Tag: military industrial complex

U.S. Military-Industrial Complex Agrees To Quadruple Bomb Production As Operation Epic Fury Rages On

U.S. Central Command said late Friday on X that U.S. forces struck 3,000 IRGC targets with air-delivered munitions during the first week of Operation Epic Fury, signaling that the campaign is only intensifying as it moves into next week.

President Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday that he would not accept a negotiated end to the war with Iran, suggesting the conflict could drag on for some time. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” he said.

We have reported that U.S. inventories of some critical munitions are running low, with U.S. forces scrambling for supplies of key air-defense interceptors as IRGC missiles and drones continue to target American and allied bases across Gulf states.

Dwindling supplies of critical munitions are being amplified by Ukraine’s continued need for interceptors amid relentless Russian missile and drone barrages, a major problem that likely prompted President Trump to host top U.S. defense manufacturers to discuss accelerating missile and bomb production.

“We just concluded a very good meeting with the largest U.S. Defense Manufacturing Companies where we discussed Production and Production Schedules,” Trump said on Truth Social late Friday afternoon.

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Pentagon Declares Major AI Company a Threat to Military Supply Chain

The Department of War is declaring war on an American company.

The Pentagon has officially deemed the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic PBC to be a “supply chain risk” over an ongoing dispute concerning restrictions Anthropic wants to place on the military’s use of its AI programs, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The designation is normally used for foreign companies based in nations that are adversaries of the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal.

It not only cuts Anthropic out of government contracting, it could force companies that wish to do business with the government to cut ties with the company as well.

“DOW officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately,” a senior Pentagon official told Bloomberg, using the acronym for Department of War.

The designation is the latest escalation of a weeks-long dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic, as Politico reported.

The company wants the Pentagon to agree that its AI product — known as “Claude” — will not be used for surveillance of American citizens or in the development of autonomous weapons systems (systems that will operate without human oversight).

“Claude” is already in use at the Pentagon, and reportedly played a role in the successful operation that captured now-former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

However, the Pentagon refuses to accept any limitations on lawful use of technology it procures. And it apparently sees the Anthropic demands as a precedent that could shackle defense measures in the future.

“From the very beginning, this has been about one fundamental principle: The military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes,” the Pentagon said in the statement.

“The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk.”

Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei blasted the Pentagon in a memo last week to Anthropic employees that was leaked to the media.

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The US Missile Defense Shortage is Worse than Imagined

Donald Trump made a bold and provably wrong claim yesterday about the US air-defense missile inventory:

The United States Munitions Stockpiles have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better — was stated to me today we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons. Wars can be ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries’ finest arms!). At highest end we have good supply but not where we want to be. Much additional high-grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries.

I will now show you conclusively that Trump is gaslighting the public, at least with respect to the PAC-3 MSE missiles. The PAC-3 MSE (Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement) is effectively the primary missile used in the modern Patriot system for most high-priority threats, particularly in current U.S. Army and allied operations as of 2026. The PAC-3 MSE ( Missile Segment Enhancement) began low-rate initial production (LRIP) in 2014, with deliveries starting in 2015 and full-rate production approved in 2018.

Starting in 2015 and continuing through 2020, the US produced between 100 — 300 a year. Let’s use the higher figure… That is 1,800 PAC-3 MSE. In the succeeding four year period, the US produced an estimated 2,200 PAC-3 MSEs (i.e., 500+ per year). In 2025 the US boosted production to 620. Total PAC-3 MSEs produced since 2015 is 4,620.

When the PAC-3 MSE is employed against an incoming threat, a minimum of two are fired. Keep that figure in mind. So how many have we sent Ukraine? According to open source documents, including DOD/DOW budget figures, the the US has transferred 847 PAC-3 MSE missiles to Ukraine. Assuming that the US and Israel have NOT fired any PAC-3 MSE missiles in 2025 and 2026, the US only has 3,773 in its inventory. We know that is ridiculous, but play along with me.

