Top 5     US and Iran exchange intensifying fire across Mideast, threatening ceasefire deal (The Associated Press) The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.       ‘Testing is now underway’: Zelenskyy confirms progress on major US defense deals (Military Times) The United States is already testing Ukrainian-made aerial and maritime drones and has given Kyiv “very positive feedback,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, the clearest sign yet that a long-stalled drone-production deal with Washington worth billions is moving ahead.       VA claims backlog drops below 70,000 for first time in six years (Military Times) The Department of Veterans Affairs’ disability claims backlog dropped below 70,000 this week for the first time in six years, a milestone the VA hasn’t seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.       Army orders mass shutdown of official social media accounts (Military Times) The U.S. Army is consolidating its official social media presence, drastically slashing the number of allowable accounts and ordering commanders to remove newly-unauthorized accounts within 30 days, the service announced in a late-June memorandum.       Trump flies old Air Force One out of Turkey, switches to new jet in Britain for trip home (Defense News) President Donald Trump unexpectedly left Turkey on Wednesday aboard an older Air Force One rather than the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet that brought him there, but later boarded the new plane in Britain for the flight to Washington.   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     Pentagon awards deals for laser weapons that could shoot down drone swarms (DefenseScoop) The Defense Department has awarded other transaction agreements to nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight for directed energy weapons as the military seeks new tools for zapping adversary drone swarms and cruise missiles, the Pentagon announced Thursday.       Hegseth says he’ll ‘fix’ suspensions of 8 helicopter pilots who buzzed July 4th beaches (Task & Purpose) For the second time in five months, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to wade into an internal Army flight safety investigation late Thursday, tweeting support for eight AH-64 Apache pilots and crew who were suspended by thier unit earlier in the week after flying low passes over crowded July 4th beaches in South Carolina.   Congress & Politics     GOP lawmakers seek review of VFW’s claims authority amid cartoon controversy (Military Times) Two Republican House members have asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to review the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ authorization to help veterans file disability claims following the group’s use of a provocative cartoon that protests proposals to cut VA benefits.       Trump wanted 20,000 peacekeeping troops in Gaza. He is starting with 10 to 20. (The Wall Street Journal) President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza envisioned a 20,000-strong force of international peacekeepers to secure the war-torn Palestinian enclave and prevent the re-emergence of Hamas as a military power.   Your Military     Military members assaulted by fellow troops cannot sue the military. That could change. (Task & Purpose) A rule created 75 years ago bars military members from suing the government while still on active duty, even in cases when one service member sexually assaults another. But if a new bill becomes law, troops would be allowed to bring lawsuits against the government for negligence in such cases, a change that military advocates say would be a watershed moment that gives military members the same legal rights that civilians have.   Army     Army develops new technique for rifling cannon bores (Military Times) The Army has developed a new technique for cutting rifled grooves inside 155mm howitzer barrels that officials say could extend cannon life, improve performance and reduce manufacturing costs.   Navy     USS Gerald R. Ford to undergo maintenance after onboard fire and plumbing issues (Military Times) The world’s largest aircraft carrier pulled into Norfolk Naval Shipyard on Tuesday to begin scheduled repairs after wrapping up the longest post-Vietnam carrier deployment.   Marine Corps     US transfers retired Marine Corps AAVs to allies defending Black Sea region (Military Times) After more than five decades of carrying Marines to shore, the U.S. Marine Corps’ assault amphibious vehicle made its final appearance this month during a military exercise in Romania before beginning its next task defending allied countries in the Black Sea region, the Marine Corps said in a Thursday release.       Marines open units on East and West Coast to focus on drone warfare (Task & Purpose) The Marine Corps is standing up two new organizations focused on drone warfare at its major training bases on the East and West coasts. Based at Marine training hubs at Twentynine Palms, California, and Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, the two units will develop and test drone tactics, technology, and training for Marines headed to real-world deployments.   AIr Force     Air Force contingency wing assists Venezuela in earthquake response, aid intake (Military Times) A U.S. Air Force contingency response wing dispatched to Venezuela to assist authorities following high-magnitude earthquakes that devastated the country almost two weeks ago.       Air Force’s C-5M Super Galaxy aids in removal, destruction of $5 billion worth of illegal drugs (Military Times) A U.S. Air Force airlift wing executed the largest-recorded aerial transport of around 50 metric tons of lethal narcotics for destruction.   