I - On Defense Podcast

For review:

1. The Saudi-led coalition, pushing to retake strategic territory seized by the Houthis, said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile north of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The escalation came after Yemeni government forces, with Saudi-led coalition air support, launched a lightning counteroffensive this week to capture the Red Sea coast around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait shipping route and the city of Mokha.

2. New satellite images show “significant renewed activity” at the underground Minzadehei nuclear facility near Tehran, which the IDF bombed during the war with Iran this year, according to a report published Tuesday by the Institute for Science and International Security.

3. Iran has “lost complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, adding that Tehran’s economy was “in total and complete freefall.”

4. Lithuania is ready to pay the cost to set up a permanent U.S. military base if Washington should agree to establish one there, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Tuesday.

The US has kept an armored battalion of almost 1,000 troops there since 2019, in overlapping rotations, meaning the troops arrive and leave every few months.

5. France test-fired an upgraded version of its M51 strategic ballistic missile from a submarine for the first time on Tuesday, a capability demonstration that President Emmanuel Macron called “very important” for the country’s strategic credibility and which he said would be monitored by allies and adversaries alike.

6. Anduril is establishing a new shipyard to manufacture parts for Virginia-class Submarines in Baltimore County, Md., the company and the White House announced today.

The new facility, dubbed Arsenal-2, comes with a $6.6 billion investment, including $3.7 billion in private capital and up to $2.9 billion from the Navy. And notably, today’s announcement marks Anduril’s first entry into the supply chain for a major legacy defense program.

For review:

1. The US Air Force has brought home its bombers stationed at a US run military air base in England used to strike Iran following an investigation into a planned terror attack at the RAF Fairford base.

2. The U.S. military is dispatching roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a U.S. official said Thursday. It includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.

3. Forces of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen have recaptured several key areas around Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Yemeni officials said Monday.

The officials said forces allied with the internationally recognized government have retaken the crucial town of Dhubab just north of the strait. 

They also captured the towns of Bab and Hadeid.

4. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen say they struck the international airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, an Aramco refinery and sites across the kingdom’s south.

5. Britain has warned Israel that it could expel 27 Israeli diplomats from the embassy in London if Israel follows through on its decision to close the British consulate in East Jerusalem, where 27 British diplomats work, according to an unsourced Ynet report on Monday.

6. The United States is pushing for Ukraine and Russia to hold negotiations at the technical level before the end of the month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 4.

7. German Chancellor Merz has announced a new round of military aid for Ukraine, valued at approximately €1 billion ($1.1 billion), to include turbojet-powered drone interceptors, standoff weapons and space-based technology.

8. Germany plans to stand up its first dedicated drone regiment next year, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced. Pistorius said ground forces will begin forming the regiment in 2027. 

For review:

1. The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Friday the seizure of two ships bound for Cuba that were illegally carrying thousands of gallons of diesel fuel amid the ongoing fuel blockade to the country imposed by President Donald Trump.

2. Senior Trump administration officials met at Camp David on Friday to discuss the war with Iran and escalating conflict between the Iran-backed Houthi militia and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army.

3. Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, with options being considered including a coastal push to secure the Red Sea shipping route or an assault on multiple fronts, regional and Western officials told Reuters.

4. The first batch of Taiwan’s new-build Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 fighter jets have arrived on the island, the country’s military announced today.

5. The U.S. Army on Tuesday signed agreements with Anduril, Castelion, Lockheed Martin, Mach Industries and RTX to create advanced long-range missile prototypes, Redstone Arsenal announced this week.

For review:

1. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday launched investigations into possible “terrorist activity” aboard flydubai FLT FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the copilot stabbed the pilot in an apparent attempt to crash the plane full of Israeli passengers.

2. A Russian strategic bomber crashed Tuesday on a training mission in the country's far east, killing six members of its crew, the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that the Tu-95 bomber went down in an unpopulated area in the Amur region, adding that one crewmember survived the crash and was hospitalized with injuries.

3. Iranian officials indicated Wednesday that they have received an official US response to Tehran’s latest proposal to end the seven-month war, which US President Donald Trump had publicly rejected just days earlier.

The officials did not say what the response contained, nor whether it was a rejection or not.

