Defense One

Trump’s assumptions are running his Iran policy aground—again

In this handout photo provided by U.S. Central Command, U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V Touska on April 20, 2026. U.S. Navy via Getty Images Fellow, Defense Priorities May 1, 2026 02:30 PM ET Commentary Iran White House Pentagon President Trump’s April 21 decision on to extend his original two-week ceasefire with Iran, less than 12 hours after he expressed reluctance to do precisely that, is giving the U.S. and Iran more time to salvage a diplomatic process defined by misleading statements, rhetorical chest-thumping, and conflicting agendas.While shooting has stopped for the time being, the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz remains. The good news is that neither the United States’ nor Iran’s best interests are served by a long-term conflict, which suggests both sides are at the very least keen to keep the diplomatic option open in order to determine whether a settlement to the nearly two-month long war is possible. The bad news is that Trump’s poor assumptions about how Iran would react to U.S. pressure tactics have led to poor decisions and a conflict in the Persian Gulf whose outcome remains in doubt. Far from squeezing Iranian leaders into concessions, the U.S. president has repeatedly

7 AI firms cleared to provide tools for classified Pentagon networks

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images By Alexandra Kelley Staff Correspondent, Nextgov/FCW May 1, 2026 11:49 AM ET Industry AI & Autonomy Pentagon Seven leading AI developers have deals to install tools in classified Defense Department networks, a wide spread meant to prevent "vendor lock," Pentagon officials said Friday.Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Reflection, and SpaceX are cleared for Impact Level 6 and Impact Level 7 network environments, part of a bid to streamline data synthesis, improve warfighter decision-making, and increase situational understanding and awareness.“Together, the War Department and these strategic partners share the conviction that American leadership in AI is indispensable to national security,” a press release said. “This leadership depends on a thriving domestic ecosystem of capable model developers that enable the full and effective use of their capabilities in support of Department missions. As mandated by President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, the Department will continue to envelop our warfighters with advanced AI to meet the unprecedented emerging threats of tomorrow and to strengthen our Arsenal of Freedom.”The new AI tools will be available via GenAI.mil, the Pentagon’s central AI platform. In late April, Google rolled out its Gemini 3.1 Pro model on

Space Force wraps decades-long GPS upgrade—and the next one is on tap

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the GPS III-8 mission successfully launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on April 21, 2026. U.S. Space Force / Gwendolyn Kurzen CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — After decades of development, a rocket switch in March, and a last-minute weather delay, the U.S. Space Force finally launched the last satellite of the world’s most modern GPS system into orbit.The final GPS III space vehicle, known as SV-10, broke through the Florida skies and into the heavens aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last month. The new satellite offers position data three times more accurate and eight times more jamproof than previous ones, according to the Space Force. For civilians, it means more precise road directions and better food delivery. For troops, it means more sophisticated targeting and higher-security communications in austere environments. It’s a no-fail mission that people—from parents getting their kids to soccer games to Air Force pilots in enemy airspace—are counting on, said Space Force Col. Stephen Hobbs, Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 31 commander.“We can talk about the captain of industry who owns a banking conglomerate and they want to make sure they have precise timing for

Former head of ‘Pentagon’s think tank’ joins Anthropic

James Baker ANTHROPIC By Patrick Tucker Science & Technology Editor May 1, 2026 09:24 AM ET Artificial Intelligence Pentagon The United States has “a tight time window to adapt” to the “civilizational" challenge of AI, according to a former senior Pentagon thinker who's joining Anthropic as a “strategist-in-residence.”James Baker led the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment—often referred to as the “Pentagon’s Think Tank”—from 2015 to 2025, when it was temporarily closed by the Trump administration. At Anthropic—the AI company now amid a six-month withdrawal from federal service, as ordered by President Trump—Baker will to lead analysis of how AI is affecting U.S. institutions and competition with China, the company announced Friday.As ONA director, Baker advised defense secretaries and national security advisors on the long-term effects of emerging technology on national security; he had earlier served on the Joint Staff and in other advisory roles.For decades, ONA helped the U.S. military adapt to social, economic, environmental, and technological trends. The office was established in 1973 by Andrew Marshall, a policy strategist in the Nixon administration. Using a data-driven, “system-of-systems” approach, it sought to predict the interrelation and effects of trends from tech development to military affairs to labor. The office

