. Yemen’s Houthis said on Saturday that they launched strikes targeting “sensitive sites” in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and oil facilities in the kingdom’s port city of Yanbu. 2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not among the world leaders scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, and it is unlikely the pair will have time in their itineraries to squeeze in a sit-down, a US official told The Times of Israel on Friday. 3. Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured by a Hezbollah explosive device in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning, prompting Israeli strikes on the terror group’s sites, the military said. According to the IDF, an engineering vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb planted by Hezbollah inside the military’s southern Lebanon buffer zone. 4. Denmark on Saturday hailed a “binding” deal announced by US President Donald Trump to give Washington “permanent control” over Greenland’s security and bar Russian and Chinese bases from the Arctic territory. Denmark and Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory — both hailed the agreement and said they would sign it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week. 5. German and US officials celebrated the rollout of Berlin’s first F-35 in a ceremony today, with both sides praising the moment as a sign of the close defense alignment between the two partners. 6. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Ankara and Washington were working on “creative ideas” to lift US sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.

For review: 1. US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces. 2. China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group’s military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter. 3. Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on, two regional officials said Wednesday. The regional officials said the Saudis have asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air-defense support to the region to help defend against missiles and drones fired by Houthis and other Iran-backed groups. 4. Democratic and Republican US senators asked President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday to declassify and release all information about a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy, including two classified “side letters” reached with Riyadh. 5. The US State Department has cleared the potential sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, fulfilling a commitment of President Donald Trump despite security concerns over transferring the highly advanced stealth jet to the Gulf kingdom. 6. Iran is rapidly advancing the reconstruction of a nuclear facility that was previously bombed by Israel, according to satellite images cited in a report Thursday by the Institute for Science and International Security. 7. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was approaching a major decision on whether to resume large-scale attacks on Iran, as Washington weighs how to bring the months-long war to an end. 8. Fourteen Russian spy satellites flew above a US military base in Saudi Arabia in March, just days before a major Iranian strike during the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, according to CNN. 9. The US has approved visas for an Iranian delegation headed by its President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to attend next week’s UN General Assembly in New York, an official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Thursday. 10. The Board of Peace will hold a briefing for representatives from dozens of countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week to update them on efforts to implement US President Donald Trump’s plan for rebuilding the Gaza Strip. 11. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy says a Togo-flagged oil tanker was struck while attempting to make an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media says.

For review: 1. The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland called Monday for the British government to "prepare for, plan and facilitate" constitutional change that could lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom, with the remarks coming days after President Trump said he would "love to see" Irish reunification. 2. Apparent Houthi attacks early Tuesday morning triggered warnings in six Saudi cities, including Yanbu, the kingdom’s main Red Sea oil port, and Riyadh warned it would react “firmly” to the Iran-backed rebels’ ongoing missile and drone attacks. 3. The military chiefs of Israel, the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt held a meeting in Germany last week about the war with Iran and regional tensions, two Israeli officials told the Axios news site. The private meeting at a secluded ski resort, organized by US CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper and confirmed by CENTCOM to Axios, was the first such gathering since the US and Israel launched their joint campaign against Iran in February, according to the report. 4. US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to sell to Israel a munitions package worth $2.8 billion, which will include tens of thousands of highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs, according to a US official familiar with the sale. 5. The IDF and Shin Bet confirm killing the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip this evening. 6. Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced today that for the first time it is “integrating its SPICE 1000 air-to-surface munition on the F-35 fighter aircraft,” a move it sees as a “significant step” in allowing other F-35 users to use the munition. SPICE stands for Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective and refers to a line of munitions meant to provide a stand-off strike capability of more than 75 miles (120km). 7. According to a CBO report, combat operations in Iran have cost the Defense Department around $38 billion as of August 1.

