WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is ramping up its AI capabilities to hunt for Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, a recently awarded contract shows. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. Navy is clearing Iranian mines from the strait, a vital sea route for oil…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth controversially claimed on Thursday that the fragile ceasefire with Iran means that President Donald Trump does not yet have to seek congressional consent to extend the war. Hegseth argued that the pause in hostilities freezes the ticking clock that would otherwise require the president either to get agreement from lawmakers or…
WASHINGTON — Ten months after Congress passed its reconciliation effort, only $26 billion of the roughly $152 billion earmarked for defense has been placed on contract, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today. However, Hegseth told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the money is set to start flowing soon, saying, “we’ve got the…
On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and acting comptroller Jules Hurst visited the House Armed Services Committee for the trio’s first public hearing since the start of the Iran war. In this new edition of Pentagon Buzz, Breaking Defense Pentagon reporter Ashley Roque breaks down…
Operation Epic Fury in Iran has cost American taxpayers roughly $25 billion so far, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer revealed on Wednesday. Acting comptroller Jules Hurst III, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, said that the bulk of the figure has been devoted to ordnance. “Approximately, at this day, we are spending about $25…
The Pentagon is formally seeking congressional authorization to codify the “Department of War” moniker, estimating it will cost taxpayers approximately $52.5 million. The figure is substantially lower than the Congressional Budget Office’s projection in January, which estimated the rebrand could reach as much as $125 million if it were adopted “broadly and rapidly.” In a…
The U.S. military attacked a boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing two people and raising the death toll to at least 182 in the campaign against people the United States accuses of smuggling drugs at sea. Gen. Francis L. Donovan of the Marine Corps, the head of the Southern Command, ordered the…
Launch may capture headlines, but in today’s space domain, it’s what rides those rockets that matters most. Satellites are increasingly central to US military planning, powering communications, enabling missile warning and tracking, and supporting a more distributed, resilient force. This new eBook from Breaking Defense brings together reporting from Theresa Hitchens on the programs, technologies…
WASHINGTON — Military personnel and Defense Department civilians have used a version of Google Gemini’s Agent Designer to create over 100,000 semi-autonomous AI agents in less than five weeks since the tool became available, a Pentagon official told Breaking Defense. “We’ve seen remarkable adoption since its launch, with over 103,000 agents built and a total…
Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired on Wednesday after months of infighting with senior Pentagon leaders and disagreements over how to revive the Navy’s struggling shipbuilding program. Mr. Phelan is leaving the Pentagon and the Trump administration effective immediately, wrote Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, in a terse statement. In his role leading the…
