Top 5     Trump-class battleship program will cost $275 billion, CBO report says (Military Times) The potential cost of the Navy’s new nuclear-powered battleship procurement program is estimated to be an eyewatering $275 billion, with the first Trump-class battleship costing $23.4 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report published Wednesday.       Iran and the US say a Strait of Hormuz deal is close, but one or both would have to back down (The Associated Press) Iran said Wednesday it is in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week. That could potentially reopen the critical waterway, ease pressure on the world economy and help bring an end to the war.       Trump immigration crackdown ensnares families of US troops (The Guardian) The Trump administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops as it rolls back immigration protections for military families in the pursuit of its mass deportation agenda.       2 soldiers killed in Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since June truce with Hezbollah (The Associated Press) The Israeli military said Thursday that two of its soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since the implementation of a shaky truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in June.       Drone carrying explosives at German airport marks ‘new level of danger’, says interior minister (The Guardian) Germany’s interior minister has warned that the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport marks “a new level of danger” for the country, as authorities examine whether the thwarted attack could have been planned by a foreign power.   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 appoints new Maven Smart System program director in fresh push for C2 integration (DefenseScoop ) The CDAO team aims to anchor MSS as an operational cornerstone for command and control, but some sources questioned its early impacts.   Army     30 days after Army communications overhaul, questions remain about access to information (Military Times) On July 9, the Army announced it was consolidating official social media accounts in the interest of improving information access while reducing operational risk.       The Army certifies its first equestrians as it revamps horse care (Military Times) Army soldiers for generations have guided horse-drawn caissons through Arlington National Cemetery as they escort the country’s fallen to their final resting place. Now, as the service overhauls the animals’ care, soldiers who care for the horses have a career classification of their own.   Marine Corps     ‘Meatball’ no more: Marine recruit drops over 100 pounds for boot camp (Military Times) Through consistency and mental toughness, Michael Guzman, a Clermont, Florida, native, recently graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island after losing nearly 100 pounds.   Coast Guard     The countdown begins: National Coast Guard Museum one year from opening (Military Times) Decades in the making, the National Coast Guard Museum is set to open next summer on the banks of the Thames River in New London, Connecticut.   Defense Industry     Firestorm Labs builds drones aboard USS Essex without shore resupply (Military Times) A defense technology company produced 3D-printed drones aboard a Navy ship at sea using a containerized microfactory, aiding the Navy in its pursuit of easily built autonomous technology that can quickly boost a warship’s weapons capacity.       US Navy, Saildrone to use unmanned systems in expanded counternarcotics role (Reuters) Following the recent announcement that a Saildrone Voyager unmanned surface vehicle directly aided the U.S. Navy during a drug interdiction in the Caribbean that led to the seizure of more than $81 million worth of cocaine, the Navy has awarded the California-based company a $16.3 million task order to extend operations of the Voyager fleet in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, according to a recent release.       Air Force expands autonomous flight tests with live, AI-enabled intercepts (DefenseScoop ) During one of the latest Air Force experiments, the X-62 VISTA conducted 27 autonomous air intercepts across eight flights.       France’s drone production shifts from policy ambition to factory floor (Defense News) France’s push to enlist its car industry to produce military drones is moving to industrial implementation, as partnerships between automakers, car-part suppliers and defense firms turn lessons from the war in Ukraine into working assembly lines.   International     Taiwan launches major war games to test command flexibility (Reuters) Taiwan began major military drills on Wednesday to test commanders’ ability to fight on the fly when enemy movements defy expectations, while temporarily limiting internet access for the first time, senior Taiwan officials said.   Video     Check out the highs and lows of an Army obstacle course for Air Assault troops (Defense News) Could YOU make it through all the elements of the course?       Trump forms new commission to address quality of life issues for military spouses (Defense News) President Trump signed an executive order to form a new group to tackle longstanding issues faced by military spouses.       Step inside the Museum of American Jewish Military History (Defense News) Within Washington, D.C. hides a repository of military history in a museum slightly off the beaten path offering stories of valor, history and culture.       Navy Reserve retention bonuses on the rise | Defense News Weekly Full Episode 8.7.26 (Defense News) The Navy ups the ante for recruiting and retaining Reserve sailors, and a service medal is revived by the Pentagon. Plus, a tour of a military museum.       Navy Reserve announces retention, recruiting bonuses up to $20,000 (Defense News) The sea service recently boosted programs to find and keep sailors in uniform, offering incentives in the tens of thousands of dollars.       D-Day beaches become UNESCO World Heritage sites (Defense News) Officials said the beaches where Allied troops landed in 1944 to fight Nazi forces were an enduring cultural and historical site.       Is there a path forward for the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act? (Defense News) Rep. Mark Takano, ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, weighs in on new legislation to change the face of some veteran benefits.   Commentary & Analysis     Everybody wanted to visit the wounded soldier. I wanted to be left alone. (The War Horse) It was only a month after the roadside bombing. I was still in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, in June 2006, undergoing successive rounds of surgery. Rods protruded from my limbs, keeping the broken bones of my right forearm and left thigh immobile until the doctors could complete a series of bone grafts and insert the titanium screws and bars so that my broken extremities would hold on their own.       Putin’s human safari is the dystopian future of war (The Atlantic) Yuri is a 52-year-old Ukrainian who runs a market stall in Kherson, not far from the front line. Yesterday, he was sorting through vegetables when he heard the loud, distinctive buzz of a Russian drone. As he later told the journalist Zarina Zabrisky, he had nothing more than a couple of garlic bulbs in his hands, and no weapons. “Not even a phone.” He gestured at his tomatoes and peppers, so that the drone operator, whoever and wherever he might be, could see that he wasn’t a soldier.       Is American critical infrastructure ready for assymetric warfare? (Small Wars Journal) As we know now well, a few thousand dollars of commercial hardware can now destroy tens of millions of dollars in strategic assets. Just consider Operation Spiderweb, which cost $7 billion in Russian damages. The refinery campaign has been slower but no less corrosive, idling roughly a tenth of Russian refining capacity through repeated, cheap strikes.       What happened to al-Qaeda? (The Atlantic) Since September 11, 2001, al?Qaeda has pulled off exactly one fatal attack inside the United States.       Beyond Hormuz: The future of maritime chokepoints (War on the Rocks) Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to extract payments for safe passage — plus, more recently, the Houthis’ move to attack Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — have highlighted the risks of maritime chokepoints to global shipping and raised questions about the future for freedom of navigation.       The new forever wars (Foreign Affairs Magazine) As the United States’ quagmire in Iran makes clear, wars are almost always much harder to stop than they are to start. Over the past 80 years, less than 20 percent of the roughly 300 wars tracked by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program ended in a clear victory by one side.       Why Trump’s Israel normalization demand may kill the Saudi nuclear deal (War on the Rocks) Only days after the Trump administration celebrated what it called a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, the president himself appeared to place the entire arrangement in jeopardy.       Why Russia’s ballistic missiles are increasingly getting through Ukrainian defenses (The Associated Press) When Russia fires a ballistic missile at Ukraine, air-defense systems have only minutes — sometimes seconds — to detect and intercept the deadly threat.       US has too few interceptors to deter war with China, experts say (Defense One) The United States would run out of the interceptors it needs to take down Chinese missiles “within days” of a conflict, according to a new report from the Heritage Foundation. It's the latest in a series of warnings from experts and commanders highlighting a critical gap.