I - On Defense Podcast

For review:
1. On the eve of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said that the Israeli premier “wants a deal” with Iran, and that the current talks on Tehran’s nuclear program show promise.
2. Entrances to Iran's Isfahan Nuclear Site Purposely Buried in Preparation of US/Israeli Attack.
3. IDF Preparing for Gaza Offensive to Disarm Hamas.
Hinting at the military’s offensive plans, Defense Minister Israel Katz this month said that Israel was "determined to disarm Hamas, threatening to “dismantle” the terror group if it doesn’t agree to lay down its arms.
4. Indonesia is preparing for the potential deployment of 5,000 to 8,000 troops to Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, the country’s army chief of staff, Maruli Simanjuntak, said Monday following a security meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
5. The Israel Defense Forces captured a “senior” member of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya terror organization during an overnight raid in southern Lebanon, and separately killed two Hezbollah operatives, the military said Monday.
According to the IDF, the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya operative was nabbed late Sunday from a building in the Mount Dov area near the border by a special forces unit operating under the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division. 
6. Russia cannot launch an attack on NATO this year or next but is planning to increase its forces significantly along the alliance’s eastern flank, depending on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, a senior European intelligence official said.
7. NATO today announced a command restructuring plan that will see the US giving up leadership of two allied operational-level commands to European senior officers.
The US will hand over charge of Joint Force Command Norfolk to the United Kingdom and relinquish leadership of Joint Force Command Naples to Italy, a statement from the alliance said. The statement also noted that Joint Force Command Brunssum will now be led by Germany and Poland on a rotational format.

For review:
1. Iran: Dilution of Enriched Uranium for Sanctions Relief.
2. Israeli PM Netanyahu to Visit Washington D.C. on Wednesday. 
3. Ukraine and Sweden are discussing the prospect of arming Kyiv with Europe’s top air-to-air missile- the Meteor.
4. Ukraine and France took a step toward joint arms production on Feb. 9, as Ukrainian Defense Minister Fedorov and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin signed a letter of intent in Kyiv, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced.
During the meeting, the ministers discussed accelerating the delivery of French Mirage 2000 fighter jets, as well as a record shipment of Hammer air-to-ground bombs. 
Ukraine and France addressed the supply of long-range weapons, including SCALP missiles. 
5. US Warship (USS Cincinnati) Visits Cambodian Port.
6. Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense has reportedly signed a $250-million contract with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to locally produce the Spike Firefly loitering munition.
7. Rafael Systems Global Sustainment (RSGS) announced today it was selected for Phase I of the Army’s second Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2 interceptor program, joining the pack with Lockheed Martin and the Boeing-Anduril team.

For review:
1. Iran rejected calls by the United States to halt uranium enrichment on its territory during talks in Oman on Friday.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran told Reuters Friday that while the Islamic Republic would not budge on its right to enrich uranium inside Iran, it was willing to discuss the “level and purity” of enrichment or a regional consortium.
2. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck a Hamas arms depot in Gaza City on Friday in response to an attack on troops a day earlier, after issuing an evacuation warning for a residential building for the first time since the start of the ceasefire.
3. The United Arab Emirates has drafted plans to build a compound to house thousands of displaced Palestinians in a part of south Gaza under Israeli military control, according to a map seen by Reuters and people briefed on the plans.
The planning map shows where the “UAE Temporary Emirates Housing Complex” would be constructed near Rafah.
4. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Friday that Lebanon’s army must be given the means to disarm the terror group Hezbollah and replace a United Nations peacekeeping force after its mandate ends this year.
“France’s vision for Lebanon is that of a strong, sovereign state holding a monopoly on arms,” Barrot told AFP.
5. Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev has been shot multiple times in Moscow by an unknown assailant, the Kremlin said on Feb 6.
In response to the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Kyiv for the assassination attempt, accusing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky of "provocations aimed at destabilizing the (peace) negotiation process."
Ukraine is yet to comment on the shooting.
6. US President Donald Trump inked a new executive order today, calling for national production interests to be taken into greater account when the US sells foreign nations weapons, creating a new list of platforms to push on the market, and prioritizing arms sales for countries who invest more in their own defense spending.  
7. Singapore is slated join the F-35 operator club once the first of its Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters enter service later this year, becoming the fourth Asia-Pacific nation to fly the fifth-generation fighter.
8. The U.S. Army has stood up a rotational force in the Philippines, according to recently released defense media.
While details regarding the rotational force’s formation date, capabilities and mission remains unclear, the force is headed by a lieutenant colonel and has assigned a liaison officer with Task Force-Philippines. 
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USNI News.

