Tag: military industrial complex

Tomahawks for Kyiv: a dangerous idea

The US is poised to “sell” Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. The US special envoy to Ukraine, retired general Keith Kellogg, says only the final decision has to be made. The US has already agreed, Kellogg said, for deep attacks on Russian territory, and only the release of the Tomahawks is pending, a decision left to US President Donald Trump.

While it may be regarded as an open and shut case by Washington, that does not take away the decision as reckless and escalatory. It puts the US on a direct collision course with Russia, one that could lead to a war in Europe.

The Tomahawk cruise missile was originally intended to give the US nuclear triad a system that could successfully deliver nuclear weapons against the USSR. The idea was to create a system that was nearly impossible for Soviet air defenses to counter, after it became clear that conventional bombers – especially the B-52 – could not operate from high altitude over Soviet territory.

Tomahawk was designed to fly “nap of the earth: missions. That is, once it was over Soviet airspace, it was designed to drop down to near tree-top heights and follow the contours of the earth, making timely detection difficult if not impossible.

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War Department Pushes To Double or Quadruple Missile Production To Prepare for Potential War With China

The US War Department is pushing US weapons makers to double or even quadruple the production of missiles to help the US military prepare for a potential future war with China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The report said that senior Pentagon officials expressed a desire for a significant increase in production during a series of meetings with representatives from several US missile manufacturers. Steve Feinberg, the deputy US Secretary of War, has taken a leading role in the effort, which has been dubbed the Munitions Acceleration Council, and regularly speaks with some executives.

The US military has been openly preparing for a war with China for years despite the obvious risk of nuclear war. The preparations have involved expanding the US military footprint in the Asia Pacific, building alliances in the region, and increasing weapons shipments to Taiwan.

The Journal report said that the effort at expanding missile production is focused on weapons the Pentagon believes it needs for a conflict with China, including Patriot interceptors, Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles, the Standard Missile-6, Precision Strike Missiles, and Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles.

Since 2022, the Pentagon has formally considered China the top “threat” facing the US, although that may soon change as reports say the War Department’s forthcoming National Defense Strategy (NDS) may prioritize missions in the homeland and the Western Hemisphere over countering Beijing.

In a statement back in May, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he was directing the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, to begin work on the new NDS, which he said will “prioritize defense of the US homeland, including America’s skies and borders, and deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.”

Colby is a well-known China hawk who has long pushed for the US to prioritize China and prepare for a war over Taiwan, though there are signs that he has started to doubt the US’s ability to defend the island. Either way, the US is expected to continue its military buildup in the region.

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Drone Maker DJI Loses Lawsuit Over Inclusion on Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ List

China-based drone maker DJI will remain on the Pentagon’s blacklist of Chinese companies working with Beijing’s military, after a D.C. federal judge dismissed its lawsuit challenging the designation on Sept. 26.

In his 49-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled that the Pentagon’s finding that DJI contributes to the Chinese defense industrial base is “supported by substantial evidence,” even though he “cannot conclude” that DJI is “indirectly owned by the Chinese Communist Party.”

“DJI acknowledges that its technology can and is used in military conflict but asserts that its policies prohibit such use,” Friedman wrote. “Whether or not DJI’s policies prohibit military use is irrelevant. That does not change the fact that DJI’s technology has both substantial theoretical and actual military application.”

In other words, Friedman concluded that the Pentagon had presented enough evidence to call DJI a “military-civil fusion contributor” to China’s defense industrial base.

DJI, a private company headquartered in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, sells more than half of all commercial drones in the United States. In October 2024, it filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon after the latter placed the Chinese drone maker and many other Chinese companies on its list of “Chinese military companies” operating in the United States, under Section 1260H of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

In a complaint, DJI called the Pentagon’s decision “unlawful and misguided,” and said that it “is neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military.”

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Vance Says Trump Is Considering Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles

Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that aired Sunday that President Trump was considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, a step that would mark a significant escalation of the proxy war, as the missiles have a range of over 1,000 miles.

“You asked this question about Tomahawks. It’s something the president is going to make the final determination on. What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest for the United States of America … I know that we’re having conversations this very minute about that issue,” Vance said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

It’s unclear how Ukraine would use the Tomahawk missiles if they were supplied, as they are designed to be fired by US Navy warships and submarines. Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, previously said that Ukraine lacks the naval infrastructure to use sea-launched Tomahawks.

The US could potentially provide Ukraine with its new ground-based Typhon missile launcher, which can fire Tomahawks and was developed after the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.

Vance didn’t address the risk of escalation that comes with providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Moscow has previously made clear that US-backed missile strikes on its territory risk nuclear escalation, as it changed its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons after the Biden administration gave the green light for Ukraine to fire US-provided ATACMS missiles into Russia.

