India vs Pakistan: The battle for air superiority

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As the dust settles over the India-Pakistan conflict—triggered by India's missile strikes on nine terrorist hubs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Punjab province in response to the Islamabad-sponsored terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April—it is time for a reckoning of how the two adversaries fared. Uniquely, 

over four intense, dramatic days (May 7-10), the theatre of war was the skies on either side of the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border. Airpower was the key factor, manifested not in the dogfights of yore, but their modern equivalent, comprising precise strikes, electronic warfare and smart coordination between aircraft, 

ground radars and airborne early warning and control system (AEW&CS)/ Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Drones and missiles were used aplenty by Pakistan, and India's multi-layered air defence (AD) system rose to the occasion like never before. According to the Indian Army, its air defence units neutralised nearly 800-900 Pakistani drones during Operation Sindoor.

If, early on May 7, the Pakistani air defence had no immediate answer to the loitering munitions/ kamikaze drones, and SCALP/ Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles and HAMMER bombs fired from the Rafales of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that destroyed the terrorist camps, the Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) J-10CEs, F-16s and JF-17 fighter jets did pose a threat. 

Indeed, Pakistan has claimed—without definitive proof or explicit acknowledgement from India—that several Indian jets were lost. Significantly, wary of each other's missiles, 

India-Pak War: China’s Military Satellites Helped Pakistan To Attack India; Delhi Works To Bridge The ‘Big Gap’ With Beijing

Ritu Sharma

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It is no news that China supported Pakistan with military hardware during the recent military confrontation with India. However, less discussed has been the support the constellation of Chinese satellites provided in terms of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) to Islamabad, and how New Delhi countered it by mobilizing all its military and civilian assets in space.

The Indian military is taking incremental steps to build its own constellation of 52 satellites over the next five years, aiming to enhance its capability to spy from space. However, the ambitious plan hit a speed bump as the attempt to position the NVS-02 satellite in its intended orbit was not achieved due to a failure in the satellite’s onboard thrusters.

Launched on January 29, 2025, aboard the GSLV-Mk 2 rocket, this mission marked ISRO’s 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport.

The satellite is a crucial component of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, which aims to provide accurate positioning services across India and extend up to 1500 km beyond its borders.

“We pulled all the resources (civilian and military space assets) and gave them to the armed forces. We were virtually looking at each other all the time. We had gaps, but we were much better,” a source familiar with the matter told the EurAsian Times about the space-based reconnaissance during the Indo-Pak war. The source admitted that India has gaps, and its space capabilities in comparison to China are currently inadequate.

Trump’s tariff threat exposes China’s tight grip on the global pharmaceuticals industry

John Liu and Yong Xiong, CNN

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Employees work at a pharmaceutical production facility in Ji'an, Jiangxi province in southeast China, earlier this year. Deng Heping/VCG/AP

Hong Kong/New YorkCNN —

It’s the most prescribed antibiotic in the United States, used by tens of millions of people every year to treat bacterial infections including pneumonia, stomach ulcers, and strep throat.

Yet, it isn’t exactly common knowledge that amoxicillin, a relative of penicillin that has been in chronic short supply, has only one manufacturer in the US, or that China controls 80% of the raw materials required for its production.

That’s a major concern as US President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, throwing a spotlight on America’s dependence on critical drug supplies from abroad.

“Increasing trade hostilities or more protracted conflicts could devastate our access to amoxicillin or the ingredients used to make it should Beijing weaponize its supply chain dominance,” Rick Jackson, founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare, which owns America’s sole amoxicillin manufacturer, told CNN.

Last year, 96% of US imports of hydrocortisone (the active ingredient in the anti-itch cream), 90% of imports of ibuprofen (found in common over-the-counter pain relievers), and 73% of imports of acetaminophen (in other kinds of pain relievers) all came from China, according to CNN calculations based on trade data from the Census Bureau.

How electric scooters are driving China's salt battery push

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The country is racing ahead of the rest of the world in bringing sodium-ion batteries to the mass market. This time, through scooters.

Dozens of glitzy electric mopeds are lined up outside a shopping mall in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China, drawing passersby to test them.

But these Vespa-like scooters, which sell for between £300 and £500 ($400 and $660), are not powered by the mainstream lead-acid or lithium-ion cells, commonly used in electric two-wheelers. Instead, their batteries are made from sodium, an abundant element that can be extracted from sea salt.

