Specialized task forces from NATO and the United States Navy are collaborating to develop autonomous capabilities to improve maritime security in the Baltic Sea. NATO’s Task Force X and the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 66 are working to ensure unmanned surface vessels (USV) developed by allied nations are interoperable and allow data sharing for identifying targets and situational awareness. Allies intensified efforts to deploy the new technology after what officials described as multiple acts of sabotage damaging undersea cables and other infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Authorities believe Russian vessels caused the damage. “We are never going to have enough…
Sentry
The Netherlands has become the first European nation to formally join the United States Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. “We think that this is a unique point in time, and it reinforces the partnership we have with the U.S. And I think it also makes the world a lot safer if in the near future we can … operate CCA type of aircraft in the European theater,” Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman said after signing a letter of intent in October 2025 at the Netherlands’ embassy in Washington, D.C., according to the military news website Defense…
The United States and NATO Allies are making progress on their Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (EFDL) plan to counter Russian threats. The EFDL calls for an Alliance-wide effort to enhance global deterrence and stability by converging regional plans among countries in NATO’s eastern flank. Goals include streamlining procurement and data sharing and improving interoperability among Allies’ systems. NATO defense leaders announced the plan at the July 2025 U.S. Army LANDEURO conference in Wiesbaden, Germany. The goal is to enable global deterrence across warfighting domains and with U.S. Allies and partners by developing standardized systems, common launchers and cloud-based coordination. As…
NATO Allies are working together to enhance interoperability across domains and counter what leaders called “increasing hybrid, reckless behaviors.” The NATO Military Committee Conference of Allied defense chiefs and strategic commanders met in September 2025 in Riga, Latvia, to discuss security concerns and the Alliance’s deterrence and defense posture. The annual gathering took place as Europe faces increased threats to security, particularly from Russia. In recent months, NATO has increased efforts to protect critical infrastructure in the Alliance’s eastern flank in response to Russia’s airspace incursions, and in the Baltic Sea, where power cables, gas pipelines and telecom links have…
Australia and Papua New Guinea have entered a mutual defense agreement amid increased security tensions in the Indo-Pacific. The Pukpuk Treaty — named for Papua New Guinea’s word for crocodile — signed in Canberra, Australia, in October 2025, states that the two nations will come to each other’s defense if either is attacked. The agreement also provides for the expansion and modernization of Australia’s and Papua New Guinea’s defense relationship, including the potential military recruitment of each country’s citizens, and greater collaboration around cyberspace and electromagnetic warfare, according to BBC News. “Building on our countries’ deep strategic trust and respect,…
Nations in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are seeking to expand their arsenals to counter threats such as the increasingly aggressive actions of the Chinese Communist Party and Russia. Allies and partners of the United States now want to acquire weapons faster and cheaper, according to an October 2025 Reuters report. Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has underscored that urgency because its “high burn rate” of munitions has challenged nations supplying Kyiv with weapons, according to an August 2025 report in National Defense magazine. “The result is a level of arms manufacture unseen in recent years — much of it focused…
The United States military is developing rapid-response teams to counter drone incursions in the homeland within 24 hours. U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), made the announcement during Falcon Peak, a September 2025 exercise that evaluated Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-sUAS). USNORTHCOM demonstrated a “fly-away kit” for rapid-response teams during the C-sUAS experiment conducted at Eglin Air Force Base’s test complex in Florida. The kit has a “suite of sensors, effectors [countermeasures] and software optimized for expeditionary employment and the homeland defense mission,” according to manufacturer Anduril.…
The United Kingdom and the United States, in a demonstration of interoperability in space, conducted their first coordinated satellite maneuvers. The Allies’ space commands performed a Rendezvous Proximity Operation (RPO) in September 2025, according to a U.S. Space Force news release. An RPO intentionally moves two or more orbiting satellites or spacecraft close to each other, according to the website Space News. The space-tracking software company COMSPOC identified the U.S. satellite in the recent RPO as USA 271, which is used for surveillance and belongs to the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness constellation operated by the U.S. Space Force, according to…
The United States remains an unwavering military partner to its fellow NATO member Finland, according to Helsinki’s leadership. “We are very pleased that the U.S. is prepared to deepen their cooperation with us,” Finnish defense chief Antti Hakkanen told Reuters in September 2025 while aboard the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge. The warship docked in Helsinki ahead of the NATO exercise Neptune Strike in the Baltic Sea. Military cooperation between the U.S. and its Allies are part of a long-standing effort of interoperability that includes events such as Steadfast Noon, NATO’s annual October exercise that rehearses nuclear deterrence. Finland’s…
The United States Marine Corps officially launched its effort to accelerate the military’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) modernization. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney, assistant commandant, signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2025 to formally establish Project Dynamis, a cross-functional team working in partnership with the U.S. Navy’s Project Overmatch, according to a U.S. Marine Corps news release. The memorandum established a council of three-star leaders — lieutenant generals from the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps and vice admirals from the Navy — to govern the project, tasking it with presenting an initial plan and a…