I - On Defense Podcast
Probably the best defense commentary in the world. Top military and defense industry analysis in 45 minutes or less.
Episodes
507 episodes
President Trump Holds Calls with Russia & Ukraine Presidents + NATO Summit in Turkey + Hamas Prepares Transfer of Gaza Governance to Technocratic NCAG
For review:1. President Trump held separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year. 2. Norway wan...
Report: Iran's Supreme Leader Not Allowed at Father's Funeral; Assassination Concerns + Iran: Friendly Nations Get Special Treatment in Hormuz Strait + Satellite Imagery: Iran Repairing Tunnel Complex at Pickaxe Mountain; Violation of MOU
For review:1. Iran’s ambassador to China insists that new fees will be charged to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz — an idea rejected by Washington — while assuring that “friendly” nations would receive special treatment.2. R...
US & Saudi Arabia Tense Relations Over Iran War + Former Iran Supreme Leader State Funeral Begins Saturday + IDF Pairs Iron Dome with Iron Beam Laser System
For review:1. US-Saudi relations have significantly deteriorated in recent months amid anger in Riyadh over Washington’s decision to launch a war against Iran that has caused massive blowback for the rest of the region, to the extent tha...
US Envoys Meet with Mediators in Qatar; No Direct Talks with Iran + Israeli PM in S. Lebanon; IDF to Remain in Security Zone + Armor Not Dead: Australian Army Building Heavy Armored Brigade
For review:1. Talks between Cuba and the U.S. are at a standstill, despite the island recently approving a series of free-market reforms, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez announced Tuesday.2. Attackers shot dead two members ...
US & Iran Halt Strait of Hormuz-Related Attacks; Agree to Discuss Tuesday in Qatar + Security Annex Allows IDF Operations Against Threats in S. Lebanon + Turkey Offers to Host Russia - Ukraine Peace Talks
For review:1. US & Iran have agreed to halt attacks on each other and to meet again on Tuesday in Doha to discuss the issues of the Strait of Hormuz.2. The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement, signed last week, explicitly prese...
US Strikes Iranian Missile Storage & Coastal Radar Sites; IRGC Vows Retaliation + Israel & Lebabon Establish Framework for Limited IDF Withdrawal + Small Moroccan Contingent Arrives in Israel for Gaza ISF Effort
For review:1. US Central Command (CENTCOM) says its forces conducted strikes against Iran earlier this evening in response to an attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.2. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary ...
US Secretary of State: No Iran Tolls on Strait of Hormuz + Israeli Defence Minister: No IDF Withdrawal from S. Lebanon Security Zone + US Places New Sanctions on Cuban State Companies
For review:1. The U.S. government on Tuesday hit Cuban state companies with new sanctions.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions target five Cuban entities, including three linked to Grupo de Administración E...
US & Iran Start Talks in Burgenstock; Roadmap Established to Meet 60-Day Tineline + IDF Captures Hezbollah Subterranean Drone Base / Factory in S. Lebanon + Ukraine Gives Belarus Ultimatum to Remove Relay Equipment
For review:1. The United States and Iran began talks in Switzerland on Sunday after signing a preliminary agreement to end their war.American and Iranian representatives gathered alongside delegations from mediators Pakistan and Q...
Israel & Hezbollah Renew Uneasy Ceasefire + Report: IRGC Cells in Iraq Launched Attacks Against Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, & UAE + US Renames Combatant Command: Indo-PACOM Out; PACOM Name Restored
For review:1. A B-52 on a routine test mission crashed shortly after takeoff Monday (15 June) in Southern California, killing all eight crew members on board.2. US Army aims to release proposal requests for its heavy v...
Text of MOU + US CENTCOM Lifts Blockade Entering/Exiting Iranian Ports + Pentagon to Review US Force Presence in Europe + USAF CCA Update
For review:1. Cuban lawmakers unanimously approved sweeping reforms backed by the Communist Party and former leader Raul Castro that would privatize a vast swath of the country's socialist economy in a bid to survive punishing U.S. sanc...
US & Iran MOU (Reaction/Analysis) + Documents Show Hamas 07 October Attack Designed to Ruin Israel-Saudi Arabia Normaization + Somaliland President Visits Jerusalem; Opens Embassy
For review:1. Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opened Somaliland’s embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, the eighth top-level diplomatic mission in the capital.The United States...
US & Iran Reach Deal; Ceasefire Extended 60 Days; Formal Signing in Switzerland Planned for Friday
For review:1. Senior Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq, mastermind of a January 2007 attack that killed five US troops in Iraq, was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon over the weekend, the IDF announced Sunday.2. U...