For review: 1. Report: The Trump administration secretly explored an energy deal with Cuba earlier this year that would have provided US oil and investment to the island in exchange for major economic and political changes, according to media reports. Miami Herald: "The deal with Cuba, while much smaller in its scale would have sent shockwaves throughout the Cuban government establishment, as it was also tied to a demand that the country's handpicked president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, seen as an incompetent figurehead by Trump administration officials, leave power." 2. Houthi fighters on Sunday said they used drones and missiles to attack a military base in southern Saudi Arabia. The attack at the southern Sharurah base targeted “weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X. The date of the operation was not specified. 3. Chinese entities supplied Iran with high-quality satellite imagery of a US Air Force base in Jordan both before and after Tehran launched a deadly ballistic missile attack on the facility on July 17, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing US officials familiar with the matter. 4. Moscow is now striking targets indiscriminately across Ukraine in response to Kyiv's intensified attacks on Russian territory, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Sept. 13. Peskov claimed Russia had previously avoided indiscriminate strikes but changed its approach after Ukraine began targeting Russian economic and strategic infrastructure. 5. Canada and Ukraine have signed a long-term defense agreement to jointly produce uncrewed technologies, counter-drone systems, and munitions. During a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Calgary, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday a series of deals to support the war-torn country as part of a “100-year partnership.” 6. Finnish space company ICEYE and Poland’s state-run defense giant PGZ have signed a letter of intent to jointly develop a military satellite communications system. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the project will pave the way for the launch of a Starlink-like system for the nation. In a statement, PGZ said that the program is to be implemented from 2026 to 2030.

For review: 1. Using 1,100 tons of explosives, the Israeli military said on Thursday that it had demolished a “strategic” underground facility belonging to the Hezbollah terror group beneath a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon. 2. An airstrike late Thursday in the southern Gaza Strip killed the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, the Israeli military and the terror group said on Friday morning. 3. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis seized several strategic Red Sea islands on Friday after capturing territory along the coast, sealing their takeover of a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia. 4. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called US President Trump twice Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Axios outlet reported, citing two US officials. 5. The Saudi Foreign Ministry offers additional details on what led it to temporarily halt operations of its East-West oil pipeline, saying it was attacked by drones that originated from Iraq. 6. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed regional developments and recent attacks targeting Saudi Arabia in a call with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, a Turkish diplomatic source says. Last month, NATO member Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint defense agreement that includes a mutual defense clause similar to NATO’s Article 5. 7. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday that the agency has observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, which Western intelligence has flagged as a site likely used to store nuclear material. 8. US Vice President JD Vance reportedly sought direct insight from American generals on the war against Iran, seeking to bypass the Pentagon amid his skepticism of the extended military conflict.

For review: 1. A group of eight Muslim-majority countries, including Israel’s ally the United Arab Emirates, praised the United Kingdom on Wednesday for announcing that it will impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and called on other countries to do the same. 2. Iran’s Guards said on Wednesday that a new “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz would cover parts of the Gulf of Oman and beyond, adding that they would announce the exact coordinates later. 3. Iran Claims Capture of US Navy Underwater Drone. 4. The US military on Tuesday said it destroyed five oil tankers in Iran’s so-called shadow fleet following a pair of attempted Iranian ballistic missile attacks targeting an American warship the previous day. 5. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announced on Tuesday that the military would soon inaugurate a new “unmanned systems and artificial intelligence” branch. Currently, the Israel Defense Forces has three branches — the Ground Forces, Air Force, and Navy. The existing branches are each headed by a major general. A new fourth branch would be an unprecedented move for the military. 6. Presidnet Trump told Russian President Putin that a swift resolution to the Ukraine war could pave the way for the countries to fully restore trade and economic ties, according to a Kremlin readout of a call between the two leaders.

For review: 1, The new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Sunday said Tehran plans to announce a “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway. 2. The Israel Defense Forces struck Hezbollah terror group targets in Lebanon overnight Sunday-Monday, reportedly killing eleven people, after the Iranian proxy fired two explosive drones at troops, the army said. The IDF said that no injuries were caused to troops in the Hezbollah attack, the third such incident in a week. 3. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes around the country, including the deadly bombardment of a prison, as the rebels pressed an offensive to seize territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. 4. A top official within the US-backed Board of Peace said on Monday that a failure to move forward in Gaza paired with rising violence in the West Bank are making a two-state solution “impossible.” 5. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan on Sunday issued a joint condemnation of remarks by Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling for plans to facilitate the emigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. 6. Britain is set to announce wide-ranging economic restrictions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, including a ban on trade in goods produced in the settlements, reports said Monday, in what would mark a significant escalation in London’s pressure on Israel and possibly prompt similar measures by other countries. 7. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects the war with Russia to continue into the winter, following talks with Donald Trump's top envoys in Kyiv. The discussions finished without an announcement of a major breakthrough, after Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to Ukraine for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion. The previous day, the pair had held talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. 8. Sweden to Procure US-Made M142 HIMARS; Croatia to Procure S. Korean-made K239 Chunmoo Systems.

