A Forecast International blog about the arms trade, geopolitics, defense and security, and military spending.
The White House recently released a historic $1.5 trillion national security budget that sets out expansive investment plans for munitions, shipbuilding, drones, and emerging technologies, while also pouring billions into …
Inside the Pentagon’s Historic $1.5 Trillion FY27 Budget Request Read More
Demonstration of the PAC‑3 Missile Segment Enhancement integrated into the Aegis Combat System. Source: Lockheed Martin The U.S. Navy is set to become the second U.S. service branch to operate …
PAC‑3 MSE Integration and the Future of U.S. Naval Missile Defense Read More
During the first quarter of 2026, the U.S. government approved over $45 billion in potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) with the overwhelming majority supporting Middle Eastern allies. Of total global …
War Dividends: Potential U.S. Arms Sales to the Middle East Surge in Q1 2026 Read More
Image – Forecast International (AI-generated) South Korea’s defense planning is increasingly shaped by a constraint that is not military but demographic. As the country’s population ages and its pool of …
Manufacturing Capacity, Not Manpower: South Korea’s Quiet Defense Pivot Read More
The Context On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran. The conflict that followed has caused a tremendous strain on the global …
Strait of Hormuz Under Threat of Mines: Are Littoral Combat Ships the Solution? Read More
AI as Organizational Technology In his 2025 book, AI, Automation, and War, Anthony King implores the reader to understand artificial intelligence (AI) as a phenomenon most closely related to organizational …
AI in Iran: It’s Not (Just) About Capabilities Read More
A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache launches an Anduril Altius 700 Medium-Range Launched Effect (MR-LE) at Yuma Proving Ground during a recent concept exercise. Image–Courtesy Photo via DVIDS. The big three …
Rotorcraft Resilience: Strong Deliveries and Next-Gen Tech Drive U.S. Market Read More
With U.S. and Israeli operations expanding in scale, the war in Iran is testing the limits of tactical military success. The ongoing campaign has severely degraded Iranian capabilities, but it …
Tactical Success and Strategic Ambiguity in the Iran War Read More
Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Chief of the Naval Staff of Pakistan, and Rear Admiral Shahin Mammadov, Commander of the Azerbaijan Naval Forces, meet at Naval Headquarters in Islamabad to discuss maritime …
Azerbaijan and Pakistan Build Naval Capacity for Trade Read More
Defense technology often attracts people who are inclined to pay attention to the various stages of a normal technology’s lifecycle: its technical underpinnings and development; its relationship with existing techniques; …
Defense Tech Enters a New Era: The Case of Anthropic and the DoD Read More