Sunday, October 18, 2026

Pentagon has ‘kicked off’ review of US force posture in Europe

The Pentagon has formally launched the Europe force posture review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last month, beginning a process to examine U.S. military troop presence, force posture and basing across Europe.Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby announced on X Tuesday that the Defense Department had “kicked off” the review Hegseth unveiled during…

Pentagon puts out call for robot boats that launch attack drones

Spurred on by the threat of unmanned boats and small drones in contested waters such as the Persian Gulf, the Pentagon has set out to quickly find a cheap countermeasure. The Defense Department has put out a solicitation for robot boats that are capable of launching small attack drones — with technology mature enough to…

Senate confirms Clayton as Trump’s next intelligence director

The Senate on Tuesday night confirmed Jay Clayton to serve as President Donald Trump’s second permanent national intelligence director, replacing an acting chief whose leadership alarmed Democrats and disrupted efforts to renew a major foreign surveillance program. Clayton was confirmed in a 51-47 vote. He will oversee the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which…

French wildfires threaten nuclear deterrence industry, Rafale assembly

PARIS — Wildfires raging west of the French city of Bordeaux are threatening a number of France’s key defense-industrial sites, including an ArianeGroup facility that produces propulsion components for the M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile, Dassault Aviation’s final assembly line for the Rafale fighter jet, and one of Roxel’s main manufacturing sites for solid rocket motors…