Free Republic

The war in Ukraine has thrust advanced air defense systems like the Patriot missile into the spotlight, creating a unique confluence of geopolitical urgency and defense sector opportunity. As Russia's relentless drone and missile strikes escalate, Ukraine's reliance on Western military aid has exposed both the strategic importance of advanced air defense systems and the fragile global supply chains supporting their production. For investors, this dynamic presents a compelling narrative of growth for defense contractors—but also risks tied to production bottlenecks and shifting geopolitical alliances. The Demand Surge: Patriots as the New “Must-Have” Asset The U.S. decision to pause Patriot...

President Trump went off on Joe Biden for emptying out the US’s munitions stockpiles. TGP reported earlier this week that the Pentagon is halting some weapons shipments to Ukraine after it was revealed that Joe Biden depleted the US stockpiles.The Trump Administration is withholding shipments promised by the Biden Regime after the Pentagon’s policy chief Elbridge Colby found the US’s stockpiles of munitions and air defense missiles are dangerously low.Joe Biden sent billions of dollars to Ukraine and now the US’s total number of artillery rounds, air defense missiles and precision munitions are sinking.' Biden sent Ukraine as much money...

During an April 11, 2013, House Armed Services Committee hearing, Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., inadvertently revealed several unclassified sentences from a DIA report that said DIA had determined with “moderate confidence” that North Korea has the capability to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be launched with a ballistic missile. The Director of National Intelligence and Obama officials subsequently tried to dismiss Lamborn’s disclosure by claiming the DIA assessment was an outlier that did not reflect the views of the rest of the U.S. Intelligence Community.....

Keir Starmer has announced a fresh package of military aid for Ukraine – this time paid for using the UK’s interest haul from frozen Russian assets. The UK will send 350 advanced air defence missiles, built in Britain and adapted in record time for ground launch, using £70m of interest raised through the government’s extraordinary revenue acceleration (ERA) scheme. The move marks the first time the UK has used Russia-linked funds to directly bankroll weaponry for Kyiv. The missiles will be deployed through UK-supplied Raven systems – five more of which are en route to Ukraine, taking the total to...

Five hours after the United States announced the destruction of Iranian nuclear sites, Iran launched two missile salvos targeting Israel – the first such attack in more than 30 hours. A total of at least 27 missiles were fired in the attack, with impacts recorded in Haifa and across central Israel. According to IDF assessments, the first barrage consisted of 22 missiles, followed by a second with five more. Following the attack, Magen David Adom teams treated and transported victims. Twenty-five people were rushed to hospitals, including a man in his 30s in moderate condition with shrapnel wounds to his...

Dramatic revelations confirm that the launching of a full-scale military campaign against Iran was made "at the last possible moment" - under growing pressure from intelligence warnings. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir addressed the Security Cabinet on the eve of the attack, presenting the final operational plans. Several cabinet members reportedly heard the details for the first time during that meeting.... Security officials estimate Iran currently possesses around 2,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel’s home front - a figure that could have doubled within a year due to Iran's accelerating production. Another major achievement has been the...

Ukraine just struck deep into Russia, destroying a key electronics factory in Cheboksary that powers Putin’s missiles, drones, and glide bombs. With only two stealth drones, Ukraine crippled a plant essential to Russia’s war machine—impacting everything from missile guidance systems to nuclear sub components. As smoke rises, Ukraine’s message is clear: nowhere is safe.

Ukraine has achieved a breakthrough in its domestic missile program. A new Ukrainian ballistic missile has completed a combat test, striking a Russian command post nearly 300 kilometers from the launch site, military analyst and director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak revealed. The missile’s development began in May 2022, with a successful test already conducted in the summer of 2024. According to Badrak, the system is now entering serial production, Badrak stated in a recent interview with Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform on June 10. “I don’t know how many missiles we can expect per...

China produces the entire world’s supply of samarium, a rare earth metal that the United States and its allies need to rebuild inventories of fighter jets, missiles and other hardware.China’s strict controls on the export of heat-resistant magnets made with rare earth minerals have exposed a major vulnerability in the U.S. military supply chain.Without these magnets, the United States and its allies in Europe will struggle to refill recently depleted inventories of military hardware.For more than a decade, the United States has failed to develop an alternative to China’s supply of a specific kind of rare earth crucial for the...