During the 12-day war Iran fired at least 600 ballistic missiles into Israel. In theory, the Patriot system is designed to work against ballistic missiles while Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to defeat short-range counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) defense, plus capabilities against drones, cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions (PGMs), and some ballistic threats in certain configurations. So let’s assume that the Patriot was fired at 500 of the Iranian missiles — i.e., at least 1,000 PAC-3 MSE missiles were fired. That shrinks the US inventory to 2,773.

In just four days since the start of Epic Fury, Iran has fired an estimated 200 missiles at sites in the Gulf nations and Israel that have Patriot batteries. Conceivably, that means that another 400 PAC-3 MSE missiles have been launched, which shrinks the inventory to 2,373. If Iran fires 60 ballistic missiles per day, and the Patriot system uses 2 interceptors per incoming missile (a common conservative engagement doctrine for high-confidence intercepts against ballistic threats), the inventory would be exhausted after 19 full days, with enough left on the 20th day to handle roughly 46–47 Iranian missiles before depletion (about 19.775 days total, or roughly 19 days and 18–19 hours of sustained operations at this rate). In other words, the US PAC-3 MSE missiles will be exhausted on March 23, 2026.

Note that I am assuming that the entire inventory of US Patriot missiles have been deployed to Israel and US bases in the region. That is a false assumption because there are Patriot missile batteries with a full complement of missiles in other theaters. At present there are three Patriot battalions permanently assigned/forward-deployed to INDOPACOM (e.g., in South Korea/Japan/Guam areas, like 35th ADA Brigade and 1-1 ADA at Kadena); EUCOM has one Patriot battalion assigned (e.g., units in Germany like Baumholder/Ansbach areas, supporting NATO/Eastern flank).

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Defense giants cash in as Iran conflict escalates

Defense contractors are winning on Wall Street, as the uncertainty of a war with Iran and increased tension in the Middle East continue to fuel substantial gains in the stock market. 

While oil prices surged the highest Monday, jumping more than 6% over fears of a global supply shortage, companies that build military equipment weren’t far behind — Lockheed Martin and RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, gained 3.3% and 4.7% respectively.

Shares of Northrop Grumman jumped the highest, ending the day up about 6%. 

As the DOW Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the S&P 500 finished flat, all three of the world’s largest defense contractors hit new 52-week highs, according to Barron’s. 

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Germany Approves Major Package of Attack Drones for the Bundeswehr, With a Half a Billion Euro Initial Purchase

Kamikaze drones are the name of the game.

Today, news has arisen that the German armed forces will purchase a large number of attack drones, and the unusual aspect is that these drones are NOT meant to be sent to Kyiv’s regime, but rather to be destined for units of the Bundeswehr, instead.

DPA International reported:

“The German parliament’s budgetary committee has approved an initial €540 million ($640 million) for the purchase of kamikaze drones from German manufacturers Helsing and Stark Defense, dpa learnt on Wednesday.

The committee also set a limit of €1 billion and instructed the Defense Ministry to report back on the purchases before parliament grants approval for further purchases.”

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Kansas Engineer Gets 29 Months for $1.2M Kickback Scheme on Nuclear Weapons Projects

A Kansas man was sentenced to 29 months in prison for conspiring to steer fraudulently and award subcontracts by a major engineering firm for work on nuclear weapons manufacturing projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC).

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michael Clinesmith, 70, of Overland Park, Kansas, solicited and received kickbacks and bribes from Richard Mueller, 65, of St. Charles, Missouri, in exchange for steering subcontracts from Clinesmith’s employer to Mueller’s company, known as subcontractor one.

 Clinesmith, a long-tenured employee of a major engineering firm working at the KCNSC, was responsible for designing and procuring gages specifically manufactured to measure components of nuclear weapons.

“For more than a decade, the defendant exchanged his integrity and his employer’s trust for kickbacks from a dishonest contractor,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “To satisfy his greed, he corruptly steered contracts that were essential to ensuring the integrity of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Yesterday’s sentence reaffirms the Criminal Division’s commitment to rooting out fraud and corruption related to the procurement and manufacture of critically important products and services for the federal government and, ultimately, for United States taxpayers and to holding those accountable who commit these acts.”

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Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show

The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza, sprawling more than 350 acres, according to Board of Peace contracting records reviewed by the Guardian.