Next to the scooters stand a few fast-charging pillars, which can replenish the vehicles' power level from 0% to 80% in 15 minutes, according to Yadea, the major Chinese two-wheeler manufacturer holding this promotional event in January 2025 for its newly launched mopeds and charging system. There is also a battery-swapping station, which enables commuters to drop in their spent cells in exchange for fresh ones with a scan of a QR code. (Read more about China's battery swap stations for electric vehicles here.)

Yadea is one of many companies in China trying to build a competitive edge in alternative battery technologies, a trend that shows just how fast the country's clean-technology industry is developing.

Even as the rest of the world tries to close its gap with China in the race to make cheap, safe and efficient lithium-ion batteries, Chinese companies have already taken a head-start towards mass producing sodium-ion batteries, an alternative that could help the industry reduce its dependence on key raw minerals.

Foreign Economic Investment Kills Independence Hopes in Balochistan

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Editor’s Note: Lost amid the violence of the latest India-Pakistan dispute was a call for independence by leaders of Pakistan's Balochistan province. Jayita Sarkar of the University of Glasgow explains the reasons for this declaration and why Chinese, Canadian, and other foreign mining and other investments in the province make greater political rights, let alone independence, less likely.

On May 14, 2025, the leaders of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, declared independence from Pakistan and requested that India and the United Nations recognize its sovereignty. The declaration came amid military airstrikes between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam; it stoked nationalism in the Indian media, but was met with silence on international platforms. The Pakistan government has not publicly responded to the declaration of independence but has reportedly increased repression in the province. Even if the declaration garnered more attention, it would be unlikely to succeed. The significant level of foreign investment in Balochistan reinforces the status quo and Pakistan’s control of the province.

Separatist claims are ubiquitous in South Asian nation-states, making interstate conflict both international and domestic. Conflicts between India and its neighbors, China and Pakistan, almost always involve tensions in the borderlands where inhabitants assert separatist claims, such as Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and elsewhere.

Separatism in Balochistan is not new. Baloch authorities declined to join the dominion of Pakistan when it achieved independence in August 1947, but were compelled to do so by Pakistan—similar to other parts of decolonized South Asia, such as Travancore and Hyderabad, both of which had initially opposed joining India. Even though Balochistan has extensive natural resources, including natural gas and oil reserves, by the time of Pakistan’s first direct general elections were held in December 1970, it, along with the most populous province of East Pakistan, were Pakistan’s two poorest provinces. From the early 1970s onward, state repression of Baloch nationalists increased, as did violent insurgency, both abetted by Pakistan’s involvement in helping the CIA fight the Soviets along the border with Afghanistan.

Mountain Warfare: ‘Fighting’ the Mountain to Fight in the Mountains

Lance R. Blyth 

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A U.S. Marine participates in a medical evacuation exercise during in iteration of the Winter Mountain Leaders Course at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Calif., Feb. 13, 2019. The purpose of the Winter Mountain Leaders Course is to train ground combat arms military occupational specialties in mountain warfare tactics, techniques and procedures to serve effectively as force multipliers to their units during combat operations in complex, compartmentalized, mountainous terrain. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Rachel K. Young-Porter)

Mountain warfare is back. For proof, look no higher than the Himalayas, where Indian and Chinese forces have faced off in the Doklam since 2017 and in Ladakh since 2020. For the first time since World War I in the Alps, thousands of troops are deployed year-round in readiness for mountain warfare. By way of a definition, Carl von Clausewitz wrote in On War that “the influence of mountains on the conduct of war is very great . . .

 this influence introduces into action a retarding principle.” Mountain warfare is therefore the ways and means by which military forces overcome the “retarding principle” of mountains.

The United States military, especially its ground combat and special operations forces, needs the capability to train individuals and units—battalions, brigades, task forces—for mountain warfare for two reasons. First, the U.S. has been “100% right 0% of the time” when predicting where the next war will take place. 

Since nearly one-fourth of the world is covered by mountains, 10% of the planetary population lives in mountains. Mountains harbor a disproportionate share of the world’s conflicts. The chances are high that the U.S. will have to fight a mountain war sometime, somewhere. As mountain warfare requires months of individual and unit training in both summer and winter, 

it cannot be delivered just-in-time. Secondly, mountain warfare capabilities are useful for operations in rugged terrain, cold weather, the Arctic, high-altitude conditions, and other potential operational environments.

