Author: Braxton Taylor

Despite increasingly heated rhetoric on Iran coming from President Donald Trump on Tuesday, U.S. officials said the Pentagon had not made any new, major force posture changes in the Middle East in the past 24 hours and the mission for troops remained protecting U.S. assets — not conducting strikes.Israel for days had conducted missile strikes on Iran, including hitting its state media broadcaster in Tehran, and appeared set on destroying its nuclear program, potentially with the help of the U.S. Trump, who initially appeared open to dialogue with the Iranians, turned to more aggressive rhetoric threatening the Iranian supreme leader,…

Every year in the United States, taxes on sporting goods sales generate around $1.5 billion for conservation initiatives via the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson acts. Together, these bills levy a 10% tax on most fishing equipment and an 11% tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery gear (see the exact breakdown here). In recent years, however, an increasingly large loophole has been growing—one that allows direct-to-consumer sales from foreign manufacturers to fly under the radar.To understand the issue, MeatEater spoke with Mike Leonard, Vice President of Government Affairs at the American Sportfishing Association—an organization that has been lobbying for a bill in…

The Air Force had to reduce its target recruiting goal by several thousand airmen due to ongoing congressional budget delays, but is still on pace to hit its newly revised benchmark by the end of this month, according to the service.Chief Master Sgt. Frank Rawls, the top recruiter for the Air Force, told Military.com in an interview Tuesday that the service is “96%” of the way to its active-duty goal of 29,950 airmen with expectations it will hit that number by the end of this month — roughly three months ahead of scheduleLast year, the Air Force announced a much…

PRAGUE—China describes its space activity—including the deployment of highly maneuverable satellites, satellites equipped with robotic arms, and moon missions—as nonmilitary. But officials from the United States and Taiwan, as well as independent space experts, worry that China is “rehearsing” how to use satellites as space weapons in the opening days of a full-scale invasion. They also fear China is positioning itself to pressure other nations into accepting whatever space activities Beijing defines as “normal.”Speaking at the 8th annual Space Security Conference here this week, Holmes Liao, a senior adviser to the Taiwan Space Agency, said China’s recent space activities are “not just logical…

PARIS—Companies building a next-generation combat fighter for France, Germany, and Spain are publicly sparring over development of the program. Germany’s Airbus and France’s Dassault Aviation are working alongside Spain’s Indra Sistemas to build a sixth-gen fighter jet called Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, but Airbus and Dassault have run into problems over how to share the work, creating a tough environment, Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air power at Airbus, told reporters Tuesday at the Paris Air Show. While Dassault, which builds the Rafale jet, is the prime contractor of the New Generation Fighter, or NGF (the main aspect of FCAS), Airbus…

Modular Driven Technologies Ltd. has just released the second-generation version of its popular Send It electronic level. This latest model builds on the success of MDT’s original Send It model. In addition to offering a more compact design, this new version of the MDT Send It is more modular. The Send It electronic level is designed for precision-rifle shooting competitors and long-range shooting enthusiasts who rely on the device to indicate when their rifles are level and thus “cleared” to shoot. The MDT Send It’s easy-to-see LED array allows shooters to focus on their targets and look through their scopes…

Robert Smalls published a newspaper, established a transportation company and served five terms in the United States Congress. Before those laudable accomplishments, though, Smalls had to secure his freedom.Born into slavery in South Carolina in 1839, Smalls escaped during the Civil War when he commandeered the Planter, a Confederate transport ship, and surrendered to the Union Navy at Charleston Harbor in May 1862. Smalls went on to do great things, but none of them would have been possible if he didn’t risk his life — and the lives of others — by getting himself and his family out of the…

The U.S. Army has nearly tripled its production of 155mm howitzer shells since the Ukraine war began, millions of which have been sent to that country’s front lines. It’s going to miss its  goal of making 100,000 per month by October, but likely by just a few months.The service’s current monthly output stands at 40,000, up from 14,500 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago, according to data provided by the Army. The original plan called for making about twice as many by now.“Several of the investments that we made are just coming online now, a…

Bear Creek Arsenal is now offering complete AR-15 and standalone uppers chambered for .410-bore shotshells. These specialized ARs from Bear Creek Arsenal take the popular .410-bore shells and make it fit in a semi-automatic package. With the exception of the Gen 2 side-charging handle, the Bear Creek BC-15 .410 operates and shares the same manual-of-arms with America’s most popular semi-automatic sporting rifle, the AR-15. Bear Creek Arsenal BC-15 .410 Features 20-inch parkerized barrel 15-inch M-Lok rail Bear Creek Arsenal Gen-2 side charging handle Full choke (this shotgun uses a Winchester Invector style choke) 3-inch chamber Bear Creek Arsenal forged aluminum…

The Israeli Defense Forces says it killed another top Iranian commander as Israel continues pressing its “pre-emptive” war against Iran, ostensibly to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Latest: After four days of intense air and missile attacks, Israeli leaders are now “contemplating regime change in the Islamic Republic,” Axios reported Tuesday following various interviews—including this one on Fox—that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given since Sunday. When asked on Fox if “regime change” was part of Israel’s goals, Netanyahu replied, “Could certainly be the result because the Iran regime is very weak.” He reiterated that point several more…