Marine commandant: Every combatant command has requested an amphibious ready group

Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class Chris Sanderson observes the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group transiting the Sulu Sea from an MH-60S Sea Hawk, April 26, 2026. U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Sailor O’Rear The Marine Corps has long insisted that it needs enough amphibious ships to keep three ready groups deployed at all times, but the demand for those units is much higher than that, the service’s commandant said Thursday.Every combatant commander—from U.S. Central Command to Africa to Southern—has requested an ARG with a Marine Expeditionary Unit on board, Gen. Eric Smith told an audience at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C. “I won't say how many of the ARG-MEUs our combat commanders ask for, but it is well north of three,” he said. “I'll just say that it is well north of three—like double that.”The 22nd MEU is off the coast of South America supporting Operation Southern Spear, the administration’s anti-drug trafficking effort, while the 31st MEU is in the Middle East supporting the U.S. blockade of Iran.They’ll soon be joined by the 11th MEU, Smith said, which just finished typhoon disaster response in the Northern Mariana Islands.“I just wish I had more of

Admin mum on whether Trump will seek to legalize Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, arrive for the House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 29, 2026. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images It’s been two months since the U.S. began strikes on Iran without authorization from Congress, so the clock is about to run out on the legal amount of time a president has to carry out a military operation without congressional approval. But the administration has given no indications they hope to make Operation Epic Fury legal.Asked during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday whether an authorization or extension request are coming, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demurred, arguing that the current ceasefire with Iran has paused the 30-day clock.“I do not believe the statute supports that,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Hegseth. “We have serious constitutional concerns and we don’t want to layer those with additional statutory concerns.”A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request from Defense One to clarify whether the president has asked Congress to vote on an authorization for use of force in Iran, or whether he will submit a written request for a 30-day extension that would give troops time to withdraw.One or the other

Air Force’s top general: Supplemental funding needed to replace US aircraft lost in Iran

Air Force Chief Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach testifies before a House Subcommittee on Defense hearing on Capitol Hill on April 30, 2026. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images Replacing the dozens of U.S. aircraft that have been damaged or destroyed in the Iran war will require more money than the staggering $1.5 trillion defense budget, the Air Force’s top general said. Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the service’s top uniformed leader, told House lawmakers Thursday that the historic defense budget is focused on buying more fighters, bombers, and tankers for the service’s fleet. Those losses in Iran have made additional funding from Congress outside the 13-figure budget request necessary, he said during a defense appropriations subcommittee hearing.“We hope to be able to address this in a supplemental, for the aircraft that we’ve lost, and the procurement, going forward, is meant to increase the number of tails we have, especially in the fighter force, but it also includes bombers and tankers as well,” Wilsbach said. “Both supplemental and the budget, the ‘27 budget, is supposed to address those losses.” Key U.S. Air Force assets, including a $500 million E-3 Sentry and four F-15E fighter jets, have been lost since Operation Epic

Defense Business Brief: Satellite firm’s ‘secret sauce’ | 3D-print factory in a box | Ship-lobby ad

Apex wants to provide satellite buses to primes building proliferated constellations, which means building at scale, CEO Ian Cinnamon says.The company recently announced plans to make an XL version of its Comet satellite bus, adding power and mass yet still remaining small enough to fit 16 on a Falcon 9, Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon said in a recent interview.But, he said, “I think what everybody tends to forget about is the need to really build these at really high rate production. And that's really the focus around Comet.”Cinnamon said Apex builds at scale by reusing avionics and other systems from its earlier, medium-sized Nova bus—but also by using Octopus, the custom software that he calls his company’s “secret sauce.”“Effectively, it's not even our manufacturing operating system; it's our entire company operating system,” he said. “It controls everything from, you know, forecasting demand, understanding on inventory, receiving quality from suppliers. How many, you know, kits we're holding on inventory at any given time, all the way to work, instructions on the factory floor, tracking, NCRs, traceability on orbit.”Like seemingly everything else these days, Octopus “uses a significant amount of artificial intelligence, a significant amount of software automation for processes,” the CEO