DefenseNews

Ukraine declares its first homegrown guided aerial bomb combat-ready

KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian company has produced the country’s first guided aerial bombs capable of striking targets “dozens of kilometers” behind enemy lines with 250-kilogram warheads, giving Kyiv a homegrown equivalent to Russia’s cheap, devastating glide bombs, the Ministry of Defense announced Monday. The aerial bomb is a winged but engineless weapon that drops from an aircraft at…
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DefenseNews

US Marines practice seizing remote islands in Philippine exercise

LAOAG, Philippines — At one point during Exercise Balikatan 2026 in the Philippines, one regiment of the U.S. Marine Corps had personnel strewn across 17 locations in the archipelago, giving forces a chance to flex their muscle in dispersed, expeditionary operations. Held from Apr. 20 to May 8, Balikatan was a good testing ground for the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, or 3rd MLR. This agile…
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DefenseNews

Iran military threat is diminished but not eliminated, CENTCOM chief says

America’s 38-day bombing campaign against Iran has diminished the Islamic Republic’s ability to threaten global security, but has not yet eliminated the threat altogether, Adm. Brad Cooper, the chief of Central Command, told lawmakers on Thursday. “It’s a very large country,” Cooper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He acknowledged that Iran still possessed “a very…
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DefenseNews

Japan fires first-ever missiles from Philippine soil

LAOAG, Philippines — A Japanese anti-ship missile smashed into and sunk a decommissioned Philippine naval vessel afloat in the South China Sea, headlining a culminating event of Exercise Balikatan 2026. This missile firing of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type 88…
DefenseNews

US special operations leaders frustrated by inability to modify their own equipment

U.S. special operations leaders expressed frustration Tuesday about manufacturers’ proprietary agreements that block them from making quick upgrades to military equipment. The problem is especially acute for unmanned systems, they said, as technology is evolving far faster than the ability of U.S. Special Operations Command to modify its drones. “The biggest challenge that that we face, at…
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