Europa i støpeskjeen

 

The wild south-east Who are Europe’s newest troublemakers? Corruption and inflation are boosting eurosceptic populists

Duxford

 

IWM History Festival 2026

13 and 14 June   IWM Duxford IWM History Festival returns this summer to the historic grounds of IWM Duxford. Bringing together experts and history lovers, join us for an unforgettable weekend filled with history, entertainment and community spirit. Over 13 and 14 June, spend the day with fellow history enthusiasts and hear from best-selling historians and authors as they share original insight and explore the past and why it matters. Book Tickets

Discover the Line-Up

From Flt Lt. Colin Bell, the last surviving Mosquito pilot of the Second World War, to experts and best-selling historians Damien Lewis, Katja Hoyer and Joshua Levine. Discover incredible stories at IWM History Festival. See our full line-up.

Flight-Lieutenant Colin Bell	Damien Lewis
13 June only   IWM Duxford	14 June only   IWM Duxford

Katja Hoyer	Joshua Levine
14 June only   IWM Duxford	13 June only   IWM Duxford

Peter Caddick-Adams	James Bulgin, IWM’s Head of Public History
14 June only   IWM Duxford	13 and 14 June   IWM Duxford

You are receiving this email because you opted in to hear from IWM. Copyright © 2026 Imperial War Museums, all rights reserved. IWM Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ, United Kingdom

Moderne minekrigføring til sjøs

 

Mine Warfare in the Strait of Hormuz: What the U.S. Can Expect from Iran — Large segments of the public—ranging from senior leaders who control military forces down to the proverbial person on the street—misunderstand modern mine warfare. When journalists use visuals to illustrate naval mines, they often default to World War I– or World War II–era imagery: large, spiked spheres floating ominously on the surface.

Sjekk saken her: https://tinyurl.com/2zaabwdm

Arktis

 

High North GARC. BlackSea Technologies on May 15 revealed it participated in the February NATO Arctic Sentry 2026 exercise in the high north, demonstrating its Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft  (GARC) in Ramsund, Norway. The GARC was attached to Commander, Task Force 66 and operating with the U.S. 6th Fleet, U.S. Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron 3 (USVRON-3) and the Royal Norwegian Navy. BlackSea Technologies mission director Lunsford Schock said this event proved GARC can “operate effectively in dynamic, contested maritime environments north of the Arctic Circle.”

Droner

 

Rafael Unveils STORM SHIELD: Miniature Electronic Warfare System for Aerial Platforms

By The Editor on May 19, 2026 06:36 am

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. has unveiled STORM SHIELD, a miniature electronic warfare (EW) system developed specifically for unmanned aerial platforms. The system makes its international debut at the AOC Electronic Warfare conference in Helsinki, Finland. STORM SHIELD addresses one of the most pressing operational gaps in modern unmanned operations: the absence of market available and […]

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EDGE Group to Acquire Italian Engine Firm CMD

By The Editor on May 19, 2026 06:35 am

Costruzio ni Motori Diesel S.p.A. (CMD), a leading Italian company specialised in the design, prototyping, and development of advanced propulsion systems for automotive, marine, and aeronautical applications, has received an acquisition proposal from EDGE Group, a company founded in 2019 and based in the United Arab Emirates, one of the leading international technology groups. The proposal provides […]

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AIRO’s ‘Slowed Rotor’ Hybrid VTOL Long Range Cargo Drone on Show

By The Editor on May 19, 2026 06:35 am

Aerospace firm AIRO, along with its brand Jaunt Air Mobility, unveiled new dual-use vertical-takeoff-and landing (VTOL) drones —  the JC250 cargo variant and the JX250 ISR variant — with  “slowed-rotor” architecture and hybrid-electric propulsion, at the Xponential/MDEX conference. “Hybrid provides us capabilities, not only for range, but also for going to remote areas where there may not be […]

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Parrot’s ANAFI UKR Selected for a Major European Armoured Vehicle Programme

By The Editor on May 19, 2026 06:30 am

Parrot, a European supplier of professional micro-UAV systems, announced that its latest tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, ANAFI UKR, has been selected for integration into advanced armoured platforms under a major European armoured vehicle program. This selection builds on a relationship established in 2020 under a previous tender, through which the same defence force first procured Parrot micro-UAVs. […]

