Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq AFPS 26 Jul 2015 -- Coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• Taliban Seizes Key Afghan Military Base VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- Authorities in northeastern Afghanistan confirmed Sunday that the Taliban had captured a key military base in overnight clashes after more than 100 Afghan security forces surrendered to the insurgents.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Navy Names Littoral Combat Ship DoD 26 Jul 2015 -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Saturday that the next Freedom-variant littoral combat ship will be named USS Cooperstown (LCS 23).
• USS Lassen Completes Successful At-Sea Phase of CARAT Singapore 2015 NNS 26 Jul 2015 -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) successfully completed five days of combined, at-sea training events with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), July 23, as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore 2015.
• Secretary General announces North Atlantic Council to meet following Turkey's request for Article 4 consultations NATO 26 Jul 2015 -- The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies, will meet on Tuesday 28 July, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty.
• NATO, Turkey to meet over ISIL, PKK on Ankara's request Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- NATO ambassadors are to meet for talks called by Turkey over Ankara's military operations against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) group.
• NATO To Meet At Turkey's Request RFE/RL 26 Jul 2015 -- NATO says it will hold emergency talks on July 28 to discuss Turkey's security operations against both Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish militants, as the country presses ahead with air strikes in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
• Russian Su-35 Fighter Jet Sees Export Orders Soar Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- The Sukhoi Su-35 is set to follow in the wake of the Soviet Union's legendary Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets in becoming a major military export.
• Russia Discloses Number of Warships It Has Throughout the World's Oceans Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- More than eighty Russian Navy ships of various classes currently remain on duty at sea, according to the country's Defense Ministry.
• Russia's Black Sea Fleet Gets Significant Boost for First Time After Pause Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- Russia's Black Sea Fleet was boosted by more than ten boats and support vessels after a forced pause, the Fleet's Commander Adm. Alexander Vitko said late Saturday ahead of the Navy Day.
• Russian Navy to Get Over 20 Ship-Borne Fighter Jets by Year-End Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- The aviation branch of the Russian Navy will get more than 20 new ship-borne MiG-29K fighters by the end of 2015, the Defense Ministry's press service said.
• China launches two satellites for independent navigation system People's Daily 26 Jul 2015 -- China successfully launched two satellites for its indigenous global navigation and positioning network at 8:29 p.m. Beijing Time Saturday, the launch center said.
• Iran to unveil new air defense system ISNA 26 Jul 2015 -- Iran is now installing a strategic radar which would be unveiled on September 1st, said Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili.
• Syria's Assad Says Army Faces Manpower Shortfall But Vows To Win War RFE/RL 26 Jul 2015 -- Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad has acknowledged that the Syrian Army faces a shortfall in manpower and had to give up some areas in the ongoing civil war.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes | 7/26/2015 The White House 26 Jul 2015
• Background Gaggle Aboard Air Force One en route Ethiopia The White House 26 Jul 2015

Defense Industry

• Russia to Build 5th-Gen. Nuclear Subs by 2020 in Push to Modernize Military Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- According to the general director of Sevmash, a Russian shipbuilding company, the construction of fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarines could begin by 2020.

