Shutdown news: USDA using a tariff slush fund to help nutrition program for women, infants and children stay afloat through end of month minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/13/r...

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the US will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, which will host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots who will train alongside US troops. https://cnn.it/4h95Hb6

B-25 bombers of 4th Bombardment Squadron, 1st Bombardment Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) at Zhijiang Airfield, Hunan, China, 1944

The 2,500 Marines in this year's Marine Rotational Force-Darwin will return home this fall, but the Corps' MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors will stay in Australia for training and other duties.

New(ish) image of the curious new Chinese WIG design. Via 琴石2022/Wb.

It begins…

Philippines and Cosmoship Call for Release of Crew After Houthi Video Can you claim you saved the crew after you sank their ship, killed four crewmembers, hold them hostage and then make them film a hostage video? maritime-executive.com/article/phil... #maritime #maritime-news

Pentagon Eyes Southern Philippines as Refueling Hub for U.S. Warships, Military Aircraft — USNI News news.usni.org/2025/07/22/p...

Marines, Aussies Provide New Details on Army SM-6 Anti-Ship Missile Test— USNI News news.usni.org/2025/07/22/m...

Caught the final episode of the first season of Murderbot last night. The whole first season was just lovely, and I'm delighted that it's gotten a second season. Congrats, @marthawells.com, and everyone else involved, both for the season that's wrapped up, and for what is to come.

This is a good step. asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Def...

Chinese research vessels survey seabeds where naval rivals may one day clash – The New York Times: ‘Some ships edged close to Taiwan’s 12-nautical-mile territorial sea boundary, but did not appear to cross the line’ ‘Starting early last year, Chinese ships began surveying the seas near Guam’

The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Newport News (SSN 750) conducted a port visit in Iceland, marking the first time a nuclear-powered submarine pulls into port on Iceland’s shores, July 9, 2025 🇺🇸 🇮🇸 www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

An Amazon delivery van was engulfed in flames in Arlington, Virginia after catching fire due to a malfunctioning gas engine according to the Arlington Fire Department.

Live INDOPACOM reaction:

DPRK leader Kim Jong-un has called for deploying two additional Choe Hyon-class destroyers every year. It will require considerable time to complete fitting out, manufacturer’s trials, and navy acceptance trials before these vessels can be committed to operations.

My latest for @wpr.bsky.social www.worldpoliticsreview.com/ukraine-oper...

SEOUL — North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles Thursday, South Korea's military said, around a week after leader Kim Jong Un tested a new weapons system for his latest warship. Read more: tmt.news/2108554

If I was a NATO navy I’d be investing in these as a short and medium term air defence option.

The Daniel K. Inouye telescope snapped a clear image of sunspots.

Japan has recorded an "extreme increase" in Chinese drones probing its airspace, with the number of Chinese drone challenges last fiscal year equal to all previous years combined. (from @brianmcelhiney.bsky.social & @keishirkoja.bsky.social)

Today is National Submarine Day. During WWII, 263 U.S. Navy submarines deployed on war patrols. This image of 52 submarines in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island in 1946 represents the same number of subs that went on eternal patrol after being lost in the war.

Blue Water Autonomy, Inc., the technology company building autonomous ships for the U.S. Navy, emerged from stealth today, and announced $14M in seed funding from Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures 🇺🇸 www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

Organized crime has gotten a lot more attention over the past few months. My @cna.org colleague Tom Bickford examines how organizations that start in the Indo-Pacific can have an impact in the U.S. www.cna.org/our-media/in...

F/A-XX hints, icebreaker ambitions and previewing day two of Sea Air Space [VIDEO] https://breakingdefense.com/2025/04/f-a-xx-hints-icebreaker-ambitions-and-previewing-day-two-of-sea-air-space-video/

The inter-service training at the Joint Simulation Environment is expected to become standard this spring.

Japan’s maiden participation in Balikatan 2025 is the culmination of years of defense and security cooperation between Tokyo and Manila 🇯🇵🇵🇭 Story by @aaronmatthewil.bsky.social www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

it is a really bizarre setting and some of the stuff that is prevalent (like tons of small drones) is a replacement for more effective stuff (like artillery). not every lesson learned in ukraine needs to be slotted into u.s. doctrine. but everyone should be paying attention and learning

PH prepares humanitarian aid, rescue team for quake hit Myanmar

The Vlissingen, the second of the series of mine warfare motherships of the Belgian-Dutch rMCM programme, first intended for the Royal Netherlands Navy, began her first sea trials campaign from Concarneau, France, on March 27th 2025 🇳🇱 www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

Great piece by @mjruehl.bsky.social on Switzerland’s new defence minister Martin Pfister, an army colonel who reckons co-operation and joint training exercises with Nato, of which Switzerland is not a member, is “absolutely necessary” @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/38de...

China's total fiscal deficit is set to increase by at least 2 percentage points of GDP in 2025. That's maybe not the massive stimulus some wanted, but it's not small either. The question is the composition and effectiveness of the measures.

Good news for the US-South Korea alliance and for sustaining naval power in the Pacific. news.usni.org/2025/03/13/n...

U.S. Army Japan’s headquarters recently hosted its own version of March Madness as American and Japanese junior high school players faced off for the first time at Camp Zama outside Tokyo.

March 11, 1925: In the U.S. Navy’s largest-ever maneuvers in the Pacific, an invading “Black Force” is repulsed by a “Blue Force” with help from new S-class submarines. The exercise will show the value of the aircraft carrier Langley and spur faster development of other carriers.

A third squadron of F-35B Lightning II fighters arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan over the weekend, marking the latest step in the service's efforts to modernize its deployed forces in the Indo-Pacific.

Another major at-sea collision today. gcaptain.com/us-merchant-...

US Department of Energy to reportedly classify South Korea as a "sensitive country" from April 15, restricting nuclear and AI cooperation, per Hankyoreh. Experts believe the move is a response to growing nuclear armament debates among some politicians. www.hani.co.kr/arti/politic...

The Army has spent the last few years focus on the division as the tactical unit of action - but I think what that misses is the division organizes the battle (like everyone else) two levels down. Which is the BN. And thus for MDO the critical unit is actually the brilliant battalion 1/2

North Korea said on Saturday that it was building its first nuclear-powered submarine. The announcement came as U.S. and South Korean officials feared that the North may be receiving technological help from Russia.

ICYMI: Nearly 200 military families at Fort Cavazos in Texas could be affected by a massive fire that destroyed an apartment building and a storage facility holding the household goods of service members moving to new duty stations.

PH bans birds, poultry products from 3 US states due to bird flu

The government of Singapore announced a 12.4% defense budget hike on March 3, with major new equipment on order.

Search aircraft and patrol boats from the U.S. and the Marshall Islands continued searching Friday for a sea ambulance and its crew of four that was reported missing in Micronesian waters earlier this week.

Buying ships at a discount. Sounds like the kind of flexibility that could help solve real problems today while we get to perfect solutions “in the out years.” news.usni.org/2025/03/06/u...

Recently received a request from a Japanese colleague asking for help in identifying a piece of metal discovered in the mountains of Akita, near a known B-29 crash site. I don't have much of an eye for this sort of thing. Any thoughts as to what we're looking at here?