Top 5     Lockheed Martin wins over $35 billion contract to quadruple THAAD production (Military Times) Lockheed Martin won an over $35 billion contract to boost the production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors.       Incoming female students at US Naval Academy must cut hair below chin (Military Times) The U.S. Naval Academy is returning to grooming standards it last instituted before 2018, the school announced.       DoD scraps plan to privatize commissaries (Military Times) Defense officials won’t be handing off the operation of commissaries to the private sector, DoD’s top personnel official said Wednesday.       Ukraine’s newest strike weapon drifts into Russia on the wind (Defense News) Ukraine is developing a missile that launches from a balloon at the edge of the stratosphere, built to fly through Russian jamming — one of the newest weapons in Kyiv’s growing mid-range strike campaign to pressure the Kremlin into pulling back its forces and returning to the negotiating table.       Following reports of staff shortages and safety concerns, VA to centralize its police force (Military Times) The Department of Veterans Affairs’ 5,000-member police force is being consolidated under a new Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness to improve service and retention, department officials announced Wednesday.   US Strikes in Caribbean and Eastern Pacific     A list of US military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels (Military Times) Since early September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in support of what the Pentagon has called continued counternarcotics efforts.   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     The Pentagon’s research infrastructure is ‘deteriorating,’ study finds (Military Times) The research infrastructure that underpins America’s prowess in defense technology is “deteriorating,” according to a Department of Defense report released Wednesday.   Congress & Politics     House backs $1.55 billion to revive E-7 Wedgetail, spares Navy Hawkeye (Defense News) The White House budget office wants to raid a Navy radar-plane account and a classified Air Force line to pull the E-7 Wedgetail back from the dead.       House vote on major veterans bill delayed amid controversy over voting legislation (Military Times) Congressional votes on a controversial veterans bill that would increase benefits for medically retired disabled vets and survivors have been delayed amid push back over elections legislation that is a top priority for President Donald Trump.       House committee advances spending bill with cuts to Air Force flying hours, other programs (Military Times) U.S. House lawmakers approved a fiscal year 2027 spending bill that would include cuts to the Air Force’s flying hours and other budget requests.   Army     Hungry bears are heading to Fort Carson this summer (Military Times) A dry winter, ravenous hunger and accessible trash have drawn bears to Fort Carson, Colorado, where officials have received 23 reported bear sightings just this year.       Army will lease land on bases for critical mineral production (The Wall Street Journal) Agreement with mining companies is part of Trump Administration’s push to establish a domestic supply chain for vital industrial inputs The U.S. Army is leasing land on bases across the country to companies that will build and operate critical mineral processing plants, military officials said …   Navy     Seven sailors injured during fire aboard USS Indianapolis (Military Times) Seven crew members aboard the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis received minor injuries after a fire broke out on the ship Wednesday, the service confirmed.       USS Nimitz heads to New York City for International Naval Review (Stars and Stripes) The nation’s oldest aircraft carrier will join the International Naval Review lineup at New York Harbor to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, the Navy said Thursday.   Marine Corps     Marines create dedicated track for Doctor of Philosophy officers (Military Times) The U.S. Marine Corps added a new role called Career Doctor of Philosophy, Technical, to its list of primary military occupational specialties, according to Wednesday’s administrative message.   Coast Guard     NJ Coast Guard swimmer to receive Pat Tillman Award at the ESPYs (Tribune News Service) A New Jersey native who rescued 165 people during deadly flooding in central Texas last year is again being recognized for his heroism on one of sports’ biggest stages.   Veterans     Hundreds of veterans snag free World Cup tickets (CBS News) A program for veterans, current military and first responders secured almost 5,000 free tickets for World Cup matches.   Defense Industry     ICEYE to double radar-satellite capacity by late 2027 as demand surges (Defense News) Finland’s ICEYE expects to double global production to 100 radar satellites by the end of 2027, the company told Defense News in a clarification of comments by CEO Rafal Modrzewski at a defense-industry conference in Brussels on Tuesday.       Poland buys V-BAT drones to boost Baltic Sea naval operations (Defense News) The Polish Ministry of National Defense has awarded a contract to U.S. California-based defense technology firm Shield AI to buy its V-BAT drone for Poland’s Navy.       