For review: 1. The US military said Saturday it had struck and destroyed three oil tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian military organization fired on American warships. 2. The navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it targeted three oil tankers that were traveling through unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz as well as three additional US vessels in other areas, according to a statement. There is no immediate confirmation from the US. 3. US President Donald Trump’s administration is crafting a post-Iran war strategy to build a regional alignment of US allies to contain Iran, while also expanding the Abraham Accords. 4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s “central mission” is to topple the Iranian regime, asserting that the goal was “within reach.” “The regime is now faltering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival,” PM Netanyahu said. 4. The US State Department today greenlit several potential arms deals for key Middle East partners Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq, totaling about $6.1 billion-worth of equipment. 5. The European Union is reviewing Kyiv’s request to spend billions of euros on PAC-3 interceptor missiles for its Patriot batteries — the first time Ukraine has formally asked to tap a 90 billion Euro support loan approved earlier this year to buy the U.S.-made systems, European officials announced this week. 6. Following steep losses of the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper in recent combat operations against Iran, Air Force officials are accelerating efforts to replace the venerable drone with a new unmanned aircraft at a price of $10 million each.

For review: 1. The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday night that it had finished clearing a “strategic” underground facility belonging to the Hezbollah terror group beneath a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon in recent weeks. The Ali Taher Ridge is located within Israel’s southern Lebanon buffer zone, near Nabatieh. According to the IDF, Hezbollah built tunnel systems beneath the hill, which served as the “nerve center” of the terror group’s Badr regional division — a unit tasked with the area of southern Lebanon that is north of the Litani River. 2. Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to any Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters. 3. US Vice President JD Vance says Washington will only return to negotiations with Iran if Tehran stops targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. 4. South Korea is preparing to deploy military assets to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and aims to dispatch them before the end of the year, local media reports, citing government and military sources. 5. Russia has been helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, an advanced weapon that is harder to defend against than subsonic variants, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. 6. The German Navy said on Wednesday that it had successfully tested an Israeli ballistic missile system the previous night and would now begin to advance plans to procure the projectiles. The Long-Range Artillery Weapon System, known by the acronym LORA, has a range of 400 kilometers and is accurate to within 10 meters, according to its manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries. It is classified as a short-range ballistic missile. 7. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was a chance of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said U.S. negotiators trying to broker a deal would soon visit both Moscow and Kyiv. ‌Putin, speaking at an economic forum in Russia's far east, said a number of countries including the U.S. and China were ready to support a peace settlement. 8. The U.S. government on Thursday slapped new sanctions on Cuba in a fresh push to strangle the island’s economy and deepen its multiple crises. 9. American Rheinmetall delivered the first Lynx XM30 prototype to the Army this week, the company said in a Tuesday statement, the latest move in the service’s effort to replace the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The vehicle is slated to start testing, while seven additional prototypes are scheduled for delivery later this year.

For review: 1. The US military hit targets in Iran on Tuesday, and Tehran fired missiles and drones in response, as hostilities flared once again. 2. Jordan’s army says it has intercepted 10 ballistic missiles launched from Iran while three others landed in remote areas. 3. A Syrian site held infrastructure “consistent with a nuclear reactor,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday, adding that the country’s former authorities “failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.” 4. “Special forces” of the Shin Bet captured the commander of Hamas’s internal security apparatus in a “bold operation” in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military, and the domestic security agency. 5. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to discuss a Washington-backed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, Fox Business reported on Aug. 31. The two reportedly met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Asheville, North Carolina, marking the first in-person attendance by the Russian finance minister since the outbreak of Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hold a trilateral meeting at the upcoming APEC summit in China, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Sept. 1. Ushakov said the possibility of a three-way meeting between the leaders is being considered ahead of the summit, according to Russian state media. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19. 7. Two weeks after the Army picked a winner to provide prototypes for its next-gen wheeled howitzer, the service’s fires acquisition shop is now seeking a tracked variant. 8. The Army has announced it awarded Georgia Tech Research Institute up to $33.4 million to be the lead weapons systems integrator for the service’s Common Autonomous Multidomain Launcher (CAML) prototype program. The CAML program is set to serve as a replacement for the Army’s Typhon — its Mid-Range Capability (MRC) long-range launcher — after the service discovered it was too large to operate on the battlefield.

