The government is refusing to deny reports that plans to make Britain's armed forces "war ready" will require billions more than it has allocated so far. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) believes it will require an extra 28bn over the next four years to meet its forecast costs, according to The Times and The Sun. The department's investment plan has been delayed, with Sir Keir Starmer reportedly ordering a rewrite of the proposals.
Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel Anthony Tata wrote in a memo last month that the effort is to determine the "operational effectiveness of ground combat units 10 years after the Department lifted all remaining restrictions on women serving in combat roles." Tata requested Army and Marine leaders to provide data on the readiness, training, performance, casualties and command climate of ground combat units and personnel.
A striking convergence of events this week should have shaken the Pentagon's overseers but so far hasn't. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a $900 billion defense bill by an overwhelming 77-20 margin. A few days earlier, the New York Times devoted its entire 13-page Sunday Opinion section to argue that much of that budget is a colossal waste of money. Titled "Overmatched: Why the U.S. Military Needs to Reinvent Itself," the package catalogs the many ways in which the country's war machine
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering troops to watch or read his speech last month at Quantico, Va., when he declared the "woke" military is gone, decried "fat generals" and ordered women in the military to meet the "highest male standards" for physical fitness. The memo, obtained by NPR, calls for servicemembers to complete the "Warrior Ethos Tasking," which includes a link to the video and updated policy memorandums, by the end of the month.
Early in her military career, she collapsed from heat exhaustion while carrying a 65lb pack on a sweltering hike in Quantico, Virginia. Years later in Afghanistan, Rivera drove a truck in temperatures nearing 120F (49C). But she was ready. She had taken a mechanics course twice to make sure she could fix the truck's air conditioning if it failed. She knew extreme heat could incapacitate her marines. They need water and good temps like everybody, she said.
in a September 30 memo, one of 11 that Hegseth referenced during the now infamous speech at Quantico on the same day. 'The Department of War is committed to enabling our warfighters to focus on their core mission of fighting and winning our Nation's wars without distraction,' the memo [ PDF] reads, using the unofficial but Trump-approved new name for the Defense Department. 'Mandatory Department training will be directly linked to warfighting or otherwise be consolidated, reduced in frequency, or eliminated.'
Despite the excitement of the weekend, Trump is very much alive, which we know because he gave an hour-long press conference on Tuesday afternoon, which began with his announcement that he's moving Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama and ended with him rambling about how the U.S. is the hottest and the best and that we'd be a third world country right now if it weren't for tariffs.
General Sir Patrick Sanders emphasized the urgent need for the UK government to develop national resilience in light of evolving threats, particularly regarding Russia. He stated that Britain must prepare for possible conflict within the next five years, warning that by 2030 a conflict with Russia is a realistic possibility. The general outlined that if fighting in Ukraine ceases, Russia could quickly regain the capability to launch limited attacks on NATO allies, necessitating immediate cross-national support.
