• An F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft was shot down in an apparent case of friendly fire, CENTCOM said.
• The incident occurred after the missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired on the craft.
• Both pilots were safely recovered, with one sustaining minor injuries, per CENTCOM.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet jet was shot down in an apparent case of friendly fire, CENTCOM said in a statement late Saturday.

The incident occurred over the Red Sea in the early hours of Sunday morning local time. The two US Navy pilots involved in the incident both survived.

"The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64), which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18, which was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman," CENTCOM's statement reads. "Both pilots were safely recovered. Initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries."

An investigation into the incident is underway.

Several hours before the incident, in a separate statement about its operations, CENTCOM said US Central Command forces had conducted "precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana'a, Yemen." It is unclear if the friendly fire incident was related to those strikes or another operation.

The Boeing-built Super Hornet is a supersonic, twin-engine fighter aircraft "able to perform virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum," according to the manufacturer.

The cost of a new Super Hornet craft has been rising rapidly, Forbes reported last year. The outlet reported that the last set of 20 jets was purchased from Boeing for $55.7 million per aircraft.

CENTCOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• The US plans to remove a $10 million bounty on HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
• It follows a meeting between US diplomats and the Syrian rebel leader earlier this week.
• Jolani has worked to portray himself as a more moderate leader to the West.

The US is set to remove a $10 million bounty on Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the opposition group that spearheaded an offensive against Bashar Assad's Syrian government forces.

Barbara Leaf, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, made the announcement in an online briefing on Friday while discussing a diplomatic trip to Damascus where US representatives met with Jolani.

Leaf said the US delegation "welcomed positive messages" from the leader — who now goes by his birthname Ahmed al-Sharaa — and that he assured them that terrorist groups would not be allowed to pose a threat in Syria.

"And so based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years," she said.

Pressed for more information on why the US had decided to lift the bounty, Leaf said it was a "policy decision" that "aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS," adding that it would be "a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy's head" while sitting down for discussions on regional interests.

HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organization by both the US and the United Nations, traces its origins to Al Qaeda.

Jolani cut his ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 to form a new group, which became HTS the following year.

He has worked for years to portray himself as a more moderate leader to the West and has called the group's terrorist designation a "political label that carries no truth or credibility."

While stressing that the US would "judge by deeds" rather than words, Leaf said Jolani appeared "pragmatic" and noted that he had previously issued "moderate statements" on issues such as women's rights and the protection of equal rights for all communities.

The US delegation, which included Roger Carstens, the special envoy for hostage affairs, also used the Damascus trip to explore leads on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012.

Carstens said that they had had "a lot of information coming in" but that it remained unclear whether Tice was alive. "The bottom line is the information that we have right now doesn't confirm either in one way or the other."

• The US Navy has long held a missile-tube advantage over China.
• But China's ships now have half as many vertical-launch-system cells as the US, research found.
• VLS capacity is important for naval combat, but it's not everything.

China is closing the missile-tube gap with the US Navy as the latter's long-standing edge in vertical-launching-system cell capacity, one indicator of naval strength, shrinks.

The People's Liberation Army Navy now has over half as many missile tubes, or VLS cells, as US Navy surface combatants have. That represents a significant uptick from a few years ago, a new research report said.

The US Navy still outmatches the Chinese navy in tonnage and firepower, but Beijing is catching up with new warships with combat-capability improvements sailing out of busy shipyards.

Earlier this week, the Department of Defense said in its latest report on China's military capabilities that Beijing would be able to carry out long-range precision strikes from its surface ships in the near term.

The US has 8,400 vertical-launch-system missile cells across its dozens of surface combatants, while the Chinese navy has almost 4,300 on a similar number of warships, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a UK think tank, found in an analysis published Friday.

A warship's VLS cells can carry various missiles, from air-defense interceptors to anti-ship missiles to land-attack weaponry. Ships are often outfitted with a mix of weapons for increased mission versatility. IISS reported that near the end of 2024, the US Navy had 85 surface warships with VLS to China's 84.

Five years ago, China had roughly one-fifth of the US capacity. Johannes Fischbach, the maritime-research analyst at IISS who wrote the report, said that the diminishing capacity gap was due to a dip in US Navy numbers as its warships continued to age and Beijing's outpacing of America in terms of warship construction.

"The gap between the capacity of the US Navy and that of the PLAN is set to continue to close for the foreseeable future," he said.

China boasts the world's largest navy, with more than 370 ships and submarines, including over 140 major surface combatants, the Pentagon said in its annual report on Beijing's military. This battle force is expected to grow to nearly 400 next year and 435 vessels by the end of the decade.

"Much of this growth will be in major surface combatants," the Pentagon said in its report. Much of the US fleet is aging, the cruisers with the largest VLS capacities among the surface vessels are being retired, and the newest warships are delayed, some for years.

Newer Chinese ships, like the capable Renhai-class destroyers with 112 VLS cells, are coming off the line at speed.

A high VLS capacity gives a ship the ability to fire a lot of missiles before having to reload, which can be difficult to carry out at sea and generally requires a port. The US is experiencing a taste of high munitions-expenditure rates during its conflict against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The demands in a fight with China would be significantly higher.

While the number of missile tubes provides insight into a navy's warfighting capabilities, maritime combat is not entirely determined by a navy's VLS capacity. Launch tubes vary in size and function, and munitions vary. Air defenses and other countermeasures would matter as well in a US-China conflict.

Naval combat also extends beyond surface warships and their respective VLS capacities. Militaries can fire anti-ship missiles and other munitions from land or drop them from aircraft. Additionally, submarines can be equipped with missile-launching tubes. The US still maintains a significant advantage underwater over China.

• Drone sightings across the US have captivated many Americans and sparked widespread speculation.
• The sightings have also put a spotlight on airspace management strategies in the US.
• Experts say the focus should be on improved regulation and countermeasures instead of hysteria.

A recent wave of mysterious drone sightings across the US has, to a certain extent, kick-started a long-overdue discussion on drone technology and airspace management.

These drone sightings have captured national attention, and the public is now paying more attention to drone activity near US military bases. Federal agencies are talking to the public about drone issues. And there's more public discussion of congressional legislation to boost federal authority as the government says it's hamstrung in its ability to respond to drone threats.

"There's a fundamental notion that drones present a very, very new expanded type of threat," Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Business Insider, noting that the US largely lacks "the tactics and the procedures to deal with this."

Birkey said many people are "overplaying" the mystery behind the latest drone sightings. But the resulting buzz is driving conversations about counterstrategies and systems that "should have happened a long time ago."

Officials from the White House, FBI, DHS, DoD, and the FAA have urged Congress to "enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would help extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge." This has been a recurring topic in press briefings in recent weeks.

"The good news is that technology largely exists" to address the challenges presented by drone tech, Birkey said. "We just have to get serious about going after it and then having the procedures down to be smart about it."

The latest drone drama

In mid-November, unidentified aircraft were first seen flying over New Jersey. They drew national attention as reported sightings extended to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, among other states, this month.

It wasn't until worry and wild speculation about the drones reached a fever pitch that agencies began a more organized effort to communicate. In the initial absence, others filled the void with conspiracy theories, a major one being that the drones were launched from an Iranian drone mothership off the US East Coast.

The federal government has shot many of these assertions down, saying they're not of foreign origin and not a threat.

The White House, FBI, Homeland Security, Pentagon, and FAA have said that all the evidence available indicates the drone sightings are a mixture of "lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones."

Though not nefarious, US officials said they "recognize the concern among many communities" and the "irresponsible" nature of the drone activity near restricted airspace and infrastructure, including military bases and civilian airports.

Things have "sort of moved to a point of hysteria," said Stacie Pettyjohn, the director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. She said that "the public has gotten really agitated because of the perceived novelty of drones or the danger associated with them."

She said "people seeing drones everywhere" are "starting to conflate just normal air traffic and anything in the sky and assuming that something nefarious or strange is happening."

