Top 5     US carries out new strikes in Iran against military site, official says (Reuters) The U.S. military carried out new strikes overnight in Iran targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to U.S. forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday.       US munitions depleted by Iran war will take years to restore, analysis finds (Military Times) The United States will need at least three years to restore an array of critical weapons systems to prewar levels following its 38-day bombing campaign against Iran, according to the Center for Strategic International Studies.       Israel says new head of Hamas' military wing killed in Gaza City strikes (BBC News) At least three people were killed in the attacks, which came despite a ceasefire with Hamas being in place.       New Aviation Mishap Task Force to examine ‘concerning’ rise in incidents (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Pentagon established an Aviation Mishap Task Force earlier this year “to address concerning trends” in safety and help produce an action plan, officials say.       Dell Technologies gets $9.7 billion Pentagon contract (The Wall Street Journal) The agreement is meant to streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the Pentagon, intelligence community and Coast Guard.   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 eyes drone testing ground in Mississippi (Military Times) U.S. Special Operations Command is looking to build a new testing ground for drones in Mississippi as the Pentagon grapples with ever-evolving autonomous technology that has come to define modern warfare.   Congress & Politics     House NDAA would set up protected disclosure program for AI incidents (Federal News Network) The goal of the proposed Pentagon program would be to identify "recurring risks, failure modes, vulnerabilities, and systemic weaknesses” in AI systems.   Army     US Army receives first lightweight Javelin launchers (Defense News) The U.S. Army has received its first batch of new, lighter Javelin launchers, defense contractor RTX announced in a statement Tuesday, the most recent development for the guided missile system credited with helping Ukraine stave off Russia’s initial invasion.       US Army integrates veterinarians into human combat care (Military Times) In an effort to mitigate logistical issues that accompany large-scale combat operations, the U.S. Army is working to better integrate veterinarians into combat care.       How US Army combat medics are preparing for an Indo-Pacific fight (Military Times) As the U.S. Army prepares for a possible fight in the Indo-Pacific theater, combat medical teams are seeing vast differences in what treating wounded personnel there would entail compared to recent conflicts .   Navy     Out of the 22 Navy officers just promoted to admiral, none were women (Task & Purpose) The Pentagon’s latest set of Navy promotions, advancing more than 20 Navy captains to one-star admiral, included zero women, reinvigorating a debate about the barriers women face in their climb to the highest rungs of the military.       Navy launches initiative to improve food quality at installations (Military Times) The U.S. Navy has announced a new pilot program that will seek to provide sailors with healthier culinary options and more avenues to use their meal entitlements.   Cyber, Space & Unmanned     Iran’s hackers are coordinating more closely: Israeli cyber leader (NextGov) Tehran’s hackers have grown more organized, more coordinated and more willing to use artificial intelligence for influence operations in recent months — and they have demonstrated many of those capabilities since the war with Iran began, according to Israel’s top cyberdefense official.   Defense Industry     Defense-driven demand powers surge in US listings by mining firms (Reuters) There has been a surge in mining companies seeking U.S. listings this year, but even more striking is the change in language as firms explicitly target defense-related demand for critical minerals.       Canada to order military plane fleet from Sweden in shift from US suppliers (The Guardian) Mark Carney announces purchase of Saab’s GlobalEye early warning aircraft to patrol Arctic territory       Canadian fighter pilot school to get M-346 trainer jets from Leonardo (Defense News) The International Test Pilot School in Canada has signed to buy up to 12 M-346 trainer jets from Leonardo, the Italian firm said on Tuesday.   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     Israel fires more than 120 airstrikes at Lebanon and says it is escalating offensive (The Guardian) One of heaviest days of bombing in weeks complicates US talks with Iran, which insists any peace deal must mean end of attacks on Lebanon   Ukraine     Senior Ukrainian commander sees imminent ‘turning point’ in war (Reuters) Ukraine has a six-month window in which to seize the battlefield initiative from Russia and strengthen its hand for peace talks, a senior commander told Reuters, predicting a “turning point” was imminent after more than four years of war.       Former Ukraine official calls for stricter restrictions on Russian use of Starlink (Space News) A former senior Ukrainian defense official called on SpaceX to tighten controls on Starlink terminals that she said are reaching Russian forces through third-party countries or intermediaries.       Inside the effort to build Ukraine’s ground robot arsenal (The War Zone) With ground maneuver a huge risk thanks to the ubiquity of deadly aerial drones, Ukraine is increasingly relying on uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) to move supplies, rescue the wounded, shoot down drones, lay mines and even fight battles. As a result, the head of the country’s defense technology incubator has been tasked with ensuring that there are enough of these systems to meet the voracious demand.   International     China's military says it drove away Dutch frigate in South China Sea (Reuters) China's military said it organised naval and air ?forces to drive away Dutch frigate De Ruyter, ?which it accused of illegally intruding into the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday.       Latvia sends mobile intercept units to Russian border in wake of drone incursions (Defense News) Latvia will deploy mobile drone-interceptor units to its eastern border within a matter of days in response to a string of drone incursions from the direction of Russia, according to the head of the Baltic country’s Autonomous Systems Competence Center .       North Korea tests new lightweight launch system and tactical cruise missiles (USNI News) North Korea test fired a newly-developed lightweight multi-purpose missile launching system and multiple tactical cruise missile weapons systems on Tuesday, state media Korean Central News Agency reported.   Military Culture & History     From stage to screen, ‘Pressure’ shows new perspective of D-Day (Stars and Stripes) Andrew Scott as meteorologist Captain James Stagg goes to-head-head with Brendan Fraser’s Dwight D. Eisenhower in Focus Features’ new film, “Pressure.”   Video     USS Gerald R. Ford returns home after historic 11-month deployment (Defense News) After 326 days at sea, the world’s largest aircraft carrier is finally home. Families lined the pier as the USS Gerald R. Ford returned to Norfolk following a historic 11-month deployment.       Pentagon boosts box that makes water from the air (Defense News) WaterCube maker Genesis Systems says the Pentagon opened $10.5 million for units to purchase water-making tech following surprise combat test in the Middle East.   Commentary & Analysis     Immigration stress: A readiness problem the Pentagon does not measure (Military Times) The military measures readiness through deployments, training, retention and equipment. Recent ICE detentions of military spouses have exposed a question the Pentagon has not publicly answered: are threats of deportation affecting troops’ ability to serve?       Why Iran’s leaders think they’ve won (The Atlantic) An interim agreement to end the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran looks likely, and it may very well find Donald Trump acceding to Iranian demands he has long resisted. Many in the Iranian regime are feeling triumphant, and understandably so, despite the exchange of some strikes in the Persian Gulf this week. But an end to the war will leave the Islamic Republic with a host of unsolved problems.       The road to space runs through the poles (War on the Rocks) Why are there more antennas on Svalbard than anywhere else on Earth? Svalbard of all places, where cats and childbirth are banned and there are more polar bears than people? This cluster of islands in the Arctic, one thousand kilometers from Norway, is key to everything from your weather forecast to your car’s navigation. At 78 degrees north, Svalbard is the highest-latitude satellite ground station on Earth and is a crucial point in humanity’s growing dependence on space.       My grandpa was killed in World War II. I met him through his letters home (The War Horse) I grew up in the house my great-grandparents built, a home where four generations shared laughter, loss, and celebrations. These same walls that once harbored the joy of my grandfather’s courtship were the ones that eventually held the pain of the day my grandmother learned he had been killed in action during World War II.       5G: The DoD’s wireless backbone (Federal News Network) 5G is not just an upgrade to communication speed; it is the enabling technology for military superiority in a contested battlespace.