Despite efforts by the United Nations to impose isolating sanctions on North Korea in response to the country's continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, trade between Russia and North Korea soared more than 85 percent in the first four months of the year.

TWO Russian airfields housing Putin's nuke bombers have reportedly been blitzed in an extraordinary drone strike - wiping out at least 40 aircraft. A Ukrainian security official told Reuters that the SBU conducted a large drone attack on Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers - which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine. The source did not specify where the drone attack took place, but Ukrainian media said that Olenya airbase - home to Russia’s Tu-95 strategic bombers - had been targeted. The second base under fire is understood to be the Belaya nuclear airbase in eastern Siberia’s Irkutsk region...

Danwatch and Der Spiegel has gained access to hundreds of highly detailed blueprints ...

The German chancellor’s drive to keep a campaign pledge of more robust backing for Ukraine is running into blocks within his own government as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin.Friedrich Merz made a full-throated declaration on Monday, hours before Zelenskyy’s one-day visit was announced, that Germany was for the first time lifting previous range restrictions on weapons supplied to Kyiv, along with Ukraine’s other main western supporters.His statement – in an interview with a public broadcaster, which his team later posted to social media – was widely interpreted as a pivot toward bolstering Berlin’s aid to Kyiv at...

US President Trump's announcement of a so-called "Golden Dome" defense system modeled after Israel's "Iron Dome" has created both an opportunity and a dilemma for Canadian Prime Minister Markey Carney. "On the one hand, the diagrams of the 'Golden Dome' show it covering all of North America," Carney observed. "This implies that we could be protected for free. On the other hand, an overt alliance with the United States could make Canada a target of a missile attack from one of the United States' many foreign enemies." "Canada is a weak and inoffensive nation," Carney pointed out. "Switzerland, another weak...

The U.S. State Department has determined and certified Cuba as a "not fully cooperating country" (NFCC) for not helping with counterterrorism efforts after the island nation failed to turn over at least 11 fugitives in 2024 to U.S. custody. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the announcement on Tuesday that the certification, which falls under Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, will result in the prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense services to Cuba. "In 2024, the Cuban regime did not fully cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism," Bruce said in a statement....

Iran asserts it has stationed missiles nationwide capable of dodging American defense systems. As reported by Iran International, the country this week unveiled a new ballistic missile named Qasem Basir, with a range of 1,200 kilometers, and warned that American military bases across the Middle East fall within its scope. According to the publication, that was reported in Globes, Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh stated the upgraded missile, powered by solid fuel, was engineered to circumvent modern air defense systems—particularly the American THAAD system, which was recently installed in Israel. Nasirzadeh declared on Iranian state TV that the missile’s improved...

Projectile fired from Yemen lands close to aviation hub in rare air defence failure A missile launched from Yemen on Sunday landed near Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, Israel's main international airport, injuring several people in a rare failure of the country's air defences. Footage showed smoke rising from the impact site near an airport building, as Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the hit. Airlines including Wizz Air and Lufthansa suspended flights in response to the attack, which Israel's airports authority said was the first to strike so close to the terminal and runways. Eight people Israeli Prime...

China has “enforced maritime management and exercised sovereign jurisdiction” over an uninhabited reef in the disputed South China Sea, planting the country’s flag on the tiny sand bank just kilometers from a key Philippine military outpost. Photographs released by Chinese state-run media on Saturday showed China Coast Guard officers unfurling the flag as part of an effort to effectively seize Sandy Cay reef, which Beijing calls Tiexian Jiao, earlier this month. The reef, located in the flash point Spratly Island chain, is also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Sandy Cay also sits just over 3 kilometers from Thitu...

Huge explosion of 24 shipping containers of sodium perchlorate received from China for use in Iranian missiles in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran. This chemical is more explosive than ammonium sulfate. He estimates it is about 2X the size of the Beirut Lebanon explosion. This shipment by China was illegal. Israel was aware of the shipment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that Ukraine is “ready to purchase” more American-made Patriot missile systems from the United States, noting that it was a “top priority” for Ukraine to secure “air defense systems for Ukraine.” In a video on X, Zelensky said he had “held a Staff meeting” and added that, among the top priorities were Ukraine’s “agreements” with its partners, and Ukraine’s “readiness to produce air defense systems in Ukraine.” Zelensky added that Ukraine would “seek to reach a corresponding agreement” with the U.S. regarding “an agreement on Patriots for Ukraine.”