4. British police have arrested a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at a US-run military airbase in England that was used to carry out strikes on Iran, police said Thursday.

5. Finland celebrated the recent delivery of its first pair of F-35 fifth generation fighter jets today at a special ceremony hosted by the Finnish air force’s Lapland Air Wing.

6. RTX’s unit won a multiyear contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the U.S. Navy, the service said on Thursday.

7.  The U.S. Air Force has ordered four more MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters, the first under full-rate production, Boeing said Thursday, just weeks after the service declared the aircraft ready for its nuclear missile security mission.

8. Secretary of War Speech to Senior Officers at Quantico 

For review:

1. U.K.'s counterterrorism police release five suspects on bail during an investigation into a suspected bomb plot at a U.S.-operated air force base in England. Police confirmed Tuesday that no explosives were found in three vans linked to the suspects, and said the decision to grant bail was grounded in “experience and strategy.”

2. Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack infrastructure around the Middle East, intensifying its rhetoric as it awaits a formal response from Washington on a new plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

3. US President Donald Trump on Monday denied a report that he is prepared to offer Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions by the Islamic Republic.

4. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday pushed for the further implementation of a framework agreement with Israel during his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

5. The commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Tuesday, marking the third top commander in the terror group to be killed in recent weeks.

6. Russian special services were behind the fire at a building used by an Estonian military robotics company last month, the government in Tallinn said on Tuesday.

7. Russia plans to spend  $202.6 billion, on defense in 2027, around 27% more than the  $159.8 billion, originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

8. The Navy has chosen Boeing over Northrop Grumman to build its sixth-generation strike fighter, dubbed F/A-XX, two sources told Breaking Defense ahead of the formal announcement.

The selection locks Boeing in as the sole supplier of sixth-generation fighters for the US. 

9. The Defense Department has awarded Raytheon a multiyear contract worth up to $20.7 billion to build Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs. 

The Pentagon said the deal will nearly double AMRAAM production.

For review:

1. The U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide the military's Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News.

2. Israel on Sunday gave Dutch diplomats serving in Ramallah seven days to return their Israeli-issued diplomatic credentials, retaliating after a Dutch ban on goods from Israeli businesses in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights went into effect.

Their diplomatic privileges granted by Israel will expire at the end of that period, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on X.

3. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to the UAE today to meet with Emirati President Mohamed Bin Zayed, Channel 12 reports, citing two sources.

4. Iran stood firm Sunday on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after US President Donald Trump rejected its proposal.

Iran’s plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and fulfilling conditions in the ceasefire deal that fell apart months ago.

5. US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he expects talks with Iran to resume in the coming week, despite his rejection of a truce proposal put forward by Tehran.

6. British police said on Sunday they had arrested five men on suspicion of “preparing a terrorist act” and offenses under the Explosives Act, and the army was examining several vehicles after security was stepped up at a British air base used by US air forces in southwest England.

7. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said on Saturday that Hamas agreed last year to a roadmap that ultimately includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In an interview with Qatar’s Al-Araby channel, Hayya was asked about Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm as part of the Gaza ceasefire, but did not directly say whether the terror group would agree to disarm.

8. North Korea test launched a new weapon over the weekend that appears to be a hypersonic missile, according to photos released Tuesday by state media Korean Central News Agency.

9. The first Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 was handed over to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Tuesday. 

The KF-21 is considered a 4.5-generation fighter jet and will be equipped with a mix of indigenous and Western sensors and weapons in service, including the KGGB precision glide bomb and European MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile.

For review:

1. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit many of his favorite themes in a combative speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, including the threat Iran poses to the world and the Jewish people’s determination to stand up to antisemitism and attempts to annihilate them.

2. In a pre-recorded address played before the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas knocked US President Donald Trump’s administration for preventing him from attending the forum in person for the second year in a row.

 In his roughly 22-minute speech, Abbas bitterly criticized Israel for its policies against the Palestinians, insisting that Ramallah has completed the reforms demanded by the international community and recommitted to a two-state solution with a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel.

3. US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections.

4. An Israeli official has claimed that another round of strikes against Iran is “only a matter of time,” saying Tehran is racing to reactivate and fortify its nuclear program in anticipation of a possible attack, Saudi news channel Al-Hadath reported on Thursday.

