Top 5     The US draws down some troops on NATO’s eastern flank (The Associated Press) The United States has informed its NATO allies that it will scale back its troop presence along Europe’s eastern border with Ukraine as it focuses on security priorities elsewhere in the world, Romania’s defense ministry said on Wednesday.       Carrier’s move to South America leaves Mideast, Europe with none (The Associated Press) President Donald Trump’s decision to shift the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier to South America in his campaign against drug cartels is pulling the ship out of the Mediterranean Sea at a time when a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been threatened by new strikes in Gaza.       Leaked memo details National Guard plan for a ‘quick reaction force’ in US cities (Task & Purpose) The National Guard is developing a “quick reaction force” of troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by January, according to a leaked memo viewed by Task & Purpose.       White House nominates Lunday to lead Coast Guard, other senior leaders tapped for new roles (USNI News) The White House officially nominated Adm. Kevin Lunday as the next Coast Guard commandant, according to the Senate, which received the nomination last week.       Research on veterans is broken. This tool aims to fix it. (Military Times) As the population of U.S. veterans becomes more diverse and vets’ needs, from employment to medical treatment, continue to evolve, the demographic remains among the most difficult to survey.   Pentagon     US will share tech to let South Korea build nuclear submarine: Trump (The Associated Press) The United States will share closely held technology to allow South Korea to build a nuclear-powered submarine, President Donald Trump said on social media Thursday after meeting with the country’s president.       Trump orders Pentagon to match other nations’ nuclear testing (Stars & Stripes) President Donald Trump on Thursday said he’s ordered the Defense Department to begin testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries, according to a post on his social media platform.       Trump, Hegseth affirm alliance with Japanese counterparts during Asia tour (USNI News) President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. leaders are on tour in Asia this week affirming alliances against the backdrop of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in South Korea.       Hegseth says US Forces Japan ready for next phase of reorganization amid China threat (Stars & Stripes) U.S. Forces Japan has all the personnel it needs to become a joint force headquarters and is ready for the next phase of its reorganization, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said after meeting his Japanese counterpart here Wednesday.       US says it killed four ‘terrorists’ in latest strike on alleged drug vessel (ABC News) Four people were killed in the latest U.S. military airstrike on an alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a social media post.   Congress & Politics     HASC members beg Boeing to negotiate end to ‘disruptive’ fighter-jet worker strike (Defense One) House Armed Services committee members are begging Boeing leaders to negotiate with 3,200 union workers and end a nearly-three-month strike at the company’s fighter jet and munitions factories in St. Louis.       Military lawyers arrive to take bench in immigration courtrooms across US (Stars & Stripes) Nearly two dozen military attorneys were appointed as temporary immigration judges and will begin hearing cases in federal courtrooms across the country immediately, according to the Justice Department.   Your Military     Billboards outside US Southern Command urge troops not to ‘break the law’ in Caribbean strikes (Task & Purpose) “Don’t let them make you break the law,” read new digital billboards on expressways near U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Florida, where the U.S. military’s ongoing operations in the Caribbean Sea are being overseen.       The human impact of policy changes at the DOD and VA (The War Horse) We get it. It's been tough keeping up. That's why we're compiling a chronological exploration of the Trump administration's actions focusing on the military and veterans. We are tracking the developments day by day, so you don't have to. From the flurry of executive orders on Inauguration Day to the ongoing cultural and operational overhaul of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. It's all here—and will be whenever you are ready to dive in.       Troops with beards barred from Hegseth event in South Korea: Report (The Hill) U.S. troops with facial hair were barred from attending an upcoming event with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in South Korea this week, according to reports.       