United States Coast Guard forces seized more than 231,786 kilograms of narcotics worth over $3.8 billion in 2025 — the largest haul in the service branch’s history. The successful disruption of transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean prevented more than 193 million lethal doses from reaching U.S. shores and saved more than $10 billion in costs in health care and other areas, according to a Coast Guard news release. “The men and women of the Coast Guard delivered extraordinary results for our Nation in 2025,” Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, the Coast Guard’s commandant,…
The Watch
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-15 warplanes and Civilian Air Patrol aircraft conducted an air defense exercise over southwestern Louisiana in January 2026 as part of the long-running Operation Noble Eagle, designed to reinforce air sovereignty and defense missions in North America. The January 14 exercise, which lasted about one hour between Lafayette and Lake Charles, is part of a series of air defense training operations for a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings, and responding to unknown aircraft to test responses, systems and equipment, according to a NORAD news release. NORAD air exercises, including Noble Eagle,…
The United States Department of War has created a new task force in January 2026 to coordinate a whole-of-government effort to detect, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, along the Mexico-U.S. border. The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel (JIATF-CC) will be run by U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and based in Tucson, Arizona. “The JIATF-CC will work with the Homeland Security Task Force National Coordination Center to ensure we are sharing all intelligence between our Department of War, law enforcement, and Intelligence Community partners to ensure our operations across the whole-of-government are synchronized and coordinated to have the greatest…
The United States awarded $3.3 billion in construction contracts to build 156 kilometers of border wall and even more waterborne barriers in Texas and Arizona in November and December 2025, part of a larger effort to the secure the 3,145-kilometer border with Mexico. The new construction will include 90 kilometers of wall and 106 kilometers of waterborne barriers along the border of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, a part of the frontier that has never been secured with barriers. The new contracts, awarded by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will add 156 kilometers of primary border wall,…
The United States Space Force (USSF) is exploring possible upgrades at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) to launch much bigger rockets from the California facility. The USSF released a request for information, or RFI, on December 29, 2025, seeking industry interest in leasing and developing a site that could accommodate heavy and superheavy lift vehicles like SpaceX’s Starship. USSF is seeking responses from launch service providers by February 12, 2026. SpaceX is already the most active tenant at Vandenberg, with frequent launches of its smaller Falcon 9 rockets, and the space community has been vocal about the possibility of billionaire Elon…
The United States Marine Corps plans to deploy hundreds of thousands of first-person-view (FPV) unmanned aerial systems (UAS) across its fighting force in 2026. In January, the Marine Corps announced it would rapidly increase training to place certified drone operators and payload specialists in its infantry, reconnaissance battalions and littoral combat teams by May. The push comes as the U.S. military ramps up its UAS capabilities to modernize its warfighting capabilities, reflecting the changing nature of armed conflict following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A Marine Corps administrative message identified a critical need for standardized training as new…
Members of the Mexican National Guard, the Mexican Army and police units seized illegal drugs, guns and ammunition, and arrested 12 people in three separate operations in Puebla, Querétaro and Sinaloa states in early January. The seizures and arrests originated during an airport warehouse inspection, surveillance patrols and the execution of a search warrant. On January 7, 2025, during an inspection of a parcel delivery company’s warehouse inside the Querétaro Intercontinental Airport, National Guard members using X-ray equipment located and seized 32 kilograms of marijuana, 355 doses of packaged marijuana that were ready to distribute, 60 electronic cigarettes with cannabis extract,…
The commander of the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command Region in December 2025 outlined upgrades to continental defense and domain awareness that will benefit the world’s only binational military command. Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Maj. Gen. Chris MacKenna pointed to large investments in F-35A warplanes, Over-the-Horizon (OTH) radar and other improvements as evidence of a strong, collaborative relationship with the United States and a boon for the national security of both countries. MacKenna told the military news website The War Zone that, although the recent military cooperation between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Russia is concerning, he…
The number of unregistered, illegally operated, aging ships traveling through the Arctic increased dramatically in 2025, helping Russia evade sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and posing environmental and potential national security threats. A new report by a Lithuania-based non-governmental organization (NGO) concludes that 100 such “shadow fleet” ships sailed through the Russian-controlled Northern Sea Route (NSR) last year, up from 13 in 2024. The Bellona Environmental Transparency Center warned that illegal activity greatly increased the risk of an environmental catastrophe in the fragile Arctic environment. “Lack of progress in ending of Russia’s unlawful war in Ukraine means…
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) has launched a fleet restoration initiative, shipping three RBDF patrol boats to a shipyard in the Netherlands for extensive refurbishment. The operation to load the vessels onto the MV Yacht Servant, a massive, semisubmersible heavy-lift ship that is transporting them to the Netherlands, occurred in December 2025. The HMBS Arthur Dion Hanna, HMBS Rolly Gray and HMBS Cascarilla will undergo extensive work at Damen Shipyards to extend their operational life, improve reliability and restore them to “optimal service condition” after years of deferred maintenance. The restoration also provides an important training opportunity for RBDF…