National Security

As President Donald Trump and other alliance leaders gather for the long-awaited NATO summit meeting in Turkey, a pressing question is how the alliance adapts as Europe seeks to replace long-standing American air warfare capabilities. 
The Pentagon’s cost estimate for its operations against Iran has risen to $30 billion, the director of the Office of Management and Budget told Congress on June 30, as he offered almost no new details on the White House’s supplemental funding request that includes $67.1 billion for the Department ...

Verbatim

June 18, 2026
A collection of quotes on airpower, space power, and national security issues.

WORLD: Readiness

June 18, 2026
New KC-46 Vision System Slips to ’28  By Matthew Cox The Air Force says it has formed a plan with Boeing to get key upgrades deployed across the KC-46 tanker fleet faster—but the service acknowledged it won’t start fielding the...

WORLD: Iran

June 18, 2026
Epic Fury’s Epic Cost: $29B  By Chris Gordon The cost of operations against Iran has risen to $29 billion, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers May 12, a $4 billion increase from the Department of Defense’s last public estimate two...

WORLD: Budget

June 18, 2026
Inside the $1.5T Budget Request By Greg Hadley, Matthew Cox, Steve Losey The Trump administration’s record-breaking $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal 2027 would represent a $441 billion increase over the fiscal 2026 budget, a 44 percent jump that...