Soldiers test ‘shoot-and-scoot’ mortar system on infantry vehicles in Hawaii (Stars & Stripes) Soldiers in Hawaii spent last week testing a “shoot-and-scoot” mobile mortar system as part of the Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative that aims to speedily field new technology, according to the manufacturer.   Army     Army’s new 3D printed FPV drone ‘can put lethal effects on target right now’ (Breaking Defense) The Army’s 25th Infantry Division has successfully used 3D printing to build a first person view (FPV) drone attached with lethal effects, according to a Tuesday presentation at AFCEA’s TechNet Indo-Pacific conference.   Navy     Navy outlines guidelines for government travel charge card use (Military Times) A U.S. Navy memo released this month outlines guidelines for sailors’ mandatory use of government travel charge cards.       USS George Washington resumes patrol after returning to Japan to host Trump (Stars & Stripes) The USS George Washington quietly left the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet on Thursday to resume its annual patrol, two days after it hosted President Donald Trump.       Trump says he’ll sign order to direct Navy to use steam for aircraft carrier catapults (Breaking Defense) President Donald Trump told Navy sailors that he intends to sign an executive order directing the service to use steam for its aircraft carrier’s catapults and hydraulics for the ship’s elevators.       USS Vermont visits HMAS Stirling for second submarine maintenance period in Australia (USNI News) A Virginia-class attack submarine is in port in Australia for the second maintenance period of a nuclear-powered boat on foreign soil.       Pacific Fleet commander seeks tech industry’s savvy to employ AI for Navy (Stars & Stripes) U.S. Pacific Fleet’s commander on Tuesday challenged the high-tech industry to boost the Navy’s ongoing effort to empower sailors with artificial intelligence.       Navy withdraws from Navy Museum Land Swap agreement with DC (Seapower) Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has withdrawn the service from a land swap with the District of Columbia that was to have created a home for a long-awaited new Museum of the United States Navy, the Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs notified Congress.   Marine Corps     Marine Corps axes plan for third littoral regiment, ready to move on medium landing ship (Defense One) The Marine Corps is tweaking its Force Design 2030 plan as it enters the second half of its post-Global War on Terror transformation this month, releasing an update for 2025 after skipping 2024.   Air Force     Allvin departs as Air Force Chief: How he sees his legacy (Air & Space Forces Magazine) Gen. David W. Allvin completed two years as Chief of Staff, half the statutory tour length—but long enough, he says, to have made a mark on the Air Force.       Air Force needs hundreds more fighters, service says (Breaking Defense) The Air Force says it needs to dramatically grow its fighter fleet by hundreds of manned, combat-ready jets over the next decade in order to meet expected threats to America — a massive expansion of procurement plans that may not be feasible due to funding limits and production constraints.       Air Force’s 10-year fighter jet report is missing key details, experts say (Defense One) A new report to Congress pitching the Air Force’s 10-year fighter jet plan is missing key details and explanations, raising questions and concerns among defense experts.       F-35s, F-16s rapidly deploy to Greenland for exercise (Air & Space Forces Magazine) NORAD surged two F-35s, two F-16s, and a trio of KC-135s to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland earlier this month for a “dynamic operational exercise,” testing its ability to rapidly deploy forces in the Arctic.   National Guard     Some Guard troops won’t get paid until shutdown ends (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The National Guard Bureau says most units are postponing drills during the shutdown, but some states are sticking to their training schedule, resulting in a patchwork of different policies and some confusion in the ranks.   Cyber, Space & Unmanned     No clear winner in military’s first ‘drone crucible’ (Task & Purpose) In the waning days of Florida’s September heat, teams with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force met for the military’s first organized “drone crucible,” a five-day event that pitted the services’ top remote pilots against each other.       Special Operations Command Pacific undergoing first AI boot camp this week (Breaking Defense) Special Operations Command Pacific is running its first ever artificial intelligence boot camp this week, in an effort to familiarize officials with how it can be useful everyday, according to the organization’s commander.       