https://sagire.online/topic/defense/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:35:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/6d063183/https://sagire.online/wire/6d063183/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:23:00 -0300Republican Rep. Thomas Massie gave Pete Hegseth an ultimatum on Wednesday night: resign or face impeachment in the final stretch of the 119th Congress. Massie’s resolution accuses the defense secretary of waging war against Iran without congressional approval and of flouting laws that limit civilian casualties. Trump said he was not considering replacing him: “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.” The Defense Department said Hegseth was “100 percent committed” to leading the Pentagon until the end of Trump’s term, on January 20, 2029, according to Reuters, in a text published by U.S. News.United StatesDefensePolitical crisisIran https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:22:00 -0300Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of several agreements, including a defense cooperation deal and more than US$ 403 million in loans for Syria’s energy, housing, health and infrastructure sectors. The two countries’ defense ministries signed the agreement on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi agency. The Saudi Fund for Development loans include US$ 100 million to rebuild and equip damaged healthcare facilities, US$ 60 million to repair damaged housing, US$ 105 million to strengthen civil defense, US$ 90 million to rehabilitate the Aleppo thermal power plant and US$ 30 million for drinking water systems in Damascus and Idlib. The defense agreement came days after Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government was weighing whether to join a mutual defense pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan.SyriaSaudi ArabiaDefenseThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/bbea4712/https://sagire.online/wire/bbea4712/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300The toll of the Russian attack on Komyshuvakha has risen to 40 dead, with the search in its third day, Zelensky announced, according to Le Monde. Zelensky arrived in Madrid on his fifth visit to Spain and meets Pedro Sánchez and other leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of an Ibero-American summit, with strengthening air defense as the top priority. He lamented “very few reactions around the world” and urged allies to bolster the country's air defense “right now”. The European Commission praised Ukraine's progress toward membership but urged faster rule-of-law reforms to conclude negotiations by the end of 2028.UkraineRussiaSpainDefense https://sagire.online/wire/3e2b62f2/https://sagire.online/wire/3e2b62f2/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300Trump raised with aides and in phone calls the possibility of replacing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, without making a decision, according to CBS News, in a report cited by the Times of India. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is seen as a possible replacement. Asked by reporters, Trump publicly denied the move — saying Hegseth is doing “a very good job” — and White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump has “full confidence” in him.United StatesDefense https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/https://sagire.online/wire/17dc9df1/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:22:00 -0300The Cheonghae unit, currently in the Gulf of Aden, will have its area of operation extended northeast to waters south of Oman, in the Arabian Sea, officials told The Korea Herald, roughly doubling its radius to about 1,930 kilometers. The expansion adds 75 troops to the unit, bringing its strength to 395. A Defense Ministry official said operations will stay limited to open waters south of Oman and that the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will be barred from watching Iranian territory or waters or the interior of the Strait of Hormuz. The government plans to send the revised mandate motion to the National Assembly after Cabinet endorsement next week, and South Korean law requires parliamentary consent to expand overseas missions.South KoreaStrait of HormuzThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/803258c4/https://sagire.online/wire/803258c4/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:24:00 -0300In an interview with German television ZDF, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped Democratic gains in the midterm elections would generate more help for Kyiv in its 4-1/2-year-long war with Russia, according to Reuters, in a text published by the Jerusalem Post. Zelensky said he was grateful to Republicans but that Democrats speak “very clearly” about supporting Ukraine and renewing the connection between the United States and Europe. “I am also grateful to the Republicans, but the Democrats speak very clearly about supporting Ukraine and providing assistance to Ukraine,” he said in comments provided in German by ZDF before the interview was broadcast. “They speak about renewing the connection between the United States and Europe... Therefore, there is hope that a balance of power will emerge and that we will receive more support.” He also said that a Congress approving strong financial support or military assistance would have an impact on Putin.UkraineUnited StatesEastern EuropeDefenseElections https://sagire.online/wire/e7b0e1d9/https://sagire.online/wire/e7b0e1d9/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300Japan’s Defense Ministry has estimated that its five-year defense plan beginning in fiscal 2027 will require about 80 trillion yen (about $507 billion), nearly twice the amount allocated under the current plan. The figure is preliminary: given funding constraints, the government is expected to review equipment procurement and other expenditures and adjust the total toward the upper end of the 70 trillion yen (about $443.5 billion) range. The new spending is likely to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, according to a source familiar with the matter. The review is taking shape as a year-end deadline for revisions to three key security documents looms.JapanDefenseDronesEast Asia https://sagire.online/wire/9d7a5370/https://sagire.online/wire/9d7a5370/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300North Korea test-fired a newly designed air-defense missile system and staged a cruise missile strike drill on Wednesday, state media KCNA said. The test confirmed the technical specifications and