Ukraine’s top strike-drone maker moves into ballistic missile defense (Defense News) The Ukrainian firm behind many of the long-range drone strikes that now regularly hit Russian oil refineries hundreds of miles inside its borders is moving into missile defense, signing a major deal this month to build a low-cost ballistic missile interceptor with foreign partners — a turn that positions the company as a key provider at both ends of the deep-strike war.   International     Philippines deploys US-made Triton naval drones in its western waters to scout for intruders (Defense News) The Philippine Navy is set to deploy four Triton autonomous underwater and surface drones as part of ongoing efforts to protect subsea cables and monitor incursions by Chinese vessels and maritime militia in disputed features within the West Philippine Sea.       UN agency pauses ship evacuations through strait of Hormuz after vessel struck (The Guardian) International Maritime Organization says safety guarantees must be confirmed before ships can move again       France seizes fifth Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker linked to Ukraine war (Al Jazeera English) France seizes fifth Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker linked to funding Ukraine war.       Taiwan drill simulates maritime ‘quarantine’ by Chinese forces (Bloomberg) Taiwan has held tabletop military exercises to simulate its response to a potential maritime quarantine by China, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lii Wen said at a briefing Thursday.   Video     Fighters and bombers take to the skies over D.C. for America's 250th anniversary. (Defense News) Military jets were scheduled for a range of appearances as the commemoration in Washington began.   Commentary & Analysis     Europe’s defense build-up depends on getting partnerships right (Defense News) The money has arrived. Between January 2025 and June 2026, the FTSE 350 Aerospace & Defence Index rose more than 85%; venture funding into European defense startups reached $8.4 billion) in 2025; and the European Union’s €150 billion SAFE loan program now ties major contracts to building at scale, fast, with most components sourced inside the bloc.       How Iran devastated an American naval base—and caused a US recalculation (The Wall Street Journal) When the Iranian missiles and drones came for the nerve center of America’s naval operations in the Middle East, some of them hit their mark. The U.S. Navy base in Bahrain was repeatedly targeted between late February and June. Strikes that got through caused extensive damage, according to a Wall …       Trump deal gives Iran 100s of billions more than Obama’s nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less (Small Wars Journal) President Donald Trump has offered Iran hundreds of billions of dollars more than it received under President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement – the one Trump condemned as “the worst deal in history.”       In an ironic turn of events, White House wants to raid Navy E-2 account to pay for USAF E-7s (The War Zone) The Pentagon and the U.S. Air Force have fully abandoned an attempt to axe the acquisition of E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, and to use E-2D Hawkeyes to help fill the resulting gap. In something of a twist, the Pentagon has proposed cutting U.S. Navy E-2D purchases, as well as raiding a classified Air Force account, to keep the E-7 program going. The House Appropriations Committee has now pushed back on the E-2D part of that plan. The back-and-forth underscores the critical importance of airborne early warning and control aircraft and the strain on existing U.S. fleets.       The US Navy’s subsea rare earth vulnerability (War on the Rocks) The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is the next generation of American nuclear deterrence. Twelve of these boats will replace the aging Ohio-class fleet, entering service over the 2030s and 2040s, each carrying 16 Trident IIs and driven by a ghost-quiet electric motor that renders them acoustically invisible to any adversary.       Homo post machina: How AI and decision analytics can revolutionize leader performance for the future foirce (Small Wars Journal) The Russo-Ukrainian war betrays an approach that overinvests in things rather than people. U.S. reliance on defense contracting solutions can be compared to the concept of deus ex machina. The preferable alternative is to invest in winning teams that put humans at the center of modernization, particularly in the field of AI adoption.       The next Russia threat (Foreign Affairs Magazine) The war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, has reached another inflection point. Russian forces are visibly struggling on the battlefield as Kyiv’s strategy of making the war futile for Russia is working. But the future of European security does not hinge on the outcome of this war alone.       Other nations thirst for Ukraine’s drone success — but they need a culture shift first (The Conversation) Ukrainian drone strikes are devastating Russian communities. The city of Sevastopol, the largest in Russian-occupied Crimea, is the latest community to be hit, losing power as Ukrainian drones strike energy facilities in the region.       US military’s weapons shortage shows few signs of easing soon (The New York Times) President Trump and Pentagon officials tried to reassure manufacturers as they sought additional funding from Congress.