But even as the government has attempted to quell concerns, skepticism remains, leading some to push for greater clarity on this issue so that drones can be discussed rationally.

William Austin, a drone expert and president of Warren County Community College, said the federal government needs to be clear with the public in this situation.

He wrote in a recent op-ed that "the public needs clear, authoritative communication: there is no credible evidence of large drones operating over New Jersey,"

Austin argued in his article that "the drone industry has too much to offer — cutting-edge technology, job creation, and life-saving applications — to be derailed by myths." He said, "We need facts, not speculation."

Drones are becoming prolific

Surging interest and investment in new drone tech have catalyzed rapid advancements, transforming the technology at an unprecedented pace in recent years.

Increasing competition in the global market is making drones more accessible, affordable, and user-friendly, expanding their use beyond traditional military and defense applications to sectors like agriculture, logistics, and recreation.

"It's part of the changing technological landscape that extends beyond just the military," Pettyjohn said. "It's not just the realm of the government anymore to have really sophisticated capabilities. It's just part of everyday society."

Commercial and civilian drones only began to emerge in the early 2000s, leaving the general public largely unaccustomed to encountering them in their daily lives.

The high-profile Chinese spy balloon incident last year that ended with it being shot down by a US fighter jet spotlighted aerial surveillance as a potential threat to public safety and national security. Terrorist and insurgent operations, as well as the widespread use of drone warfare in Ukraine, have also heightened fears regarding their possible weaponization.

And there are real risks, regardless of whether drone activity is malicious. As drone technology proliferates further, activities around military bases and airfields are becoming a "huge problem" for the US, Mark Cancian, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired US Marine Corps colonel, recently told BI.

A US military base in Ohio briefly closed its airspace after small drones were spotted in the area, and the runways at a New York airport were also briefly shut down due to nearby drone activity.

Sociologist and New York Times columnist Zeynep Tufekci wrote that the hysteria and drama of the recent drone situation aside, "unauthorized drones are a problem, and there does need to be better regulation and technology to deal with them. Let's hear about that, then, rather than this mindless dangerous panic."

• Putin proposed a missile "duel" between the Oreshnik and US-made air defenses.
• He said Ukraine could concentrate its anti-missile systems in one spot and try to counter the new munition.
• In response, Ukraine's Zelenskyy called him a "dumbass."

Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that an experimental "duel" be held between Moscow's newly unveiled Oreshnik missile and Western-made air defenses.

Speaking at his annual press conference, Putin slammed the idea that the Oreshnik could be shot down by anti-missile defenses.

"If the experts in the West think so, well, let them come up with a proposal to us, and to the US. They can suggest a kind of technological experiment, a kind of high-tech fighting duel of the 21st century," Putin said, per a translation of the conference.

Putin said both parties could agree upon a target in Kyiv, where Ukraine could "concentrate all of their air defense and anti-missile defense."

"We will strike it with Oreshnik and we will see what's going to happen. We are willing to conduct such an experiment," he said.

He also suggested that it could benefit the US by allowing the Pentagon to glean information from the strike.

"So let's conduct this duel and look at the outcome. It's going to be interesting because it's going to be useful both to us and the American side," he added.

Russia initially fired the Oreshnik in late November, hitting the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

The new missile, which appears to have its roots in the RS-26 Rubezh intermediate-range ballistic missile, was described by Putin as flying as fast as Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

That velocity makes it extremely difficult for anti-missile defenses to counter. The Oreshnik is also believed to deploy a cluster payload and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Additionally, the missile's purported range allows it to hit any target in Europe. Russia has, in recent weeks, touted it as a new class of weapon in the Ukraine war.

Shortly after Putin's comment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to X to voice his disapproval of the "duel" proposal.

"People are dying, and he thinks it's 'interesting,'" Zelenskyy wrote on X on Thursday evening. "Dumbass."

US defenses vs Russian missiles

Ukraine has placed great emphasis on its need for US-made Patriot systems to protect its skies, and Zelenskyy has said his nation needs at least 25 of them. It's unclear exactly how many Patriot batteries Ukraine fields now, but it's been confirmed to have at least four systems donated by NATO members and another five on the way.

They're expensive to use. Each Patriot missile costs up to $6 million and even then, may struggle against advanced weapons maneuvering at the speeds Putin is advertising. These munitions, often called hypersonic missiles, have been a key concern for the Pentagon.

Notably, the Kinzhal, a previously much-hyped missile, was also touted by Russia as hypersonic and "unstoppable." But it has reportedly been downed dozens of times by Patriot batteries in Ukraine.

Still, the Kinzhal appears to be less advanced in maneuverability and glide potential than the Oreshnik and China's Dongfeng hypersonic missiles.

Meanwhile, Western experts still question how many Oreshnik missiles Russia has in its inventory, and the US calls it an experimental weapon. Moscow's strike on Dnipro was largely seen as a show of force, and the Pentagon has said it may launch a similar strike on Ukraine soon.

On Monday, Putin told state media that serial production of the Oreshnik would begin soon.

• Frank Kendall, the Air Force Secretary, hit back on Elon Musk's comments slamming the F-35.
• While Kendall said he respects the billionaire, he said Musk is "not a warfighter."
• Musk has trashed the F-35 as obsolete compared to drones, but Kendall said that reality is decades away.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Elon Musk should learn more about air combat tech before publicly slamming crewed fighter jets as obsolete.

"I have a lot of respect for Elon Musk as an engineer," Kendall said on Thursday at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

"He's not a warfighter, and he needs to learn a little bit more about the business, I think, before he makes such grand announcements as he did," Kendall said.

Musk recently drew public attention for posting on X that crewed fighters, such as the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, were inefficient compared to drones and have a "shit design."

Calling the makers of the F-35 "idiots," Musk posted videos of drone swarms and wrote that crewed fighters would be shot down easily by modern surface-to-air missile defenses and enemy drones.

Kendall, who oversees the US Air Force's budget, said Musk's vision of drone superiority is many years away.

"It's provocative, it's interesting," he said of Musk's statements. "I can imagine at some point; I don't think it's centuries, by the way; I think it's more like decades when something like he imagines can occur."

"But we're not there," Kendall added. "And it's going to be a little while before we get there."

Musk did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Kendall said he pushed the Air Force on a "key decision" to field drones that work in tandem with crewed fighters.

Still, he added the US may eventually reduce its planned purchases of the F-35, a fifth-generation fighter that Lockheed Martin manufactures, depending on how quickly other tech advances.

"Our inventory objective for the F-35 is 1,700 and some. I don't know what we'll end up buying, and nobody can predict that right now," the secretary said.

But he also doesn't think the F-35 will be replaced anytime soon, and said the US is still buying more of the aircraft for now and in the near future.

"It is dominant over fourth-generation aircraft. Period. And in a very, very serious way. It's not even close. And there's no alternative to that in the near term," he said.

The US has been looking into a sixth-generation fighter, also known as the next-generation air dominance program, that will focus on crewed jets that work collaboratively with drones.

Kendall said that if the NGAD program continues, it will still take years to produce that fighter in quantity, and it will be initially "very expensive" to manufacture.

It's unclear how Musk's views on the F-35 and drones may materially affect US defense spending. The billionaire has been made the cohead of a new Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to reduce what it sees as excess federal expenses.

Musk is in President-elect Donald Trump's close orbit and showed this week that he can wield considerable influence in Congress when Republican lawmakers followed his lead on trashing a bipartisan bill that sought to avoid a government shutdown.

Meanwhile, Kendall is expected to step down as Air Force Secretary when President Joe Biden, who appointed him, leaves office in January. The secretary expressed a desire in September to remain in his post as the Trump administration takes over.

• North Korean troops are engaged in combat against Ukrainian forces, the White House said.
• They've had a rough start, and seem to lack experience with drones and working with Russians.
• This has led to reported losses, but analysts said they should be able to learn to adapt.