For review: 1. The U.S. military struck Iranian military targets to prevent the deployment of sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said. 2. Jordan’s army says it intercepted eight missiles, shortly after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it attacked US military targets in the Washington-allied kingdom. “Air defense systems intercepted eight missiles that breached the kingdom’s airspace at dawn today, Monday,” reads a statement quoting the army’s spokesperson. 3. Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday called on leaders of Muslim countries, and particularly those in the Gulf, to stand together against Israel and the United States, imploring them to “know your real enemy.” 4. The Trump administration plans to impose sanctions on another bank this week in an effort to clamp down on Iran transactions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says. 5. The Hezbollah terror group has so far rejected overtures by the Lebanese government to pull its forces out of the contested Ali Taher Ridge in south Lebanon, according to a Saturday report. 6. Cuba is preparing to loosen some of the tightest controls over its communist economy, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors greater freedom to hire workers and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island. 7. In a bid to accelerate missile production, India has approved the transfer of technologies for all conventional missile systems from a state-run organization to private companies. 8. The US Air Force has awarded aerospace giant Boeing a broad contract for the company’s F-15 fighter jet worth up to $131.2 billion, according to a DoW announcement.

For review: 1. CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow, Russia, for meetings on Tuesday, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News. 2. Russia warned on Thursday that it could strike British military ​targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles. 3. The United States on Friday issued fresh Iran-related sanctions as the war hit its six-month mark in a move that was rebuffed by Tehran as “state terrorism.” Iran condemned the United States’ new economic sanctions and said other countries were legally obliged not to implement them. 4. The United Kingdom warned on Friday that expelling its representatives from the US-led coordination center for postwar Gaza, located in southern Israel, would “undermine” efforts to improve the situation in the war-torn Strip. 5. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Tuesday that Dutch representatives will be expelled from the US-backed international coordination center for Gaza, citing a series of “anti-Israel measures” by the Netherlands. 6. US President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday creating a US Space Academy, billing it as a new military and civilian institution modeled after West Point and other military service academies. 7. USN Aircraft Carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) will leave from San Diego in the coming weeks. The the strike group expected to move into US Central Command AOR to relieve the Japan-based USS George Wshington (CVN-73), which entered US 5th Fleet last week. 8. The Pentagon is betting big on a $1.15 trillion discretionary budget request with a further $350 billion coming from the reconciliation process — together adding up to a historic $1.5 trillion defense budget.

For review: 1. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday lamented what he called a “humanitarian crisis” in Iran, saying it “must be stopped,” as he accused the Tehran regime of killing protesters and failing to pay its armed forces. “The failing Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large segments of their military, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, at levels not seen before,” he wrote on Truth Social. 2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told counterparts around the world that Washington does not currently expect to launch new offensive strikes against Iran, as the Trump administration shifts its focus to economic pressure and restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Channel 12 reported Tuesday. Rubio did not rule out US military action if Iran initiates new hostilities, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. 3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in footage broadcast Wednesday that he urged US President Donald Trump to consider tightening the “siege” on Iran during their July meeting in Washington. 4. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will visit Tehran tomorrow, where he will meet a number of Iranian officials to discuss ways to de-escalate tensions, foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari says on Wednesday on X. 5. The Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy briefed the UN Security on Wednesday, touting Hamas’s acceptance of a disarmament plan while effectively acknowledging that progress has since stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the proposal. 6. Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday told troops in southern Syria that the Israeli military would not leave its buffer zone there as long as “jihadist threats” remain, issuing a belligerent message to Damascus as the US tries to secure a security deal between the countries. 7. The first-ever road bridge linking North Korea and Russia across the Tumen River appears close to completion, according to satellite imagery reviewed by Defense News. The border between North Korea and Russia is just 17 kilometers, or 11 miles, long, but increasingly geopolitically significant. 8. The Army is looking for a weapon that is similar to the existing Hellfire and Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, according to the Army’s Sources Sought notice. The deadline is Sept. 15.

