A US Navy oiler ran hard aground after its captain urged a last-minute shortcut: 'Let's try to shoot the gap' The USNS Big Horn suffered more than $20 million in damage after the Middle East grounding, a command investigation reveals.

The captain of a US Navy oiler ordered a route change to get into port faster: "Let's try to shoot the gap there."

Things went very wrong from there, as @byjepstein.bsky.social breaks down: www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-ship...

The US is sending a new drone-killer to the Middle East. It's logged over 1,000 Shahed intercepts over Ukraine. The Merops system uses a roughly $15,000 reusable interceptor drone, giving the US a cheaper air defense option against Iran's Shahed drones.

Merops interceptor drones have proven their value in Ukraine and eastern Europe, BI's @byjepstein.bsky.social and Matthew Loh report

www.businessinsider.com/merops-middl...

Ukrainian troops say their hard-won lessons on Iranian Shaheds apply far beyond their war at home Ukraine developed low-cost ways to defeat Iranian drone designs, and some troops say the lessons from its war now have wider relevance.

"We were sure the US had some secret weapon" against Shahed drones, a Ukrainian commander said. The war in Iran proved that wrong.

Via BI's @byjepstein.bsky.social , Sinéad Bake and Matthew Loh:

www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-tr...

The Iran war is becoming a proving ground for the newest US weapons LUCAS drones and PrSM missiles are two of the many munitions that American forces have used to strike Iranian targets.

New US weapons the US has used against Iran:
-Ground-fired ballistic missiles
-Large exploding drones

@byjepstein.bsky.social has been closely tracking munitions used:

www.businessinsider.com/iran-war-pro...

Images show destruction at Iran's drone bases, naval sites, radars The US and Israel said they hit hundreds of targets across Iran, ranging from military sites to high-ranking officials.

Extensive damage seen at Iran's bases and ports. @byjepstein.bsky.social has a battle damage assessment of Iran with Sunday images: www.businessinsider.com/satellite-im...

Satellite images show an Iranian warship burning pierside after US and Israeli strikes New satellite imagery captures initial damage from the US and Israel's attack on Iran, including a burning warship and drone activity at air bases.

Satellite images show one Iranian warship on fire while at least four others nearby look untouched, @chrispanella.bsky.social and @byjepstein.bsky.social report www.businessinsider.com/satellite-im...

A new US military task force just used its cheap Shahed lookalike drones for the first time to strike Iran The drone's development comes as the Pentagon pushes to procure and field inexpensive drones to keep pace with adversaries.

The US military attacked Iran on Saturday with its new LUCAS drones. @byjepstein.bsky.social reported on these new weapons produced by the US firm SpektreWorks: www.businessinsider.com/new-us-milit...

Here are the weapons America used to strike Iran — and shield against retaliation From Tomahawk cruise missiles to Patriot air defense batteries, the US has used a range of weapons in its latest Middle East fight.

CENTCOM says it defended against "hundreds" of Iranian missiles with air defenses like Patriot, THAAD and warship-fired Standard Missiles, via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/us-weapons-u...

US forces are locked in air-defense battles, fending off attacks on American bases amid the fighting with Iran, official says A US official told Business Insider that land, air, and naval forces are participating in the air defense operations.

US ground, air, and naval forces were involved in strikes against Iran, along with Israeli F-35 stealth fighters and F-15 jets, @byjepstein.bsky.social reported www.businessinsider.com/us-forces-ai...

Russia's Arctic units have been wrecked in Ukraine, but NATO is bracing for a 'dangerous' comeback NATO needs to use this time to prepare for a Russian resurgence in the Arctic, a top Norwegian military official told Business Insider.

"We have an opportunity to focus on strengthening ourselves," a top Norwegian officer told @byjepstein.bsky.social of Arctic exercises www.businessinsider.com/russia-arcti...

For Ukrainian troops, the North Korea problem isn't soldiers launching assaults. It's artillery, lawmaker says. North Korean forces initially supported Russia with infantry assaults, but they've pivoted to drone and artillery operations.

North Korean soldiers are gaining valuable combat experience in Ukraine spotting their artillery fire with drones, via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/for-ukraine-...

NATO is readying soldiers for a frozen Arctic war. It means learning to fight on skis and snowmobiles. Business Insider traveled north of the Arctic Circle to watch Finland's Jaeger Brigade train NATO forces on winter warfare and cold-weather survival.

Scenes from this actual NATO training look like Star Wars' planet Hoth — complete with arctic camouflage, assault vehicles and lasers.

Read @byjepstein.bsky.social's report from the Arctic circle: www.businessinsider.com/how-finland-...

An F-35 stealth fighter shot down an Iranian drone flying toward a US Navy aircraft carrier A defense official said the drone's intent was unclear. It was shot down after it "unnecessarily maneuvered" toward the carrier.

"The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces," the CENTCOM spokesman told @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/navy-jet-sho...

Inside a NATO air base on Russia's doorstep, where fighter pilots on scramble alert have just 15 minutes to launch Here's what it's like on an air base in Lithuania, on Russia's doorstep, where Spanish jets are deployed to support NATO air policing operations.

"You don't have time to think about what's happening," one NATO pilot said of scrambling jets within 15 minutes via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/inside-nato-...

7 US troops were hurt in the covert Venezuela raid. Here's what we know about their condition. A defense official said so few injuries on such a complex raid spoke to the expertise of US forces.