5. China has sent around 1,300 air shipments containing dual-use components for drones and missiles to Iran’s Defense Ministry this year through the end of June, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

6. Saudi Arabia intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday that the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said were aimed at Taif in western Saudi Arabia and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea.

7. The United States has proposed that the United Arab Emirates host a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Russia to discuss efforts to ​end their four-and-a-half-year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.

8. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has lobbied U.S. defense leaders to allow the production of PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles in Germany, arguing an additional production site would help alleviate a glaring shortfall in the global supply chain for the vital air-defense weapons.

For review:

1.  Argentine President Javier Milei attacks the UN in a speech to the world body’s General Assembly, calling it a “useless organization” filled with “arrogant parasites.” 

2. President Donald Trump said Cuba was a failed state and freedom ​would be coming to the island nation in a UN address on Tuesday that ‌increased tensions with the Communist-run government. 

3. Iran and the United States hinted on Tuesday at the prospect of reviving negotiations to end the months-old war, with a senior Iranian official suggesting that the Strait of Hormuz could soon be reopened, as the presidents of both countries were due at the UN General Assembly in New York. 

4.  Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa held out the possibility of peace with Israel in a speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, while sharply criticizing Israeli military activity in Syria and vowing that Damascus would not relinquish its claim to the Golan Heights. 

5.  Responding to Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa’s insistence that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory, Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the strategic plateau in the northeast is “an integral, eternal part of Israel,” and that the IDF will not withdraw from a buffer zone it has held in Syria since Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s ouster in 2024. 

6.  On Monday, the UK and France said they would provide defensive assistance to Saudi Arabia, which the Houthis have repeatedly struck during the renewed conflict. 

7. US Invites Russian President Putin to December G20 Summit in Miami.

For review:

1. President Trump to Address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

2. Houthi fighters were pushing to seize strategic heights in Yemen on Monday to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, after a report that President Donald Trump had called off US strikes on the group at the last minute.

3. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Britain has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to repel attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Burnham tells reporters as he flies to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he has agreed that the Royal Air Force will provide air-to-air refueling of Saudi planes. 

4. Iran’s central military command said in a statement on Sunday that it had received information that the United States, with the backing of some regional countries, was preparing to resume military actions against it, state media reported.

5. Russia has effectively "lost control" of its diesel production sector as a result of the war with Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sept. 21, urging an end to the fighting.

6. Latvia’s government has approved the acquisition of Morana 155 mm self-propelled wheeled howitzers from Czech manufacturer Excalibur Army, reversing its earlier decision to pursue a deal with Sweden’s BAE Systems Bofors, the producer of the rival Archer artillery system.

7. The US plans to reopen a former Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and set up a military presence at an east coast base under an agreement to be signed by the US, Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday.

8.  A Nevada Air Force Base was picked to house General Atomics’ FQ-42, a week after the U.S. Air Force dubbed the Collaborative Combat Aircraft as Vengeance.

 On Friday, a new FQ-42 Vengeance aircraft was delivered to Creech Air Force Base.

9. Lockheed Martin was awarded $1.2 billion by the ground branch for work on the early operational capability munitions of PrSM Increment 2, a variant that integrates a new seeker capable of mobile targets.

For review:

1. Yemen’s Houthis said on Saturday that they launched strikes targeting “sensitive sites” in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and oil facilities in the kingdom’s port city of Yanbu.

2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not among the world leaders scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, and it is unlikely the pair will have time in their itineraries to squeeze in a sit-down, a US official told The Times of Israel on Friday.

3. Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured by a Hezbollah explosive device in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning, prompting Israeli strikes on the terror group’s sites, the military said.

According to the IDF, an engineering vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb planted by Hezbollah inside the military’s southern Lebanon buffer zone.

4. Denmark on Saturday hailed a “binding” deal announced by US President Donald Trump to give Washington “permanent control” over Greenland’s security and bar Russian and Chinese bases from the Arctic territory.

Denmark and Greenland — an autonomous Danish territory — both hailed the agreement and said they would sign it on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

5. German and US officials celebrated the rollout of Berlin’s first F-35 in a ceremony today, with both sides praising the moment as a sign of the close defense alignment between the two partners.

6. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Ankara and Washington were working on “creative ideas” to lift US sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.