National Guard     Man charged with killing National Guard member is hospitalized after refusing food, prosecutors say (The Associated Press) A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House, killing one of them, has been taken to a hospital for treatment of a potentially life-threatening medical condition after he refused to eat food while jailed in pretrial custody, prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday.   Defense Industry     UK eyes $50 billion in pooled NATO funds for new long-range strike initiative (Defense News) The United Kingdom unveiled a $50 billion, decade-long push to accelerate European deep precision strike capabilities during the NATO summit on Wednesday, positioning London at the head of a coalition of twelve NATO allies.       Germany to buy US Tomahawks in shift toward own long-range capability (Defense News) Germany will purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and station them on German soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday, in a shift from planned U.S. deployments to Germany’s own long-range strike capability.       Ukrainian ground robot maker doubles production, eyes ventures with foreign partners (Defense News) Ukraine’s unmanned ground vehicle manufacturer Trinity Robotics plans to double its production to some 2,200 units this year, benefiting from the rapidly rising use of ground robots in the Ukrainian Army’s operations.   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     Syria says it arrested suspects behind the Damascus bombings during Macron’s visit (The Associated Press) Syrian authorities said on Thursday they have arrested several suspects accused of a string of recent explosions in Damascus, including the bombings during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit earlier this week.   International     Seoul, Kyiv to respect ‘free will’ of North Korean POWs in Ukraine (Stars and Stripes) The leaders of South Korea and Ukraine agreed to resolve the fate of two North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles, according to South Korea’s presidential office on Wednesday.       Russia and Sahel states deepen military ties as insurgent attacks persist (Reuters) Russia and the West African countries making up the Alliance of Sahel States - ?Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso - have pledged ?to strengthen military cooperation as jihadist insurgents gain ground in the region, according to a joint statement issued ?on Wednesday night after talks in Niger's ?capital, Niamey.       Kim Jong Un calls for ‘radical’ boost to spy agency’s intel ops (Bloomberg) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the spy agency to strengthen its intelligence activities “in a radical way” as he convened a meeting of top military officials, state media reported.       Sudan army says US peace plan must call for full RSF withdrawal from cities, documents show (Reuters) The Sudanese army has conditioned any broad acceptance of a ?U.S. proposal for ending the country's three-year-old civil war on the full withdrawal by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from cities it has occupied, according to documents seen by Reuters.   Military Culture & History     The Alaskan bear necessities: One commissary peach (Military Times) There is nothing like that sweet, juicy first bite of a ripe peach on a summer day. Even for bears.       The Indiana forest that keeps the USS Constitution afloat (Military Times) The world’s oldest commissioned warship is still afloat — thanks to a forest in Indiana.   Commentary & Analysis     A veterans organization has millions in the bank. Why did it seize a small chapter’s donation? (The War Horse) The Disabled American Veterans post in Sacramento, California, needed work. The small white building with blue trim and an American flag out front was built decades ago. Its heating and cooling system was ancient. The parking lot was riddled with potholes.       After the intelligence cycle: A new schema for AI-native intelligence analysis (The Cipher Brief) Recent discussion of artificial intelligence in intelligence analysis has consistently framed the technology as a means of accelerating an existing process.       The Pentagon’s sprint to get tech out of the lab and to the warfighter (War on the Rocks) Joe Jewell left academia and his role directing hypersonic wind tunnels to oversee the Pentagon’s science and technology enterprise. He wants more researchers to make the same move. He joins Jonathan to discuss the Pentagon’s science enterprise, why he thinks academia is the envy of America’s closest allies, and how his office gets technology from the lab into the hands of the warfighter.       An outlook for what’s next in Iran war (The Cipher Brief) With tensions rising all week, the U.S. has launched a new round of strikes against Iranian military targets and maritime assets. The strikes follow an announcement made by President Donald Trump just hours earlier, declaring the ceasefire agreement with Tehran as ‘over’. The fresh wave of strikes signals a U.S. shift back to a strategy of military pressure and economic coercion.       The succession question haunting the Kremlin (The Cipher Brief) The late-June 2026 death of Sergei B. Ivanov - the man once thought the most likely successor to Vladimir Putin - as well as the Russian President’s age, his rumored health problems, and the discontent over the economic impact of his disastrous invasion of Ukraine; have renewed speculation over when, under what circumstances and to whom he might cede power.