Denmark will lease a NASAMS air defense system from a Norwegian company to restart its own air defense capabilities after shuttering its program in 2005. ROYAL NORWEGIAN NAVY In the face of an increasing threat, Denmark announced in July 2025 that it would restart its air defense system, which the NATO member had shut down two decades ago. The Danish government said it would acquire three different air defense systems, including leasing a Norwegian system, highlighting an increasingly close military relationship between the Nordic nations. The Danish Ministry of Defence already had announced plans to acquire the German-made Iris-T surface-launched…
The Watch
U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, right, stepped into his new role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe at a July 4, 2025, ceremony at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, succeeding Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli of the U.S. Army. NATO A United States Air Force general assumed command of Allied Command Operations in July 2025, taking the helm of the U.S. and allied forces in Europe at a high-stakes moment as the Russia-Ukraine war rages. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich stepped into his new role as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) at a July 4 ceremony in…
Anne Sofie, 21, poses for a photo during final exercises at a training area near the Royal Danish Army’s barracks in Hovelte, 25 kilometers north of Copenhagen, Denmark. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Women in Denmark who turn 18 after July 1, 2025, are now eligible for military conscription, as the nation moves to expand its armed forces amid Russian aggression and to meet new NATO expectations. Denmark joins Nordic neighbors Norway and Sweden as some of the few countries in the world to conscript women for military service. Conscription in Denmark is a lottery system. Under the new rules, women who…
Forces from Finland, France, the United Kingdom and United States partnered in Atlantic Trident, a two-week, tactical and operational training exercise held across multiple locations in Finland June 16-27, 2025. AIRMAN 1ST CLASS SIERRA CASTEEL/U.S. AIR FORCE Two F-35 Norwegian warplanes in July 2025 conducted training exercises in the Finnmark region of Norway, which borders Russia’s Kola Peninsula. The exercises are the latest sign that the founding NATO member is on high alert with its eastern neighbor in the increasingly disputed Barents Sea region. The Royal Norwegian Air Force confirmed the training to the Norwegian media in what has…
An intercepted boat laden with Haitian migrants is guided ashore by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force Marine Unit. ROYAL TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS POLICE FORCE In a late-night operation, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) intercepted a vessel carrying 194 immigrants on July 5, 2025. Marine Unit officers aboard the patrol vessels Sea Pursuit and Sea Contender were alerted to the unidentified boat in the waters of Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) by the Marine Operations Centre shortly before 10 p.m. local time. The 15-meter vessel, powered by two outboard engines, was transporting…
Maj. Gen. Francisco Jesús Leana Ojeda became commander of the Mexican Army in July 2025. Maj. Gen. Francisco Jesús Leana Ojeda became commander of the Mexican Army in July 2025 during a ceremony in Mexico City. The chief of the joint chiefs of staff for national defense, Maj. Gen. Arturo Coronel Flores, hung the ceremonial sash over Ojeda’s head, marking the latest appointment of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to the top ranks of the country’s military leadership. Leana Ojeda has extensive experience in most of Mexico’s military regions and has served in a military-diplomatic role in Canada. Most recently,…
Canada announced in July 2025 that it would spend $123 million to provide its troops on the front lines of a NATO mission in Latvia with protection against unmanned aerial system attacks. CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE Canada is investing $123 million in counter unmanned aerial system (cUAS) technology to protect its forces on the front lines of a NATO mission in Latvia. The systems are designed to destroy small drones in a wartime scenario, a threat increasingly evident in the Russia-Ukraine war. The outlay was part of the second phase of a program to buy systems that counter…
U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy transits the Puget Sound en route to the Arctic region on June 19, 2025. The Healy will conduct high-latitude science and research missions in the Arctic. PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS BRIANA CARTER/U.S. COAST GUARD The United States Coast Guard cutter Healy left its homeport of Seattle, Washington, on June 19, 2025, as it embarked on a monthslong Arctic deployment. The crew aboard the 128-meter icebreaker will support two high-latitude missions to study the formation and movement of sea ice and the pathways followed by Atlantic and Pacific waters in the Arctic, and ocean circulation…
The guided missile destroyer USS Sampson interdicted a smuggling vessel carrying more than $58 million in cocaine in June 2025. U.S. NAVY A United States Navy guided-missile destroyer spotted a drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific in June 2025, dispatching a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment (LED) to board the vessel and arrest three suspected smugglers. The USS Sampson’s interdiction of the smuggling operation was the latest in a recent flurry of activity as the Navy takes on a greater role in homeland defense under the direction of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). On June 22, the Sampson was…
Mexico’s Secretariat of the Navy oversees the country’s cyber force and focuses on the growing use of artificial intelligence in the defense sector. Governments and societies worldwide have become increasingly dependent on algorithms with autonomous intelligent machines facilitating daily tasks and decisions previously made by humans. Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow exponentially, bringing innumerable advantages for large-scale information gathering. It learns from itself by continuously improving its algorithms in increasingly complex situations. The Mexican Navy’s (MARINA) General Coordinator of Cyberspace trains and develops the cyber force and acquires advanced technologies. It adapts to current needs in cyber defense and…