Only seven US service members were injured during the helicopter-borne raid, @byjepstein.bsky.social reported: www.businessinsider.com/us-troops-hu...

Hunted by drones, Ukrainian forces hide behind darkness, bad weather, and smoke to rescue wounded troops, officer says The surge of drones on the battlefield has made it almost impossible to pull off traditional casualty evacuations.

In a war against Russia, NATO would face the same casualty evacuation challenges via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-reli...

Ukraine says it just carried out the first-ever underwater drone strike on a Russian submarine Ukraine's internal security agency said the attack damaged and disabled a Russian Kilo-class submarine in the port city of Novorossiysk.

Before this week, an attack like this would've needed a torpedo-carrying submarine. No longer. via @byjepstein.bsky.social
www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-carr...

A Navy warship mistook US fighter jets for enemy missiles and opened fire. The targeted pilot saw his life flash before his eyes. New documents reveal how the USS Gettysburg shot down an F/A-18 and nearly hit a second one above the Red Sea last year.

A Navy warship fired a missile at a F/A-18 Hornet, getting so close the jet shook.

@byjepstein.bsky.social has the harrowing details on the US Navy's worst friendly fire incident in decades: www.businessinsider.com/navy-warship...

A US aircraft carrier's hard turn to avoid enemy fire surprised sailors and sent a jet with bad brakes into the sea The $60 million F/A-18 and a tow tractor slid off the USS Harry S. Truman while it evaded a Houthi missile attack, new documents show.

Frightening situation for a 32,000-pound jet to start rolling out of control. via @byjepstein.bsky.social who FOIA'd records of what happened

www.businessinsider.com/us-aircraft-...

A US F-16 pilot outflew enemy missiles with extreme high-G turns for 15 minutes during a Middle East mission An Air Force citation obtained by Business Insider describes how the pilot survived a harrowing mission in enemy airspace.

"It's a rare day when someone earns a Silver Star." -Gen. Ken Wilsbach

@byjepstein.bsky.social got the details: www.businessinsider.com/us-pilot-dod...

Inside the high-speed missions fueling Western fighter jets on Russia's doorstep Business Insider went aboard a Royal Air Force Voyager tanker to watch it refuel NATO fighter jets operating over Eastern Europe.

"We can operate anywhere," an RAF Voyager pilot told @byjepstein.bsky.social on a nine-hour mission: www.businessinsider.com/inside-high-...

F-35 stealth fighters spearheaded strikes deep inside Iran and were the last ones out, Midnight Hammer commanders say The stealth fighter jets escorted B-2 bombers during the US military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities in late June.

"We employed weapons to great effect against multiple surface-to-air missile sites."

via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/f-35s-flew-d...

Ukraine proved this drone-killer works. Now, the West is giving it a shot. The American-made Merops system has already recorded over 1,000 kills against Russian Shahed-type drones in Ukraine.

NATO soldiers are learning to operate an interceptor that can down Russia's latest jet-powered drones, @byjepstein.bsky.social reports from Poland: www.businessinsider.com/nato-trying-...

A US company making long-range drone warships for a China fight just put its tech to the test in the water The US Navy needs multi-mission, long-range autonomous warships that can traverse and fight across the vast waters of the Pacific.

"It's kind of a big leap to actually make something without people," Blue Water Autonomy's CEO told @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/us-company-l...

How boom operators aboard the US Air Force's flying gas stations keep their cool doing an 'inherently dangerous' job Business Insider spoke to a boom operator about their responsibilities aboard a KC-135 tanker at a base in England.

"If the conditions make refueling difficult, it can be stressful," a refueling boom operator told @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/how-air-forc...

Front-line combat video captures special ops Black Hawk raid into Pokrovsk, Ukraine's fiercest fight The footage shows how Ukraine is scrambling to defend the embattled city from brutal Russian assaults.

Ukraine shared footage on Tuesday of a helicopter raid with special operations troops via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/video-specia...

Ukrainian forces say small Russian infiltration teams are increasingly appearing out of nowhere and sowing chaos in their lines Ukrainian soldiers told Business Insider the tactic is becoming increasingly frequent and a growing challenge.

These infiltration tactics are terrifying and typically suicidal, via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/russian-infi...

After Russia's 'Skyfall' missile test, Trump says the US has a nuclear submarine 'right off their shores' It's the second time in just a few months the US president has brought up nuclear submarines in response to Russian talk about its weapons.

Great perspective on Skyfall: "It's a subsonic (~260 m/s) cruise missile. NATO aircraft could intercept it."

Via @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/trump-us-nuc...

NATO's Baltic Sea patrol surge and much faster reaction time are driving down undersea sabotage, Western officials say The NATO mission began in January after several incidents of sabotage in the Baltic Sea, some of which has been linked to Russia.

NATO forces can respond to unusual activity in the Baltic Sea within an hour, thanks in part to AI monitoring and drones, reports @byjepstein.bsky.social www.businessinsider.com/nato-baltic-...

Russia's missiles and drones run on Western tech. Here's how it keeps getting the parts. Ukraine is still finding thousands of foreign-made parts in Russian weapons over three and a half years into the war.

As long as a country is willing to pay a higher price, there are people who can get them the sanctioned technologies through a shell game @byjepstein.bsky.social and Sinéad Baker report: www.businessinsider.com/how-russia-g...