Middle East Power Projection: Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Iran “blew the hell out of” Naval Support Activity Bahrain, forcing evacuation of about 1,300 military family members and leaving the USS Abraham Lincoln unable to dock; the Pentagon is now weighing whether to rebuild or shrink its footprint. Drone Warfare & Counter-UAS: Ukraine is converting U.S.-supplied Humvees into remote-controlled vehicles using its bolt-on Kaban kit with Starlink links; meanwhile, the Army awarded $196M in first production electronic warfare/spectrum-sensing contracts and is divesting its future IFPC laser in favor of Navy-led larger-aperture development. AI Misuse in Defense: Anthropic says adversaries used Claude for targeting U.S. Navy forces and for missile guidance work, alongside broader cyber and surveillance misuse concerns. North Korea Escalation: After U.S.-ROK-Japan drills ended, Pyongyang fired multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea; Seoul and Washington boosted readiness and information sharing. Industrial Base & Space Resilience: RAND warns the U.S. civilian space workforce can’t rebuild lost space capabilities fast enough in a war scenario with major gaps in engineering and specialized labor. Defense Exports & Procurement: Canada launched its Defence Drone Initiative marketplace, awarding first drone contracts up to $50M as it targets two million drones a year; Russia is also marketing war-tested drones and missile hybrids for export. Ukraine Strike Impacts: Russia hit a private area in Zaporizhzhia with drones, with people pulled from rubble, underscoring the ongoing pressure on civilian infrastructure.