President Trump Halts Strikes on Iran; "Agreement Signing To Be Announced Shortly" + US Sanctions Cuba's State-Owned Oil Company
For review:1. The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on Cuba’s state-owned oil company, part of a Trump administration effort to restrict fuel supplies and increase pressure on the island’s Communist government.2. US President Donald...
US Sends Second Round of Retaliation Strikes Against Iran for AH-64 Apache Shootdown + Iran Claims Response Strikes Against US Bases in Kuwait & Bahrain + Sec of War Visits US Troops in Guantanamo Bay
For review:1. US Defense Secretary on Wednesday said the future of Cuba is in the hands of President Trump and Havana’s leadership amid increased U.S. pressure on the communist-ruled island.“No matter what, the Department of War i...
Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Beirut + Iran Responds with Ballistic Missile Attacks + Israel Retalliates With Strikes on Iranian Military Targets & Petrochemical Plant; Israeli PM Cancels Planned Massive Attack "For Now"
For review:1. Israel on Sunday carried out airstrikes in Beirut, with the military saying it targeted a Hezbollah headquarters in the group’s stronghold of Dahiyeh, a large suburb just south of the Lebanese capital.Iran threatened...
US Targets Iranian Radar Sites on Qeshm & Goruk Islands + Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles at Kuwait & Bahrain + Russian President Putin Responds to Ukraine's Direct Negotiations Letter: "I don't see any point for now"
For review:1. Raúl Castro, Cuba’s low-profile former president and revolutionary guerrilla, appeared in public for the first time since
President Trump: Iran's Enriched Uranium is "Entombed" + US Sanctions Cuban President Diaz-Canel + Ukraine President Zelenskyy Calls for Face-to-Face Negotiations in Letter to Kremlin + US Army SP Howitzer Modernization
For review:1. The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in the latest move by the Trump administration.2. A statement attributed to Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday said that the United Sta...
US Forces Strike Qeshm Island in Response to Iranian Attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain + Report: President Trump Asked Xi Jinping to Push Russia Back to Negotiating Table + Europe's Emerging Nuclear Umbrella - France
For review:1. Cuba on Tuesday defended a military-run conglomerate long the target of U.S. sanctions, saying the group of businesses known as GAESA has contributed to the nation's economic and social development.2. US forc...
President Trump: "No Hurry" to Make Deal with Iran + Report: Iranian Missile Strike on US Base in Kuwait Wounds Five Americans; Two MQ-9 Reaper Drones Destroyed or Badly Damaged + IDF Captures Beaufort Castle in S. Lebanon
For review:1. US SOUTHCOM X: SOUTHCOMCommander Gen. Francis L. Donovan (USMC) personally inspected all aspects of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay’s security posture, leading a comprehensive perimeter security assessment and discussing force...
No Final Determination on US - Iran MOU + Israel Continues Air and Ground Operations North of Litani River + US SOUTHCOM Commander Meets with Cuban Military Officials
For review:1. The head of the U.S. military's Southern Command met with top Cuban military officials Friday at the edge of the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay.2. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Friday tha...
New US Strikes Against Iran; Second Attack This Week + Israel Kills Newly Appointed Hamas Military Chief in Gaza City + IDF Combat Operations North of Litani River
For review:1. The Pentagon has spent months positioning the troops and weapons needed for the U.S. to launch a military attack on Cuba — all it needs is a final go-ahead from the President.2. The US military carried out new ...
Latest on US - Iran Negotiations and Deal + Israel Ramping Up Strikes Against Hezbollah
For review:1. Latest on US - Iran Negotiations and Deal.2. Israel Ramping Up Strikes Against Hezbollah
President Trump: Iran Deal To Be Released Soon + President Trump Announces Deployment of 5000 Troops to Poland + US Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Operating in SOUTHCOM AOR
For review:1. The U.S deployed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying strike group into Caribbean waters this week.2. US President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that the US and Iran were finalizing a deal to end ...
Secretary of State Rubio: Iran's Plan to Toll Ships in Strait "Unfeasible" + US Navy CNO: Escorting Ships in the Strait Exceeds Navy Capacity + Russia Launches Unannounced Three-Day Nuclear Exercise; 200 Missile Launchers; 140 Aircraft; 8 Nuclear Subs
For review:1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that there were “good signs” for a deal to end the war with Iran, but that an agreement would be “unfeasible” if Tehran pursues its plan to toll ships in the Strait of Hormuz....
President Trump Postpones Attack on Iran + NATO Supreme Allied Commander: Expect Additional US Troop Withdrawals + Report: Cuba Has Acquired Hundreds of Military Drones
For review:1. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez insisted Cuba "poses no threat" to the United States and doesn't have "aggressive plans or intentions against any country," after Axios reported that the island nation has hundreds...