The site is envisioned as a military operating base for a future International Stabilization Force (ISF), planned as a multinational military force composed of pledged troops. The ISF is part of the newly created Board of Peace which is meant to govern Gaza. The Board of Peace is chaired by Donald Trump and led in part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The plans reviewed by the Guardian call for the phased construction of a military outpost that will eventually have a footprint of 1,400 metres by 1,100 metres, ringed by 26 trailer-mounted armored watch towers, a small arms range, bunkers, and a warehouse for military equipment for operations. The entire base will be encircled with barbed wire.

The fortification is planned for an arid stretch of flatlands in southern Gaza strewn with saltbush and white broom shrubs, and littered with twisted metal from years of Israeli bombardment. The Guardian has reviewed video of the area. A source close to the planning tells the Guardian that a small group of bidders – international construction companies with experience in war zones – have already been shown the area in a site visit.

The Indonesian government has reportedly offered to send up to 8,000 troops. Indonesia’s president was one of four south-east Asian leaders scheduled to attend an inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington DC on Thursday.

The UN security council authorized the Board of Peace to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza. The ISF, according to the UN, will be tasked with securing Gaza’s border and maintaining peace within the area. It is also supposed to protect civilians, and train and support “vetted Palestinian police forces”.

It is unclear what the ISF’s rules of engagement would be if there is combat, renewed bombing by Israel, or attacks by Hamas. Nor is it clear what role the ISF is meant to play in disarming Hamas, an Israeli condition to proceed with Gaza’s reconstruction.

While more than 20 countries have signed up as members of the Board of Peace, much of the world has stayed away. Although it was set up with the UN’s approval, the organization’s charter appears to grant Trump permanent leadership and control.

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Eric Trump invests in Israeli company behind ‘low cost per kill’ drones

US President Donald Trump’s son Eric is investing heavily in a merger between Israeli drone manufacturer Xtend and Florida-based construction firm JFB Construction Holdings.

Xtend, which made weapons tested on Palestinian civilians during the genocide in Gaza, prides itself on its “low-cost-per-kill” drones. 

The $1.5-billion merger aims to take the Israeli drone maker public. Xtend will then be listed on the NASDAQ.

“I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in. Drones are clearly the wave of the future. Xtend has unbelievable potential,” the US president’s son said in a statement.

Joseph F. Basile III, chief executive officer of JFB, said in a statement that “by pairing XTEND’s operating system and advanced AI capabilities with JFB’s execution, infrastructure and buildout expertise, we see a clear opportunity to accelerate US manufacturing, scale production responsibly, and support a next-generation defense technology platform built in America and ready for the public markets.”

“By combining our platform with JFB, we are acquiring the resources we need to scale our manufacturing capabilities in the US and gaining access to the US public markets,” said Xtend CEO Aviv Shapira. 

Xtend’s various types of drones are documented to have participated in attacks and targeted killings in Gaza. Reports have said an Xtend drone was used to find late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in battle in October 2024. 

Israel’s use of deadly drone warfare has been widespread and is responsible for heavy civilian casualties in Gaza as well as in Lebanon.

The new merger has been described as an expansion of Trump’s business empire, which has been branching out into various sectors, including AI and cryptocurrency.

One such AI giant that has entered into multi-billion-dollar partnerships with the US and Israeli governments is Palantir, which also played a role in the Gaza genocide.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp openly stated this week that his company is dedicated “to the service of the west and the United States of America” and aims to “disrupt” and “on occasion” to “kill” the enemies of the west and the US. 

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Elon Musk’s ‘Moon Cities’ Fairy Tale: A Transparent Cover for Militarizing Lunar High Ground

Introduction

In February 2026, Elon Musk announced a sudden, dramatic pivot for SpaceX, shifting focus from his long-touted goal of colonizing Mars to building a ‘self-growing city’ on the Moon within a decade [1]. This abrupt change, presented as a pragmatic realization that the Moon is closer, has been breathlessly reported by a compliant tech press. But to those who scrutinize the patterns of power, this narrative is not a scientific epiphany; it is a masterclass in strategic deception.