North Korean troops have engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, with media and intelligence reports suggesting they're off to a rough start.

Footage obtained by Radio Liberty on Monday showed Ukraine striking a group of soldiers, with sources telling the outlet that North Koreans were among them.

The same day, Ukrainian officials and soldiers told The Washington Post that North Korea's troops were operating in big groups out in the open, and were getting killed by drones they didn't realize were dangerous.

A senior US military official said this week that North Korea's dead and wounded could now be counted in the hundreds.

Military analysts told BI that, while the limited number of early reports makes it difficult to give a definitive assessment, they're not surprised by the reports.

"The North Koreans are taking apparently unnecessary casualties as they are rushed into combat without a period of training on the unique threats here," said Wallace Gregson, a former US Marine Corps officer and former assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

Uncharted territory

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that North Korean troops had moved to the front lines and were "actively engaged in combat operations."

Evans Revere, a senior advisor with Albright Stonebridge Group, said that while North Korean troops seemed "disciplined" and "tough," their lack of experience in ground combat and unfamiliarity with drone warfare was taking its toll.

He said that the reported casualty numbers suggest that North Korean forces are in the "thick of heavy fighting" and that "if the North Koreans continue to suffer casualties at this rate, they will very soon require fresh forces."

Revere also said their lack of Russian language and absence of experience in training and operating jointly with Russian forces seemed to be a problem.

On Saturday, Ukrainian intelligence said North Korean troops opened fire on Russian military vehicles, killing eight soldiers, due to a language barrier between the two forces.

Too early, too inexperienced

The last time North Korean troops really fought was during the Korean War, where fighting ended in 1953.

Gregson said that this time around, Russia may have thrown North Korean troops to the front in earlier waves of attacks, which he said usually include the "least-trained" soldiers.

He told BI that "high casualties" weren't unexpected, given their light infantry capabilities and the likely language barrier.

However, he said you needed to respect their "apparent courage and determination — and sacrifice — in a conflict not of their choosing far from their home."

Military analysts also said that the North Korean troops could soon adapt to the new battlefield conditions.

Revere said it won't be long before the North Koreans learn how to operate in this environment.

However, he said it's "still not clear" how well Russian and North Korean troops are operating in tandem, or whether Russian commanders are providing good leadership and guidance.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Thursday that Russian and North Korean forces were "almost certainly" experiencing difficulties, with North Korean troops struggling to integrate into Russia's command and control structure.

Another major issue is their unfamiliarity with modern battlefield warfare.

John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the evidence so far suggests North Korean troops were unprepared for the drone threat.

But, he said, "I suspect they'll adapt with time and may have started doing so already."

Covering up deaths

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia has been trying to conceal North Korean deaths. In a nightly address on Monday, he claimed that Russian forces were burning the faces of killed soldiers to conceal their identity.

Revere said attempts to cover up the deaths were likely part of Russia's effort to avoid admitting to the Russian people that the country lacks the ability to defeat Ukraine by itself.

North Korea has also often been the object of ridicule in Russia, he added, "so for the Russians to have to admit their need for DPRK support would be embarrassing."

For North Korea, the stakes are also high.

Bruce W. Bennett, a defense researcher and North Korea specialist at RAND, said that Kim Jong Un is taking risks by sending troops to support Russia, especially potential elite-class military personnel.

He said that Kim is unlikely to want to return the bodies of those killed to their families, fearing potential instability inside North Korea.

"Kim will likely prefer that the soldiers who are killed simply disappear," he said.

• Trump and his team have signaled opposition to some of Ukraine's recent attacks on Russian soil.
• Trump's Ukraine envoy said this week that the killing of a Russian general was outside the rules of war.
• Trump has also criticized Biden's decision to allow strikes on Russia using US-supplied missiles.

In a worrying sign for Ukraine, the incoming Trump administration has signaled its disapproval of recent attacks on Russian soil, including long-range strikes and the assassination of a top general in Moscow using a scooter bomb.

President-elect Donald Trump's envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, said on Wednesday that Ukraine's claimed killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov this week was contrary to the rules of war.

Kirillov, who headed up Russia's chemical, nuclear, and biological protection troops, was killed by a bomb planted on a scooter in Moscow on Tuesday. Ukraine has claimed responsibility.

Speaking on Fox Business, Kellogg said, "There are rules of warfare and there are certain things you just kind of don't do."

He added: "When you're killing flag officers, general officers, admirals or generals in their hometown, it's kind of like you've extended it, and I don't think it's really smart to do it."

Russia said it had arrested a man in connection with the killing, saying he was suspected of a "terrorist attack," the BBC reported.

Kellogg said the events wouldn't be a setback for any peace talks.

The US State Department said it was unaware of the plot, with an unnamed official saying the US doesn't support this kind of action, according to Agence France-Presse.

Kellogg's remarks come after President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that the decision to allow Ukraine to make long-range strikes on Russia with US-supplied missiles was "stupid," and that he might reverse it once in office.

"I don't think they should have allowed missiles to be shot 200 miles into Russia," he said. "I think that was a bad thing."

Trump claimed that the decision prompted North Korea to send troops to fight alongside Russia, though intelligence agencies said that North Korean troops were being deployed at least two weeks before the Biden administration's decision.

He also said that the Biden administration should have asked for his opinion "weeks before I take over."

"Why would they do that without asking me what I thought?" he added.

Trump has repeatedly stated he would end the war in Ukraine, without publicly saying how he would achieve it.

Plans under discussion have included establishing a demilitarized zone in the areas occupied by Russia and requiring a pledge from Ukraine not to join NATO, The Wall Street Journal reported in November.

In an interview with Le Parisien on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his stance that ceding territory to Russia in any talks would be unacceptable, along with any promise not to join NATO.

• China wants to hit a military modernization milestone in 2027.
• But China's ongoing crackdown on military corruption could disrupt its progress, says the Pentagon.
• China suspended a top military official last month, a year after firing its last defense minister.

China's near-term military modernization goal could be bogged down by its corruption scandals, a senior US defense official said on Monday.

"The substantial problems they have with corruption that have yet to be resolved certainly could slow them down on the path toward the 2027 capabilities development milestone and beyond," the official told journalists during a press briefing.

A transcript of the briefing was published on Wednesday, the same day the Defense Department released its annual assessment on China's military capabilities.

According to the Pentagon's report, at least 15 high-ranking Chinese military officials and defense industry executives were removed from their positions between July and December 2023.

Last month, The Financial Times reported that defense minister Adm. Dong Jun was under investigation for graft, the third consecutive person in the role to be investigated. A defense ministry spokesperson denied the FT's report, calling it a "sheer fabrication."

Also last month, China's defense ministry said a senior military official, Adm. Miao Hua, was suspended and under investigation for "serious violations of discipline." The accusation usually refers to corruption.

The 69-year-old oversaw political indoctrination in the People's Liberation Army and served on the Central Military Commission. The six-person commission, chaired by China's leader, Xi Jinping, oversees China's armed forces.

Miao's suspension came just a year after China's last defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu was fired. Li was in office for seven months before he was removed.

Li and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, were eventually expelled from the Chinese Communist Party for alleged corruption in June. They were also stripped of their military ranks.

"In 2023, a new wave of corruption-related investigations and removals of senior leaders may have disrupted the PLA's progress toward stated 2027 modernization goals," the Pentagon's report said.

Earlier this year, US intelligence highlighted corruption effects including missiles filled with water and intercontinental ballistic missile silos sporting improperly functioning lids that could derail a missile launch.

US intelligence sources told Bloomberg in January that corruption was so severe in China's Rocket Force and the wider PLA that it would most likely force Xi to recalibrate whether Beijing can take on any major military action soon.

US officials believe that Xi wants China to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China first announced the modernization goal in October 2020. The 2027 milestone will coincide with the centennial of the PLA's founding.