For review: 1. Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the United States for the country’s severe crisis in an interview, saying his government will not make any concessions to the Trump administration, has “no alternative but to resist,” and that talks with Washington are “very stalled.” 2. Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani held a meeting on Sunday to defuse tensions between their countries, Syrian state media confirmed. 3. The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, lifting what Damascus says was the last major impediment to investing in the country as Washington deepens ties to the new Syrian government. 4. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged Sunday that Iranians were facing “many problems” as the United States prepares new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country’s economy, while defending a June memorandum of understanding with Washington as the best way out of a diplomatic deadlock that has left Iran in a state of “neither war nor peace.” 5. US Treasury Secretary Bessent announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran on Monday and warned every country that does business with Iran to sever those financial ties or face retaliation from the United States. 6. Two U.S. tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria’s defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the country angered Iran.

For review: 1. The United States tightened sanctions on Cuba on Thursday, blacklisting three officials ​tied to a state-run organization that promotes Cuba's ties ‌with foreign solidarity activists, along with nine state entities in the metals, mining and construction sectors. 2. Israel reportedly claimed to the US that Turkey was planning to set up an air defense system on the airbase in northwest Syria that the IDF struck last week, according to the Kan public broadcaster. 3. The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an airstrike in southwest Syria on Saturday afternoon, adding it targeted an operative “who advanced terror attacks in the final stages of preparation.” 4. The IDF said Saturday it had killed a Hamas commander involved in efforts to restore the terror group’s tunnel network in central Gaza. It also said it had killed an October 7 terrorist who had held hostages. 5. Iran on Saturday slammed US plans to announce new sanctions that could put further strain on the Islamic Republic’s economy, and warned that any countries which take part in imposing these sanctions would be “considered an enemy.” 6. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Thursday that they targeted an airport and a facility belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, near the Yemeni border. 7. A new wave of N . Korean Troops, already numbering 8,500 in Russia, contains a drone unit that could attack targets inside Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian intelligence official. 8. Taiwan’s budget agency has announced a proposed 18 percent increase in its defense budget for 2027 as the self-governing island continues efforts to deter a potential invasion from China. 9. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is looking to leave his role at the Pentagon around the end of 2026 a former White House official and another source familiar with the discussions told The Hill on Friday.

For review: 1. Israel confirmed late Tuesday that it was behind overnight strikes against a Sysrian military airport, where it claimed Turkey was planning to deploy forces. 2. Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied Thursday that a Turkish military delegation had visited Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase ahead of Israeli strikes on the site this week, a day after Syria’s foreign minister had said that such a visit took place. 3. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Iran, warning that any country doing business with the Islamic Republic will face “TREMENDOUS economic consequences.” 4. Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned newly threatened US economic and trade sanctions, claiming they would target ordinary Iranians and amount to “economic terrorism” and crimes against humanity. 5. USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the US military said Thursday. US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. 6. A Yemeni minister warned Tuesday that the country’s Houthi rebels are plotting to seize land along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which would allow the group to further threaten the vital shipping artery. 7. The US Army is issuing a call to ramp up production of ground-launched rockets. The service sent out a request this week for manufacturing 133,014 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, rockets by 2034,

For review: 1. South Korea on Monday expressed hopes for resumption of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea to ease animosities on the Korean Peninsula, as President Trump reduces exercises with South Korea. 2. The runway of a military airport in northwestern Syria was targeted by unidentified fighter jets overnight Monday, with Damascus blaming Israel for the airstrike and the United States denouncing Israel for the attack. 3. The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that its inspectors had found several tons of nuclear material in Syria, at a site which the authorities said they reported to the agency last month. 4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted during a meeting Monday with envoys from the White House and the US-backed Board of Peace that Israel would not redeploy any of its forces in Gaza or allow reconstruction to begin until the Strip was completely disarmed, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel. 5. The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday struck what it said was a meeting of Hamas commanders and elite operatives in Gaza City. 6. US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to bomb Oman and urged Iran to surrender, after Tehran announced that it had reached an agreement with Muscat on a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between the two countries. 7. The Navy has awarded RTX subsidiary Raytheon a $22.9 billion contract to ramp up production of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to 1,000 rounds a year. 8. US Army Selects Hanwha to Deliver 155mm K9 Mobile Tactical Cannon Prototypes.