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Recent Articles:AEVEX Gets $18.5M US Air Force One Way Attack Contract
UK Deploys RAF Eurofighter Typhoons with Low-Cost Anti-Drone APKWS in Middle East
Ukraine’s New Laser Targeting Tool Tracks Shaheds at Night
BAE Systems GXP and Vantor Bring High-Accuracy Targeting to New Drone Platforms in Contested Environments
Motorola Solutions Expands Silvus Technologies Production and Fulfillment Capacity to Meet Growth Demand

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Voldsom satsing på droner i alle scenarier i USA. (Red.)

New Drones. AIRO Group Holdings last week introduced a new long-range, vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the RQ-70 Dainn, for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition missions. The RQ-70 builds on the company’s RQ-35 used by Ukrainian forces and features eight hours of endurance, 62 miles of operating range, modular payload architecture, resilience in GPS-denied environments, singe operator deployment and autonomous mission operations and recovery.

…DZYNE’s Blitz. DZYNE Technologies last week unveiled Blitz, its expendable Group 1 UAS designed to operate as a single asset or in swarms for reconnaissance, electronic warfare or strike missions. The fixed-wing, electric-powered 15-pound drones can launch from a small container—the BlitzBox housing multiple drones—hand-launched, and rail-launched, and feature one to two hours of endurance and a range over 90 miles.

…Bumblebees. Touting the accelerated procurement timelines enabled by the Army Transformation Initiative, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll last week told the Senate Armed Services Committee that after spending five days assessing a need in U.S. Central Command during Operation Epic Fury, by day 10 the service had contracted for 23,000 MEROPS drone interceptors and Bumblebee first person view drones and by day 20 they had begun deliveries into theater. Last month, Driscoll said the Army had acquired 13,000 MEROPS after Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, suggesting that the Bumblebee purchase awas 10,000 units (Defense Daily, April 16). MEROPS are built by Swift Beat and Bumblebees by Perennial Autonomy, two startups backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

…Drone Help. BAE Systems and Vantor last week announced a partnership to ensure that drone platforms deliver analysts accurate targeting and intelligence data in contested environments. The partnership combine’s BAE’s Geospatial eXploitation Products (GXP) software for intelligence workflows with Vantor’s Raptor vison-based software that enables autonomous systems to navigate, orient and obtain accurate ground coordinates in GPS-denied environments. “By including Raptor directly into our GXP intelligence workflows, we are providing analysts with the ability to maintain absolute targeting confidence, even when the platform’s systems or inertial sensors lack high absolute accuracy,” Kurt de Venicia, product development director for GXP, said in a statement.

DIU USVs. HII on May 15 announced that in December that it delivered and tested two Romulus-25 autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USVs), in partnership with MetalCraft Marine, as part of a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract for smal autonomous boat prototypes for the Marine Corps. These 27-foot high-speed interceptor vessels are designed to deliver up to a 1,000 pound payload with a range of up to 1,000 nautical miles and are capable of fully autonomous operation with HII’s Odyssey autonomy suite. HII noted the two USVs were successfully tested and demonstrated advanced autonomous mission behaviors at sea.

USA i dag

Hegseth campaigns for congressional race, breaking with Pentagon neutrality (Military Times) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday campaigned for a Republican congressional challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump in an extremely unusual move that broke with the military’s longstanding tradition of political neutrality. Read More Pentagon begins sweeping review of military legal system (Federal News Network) "Reviewing the military legal system is not a problem, reviewing it inside the building without independent structure is structural concern," Ira Rushing said. Read More The human impact of policy changes at the DOD and VA

(The War Horse) An ongoing timeline of the Trump administration’s actions focusing on the military and veterans. Read More

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Gerrymandering i full utfoldelse til republikanernes fordel . (Red.)

Republicans feared losing midterms - but fight over voting maps changed all that

Sjekk https://tinyurl.com/2rkyfjzr

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Trump skal bruke skattebetalernes penger for å kompensere sine støttespillere som fikk problemer under Biden. Rettssystemet har aldri fungert slik Trump ønsker. i alle fall ikke når det har gått imot ham. Det kompenserer han for med en for oss ukjent metode. (Red.)