"That doesn't mean that he's decided to invade in 2027 or any other year," CIA chief William J. Burns said in an interview with CBS in February 2023.

Representatives for China's defense and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Russia may deploy its navy to protect its shadow fleet transporting sanctioned oil.
• The West has increased sanctions on Russia's oil industry and is zooming in on its shadow fleet.
• Russia's economy faces challenges like inflation, a weak ruble, and high interest rates.

Russia may ratchet up "risky and threatening behavior" against NATO countries, including by using the Russian navy to escort its shadow fleet through Danish waters, Denmark said on Wednesday.

The Danish Defense Intelligence Service made the assessment in its annual security outlook published on Wednesday.

"If this happens, it will increase the level of tension," said the Danish intelligence agency.

Denmark's assessment came as the West turns up sanctions against Russia's important oil industry, a key contributor to its war chest.

On Monday, the European Union sanctioned more Russian dark fleet vessels — designated as such because they dodge the G7's oil price cap by either submitting falsified financial statements or not having proper insurance coverage. A day later, the UK also broadened its sanctions against these vessels.

On Tuesday, a dozen Western countries, including Denmark, the UK, Germany, Finland, and Estonia, agreed to step up checks on the insurance coverage of suspected shadow tankers transporting Russian oil.

Russia's shadow fleet of mostly aging oil tankers grew after the G7 imposed an oil price cap on Russian oil in December 2022. The shadow fleet has helped Russia circumvent Western restrictions and allowed it to continue trading its oil at market prices, according to the EU.

Energy accounts for about one-fifth of Russia's GDP. The country's oil revenue fell 24% last year on the back of sanctions.

Oil revenues continue to be under pressure this year. Russia exported an average of 70,000 barrels of crude a day so far — 2% lower than the 2023 average, Bloomberg reported.

Russian economy under strain

The West's increasing pressure on Russia's energy trade is aimed at further straining the country's finances after nearly three years of war.

While Russia's economy has helped build strong financial buffers in the past years as war raged on, the economy faces "increasingly large unsustainable burdens," wrote Mark Sobel, the US chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, a think tank, this week.

The energy giant's lucrative oil industry is also under pressure from global energy market dynamics, including an abundance of supply and slowing demand.

Russia faces numerous economic challenges, including soaring inflation, the plummeting ruble, record-high interest rates of 21%, and capital controls.

"Even if sanctions and blocked Russian assets are not going to bring Russia's economy to its knees in one fell swoop, they remain powerful leverage and can be used more forcefully in any agreement to end the fighting and secure Ukraine's future," wrote Sobel.

• China's nuclear arsenal now stands at 600 warheads, according to the Pentagon.
• Its new estimate means Beijing is still tracking to reach 1,000 nukes by 2030.
• It's not just about sheer quantity. The US says China is building a wide range of launch methods too.

China has been fielding over 600 operational nuclear warheads since mid-2024, up from about 500 last year, according to an estimate by the Pentagon.

That reported growth puts Beijing on track to hit 1,000 warheads by 2030, a prediction that US defense officials made in 2021.

Those findings come from the Defense Department's 2024 China Military Power Report, an annual summary of Beijing's capabilities and an assessment of its ambitions for its armed forces.

The Pentagon says China isn't just making more warheads — it's building a wide array of capabilities to launch them, too.

"When you look at what they're trying to build here, it's a diversified nuclear force that would be comprised of systems ranging from low yield, precision strike missiles, all the way up to ICBMs with different options at basically every rung on the escalation ladder," a senior defense official told reporters at a briefing on Monday. ICBMs refer to intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"Which is a lot different than what they've relied on traditionally," the official added.

China says it maintains a "no first-use" nuclear policy, meaning it will only ever deploy a nuke in retaliation for another nuclear strike.

But the US has been startled by what it says is a rapid build-up of Beijing's nuclear forces in the last few years. In 2020, the Pentagon thought that China had only 200 nukes and would have 400 by 2030.

The Defense Department's newer estimate of 1,000 warheads by 2030 would put China closer to being a peer threat to the US and Russia, the two behemoths of the Cold War.

A strategic treaty between the US and Russia limits their active arsenals to 1,550 warheads, though they are stockpiling thousands more.

Now, Western arms analysts are concerned that China isn't engaging in talks about its nuclear build-up — a key mechanism that the US and Russia used to prevent nuclear war.

"The PRC has not publicly or formally acknowledged or explained its nuclear expansion and modernization," the 2024 report said.

Advanced systems to counter US defenses

Meanwhile, a debate is raging in Washington about a need for the US to expand and explore more advanced nuke launch methods so it can maintain an edge over China.

The Pentagon's report for 2024 said Beijing is likely developing advanced missile systems "in part due to long-term concerns about United States missile defense capabilities."

These include hypersonic glide vehicles, which use the edge of Earth's upper atmosphere to fly incredibly fast, and fractional orbital bombardments, which launch weapons into orbital space to extend their range and flight time.

Those technologies can make a nuclear strike difficult to detect or track. In mid-2021, China is believed to have combined them in a hypersonic missile test.

For the US, expanding on nuclear weapons will cost taxpayers, a point that arms control advocates often raise when asking for restraint. An already-approved program to modernize America's aging nuclear triad is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Nearly one year after mysterious drones hovered near a top-secret military base in Virginia for 17 days, Sen. Tim Kaine says he is "very frustrated" with "so many unanswered questions" that remain. 

The Virginia Democrat said his state delegation will get a classified briefing on the situation Thursday. 

For more than two weeks in December 2023, the mystery drones flew into restricted airspace over the installation, home to key national security sites and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. 

The Pentagon has said little about the incidents other than to confirm they occurred after a Wall Street Journal report in October. If officials know where the drones came from or what they were doing, they haven’t shared it with Congress. 

RENEWAL OF COUNTER-DRONE AUTHORITY, CHINA CRACKDOWNS IN LAST-MINUTE GOVERNMENT FUNDING EXTENSION

"We're kind of at the year anniversary of these incursions at Langley. And I'm very frustrated with the fact that there's still so many unanswered questions," Kaine told Fox News Digital. 

Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do, other than allow the 20-foot drones to hover near their classified sites. 

As defense-minded lawmakers sought more answers, Langley officials referred them to the FBI, who referred them to Northern Command, who referred them to local law enforcement, one congressional source said. 

"I'm going to keep pushing the federal agencies to get their act together and have a clear agency that's responsible for answering rather than all pointing their fingers at each other and telling us that you got to go to some other agency to get an answer," said Kaine. 

The drones over Langley "don’t appear to be armed, but they are there for at least surveillance purposes. And they interrupted training exercises at Langley."

And during the recent drone phenomenon in New Jersey, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have been spotted near Picatinny Arsenal and over President-elect Trump's golf club in Bedminster. Trump said he canceled a trip to his golf club due to the drone sightings. 

Drone incursions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio prompted the base to close its airspace Friday night, and UAS sightings have occurred at U.S. military bases in the United Kingdom and Germany. 

A spending bill that must pass before the end of the week includes a reauthorization of the government's counter-drone authorities. But it is a simple reauthorization of a program many drone experts say is outdated. National security-minded lawmakers and experts have implored Congress to take up legislation that would grant the government greater detection capabilities and give state and local law enforcement the authority to deal with unauthorized drones. 

U.S. capabilities offer many different ways to take down a drone, including shooting them, zapping them with heat lasers and jamming the frequencies so they stop working and fall out of the sky.

Whether Congress needs to change laws is a point of contention, but one thing that is clear is incursions like the one at Langley prompt confusion over legal authority. 

"This is a little bit of a problem of too many cooks. And it's not clear who is the chef," said Kaine. "The FAA is looking at it. The FBI is looking at it. DOD looking at it.