For review: 1. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner met with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel. 2. The White House established a secret backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a Sunday report, which said that the United States has been informed that the IRGC stands behind the positions of the Iranian negotiators in their talks with Washington. 3. Iranian authorities on Saturday called for the release of three pilots they said were captured in Qatar amid the US-Israel war with Iran. 4. Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon Saturday overnight, a day after three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah. Israel is awaiting US approval for a military operation aimed at taking control of the ridge , Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria reported Friday morning, citing a senior security official. 5. US Central Command announced the stand-up of a joint US-UAE task force to advance AI in the two allies’ militaries. The task force will be “the first bilateral task force focused on accelerating the development of military artificial intelligence,” the CENTCOM statement says, with a particular focus on “AI applications for intelligence support, protecting critical infrastructure, and monitoring the regional security environment.” 6. Department of War Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby pushed back against reports that the U.S. military’s stockpiles and capabilities are strained following Operation Epic Fury. “There’s been a lot of news about the United States military being stretched. Please don’t be misinformed,” Colby told Manila’s defense and security elites at a closed-door event organized by the Stratbase Institute think tank.

For review: 1. Russia believes the United States is deeply involved in Ukrainian attacks against it and has raised the issue with ​Washington, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments broadcast on Friday. He ‌said that the alleged U.S. support included the supply of intelligence. 2. US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will hit Iran hard economically, as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict. His comments to Fox News came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was going to apply measures that have “never been seen” on Tehran as soon as next week. 3. Iran will soon join the New Development Bank, the development lender established by the BRICS group of nations, central bank governor said in a state media report published on Wednesday ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India. 4. Surveillance soldiers on the Gaza border were reportedly sounding the alarm on Thursday about armed terrorist activity inside the Gaza Strip, in what they said feels like a repeat of their unheeded warnings before the October 7, 2023, onslaught. 5. Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired missiles at the Yemeni port city of Mokha on Friday, killing eight people, the country’s internationally recognized government said, A Yemeni government official said the Houthis “fired five missiles at commercial ships unloading at the port” in Mokha, setting two ships on fire. 6. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met the commander of US Central Command, Brad Cooper, and discussed defense cooperation between the kingdom and the United States as well as efforts to reduce regional tensions, the Saudi state news agency says. 7. U.S. Central Command will stand up the inaugural task force focused on multi-domain, multinational attack drones. Task Force Falcon Strike will utilize one-way attack drones composed of unmanned systems from above, on and below the sea, managed by U.S. military support staff and regional partners. 8. The Pentagon signed two framework agreements Friday with Boeing and RTX to expand production of critical components for the Standard Missile-3, the Navy’s primary ship-launched interceptor against ballistic missiles. 9. US Army M1E3 & XM30 Prototypes. 10. Breaking Defense Opinion Article- concerning US Transits through the Taiwan Strait.

For review: 1.Israel told the United States about the Iranian assassination threat that prompted the US Secret Service to take President Donald Trump off Air Force One and t ransfer to another military plane as he prepared to fly out of Turkey last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed US official. Later Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he had indeed been smuggled off Air Force One in Ankara because the Secret Service and US military told him to switch planes. 2. Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday. 3. The Board of Peace on Wednesday denied that there is any “financial agreement” with Hamas, after the Kan public broadcaster reported that the body agreed to cover $400 million of Hamas’s debt to outside parties as part of its roadmap for the terror group’s disarmament. 4. Israel informed the White House recently that it would be willing to negotiate an agreement halting the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but that any such deal would exclude those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack. 5. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a the defense agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that they say is aimed at stabilizing a region wracked by conflict. 6. The US military is on track to pull all of its forces out of Iraq by the end of September, officials said Wednesday, marking the end of a presence that started with the 2003 invasion and beginning of the Iraq War. 7. An Army unit has been picked to begin training and testing out plans for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome air defense mission, according to a three-star general helping with plans.