Other Conflicts

• Commentary: Manila's South China Sea arbitration request reneges on previous promises People's Daily 26 Jul 2015 -- Manila appears to be a fickle player in international politics since its recent arbitration request on the South China Sea issue completely disregards its previous consensus with China and violates what it has agreed on.
• Saudi Arabia continues bombing areas in Yemen Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Saudi Arabia has bombed several areas in Yemen as part of its deadly military campaign against the impoverished Arab country.
• Yemeni Forces Loyal to Former President Reject Ceasefire Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- Loyalists of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh in army will continue fighting along with Houthis against the supporters of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi despite the ceasefire proposed by the Saudi-led coalition, accoridng to a spokesman of the forces.
• Houthis Commander Refutes Claims Leader Rejected Humanitarian Truce Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- The Houthi commander said that the leader of Yemen's Houthi movement Abdel-Malek Houthi did not reject the humanitarian ceasefire proposed by the Saudi-led coalition.
• Five Die in Saudi-Led Coalition Airstrikes in Southern Yemen Sputnik 26 Jul 2015 -- Saudi-led coalition bombed a number of facilities under Houthis' control in Yemen on the eve of the third five-day humanitarian truce.
• Yemen: UN chief welcomes Saudi-led coalition's announcement of humanitarian truce UN News 26 Jul 2015 -- Welcoming the announcement by the Saudi-led Coalition of a unilateral five-day humanitarian pause in Yemen, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on all parties to the conflict to suspend military operations and facilitate safe, unhindered access of relief workers to desperate populations throughout the crisis-riven country.
• Fighting Erupts for Control of Yemen's Largest Air Base VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- Intense fighting erupted Sunday in Yemen for control of the country's largest air base, with the Houthi leader rejecting a call from the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting the insurgents for a five-day humanitarian truce.
• Iraq forces recapture university near Ramadi Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Iraqi special forces have managed to recapture a university campus from the ISIL terrorist group in the western province of Anbar.
• Syrian army, Kurdish fighters advance against ISIL in Hasakah Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Syrian government forces along with Kurdish fighters advance against ISIL in the strategic northeastern city of Hasakah, authorities say.
• Syrian army repels militant attack in Dara'a Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Syrian army soldiers have repelled an offensive by foreign-backed militants against the southwestern city of Dara'a, Press TV reports.
• Assad: 'Defeat Does Not Exist' for Syria VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- Syria's president, in a speech broadcast live on state television Sunday, acknowledged that the military has given up some regions of the country for strategic reasons as it battles insurgents, and offered justification as to why.
• US Backs Turkey Strikes Against Islamic State, PKK VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- The U.S. is backing Turkey's two-pronged air offensive and artillery strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq.
• Truce has no meaning after Turkish attacks, PKK says Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has announced that its ceasefire with Ankara has lost all its meaning after Turkey's warplanes and artillery fire struck their bases in northern Iraq.
• Turkey starts new wave of airstrikes against PKK Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- Turkish warplanes have launched a new wave of air raids in northern Iraq to target the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) group.
• EU urges Turkey to preserve peace agreeent with PKK Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- The European Union (EU) has called on the Turkish government to maintain a peace agreement with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and not allow terrorist activities to spoil the truce.
• Ukraine Detains Alleged Russian Officer In East RFE/RL 26 Jul 2015 -- Ukraine's border-guards service says it has detained a Russian officer who was driving in a military truck packed with ammunition in the country's war-torn east.
• Colombia halts raids on FARC rebels to accelerate peace process Press TV 26 Jul 2015 -- The Colombian government has suspended air raids on the camps belonging to rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after the two sides decided to negotiate a lasting peace agreement.
• Funding crisis may force UN agency to delay start of school year for half a million students in Middle East UN News 26 Jul 2015 -- Facing its most severe financial crisis ever, the United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestine refugees throughout the Middle East has today convened an emergency session to weigh the growing risk that it may be forced to delay the start of the academic year in some 700 schools for half a million students across the region.
• Fresh Attack in Cameroon Kills at Least 20 VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- At least 20 people have been declared dead and 70 wounded after a suicide bombing late Saturday in the Cameroon town of Maroua. Officials say the suicide bomber was a 13-year-old girl.
• Blast Kills 13 in Popular Mogadishu Hotel VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- At least 13 people were killed and 25 were wounded in Somalia's capital Sunday when a car bomb exploded outside a hotel that hosts the Chinese and Egyptian embassies.

News Reports

• Rouhani: Nation's decision to sign nuclear deal precise IRNA 26 Jul 2015 -- Labeling Iran as a threat for international security was in world powers' agenda, but nation's precise decision to sign nuclear deal annulled that decision and return of hazard atmosphere to Iran is impossible, said President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.
• Opposition Politicians Accuse Erdogan of Whipping up War Fever VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- Spurred by last week's jihadist suicide bombing in southern Turkey, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started to assume the kind of front-line role Washington has been urging on it for months. But Turkish airstrikes since the bombing have been as focused on Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as on Islamic extremists, say opposition politicians.
• Kim Jong Un extends respect to Chinese volunteer army People's Daily 26 Jul 2015 -- Top leader Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday paid tribute to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (CPVA) for its role in his country's liberation, official media reported Sunday.
• Obama: National Unity, Human Rights Key to Kenya's Success VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- President Barack Obama has arrived in Ethiopia for two days of talks focused on terrorism, human rights and the civil war in South Sudan.
• Ethiopia Excited But Cautious Over Obama Visit VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- Ethiopia did not roll out the red carpet when a little-known U.S. senator decided, in 2006, to visit a flood-stricken rural town and pledged to lobby for aid from the U.S. military.
• Burundi Group Rejects Nkurunziza to Head Unity Government VOA 26 Jul 2015 -- The chief executive officer of the Forum for Strengthening the Civil Society (FORSC) in Burundi says President Pierre Nkurunziza should not be part of any unity government.