The Pentagon’s planned Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), expected to launch by October 2027, aims to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous and robotic systems. According to De
Reuters provides a rare look aboard the USS George Washington, a U.S. aircraft carrier deployed near the Strait of Hormuz amid an ongoing war with Iran. The carrier, sent from Japan in late August to
In November 1970, a Titan IIIC launched a classified US military payload from Cape Canaveral. The payload was later identified as a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite, the first in a constellatio
President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv on 20 February 2023 was described by White House officials as unprecedented for a modern US president. Unlike previous visits to wartime Iraq and Afghanist
Matthew Ford argues that military innovation has become an institutional substitute for strategy, repeating the “hammer-and-nail” problem identified by John Nagl in Iraq. The US military entered the S
Matthew Ford argues that contemporary military innovation has become a strategic dead end, repeating the institutional error identified by John Nagl during the Iraq War: armed forces interpret new pro
U.S. forces are scheduled to leave their remaining bases in Iraq by Wednesday, completing a withdrawal agreed to in 2024. The departure is being celebrated by Iran and its allied Iraqi militias as a m
An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Military Times found that Texas National Guard intelligence officers conducting Operation Lone Star secretly infiltrated invite-only WhatsApp groups used by m
A Reddit post discusses MILPER 26-350, which establishes or reinforces accelerated promotion opportunities for Army drill sergeants and recruiters.
Under the new policy, Sergeants (SGTs) selected or
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach announced plans to strengthen the defense of U.S. air bases, arguing that the service can no longer assume it will operate from secure “sanctuaries.” Speakin
Witnesses before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission warned that human approval may not provide meaningful control over AI-assisted military decisions. As AI increasingly supports target identifica
Iran-backed Houthi rebels rapidly expanded their control over Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing the island of Perim in the Bab el Mandeb Strait after seizing the port city of Mocha and advancing on Dhu
Saudi Arabia said it shut down its key East-West crude oil pipeline as a precaution after drone attacks from Iraq struck the line in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Thursday morning. The attacks caus
Stop Panicking About AI
news
thebignewsletter.com
IrregularChat: AI & Autonomy
3w ago
The piece argues that current AI panic is being amplified by a small group of influential insiders, especially at companies like Anthropic, even as those same firms are preparing for massive IPOs that
The U.S. Air Force is exploring a new ground-based, medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun system to defend air bases worldwide against drones and subsonic cruise missiles. A recent Request for Information
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) warns President Trump against believing claims that Russia is nearing defeat in Ukraine. The memo argues that reports from U.S. intelligence offici
Twenty-Five Years Later, We Still Ask Too Much of the Military
news
justinmc.substack.com
IrregularChat: Modern Warfare
Aug 31
The essay argues that, 25 years after 9/11, the United States still asks too much of its military. The author recalls being a teenager when the attacks happened and describes the fear and anger that f
Uncrewed Warrior Foundation
news
uncrewedwarriors.org
IrregularChat: Tech
Aug 30
The Uncrewed Warrior Foundation supports active duty service members, families, and veterans in the U.S. Special Operations uncrewed systems and sensors community. Its mission is to provide assistance
The article argues that the real danger in military AI is not fully autonomous weapons, but the rapidly expanding use of AI-enabled decision-support systems (AI-DSS) that help identify, prioritize, an
AI and the Risks of Tearing Down an Old System
news
warontherocks.com
IrregularChat: AI & Autonomy
Aug 18
Operation Epic Fury showed that AI has become central to U.S. warfighting. In the first 24 hours, Central Command used Claude on Palantir’s Maven Smart System to generate and prioritize about 1,000 ta
A boiler room accident aboard the USS *Iwo Jima* in the Persian Gulf killed 10 U.S. sailors and raised the number of accidental American deaths in Operation Desert Shield to 42, Pentagon officials sai
Eye in the Sky
news
radiolab.org
IrregularChat: sUAS
Aug 14
The piece describes Ross McNutt’s “persistent surveillance” technology, which uses a small plane equipped with a 44-megapixel camera to monitor an entire city continuously. Developed in 2004 during th
