I - On Defense Podcast - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

President Trump: Ceasefire With Iran "On Life Support" + Israeli PM: War "Not Over" + US Conducts Surveillance Flights Around Cuba May 11, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. US military intelligence-gathering flights are surging off the coast of Cuba, a CNN analysis of publicly available aviation data shows.

Since February 4, the US Navy and Air Force have conducted at least 25 such flights using manned aircraft and drones, most of them near the country’s two biggest cities, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and some coming within 40 miles of the coast, according to FlightRadar24.

2. US President Donald Trump on Monday said the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support,” a day after he rejected the proposal submitted by Iran over the weekend for a permanent truce.

3. The United Arab Emirates carried out military strikes on Iran, making it the only other country to join the United States and Israel in its war against the Islamic Republic, according to a report on Monday.

During the US-Israel war on Iran, Tehran launched sustained attacks on the UAE, firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry, making it the most targeted country in the region, including Israel.

4. The UK and France will on Tuesday host a multinational meeting of defense ministers on military plans to restore trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the British government said.

The announcement came hours after Iran warned London and Paris against sending warships to the region.

5. The EU has dismissed Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that the Kremlin-friendly former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could serve as a European mediator in peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

6. A 10-ship Russian convoy transited Japan’s Tsushima Strait to enter the East China Sea over the weekend, according to Japan’s Joint Staff Office.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) spotted two Russian corvettes, a fleet oiler, a tugboat and six cargo ships around 5 p.m. Saturday sailing southwest 140 kilometers northeast of Tsushima.

7. Taiwan’s parliament has approved a proposed government boost to defense spending after a protracted standoff — although it pared back the proposed supplementary budget by a third, and limited spending to US defense systems.

8. United States, Philippine, Japanese and Canadian forces combined land, sea and air platforms to sink two decommissioned ships off the western Northern Luzon coast during Balikitan 2026 last week, according to a Defense Department release.

President Trump Announces Russia - Ukraine Ceasefire & Prisoner Exchange + Report: Russia Supplying Iran With Drone Parts Using Caspian Sea + France & UK Posture Warships for Strait of Hormuz Escort Mission May 09, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. President Trump Announces Russia & Ukraine Ceasefire and Priosner Exchange.

The ceasefire will begin on Saturday and run through Monday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prisoner swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country."

2. NYT Report: Russia is sending drone components to Iran via Caspian Sea shipping, US officials told the NYT in a report published Saturday, turning the world’s largest lake into a key conduit for both covert and overt trade.

3. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff met today in Miami with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, as Doha assists in efforts to mediate a permanent ceasefire deal between Washington and Iran, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.

Qatar has been quietly operating as a go-between, while allowing Pakistan to play the main mediating role, the source says, confirming an earlier report.

4. Fresh “sporadic clashes” broke out Friday between Iranian and US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media, marking the latest flare-up despite a monthlong ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

The fighting came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington expected a response from Tehran on Friday to its latest proposal.

5. Iran’s foreign ministry issued an unusual warning on Wednesday to the “rulers of Abu Dhabi,” the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

It accused the tiny oil-rich state of conspiring with the United States and Israel against Iran, and threatened “dangerous consequences” unless the Emirates pulled away from those countries.

6. Israel reportedly set up a secret military base in the Iraqi desert in February in order to support its aerial campaign against Iran.

7. The UK will deploy one of its warships to the Middle East as part of planning for a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire.

France recently announced it had moved its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Red Sea in a move aimed at signaling that the coalition stood ready to secure the strait.

US CENTCOM Confirmed Self-Defense Strikes Against Iran in Strait of Hormuz + IDF Kills Hezbollah Radwan Force Commander in Beirut Strike + EU Council President Considers "Potential" Talks with Moscow May 07, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. US Secretary of State Rubio announced new sanctions Thursday on Cuba's military-industrial enterprise, its leader and a state-owned natural resources company.

2. US President Donald Trump says three US Navy destroyers transited out of the Strait of Hormuz under fire, adding that the American destroyers were not damaged but “great damage was done to Iranian attackers.”

3. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday that he had met with the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment in early March.

President Pezeshkian did not say when their meeting took place.

4. The US will host the third round of ambassador-level talks between representatives from Israel and Lebanon on May 14 and 15, a State Department official and an Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

Joining diplomats from each side will, for the first time, be military representatives, an Israeli official said, adding that the sides would discuss more concrete measures that can be taken to disarm Hezbollah.

