Top 5     3 US soldiers awarded Purple Hearts after March missile attack on Saudi Arabia base (Military Times) Three U.S. soldiers were awarded Purple Hearts for their efforts assisting fellow service members despite their own injuries after a missile attack hit their air base during Operation Epic Fury.       ‘Noticeable shift in warfare’: US Army under secretary on the lessons of modern combat (Defense News) The U.S. Army is entering unprecedented territory.       Catholics in US Army must not participate in firing squad, prominent archbishop says (Reuters) Catholics serving in the U.S. Army should not participate in the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan that the Pentagon is planning to livestream in December, a prominent U.S. archbishop said on Monday.       ‘We’ve drowned ourselves in buzzwords’: Acting US Army secretary gives sermon-like first speech (Military Times) One year ago, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll eviscerated bureaucratic delay and acquisition roadblocks in a profanity-laced public address.       The US Army is back in the jungle. Panamanians are showing soldiers the way. (Defense News) Gunshots erupted from solid ground towards a boat that ferried Panamanian soldier Albis Fajardo and his team during a counter-drug mission along the country’s Pacific coastline.   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.   Army     Mangroves and mud: Inside the Army jungle school’s notorious ‘Green Mile’ (Defense News) A howler monkey looked down from his perch atop the lush canopy before unleashing a bellow so guttural that it seemed to temporarily swallow up the jungle’s hum.   Defense Industry     US Army creates robotics technician job to focus on drone warfare (Defense News) The U.S. Army kickstarted a military occupational specialty focusing on robotics and unmanned systems with an induction ceremony this month at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.       Sikorsky packs 4 Nomad drones into a single shipping container (Military Times) Sikorsky on Monday introduced a containerized kit that packs four of its Nomad 100 drones and the gear needed to fly them into a single shipping container. The announcement came as the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting opened in Washington.       Lockheed’s New PAC-3 Edge interceptor aims for agility (Military Times) The latest iteration of Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 family of missile interceptors is designed to bring extreme agility to bear against a diverse array of missile threats, Defense News learned.       Twenty-Six Defense unveils new soldier-worn tech (Military Times) The company that previously operated as Elbit Systems’ American subsidiary made its AUSA expo debut this week as Twenty-Six Defense.       Italy eyes MBDA armaments for new Italo-Turkish drone (Defense News) Italy is holding tests with MBDA to mount the European firm’s armaments on the new Astore Levante drone being built by Turkey’s Baykar and Italy’s Leonardo, the head of the Italian air force has said.       FN America unveils M240 upgrade kit for modern optics (Military Times) FN America introduced a new upgrade kit for the M240 machine gun on Monday at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army, giving soldiers a way to mount modern optics on the legacy platform.       One user interface, multiple autonomous systems: Forterra debuts OASIS-OneLink technology (Defense News) Defense tech company Forterra introduced a new platform on Monday at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington that will allow service members to control different autonomous systems using one user interface.       Powerus unveils fully autonomous drone interceptors (Defense News) The South Carolina-based startup Powerus unveiled a fully autonomous version of its Guardian interceptor on Monday at the Association of the United States Army ’s annual meeting.       US Army helicopter pilots test new in-flight ‘relief’ system (Defense News) U.S. Army Helicopter pilots in the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade are evaluating a system designed to let them relieve themselves in flight. Soldiers will evaluate whether it can help address a problem pilots face during prolonged missions: limiting fluid intake to avoid restroom breaks.       Vector, Nammo expand push to mass-produce armed drones (Defense News) Defense companies Vector and Nammo Defense Systems announced Monday at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting that they had expanded their partnership to integrate munitions into small drones for U.S. military use.       US Army gets first mobile cannon to replace M777 howitzer, officials say (Military Times) The U.S. Army has taken delivery of its first Korean-made mobile tactical cannon less than a year after first issuing a solicitation, service officials said Thursday.       US Army, GM Defense agree to add 12,000 Infantry Squad Vehicles to fleet (Military Times) GM Defense announced on Monday that the Army has expanded orders for the Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, from the initial 649 to nearly 12,000.       Airport training site in Laos extends China’s clout in Southeast Asia (Military Times) China’s design to use a Laotian airport for joint military training has put much of Southeast Asia on guard about how far the People’s Liberation Army will extend its reach.       India sells air defense missiles to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan in Central Asia push (Defense News) India has sold its homegrown, short-range surface-to-air missile system called Akash, to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan gaining a foothold in Central Asia as it seeks to expand its defense exports.   Ukraine     Ukraine is building a patchwork antiballistic defense, one stopgap at a time (Defense News) Ukraine is scrambling to secure enough Patriot interceptors to stop Russian ballistic missiles this winter, piecing together allied stockpile transfers, new production agreements and a homegrown interceptor program as quickly as possible before the cold sets in.       Russia says it struck vessels carrying military cargo to Ukraine's ports (Reuters) Russia carried out drone strikes on various targets ?in Ukraine on ?Monday, including on vessels ?carrying military cargo, ?Russia's Defence Ministry said.   International     NATO general sets out tough military response to any 'foolish' Russian attack (Reuters) NATO's top commander warned Russia on Monday that ?his forces would destroy "anything and everything" involved in any attack if Moscow was "foolish enough" to launch an assault on alliance territory.   Video     Pentagon launches Office of Religious Affairs, will report directly to Hegseth (Defense News) The Pentagon intends to address what Hegseth calls a loss of religious community within the military after an era of “political correctness.”       AUSA Booth 2917 Day 1 (Defense News) Watch now.       Trump to decide whether to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan (Defense News) The execution is set to take place on Dec. 3rd at Fort Hood, Texas. If carried out, it will be the first military execution by firing squad since WWII.       Military Times is taking you inside AUSA Annual (Defense News) We’re on the ground at #AUSA2026! From cutting-edge tech to the latest innovations from industry, we’re showing you the coolest things from the show floor.       Robotic targets that move like real threats (Defense News) Not your average target practice! We're on the show floor at #AUSA2026, checking out @MarathonTargets and its autonomous moving target technology. Designed to make military training more realistic, these robotic systems are bringing new challenges to the range.   Commentary & Analysis     The sanctions we cannot afford (The Cipher Brief) On the evening of Friday, October 9, the Treasury published General License 135. It authorizes the “sale, delivery, offloading and importation” of Russian diesel until April 7, 2027, and does not specify a buyer, a seller, or a quantity. The President provided the quantities after a call with President Putin: more than 300,000 tons “immediately,” 500,000 in November, and millions more if Russia’s refineries allow. The first shipment amounts to less than a day of American consumption. The shipment comes from a country that barred its own diesel exports in July and, in the last quarter, imported the fuel for the first time. AAA put the national average for diesel that day at $6.28 a gallon.       Subterranean warfare -– An urgent DoW need without an owner (The Cipher Brief) The DoW urgently needs to organize its scattered subterranean warfare assets into a single unified organization.       How China and America can move from competition to stability (War on the Rocks) The American team thought it was signaling restraint. The Chinese team saw preparations for combat.       What Beijing calls open, Washington should call an operation (The Cipher Brief) China is about to run the largest influence operation in history. It will not have to run it. The world will download it.