YOU WANT ME TO RIDE WHERE? General Tony Thomas (Ret.), former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command doesn’t seem to have slowed down much in ‘retirement’. To prove the point, he’s riding 406 miles across the state of Iowa this month in the “oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world” according to the organizers. The General’s participation in the RAGBRAI ride, as the cool kids call it, will benefit Special Operations Warrior Foundation and if you have an extra $20 burning a hole in your pocket, here’s how you can show your support and put that money to work – without having to pedal.
NATO LEADERS GET A BANG OUT OF THIS: NATO leaders reportedly departed this week's Ankara summit with something a little more memorable than a joint communiqué: personalized revolvers, courtesy of their host. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly sent each attending leader home with a Magnum revolver engraved with their name, boxed in red velvet alongside six live rounds — and, notably, no explanation. Hungary's Peter Magyar confirmed the gift himself on X, engraving and all. Belgium's Bart De Wever says he didn't learn what was actually in the box until after landing back in Brussels. Canada's Mark Carney, who'd given fellow leaders maple syrup, admitted his offering "kind of undermatched" the Turkish president's. The logistics got complicated fast. Firearms belonging to Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz, and Rob Jetten reportedly remain in Ankara for now — moving live weapons across borders can be bureaucratically messy. Luxembourg's Luc Frieden says his revolver will be rendered "irreversibly unusable" before it joins the rest of the country's diplomatic-gift collection. The Washington Post says it was unable to confirm whether President Trump got a revolver – but we know he kinda likes stuff with his name on it.
AIR FORCE 1(A): President Trump's brand-new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One apparently wasn't quite ready for prime time. According to ABC News, after the NATO summit, the President flew from Ankara on the older presidential aircraft after security officials reportedly advised that the newly retrofitted 747 had not yet been equipped with the full suite of defensive systems carried by the other (older) Air Force One. ABC also reported that passengers aboard the older aircraft were instructed to keep their window shades down and that its flight tracker remained dark until the plane was over the Black Sea. The President dismissed suggestions that the switch was security-related, saying the new aircraft simply made a quick stop in England so service members could see it, while also reminding reporters that he's "number one on Iran's kill list." Twenty-four hours later, the president was back aboard the Qatari jet for the trip home from RAF Mildenhall.
THE PENTAGON DISCOVERS BATTERIES: The Defense Logistics Agency has concluded that lithium might be useful. Bloomberg reports that the agency has issued a solicitation for up to 16,200 metric tons—nearly 36 million pounds—of battery-grade lithium carbonate, a purchase that could total as much as $300 million over five years and would mark the first formal addition of lithium to the National Defense Stockpile. The timing is hardly accidental. China dominates much of the global lithium supply chain, while the metal has become indispensable for everything from military communications and night-vision equipment to the Pentagon's rapidly growing fleet of battery-powered drones. Better late than suffering a strategic case of low battery.
WHAT IF A NUCLEAR WEAPON IS ALREADY IN ORBIT? One of the biggest gaps in global arms control may be hiding in plain sight. Although the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing nuclear weapons in orbit, there is currently no reliable way to verify that a satellite isn't secretly carrying one. That could soon change. An MIT physicist has proposed a novel satellite-based detection system capable of identifying the neutron signature emitted when high-energy particles strike uranium inside a thermonuclear weapon. Published this week in Nature, the concept would use an "inspector" satellite to detect hidden warheads without physically boarding or disabling another spacecraft. While still theoretical, the technology could provide the first practical means of enforcing the Outer Space Treaty at a time when military competition in space is accelerating and concerns over space-based nuclear weapons are no longer just science fiction.
NIC OF TIME? The National Intelligence Council, the intelligence community’s traditional home for big-picture analysis, may need a new crystal ball. Politico reports that NIC Chair Andrew Byers quietly departed last week, just days after acting DNI Bill Pulte reportedly showed nearly two dozen NIC staffers the door. The move follows the ouster of senior ODNI official Will Ruger and marks another turbulent chapter for an organization intended to be the intelligence community’s premier analytic shop. Interestingly, not only was Byer’s departure quiet…apparently his arrival was as well. It seems he was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia on January 20, 2025 and some time after that - moved to the NIC without much public fanfare. His bio is still on the DOW website…referring to him as a “Former” Deputy Assistant Secretary. With so many key players heading for the exit, observers are wondering whether the NIC is being downgraded from oracle to afterthought. As every intelligence analyst knows, the hardest estimate to write is the one about your own future. Politico says ODNI did not respond to questions about Byers going bye-bye.
MOSCOW’S HEADHUNTERS – Russia’s largest job platform HeadHunter has posted recruitment listings for drone operators to support air defense around Moscow. Reuters reports that the new recruits will become part of a volunteer unit linked to the Combat Army Reserve Force. The role includes operating drones for reconnaissance and data collection, with minimal experience required. A down side of the drone gig? The pay – which reportedly falls below the city average. The job posting comes as Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian infrastructure are escalating (and Russia continues to target Ukrainian cities with both missiles and drone attacks). Kyiv’s attacks on infrastructure inside Russia are assumedly prompting Moscow’s efforts to expand domestic air-defence capabilities using low-cost recruitment and surveillance-focused roles.
EVEN UKRAINIAN BIRDS ARE INNOVATING - Bird nests in Ukraine are now being made of a surprising new material: not straw, not twigs, and not grass, but fiber optic cables. The 1,200 km long front line between Russia and Ukraine has been covered in fiber optic cables, which drones from both sides now use for navigation and to prevent electronic jamming. The cables, which are up to 20 km long, remain draped over trees, buildings, and infrastructure long after they have fulfilled their purpose. Because the frontline is far too dangerous for humans to clean up these cables, birds have taken advantage of the abundance of this new resource for nest construction.
A SURPRISE GIVEAWAY – In a surprise revelation, TWZ reports that the military’s B-2 bomber recently fired an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) - reportedly for the first time in a live fire exercise in the Western Pacific. Air Force Global Strike Command said all details about the missile integration with the B-2 were classified. But the Pentagon’s FY2027 budget proposal shows that the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and the U.S. Air Force’s B-1 bombers are the only cleared launch platforms as of now. Multiple other aircraft have been named as platforms currently being adapted to integrate with the LRASM but the B-2 was not mentioned. If true, this new advancement would offer a fleet-killing platform crucial for any future Pacific conflict.
SIGN ME UP – The U.S. Army has announced a new Space Operations Branch that is being equipped to handle everything from satellite comms to missile warning and counterspace ops. That basically means that the Army now has a space lane with its own career track. Long overdue perhaps? The move sharpens U.S. readiness in the face of advancement in space operations by both China and Russia.
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