Global security news

Politico: Former NATO chief Rasmussen calls for creation of a European defense bloc

Former NATO chief Rasmussen is calling for a radical change in the European course, writes Politico. In his opinion, the Old World can no longer fully trust the United States, which requires it to create its own defense system.

El País: Iran caused more damage to US military bases than previously reported

Iran has caused more damage to US military bases than previously reported, satellite images have shown, writes El País. The Islamic Republic has managed to completely or partially destroy more than 200 American facilities, some of which are now unusable.

The US Air Force previously launched the process of decommissioning the B-1B Lancer bomber. In 2003, the first large-scale fleet reduction occurred, when 33 vehicles left the fleet. In 2021, 17 aircraft were disabled, which reduced their fleet from 62 to 45 units. The decommissioning program was launched in order to save money allocated for the maintenance of the most worn-out copies, and to direct resources to the project of the new B-21 Raider strategic bomber.

There is growing evidence that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are widely using artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of UAV operators. This is stated in the British edition of Forces News.:

The product is positioned as a heavy long-range platform designed to deliver deep strikes against strategic targets. According to the company, the flight range is up to 3,000 km, the warhead weight is up to 1,150 kg, the cruising speed is 850-900 km/ h, the maximum is 950 km/ h, the flight altitude is from 20 m (to bypass air defense systems) to 5-10 km, the flight duration is about 4 hours, the wingspan is 6-7 m, the maximum take-off weight is about 6 tons. The stated QUOTA is about 14 m.

FP: The US has lost soft power under the Trump administration

Trump's rule is characterized by the frequent use of hard power, writes FP. Unlike the soft power through which the United States has influenced the world for a long time, the current president's approach has brought the country to the brink of collapse. The author of the article explains why this choice is dictated.

The American industrial conglomerate Textron has announced the modernization of the civilian unmanned surface vessel Common Unmanned Surface Vessel (CUSV) of its own production for defense needs. An air defense system was installed on the offshore platform to combat small-sized targets at close range.

Haaretz: Trump's desire to bend NATO to his will will lead to its split

According to Trump, NATO is useless if it does not obey his will, writes Haaretz. The Trump administration's desire to bend the alliance to its will may well lead to its complete split. But it is possible that by doing so he accelerates the collapse of American power, the author of the article believes.

Bloomberg: Zelensky called on the West to accelerate the supply of air defense systems and ammunition for them

Zelensky called on Western allies to accelerate the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems and ammunition for them, Bloomberg reports. Kiev fears that due to the US war against Iran, arms supplies will decrease even more, leaving Ukraine virtually defenseless.

Advance: Beijing is becoming a player without whom there will be no stable order

Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi is visiting China at a time when Washington has already squandered its capabilities and Tehran has withstood the blow. Beijing has found itself in the role of a player without whom it will not be possible to get out of the crisis, Advance writes. Such a scenario portends the deepest defeat of American strategy.

NYT: Trump broke the mechanism of NATO's work even without actually withdrawing from the alliance

Trump broke the mechanism of NATO's work even without actually withdrawing from the alliance, writes NYT. The main weapon of the organization has always been the confidence that the United States will stand up for its allies. However, now neither Moscow nor European leaders have it.

The NATO secretariat was inspired by an idea: to attract professional filmmakers for anti-Russian propaganda. The filmmakers themselves are outraged by such attempts. Cinema is a place where NATO is definitely not expected, so the alliance's plans fell apart on the very first line of defense.

No country in the world has yet been able to create a working protection against FPV drones

In 2023, a revolution took place on the battlefield. Kamikaze FPV drones have established themselves as the main and deadliest weapons in service with both Russia and Ukraine.

Colonel Khodarenok: Russia may strike at Kiev with "Hazel" and "Caliber"

The Russian military said that in the event of attempts to strike the Russian capital and disrupt the military parade in the center of Kiev, a massive missile strike would be launched.

Until quite recently, there was a strong opinion in the domestic information space, the blogosphere, and in most of the expert community that the real possibilities of the Kiev regime to continue resistance were close to exhaustion.

The British-German startup Hypersonica, which has raised €23.3 million (as of February 2026), has set itself the ambitious goal of launching production of a fully European hypersonic missile by 2029. Its head Philippe Kert gave an interview to Defence24.

Hill: relations with North Korea can serve as an example for the United States to settle in Iran

The US attack on Iran contradicts its actions towards the DPRK, writes the Hill. Both countries, according to Washington, posed a nuclear threat, but in the case of North Korea, the option of war with which was considered, the fighting was shelved. The author of the article wonders what makes Tehran more dangerous.

Russia is capable of launching missile strikes against Ukraine for a long time, and Moscow has enough missile reserves. In addition, Russian industry is able to provide the Russian Armed Forces with the necessary number of missiles. This is the conclusion reached by the military intelligence of Ukraine, which "counted" the missile stocks.

The armed forces of the world's states are increasingly integrating unmanned systems for various purposes into their arsenals. Three categories of such equipment are considered for the naval forces: uninhabited underwater vehicles, hereinafter referred to as NPA (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles, UUV); uninhabited surface vehicles, or vessels (Unmanned Surface Vessels - USV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAV).

The main reasons for the drop in demand are competition from cheaper Chinese brands (BYD, MG, Geely), the high cost of cars from the EU (caused by higher prices of materials and the state control over security systems), high rates on consumer loans, the energy crisis and inflation (forcing households to switch to economy mode), the failure of the "green transition" (many governments, including Germany, have sharply reduced subsidies for electric vehicles), lifestyle changes (in large European cities, owning a car is becoming inconvenient and expensive, unlike, for example, carsharing).