Sea mines reloaded - Iran, TURSO, MALAMAN, MURENA, and the future of naval ambush 18/03/2026 | Marco Giulio Barone As Iran threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz, an old weapon is back under the spotlight: sea mines, from crude contact spheres to modern… [read more]

Kraken to supply 20 USV K3 to the Royal Navy under project BEEHIVE 18/03/2026 | Gabriele Molinelli The new USV flotilla will support tactics and capability development and home waters ops.

F-22 RAPTOR and MQ-20 drone complete manned-unmanned teaming exercise 18/03/2026 | Fabio Di Felice According to a press release by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), the company and the US Air Force (USAF) have recently completed a successful manned-unmanned teamed demonstration using an F-22 RAPTOR and an MQ-20 AVENGER unmanned aircraft. This represents another step forward on integrating autonomous systems into tactical fighter… [read more]

The EU and the Iran crisis: tightrope walking amid growing assertiveness 17/03/2026 | Caterina Tani (reporting from Brussels) Kaja Kallas revealed a conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the possibility of replicating a Black Sea-style grain corridor in the Strait of Hormuz - a security channel to prevent the collapse of global supply chains. The EU is also expanding coordination with global partners, primarily India.

Clearing the chokepoints: conversation on sea mines with underwater technologies specialist RTsys 17/03/2026 | Marco Giulio Barone In this interview, RTsys’ Sylvain Paquereau explains how naval mines from Ukraine to the Strait of Hormuz expose NATO navies—and how agile autonomous MCM systems could rapidly change the balance at sea.

Iran: Kharg Island, a testing ground for the "new" Marines? 17/03/2026 | Pietro Batacchi A potential operation to capture Kharg would represent a major test case for the US Marine Corps and for the doctrinal innovations introduced since 2019 to operate inside the adversary’s firing zone as a Stand-In Force.

DARPA names new X plane the X-76, to be build by Bell 17/03/2026 | Gabriele Molinelli Born out of project SPeed and Runway INdependent Technologies (SPRINT), it’ll be an advanced VTOL platform.

South Korea moves ahead on KOREA-type AEGIS destroyer, F-35A Upgrade 13/03/2026 | Mike Rajkumar South Korea is moving ahead with three key programmes discussed during the 173rd Defense Acquisition Program Committee meeting: KOREA destroyers (KDDX), F-35A upgrades, and the development of ballistic correction fuses for 155 mm ammunition

Japan: JMSDF commissions fifth TAIGEI-class submarine 13/03/2026 | Mike Rajkumar The fourth submarine RAIGEI was delivered to the JMSDF in October 2025 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) while the sixth TAIGEI-class submarine SOUGEI was launched the same month.

One step closer to autonomous C-130Js as Merlin Labs completes Preliminary Design Review 12/03/2026 | Gabriele Molinelli Merlin Labs is working with the United States Special Operations Command for autonomous HERCULES