5. Israel on Wednesday evening carried out its first airstrike in Beirut since before the ceasefire in Lebanon entered into effect last month, killing the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, who the military said had advanced plans to invade the Galilee.

6. The 23-year-old son of Hamas’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya succumbed Thursday to wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Wednesday, a hospital and senior Hamas official said.

Reports of Azzam al-Hayya’s death came as Hamas leaders were in Cairo to discuss the future of the ceasefire agreement.

7. The United Arab Emirates transferred $100 million to the Board of Peace in recent days to fund a contract for the training of a new Palestinian police force for Gaza, a US official and a Middle Eastern diplomat told The Times of Israel this week.

8. Israel said Thursday that it was working to help counter rat infestations in Gaza, helping move hundreds of cartons of rat poison into the territory as the warmer weather sees a surge in pests spreading through the tents of displaced Palestinians.

9. European Council President Costa said on Thursday that he believed there was “potential” for the bloc to negotiate directly with Moscow, adding that it had the backing of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to do so.

President Trump: Operation Project Freedom Will Be Paused; Blockade Remains in Full Force & Effect + CENTCOM CDR: US Helicopters Sank Six Iranian Small Boats in Strait + US Army Typhon System (Tomahawk) Test Fired in Philippines Exercise May 05, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. A high-level Trump administration official informed Iran on Sunday of the impending US operation to "guide" ships through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran not to interfere, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.

2. US President Donald Trump says the US will be pausing the operation it launched just one day earlier to assist vessels stuck in the Strait of Hormuz due to progress made in talks toward a permanent ceasefire with Iran.

3. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Tuesday it would respond firmly to any ships that diverge from Iran’s approved route through the Strait of Hormuz, as Israeli television reported US President Donald Trump came close to ordering renewed strikes over the weekend before calling them off.

4. Iran fired over a dozen missiles and several drones at the United Arab Emirates on Monday, renewing attacks on the Gulf state for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold last month.

The UAE Defense Ministry said its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran.

5. The United Arab Emirates’ contracting authority has inked a deal with Brazilian firm Embraer to procure 10 C-390 Millennium military transport aircraft with an option to procure 10 more in the future.

With this deal, the UAE is the first country in the Middle East to be on contract with the C-390 aircraft.

6. Germany’s ambitions to close a long-range strike capability gap are facing a fresh setback after the Trump administration moved to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from German soil and effectively shelved a Biden-era plan to temporarily deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 missiles there.

7. The U.S. Army Pacific’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force and the Philippine Army Artillery Regiment have test-fired a Tomahawk cruise missile from the Typhon Launcher in the central Philippines — and successfully hit a target around 600 kilometers away.

8. USMC Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told audience members in Washington on Thursday that the demand for ARG-MEUs has exceeded the 3.0 presence he previously called for.

Calls for ARG-MEUs are coming from the U.S. military’s Southern Command, European Command, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command.

A 3.0 presence indicates a three-ship ARG-MEU deployed at all times: one out of the East Coast, one out of the West Coast and the 31st MEU delivering periodic deployments out of Okinawa, Japan.

President Trump: Iran's Latest Proposal Unacceptable + President Trump: Starting Monday US Navy Will Start Guiding Ships Through Strait + Israel to Procure More F-35s & F-15s May 03, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. President Trump said the U.S. Navy will start guiding ships from foreign countries through the Strait of Hormuz from Monday and warned that if Iran tries to disrupt the process the American military will use force.

2. US President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end its war with the US and Israel, calling it unacceptable.

The 14-point proposal reportedly includes multiple stages of negotiations, with the sides first bringing the fighting to a close and opening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.

The US and Iran would only later begin talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to reports on the Iranian terms.

3. Amid a spike in Hezbollah drone strikes against Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he has initiated a counter-drone project.

4. Israel will procure two more squadrons of F-35I and F-15IA fighter jets from the United States, following lessons learned from the recent Iran war, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday.

5. NATO said on Saturday it was working with the United States to understand Washington’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany as a rift in transatlantic ties deepens over the Middle East war.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops from Germany was expected “to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

6. Naval aviators will no longer command amphibious warships, according to a directive issued last week by Chief of Naval Operations Daryl Caudle.

Citing poor amphibious ship readiness and operational availability, Caudle said that surface warfare officers would become the only officers authorized to command amphibs starting in Fiscal Year 2028, according to the April 24 memo reviewed by USNI News.

7. The Defense Department’s unfunded priority lists have hit Capitol Hill. Two of the military services and several combatant commands said they have no unfunded requirements due to the size of the $1.5 trillion defense budget request for fiscal 2027.