It’s Time to Restructure The US Military’s Command Plan

Robert Peters

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The UCP, updated periodically, assigns combatant commands authority over various parts of the world and key missions, including nuclear deterrence, homeland defense, and logistics. Today, the UCP is overdue for a major update, as it no longer lends itself to a grand strategy aimed at deterring Chinese aggression.

Because the UCP’s existing focus on strict geographic boundaries, wherein EUCOM focuses on Russia and Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) focuses on China, existing planning and command of military forces is siloed by combatant command. This siloed command structure prevents the integrated, global planning required for the US military in the event of a war with China.

In addition, the current structure is inefficient, with too many command headquarters and staffers. Each combatant command is led by four-star military officers and staffed by a host of generals, admirals, and civilian senior executives—to say nothing of the scores of mid-grade officers who support the generals. It is worth examining whether a merger of several regional commands could lead to more efficient planning and operations and better prepare the Department of Defense for the deteriorating global security environment.

Make the Joint Staff the supported (i.e., lead) command for global operations during a war with China. Currently, the UCP identifies INDOPACOM as the lead command for planning a conflict with China. The Department of Defense should consider updating the UCP so that INDOPACOM remains the lead command in the Western Pacific while the Joint Staff coordinates the planning and execution of global operations against Chinese targets outside the Pacific theater.

How Ukraine’s Drone Strike Changed the Rules of War

Carlos Roa

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A Ukrainian drone strike operation using disguised cargo containers has shattered Moscow’s strategic airpower. It may have blindsided Washington as well.

In a stunning maneuver, Ukraine has launched a coordinated series of deep strikes into Russian territory using containerized drones. Striking military airfields and critical assets across several locations (Olenya Air Base in the Murmansk region, Belaya Air Base in the Irkutsk region, Ivanovo Air Base in the Ivanovo region, and Dyagilevo Air Base in the Ryazan region), the attacks mark the first time since the Second World War that a European power has projected force this far into the Russian interior with such technological precision and asymmetric intent.

There were no paratroopers, no dramatic tank thrusts through the frontier, just unmarked cargo containers parked inconspicuously at truck stops and the side of the road, cracking open to unleash squadrons of long-range UAVs programmed with ruthless efficiency. Within minutes, at least 40 aircraft were reportedly damaged or destroyed on the ground, including Tu-22 and Tu-95 bombers—both of them nuclear-capable.

If these claims, originating from Ukraine’s Security Services (SBU), are even broadly accurate, then nearly a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet has been neutralized, along with 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers. Ukraine naturally has an incentive to overstate and even exaggerate these numbers; Russian authorities will likely downplay them. Nevertheless, this kind of degradation of Russia’s nuclear deterrent, carried out by a non-nuclear state, is without precedent.

It is, in effect, Russia’s Pearl Harbor moment—a devastating blow to its strategic forces caused by innovative weapons delivered under the veil of impending diplomacy. As in 1941, the timing lends the strike a theatrical menace: destruction arriving not amid battle but on the eve of supposed conciliation. And the timing could hardly be more explosive. Just hours after the strike, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kyiv would be sending a delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to ceasefire talks with Russia in Istanbul the following day. That a Ukrainian delegation, led by its defense minister no less, arrives in Istanbul for ceasefire talks just after these strikes only sharpens the historical echo.

Russia Details Preconditions To Ukraine For Ceasefire And Political Settlement: Military Terms

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On June 2, in Istanbul, Russia revealed the fine print of its terms for a ceasefire and political settlement with Ukraine. The stunningly successful Ukrainian Operation Spiderweb, hitting strategic airbases deep inside Russia with Ukrainian drones on June 1, overshadowed the Istanbul diplomatic meeting.

Kyiv’s front-and-center diplomatic goal is an unconditional, comprehensive ceasefire agreement with Moscow for at least 30 days. The Kremlin is setting unacceptable military and political preconditions for formally consenting to such a ceasefire.

Moscow aims to precipitate presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine within the context of ceasefire negotiations. Moscow hopes to throw Ukraine into chaos if elections are held during an official ceasefire, even as hostilities continue in the field and the air.

