TOPSHOT – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (R) receives US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) BEIRUT — On April 29, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprising announcement: that a new defense pact between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is “potentially very close to completion.” In turn, Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that bilateral agreements be ..read more

Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian Defense Force, speaks in Canberra at Air & Space Conference on May 9, 2024. (Colin Clark/Breaking Defense) CANBERRA — With controlled passion, the chief of the Australian Defense Force today offered a ringing rebuttal of critics of the AUKUS plan to buy and build nuclear powered attack submarines. Gen. Angus Campbell, making what is likely one of his last speeches before retirement, called on his countrymen to “Get in the ring, give it a go, because we are delivering nuclear powered submarine capability to this nation — full stop — and it will ..read more

AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600 drone on display at the SOF Week conference in Tampa. (Michael Marrow/Breaking Defense) SOF WEEK 2024 — On the heels of the Pentagon’s announcement that the company’s Switchblade weapon was picked for the DoD’s Replicator initiative, manufacturer AeroVironment expects that it will have to ramp up production of loitering munitions in the years ahead — and that its offerings will evolve to meet new mission sets. “We have already expanded production ahead of Replicator, and irrespective of Replicator, because we know where this is going,” AeroVironment CEO Wahid ..read more

(image courtesy of BAE Systems) What is BAE Systems’ Intrepid Shield™? Intrepid Shield is our full-spectrum approach to platform survivability. Executing missions in the modern battlespace is extremely challenging; platforms will be seen and will be engaged. Our platforms need a coordinated, complimentary approach to survivability to penetrate and survive, using the full electromagnetic spectrum to detect, exploit, and counter advanced threats. We call this concept Intrepid Shield. Tell us about the threat. The modern battlespace is getting more and more complex every day and surviving is ha ..read more

Estonia’s Scouts battalion conducts urban warfare training. (Estonian Defense Forces) TAPA ARMY BASE, Estonia — Estonia’s rapid-response Scout Battalion would likely be among the first defenders to meet Russian forces if Moscow ever seeks to cross the border. Luckily, the unit is getting first-hand guidance on how best to fight Russians, thanks to a flow of former Scouts who volunteered on their own to fight in Ukraine, and have since returned to provide insights for their active-duty comrades.  “So we are trying to learn … from them how to change our tactics, procedures, all those kind ..read more

Royal Australian Air Force Leading aircraftman Peter Ellis gives the thumbs up that the E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft is ready for a sortie during Red Flag-Alaska 19-3 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 9, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Mark Goss) WASHINGTON — The Air Force and Boeing are close to resolving a pricing disagreement that has held up a deal for the first two E-7 Wedgetail planes, and a final agreement could materialize within weeks, the Air Force’s top acquisition official said Wednesday. The Air Force initially estimated it wou ..read more

From training in the cloud to live-fire ranges, the U.S. Army is moving forward with an enterprise plan that also includes Live, Virtual, Constructive training. Here are the details.   ..read more

The drone unit of the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade of the Ukrainian Army continues its combat training as heavy clashes continue on the Zaporizhzhia frontline in Ukraine (Photo: Getty Images) BELFAST — “I know serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, as he made a surprise visit to Kyiv on April 29. Calling out US political paralysis and European failures at “scale,” the NATO chief spoke in surprisingly candid terms about how Ukraine had been let down by its friends in recent months, leading to advances ..read more

Estonian soldiers take part in a training exercise (Photo: Estonian Defence Forces) TALLINN — Estonia’s military months ago had internal discussions about the potential for sending its troops into western Ukraine, far from the front lines, to take over some non-combat missions in order to free up Ukrainian troops to go to the front, the Baltic nation’s chief of defense told Breaking Defense. But, Gen. Martin Herem said Wednesday there hasn’t been “serious discussion” of the move since the idea of foreign troops in Ukraine has become polarized in public between “doing nothing” and “fighting ..read more

Chairman Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), left, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), right, listen to witness testimony during a Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Defense Hearing in 2023. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The two leads of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today indicated they will push for the Pentagon’s fiscal 2025 budget to eclipse the roughly $850 billion requested by the Biden administration. Sens. Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who chairs the subcommittee, and Susan Collins, the ranking Republican ..read more