When asked about his previous opposition to the US arming Ukraine, the vice president pointed to the fact that the US is now having European countries fund the weapons shipments. However, last month, the administration announced a deal that will arm Ukraine with Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) air-launched missiles, which can hit targets up to 280 miles away, that will be partially funded by US military aid.

Tomahawks would put Moscow in range of Ukrainian missile strikes, and Vance’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened that Kremlin officials could become targets if the war continues. “They have to know where the bomb shelters are,” Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

In the same interview, Zelensky said that he had the explicit backing of President Trump to hit Russian energy infrastructure and arms factories and warned that if the US provided additional long-range capabilities, “we will use it.”

Russia, which hasn’t targeted Ukrainian leadership, has dismissed Zelensky’s threat. “Zelensky is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Meanwhile, the state of affairs at the front indicates the opposite. With every passing day, the situation for Ukraine is inexorably deteriorating.”

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Trump Is Preparing a $6 Billion Arms Package for Israel

The White House informed Congress that it is preparing a massive arms sale to Israel, including attack helicopters and military vehicles. The weapons will be paid for with US military aid. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the total value of the weapons deal is $6 billion. The sale is $3.8 billion for 30 AH-64 Apache helicopters and $1.9 billion deal for 3,250 infantry assault vehicles. 

Washington will pay for the arms with foreign military financing. The US provides Israel with at least $3.8 billion in military aid annually. Washington boosted assistance to Tel Aviv following the October 7 Hamas attack. In the first year of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, the US sent Israel nearly $18 billion in aid. The weapons will begin arriving in Israel in two to three years. 

The report of the package follows Israel’s attempt to assassinate Hamas leadership in Qatar. The strikes angered Doha, a major non-NATO US ally. Qatar has also committed to investing $1 trillion in the US economy and gifted Trump a luxury aircraft. 

Additionally, the assassination attempt prevented Trump from initiating talks to end the war in Gaza and free the Israeli hostages. The strike occurred as the Hamas leadership was meeting to discuss a proposal sent by Trump. Qatar said the attempted assassination ended any chances of reaching a hostage agreement. 

The White House has pushed Congressional leadership to endorse the sale even after the Israeli strike in Qatar. 

Israel is in the process of ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza. The onslaught has primarily been conducted by Israel using American weapons. A large number of civilians have been killed by Israeli forces. Additionally, an Israeli siege of Gaza has created a famine, and hundreds of Palestinians have starved to death.

Since taking office, Trump has approved multiple arms sales to Israel, including a sale of $3 billion in bombs.

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SHOCKING REVELATION: New Military Surveillance Video Shows Glowing UFO Splitting a Hellfire Missile Mid-Air — Witnesses Admit No Known U.S. Technology Can Do This

On Tuesday morning, Capitol Hill was rocked by the release of a never-before-seen military surveillance video showing what appears to be a glowing orb, an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), shrugging off a U.S. Hellfire missile like it was a paper airplane.

The 100-pound air-to-ground missile literally bounced off the craft, barely leaving an impact, before the UAP shot away at impossible speeds.

The shocking footage, captured by an MQ-9 Reaper drone off the coast of Yemen on October 30, 2024, was unveiled by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) during the latest congressional hearing on UAPs.

Burlison wrote:

Below is the video I revealed in our @GOPoversight UAP hearing today, made available to the public for the first time.

October 30th, 2024: MQ-9 Reaper allegedly tracking orb off coast of Yemen.

Greenlight given to engage, missile appears to be ineffective against the target.

**Footage presented as received from a whistleblower. Independent review is ongoing.**

Below is the video I revealed in our @GOPoversight UAP hearing today, made available to the public for the first time.

October 30th, 2024: MQ-9 Reaper allegedly tracking orb off coast of Yemen.

Greenlight given to engage, missile appears to be ineffective against the target.… pic.twitter.com/jxJwl0e00S

— Rep. Eric Burlison (@RepEricBurlison) September 9, 2025

The hearing, titled “Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection,” was led by Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets Chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).

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Ukraine Runs Low On Air Defense Munitions-Expect Another Z Trip To DC?

It’s time for another Zelenskiy trip to Washington to demand weapons the American military needs to defend the homeland.

The question is — will Trump give them to Kyiv? Or put America first?

Recently, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released information that after the Middle East ’12 Day War’, the U.S. had used up 25% of its reserve of air defense munitions.

Ukraine is running low on air defence munitions as the Pentagon slows arms deliveries following a June review of US military aid.

The slowdown comes amid intensified Russian missile and drone attacks, including the largest aerial assault since the full-scale invasion, killing civilians and targeting key infrastructure, reports FT.

Officials warn Ukraine’s air defence systems could soon face critical shortages if attacks continue. 

US shipments of Patriot interceptors, Stingers, NASAMS missiles, Hellfires, and precision artillery shells have all been delayed.

