War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia has intercepted more than 20 drones since early Friday, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Major General Turki al-Malki confirmed. – Saudi Arabia shoots down dozens of drones targeting multiple regions
(Al Arabiya) The UAE and Kuwait’s air defenses were responding to missile fire early Friday, authorities in the Gulf states said, while Saudi Arabia intercepted drone attacks. Elsewhere in the Gulf, Bahrain’s interior ministry said that shrapnel from an “Iranian aggression” caused a fire at a warehouse, which was brought under control and resulted in no injuries. – Gulf states say responding to missile, drone attacks from Iran
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Kuwait’s state oil firm KPC said its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by multiple drone attacks early on Friday, causing a fire in some units, with no initial casualties reported, the state news agency said. – Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery hit by drone attack, fire breaks out
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strike on Tehran early Friday, following Iranian missile fire at Israel overnight. – Israel military says launched wave of strikes on Tehran ‘infrastructure’
(Giorgio Leali and Nicholas Vinocur – Politico) French President Emmanuel Macron said France was looking into ways of unblocking the Strait of Hormuz by acting at the United Nations level. “We have begun an exploratory process, and we will see in the coming days if it has a chance of succeeding,” Macron announced on Friday in response to a question from POLITICO after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. The French president said that he “explained to the U.N. Secretary-General [António Guterres] this afternoon that France intends to sound out its main partners, and in particular the members of the Security Council, on whether it would be appropriate to establish a U.N. framework for what we want to do in the Strait of Hormuz.” – France exploring UN route to unblock Strait of Hormuz, Macron says – POLITICO
(Tanya Noury – Defense News) Israel is forging ahead with its incursion into Lebanon, in what it claims is a vital fight against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group. The operation, which began on Monday, is separate from the joint U.S.-Israel war on Iran, but the dynamics of each conflict zone will inevitably intersect with each other. The Israeli deployment is expected to last several weeks and is part of a broader effort to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities and eradicate its fighters in the area, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces asserted to Military Times. The offensive is intended to “remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel,” the spokesperson said. – Israel forges ahead on ground incursion against Hezbollah in Lebanon
(Eve Sampson – Defense News) The United States is moving to bolster air defenses across the Middle East, notifying Congress of more than $16.5 billion in potential weapons sales aimed primarily at countering missile and drone threats. The packages include systems for the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan, and range from advanced radar and air defense sensors to counter-drone technology and aircraft munitions, according to several statements released Thursday by the U.S. Department of State. – US moves to approve more than $16 billion in air defense sales to Middle East
(Michael Scanlon – Defense News) The U.S. military employed 5,000-pound penetrator weapons against underground Iranian storage facilities holding coastal defense cruise missiles and related support equipment during the latest phase of Operation Epic Fury, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine confirmed Thursday. “As reported by U.S. CENTCOM yesterday, the US military dropped 5,000 pound penetrator weapons into underground storage facilities storing coastal defense cruise missiles and other support equipment,” Caine said at a Pentagon briefing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “These weapons are bespokely designed to get through concrete and/or rocks and function after penetrating those barriers.” – US strikes Iranian underground missile storage with 5,000-pound penetrator
European Union
(Zia Weise – Politico) The European Commission will make a proposal to boost the bloc’s carbon market reserve within “days” and develop a €30 billion decarbonization fund, in response to pressure from EU leaders to limit the CO2 price’s impact on electricity bills. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU executive would work on a mix of immediate relief and structural changes to bring down high energy prices, with measures to tackle all components of the power bill, from taxes and levies to carbon costs. Two measures to tweak the Emissions Trading System (ETS), which requires factories and power plants to purchase a permit for every ton of CO2 they emit, “will come in the next days,” von der Leyen said at a press conference following Thursday’s EU leaders’ summit. – Von der Leyen promises ETS tweaks in ‘days’ – POLITICO
France
(Giorgio Leali and Victor Goury-Laffont – Politico) French voters head to the polls again Sunday for local runoff elections that will show which direction the wind is blowing ahead of next year’s race to replace President Emmanuel Macron. The contests are going to be tight. Many candidates who qualified for round two by scoring more than 10 percent of the vote withdrew or formed strategic alliances to give their ideological allies the best chance to win. It’s going to be spicy, but also complicated. If you want to know which cities are driven by just local issues and which ones reflect national trends like the rise of populism, read on. – French election: How to watch the runoffs like a pro – POLITICO
