Top 5     Amid Iran conflict, ‘non-hostile’ deaths of 2 US airmen raise overseas toll (Defense News) Two unidentified U.S. airmen died last week in “non-hostile” incidents amid the war in Iran, raising the number of American fatalities since the war began to 23.       Under threat of air strikes, US looks to bolster base infrastructure with 3D printing (Military Times) With many U.S. bases in the Middle East damaged by Iranian bombardment, the U.S. Air Force wants to develop mobile 3D concrete printers to erect buildings quickly.       ‘The reason we lost is the war’: Vance blames midterm GOP losses on Iran conflict (Military Times) Vice President J.D. Vance blamed sweeping Republican losses in the midterm elections on public discontent over the U.S. war with Iran, in an apparent break with the Trump administration, which has repeatedly claimed victory in the costly conflict.       US Marine dies after training in Japan (Military Times) A U.S. Marine with the 3rd Marine Division died Tuesday “following a training incident”  in Okinawa, Japan, the service announced Wednesday.       Iran’s leaders say midterm results show US voters have rejected Trump’s war (The Associated Press) Iranians on Wednesday struck a defiant tone, celebrating U.S. voters’ rebuke of President Donald Trump in the midterm elections while many in the Middle East waited to see how the results could affect the Iran war.   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     Congressman calls for tougher Pentagon oversight in bid for committee chair (Military Times) Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., is making Pentagon oversight a central priority in his bid to reclaim the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee, calling for greater scrutiny of the Trump administration’s military operations abroad, troop deployments to American cities and the Department of Defense’s spending.       Pentagon sued over its Project Meridian advisory committee (Federal News Network) "DoD is trying to make this out to be some kind of contractor-like service, but that's not how the memo lays out the work of the committee,” Scott Amey said.   Congress & Politics     Vance tries to distance himself from Iran war after GOP’s deep losses in midterm elections (The Associated Press) JD Vance publicly broke from President Donald Trump‘s defense of the Iran war Wednesday after the Republican Party’s deep losses in the midterm elections, attempting to distance himself from voters’ clear rebuke of the president as the vice president faces questions about his own political ambitions.   AIr Force     Air Force now offers free Wi-Fi in dorms on 25 bases with more to come (Air & Space Forces Magazine) Airmen can now tap into free high-speed Wi-Fi in dormitories at 25 Air Force bases with more installations scheduled to come online, through a deal with with internet provider Boingo Wireless.   Space Force     Space Force wants civilian employees to embrace guardian identity (Federal News Network) The Pentagon’s smallest service is trying to rebuild its civilian workforce following the Trump administration’s push to slash federal jobs.   Defense Industry     Saildrone expands its European market reach with manufacturing partner in Norway (Defense News) U.S.-based naval drone maker Saildrone has picked Norwegian naval builder Umoe Mandal to produce the Surveyor multipurpose surveillance craft locally, with an eye on new sales in Northern Europe, company executives said.       France tasks Naval Group to develop large oceangoing underwater drone (Defense News) France signed a contract with shipbuilder Naval Group to develop an operational demonstrator of a large-sized oceangoing underwater drone, with sea trials to start in 2028.       Babcock launches digital platform to link warship construction and fleet support (Defense News) U.K-based Babcock International has launched Pelorus, a digital platform intended to connect warship construction, operations and maintenance data.       Pakistan joins air-to-air missile club with successful test of Fa’az (The War Zone) Pakistan has successfully flight-tested its first indigenously developed air-to-air missile, marking a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to establish its own advanced aerial weapons industry. The test of the Fa’az missile, announced by the Pakistani military alongside video footage of the event, puts the country among a relatively small group of nations developing their own air-to-air missile capabilities.   Ukraine     Russian attacks disrupt power in Kyiv, while the death toll in a stricken village rises to 40 (The Associated Press) Russian attacks triggered power and water outages for hours Wednesday across Kyiv and surrounding regions while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the death toll in a stricken village in southern Ukraine rose to 40 in one of the deadliest strikes there in nearly five years of war.   International     North Korea fires unidentified projectile off eastern coast, South’s military says (Stars and Stripes) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees the sea trial of a new naval destroyer on March 3, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service)   Video     Rise of the defense industry innovators | Defense News Weekly Full Episode 11.3.26 (Defense News) Looking to supply the American military with new capabilities and advanced systems at a time of rapid change, defense companies of all sizes offer their solutions at a major defense conference.       Semiautomatic grenade launcher and aim-assist for shooting down drones | Highlights from AUSA 2026 (Defense News) Advances in weapons, new drones and personal drone protection were on display at the Army’s premier annual defense conference in Washington, D.C.       Lockheed Martin unveils new PAC-3 Edge interceptor for Patriot systems (Defense News) With demand rising for advanced interceptors, Lockheed debuts a missile it says improves on earlier generations of weapons.       Defense industry leaders weigh in: How to increase production and integrate AI (Defense News) As military leaders clamor for increased weapons and systems productions, top defense company leaders chart ways they can meet the demand.       High-energy lasers, drones and power: Innovations in defense tech | Business of Defense — Part 1 (Defense News) From industry stalwarts to small startups, defense tech creators are looking to provide solutions as conflict morphs on a monthly basis. See some of what they had to offer at AUSA 2026.       Navy deploys proof-of-concept Man Overboard Detection Syst (Defense News) Using thermal cameras and video analytics, developers look to field a system that could automatically detect a sailor going overboard and alert the bridge.   Commentary & Analysis     The Pentagon needs more ammo for the Iran war. Small communities are paying the price. (The War Horse) When Hurricane Helene ripped up the East Coast in the fall of 2024, water from the New River flooded towns and destroyed bridges across parts of West Virginia, North Carolina, and Virginia.       Ukrainian soldiers tell us which guns And optics work best in combat (The War Zone) When it comes to what rifles, sidearms and optics work best in war, there is perhaps no better place to find out than Ukraine. During more than four years of intense defense of their homeland, Ukrainian troops have used an assortment of small arms and accessories, many foreign-made, others domestically produced, to fight the Russians.       The fight for the future of democratic foreign policy (Foreign Affairs Magazine) The midterm elections mark the beginning of the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential campaign. After two years of debate over the lessons of Kamala Harris’s defeat in the 2024 election, it promises to be one of the most open contests about the future of Democratic policies, including foreign policy, in generations. It also promises to be one of the most consequential. The strategic environment in 2029 is on track to be the most difficult and unforgiving since the height of the Cold War.       A Democratic Congress could derail major Pentagon plans and put Hegseth under pressure (GovExec) The Defense Department was already in Congress’s bipartisan bad graces before the midterm elections. In the wake of the Democrats’ overwhelming victory, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration are likely to face even more pushback for their handling of the Iran war and their plans for pricey initiatives like Golden Dome, Golden Fleet and Autonomous Warfare Command.       The GI and the paperback: A World War II love story (War on the Rocks) On June 5, 1944, as soldiers lined British shores, preparing for their perilous journey to the beaches of Normandy, Special Services units handed out comfort items, from packs of cigarettes to candy. But one item was more sought after than any other: books.       Selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia and Turkey is a historic opportunity (Small Wars Journal) The State Department just approved an F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia, leaving Congress 30 days to object. My piece argues that this is the right moment to secure conditional deals: the administration should push for Saudi and Turkish accession to the Abraham Accords, support for Ukraine, and protection of international shipping.       The missing dimension of cyber preparedness (The Cipher Brief) The technical aspect of incident response can be immense. In extreme scenarios, such as the NotPetya incident in 2017, global organisations such as the shipping company Maersk found the speed and scale of the malware’s impact to be unlike anything they’d seen before.