Ukraine has deployed its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.“Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile FP-7. First combat use,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “Thank you for the result. Next – production.”He did not say where the FP-7 had been used in combat or against what target.Russia frequently uses ballistic missiles in strikes on Ukrainian targets, and Ukraine has viewed development of its own tactical ballistic missiles as an important element in ensuring its defense needs.Zelenskyy praised the test results of tactical ballistic missiles earlier this year, saying they showed good potential for…

Air Force officials identified the active-duty airman, found dead at off-base housing in Italy last week, as a precision-guided munition production supervisor.TSgt. Conner Wells, assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, was pronounced dead at his off-base residence in Roveredo, Piano, on Sept. 22, according to a base social media post.Wells served as a precision-guided munition production supervisor with the 31st Munitions Squadron and hailed from North Folk, California.“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of one of our own,” Col. Beau Diers, 31st Fighter Wing commander, said in the statement. “Conner’s presence will be greatly missed within…

RTX’s Raytheon 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, as the Pentagon pushes to replenish munitions stockpiles depleted by conflicts in the Middle East.The five-year contract, which includes two additional option years, the Navy said, is meant to provide a steady and reliable supply of the SM-6, a missile that can carry out both offensive strikes and missile defense missions.The SM-6 award is the latest in a series of large munitions contracts the Pentagon has pursued this year to pressure contractors into ramping…

The U.S. is rerouting a team of “specialized” Marines from Europe to the Baltic Sea to bolster NATO-led security efforts, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. About 48 Marines will work with Finnish forces to support Baltic Sentry, a coalition effort launched in Jan. 2025 to protect undersea infrastructure in the region after NATO leadership reported that saboteurs had damaged energy and communication cables. The department said troops participating in the rotation will use small unmanned aerial systems and littoral sensors to gather data on the security situation for NATO. The Marines, assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine…

With the Iran conflict now in its seventh month, the Pentagon has enacted an increase in hostile fire and imminent danger pay for all troops. It’s the first bump in these monthly stipends since 2002, officials said Thursday as they announced the change.A memo from Assistant Secretary of War for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Timothy Dill increases hostile fire pay to $450 per month from its previous top rate of $250, and imminent danger pay to $275 monthly, or $9.16 per day, up from the prior cap of $225 or $7.50 per day.The memo, released by the Pentagon, is dated…

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More › Sign up for the On The Gun Newsletter The latest for gun hunters and competitive shooters. Suppressors have already become popular, and recent deregulation might have you ready to buy your first one. But how do you pick? There are a lot of great suppressors out there, but your choice shouldn’t be random. There are some things that will ensure you are happy with your purchase and, frankly, some that don’t matter much at all. Here are some simple guidelines and…

The U.S. Navy announced that it surpassed its fiscal 2026 recruiting goal, continuing a trend of meeting its fleet’s manpower needs several years in a row.The service surpassed its fiscal 2026 enlistment goal by adding 45, 112 new sailors, after hitting its initial goal of 45,000 sailors three months ahead of schedule in July.“Americans are choosing to join our Navy because they want to be part of a warrior culture, serve alongside teammates who share that ethos, and take on the extraordinary combat missions our Navy is executing around the world today,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle.…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. The human animal is a stalker so capable that it puts other carnivores to shame. Predatory animals need not be as good as us because they do not need to get as close to their prey before killing it instead rushing to their intended kill with jet-like speed. Our ancestors, before the days of bow and arrow or spears, could not run down prey like wolves. They could, however, stalk unsuspecting animals and kill them with their hands. An art, born of necessity is, however,…

The Pentagon is launching a religious affairs office to address what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth calls a loss of religious community within the military after an era of “political correctness.”Reporting directly to Hegseth, the Office of Religious Affairs, or ORA, is meant to offer service members “first-class religious support,” according to the defense secretary. Hegseth first announced the office during his State of the Force address on Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, to junior officers and enlisted leaders.“Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God because while we wage physical war, we…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. These are very good times to be in the market for a rifle scope. Even better times if you’re on a limited budget. Brands are responding to softness in the consumer market and are offering deep discounts in their mid-tier product lines. These are generally those scopes that have the best combination of value and performance, are built around good glass and proprietary optical coatings, and offer a rich selection of reticles, magnifications, and add-ons like illumination or custom turrets. Refreshingly, they’re not 34mm behemoths.…

