Northrop Grumman has resumed work on the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, which will comprise the future land-based segment of the United States’ triad of nuclear deterrence. The defense contractor said it finalized a plan with the U.S. Air Force on how to best address the fiscal challenges involving the Sentinel’s command and launch infrastructure that led to the temporary halt, according to a July 2025 Breaking Defense story. “While we have continued to make good progress on the missile and the support and sustaining equipment, we are focused now on bringing the command and launch [segments] to…
Sentry
The United States Army and NATO have launched a new Eastern Flank Deterrence Line plan to counter increasing threats from Russia. Defense leaders announced the effort at the July 2025 LANDEURO conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, the website DefenseNews reported. The plan calls for an Alliance-wide effort to improve interoperability and ground-based capabilities to enhance global deterrence. The Army and its NATO Allies are developing standardized, data-driven systems, common launchers and cloud-based coordination to counter Russia’s aggression, U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and NATO Allied land command, said, according to DefenseNews. Starting with…
To maintain a stable security posture, nations must have more than effective weapons; they also must have the infrastructure to position, maintain and deploy those weapons when needed. Logistics — the process of planning, delivering and controlling materiel and information — is crucial to enhancing deterrence as the United States and its Allies and Partners face multiple security threats, according to defense leaders. “The investments that we have made in the department over the last 25 years have really focused on our ability to generate and deliver the first punch, deliver kinetic strikes, deter through fear of our ability to…
While the United States Air Force awaits production of the stealth B-21 Raider, it will upgrade its legacy B-1B Lancer, transforming the supersonic bomber known as “The Bone” into an airborne arsenal. The foundation of the upgrade is the Boeing-designed Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon, which will allow the B-1B to pack a much larger payload on its hardpoints, including the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) and, potentially, hypersonic weapons, according to a July 2025 Air & Space Forces Magazine article. Hardpoints are airframe attachments that can carry an internal or external load. With the…
France and the United Kingdom have signed a pact to coordinate on nuclear weapons deployment in response to heightened security threats to Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the agreement after a July 2025 summit in the U.K. Under the agreement, the two nations are “confirming for the first time that we are coordinating our independent nuclear deterrence,” Starmer said during a news conference at Northwood, a military headquarters northwest of London, according to Reuters. “From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our…
Top military officers from Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States said deepening cooperation is crucial to maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific. Following a July 2025 meeting in Seoul among the nations’ joint chiefs of staff, the three countries issued a statement condemning North Korea’s unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs and agreed to continue talks to denuclearize North Korea per United Nations Security Council resolutions. The three joint chiefs of staff chairmen — Japan’s Yoshida Yoshihide, the ROK’s Kim Myung-soo and the United States’ Joint Chief of Staff Dan Caine — discussed ways to deepen their…
Japan successfully test-fired a missile from its territory for the first time as the country boosts its defense capabilities to counter rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) fired a Type-88 surface-to-ship missile toward Pacific coastal waters from a test range on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in late June 2025, according to The Japan Times newspaper. In the past, Japan tested its missiles in Australia and the United States because of space limitations and safety concerns, according to The Associated Press (AP). A JGSDF artillery brigade used a training missile to target an uncrewed boat…
The United States has successfully tracked a ballistic missile using Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) that could one day become a sensor in the Golden Dome for America defense shield. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said the LRDR at Clear Space Force Station in Alaska “acquired, tracked and reported missile target data” to the Command and Control Battle Management and Communications system (C2BMC). “This was the radar’s first flight test tracking a live Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) representative target,” the MDA said in June 2025 news release. The LRDR was built as part of the existing Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system…
When United States Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich became Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) in July 2025, he joined the uninterrupted succession of U.S. military leaders who have guided NATO. On December 19, 1950, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first SACEUR, and the position has traditionally been held since then by a U.S. military officer. Gen. Eisenhower subsequently activated NATO’s military headquarters — Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) — on April 2, 1951, according to U.S. European Command (USEUCOM). Gen. Grynkewich will simultaneously lead USEUCOM in the “dual-hatted” position, which is viewed as crucial for European…
Denmark is ramping up its defense spending, including drones and ground-based missile systems, to fill critical air defense gaps. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine created a sense of urgency for Denmark to increase defense spending, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish minister or foreign affairs, said during a July 2025 event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Denmark currently spends 3.2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and plans to raise direct defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2030, the target agreed upon by NATO Allies at the June 2025 summit, he said. “The big issue…