UK
(Bethany Dawson – Politico) Britain’s Labour Party is paying a communications agency to find influencers who can promote struggling Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cost-of-living message. The governing party has tapped up digital communications agency 411 to reach out to influencers, with the comms shop asking them to be part of a campaign “sharing the steps that this Labour Government is taking to ease the cost of living,” according to a message to influencers seen by POLITICO. The creators are hand-picked “micro-influencers” with less than 20,000 followers, which 411 believes have a more engaged and targeted audience, according to a person working on the strategy but not authorized to speak publicly about it. – Labour pays comms agency to find influencers who can sell the Starmer message – POLITICO
US (Defense)
(Bill Koziar – Defense News) The U.S. Army faces a critical modernization crossroads in field artillery. Ukraine’s war has made viscerally clear what doctrine writers warned for years: A self-propelled howitzer that stops to fire is a vulnerable target. A towed howitzer does not have a chance. Russia’s Zoopark-1 radar can locate a firing howitzer within seconds of the first round leaving the barrel. The KNDS RCH 155 — Germany’s remote-controlled howitzer — offers a transformative answer, allowing a standard howitzer battery to fight and survive like a HIMARS battery. – The case for the US Army to procure the KNDS RCH 155 howitzer
(Mike Stone – Reuters/Defense News) Anduril Industries will begin building its new Fury, “loyal wingman,” high-speed combat drones in the coming days at a new facility in Ohio, as the U.S. military’s interest in unmanned aircraft surges following battlefield successes in Ukraine and Iran. Amid cornfields and horse farms 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Columbus, Ohio, the defense tech start-up is expecting its $1 billion Arsenal-1 autonomous systems manufacturing campus to employ more than 4,000 people over the next decade, starting with roughly 250 by the end of this year, officials said on Thursday. – High-speed combat drone production starts at new US Anduril plant in days
US (Politics)
(Kate Santaliz – Axios) House Republicans blanched at the Pentagon’s reported $200 billion price tag for Iran, but many are embracing the eye-popping number to help energize a stalled reconciliation process. GOP leaders have struggled to build consensus around a “reconciliation 2.0” package. But injecting a must-pass defense spending bill into the equation will give Speaker Mike Johnson the urgency he needs to bring it to the floor. The Pentagon’s request “opens up the door to a second reconciliation package,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) said. – Republicans eye Pentagon Iran $200 billion funds request for reconciliation revive
(Maria Curi – Axios) A bipartisan House Homeland Security Committee briefing with Anthropic’s Jack Clark was held behind closed doors on Wednesday, per sources familiar with the meeting, and only briefly touched on the company’s fight with the Pentagon. Anthropic — which is suing the federal government over its designation as a supply chain risk — is engaging with lawmakers on national security and AI, even as much of that discussion is happening out of the public eye. Clark met with committee lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in a closed-door session, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. – Scoop: Anthropic meets with House Homeland Security behind closed doors
(Maria Curi, Ashley Gold – Axios) The White House is expected to send Congress its ideas for regulating AI on Friday, sources familiar with the matter told Axios, but policy disagreements on the Hill are far from resolved. Republicans are looking to the White House for direction on AI, but its plan is likely to run into the same sticking points that have stalled action for years. Those include how to protect children online and whether to preempt state laws that conflict with the federal standards they’re trying to set. Pressure is mounting for Congress to act as states move ahead with laws that AI companies are increasingly comfortable living with. – White House eyes Friday rollout for AI framework
(Andrew Solender – Axios) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told Axios she is keeping the door open to endorsing challengers to her House Democratic colleagues “if someone crosses some huge line.”. Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t endorsed a primary challenge to a sitting member in years and even signaled to colleagues during her run for House Oversight Committee ranking member that she may abandon the practice altogether. But, asked in an interview at the Capitol on Wednesday about endorsing against incumbents, she told Axios: “I just haven’t waded into that territory.”. “Obviously, if someone crosses some huge line, it’s never something that I rule out,” the New York Democrat said, though she added that “it would have to be kind of an egregious thing.” – AOC is not ruling out endorsements against fellow House Democrats
US/Germany (Defense)
(Zita Ballinger Fletcher – Defense News) The U.S. Army used Apache helicopters to shoot down drones in air-to-air combat in Europe for the first time during an exercise in Germany this week. During Operation Skyfall held at Grafenwoehr Training Area, soldiers of the 2-159th Attack Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, used the Boeing AH-64E Apache to pursue and attack Unmanned Aircraft Systems. – Apache helicopter shoots down drones in Europe for first time in combat exercise
