Show notes
For review:
1. Update on Israel wildfires.
2. Israel Strikes Damascus in Message to Syrian Regime. Israel conducted airstrikes early on Friday near Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s official residential compound in Damascus in response to violence in Syria against the country’s Druze minority, the Israel Defense Forces said.
3. Lebanon has warned Hamas not to conduct operations that compromise the country’s security or sovereignty, Beirut’s Supreme Defense Council said on Friday.
4. Reuters article via Times of Israel concerning US/Iran Nuclear negotiations.
In three weeks, the US and Iran have held three rounds of talks aimed at preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon in return for sanctions relief. A fourth round is expected to take place in Rome soon.
5. US State Department to Ukraine & Russia: US Will Not Be Mediators If Progress Not Made.
US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Thursday that Kyiv and Moscow need to engage directly with each other and that the US will no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings.”
US Secretary of State Rubio, said that unless a “real breakthrough” is made soon, President Trump “is going to have to make a decision about how much more time we’re going to dedicate to this.”
6. UK RAF Collaborative Drone Effort. The first autonomous collaborative platform (ACP) drone, labelled StormShroud, entered into service into the UK Royal Air Force. The new StormShroud aircraft combines the UK-Portuguese Tekever 3 tactical uncrewed aerial system (UAS) with Leonardo UK’s BriteStorm stand-in jammer, effectively transforming it into an ACP, to work in tandem with RAF fighter jets.
7. USAF Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Effort. USAF announced it has selected Beale Air Force Base in California to host the service’s first “Aircraft Readiness Unit” dedicated to its future fleet of drone wingmen. General Atomics and Anduril are facing off for the Air Force program after their selection last year. USAF expects to field CCA by 2030.
8. Acting Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Kilby to USMC: We owe you a three-ship ARG [Amphibious Ready Group]. I owe you a three-ship ARG that’s ready to embark Marines and conduct the training cycle and deploy on schedule. I do not meet that requirement.”
The Amphibious Ready Group is the USMC three-ship formation generally consisting of an assault ship (LHA), a transport dock (LPD) and a support vessel (LSD).
USMC goal is to maintain what’s known as a 3.0 presence: That means one ARG deployed from the East Coast to the Mediterranean or coast of Africa; one from the West Coast to the Pacific and a third “episodically” deployed forward from Japan.
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