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"This is a lot clearer if there's a drone incursion over a base in a war zone like Syria, for example, or Iraq at a base where U.S. military personnel are positioned. The authorities to knock these drones down in that setting are much clearer than if there's a drone incursion over a base on domestic soil. OK, not going to drone down over the city of Hampton, where the debris might fall into neighborhoods. The authorities on that aren't so clear." 

When drones encroach near bases overseas, the rules of engagement give service members more leeway to engage with them. 

However, U.S. law does not allow the military to shoot down drones near its bases unless they pose an imminent threat. While Langley has the authority to protect its coastal base, the Coast Guard has the authority to protect the waters and the Federal Aviation Administration has authority over U.S. airspace, some of the most congested with commercial airliners in the world. 

Last week, a Chinese national was charged with flying an unauthorized drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. In October, Chinese national Fengyun Shi was sentenced to six months in prison for capturing drone footage over Huntington Ingalls Industries Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, 10 miles from Langley Air Force Base. 

Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, which is used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. 

A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast. 

The U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the site. 

The Senate voted to pass the $895 billion annual defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for U.S. servicemembers and a provision that restricts transgender care. 

The bill passed 85 to 14, and now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. 

The legislation scored a more bipartisan vote in the Senate than it did in the House, where more Democrats voted no on the legislation in protest of the transgender provisions. 

The bill prohibits military health care provider Tricare from paying for transgender care "that could result in sterilization" for children under 18.

The legislation passed the House last week 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting "no." Only 81 Democrats voted yes – 124 voting no – a much larger margin than in years passed when the legislation typically enjoyed bipartisan support. 

The 1,800-page bill details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent. It will be voted on more than two months after the start of the fiscal year. 

The $895.2 billion represents a 1% increase over last year’s budget, a smaller number than some defense hawks would have liked. 

Additionally, while the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) outlines policy, a separate spending bill will actually fund the programs it lays out. That spending legislation will be voted on in the next Congress, when Republicans will have a narrow majority in both chambers. 

A significant portion of the legislation focused on quality-of-life improvements for servicemembers amid record recruitment issues, a focus of much bipartisan discussion over the last year. That includes a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers and increasing access to child care for servicemembers while also providing job support to military spouses.

The measure authorizes a 4.5% across-the-board pay raise for all servicemembers starting Jan. 1 and a 2% increase for civilian personnel within the Department of Defense.

It also puts more restrictions on Chinese-made drones, fearing their use in the U.S. could be for foreign surveillance. It specifically targets China-based DJI and Autel Robotoics. 

The NDAA mandates that a national security agency must determine within one year if drones from DJI or Autel Robotics pose unacceptable national security risks. If no agency completes the study, the companies would automatically be added to the Federal Communications Commission’s "covered lists," preventing them from operating in the U.S. 

DJI is the world’s largest drone manufacturer and sells more than half of all U.S. commercial drones. 

The bill recommends a $20 million increase in counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) Advanced Development budget and requires the Defense secretary to establish a "C-UAS task force" within 30 days and provide a report to congressional defense committees on the military’s latest counter-drone training efforts within four months.

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., led a group of 21 Democratic senators demanding an amendment to remove the transgender care restrictions from the NDAA. That amendment was not included as it would have forced the bill back to the House. Congressional leaders spent months conferencing to find agreement between the chambers and the parties on the yearly must-pass legislation. 

"Let’s be clear: we’re talking about parents who are in uniform serving our country who have earned the right to make the best decisions for their families," Baldwin said in a statement. "I trust our servicemembers and their doctors to make the best health care decisions for their kids, not politicians."

The amendment will affect care for 7,000 children, according to Baldwin, who said she would support the NDAA if not for the provision.

Other Democrats said they had objections to the provision, but the bill's provisions to strengthen U.S. defenses against China, raise pay for servicemembers, invest in new military technologies and replenish weapons stockpiles. 

CONGRESS UNVEILS BILL TO AVERT FRIDAY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WITH OVER $100B IN DISASTER AID

"Of course, the NDAA is not perfect. It doesn’t have everything either side would like … But of course, you need bipartisanship to get this through the finish line," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Tuesday he shares his colleagues' "frustration" with House Speaker Mike Johnson's "extreme, misguided provision," but he said Democrats during the negotiation process were able to strip out "the vast majority of very far right provisions that had passed in the House bill."

Provisions like a blanket ban on funding for gender transition surgeries for adults did not make their way into the bill. Neither did a ban on requiring masks to prevent the spread of diseases. 

The bill also supports deploying the National Guard to the southern border to help with illegal immigrant apprehensions and drug flow. 

Another provision opens the door to allowing airmen and Space Force personnel to grow facial hair. It directs the secretary of the Air Force to brief lawmakers on "the feasibility and advisability" of establishing a pilot program to test out allowing beards. 

Democrats are also upset the bill did not include a provision expanding access to IVF for servicemembers. Currently, military health care only covers IVF for servicemembers whose infertility is linked to service-related illness or injury.

However, the bill did not include an amendment to walk back a provision allowing the Pentagon to reimburse servicemembers who have to travel out of state to get an abortion.

The bill extends a hiring freeze on DEI-related roles and stops all such recruitment until "an investigation of the Pentagon’s DEI programs" can be completed.

Johnson, meanwhile, touted $31 billion in savings in the legislation that would come from cutting "inefficient programs, obsolete weapons, and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy."

• The US military has confirmed recent drone activity around bases in New Jersey.
• The Pentagon said this week that it sent counter-drone technology to two installations.
• One of these systems has been identified as the Dronebuster, a hand-held electronic warfare tool.

The Pentagon is arming two military installations in New Jersey with counter-drone technology, giving them extra tools to better defend their airspace from any unauthorized drone incursions. One of the systems the Pentagon mentioned by name is the Dronebuster.

The US military confirmed drone sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle this month, as well as multiple sightings at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, with drones at one point forcing the base to close its airspace. A spokesperson for the Joint Staff said last weekend that drone activities over bases are not a new issue but criticized some of the recent incidents as "irresponsible."

Amid recent drone drama, there have been repeated calls to shoot down unidentified aircraft, particularly those near military bases.

The Pentagon said this week that "if a determination is made that unauthorized drones are conducting any malign or malicious activity, commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems," but the military is not going to be engaging anything kinetically, a spokesperson added, unless it is a "clear and present danger."

Military bases have some existing capabilities to deal with drone incursions, but the Pentagon acknowledged that sending more technology will help them mitigate potential threats.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that the military is providing "active and passive detection capabilities" and "counter-drone capabilities" to Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ryder identified one of these tools as the Dronebuster, a newer piece of counter-drone tech that "employs non-kinetic means to interrupt drone signals" and affects the aircraft's ability to operate. Picatinny did not confirm any of the specific systems it is obtaining but said that it is "strengthening its counter-UAS capabilities to detect and mitigate drone incursions." BI was unable to reach Naval Weapons Station Earle.

The Dronebuster device is a hand-held electronic warfare system developed by the American company Flex Force. When a user points the lightweight device that first came online in 2016 at a drone, the weapon emits a signal that cuts the connection between the drone and its operator. It's in use with various military services.

The US Army trains service members to counter drones using the Dronebuster in tandem with a Smart Shooter system — a rifle with a special optic that tracks the drone, calculates its trajectory, and tells the user when they have a good chance of hitting it with a bullet. BI observed this training firsthand at the Joint C-sUAS (Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System) University, or JCU, which is a new US Army initiative based at Fort Sill.

Beyond the US military, security personnel and first responders can also use the Dronebuster as a portable jammer system when facing a threat. The radio frequency jammer has evolved over the years, becoming several times more powerful than the earlier models and more rugged for a range of counter-drone operations.

Ryder said that the device is "a methodology that we have that is able to essentially bring drones down non-kinetically should we need to do that."