Russia has presented Ukraine with military and political preconditions for a ceasefire agreement and an eventual settlement of what Russia describes as “the Ukraine crisis,” as Moscow avoids the terms war and peace. Russian negotiators handed over both sets of preconditions to Ukrainian counterparts on June 2 in Istanbul, following up on the May 16 bilateral meeting also held there.

Moscow insisted on the Istanbul venue to signify a relaunch of the “Istanbul process,” from which Kyiv had left in May 2022 to avoid Russian-imposed terms of settlement. The new iteration of the Istanbul process, however, features even more draconian terms for Ukraine, spelled out in greater detail and a rigorous sequence of implementation steps.

Exclusive: Inside Israel’s Three-Phase Plan To End the Gaza War

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TEL AVIV—Israel is in the midst of the second phase of a three-phase Gaza war plan that ends with the military in full control of the strip, according to current and former officials with knowledge of the planning. The sources provided previously undisclosed details about the structure, timeline, and goals of the plan.

Phase Two began last week, and like Phase One before it, is intended to last about two months. During this time, the military aims to further degrade Hamas’s leadership and infrastructure, take control of about 75 percent of Gaza, move all civilians into three areas in the remaining 25 percent, and work with an American organization to control the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid in the strip.

Four aid distribution sites secured by Israeli troops and run by the U.S. group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, began operating last week in southern and central Gaza, according to the military.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at a May 21 press conference that Israel’s next step in the war will be to create a "sterile zone" in the Mawasi area of southern Gaza and enable the distribution of a full spectrum of aid there. In the other two civilian areas, to be built in central Gaza, only food aid will be provided, not fuel and other supplies, the sources confirmed. Netanyahu did not commit to ending international groups’ provision of aid in Gaza, which the government allowed to resume last month after an 80-day blockade of the strip.

By the end of Phase Two, Hamas should be largely cut off from nonfood aid as well as weapons that are smuggled into Gaza on aid trucks, according to the sources. But the military does not plan to clear Hamas from the two civilian areas in central Gaza until the final phase of the war. Hamas will therefore remain embedded among the population in those areas and continue diverting food aid for now, though likely with greater difficulty under the new controls.

"As long as you have Hamas alongside the population, you cannot really put a siege on them," said Amir Avivi, a former deputy commander of the Gaza Division with close ties to the military and government. "Only in areas you conquer you can make sure that nothing goes in.

US Should Learn, Not Lecture: Israel & Ukraine Show Tactical Brillian

Michael Rubin

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A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon flies a presence patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Feb. 23, 2025. Fighting Falcons fly routine patrols over the AOR to deter aggression and bolster the regional defensive posture. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jackson Manske)

ODESSA, UKRAINE—Too often, policymakers in the White House and Pentagon, or pundits on cable news shows, approach war fighting in far off lands with a 6,000-mile screwdriver.

They try dictate strategy and often criticize states for their failure either to follow U.S. practices. Many proponents of and participants in the Iraq and Afghanistan surge, for example, chide allies for not following that playbook without any sense of self-awareness that the surge appeared to sacrifice short-term quiet for long-term chaos in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ‘6,000-Mile Screwdriver’: Why US Must Stop Dictating to Frontline Allies

Accompanying criticism about failure to follow U.S. diktats is the tendency to chide allies for their refusal to engage in diplomacy with sworn adversaries.

Hence, for decades U.S. diplomats and even many military officials, urged Israel to accept Hezbollah as a fact of life. A sitting U.S. ambassador once told me at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that “Hezbollah is not a terrorist group” and that Washington would fail in its policy until it accepted that. During the Biden administration, U.S. policy—especially that of Special Energy Envoy—Amos Hochstein was to accommodate the terrorist group.

Hochstein was not alone. Both the Biden and also George W. Bush’s team criticized Israel for its tactics and efforts to fight Hezbollah. Quietly, officials in each administration urged diplomacy with the group, if not directly than through intermediaries like Germany.

Israel shocked the United States with its sabotage of Hezbollah beepers. After years of planning and with an imagination that the U.S. national security and intelligence bureaucracy lacks, it castrated Hezbollah, figuratively and in many cases literally.