CyberCorps talent pipeline buckles under Trump hiring freezes (Defense One) Every January, an exclusive career fair in Washington, D.C., draws hundreds of top students from across the country meet with dozens of federal agencies looking to hire talent.       ESA outlines plans for space security program (SpaceNews) The European Space Agency has provided more details about the multi-pronged security program it is seeking more than one billion euros for at its upcoming ministerial conference.   Defense Industry     Israel’s IAI shoots for land-based, space-based Golden Dome business (Defense News) Executives at Israel Aerospace Industries are awaiting news on the U.S. Golden Dome missile shield architecture, hoping that defense leaders here will consider the company’s Arrow interceptor technology for two layers of the project, according to IAI chief executive Boaz Levy.       Lockheed Martin to invest $50M into Saildrone, plans to equip USVs with missile launchers (Breaking Defense) Lockheed Martin plans to invest $50 million into California-based maritime drone manufacturer Saildrone, with the goal of equipping Lockheed’s air-to-ground missile launchers onto a Saildrone unmanned surface vessel, the companies announced today.       NASA and Lockheed Martin’s X-59 completes first flight (UK Defence Journal) Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division and NASA have conducted the first flight of the X-59, an experimental supersonic jet designed to reduce the deafening “boom” associated with breaking the sound barrier.       Northrop Grumman inks deal with tech startup for accelerated, AI-enabled spacecraft design (DefenseScoop ) Artificial intelligence startup Luminary Cloud has developed a physics-based AI model for Northrop Grumman that will allow the defense contractor to more quickly design and build new spacecraft.       Mysterious fuselage section appears in Northrop Grumman video (The War Zone) A recent Northrop Grumman video montage includes a brief clip showing an aircraft fuselage section that does not readily appear to be from any design the company has developed or is otherwise involved in the production of, at least that is publicly known.       A first look at IBM’s new large language model that’s fine-tuned for defense applications (DefenseScoop ) IBM is set to launch a new large language model that’s purpose-built for defense and national security applications and trained on data from open-source intelligence provider, Janes.       Boeing Defense reports ‘immaterial’ financial impact in Q3 from machinist strike (Breaking Defense) A $5 billion charge on Boeing’s commercial 777X jetliner program stole the spotlight from the company’s defense segment during third quarter earnings today, resulting in little attention from Wall Street even as a strike at key fighter and weapon production lines threatens to spill into the fourth month.       Lockheed Martin integrating Google’s generative AI tools into workflow ops (DefenseScoop ) Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it is teaming up with Google Public Sector to make the tech giant’s generative artificial intelligence applications available to employees for a range of use cases.       German naval laser nears operational readiness (UK Defence Journal) A containerised high energy laser demonstrator developed by Rheinmetall and MBDA in Germany has moved from sea trials to further testing at the Laser Competence Centre in Meppen, the companies said.       Master Boat Builders unveils state-of-the-art floating dry dock to boost throughput (Seapower) Master Boat Builders, Inc. (“Master Boat”) today announced it has taken delivery of a new, stateoftheart floating dry dock, giving the company direct control over launch schedules and accelerating vessel deliveries.   Israel-Gaza-Iran-Yemen     Israeli military kills two in new Gaza attack despite ‘resuming’ ceasefire (Al Jazeera) Israel’s military has carried out another deadly attack in northern Gaza despite claiming to resume the fragile ceasefire, which was already teetering from a wave of deadly bombardment it waged the night before.   Ukraine     Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,344 (Al Jazeera) Here is how things stand on Thursday, October 30, 2025:       Russian forces finally break through into key Eastern Ukrainian stronghold (The War Zone) After more than a year of bloody assaults at great cost in troops and equipment, Russian forces are now fighting inside the key Ukrainian logistical hub of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian and Russian officials say.       Inside Russian infiltration missions (Counteroffensive Pro) Insufficient Ukrainian drones across large gray zones, usage of anti-thermal cloaks, and gaps in the front line are making Russian attacks effective.       Russia strikes children’s hospital in Ukraine as Kyiv hits energy sites (Al Jazeera) A Russian strike on a children’s hospital in southern Ukraine has wounded at least nine people, authorities have said, shortly after Kyiv targeted Russian energy sites with drones.       