For the military, maintaining a robust counter-drone capability is becoming essential as drone technology becomes more prolific. The low cost of these systems makes them readily available for hobbyists and malign actors alike. Terrorists and insurgencies have weaponized small drones in Middle East combat, and in the Ukraine war, cheap, off-the-shelf hobby-style drones easily bought for a few hundred dollars are engaging in everything from surveillance to precision strike.

Drone activity over and around US bases has long been an issue for the military and is not limited to the New Jersey and Ohio incidents.

In recent weeks, suspected drones have also been spotted at US bases overseas. Such activity presents a growing problem for the military, as drones can spy on its assets, like aircraft, or hazard its operations. As drone usage continues to proliferate, the Pentagon is seeking out ways to better its approach to countering unmanned systems.

"I think we've all recognized the fact that unmanned systems are here to stay," Ryder said this week. "They're a part of modern warfare, and whether it's here in the homeland or overseas, we want to make sure that we're doing due diligence to protect our forces and protect our equities from a national security standpoint."

It can be a challenge to respond stateside, though.

"When we're here in the homeland, the authorities that the US military has to detect and track these kinds of things is much different than it would be if we were in a combat zone. In other words, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that we can employ outside the United States are much different, for very good reasons," Ryder said.

The drone activity at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle comes amid a flurry of reported drone sightings across the East Coast over the past few weeks. A range of federal agencies have determined that the sightings are not nefarious, despite speculation to the contrary, and include commercial drones, hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, manned aircraft, helicopters, and even stars.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday that "we have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast." The FBI, Homeland Security, and Department of Defense have argued the same.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday rebuffed the Biden-Harris administration's response to recent drone sightings in New Jersey, decrying how federal authorities have given no clear answers to Congress on their origin. 

In a Fox News appearance, Johnson agreed that the White House, and more broadly the U.S. government, does not seem concerned about the increased sightings in New Jersey and elsewhere in the Northeast. 

"Look, I'm the speaker of the House. I have the exact same frustrations that you do and all of us do. We don't have the answers. The administration is not providing them," Johnson said. 

Johnson said he set up a meeting last week with officials from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and "the answers are not forthcoming."

TRUMP SAYS THE GOVERNMENT 'KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING' WITH MYSTERIOUS DRONES

"They just say 'don't worry about it, it's not foreign entities, there's not a vessel offshore doing this, and they're not collecting any data.' OK, then what is it?" Johnson said. 

"You heard Mayorkas, who no one believes, we impeached him in the House as you know, the DHS secretary, he said in an interview a couple days ago, well because they changed the regulations to allow drones to fly at night, that's why everybody's seeing them now. They've always been there. I mean, look, people are not buying the answers," Johnson said. "We are digging in further to get the answers, and we're demanding that the administration do its job. We gotta protect Americans, protect our intelligence, of course, and our data and everything else. We're going to get down to the bottom of it, but we don't have the answers yet."

Johnson referenced how Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Monday that there are thousands of drones flown every day in the U.S., and that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in September 2023 "changed the rules so that drones could fly at night, and that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn until dusk." 

Mayorkas also said it was "critical" for Congress to expand authorities for state and local agencies to counter drone activity "under federal supervision." 

Johnson reacted to President Biden telling reporters at the White House on Tuesday that there was "nothing nefarious" happening with the drones, and that so far, there has been "no sense of danger."

"This is why we need Donald J. Trump back in the White House to bring steady hands at the wheel and a strong commander-in-chief," Johnson said. "He would have already had the answers, he would have already delivered to the American people and certainly to members of Congress. So leadership matters. That's why he got the mandate. That's why the American people can't wait for the America First agenda to start, and we can't wait either."

Federal authorities said Monday evening that the reported drone sightings have been identified as legal commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned aircraft, helicopters and even stars. Officials said that assessment was based on technical data and tips.

The House Intelligence Committee grilled federal law enforcement and intelligence officials about the drones during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., told CNN. 

Authorities told the panel there still is no evidence of public safety or national security threats, Himes said.

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that drone-detection equipment supplied by the federal government has yielded little new information. He declined to describe the equipment, except to say it was powerful and could even disable the drones, though he said that is not legal on U.S. soil. Murphy urged Congress to give states more authority to deal with the drones.

TRUMP TALKS MYSTERY DRONES, TIKTOK BAN, RFK JR. AND MORE IN HOUR-LONG PRESS CONFERENCE

Meanwhile, the FBI and New Jersey state police warned against pointing lasers at suspected drones, because aircraft pilots are being hit in the eyes more often. Authorities also said they are concerned people might fire weapons at manned aircraft that they have mistaken for drones.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the federal government has yet to identify any public safety or national security risks from any of the reported drone sightings in the northeast, saying officials believe they were lawfully flown drones, planes or stars.

"There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States," Kirby said. "And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with."

The federal government has deployed personnel and advanced technology to investigate the reports in New Jersey and other states, and is evaluating each tip reported by citizens, he said.

About 100 of the more than 5,000 drone sightings reported to the FBI in recent weeks were deemed credible enough to warrant more investigation, according to a joint statement by DHS, FBI, FAA and the Department of Defense. 

Speculation has raged online, with some expressing concerns that the drones could be part of a nefarious plot by foreign agents.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said it Is unlikely the drones are engaged in intelligence gathering, given how loud and bright they are. He repeated Tuesday that the drones being reported are not being operated by the Department of Defense. When asked whether military contractors might be operating drones in the New Jersey area, Ryder rebuffed the notion, saying there are "no military operations, no military drone or experiment operations in this corridor."

Ryder said additional drone-detecting technology was being moved to some military installations, including the Picatinny Arsenal and at Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, where drones also have been reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Nearly a week after the United States Military Academy West Point admitted an error was made when an employee said Pete Hegseth's application was not accepted, and President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Defense secretary pick tells Fox News Digital he has yet to hear from the school directly. 

"I would just say I haven't heard from West Point," Hegseth said Tuesday. "Nothing."

When asked if he would like a direct apology from the school, the former Fox News host said, "One would think."

MIKE LEE LOOKS TO HALT WELFARE FOR ILLEGALS GOING ON UNDER BIDEN WITH KEY BUDGET PROCESS

ProPublica senior editor and reporter Jesse Eisinger explained last week on X that the outlet was informed twice by West Point that Hegseth had not even applied for admission. According to Eisinger, he was "100%" never admitted to the school, "because he never opened a file."

However, Hegseth did apply to West Point and was accepted in 1999 but never attended. 

The Defense secretary hopeful provided ProPublica with his original acceptance letter to the academy, and Eisinger said they reapproached West Point, which then admitted that an error was made. 

FARM STATE REPUBLICANS APPEAR SKEPTICAL ABOUT RFK JR AMID HIS QUEST FOR HHS CONFIRMATION

In a statement, West Point said, "A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend. An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024."

"Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error."

When Hegseth was made aware of the story ProPublica had been working on, he shared his acceptance letter publicly on X. "We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999. Here’s my letter of acceptance signed by West Point Superintendent, Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, US Army."

RFK JR. SAYS HE PLANS TO ALSO MEET WITH DEMS IN BID TO GET CONFIRMED AS TRUMP HHS HEAD

The "error" at West Point left a number of Republicans with questions. In a Dec. 11 letter sent to U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lieutenant General Steven Gilland after Hegseth revealed ProPublica's story, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said, "I understand that a civilian public-affairs officer, Theresa Brinkerhoff, informed a reporter that Mr. Hegseth didn’t apply to West Point, as he has said publicly in the past. This statement is incorrect; not only did Mr. Hegseth apply, but he was also accepted to the West Point Class of 2003." 

"Worse, the statement may violate Mr. Hegseth’s rights under the Privacy Act of 1974 by revealing protected personal information. If true, it also demonstrates egregiously bad judgment to share such information about the nominee to be Secretary of Defense with a known liberal outlet like ProPublica."