Ukraine’s Drone Attack on Russia’s Bomber Fleet Won’t Win the

Andrew Latham

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Key Points – Ukraine’s recent “Operation Spiderweb” drone strikes deep into Russia, targeting strategic bomber bases, are characterized as “pure theatre” and strategically meaningless despite generating significant media attention.

-The targeted bombers (Tu-95s, Tu-22m) play a peripheral role in the current conflict, primarily launching occasional cruise missiles.

-These symbolic attacks do not alter the fundamental battlefield reality where Russian forces continue to make slow, methodical advances in key areas like Donbas, pursuing limited objectives through a war of attrition.

-Russia, worried, but undeterred by these strikes, remains focused on consolidating its gains, while Ukraine’s reliance on such actions suggests a shift towards optics over substantive military outcomes.

Drone Hits on Russian Bombers: Why It’s ‘Theatre,’ Not a Turning Point

It looked, for a moment, like a bold stroke – swarms of Ukrainian drones reaching deep into Russian territory, airfields in flames, and long-range bombers reportedly damaged or destroyed.

The name, “Operation Spiderweb,” had a cinematic flair to it. Kyiv’s information operation moved quickly, amplifying every explosion, every flicker of fire in the dark. The message was clear: Ukraine still has reach, still has nerve, still has initiative. But the truth is simpler and far less dramatic. The strikes were pure theatre – brash, attention-grabbing, and strategically meaningless. The bombers hit at Shaykovka, Engels, or wherever else aren’t relevant to the outcome of this war. And Russia, far from being shaken, continues to grind forward in the places that matter.

Let’s start with the targets. The Tu-95s and Tu-22ms – big, lumbering remnants of a bygone era—have played next to no operational role in this war. They aren’t frontline assets. They aren’t shaping the tempo or direction of Russia’s offensive.

What is in the UK defence review? What you need to know

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New methods of fighting and an increase to troop numbers are among the recommendations from the 48,000-word strategic defence review

U.S. Army is already taking lessons from Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia’s strategic bombers

Mark Pomerleau

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U.S. Army Spc. Anton Lane, a combat medic with specialized drone training, assigned to 5-7 Cavalry, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division visually tracks a Skydio X10E4TT drone shortly after deploying it for surveillance during exercise Combined Resolve 25-2 at Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany on May 17, 2025. (US Army photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Fist Class Richard Hoppe, Released).

Following Ukraine’s stunning attack over the weekend that used small drones to target and destroy Russia’s strategic bombing aircraft, the U.S. Army is applying big picture observations to its ongoing force transformation.

For starters, leaders believe it is a validation of some of the radical change the service is seeking in how to procure and manage capabilities differently in the future.

“Yesterday was a really good example of just how quickly technology is changing the battlefield. We’ve seen this over the last couple of years that everybody talks about [Program Objective Memorandum] cycles and everybody talks about program of record. I think that’s just old thinking,” Gen. Randy George, chief of staff of the Army, said Monday during the Exchange, an AI conference hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project.

POM cycles refer to the five-year planning process for programs and capabilities in the Pentagon.

Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command

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Soldiers with a Field Support Team from 1st Information Operations Command on deployment in Qatar in April 2025. Army photo.

The U.S. Army’s 1st Information Operations Command is no more. The active-duty unit shut down in May, after 23 years of operations, citing changing needs in the wider force.

The initial closure was announced last year, as part of the Army Force Structure Transformation plan. 1st Information Operations Command, a part of U.S. Army Cyber Command, focused on cyber warfare and psychological operations. In practice, it worked to help protect other units from information attacks from enemy forces, and served as “red teams” in cyber attack simulations.

“For more than two decades, the soldiers and leaders of 1st IO have been at the forefront of information warfare, adapting to every challenge and shaping the Army’s cyber capabilities,” ” said Lt. Gen. Barrett, the commanding general of U.S. Army Cyber Command, in a May 8 Army news release.”Their contributions have been instrumental in securing our nation’s interests in an ever-changing battlefield.”

The Army has said that the closure of the command is not an abandonment of information warfare, but comes out of a need to integrate it into other forces and joint commands. Since that was announced, the Department of Defense has leaned further into the consolidation of the service and restructuring. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memo in late April calling for major restructuring of the force. “Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform” directed several changes, including wider usage of drones and a focus on integrating electronic warfare into maneuver units. 1st IO had previously accumulated many of those similar tasks.