The Navy announced Thursday that it will be renaming the command that handles current and future readiness for combat missions.Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said in a C-NOte that the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command will henceforth be known as Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, to more accurately indicate the capabilities of the command. “The name Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces better reflects the command’s core responsibility to man, train, equip, certify, and generate expeditionary Sailors and units for employment by operational commanders worldwide,” the message said.The command will continue to oversee explosive ordnance disposal, maritime expeditionary security, naval construction and…

The Pentagon spent $2.85 million assembling tents at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that were never used to house detained noncitizens, according to the Government Accountability Office.The government watchdog found that the Defense Department reported obligating approximately $68 million for immigration detention from Oct. 1, 2024, through May 31, 2026. The Guantanamo operation was one of six new detention-expansion initiatives U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pursued without first developing a comprehensive strategic plan. By July 2026, ICE had scaled back four of the six initiatives, resulting in wasted or potentially wasted resources, the GAO said in a Sept. 24 report.A January 2025…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. The reclusive and nocturnal nature of whitetail bucks is as apparent in October as in any other month, maybe more so. To make matters even more challenging, old deer are summer-fat and wear heavy fur coats; it’s no wonder they move so little and so slowly. You can sit back and wait for the stars, the moon and a cold front to properly align and incite bucks to prowl during daylight hours. Or you can have more…

Two California-based startups took the top spots in the latest phase of the Drone Dominance competition, a Pentagon effort to find companies that can produce high-quality, low-cost commercial drones at scale.According to the competition’s leaderboard, Neros Technologies scored highest in the confined-environment testing category. Perennial Autonomy claimed the top spot in “deep-strike” testing, in which operators launched attacks beyond the range of enemy defenses.The Pentagon uses the companies’ rankings to determine how many drones to buy, meaning higher-scoring companies receive larger orders. In total, the department ordered 14,000 drones from Neros — which also ranked third in deep-strike testing —…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. IF YOU’VE EVER owned a bird dog, then you’ve probably got Tom Dokken to thank. Maybe you read his book or used the check cord he designed. You almost certainly bought a Dead Fowl Trainer (or an imitation of one) to teach your pup the proper hold on a bird. Or maybe you sent your dog off to a trainer who read Dokken’s columns or attended his seminars, or maybe even trained under Dokken himself. During his five-decade career, Dokken founded Oak Ridge Kennels, developed…

Hitting something that’s moving is a different problem.

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told a forum in late September he was seeking “resilience through unity” with a new alliance that would let world officials and non-governmental groups prepare together in case of disaster.For Taiwan, that could mean an attack or blockade by the militarily more powerful China.Lai’s pitch to 500 experts and guests augured an international expansion of a roughly five-year-old domestic, military-civilian, whole-of-society awareness campaign similar to that seen overseas when larger countries bear down on smaller rivals.Taiwan’s “efforts promoting whole-of-society defense resilience have progressed toward closer international connections and cooperation,” Lai said.The…

A small change in how you breathe.

Command Sgt. Maj. Nema Mobarakzadeh recalls an occasion at a prior command in which a battalion sergeant major approached him, outraged that his soldiers hadn’t had running water in their barracks for a week.Mobarakzadeh asked the sergeant major for the number of the work order he’d put in to address the problem, but got only confusion in response.“Not one person in the formation put a request in,” Monarakzadeh, now command sergeant major of U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command, said during a call with reporters on Monday. “And so I chewed him out a little bit and let him know that…

The three-star commander of U.S. Army Recruiting Command confirmed this week that the service had reached its Reserve and Special Forces recruiting goals for the first time in 10 years or more.The Army announced earlier this year that it had met its active-duty recruiting target four months early for a second year in a row, bringing in more than 61,500 soldiers and cementing a dramatic turnaround from two years of missed recruiting missions in 2022 and 2023. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X that the Army had met its Special Forces recruiting mission for the first time…

Mag placement sounds like a small thing.

No regulation on AI. The question’s right in the title.