Top 5     New aircraft carrier heads toward Middle East after reports of issues on long-deployed USS Lincoln (The Associated Press) The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.       If long deployments are the future, endurance can’t be the Navy’s only plan (Military Times) I have never deployed for the United States Navy. As an active-duty sailor, saying that feels disingenuous. My time in the Navy has only been on shore duty. My understanding of deployment comes mostly from hearing other sailors’ stories: months away from family, long watches, missed holidays, repetitive days, port calls and the odd feeling of watching life go on from afar.       Trump orders the Navy to return to an older system of launching jets off aircraft carriers (The Associated Press) President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and return to using older steam catapults that he has long said he prefers, according to a directive issued Thursday.       US military has lost roughly 25% of its Reaper drones as Iran war depletes arsenal (Washington Post) The aircraft, which cost up to $50 million each, have seen heavy use around the Strait of Hormuz — but they are relatively easy targets for Iran and its proxies.       Trump orders the Navy to return to an older system of launching jets off aircraft carriers (The Associated Press) President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and return to using older steam catapults that he has long said he prefers, according to a directive issued Thursday.   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.   Your Military     US launching international one-way attack drone task force in the Middle East (The War Zone) With one-way attack drones playing an ever larger role in American military operations, U.S. Central Command announced it is creating what it calls “the first multinational attack drone task force.”   Marine Corps     Marine Corps identifies recruit killed at Camp Pendleton (Military Times) The U.S. Marine Corps on Wednesday identified the loss of a Marine recruit after he suffered a medical emergency at Camp Pendleton, California.       US Marines roam far and wide from temporary Darwin base (Defense News) This year marked the 15th deployment of U.S. Marines to Australia under the Marine Rotation Force-Darwin (MRF-D) initiative, but this year’s rotation looked different from the rest because of its certification as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF).   Veterans     For many veterans seeking help, the biggest problem turns out to be a legal one (Federal News Network) "[LSC] helps assist, deals with the financial problem, and in doing that takes care of health issues, housing issues, and other related issues," said Ron Flagg.   Cyber, Space & Unmanned     DIA’s artificial intelligence chief envisions ‘agent-to-agents’ interactions that support military operations (DefenseScoop) The Defense Intelligence Agency’s chief AI officer is anticipating a future in which digital agents work together across a combatant command to help the military and intelligence community achieve mission success.       The government is recruiting tech companies to help fight its cyber battles (Politico) President Donald Trump is paving a legal pathway for U.S. companies to launch cyberattacks on foreign cybercriminal gangs — a significant and potentially controversial measure that would put approved tech and cybersecurity firms on the front lines of digital combat.   Defense Industry     Marines train to shoot down combat drones with standard weapons (Military Times) Last month, the Marine Corps introduced new service-level training to teach Marines how to counter small combat drones with weapons currently available in their arsenal.   Ukraine     Bomb kills Russian military officer in Crimea; reports name him as defector from Ukraine (Reuters) Several unofficial ?Russian Telegram channels named the victim as Robert ?Shageyev, whom they described as a former Ukrainian naval ?office.   International     NATO defenses facing Russian drone test, German military chief warns (Stars and Stripes) Russia is expanding its use of drones and other unconventional tactics to undermine NATO and test its air defense systems, Germany’s top military leader said this week.       Turkey lays out plans for defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (Reuters) Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will group senior ministers, hold joint exercises and deepen defence industry cooperation.       Putin’s visit to dsputed island adds to pressure on Japan (The Wall Street Journal) Tokyo faces triple threat from nuclear-armed neighbors in Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang.       North Korea threatens to exercise self-defense as it slams US-South Korea military drills (The Associated Press) North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea ahead of their upcoming military drills, which Pyongyang called a war rehearsal that would be more provocative than last year.       Flight-tracking data shows continued Russian air bridge to sub-Saharan Africa (Defense News) Russian state-aligned military forces operating in the Central Sahel relied on at least 75 flights by military and military-linked aircraft between January 2025 and July 2026, according to a new analysis by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington-based research organization that tracks illicit networks.   Video     Let’s practice an amphibious assault with the Marines (Defense News) Battalion Landing Team 2/4 from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit practices a beach landing and assault at Camp Pendleton, California in a recent training event.       Hegseth urges the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition nations to leave International Criminal Court (Defense News) Secretary of Defense calls ICC “illegitimate” and says it threatens the sovereignty of nations in the ACCC.       Army opens military test ranges to private companies to speed innovation (Defense News) The effort, the Army says, is designed to hasten the development and testing of drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires and cheap interceptors.   Commentary & Analysis     Military sexual trauma survivors can’t sue the government. A new bill could change that (The War Horse) When Mayra Diaz opened the door of her Army barracks room in 2022, she didn’t realize it was the beginning of the end of her military career.       It’s time for the president to level with the American people on Iran (The Cipher Brief) The U.S. administration’s strategic expectations are increasingly colliding with a set of hard realities. While Iran has taken a considerable beating, it remains standing and does not appear on the verge of either submitting or collapsing.       The commercial space race (War on the Rocks) A strong commercial space industry is an important partner for the U.S. government, as it contributes to building more robust space and defense capabilities and facilitates innovation more broadly. As competition between the United States and China heats up, both countries look to the commercial space sector to help them get ahead in both the space race and defense technologies.       New US security entities hint at more Latin American operations (Defense One) The recent establishment of a organized-crime task force by U.S. Southern Command is the latest expression of the Donroe Doctrine, the administration's interventionist—some say imperialist —approach to Latin America. But it may also signal a increased desire to work with regional partners—or just to operate inside their countries.       The biggest AI models are not the biggest threats (The Cipher Brief) Almost every AI security framework we are applying rests on one misguided assumption: danger scales with size. Compute thresholds, export controls, and tiered evaluation regimes all encode the same intuition, the larger the model, the more we should worry. If this isn’t true, what policy changes are needed?       Tehran has to make a choice (The Atlantic) When the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey got together last week to forge a new defense agreement, they emphasized that their pact wasn’t aimed at any particular country. But one country was surely on everybody’s mind: the Islamic Republic of Iran.       US not prepared to handle drone attack from inside homeland: NORTHCOM deputy commander (The War Zone) The deputy commander of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) was asked on Thursday if he could defend against an attack by a swarm of drones in the homeland. His reply was blunt and chilling: “No.”       As warfare becomes engineering, the era of the digital mercenary dawns (Defense One) Private cyber firms will be allowed to take action against foreign threats under a new White House policy, another step into a future where tech developers are ever more closely entwined with military operations, which now evolve faster than governments can keep up.