Given it has been nearly two weeks and I have not been able to regain access to my account, I think it is probably time to call it quits. RIP.

Interesting that one of the critiques of the Vietnam Memorial has been reversed. “… some members of Congress that wondered why the monument did not … display names or images of the more than 7,000 killed in combat operations that spanned more than a dozen countries.”

"Though Starmer was supportive of Healey’s position, he couldn’t sway the Treasury." I'm sorry, is Rachel Reeves the Prime Minister or is Keir Starmer?

🇺🇦🇺🇸 Phil Fikes, director of Bell Textron Ukraine, stated in an interview with Militarnyi that Ukraine is currently in active negotiations with the USA to sign an FMS agreement for the sale of H1 series helicopters. militarnyi.com/uk/news/ukray…

“At least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 injured in Ukraine in May 2026, marking the highest total number of civilians killed and injured since April 2022.[1] This is a 93 per cent increase compared with May 2025 (191 killed; 865 injured) and a 23 per cent increase compared with April 2026 (240 killed; 1,422 injured).” ukraine.un.org/en/317240-pro…

A completely dishonest characterization of facilities engaged in benign basic biological, medical, and veterinary research. It is no different from research performed in the U.S. or Europe. Ukraine only has a few facilities rated BSL-3 and none rated BSL-4.

❗️Ukraine plans to request an additional $20 billion from allies at the June 18 Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, according to Politico. The funding would be used for air defenses, drones, ammunition, electronic warfare equipment, long-range strike capabilities and procurement from Ukrainian defense companies. Officials argue the money is needed to preserve Ukraine’s current battlefield momentum. #Ukraine

The enthusiasm for bringing back the C-17 line lasts exactly until Boeing hands Congress and international FMS customers the bill for tooling and non-recurring engineering costs.

A few thoughts on Healey's departure. At the end of the day, the root cause is a failed defence review process. The review proposed things on the basis that spending would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, a relatively modest pace of growth that was & is incompatible with everything the UK wants to do—GCAP, AUKUS, a strategic reserve corps for NATO on land, carrier strike & more munitions/readiness. The gov't was unwilling either to make choices among these, which would have been politically and diplomatically painful, or to spend *significantly* more in the short & medium term, instead pointing to non-credible commitments out into the mid-2030s. There was and is no credible path to the 3.5% of GDP target by 2035 that the PM publicly agreed at the Hague last year. Now the UK is going to go into the Ankara summit in a weak position, with a teetering government, and with a likely successor to Starmer who is no more likely to support higher defence spending, all with predictable consequences for the US-UK relationship.

American credibility has deteriorated to the point where the president can announce a diplomatic agreement and the near-universal reaction is "let's wait for confirmation from Tasnim"

Dont really do these that much right now, but I still see them and pass them on New US FMS approval of FIM-92K Stinger MANPADs to 🇧🇷 @exercitooficial . 100 rounds for $330m

John Healey shadowed me for over 4 years. While i didn’t agree with everything he did i know he tried his best and had the interests of the Armed Forces at his heart. i know he loved the job and it will have not been easy to resign. His loyalty to his Party and PM was not reciprocated by them when it mattered and i think he was left with no choice. i wish him the very best. His resignation was one of principle.

The most important part of doing this successfully will be the people and the training. In the past year we’ve cut billets to robotics technicians & eliminated the robotics skill identifiers entirely from the discussion, at least in the Army.

The lockdown has now been lifted, per @SeanParnellASW. It was a false alarm. H/t @halbritz for first reporting. "Earlier this morning, Pentagon occupants were notified of a potential air quality issue, prompting immediate precautionary safety measures and evaluation. Subsequent testing confirmed no hazard exists, and normal operations have resumed." - Parnell

ROBOCOM. Would very much like to know who originated this idea. I don’t think a new CCMD is at all the right way to approach force design and organization for autonomous systems.

Since he did not show the DIP to anyone in MOD from the Defence Sectretary down until Monday, and nobody with any knowledge of defence including the Ministerial team and Chiefs was involved in the decision, and all of them disagree with it, on what basis is he making this claim?

It is unclear what this would achieve. Kharg Island is just an export terminal. Most Iranian exports are already obstructed by the blockade. Occupying or destroying the island’s infrastructure doesn’t do anything that blockade cannot. Moreover, Iran can inflict damage against infrastructure in the GCC that will take years to repair.