A Forecast International blog about the arms trade, geopolitics, defense and security, and military spending.
When Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, the sky over Iran was filled with a familiar, buzzing silhouette: a delta-winged kamikaze drone. But for the first time in …
Operation Epic Fury is the United States’ Cheap Drone Moment Read More
Source: Ukraine MoD/21st Mechanized Brigade On February 3rd, the Pentagon announced the 25 vendors invited to participate in Phase I of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP). By injecting $1.1 billion …
Could the Army’s “Gauntlet” for Cheap Combat Drones Rewrite the Defense Acquisition Playbook? Read More
In end-of-year contract action, the Pentagon announced on December 29 an $8.58 billion award to Boeing to build 25 new F-15IA aircraft for Israel. The ten-year Foreign Military Sale …
Israeli Order for F-15IAs Underscores Eagle II’s Potential Read More
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has officially activated Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS), the military’s first dedicated one-way kamikaze drone squadron in the Middle East. This milestone was punctuated on December …
LUCAS: Scaling the Drone War Read More
Introduction The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) held its annual meeting this week in Washington, D.C. Amid an upswing in emerging defense technology – and artificial intelligence …
AUSA 2025 and AI Piloting: An Old Idea with New Technology Read More
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the prevalence of loitering munitions and forced armies to rethink how they deliver and survive fires. The technology offers inexpensive precision, with some observers …
Ukraine War Highlights New Role for Loitering Munitions Read More
Between June 21 and 22, 2025, during a nighttime mission dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” U.S. B-2 Spirit bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri struck Iran’s underground nuclear sites …
With GBU-57s, U.S. Finally Deploys Weapon Designed Specifically for Iran’s Hardened Nuclear Sites Read More
As of March 2025, the United States remains the world’s largest arms exporter, accounting for 43% of global arms exports. But even as demand for American-made defense equipment surges amid …
Trump Tariffs Hammer U.S. Artillery Market Despite Export Dominance Read More
Earlier this year, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael C. Horowitz revealed that the Department of Defense (DoD) had launched several new artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives and investments. Central …
Budget Trends and the Future of AI in U.S. Defense Read More
The V-BAT (also designated MQ-35A) is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) reconnaissance unmanned aerial system (UAS) developed by Shield AI. As a Group 3 unmanned aircraft, the V-BAT is …
BRIEFER: Shield AI V-BAT Read More