President Trump’s claim that China controls the Panama Canal has placed a Hong Kong tycoon and his conglomerate at the heart of a showdown between the United States and China.
Ukraine received the first Mirage 2000 fighter jets promised by France on Feb. 6, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said, giving the country its second type of Western aircraft in addition to F-16 jets handed over by allies last year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military was far from deploying troops to Gaza, casting doubt on any immediate intervention into the besieged coastal strip after President Trump suggested the U.S. take control of the territory.
A Marine and three U.S. Defense Department contractors were killed after their plane crashed in the southern Philippines on Feb. 6, military officials said. The crew had been on a routine mission providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support “at the request of our Philippine allies,” Maj. Matthew Gregory with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs wrote in a news release.
A Defense Department unit is examining how SpaceX’s Starship vehicle could be used to support a broader architecture of in-space refueling. Speaking at the Smallsat Symposium Feb. 6, Gary Henry, a senior adviser at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and a former SpaceX executive, said the agency was working with SpaceX to examine how Starship’s in-space refueling capabilities could support a broader range of users.
In its latest annual report, the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) provides an absolutely glowing assessment of the F-15EX Eagle II, the latest fighter to enter U.S. Air Force service. However, the assessment also offers a note of caution, especially when it comes to the survivability of the fighter when faced with potential future threats.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drafted an all-hands-on-deck memo for crafting an action plan to deploy a comprehensive missile shield over the United States, including readying a budget request for fiscal 2026, Breaking Defense has learned.
The combatant command that oversees American military operations in the Middle East has a new chief technology officer. Joy Angela Shanaberger, who recently served as a senior adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks during the Biden administration, took on the CTO role at U.S. Central Command, which is headquartered in Tampa, Fla., last month.
Google has discarded its self-imposed ban on using AI in weapons, a step that simultaneously drew praise and criticism, marked a new entrant in a hot field, and underscored how the Pentagon—not any single company—must act as the primary regulator on how the U.S. military uses AI in combat.
Honeywell will split itself into three separate companies, the company said Feb. 6 as it announced a plan to break up its automation and aerospace businesses in addition to a previously-announced spin off of its advanced materials unit. “Unprecedented demand” in both commercial and defense aerospace sectors led to the company’s decision to break off that division as a standalone, public company, Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur said in a statement.
Abbie Sweetwine didn't realize one day she'd earn fame and gratitude in the United Kingdom as the "Angel of Platform Six." A native of Cocoa, Fla., Sweetwine became a nurse and joined the U.S. Army in 1942, serving in a number of stateside hospitals. After World War II, she decided to remain in the military. When the Army Air Forces split away from the Army to become the Department of the Air Force in 1947, she was assigned to the Air Force.
