Top 5     Billboard campaign in military cities connects Iran war to high prices (Military Times) New billboards have gone up around select military towns that connect the conflict in Iran with an economic impact on American families.       US cancels joint marine drills with South Korea over Iran war-related force constraints (Reuters) The United States canceled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, Seoul’s Marine Corps said on Monday, after Washington cited constraints on the availability of U.S. forces due to the war in Iran.       ICE detained an Army sergeant’s wife. His family is still waiting for answers. (Military Times) When masked agents pounded on the windows of the family vehicle, Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juárez’s six-year-old daughter started crying.       Two US tanker aircraft leave Bulgaria a month after deployment upset Iran (Reuters) Two U.S. tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria’s defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the Balkan country angered Iran.       Pentagon adds 60 wounded to Iran war casualty count (Stars and Stripes) A further 60 American service members wounded in the Iran war were added to the Pentagon’s count of military casualties in recent days, bringing the total number of service members killed or injured to 775.   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.   Congress & Politics     Senate Democrats call for hearing on Iran war's strain on troops (The Hill) Nearly all Senate Armed Services Committee minority members on Monday called on the panel’s head to hold a hearing with Pentagon leadership to discuss the impact extended deployments in support of the Iran war are having on U.S. service members. The letter — led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and signed by 11 other senators...       US threatens severe sanctions against countries with economic ties to Iran (The Guardian) Washington launches campaign to isolate Tehran but it is unclear whether it will apply measures to China.   Navy     Navy families evacuated from Bahrain face ‘uncharted territory’ amid bureaucratic confusion (Stars and Stripes) Nearly six months after the U.S. Navy evacuated 1,300 family members from Bahrain at the start of the Iran war, officials are saying the evacuees cannot return for the foreseeable future and should find new homes elsewhere.       Navy boss launches defense industrial base office (DefenseScoop) Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced Monday the launch of the department’s Office of the Defense Industrial Base, which will be tasked with leading efforts to bolster supply chains and accelerate the delivery of dual-use technologies.   Space Force     Space Force Honor Guard showcases new ceremonial uniform in DC Grand Prix (Military Times) The U.S. Space Force Honor Guard donned the updated ceremonial service dress uniform in the nation’s capital over the weekend.   Cyber, Space & Unmanned     One year in, America’s counter-drone task force still has ‘a ton of work to do’ (DefenseScoop) As drones from hostile, reckless or unknown operators continue to traverse jurisdictions and increasingly threaten military installations, civilian areas and mega-events across the U.S., senior officials are hustling to enable a first-of-its-kind national counter-drone surveillance network.   Defense Industry     Patria to join with Ukraine’s General Cherry to make drones in Finland (Defense News) Finnish defense company Patria is teaming up with Ukrainian drone maker General Cherry to jointly develop drones as well as start production of drones in Finland.       US military gearing up for unmanned ground vehicle demo (DefenseScoop) The Defense Department is planning to put industry-built robotic vehicles through their paces in North Dakota this fall amid a broader push by U.S. military components to add uncrewed systems to their fleets.       UK’s Burnham to visit Ukraine with plan to support long-range missile production (Reuters) U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.       Italy eyes US tech for souping up dumb missiles into drone interceptors (Defense News) The Italian Air Force is mulling the purchase of U.S. technology that turns cheap unguided missiles into precision weapons, offering a low-cost option for taking out drones instead of using pricy air-to-air missiles.       Air Force ‘closely following’ Navy’s new long-range air-to-air ‘Malice’ missile (Air & Space Forces Magazine) A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters.       UK to use Ukraine battlefield data to train AI to protect sensitive sites (The Guardian) London and Kyiv in deal to help stop protesters and hostile states targeting military bases and critical infrastructure   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     2 children among 4 killed in Gaza a week after US asked Israel to curb attacks (The Associated Press) Palestinian residents of war-battered Gaza fled homes and businesses as Israeli strikes and tank fire killed at least four people Monday, including two children, hospital officials said, a week after a U.S. delegation asked Israel to draw down attacks.   Ukraine     Ukraine’s amputee veterans celebrate independence day with grueling endurance challenge (The Associated Press) Military amputees and war veterans in Ukraine marked Independence Day on Monday by finishing a grueling endurance race that took them more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) around the country.   International     Iran predicts ‘another defeat’ for US after Washington's new sanctions (France 24) Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh on Monday warned of "another defeat" for the US after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced expanded sanctions against Tehran. Madanizadeh said Iran had a "two-year plan" to counter the new sanctions and dismissed Bessent's stated efforts to sever "every economic lifeline" sustaining Iran. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.       US military says it struck vessel in Eastern Pacific, killing two (Reuters) The U.S. ?military said on Monday two people had ?been killed in a strike it launched on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific over the ?weekend, the latest in a series ?of similar attacks that Washington says target "narco-terrorists" ?but human rights groups say amount to ?extrajudicial killings.   Military Culture & History     Kyle Carpenter will be a playable character in next ‘Call of Duty’ (Task & Purpose) Gamers looking for some online heroism in the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” this October will get a chance to play as a real-life Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Afghanistan.   Video     Ukraine displays fleets of advanced drone weaponry in Kyiv demonstration (Defense News) As part of its first Independence Day celebration since Russia’s invasion, Ukraine used a parade to show off its intimidating drone capability.   Commentary & Analysis     Hyping nuclear threats is counterproductive (The Cipher Brief) Hyping threats of nuclear proliferation to justify war undermines legitimate counter-proliferation policies and paradoxically incentivizes proliferation. The Trump administration’s effort to justify the Iran war as a means of saving the world from a nuclear armed Iran rings as hollow as George W. Bush’s similar claims about Iraq a quarter century ago.       Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s other war: Ukraine’s endless struggle with corruption (The Conversation) Ukraine celebrated this year’s independence day on August 24 in the presence of key allies and amid the unfolding of another major corruption scandal.       Betting on autonomous aircraft (War on the Rocks) This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with Brandon Tseng, the co-founder and president of Shield AI and a former Navy SEAL, whose company builds the Hivemind autonomy software, the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon synthetic reality and simulation technologies. We asked Brandon about the bet at the center of his company — that the AI pilot matters more than the airframe — and about what a decade building autonomy for the Pentagon has taught him. Sign Up for Our Newsletter You founded Shield AI in 2015, before defense tech was fashionable, and when few in Washington believed a startup could       How complex conflicts of interest plague military housing (Federal News Network) "It's a mangled system when you have a tenants' bill of rights for service members where the housing companies participate in the drafting," René Kladzyk said.       US says oil Is pouring through Hormuz. Trackers can’t find it. (The Wall Street Journal) The Trump administration says large volumes of oil are slipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The trackers whose job it is to count the world’s oil shipments see much less. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week the U.S. military had helped ship over 15 million barrels of crude and oil …       The risks of downplaying China’s military (War on the Rocks) China has spent years modifying civilian ferries to launch amphibious armored vehicles, developing specialized equipment to move forces ashore without conventional port facilities, hardening dozens of air bases, and rapidly expanding the missile forces that could be used to deter or defeat a U.S. intervention. Yet at the same time, a recurring line of analysis has argued that concerns about China’s military capabilities are overstated — and that an invasion of Taiwan remains beyond the reach of the People’s Liberation Army.