Its director of information warfare told Task & Purpose last year that 1st IO took on a variety of jobs that technically fell under its purview but weren’t “truly related.”

Every Cyber Attack Facing America

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Coordinated attacks on electrical grids. Quantum computers making encryption technology useless. Deepfakes that are nearly impossible to discern from reality, 

or an army of AI agents hacking networks with once unthinkable-speed and efficiency. 

These are only a few of the threats that could be facing the United States in the very near future—if we aren’t already. Today WIRED takes a deep dive into how vulnerable our current systems and networks are to the future of cyber threats

Ukraine’s wily drone strikes expose Russia’s vulnerability and could shift war’s narrative

Nick Paton Walsh, 

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Plumes of smoke are seen rising over the Belaya air base in the Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia, in a photo posted by Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev to Telegram on Sunday. Igor Kobzev/Telegram/AP

CNN —

After too many nights of pulling children from the rubble of Russian drone strikes, the weekend’s devastating attacks on Moscow’s military pride mark a moment of brief respite for Ukrainian morale, and yet another twist of the unexpected in the Kremlin’s war of choice.

It may be hard to fathom the precise impact of Ukraine’s wily drone assault on Russian air bases thousands of miles beyond the Ukrainian border. Kyiv said 41 long-range bomber jets were set aflame and that the attacks hit 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at its main bases.

We don’t know how many bombers Russia had that were fully functional – after years of taxing nightly missions over Ukraine – and how many others had been cannibalized for spare parts, but some reports suggest Russia only had about 20 of the propeller-driven Tu-95s and about 60 supersonic Tu-22M3s in service.

It will become clear in the months ahead to what extent this really dents the terror the air raid sirens bring across Ukraine. But if what Kyiv says is true – 117 relatively cheap drones taking out dozens of planes and causing what one security source estimated to be $7 billion in damage – then the economics of the war have shifted.

What Ukraine’s Unprecedented Drone Attack Means For Russia’s Bomber Force

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Operation Spiderweb, the large-scale Ukrainian drone strike against airbases across Russia yesterday, which you can read about in our coverage here, primarily targeted Moscow’s fleet of strategic bombers. These aircraft, which have been extensively used to launch cruise missile attacks on Ukraine, have been targeted before, but never on such a scale — a reported 117 drones were launched against at least four airfields. At this point, it’s unclear how many aircraft were destroyed or damaged, but there’s little doubt that the Ukrainian operation will have a long-term effect on Russian strategic aviation.

According to an initial statement from the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff, the drones hit 41 aircraft. As of today, those claims have been reassessed, with Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, saying that “at least 13 Russian aircraft were destroyed.”

These supposedly included examples of the Tu-22M3 Backfire-C intermediate-range supersonic bomber, Tu-95MS Bear-H long-range turboprop bomber, and A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform. Still unconfirmed are reports about the possible destruction of a Tu-160 Blackjack long-range supersonic bomber. The Tu-160 is very much the jewel in the crown of the Long-Range Aviation branch and is the only Russian bomber that is still in production — albeit on a very limited scale — as we will discuss later.

Based on open-source intelligence, including video evidence, unverified accounts suggest that two Tu-95MS were destroyed and two more damaged at Olenya Air Base (also known as Olenyegorsk), as well as one An-12 Cub transport aircraft destroyed.

At Belaya Air Base, more than 2,500 miles from Ukraine, there is satellite evidence that suggests at least three more Tu-95MS were destroyed and one possibly damaged, plus as many as four Tu-22M3s destroyed.

Ukraine hits air bases thousands of miles inside Russia in audacious military operation

Svitlana Vlasova, Victoria Butenko, Tim Lister, Mitchell McCluskey and Helen Regan, CNN

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Ukrainian forces have destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes parked at air bases thousands of miles from the front lines, according to a source in the country’s security services, in one of Kyiv’s most audacious and sophisticated counter assaults since the beginning of the war.

The operation, dubbed “Spiderweb,” saw drones hit targets across a large swathe of Russia, including in Belaya – which is closer to Japan than Ukraine – and at Olenya base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, according to the source.

More than 40 Russian aircraft were “burning en masse” at four air bases, the source said.