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Pentagon-Funded Research Supported Chinese Military Projects, House Report Finds

A congressional investigation has revealed the Chinese regime exploited U.S. universities to collaborate on hundreds of defense projects funded by American taxpayers, including some blacklisted by the U.S. government due to ties to the Chinese military.

The report, released on Sept. 5 by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), builds on a 2024 investigation by Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and former House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).

It found that hundreds of millions in U.S. federal research funding over the past decade have aided China’s technological and military advancements.

“American taxpayer dollars should be used to defend the nation—not strengthen its foremost strategic competitor,” the report said.

The report identified over 1,400 research publications linked to Department of Defense (DOD)-funded projects with Chinese partners, valued at more than $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds. Approximately 800—over half—involved direct collaboration with defense entities of the Chinese state.

It urges limiting U.S. research collaboration with China and supports new legislation by Moolenaar to block DOD funding for projects involving Chinese entities flagged as security risks by the U.S. government.

The report highlighted several case studies posing significant national security risks.

One project—funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Office (ARO), and NASA—involved researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Beihang University.

Shanghai Jiao Tong is overseen by China’s State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), the agency managing the defense industry. Beihang, part of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defence” linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List in 2001 for its involvement in rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, deemed a threat to U.S. national security.

Another project on thin film research, funded by the DOD’s Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, involved Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Arkansas, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). HIT, also a “Seven Sons of National Defence” university, operates a SASTIND-overseen lab researching advanced materials and welding for military applications, including spaceflight, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines, in collaboration with the state-owned Ansteel Group.

The Select Committee’s report reveals major issues with DOD Research & Engineering (R&E). For example, it failed to update its risk framework or enforcement, listing only a few of China’s known talent programs and defense labs on the 1286 List, despite many more being identified. Additionally, there have been no follow-ups to ensure that grants comply with safety rules, even when risks are flagged.

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Trump to reinterpret 1987 missile treaty to sell heavy attack drones abroad

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to unilaterally reinterpret a 38-year-old arms control treaty to sell sophisticated “Reaper” style and other advanced military drones abroad, according to a U.S. official and four people familiar with the plan.

The new interpretation would unlock the sale of more than 100 MQ-9 drones to Saudi Arabia, which the kingdom requested in the spring of this year and could be part of a US$142 billion arms deal announced in May. U.S. allies in the Pacific and Europe have also expressed interest.

By designating drones as aircraft like the F-16 rather than missile systems, the United States will sidestep the 35-nation Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) agreement it signed in 1987, propelling drone sales to countries like UAE and in Eastern European nations that have struggled to get their hands on America’s best unmanned aerial vehicles.

The new policy will allow General Atomics, Kratos, and Anduril, which manufacture large drones, to have their products treated as “Foreign Military Sales” by the State Department, allowing them to be easily sold internationally, according to a U.S. official speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

This effort is the first part of a planned “major” review of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, the official said.

A U.S. Department of State spokesperson declined to comment.

Under the current interpretation of the MTCR, the sale of many military drones is subject to a “strong presumption of denial” unless a compelling security reason is given and the buyer agrees to use the weapons in strict accordance with international law.

The MTCR was originally meant to curb the sale of long-range missiles that can deliver weapons of mass destruction. Though drones were invented many years later they were considered within the scope of the MTCR due to their ability to fly long distances and carry weapons.

U.S. drone manufacturers are facing stiff competition overseas, especially from Israeli, Chinese and Turkish rivals who often sell under lighter restrictions.

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Electromagnetic Weapon Destroys Drone Swarm In Seconds: ‘Singularity Event’

Drones have quickly become all the rage among military leaders and Silicon Valley investors, but new weaponry could threaten the nascent technology’s swift rise.

Last Tuesday, defense contractor Epirus quietly tested its latest electromagnetic weapon, Leonidas, against a swarm of 49 quadcopters, neutralizing them in seconds at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, according to Axios, the only news outlet invited to the groundbreaking test. Numerous U.S. military services and foreign allies, including Indo-Pacific partners, witnessed the event. In an interview with Axios, Epirus CEO Andy Lowery hailed the “forcefield system” as a “singularity event.”

The test by Epirus comes as the U.S. military is aggressively advancing its drone capabilities to maintain air superiority in an era of rapidly evolving unmanned systems, spurred by lessons from conflicts like Ukraine’s use of commercial drones against Russia. The Pentagon’s recent policy shift, announced in July by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, reclassifies small drones (Group 1 and 2, under 55 pounds) as consumables akin to ammunition, empowering lower-level commanders to procure and deploy them swiftly, bypassing cumbersome bureaucratic processes. The move, which is part of Hegseth’s “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” directive, mandates that every U.S. military squad, prioritizing Indo-Pacific units, integrate U.S.-made drones by 2026.

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