For review:
1. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “should be very worried” in the wake of reports that suggested that planned nuclear talks set for the end of the week were unravelling.
A White House official confirmed to The Times of Israel that nuclear talks with Iran would be held Friday in Muscat.
2. Iran’s army spokesperson said Thursday that the military is ready for a conflict, if that is what the US wants, 
Commenting on the addition of 1,000 drones to the Iranian military, Iranian Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia said Thursday: “We have always announced that we are ready to confront any option and any scenario that the enemy considers, and if the enemy chooses the option of war, we are ready for any option in war conditions.”
3. Trilateral talks between American, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators concluded in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging hundreds of prisoners of war.
4. The ‍US and Russia have agreed to reestablish high level military-to-military ​dialogue, following ‍talks in Abu Dhabi, more than ​four years after suspension, according to the US military.
5. The Kremlin said Thursday it regretted the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States, while U.S. President Donald Trump declared he was against keeping its limits and wants a better deal.
New START restricted each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers — deployed and ready for use.
6. Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) will gain internal weapons bays along with an increased wingspan, the global program director announced during this week’s Singapore Airshow.
Boeing is currently developing the Ghost Bat in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which has ordered seven aircraft for delivery in 2028.
7. Two aviation companies under contract to develop armed, unmanned aircraft and control systems for the U.S. Navy teased what they are working on this week during the Singapore Air Show.
Anduril’s YFQ-44 Fury, under development for the Air Force’s CCA program, is in competition with the General Atomics YFQ-42A.
The Navy wants its own version of the “uncrewed, modular, interoperable, interchangeable and versatile platforms” that it can field from an aircraft carrier.
8. Aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is back at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division after wrapping up builder’s trials, the company said Wednesday.
John F. Kennedy, the second in the Ford class of aircraft carriers, is slated to deliver to the Navy in March 2027.

For review:
1. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a massive funding package to end the US government shutdown that began Saturday.
2.  A Marine F-35C Lighting II fighter shot down an Iranian military drone that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
The fighter shot down the Iranian Shahed-139 drone on Tuesday after it approached aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.
3. Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday, Iranian and US officials told Reuters on Monday, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
4. After Iran expressed its desire to upend reported US plans for nuclear talks later this week, President Donald Trump declines to share the location of the Friday meeting.
Asked where the talks will be held, President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “all over… There’s more than one” location.
5. Israel reacted angrily Monday night after the Palestinian technocratic committee replaced its logo with the one used by the Palestinian Authority.
6. Gaza's ‌Rafah crossing ⁠with ‌Egypt reopened on Monday ‍for residents to enter and leave, in what is seen as a key move heralding the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan.
7. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday rejected calls for a Europe-wide army, warning that it could be “extremely dangerous” as the bloc considers ways to provide its own security.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kallas: "Those who say that we need a European army, maybe those people haven’t really thought this through practically. If you are already part of NATO then you can’t create a separate army.”
8. The Army is aiming to award a contract for its SP Howitzer program by July, a spokesperson from the service’s Program Acquisition Executive for Fires confirmed to Breaking Defense today.
9.  The US Marine Corps has selected L3Harris as the winner of its Precision Attack Strike Munition (PASM) program, providing a new weapon for use on the AH-1Z helicopter.
The contract, worth $86.2 million, will cover delivery of an unspecified number of L3Harris’ “Red Wolf” weapons by end of fiscal 2027. 
10. Years after announcing a deal, Boeing is ending plans to sell its F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet to Indonesia, the company confirmed today.