United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said charges against two Chinese nationals demonstrate a sustained effort by the Chinese government to undermine U.S. national security. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Two Chinese nationals have been charged with spying inside the United States on behalf of Beijing. They are accused of taking photographs of a naval base, coordinating a cash dead-drop and participating in efforts to recruit members of the military who they thought might be open to working for Chinese intelligence. The case, filed in federal court in San Francisco and unsealed June 30, 2025, is the latest Justice…
The Watch
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) French Adm. Pierre Vandier, center, presents the Task Force X-Baltic, a multidomain maritime military project, to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron during a NATO summit at The Hague, Netherlands, in June 2025. AFP/GETTY IMAGES Norway has more than doubled its spending on defense in a little more than a year. Denmark has implemented mandatory conscription for women. And Sweden, the newest NATO member, also has indicated it will quicken its rearmament pace. All three Nordic countries have the same impetus: a resurgent Russia. “We must do more…
The Long Range Discrimination Radar at Clear Space Force Station, Alaska, is designed to provide search, track and discrimination capability in support of homeland defense. MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY REUTERS The Pentagon has successfully tested a long-range radar in Alaska that can detect missile threats from China or Russia and could someday serve as a sensor in the Golden Dome for America missile defense shield. The Long Range Discrimination Radar successfully acquired, tracked and reported missile target data, the Pentagon said on June 24, 2025. These are key tasks for the Golden Dome for America, a $175 billion program aimed at…
Six Cuban migrants were transferred to Bahamian authorities in June 2025 after the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted their unseaworthy craft in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. COAST GUARD Seventy migrants were apprehended in the Caribbean Sea as The Bahamas and the United States collaborated on surveilling, tracking and interdicting illegal migrant-transporting vessels. One operation, near Hole in the Wall Lighthouse in South Abaco, showcased the cooperation between the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and U.S. authorities, according to an RBDF news release. An RBDF drone team assisted in a multiday surveillance effort to track the ship. Another U.S. Coast Guard apprehension…
The HMCS Frédérick Rolette sails into the Hudson River in New York City in May 2025. It is the fifth of six Artic Offshore Patrol Vessels in the Royal Canadian Navy. WIKIPEDIA Canada commissioned its fifth Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV) in June 2025, completing another milestone toward overhauling its naval fleet. His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Frèdèrick Rolette joins four other AOPVs in strengthening Canada’s Arctic armed presence as well as bolstering its capacity to conduct surveillance, reconnaissance, search and rescue, and disaster-relief operations. The HMCS Frèdèrick Rolette was officially commissioned in a ceremony in which her commanding officer, Commander…
The United States Coast Guard welcomed its third polar icebreaker into its fleet as the Storis left Pascagoula, Mississippi, in June 2025 on its initial voyage. The cutter will be homeported in Juneau, Alaska, and used for Arctic patrol duty and other tasks. U.S. COAST GUARD A former civilian icebreaker is being repurposed to bolster the United States Coast Guard’s Arctic icebreaking capabilities, strengthening U.S. presence, force projection and patrol abilities in often frozen seas. The Coast Guard cutter Storis, renamed after a famous icebreaker based in Alaska, will be berthed in Juneau and manned by a mixed crew of…
The Mexican Secretary of National Defense Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, left, and Mexican Secretary of the Navy Raymundo Pedro Morales Àngeles, right, were hosted by Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, center, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, at command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in June 2025. U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND Senior military leaders from Mexico and the United States met in May and June to coordinate strategy and deepen ties. The Mexican secretaries of national defense and the Navy visited Colorado Springs, Colorado, in June 2025 for the first time since they were appointed. The June 23-25…
The USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, left Naval Station Mayport in Florida on June 5, 2025, deploying to the Gulf of America and the Caribbean to help secure the U.S. southern border. U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND The United States Navy is rotating two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers as it continues to secure the Mexico-U.S. border and its maritime approaches in the Gulf of America and the Caribbean Sea. The USS Cole, which is replacing the USS Gravely, departed June 5 from Naval Air Station Mayport in Florida. The Cole’s deployment is being coordinated by U.S. Northern Command, which…
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS At the urging of the United States, NATO leaders on June 25, 2025, agreed to increase defense spending and reaffirmed an “ironclad commitment” to come to each other’s aid if attacked, confirming NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s billing of the alliance’s annual summit as “transformational.” In a final statement, NATO’s 32 leaders said: “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense- and security-related spending by 2035…
Mexico’s security chief, Omar Garcìa Harfuch, said in June 2025 that Mexican cartels are recruiting Colombian ex-soldiers. Garcìa Harfuch’s June 10 comments followed the arrest of 12 Colombians by Mexican authorities connected to an attack on Mexican Soldiers that left eight dead. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels are recruiting former Colombian soldiers, prompting Mexican authorities to turn away dozens of Colombians trying to enter the country in recent weeks, Mexico’s security chief said in June 2025. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch’s June 10 comments followed the arrest of 12 Colombians in the western state…