ELIZABETH WARREN WANTS ANSWERS FROM TRUMP OVER ELON MUSK 'CONFLICTS OF INTEREST'

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., also demanded information on how the error occurred in his own letter last week. The senator-elect wrote to Gilland, asking for "all communication and documentation regarding how West Point OPA falsely accused Hegseth of lying about his application." 

The school employee's mistake comes as Hegseth continues his swing on Capitol Hill meeting with senators in hopes of being confirmed in 2025 as Trump's secretary of Defense. 

West Point did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

• Ukraine said it stopped a Russian spy group gathering information on its F-16 fighter jets.
• The group wanted to find out details on the airfields F-16s may be using, it said.
• Ukraine said the group's leader was detained and other members indicted.

Ukraine said it disrupted a Russian spy ring that was collecting information on the F-16 fighter jets it was given by its Western allies.

The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, said on Tuesday that it had neutralized a network of Russian spies that was gathering information about military targets, including its F-16s.

According to the SBU, the group was tasked with trying to discover the locations of military airfields where F-16 fighter jets might be kept, as well as the locations of Ukraine's air-defense systems and companies that make electronic warfare systems to counter Russian drones.

It said the group was working across five regions in Ukraine and was deployed by Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU.

It is not clear how much information, if any, the group was able to gather.

The SBU said its operation exposed 12 Russian agents and their informants.

Some of them were deserters who had left Ukraine's military and were recruited by Russia while hiding from punishment, it said, adding that they used their contacts, like Ukrainian soldiers in front-line areas, to try to gather intelligence.

Ukraine's Prosecutor's Office said one deceitfully recruited three soldiers he knew by pretending to work for Ukrainian intelligence, Pravda reported.

The SBU said agents who received the information would then go to the area of potential targets to gather extra intelligence.

According to Radio Free Europe, the group's organizer was detained and prominent members were indicted on charges related to state treason and the unauthorized disclosure of military information about the movement and location of Ukrainian forces.

Other members of the group could also face charges, the report said.

The SBU said suspects could face sentences ranging from eight years to life in prison, with their property confiscated.

The F-16s are the most powerful jets in Ukraine's arsenal, making them a major military and propaganda target for Russia.

Ukraine began receiving F-16s this summer, after repeated requests for the planes. Air warfare experts say the jets are a major boost to Ukraine's defenses, helping it protect cities and other targets from Russian drone and missile attacks.

Russia began targeting Ukrainian bases where F-16s could be kept before the first ones arrived, but there have been no reports of it successfully hitting bases when the jets have been present.

Despite their perceived importance, experts say Ukraine is not receiving enough F-16s to make a major difference, and it can't use them to launch raids or go on the attack unless it gets more.

The F-16s being given to Ukraine are also decades old — and are less powerful than Russia's best jets and the most advanced planes deployed by Ukraine's allies.

• North Korean troops don't realize drones are dangerous and are sitting ducks, Ukraine troops said.
• They have engaged in combat against Ukrainian troops in Kursk, per US and Ukraine officials.
• A couple hundred were killed or wounded in combat in the Kursk region, a US official said.

Ukrainian officials and soldiers told The Washington Post that North Korea's troops are frequently getting killed by drones they don't seem to consider dangerous.

The accounts point to an apparent gap in the knowledge of the troops sent by Kim Jong Un to support Russia's invasion.

The prevalence and effectiveness of drones is a defining feature of the war in Ukraine, and experienced soldiers there have described to Business Insider a widespread fear of them.

But North Korea's troops are new to the war, separated by a language barrier, and appear not to have the same approach.

Three Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region of Russia told the Post that waves of what seemed to be North Korean forces advanced directly at Ukrainian positions defended by drones and other weapons.

"We were very surprised; we had never seen anything like it — 40 to 50 people running across a field," one drone commander told the Post.

"FPV drones, artillery, and other weapons struck them because they were moving in the open field," he said. "You can imagine the result."

Another drone operator, Artem, told the outlet that instead of running away from the drones, the North Korean troops shot at them "indiscriminately," while others just kept moving. Many were killed, he said.

During a nighttime drone operation, Artem said he recognized three soldiers based on their heat signatures on a thermal camera and anticipated killing only one — but when the other two failed to react fast enough, he and his comrades struck all three.

He described the experience as "bizarre," adding, "It was the first time it felt like playing a computer simulator on easy mode."

On Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said North Korean troops had moved to the front lines and were "actively engaged in combat operations."

During a press briefing that same day, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said they had indications that North Korean soldiers engaged in combat in Kursk had suffered losses.

At least 30 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded during assault operations near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba, and Martynovka in or near the Kursk region last weekend, Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR) said on Monday.

A couple hundred North Korean troops were killed or wounded in combat in the Kursk region, a senior military official told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the GUR said North Korean troops had set up extra observation posts, fearing Ukrainian drone attacks after suffering serious losses.

• Trump's return to power comes as Ukraine struggles to stop Russia's advance.
• Trump says he'll move quickly to end the war, but Russia may be disinclined to negotiate now.
• Here are four scenarios for how the war could play out.

With the Russia-Ukraine war nearing its fourth year, attention is turning to President-elect Donald Trump and how his return to power may affect the conflict.

Trump looms as a distressing question mark for Ukraine, which has leaned into personal diplomacy to make its case in the weeks since his election. As a candidate, Trump called the war "a loser" and vowed to end it in 24 hours without saying how he would do so.

The US has provided the bulk of international security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, committing more than $60 billion so far. Drastic cuts or zeroing of this could enable Russia to achieve the decisive breakthrough it has so far been denied.

As both Kyiv and Moscow scramble to place their respective sides in the best possible position ahead of any changes Trump's administration may bring, Business Insider has taken a look at four ways the war could play out.

A cease-fire deal and frozen lines

The possibility of a temporary halt to the fighting has received renewed attention with Trump's reelection.

Trump, who has pledged to bring the war to a swift end when he returns to office, took to Truth Social on December 8 to call for an immediate cease-fire and the start of negotiations.

"Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness," he said, adding: "It can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act."

In November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has long rejected the idea of ceding land to end the war, suggested such a deal could be achieved if unoccupied parts of Ukraine came "under the NATO umbrella."

"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine could then "get back the other part of its territory diplomatically."

John Lough, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, told Business Insider that Ukraine was seemingly moving away from its "maximal position" of getting back all its occupied territory but that it would want "credible security guarantees from the West."

However, with Western nations reluctant to provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin with binding commitments to Ukraine, the most likely outcome was the war being "frozen" roughly where it is now, he continued, adding that a "settlement is just too ambitious at this stage."

Many analysts say any peace deal is likely to be fragile. Russia seized Crimea in 2014 by force before launching a broader invasion in 2022. Putin, furthermore, has repeatedly called Ukraine's independence fictional, and many observers worry a pause of a few years will allow Russia to train more troops and stockpile more weapons ahead of another offensive.

Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told BI that any peace deal brokered by Trump would likely involve some form of territorial concession.

"It's hard to imagine that it would be stable," Cancian said. "It's easy to imagine another war in a couple of years."

Long-term war

Another possibility is that Russia refuses to compromise and the fighting continues. War experts with the Institute for the Study of War think tank, for example, have repeatedly argued that Russian leaders believe they are winning on the battlefield and are not likely to seriously pursue negotiations while that continues.

In such a scenario, Ukraine would require significant levels of continued Western aid, which could be a hard sell for Kyiv. Both Trump and the vice president-elect, JD Vance, have been openly skeptical of US support for Ukraine under the Biden administration.

It would also put further strain on Ukraine's manpower as well as its economy, which is already facing "intensifying" headwinds, as the International Monetary Fund said in a September update.

While Russia, too, is facing its own economic issues — the Russian central bank raised its key interest rate to 21% in October in an effort to combat high inflation — some analysts have said Moscow could go for years before it has to confront its overspending.

"For Ukraine, the long war is nothing short of disastrous," James Nixey, the director of Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, wrote in February. "The country cannot recruit anything like the numbers Russia can press into service. It also places greater value on human life than its opponent, meaning it inevitably suffers more from a protracted war of attrition."