Oversatt via Google translate

President Donald Trumps nye fond på 1,776 milliarder dollar for å kompensere allierte (hans støttespillere) som hevder at de ble urettferdig målrettet av Biden-administrasjonen, er den typen ordning som en gang kunne ha ugjenkallelig farget et presidentskap.

Likevel har Trump brukt år på å knuse etiske forventninger rundt embetet sitt. Hans skrekkelige lederskap har for lengst lagt fra seg sjokkerende kraft.

Likevel er planen, som ble annonsert av justisdepartementet mandag og fordømt av kritikere som et slush-fond, en studie av hans politiske prosjekt i mikrokosmos.

Den eksemplifiserer flere av Trumps hovedregler på tvers av to presidentskap: bære nag, aldri innrømme nederlag og alltid søke gjengjeldelse.

Trumps tro på at han ble unikt forfulgt på grunn av sin politikk er fortsatt en brennende motiverende kraft til tross for at han har satt kriminelle etterforskninger mot seg på sidelinjen ved å vinne tilbake presidentskapet.

I sin forretningskarriere var Trump en produktiv prosessleder og var part i utallige søksmål. Under sine straffesaker de siste årene brukte han sine rettigheter i sin fulle grad for å lykkes med å utsette saker mot seg selv. Nå, i sin selvbestaltede kapasitet som landets øverste politimyndighet, tøyer han rettssystemet på en ny og svært kontroversiell måte.

Fondet eksemplifiserer også et annet fremtredende trekk ved Trumps administrasjon – et ønske, demonstrert mange ganger, om å bruke presidentskapets makt til å straffe fiender og belønne venner. Det gjenspeiler en trosartikkel blant Trumps innsnevrede indre krets om at han ble offer for etterforskninger av hans første kampanjes kontakt med russere; over hans nektelse av å innrømme valget i 2020; og over forretningsaktivitetene til familien hans og Trump-organisasjonen.

Til syvende og sist er ideen et annet av de enorme maktgrepene fra den utøvende makt som definerer hans andre periode: Trump krever myndighet til å bruke enorme mengder skattebetalernes penger til å fordele etter sine egne ønsker.

Planen kommer med et patina av legitimitet. Den vil inkludere en kommisjon på fem medlemmer som skal avgjøre krav. Men Trump vil ha makt til å sparke hvilken som helst av dem. Denne strukturen etterligner hans pakking av enhetene som ga stempel på hans transformasjon av Kennedy Center og hans planer om å bygge en massiv ballsal på stedet der den ødelagte østfløyen i Det hvite hus lå.

Men presidenten insisterte på at han bare var interessert i å gjøre opp for en «forferdelig periode» i amerikansk historie.

«Dette er å refundere folk som ble forferdelig behandlet», sa Trump til journalister i Det hvite hus. «De får refundert sine advokathonorarer og andre ting de måtte lide.»

NATO

 

Jækla bra Carney! (Red.)

Pentagon pauses Canada joint military board, pointing to Carney remarks (The Hill) The Pentagon’s policy chief announced Monday that  the United States will suspend its involvement in a joint body  that coordinates military consultation with Canada, pointing to  Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s address to the World  Economic Forum earlier this year. The move comes amid  simmering tensions between President Trump and Carney. Read More ----oooo00O00oooo----

GOP senator voices alarm over reported changes at key Army headquarters in Europe

By 

John Vandiver

Stars and Stripes • May 18, 2026

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Soldiers perform drill movements in front of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, in this undated photo. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis this weekend raised concerns over rumors that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to downgrade USAREUR-AF from a four-star to a three-star command in the midst of a troop drawdown in Europe. (U.S. Army Europe and Africa/X)

A Republican lawmaker on Capitol Hill lashed out over the weekend at Pentagon leadership, saying a troop reduction in Europe and what he called efforts to push aside a top Army commander are putting the military on “a dangerous path.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Saturday that Gen. Christopher Donahue, the leader of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, could be the latest high-level commander to be pushed aside by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.