In the UPL letters, leaders of the Marine Corps, Space Force, Strategic Command, Space Command, Africa Command and Central Command, told Congress that they had no unfunded requirements for the year.

Pentagon Estimate: US Navy Blockade Has Cost Iran $4.8 Billion + Israel Provided Iron Beam Air Defense System to UAE + US Announces Withdrawal of 5000 Troops from Germany May 01, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. The White House asserts to US Congress in a letter that hostilities with Iran have “terminated” despite the continued presence of US armed forces in the region.

The message from President Donald Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline to gain approval from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran.

2. Axios Report: The Pentagon estimates Iran has lost $4.8 billion in oil revenue due to the US Navy’s blockade of its ports.

3. US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was dissatisfied with a new ceasefire offer from Tehran and confirmed he had been briefed on ways to “blast the hell out of them” if no deal were reached.

4. Any shippers paying tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, including charitable donations to organizations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, are at risk of punitive sanctions, the US Treasury warned on Friday.

5. Israel is on heightened alert, ramping up preparations for a possible return to fighting with Iran, amid indications that US President Donald Trump may be nearing a decision on renewed military action, Israeli television reported Thursday.

6. Iran’s supreme leader purportedly said Thursday that the only place Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written in the region’s history.

7. Israel dispatched a version of the Iron Beam laser-based air defense system to the United Arab Emirates during the recent fighting with Iran to help protect the Gulf nation from missile and drone attacks, according to a report on Thursday, in a significant step for the defense ties between the two countries.

8. The US State Department said on Friday it was approving military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

9. The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

US CENTCOM Forces Preparing for "Short & Powerful" Wave of Strikes + IDF Destroys Two Major Hezbollah Tunnels in S. Lebanon + Australia Procures More HIMARS and Precision Strike Missiles + First Columbia-Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Delivery in 2028 Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. US CENTCOM Commander: CENTCOM Forces have redirected 42 x commercial vessels attemtiong to violate the Strait of Hormuz blockage.

2. President Trump told Axios he's going to keep Iran under a naval blockade until the regime agrees to a deal that addresses U.S. concerns about its nuclear program.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a "short and powerful" wave of strikes on Iran in hopes of breaking the negotiating deadlock, three sources with knowledge said.

3. The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday announced it had located and destroyed two major Hezbollah tunnels in the southern Lebanon town of Qantara, which it said were constructed by the terror group with “direct guidance” from Iran.

The tunnels were built over a decade, reaching depths of some 25 meters.

4. US Secretary of War appears in hearing before the US House Armed Services Committee.

5. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he discussed a possible ceasefire in the four-year war in Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Putin.

He spoke after the Kremlin reported the two leaders discussed a temporary Ukraine ceasefire to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II next month.

6. The UK Ministry of Defence will resume tests and acceptance of Ajax fighting vehicles after a safety review cleared the program to move forward.

7. Australia has announced further boosts for its army with the acquisition of more Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) for long-range strike and Thales Bushmaster wheeled armored vehicles.

8. The first of the new Columbia-class of ballistic missile submarine is tracking for a 2028 delivery due to improvements in workforce efficiency and the supplier base, General Dynamics officials said Wednesday (District of Columbia - SSBN-826).

US Rejects Iran Offer to Open Strait & Delay Nuclear Talks in Return for Ending War + Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Beqaa Valley After Deadly FPV Attack + IDF Iron Dome System Employed in UAE Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that a reported offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under strict conditions is not acceptable to the United States or other countries.

Secretary of State Rubio: “What they mean by opening the straits is, yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, or we’ll blow you up, and you pay us.”

2. The IDF said it launched a wave of airstrikes Monday against Hezbollah infrastructure in the Beqaa Valley and several areas of southern Lebanon as a fragile ceasefire appeared to be rapidly unraveling just days after it was extended.

The strikes came following repeated recent attacks by the Hezbollah on IDF troops and Israel during the truce, including a deadly FPV drone attack in Lebanon the previous day that killed an IDF soldier and wounded six.

3. Battered but still breathing, Hamas is set to hold a long-delayed internal election to choose a new chief and political bureau in the coming weeks.

Hamas generally holds leadership elections every four years, but the latest vote, initially scheduled for 2025, was delayed by the war sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

4. Israel sent the United Arab Emirates an Iron Dome air defense system with troops to operate it early in the war with Iran, two Israeli officials and one U.S. official tell Axios.

