Top 5     Three’s company: Trio of US carriers operating in Middle East for first time in decades (Military Times) Three U.S. aircraft carriers are operating simultaneously in the Middle East for the first time since 2003, U.S. Central Command said on Friday, marking the largest concentration of naval power in the region in decades.       Remains of USS Arizona crew buried as unknowns after Pearl Harbor to be identified (Military Times) The Navy and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency have dropped their initial opposition to disinterring the graves of battleship Arizona crew members buried more than 80 years ago as unknowns for possible identification and return to their families.       US strike kills three on alleged narco boat as campaign death toll hits 185 (The Guardian) Military video shows boat moving swiftly in water before explosion leaves it in flames.       US intercepts sanctioned merchant-vessel in Arabian Sea, Central Command says (Reuters) U.S. Central Command said it intercepted a merchant vessel trying to get through the blockade of Iran on Saturday.       3 sailors injured after fire breaks out aboard USS Zumwalt (Military Times) Three sailors were injured this week in a fire aboard a destroyer in Mississippi, a Navy spokesperson confirmed.   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.   Your Military     Special Operations Command lays out high-tech wish list (Task & Purpose) The command overseeing the top special operations units in the military is looking for industry partners — companies, research groups and non profits — to work with to develop new technologies for use in missions.   Army     Rangers take top spot in annual Army Best Sapper Competition (Stars and Stripes) First lieutenants Christopher Barrett and Bryce Sullenger made some costly mistakes early in the Army’s Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., this week, but they bore down and dominated the final events in the grueling combat engineering contest.       Army nurse accused of actively helping separatist militants in Cameroon (Task & Purpose) An active-duty Army major was arrested this week and charged with providing tactical and financial support to a separatist militant group waging a guerilla war in Cameroon. Maj. Kenneth Chungag, who was working as a nurse assigned to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, is accused of helping militants plan attacks on civilian and military targets and help procure weapons, all while presenting himself as a seasoned combat veteran, according to court documents unsealed this week.   Navy     US sailor deploying to Middle East injured in monkey attack in Thailand (Military Times) A U.S. sailor assigned to a mine countermeasures ship was scratched by a monkey in Thailand, sidelining him from a minesweeping mission in the Middle East, according to Navy officials.   Marine Corps     Why the US Marine Corps wants a new anti-tank loitering munition (Military Times) The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a new anti-tank loitering munition to field for the Fleet Marine Force.   AIr Force     Air Force plans to keep B-1s through 2037, Fly B-2s longer (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Air Force is planning to invest nearly $1.7 billion to continue modernizing the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers over the next five years, revising earlier plans to retire those aircraft before the B-21 Raider is fielded in bulk.       US Air Force aims to double F-15EX Eagle fleet (Military Times) The U.S. Air Force plans to more than double its F-15EX Eagle II fleet to 267 aircraft, up from the previously planned 129, as part of the fiscal 2027 budget request rolled out this week.       Fire erupts at British base used by US; no injuries reported (Stars and Stripes) No one was injured when a fire broke out at a storage building on RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom early Sunday, according to U.S. military and British officials.   Space Force     Space Force faces surge in demand for heavy-lift launches (Space News) An additional 25 ‘high-energy’ missions are being forecast for 2027-2029   Coast Guard     USCG Cutter Resolute offloads seized drugs worth $19 million (Stars and Stripes) Crew with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Resolute offloaded more than 2,500 pounds of cocaine on Thursday at Base Miami Beach, Fla.   Defense Industry     Space Force picks firms to develop Golden Dome’s space-based interceptors (Defense One) Twelve companies are now competing to build space-based interceptors for President Donald Trump’s sprawling Golden Dome missile defense shield, the Space Force announced Friday.       Ukraine to field 25,000 ground robots in push to replace soldiers for frontline logistics (Defense News) Ukraine will contract 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles in the first half of 2026, more than double the 2025 total, as the Defense Ministry moves to shift all frontline logistics off soldiers and onto robots.       The US military wants a fleet of missile-killing laser drones (Laser Wars) The U.S. military is once again pursuing flying directed energy weapons to counter threats to American airspace, according to the Defense Department’s missile defense boss.       Italy forgoes $14 billion deficit spending on defense amid wobbling economy (Defense News) The Italian government is giving up a chance to grab an extra €12 billion ($14 billion) in defense spending as it shifts its focus to keeping energy bills down ahead of national elections next year.       ArianeGroup studying ballistic-missile production in Germany: Les Echos (Defense News) ArianeGroup, the French maker of the Ariane 6 space launcher and the M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile, is studying the possibility of manufacturing ballistic missiles in Germany, the company’s chief executive officer, Christophe Bruneau, told Les Echos.       NATO eyes Swedish-Canadian jet for AWACS role in shift away from Boeing (Defense News) NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency has selected Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier to replace the alliance’s aging fleet of Boeing E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft with the GlobalEye platform, according to French defense publication La Lettre and confirmed independently by the German press agency DPA.       Australia awards contracts for counter-drone tech based on lasers, interceptors (Defense News) Australian defense leaders have pledged to spend big money on drone defenses, as unmanned technology has exposed a new Achilles’ heel in militaries around the world.   International     Mali insurgents hit military bases in 'complex attacks', airport shut (Reuters) Mali insurgents hit military bases in 'complex attacks', airport shut.       US military says it struck vessel in Eastern Pacific, killing two (Reuters) US military says it struck vessel in Eastern Pacific, killing two.   Military Culture & History     A century of the ‘Ma Deuce’: How the M2 Browning became America’s workhorse machine gun (Military Times) For over a century the M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun, known affectionally among troops as “Ma Deuce,” has been the staple small arms weapon in the United States military arsenal.       Augmented reality brings Revolutionary War to life at Army Museum (Military Times) From the wildly popular traveling Van Gogh exhibit to the immersive “King Tut” experience that trades artifacts for hauntingly lit and realistic tableaux, museums everywhere are departing from conventional curated collections to find new ways to engage visitors. At the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, staff hope a new augmented-reality exhibit featuring some 20 scenes from the Revolutionary War will create that fresh engagement while also building interest in the rare pieces of war history housed elsewhere in the building.   Commentary & Analysis     So you want to negotiate with Iran... (Politico) President Donald Trump recently dismissed claims he’s anxious to end the Iran war, insisting on Truth Social that he’s “possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position” and has “all the time in the World.”       The soldier accused of Maduro bets: ‘Army people don’t get the business stuff’ (The Wall Street Journal) Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly made more than $400,000 in part by using classified information to bet on the ousting of the Venezuelan leader Gannon Ken Van Dyke was a longtime U.S. Army soldier who was simultaneously chasing success in the business world.