The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, said the strikes caused an estimated $7 billion in damages and hit 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at its main air bases.

The drone attacks came on the eve of expected peace talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, which were already strained by uncertainty and pressure from US President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration was not given a heads-up about the operation, an administration official told CNN.

The strikes appear intended to send a message to Russia that Ukraine could still apply pressure more than three years since Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Kyiv has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of not wanting to end the war as Moscow ramps up its attacks and offensive operations, including launching its largest drone assault on Ukraine since the war began overnight Saturday.

The operation, more than a year and a half in the making, involved drones being smuggled into Russian territory and hidden in wooden mobile houses atop trucks, according to the security source. The roofs were then remotely opened, and the drones deployed to launch their strikes.

Putin Is a Gambler, not a Grand Master

Anastasia Edel, 

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a writer and social historian.An illustration depicts Vladimir Putin holding up a hand of playing cardsFederico Yankelevich illustration for Foreign Policy

After centuries of trying to catch up with the West, Russia is now using its influence to reshape the politics of Western countries and erode their foundational commitment to the democratic order.

Nowhere is this more visible than the United States. For nearly 80 years—through the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the fragile new order that followed—the United States viewed Russia as a rival to be contained, not courted. But in the first few months of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, Washington has turned its back on its historic democratic allies and pivoted toward Moscow.

Anastasia Edel is a Russian-born American writer and social historian. She is the author of Russia: Putin’s Playground, a concise guide to Russian history, politics, and culture. Her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books,

the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Project Syndicate, Quartz, and World Literature Today. She teaches history at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of California, Berkeley. 

The Defence Review and Operation Spiderweb

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Two disparate but related events dominated the news cycle on Monday. The first was the publication of the long-awaited defence review, warning of a dangerous and immediate Russian threat. It contained some far-reaching proposals designed to address the threat, 

so raising inevitable questions of affordability, but also sought to be transformative in the way in which the Ministry of Defence goes about its business, especially but not solely when it comes to relations with industry.

The second event was the remarkable Ukrainian attack on Russian long-range bomber bases using short-range drones, brought close to their targets in an audacious special operation. 

The defence review is quite explicit about the extent to which it has drawn from Ukraine’s experiences in its war with Russia, and so this latest attack provides a compelling illustration of some of the themes that inform the review.

The Context

It is the natural response of then commentariat to every review to explain how its aspirations will be defeated by the Treasury. This one is no exception. 

A year ago, when the review was launched the issue was if and when the percentage share of GDP would move from 2.3% to 2.5%. Now it is if and when it will move to 3%, which is progress of sorts. But as this will be in the next parliament, and as we face a turbulent few years in the global economy, it is hard to be confident that when the moment comes the money will be found.

Ukraine says it hit Crimea bridge with underwater explosives

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Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it targeted the Crimea bridge with underwater explosives on Tuesday following an operation lasting "several months".

The SBU said it had "mined the supports" of the bridge with explosives equivalent to 1,100kg of TNT, which "severely damaged" the bottom level of the supports.

The "first explosive device" was detonated "without any civilian casualties", the SBU added. The information shared by the SBU could not be immediately verified.

Russian media initially said the bridge was briefly closed to traffic but that it had reopened by 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT).

However, later in the day, local authorities warned the bridge was temporarily closed again.

Unconfirmed reports on social media said more explosions had occurred around the structure.

The official Telegram channel sharing operational updates about the bridge said: "We ask those on the bridge and in the inspection zone to remain calm and follow the instructions of the transport security officers."

Russia has not yet commented on Tuesday morning's attack but Russian military bloggers speculated that an underwater drone, rather than explosive, had hit a protective barrier.

The SBU said its director, Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, personally supervised the operation and coordinated its planning.

In a Telegram post, it quoted Malyuk as saying Ukraine had hit the Crimea bridge in 2022 and 2023 and was therefore "continuing this tradition under water."

Lessons from the War in Ukraine for Space

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Space-based services and the disruption of these services have played an unprecedented role in the ongoing war in Ukraine. The role of space in the war offers important lessons for how the United States must prepare for events in the space domain in potential future conflicts. In this report, RAND researchers offer an open-source account of space activities throughout the war and extract relevant lessons for the national security community.