reliability of the new materials and multiple guidance modes used by the missile, as well as the system’s ability to identify and track targets. A sub-unit of the country’s long-range strategic cruise missile unit in the east struck a virtual airport target in the drill. The KCNA report appeared to confirm a South Korean Defense Ministry statement that Pyongyang fired multiple missiles toward the sea from the Sondok area on the east coast, the fourth North Korean weapons launch in a month.North KoreaDefenseEast Asia https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:25:00 -0300Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday with a delegation including the foreign, defense, finance and industry ministers and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, on his second visit to the kingdom in weeks, after a trip to Riyadh on October 6. He and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of agreements covering military cooperation, energy and infrastructure, and the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the defense agreement was the most notable but gave no details. The package included a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries. Syria is in negotiations to join the Makkah defense pact, and Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that Damascus considers “security in the Gulf as part of its own.”SyriaSaudi ArabiaThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/4ad22ebb/https://sagire.online/wire/4ad22ebb/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:23:00 -0300US President Donald Trump said he has no intention of firing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and said he is doing “a very good job.” “No, I think he’s doing a very good job”, Trump said in response to a question from reporters alongside construction workers at the site of the White House’s new ballroom. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told CBS News that the president has “full confidence” in Hegseth, after the network reported, citing sources, that Trump was discussing the dismissal with advisers. Asked about the possibility of Hegseth filling the Tennessee Senate seat that Marsha Blackburn will leave to take over the governor’s office, Trump said he would be “very popular” if he did that, but that he “hasn’t heard that at all”.United StatesDefense https://sagire.online/wire/39b3df5c/https://sagire.online/wire/39b3df5c/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:23:00 -0300Turkish defense firm Baykar said two attack drones launched from a Bayraktar TB2 struck their targets during a flight test in northwestern Türkiye. The TB2 took off from the Kesan Flight Training and Test Center in Edirne province carrying 16 first-person-view (FPV) drones developed by Skydagger, released two of them over the test area and served as an airborne communications relay so that operators could guide the smaller drones to their targets. Baykar said it has signed export agreements with 36 countries for the TB2 and 16 for its Akinci combat drone, covering 39 countries across the two programs.TurkeyDronesDefense https://sagire.online/wire/73b11683/https://sagire.online/wire/73b11683/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:22:00 -0300Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Madrid on his fifth visit to Spain, with air defense as his absolute priority, and is due to meet Pedro Sánchez and other leaders on Thursday on the sidelines of an Ibero-American summit. He announced that the death toll from the Russian attack on Komyshuvakha had risen to 40, with searches on the third day, and lamented that there are “very few reactions in the world”. The trip comes ahead of new talks on the war between Ukraine and Russia.UkraineDiplomacyDefense https://sagire.online/wire/6bb04383/https://sagire.online/wire/6bb04383/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300President Donald Trump has been asking advisers, including by phone, whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job following Republicans’ losses on Tuesday night, according to sources familiar with the matter. One of those sources said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement, arguing DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and take the post when his term as governor expires on January 5. Asked by reporters on Wednesday afternoon whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump said: “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president “has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth.”United StatesDefenseElections https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Tuesday again called for discussions on reviewing the country’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and expressed support for considering the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, Kyodo News reported. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Koizumi said an environment should be created in which necessary security policies can be discussed openly and frankly without prejudice, and that as Japan revises its three key security documents by the end of the year, society as a whole should develop a shared understanding of nuclear threats. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons, and the current National Security Strategy explicitly states that the policy will remain unchanged. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in October that her government would “deepen concrete and realistic considerations” regarding the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Self-Defense Forces.JapanNuclearDefenseDeterrence https://sagire.online/wire/9c85c7c4/https://sagire.online/wire/9c85c7c4/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 12:24:00 -0300Some 40,000 students were on strike at 57 schools across Denmark, including 12,000 to 13,000 at the protest in Copenhagen, according to organizers. Under the banner “Enough is Enough,” 11 high school and university student associations marched from Copenhagen’s City Hall Square to parliament over the proposed cuts to free up funds for defense spending. In a draft budget bill, Denmark’s center-left government plans to abolish the student grant (SU) for students who live with their parents and whose parents’ total annual income exceeds 700,000 Danish kroner (US$104,000). According to the Higher Education Ministry, around 14,000 students are expected to lose their grant, and some 8,000 would see it reduced. Student protests that started in France have spread in recent weeks to other European countries.DenmarkEducationProtestsDefenseEurope