DefenseNews

US Army astronaut tapped for NASA’s Artemis III mission

The U.S. Army is launching into space — once again — by way of Col. Frank Rubio, who will be part of the 2027 Artemis III mission, NASA announced Tuesday. The astronaut will be part of a four-man crew that will tackle a host of difficult tests within Earth’s orbit in preparation for NASA’s 2028 Artemis IV flight, which will be the first crewed mission to the moon’s South Pole.
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DefenseNews

Trump vows to seize Iran’s Kharg Island

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to seize Kharg Island — the linchpin of Iran’s oil industry — as he escalated pressure on Tehran amid a fraying ceasefire. In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote the United States would be hitting Iran “VERY HARD…
DefenseNews

Germany welcome in GCAP, but new Leonardo boss warns about timing

ROME — The head of Italian defense firm Leonardo has welcomed the possibility of Germany entering the Italo-Japanese-UK GCAP fighter program but has warned that adding a new member could push back the delivery date. Leonardo CEO Lorenzo Mariani spoke on Wednesday after the collapse of the French-German Future Combat Air System program on Monday, following months of rows between French and German…
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US must learn lessons from Ukraine, innovate faster and cheaper: Anduril president

The U.S. needs to ramp up focus on building a variety of cheaper weapons systems at scale to ensure sufficient supply for future fights, according to Anduril’s president and chief strategy officer. U.S. industry became complacent and got “ambushed by the future,” said Christian Brose, who was on hand last week at the Washington Post’s inaugural Building America Summit to discuss defense…
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DefenseNews

Pentagon reveals preferred munitions for one-way attack drones

The Pentagon recently named the winners of the Lethality Prize Challenge in the Drone Dominance program, a $1.1 billion effort to expand domestic drone production and reduce the cost of commercial drones for military use. The Defense Innovation Unit announced in a LinkedIn…
DefenseNews

Polish-Ukrainian startup develops radar to track elusive, low-flying drones

WARSAW, Poland — Polish-Ukrainian anti-drone radar company Molfar Defence said it is developing a new generation of tactical radar systems for drone types that have doggedly managed to penetrate Ukrainian defenses. The technology aims to find small, low-altitude drones, including those connected to operators via long command wires, a setup that makes them immune to defensive electronic…
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