This report is organized along three mission areas that proved most significant in shaping the war in Ukraine: satellite communications (SATCOM); positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT); and intelligence, 

surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), including overhead imagery or radar. For each mission area, RAND researchers identified the prewar capabilities within Ukraine and Russia, specified how these capabilities were employed or disrupted in the war, and determined any associated challenges or issues for the key stakeholders in the conflict. They relied on publicly available information, including published statements by Western, 

Ukrainian, and Russian officials; literature from Russian and Ukrainian defense enterprises; and open-source 

Key space services will likely be disrupted in future conflicts. Cyberattacks, Global Positioning System jamming, and other threats have significantly shaped the war, and the growing sophistication of both Russian and Chinese counterspace capabilities only increases the likelihood that the United States and its allies might face similar disruptions in a future conflict.

Ukrainian Drones are Tapping us on Our Shoulder

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The above picture from 2012 of Norfolk is what I want you to think about.

We talked about the superbly executed Ukrainian attack on Russian bomber bases for most of yesterday’s Midrats, and what keeps coming to mind for me is not the details of that attack, but the stark warning it is giving us.

The threat of drone strikes isn’t a new warning, but in my mind it intersect almost perfectly with the self-inflicted vulnerability of the US Navy’s fleet—its concentration.

The growing utility of attack drones isn’t an insight that is unique to the Russo-Ukrainian War. The topic has come up here and on Midrats for almost two decades. We’re not alone. Heck, broad thinking people like our friend Matt Hipple was pondering it over at CIMSEC thirteen years ago a few months before the picture at the top of the post was made.

I’ll tie in the picture a bit, but let’s take a moment to give the Ukrainians credit where credit is due. They executed precision strikes against the RUS bomber fleet across the entire two-thirds of the Euro-Asian landmass.

Your Gmail Inbox Is Running Slow. Do These Things to Fix It

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For more than 1.8 billion people in the world, there is one service that rules them all: Gmail. A primary conduit for communication, the email service that Google launched in 2004 is now as prevalent as the iPhone, a Windows laptop, and the deep blue sky.

I created my first Gmail account way back in 2005, and my current account has existed since 2012. My life revolves around email, but sometimes those revolutions can run a bit slow. Hampered by too many emails, I find myself clicking and waiting for an email to open and waiting again to see the attached files.

I knew I had to solve the problem. Google doesn’t provide a lot of guidance for speeding up one’s Gmail inbox, likely because the company doesn’t want to admit it runs slow at times. I decided to “learn by doing” and discovered several tips and tricks that helped speed up the service.

Take a Surgical Approach

My Gmail is severely cluttered and choking on too many emails and hundreds of labels. I needed to do major surgery. I started by disabling a few extensions and add-ons for Gmail, and then deleting a bunch of recent emails, but those actions made a negligible impact.

What Is Google One, and Should You Subscribe?

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Google One is the company's subscription cloud storage service, with several tiers offered at monthly fees, and higher tiers that include the latest Google Gemini artificial intelligence features. Every Google account comes with 15 gigabytes of free cloud storage shared across Google Drive, 

Google Photos, and Gmail. But with videos of your kids, hi-res photos of your pets, and work files, that space doesn’t stretch far today. Google One storage can be shared with your family, but it’s just the start—there are other benefits to subscribing.

10 New AI Challenges—and How to Meet Them

Bhaskar Chakravorti,

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the dean of global business at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.An illustration shows an AI / robot hand touching fingers with the hand of a small child. In the background are smears on a chalkboard.Foreign Policy illustration/iStock photo

With a new record set for the number of executive orders (EOs) by any U.S. president in their first 100 days, you could be forgiven for missing EO 14277, titled “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth,” that came right after 

the EO that restores U.S. seafood competitiveness. In the deluge of President Trump’s EOs, 14277 is 34 orders away from the one aimed at closing the Department of Education—the very department assigned to do the heavy lifting of advancing AI education at the K-12 level. 

Fortunately, students might already be adept at how to use AI tools. Where deeper education may be needed is in building awareness of how AI is posing “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor,” as Pope Leo XIV has noted in his concerns.

To relieve the soon-to-be-shuttered Department of Education of the immense burden of teaching about AI’s “new challenges,” I have assembled a 10-point lesson plan and, for each point, one potential remedy.