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly attacked a US military base in Kuwait on Tuesday morning, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. Th
The US has warned American citizens across the Middle East to stay alert and be prepared to leave if tensions escalate further, amid reports that President Donald Trump may be considering new strikes
Middle Eastern mobile networks were repeatedly targeted by cyberattacks during the Iran war to track the locations of US personnel and contractors, according to telecom data and people familiar with t
A U.S. Army armored unit recently tested an M1 Abrams tank equipped with a 7.62x51mm M134 Minigun, replacing one of the tank’s usual secondary machine guns. The test was conducted by the 1st Armored B
A Financial Times report says Iran may be using long-known telecom weaknesses and commercially sold location data to track U.S. troops across the Middle East, including in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The
X-Bow Systems, a New Mexico-based solid rocket motor manufacturer, has unveiled Buckler, a low-cost interceptor aimed at countering Group 3 drones, which are UAS weighing up to 1,320 pounds and flying
U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) used artificial intelligence agents in an operational first during Operation Epic Fury, after Spain abruptly closed its airspace and military bases to U.S. aircr
At the 2026 Farnborough Airshow in London, Lockheed Martin unveiled the Morfius X-Rotor, a ground-launched counter-drone system designed to address the growing threat of hostile drone swarms with a lo
During the Iran war, Middle Eastern mobile networks were repeatedly targeted by cyberattacks aimed at locating US personnel and contractors, according to telecom data and sources familiar with the mat
Two U.S. service members were killed overnight Friday in an Iranian strike on a military base in Jordan, according to U.S. Central Command. A third service member was reported missing in action, while
A report from the Financial Times says Iran exploited long-known weaknesses in global telecom infrastructure to help locate U.S. military personnel in the Middle East before and during the early stage
Iraq has launched an unusually aggressive anticorruption campaign that has led to major arrests and the seizure of large sums of money, drawing public attention to the country’s long-running corruptio
CyCon_2016_book_sisu.indd
news
ccdcoe.org
IrregularChat: Tech
Jul 11
The document argues that military UAVs and broader aviation systems are increasingly part of a combined cyber and electronic warfare (CEMA) domain, because modern aircraft rely on networked sensors an
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Zana retired on June 1, 2024, after completing a final guard shift at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The watch marked the end of a 37-year
The Art of Statecraft in an Age of Strategic Failure
news
warontherocks.com
IrregularChat: Modern Warfare
Jun 30
Frank Hoffman’s review argues that the recent U.S. war against Iran exposed major failures in American statecraft and strategy. He defines sound statecraft as the integrated use of all national tools
The U.S. Army has approved the M111 Offensive Hand Grenade (OHG) for Full Material Release, making it the first new lethal hand grenade to reach that milestone since the Mk3A2 entered service in 1968.
independent.co.uk
news
independent.co.uk
IrregularChat: Modern Warfare
May 31
Donald Trump has contradicted his earlier claims about the U.S. war with Iran, saying in a Fox News interview that America had “left their military alone” and had not destroyed Iran’s armed forces. Th
Newly released Navy logs suggest that a portable counter-drone electronic warfare system, Northrop Grumman’s DRAKE, was deployed during the mysterious 2019 swarm incidents off Southern California. The
U.S. Southern Command chief Marine Gen. Francis Donovan said the era of massive troop deployments and sprawling forward operating bases, common during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, is increasingly da
President Donald Trump said Taiwan should not assume the United States would provide a “blank check” military guarantee if tensions with China escalate. In a Fox News interview with Bret Baier, Trump
British paratroopers down drones in Lithuania
news
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
IrregularChat: Counter UxV
May 15
British paratroopers from 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) have joined the US Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Lithuania for Exercise Flytrap, a training event focused on counter-drone war
In this resignation letter dated March 17, 2026, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Kent informs President Trump that he is resigning effective immediately. Kent says he cannot support t
NASA’s X-43A remains a landmark in hypersonic flight. In 2004, the unmanned experimental aircraft reached Mach 9.6, or about 7,346 mph, making it the fastest air-breathing aircraft ever flown. Using a