However, a long war is likely to strain Russia's military resources. Moscow is losing armored vehicles at what may be an unsustainable pace, and it may need another round of mobilization to continue replacing its troop losses.

Russian victory

Putin wanted a swift military victory when his forces launched the full-scale invasion.

Almost three years later, that goal has been well and truly quashed, but Moscow could still claim victory — which would likely mean occupying more of Ukraine and toppling Zelenskyy in favor of a deferential head-of-state.

For Kyiv, a worst-case scenario would see its forces' frontlines collapse due to a lack of resources or a shift in international support, Cancian said.

In such an instance, Ukraine would likely be forced into ceding large chunks of territory, with "everything east of" the Dnipro potentially coming under Russian control through either annexation or effective oversight, he added.

Russian forces have been advancing in eastern Ukraine in recent months, straining Ukrainian defenses and compounding Kyiv's much-reported manpower shortage.

While Russia itself continues to suffer high casualties, it has been able to draw on vastly superior numbers while also adding extra recruits from North Korea to support its offensives.

Moscow has also appeared intent on avoiding distractions and keeping its focus on events in Ukraine, putting up little support to help its ally Bashar Assad as his regime collapsed in Syria — despite Russia's important military bases in the country.

In addition, Kyiv is now facing serious uncertainty in the form of Trump's imminent return, with some fearing he could cut aid to the country.

In a recent interview with Time Magazine, the president-elect said he wanted to "reach an agreement" rather than abandon Ukraine, but he added that he strongly disagreed with Biden's decision in November to allow the use of US-supplied long-range weapons to strike Russia, which Kyiv had long coveted.

"I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia," Trump said. "Why are we doing that? We're just escalating this war and making it worse."

Ukrainian victory and Russian retreat

Ukrainians had harbored hope of winning the war after some notable early successes, such as the liberation of Kharkiv in 2022, Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Morenets said.

And while Putin's grip on power seems strong, the conflict has exposed some of the largest fissures since he came to power, such as the armed rebellion by Wagner mercenaries and protests over mobilization.

Russia's government is "authoritarian and it has control over the media, but it's still sensitive to public opinion," Cancian said, adding that it had likely avoided another round of mobilization as it did not want to "stir up domestic opposition," despite needing the manpower.

Washington has also pointed to North Korea's involvement in the war as a sign of the Kremlin's "desperation" and "weakness."

But with Trump's goal of achieving a quick end to the fighting, Russia's continued gains in the east, and Kyiv facing dwindling resources and drooping morale, an outright Ukrainian victory seems off the cards for now.

Seth Jones, the president of the Defense and Security Department at CSIS, previously told BI that as long as Putin is in charge, it would be highly improbable that Russia's forces would retreat entirely. A Russian defeat, however, may threaten Putin's hold on power.

• The Syrian Democratic Forces, a US partner in Syria, downed an MQ-9 Reaper drone.
• The incident shows the SDF has acquired air defenses of some sort.
• It's very possible that the SDF downed a low-flying Reaper with a shoulder-fired missile.

America's ally in Syria accidentally shot down an advanced US drone, suggesting these Kurdish-led forces have acquired some kind of air defenses.

A $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drone wasn't the only victim. A day later, the Syrian Democratic Forces — who partnered with the US to fight the Islamic State in Syria a decade ago — purposely shot down a Turkish drone.

A US official confirmed to Defense News that the SDF misidentified the MQ-9 as a threat on December 9 and shot it down, without specifying what kind of weapon was used; the SDF hasn't publicly acknowledged the incident. However, the SDF did release footage purportedly showing its forces shooting down Turkey's Aksungur drone.

"The SDF would need more capable air defense systems than older MANPADs (man-portable air defense system) like the Strela-2 to shoot down an MQ-9 Reaper unless the drone was flying far below its typical operating ceiling, possibly due to mission requirements or technical issues," Freddy Khoueiry, a global security analyst for the Middle East and North Africa at the risk intelligence company RANE, told Business Insider.

A Reaper drone has a 66-foot wingspan and can fly up to 50,000 feet in altitude, beyond the range of shoulder-fired Strela-2 missiles. The remotely piloted aircraft frequently carry Hellfire ground-attack missiles.

"A SHORAD (short-range air defense) or medium-range radar-guided SAM (surface-to-air missile) system would be required to effectively engage a Reaper drone operating at its standard altitude," Khoueiry said.

It is more likely that the SDF has shoulder-fired missiles due to their proliferation, which also have the benefit of being harder to spot than truck-mounted missile launchers. If the MQ-9 was downed by a MANPAD, it suggests it was flying very low, Khoueiry said.

The Aksungur is a much larger and more advanced drone than Turkey's widely exported Bayraktar TB2, but it is not in the same league as the American MQ-9.

"Aksungur drones are capable, 'middle-class drones' that are typically used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, although increasingly modified to carry weapons," Nicholas Heras, senior director of strategy and innovation at the New Lines Institute, told BI.

Syrian soldiers abandoned their bases and weapons stockpiles during the dramatic fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in early December. Israel has already moved in and bombed large quantities of them. Turkey has also moved to prevent the SDF from capturing weapons. Turkish intelligence destroyed 12 trucks with missiles and other heavy weapons in the northeastern Kurdish city of Qamishli, and Turkish drones targeted abandoned tanks, armored vehicles, and rocket launchers strewn across northeast Syria.

"It is unlikely that the SDF captured and were able to quickly operationalize Syrian regime air defenses within the past week," RANE's Khoueiry said. "Furthermore, Israeli strikes have significantly degraded such systems across Syrian territory, making it even more difficult for a US-backed militia to acquire and effectively operate them."

Turkish media reported earlier this year that US troops in northeast Syria were training the SDF how to use the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger short-range air defense system, which fires Stinger missiles. However, sources in Syria cited by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said only US troops operate the Avengers, which protect their bases against Iran-backed militia drone attacks.

"The challenge for the SDF to use systems such as the SA-2s (Soviet-made S-75s) or Avengers is that these anti-air systems require a logistical network to operate that is cumbersome for a non-state actor, especially if that non-state actor doesn't have accompanying anti-air capabilities to protect those systems," Heras said.

Ceng Sagnic, chief of analysis of the geopolitical consultancy firm TAM-C Solutions, believes it is possible the SDF is "independently operating" some air defenses in Syria.

"However, it should be noted that Kurdish groups have long had access to short-range air defense missiles, particularly those acquired from the black market and not NATO standard," Sagnic told BI. "There is also a possibility that an operator of one of these systems got lucky that day."

"In any case, the incident demonstrates the readiness of Kurdish groups in Syria to respond to drone operations, especially those conducted by Turkey," Sagnic said.

The Kurdistan Workers Party, commonly known by its PKK acronym, had Strela-2 missiles as far back as the 1990s and shot down two Turkish helicopters over northern Iraq in 1997.

The Middle East Eye news outlet reported earlier this year that Iran had transferred air-breathing anti-drone loitering missiles to the PKK. One such munition purportedly brought down an Aksungur over Iraqi Kurdistan in May. Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have used the Iranian-made 358 missile to shoot down Israeli and American drones, including a number of MQ-9s.

It's unclear if the SDF — whose main Kurdish component Turkey charges with inextricable PKK links — acquired such a system.

"The claim that Iran supplies the PKK (and, by extension, the SDF) with a significant number of anti-drone missiles is highly questionable," Sagnic said. "Only a consistent pattern of successful anti-drone strikes by the SDF in the near future could indicate enhanced capabilities by the Kurdish group, and a single drone interception is not sufficient proof."

"However, there have been at least two reported interceptions of Turkish drones over northern Iraq in recent months, suggesting that Kurdish groups are adapting to the so-called drone wars, though their continued success remains uncertain."

Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history. His articles have appeared in a variety of publications focused on the region.