Watch full video on YouTube

The U.S. military used a laser in southern Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to shoot down three Mexican drug cartel drones this week near the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials said on Thursday.The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said in a statement that the operation took place late Tuesday and early Wednesday and used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser.The military did not give the precise location of the strikes nor make clear whether it took place over U.S. or Mexican territory. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said any unilateral U.S. action on Mexican soil would be a…

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Residents and airmen in the Washington, D.C., area will soon miss the familiar “whomp whomp” sound of UH-1N “Hueys” flying overhead as the aging aircraft depart Joint Base Andrews in the coming years.The U.S. Air Force recently selected Andrews to receive 26 HH-60W Jolly Green IIs, an advanced combat search and rescue helicopter, to replace the base’s 26 aging medium utility Hueys. The new aircraft are expected to reach initial operational capability by 2029, with full operational capability by 2030. In the meantime, the base will prepare for the additional aircraft through standing up the 5th Helicopter Squadron on Thursday…

The Navy is changing how enlisted advancement works. Eligible sailors in participating ratings are increasingly being connected to higher-paygrade billets, while nuclear sailors remain on a different advancement track.According to a Navy spokesperson, the programs have different functions, requirements and candidate pools. The differences are underscored by the service’s 2026 Nuclear Meritorious Advancement Program guidance, issued Aug. 19, which continues a quota-based advancement path for nuclear sailors, while 14 ratings are fully integrated into Billet-Based Advancement, or BBA. For the 14 ratings fully integrated into the BBA construct, advancement opportunities include Advance to Position and Command Advance to Position. The…

A former Navy SEAL who completed an illustrious career as a NASA astronaut and engineer over the last decade is returning to active-duty military service, according to NASA.Jonny Kim will continue serving as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and work in naval aviation training once he leaves the government agency Thursday. “Contributing to space exploration and serving NASA has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Kim. “Throughout my career, I’ve learned that beyond the missions, the training, and the hardware, success always comes down to the people. They are our greatest asset, and leading with love and…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. ditor’s Note: Richard P. Smith is a longtime outdoor writer and editor from Michigan. What follows is his perspective on the Rompola Buck, one of the most controversial whitetails of all time. The author has covered the story of this buck since the very beginning. Back in 1998, an experienced bowhunter named Mitch Rompola shot an enormous typical whitetail buck in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. The buck scores more than the buck that currently sits  atop the…

KYIV, Ukraine — The Department of Defense has awarded a contract worth almost $11 million to X-Bow Systems, a New Mexico-based rocket manufacturer, under a program aimed at developing a new anti-ballistic weapon for less than $750,000 a shot — roughly a fifth the cost of its top-tier equivalent, the Patriot missile.First issued one year ago, the government’s original solicitation from the Missile Defense Agency’s Rapid Response Small Launcher Technology program called on tenders that could “rapidly demonstrate very low cost, modular interceptor designs to counter ballistic and hypersonic threats.”Two companies, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris’ Aerojet Rocketdyne, have long held…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. THE PUG MARKS in the dry sand were as round as a full moon. Though I’d never seen such tracks before, nobody had to tell me what had made them. The shape spelled cat, and there was only one kind of cat in India big enough to make such prints. They led down into the thick tangles of a ravine, or nullah. Everything down there was green and cool and dense, in contrast with the parched plain on both sides. There were rocky caves along…