5. A 14 percent increase in European defense spending contributed significantly to global military expenditure increasing for the 11th consecutive year, reaching $2.89 trillion in 2025, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think tank.

6. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, with the Russian president telling the Iranian diplomat that he hoped for peace soon.

7. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov held talks in Kyrgyzstan on Monday with Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Reza Talaei-Nik, state-run TASS news agency reports.

8. Under Project Sea 3000, Australia and Japan inked a deal to buy three upgraded Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The contract was signed by the two countries’ defense ministers aboard JS Kumano in Melbourne earlier this month.

President Trump Cancels Envoys' Trip to Islamabad for Iran Talks + Israel & Hezobllah Continue Trading Fire Under Tenuous Ceasefire + 3 x US Aircraft Carriers Operating in CENTCOM AOR Apr 25, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. US President Donald Trump canceled a trip to Islamabad by two envoys to meet Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday after Iran’s foreign minister flew out of the Pakistani capital following talks, dealing a new setback to peace prospects.

Presidnet Trump said in a social media post that he had called off the planned visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, citing what he said was tremendous confusion in the Iranian leadership.

2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF to go after Hezbollah targets “with force” on Saturday, as the terror group and the Israeli military continued to trade fire in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, despite the extension of the tenuous ceasefire between the warring sides by several more weeks.

3. East Coast carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is now operating in the Middle East after a sailing around the southern tip of Africa, U.S. Central Command announced on Thursday.

Bush’s entrance into CENTCOM marks the first time three carriers have been in the Middle East since the height of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) has been operating in the Arabian Sea since January while USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has been operating in the Red Sea since last week, USNI News reported.

4. North Korea recently launched five short range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) armed with cluster munitions against an island target in the Sea of Japan for the second time this month, further trialing the warhead’s capabilities, state media reported Monday.

5. USAF plans to more than double its F-15EX Eagle II fleet to 267 aircraft, up from the previously planned 129, as part of the fiscal 2027 budget request rolled out this week.

The revised plan calls for 24 additional Eagle IIs next year at a cost of roughly $3 billion, according to the service’s fiscal 2027 budget request.

6. The Pentagon’s Munitions Acceleration Council (MAC) is homing in on 14 legacy and “emerging” munitions as part of its ambitious plan to ramp up the production and ink a series of multi-year deals, according to fiscal 2027 budget documents.

The Legacy Weapons:

· Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors

· Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) interceptors

· Standard Missile-3 IIA

· SM-6

· SM-3 Block IB

· Tomahawk Land Attack Missile

· Joint Advanced Tactical Missile

· Low-Cost Cruise Missile

· Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile

· Maritime Strike Tomahawk

· Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range

· Long Range Anti-Ship Missile

Emerging Capabilities:

· Low-Cost Hypersonic Strike Weapon

· Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1

7. US Army has unveiled plans for the future of its ground vehicle fleet, as well as what it refers to as its biggest modernization priority: Next Generation Command & Control (NGC2).

The newly released budget documents reveal, that the service is looking to procure over 100 XM30 vehicles in the coming years, provide hundreds of millions of dollars for the Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) program, and invest almost $4 billion across consolidated NGC2 budget lines.

Israel - Lebanon Ceasefire Extended Three Weeks + President Trump Orders US Navy to Shoot & Kill Any Boat Mining the Strait of Hormuz + Secretary of Navy Out; Undersecretary Assumes Role Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

For review:

1. Iranian forces seized two container ships on Wednesday, according to global security monitors and the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They also attacked but didn’t seize a third.

2. US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US Navy would “shoot and kill” any boat mining the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was ready to renew the fighting with Iran and was awaiting a “green light” from the US to target Iranian energy sites and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

3. The ceasefire between Israel & Lebanon will be extended by another three weeks, President Trump said after hosting the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in the Oval Office on Thursday.

4. French President Macron said Thursday he will not continue in politics after leaving in 2027, after serving two terms, the maximum number allowed.

5. The Kremlin said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only if such a meeting is to sign peace agreements.

6. France is moving closer to a decision on its future rocket artillery system, with the country testing domestically developed weapons this month that will allow for a comparison with foreign systems in a few weeks’ time, the head of the country’s armaments agency said.

7. Estonia’s government has decided to put on hold its planned acquisition of new infantry fighting vehicles.

The Baltic nation will instead direct the funds toward drones, counter-drone measures and air defense systems, while squeezing more service life out of the country’s existing fleet of second-hand CV90 vehicles.

8. John Phelan is out as the Secretary of the Navy, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

I – On Defense Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected