Military

In a seeming bid to counter increasingly aggressive Chinese activities in the South China Sea, the U.S. plans to finance and construct a fast boat facility on the western coast of Palawan in the Philippines.
The facility will be built to launch at least five fast boats, which will be constructed by U.S.-based company ReconCraft. The manufacturer specializes in producing vessels used by law enforcement and the military for rapid interdiction.
According to documents, the vessels will include both “assault boats” and rigid-hulled inflatable boats, USNI News has reported.
The facility, which will also include on-site storage and conference rooms, will provide the Armed Forces of the Philippines with an effective launch point for patrols into the South China Sea.
Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed in increasingly hostile interactions in the region, especially as China has used aggressive tactics to assert its claims over a variety of uninhabitable reefs and shoals.
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In a seeming bid to counter increasingly aggressive Chinese activities in the South China Sea, the U.S. plans to finance and construct a fast boat facility on the western coast of Palawan in the Philippines.
The facility will be built to launch at least five fast boats, which will be constructed by U.S.-based company ReconCraft. The manufacturer specializes in producing vessels used by law enforcement and the military for rapid interdiction.
According to documents, the vessels will include both “assault boats” and rigid-hulled inflatable boats, USNI News has reported.
The facility, which will also include on-site storage and conference rooms, will provide the Armed Forces of the Philippines with an effective launch point for patrols into the South China Sea.
Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed in increasingly hostile interactions in the region, especially as China has used aggressive tactics to assert its claims over a variety of uninhabitable reefs and shoals.
..

MILAN — GM Defense has partnered with British company NP Aerospace to offer American platforms in a bid for the United Kingdom’s Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) tender.
The program requirements are part of the UK’s wider Land Mobility Program that intends to replace three different types of aging vehicles and consolidate the British Army’s fleet.
The two companies have teamed up to offer GM’s flagship Infantry Squad Vehicle and its utility variant for the LMV segment, both based on the rugged Chevrolet Colorado ZR2.
In an interview with Defense News, Bradley Watters, vice-president of international government solutions and strategy at GM Defense, said the company views the competition as a strategic race.
GM Defense eyes $1 billion European market for tactical vehicles
“It’s all about getting that first win, with a major military force, and having these vehicles back in Europe – GM is getting back into Europe, if you have not heard of it, in..

MILAN — Ukraine’s fleet of unmanned surface vessels is expanding with the emergence of a new, smaller type dedicated to riverine warfare for countering Russian presence in key waterways.
Ukrainian firm NoviTechNe debuted this month a new one-meter-long USV dubbed the Ursula, according to United24 Media, a government-run news website focused on Ukraine.
The multi-function system is said to be able to conduct river reconnaissance, act as a floating mine or as a drone carrier to launch two-kilogram, first-person-view drones from the water.
In a video published by the manufacturer, the naval drone is seen maneuvering through riparian vegetation while carrying what appears to be a small FPV drone.
The Ursula is not the first USV of this type that Ukrainian companies are experimenting with.
Over the winter, Brave1, a government defense-technology hub tasked with getting new capabilities field-ready, reported that Ukrainian troops were trialling the Black Widow 2. The system, whic..

A KC-46A Pegasus refueling tanker was forced to conduct an emergency landing July 8 after its refueling boom was shredded in a mishap off the East Coast.
The unofficial Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco posted photos of the KC-46 Friday, which showed extensive damage to the plane’s refueling boom. The War Zone first reported the damage to the KC-46.
The photos show most of the boom is ripped off, with its remaining metal ripped and twisted and a chain hanging down. The underside of the plane’s tail was also dented and scraped, which may have occurred from the damaged boom.
John Van Winkle, a spokesperson at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, confirmed one of the base’s tankers was damaged and pictured in the post.
Inbox: “McConnell tail that landed at SJ for the boom”
Posted by Air Force amn/nco/snco on Friday, July 11, 2025The KC-46, which is from McConnell’s 22nd Air Refueling Wing, was refueling F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Langley-Eustis that afternoon when t..

Some A-10 Warthogs could get a reprieve from total retirement as Congress moves to reverse some of the Pentagon’s most dramatic Air Force cuts in its proposed fiscal 2026 budget.
The Pentagon’s budget, which the department released in June, calls for the Air Force to retire its remaining 162-plane fleet of A-10 attack aircraft in 2026, two years earlier than originally intended. It also calls for canceling the E-7 Wedgetail program in favor of E-2D Hawkeyes and space-based sensors, and cutting the planned purchase of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters down to 24, or nearly in half.
The proposed E-7 and F-35 cuts sent shockwaves through the Air Force community and prompted 16 retired four-star generals — including six former chiefs of staff — to speak out against the changes. They sent top congressional leaders a letter Monday urging lawmakers to change course.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday announced it had approved its version of the 2026 National Defen..

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China has failed to intimidate rival claimant states into surrendering their sovereign interests in the disputed South China Sea despite its intensifying “bullying tactics,” and the United States and other allied countries are ready to further boost deterrence against Beijing’s aggression, the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said.
Adm. Stephen Koehler, who oversees the largest naval fleet command in the world, gave assurances Friday in a Manila forum of U.S. commitment to help defend freedom of passage and the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pacific Fleet’s mission, he said, was to deter aggression across the region with allies and partners “and to prevail in combat if necessary.”
Filipino military pushes naval base upgrades, fearing Chinese spying
China’s tactics have “grown steadily and more aggressive with rammings, water cannons, lasers and sometimes worse,” Koehler said. “But desp..

The Navy hopes its Next-Generation Attack Submarine, currently known as the SSN(X), will be a successful combination of stealth, operational life and autonomous technology — but that idea may not become reality anytime soon.
A Wednesday report to Congress sent by the Congressional Research Service said the submarine’s development is projected to be significantly delayed.
While the Navy requested nearly $623 million in research and development for the program in its fiscal 2026 budget proposal, the timeline for the attack submarine has not changed since the service delayed its production from the 2030s to the 2040s last year.
Critically, the Congressional Research Service report lists among its issues for Congress the possible impact this delay could have on U.S. global seapower and warfighting capabilities, specifically “on the future U.S. ability to maintain undersea superiority and fulfill U.S. Navy missions.”
During the fiscal 2025 budget process, the planned pr..