Musk’s track record is one of comic-book futures sold to a scientifically illiterate public-from perpetually ‘next year’ Full Self-Driving cars to the erratic Grok AI. His moon city promise is the latest chapter, a fantastical cover story designed to secure public funding and approval for a far darker agenda: the weaponization of the ultimate strategic high ground. This article will deconstruct the biological impossibilities of lunar habitation, expose the suicidal environmental realities, and reveal how the seductive fantasy of ‘moon cities’ is a transparent smokescreen for deploying the most terrifying planetary bombardment system ever conceived.

Elon’s Sci-Fi Fantasy: From Mars to Moon, Same Empty Promises

Elon Musk’s declaration that ‘SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon’ represents a glaring contradiction of his own multi-year Mars colonization crusade [1]. This isn’t a course correction based on new science; it’s strategic theater. Musk himself noted the Moon lacks the carbon dioxide needed to make methane for his Starship fuel, a fundamental logistical flaw he previously used to justify focusing on Mars [2]. The sudden ‘realization’ that the Moon is a quicker target is a laughable excuse for a public long conditioned to accept technocratic fairy tales.

This pattern of overpromising and underdelivering is Musk’s hallmark. He sells visions of the future to a public whose understanding of physics and biology has been eroded by a corrupt education system and a deceitful media. The moon city narrative is merely the latest shiny object dangled before the masses to distract from the underlying military-industrial drive. As investigative journalist James Corbett has warned, one of the most important strategies to prepare against government-endorsed weaponized narratives is to build community with like-minded people who share your views [3]. Questioning Musk’s sudden lunar zeal is the first step in seeing through the con.

The Biological and Physical Impossibility of Lunar Cities

The dream of a bustling lunar metropolis shatters against the unforgiving reality of lunar environmental science. First and foremost is the lethal radiation environment. The Moon has no protective magnetosphere or substantial atmosphere to shield its surface from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. As research has confirmed, ‘The radiation dose rates from measurements obtained over the last four years… are higher than previously conceived’ [4]. Prolonged exposure to this radiation would lead to rapid cancer development and catastrophic genetic damage for any surface dweller.

Furthermore, the Moon’s lack of atmosphere means a pure vacuum at its surface. This presents two immediate, insurmountable problems for human life and machinery. First, any pinhole breach in a habitat or suit means instant explosive decompression and death. Second, the vacuum eliminates the possibility of combustion, rendering standard internal combustion engines for heavy machinery-necessary for any construction or mining-utterly useless [5]. The concept of operating functional heavy machinery in a vacuum without oxygen is a fantasy.

Finally, the extreme thermal environment would mechanically destroy any human-made structure. Surface temperatures swing between -173°C (-279°F) at night to 127°C (261°F) during the day [6]. This constant, radical expansion and contraction would fatigue and crack even the most advanced materials, leading to inevitable catastrophic structural failure. The notion of permanent surface cities is an engineering impossibility.

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U.S. Approves $185 Million Sale of Abrams, Bradley, and HIMARS Spare Parts to Ukraine

The United States has approved a potential $185 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Ukraine focused exclusively on sustainment, spare parts, and logistics support for U.S.-supplied ground combat systems currently in service with Ukrainian forces.

According to notifications released on February 6, 2026, the U.S. State Department authorized the sale, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) transmitted the required certification to Congress. The case, designated DSCA 25-105, covers Class IX spare parts and associated services intended to maintain the operational readiness of armored vehicles, artillery, and rocket systems that have seen sustained use during ongoing combat operations.

Sustainment-Centered Assistance

Unlike earlier security assistance packages that emphasized the transfer of complete weapons platforms, the newly approved sale is centered on maintenance and lifecycle support. Class IX material refers to repair parts and components required to keep existing equipment operational, including assemblies, subassemblies, kits, and items consumed during routine and battle-damage maintenance.

U.S. officials described the package as a logistics-focused measure designed to address the cumulative effects of high operational tempo on Western-supplied systems. Continuous fielding under combat conditions has accelerated wear on engines, drivetrains, fire control components, sensors, electronics, and suspension systems, making predictable access to certified spare parts a key factor in sustained combat effectiveness.

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