Top 5     Hegseth discusses Iran with Netanyahu in unannounced visit to Israel, officials say (Reuters) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, three Israeli officials said, as tensions flare between the U.S. and Iran.       USS Abraham Lincoln to shift home port to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton (Military Times) The USS Abraham Lincoln is shifting its home port from San Diego to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington, according to a recent service announcement.       Pentagon AI oversight office struggles to keep pace with department’s ambitions, GAO finds (Military Times) The Pentagon office tapped in 2022 to oversee the military’s responsible use of artificial intelligence had filled just three of its 10 authorized positions for the mission as of February 2026, even as the department pursues a strategy to accelerate AI development, a government watchdog found.       Suspected gunman in National Guard shooting in DC is charged with multiple firearms offenses (The Associated Press) A Washington man accused of wounding a Georgia National Guard member who tried to help break up a fight has been charged with multiple gun crimes.       Military spouse commission announces progress on child care changes, but details scarce (Stars and Stripes) The leadership of the White House Military Spouse Commission shared progress toward improving access to child care in the group’s second public meeting Monday, but details of the effort were not clear or available from the Pentagon.   Operation Timeline     The human impact of policy changes at the DOD and VA (The War Horse) An ongoing timeline of the Trump administration’s actions focusing on the military and veterans.   Pentagon     Pentagon, BAE sign deal for up to 25,000 precision-guided munition kits a year (Military Times) The Defense Department has signed a framework agreement with BAE Systems to buy up to 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS, guidance kits a year for as long as seven years, the department announced Monday.       Border Protection agency receives ‘nonlethal’ crowd control heat ray from Pentagon (Stars and Stripes) U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing the possible use of a heat ray developed by the Defense Department for crowd control purposes.   Congress & Politics     Military leaders brace for release of Hegseth’s Afghanistan review (The Washington Post) Current and former U.S. military leaders are bracing for the Trump administration to release its review of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan as soon as this month, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would revive public discourse of the 20-year war’s traumatic end days ahead of the midterm elections.       Senate lawmakers press Pentagon for greater price transparency (Federal News Network) The lawmakers want to know whether DoD will disqualify contractors that refuse to provide necessary cost and pricing data.   Army     Got milk? US Army refines its pasteurization power (Defense News) Thirteen U.S. Army Veterinary Corps officers milked a trip to Denmark last month, completing Europe Dairy Pasteurization Audit Training in the seaport city of Kolding.       Soldiers are using the Army’s new dining halls ‘exponentially’ more, official says (Task & Purpose) Army officials said more soldiers are eating at new college-inspired dining halls. In some cases, the average number of meals served is three to four times higher than at the same time last year, according to data provided by the service.       US Army sees Morocco as ideal proving ground for drone defenses (Stars and Stripes) The Army is looking to Africa as a test bed to help it fast-track systems and gear tailored to protect troops from the sorts of small drones that have been reshaping warfare.   Navy     Navy offers explosive ordnance disposal warfare officers up to $100,000 in bonuses (Military Times) The U.S. Navy announced Tuesday that it is offering sizable financial incentives to service members who neutralize explosive devices in a bid to retain their services.       The Navy SEALs behind ‘The Terminal List’ break down the new season’s sniper battle (Task & Purpose) As Gabriel Luna sprawls behind a custom sniper rifle on a balcony overlooking a port city, he pulls out a leather-bound notebook and opens it to a simple range card with half-circles across the top.   Marine Corps     Marine Corps creates first medium missile battalion (Military Times) The Marine Corps redesignated a Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, artillery battalion to the service’s first-ever medium missile battalion.   AIr Force     US Air Force outlines the fighter fleet it needs by 2035 (Military Times) The U.S. Air Force says it needs 1,509 combat-coded fighters, or jets assigned to combat units, by 2035, according to a new force structure report the service sent to Congress Oct. 16.       Two suspects rearrested in RAF Fairford plot with Iran ties deemed ‘highly likely’ (Stars and Stripes) A police officer carries traffic cones along a road leading to RAF Fairford in Fairford, England, Sept. 28, 2026. (Alastair Grant/AP)   Defense Industry     US Navy, Gecko Robotics surge AI maintenance contract to $300M (Military Times) The U.S. Navy is ramping up its investment in artificial intelligence technology to streamline ship repairs and resolve maintenance logjams.       China built more than twice naval tonnage of US in 2024-25: Euronaval (Military Times) China built more than twice the naval tonnage of the United States in the 2024-25 period, narrowing the gap between the two countries’ navies, according to the World Defense Shipbuilding report published by Euronaval ahead of the 2026 edition of the naval defense show.       Google experiences resignation backlash over AI military contracts (BBC News) The BBC speaks to several current and former Google DeepMind employees about their concerns with AI use on the battlefield.   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     Israeli military detains US politician Brad Lander and rabbis at olive harvest (The Guardian) The Israeli military has detained about 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers helping Palestinians harvest olives near Bethlehem, including the New York Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, several rabbis and Israel’s former deputy attorney general.   Ukraine     Zelensky proposes freezing front with Russia as first step to peace talks (France 24) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called for the front line in Russia's war against to Ukraine to be frozen along current lines as a first step toward peace talks. His comments came as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.       Zelensky, US allies bet on strike concessions to placate Trump (The Hill) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his powerful allies in Congress are seeking to use President Trump’s desire for Kyiv to stop targeting Russian diesel facilities to boost his support for Ukraine in other ways.   Commentary & Analysis     Tip of the spear, or stranded on beaches? Chinese planners dissect USMC Pacific posture (Military Times) The U.S. Navy has taken some heat recently for focusing too heavily on the Middle East and neglecting the Asia-Pacific. The same cannot be said of the U.S. Marine Corps, which unveiled a new strategy in 2019 relying on dispersed groups of Marines to wield drones and anti-ship missiles in archipelagic warfare in order to unhinge Chinese maritime expansion. As the Marines are developing new capabilities at the pointy end of the American spear, so to speak, it’s not surprising that USMC strategy is attracting lots of attention from Chinese defense experts. This article summarizes several recent Chinese-language assessments.       Establishing battery supply chain resilience for drones (War on the Rocks) Militaries have spent more than a century operating with fuel and ammunition as limits of combat endurance. They are only beginning to treat batteries with the same operational seriousness, as small unmanned systems move from niche equipment to mass-consumption weapons.       Germany's military warns of 'significant' Russian sabotage threat (Reuters) Germany's armed forces classified the threat of ?Russian sabotage against their own troops and facilities as "significant" for the first time, the ?second-highest level on their internal threat scale, according to a Bundeswehr assessment reported by German broadcasters WDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday.       Empires of AI (Foreign Affairs Magazine) In the span of a few years, China and the United States have each assembled something future historians might recognize as a new kind of empire.       America's counter-drone authority is real, the capacity isn't yet (The Cipher Brief) Here is a number worth sitting with: federal teams seized roughly 700 drones around World Cup venues this summer. Seven hundred — at one tournament, in one season, with the best-resourced counter-drone units in the world on the field. That figure is a success story and a warning in the same breath: the threat volume is enormous, and the federal government cannot be the only team suiting up for it.       Tehran is a different beast now (War on the Rocks) The Tehran that the world knew is gone. It died in the fires with former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war in February.       How the Mecca defense agreement between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will work (The Associated Press) Turkey’s government has asked parliament to ratify a mutual defense agreement it signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, bringing the country closer to bolstering Saudi defenses as it faces attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.