Putin claims Russian troops have surrounded 2 Ukrainian cities but Ukraine says that’s not true (The Associated Press) Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday that Russian troops have surrounded Ukrainian forces in two key eastern cities of Ukraine and offered to negotiate a deal for their surrender. Ukrainian military officials vigorously denied the claim.   International     China’s military may discard its rigid command structure, report warns (Military Times) Even as China embarks on a massive military buildup, America comforts itself with an ironclad belief: As with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, superior Communist numbers will be undercut by rigid command and clumsy tactics that can be exploited by more agile U.S. forces.       Italy weighs using EU defense loan on new tanks, eying Hungary team-up (Defense News) Italy is considering using a European Union loan deal to pay for new tanks and armored vehicles supplied by Germany’s Rheinmetall, a source has told Defense News.       Powered test of Poseidon nuclear torpedo, Putin claims (The War Zone) President Vladimir Putin says that Russia successfully tested one of its Poseidon nuclear-powered, nuclear-tipped, ultra-long-endurance torpedoes yesterday.       Drone shot down near Estonian base with connection to American troops (Stars & Stripes) A suspicious drone flying near a base used by U.S. forces in Estonia was recently shot down, authorities in the Baltic country bordering Russia said this week.       China building SAM sites that allow missiles to be fired from within bunkers (The War Zone) Satellite imagery shows China has been building at least two facilities featuring hardened shelters with retractable roofs along its heavily disputed border with India.       Experts warn British F-35 influence has slipped, MPs told (UK Defence Journal) The UK’s early leverage in the F-35 programme has diminished as other buyers outpace Britain on fleet size and use, witnesses told the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee during a 28 October session on the UK’s future relationship with the United States.       Sudan’s paramilitary forces killed hundreds at a hospital in Darfur, residents and aid workers say (The Associated Press) Sudan’s paramilitary forces killed hundreds of people at a hospital, including patients, after they seized the provincial capital of North Darfur over the weekend, according to the U.N., displaced residents and aid workers, who described harrowing details of the atrocities.   Overseas Operations     101st Airborne infantry unit leaves Europe as US focuses on border, drug war (Task & Purpose) Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, will not be replaced when they return home, possibly marking the ebb of the U.S. military’s rush to shore up NATO’s eastern flank that began just prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.   Military Culture & History     Vietnam was scary enough. Friday the 13th added to our fear. (The War Horse) It was December 13, 1968, and our platoon leaders briefed us before we boarded the trucks: Recent intelligence hinted at increased Viet Cong activity on Monkey Mountain.       Investigating the secret history of a ‘lawless’ war (New York Times) Over the course of four years, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist spoke with dozens of elite military personnel about misconduct in Afghanistan by their peers.   Commentary & Analysis     In Europe, the problem is deterrence, not drones (Defense News) Since multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland last month, European leaders have expedited the idea of a “drone wall” and rushed to discuss the need to invest in countering drones.       Great power competition in air defense exports (Defense Opinion) Air defense systems (ADS) constitute a central function in modern conflicts. However, the increasing pace of their export has extended the role of the systems beyond the battle space. Their scope no longer is limited to warrooms, it is also in the politics of their export. Hence, modern ADS have become important instruments, shaping contemporary politics.       Will Israel’s algorithmic counter-insurgency proliferate to the West? (War On The Rocks) Israel’s recent campaign in Gaza marks a turning point in modern warfare: the fusion of counter-insurgency and artificial intelligence. Will Western states, with different traditions of counter-insurgency that emphasize legitimacy and population control, be influenced by Israel’s algorithmic model? This question carries high stakes. If Israel’s approach, which is characterized by automation, scale, and attrition, becomes a template for liberal democracies, it could normalize a form of warfare that values computational efficiency over human judgment.