US Destroys 8th Suspected Drug Vessel
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The Trump administration attacked an eighth vessel suspected of smuggling drugs, for the first time in the eastern Pacific Ocean, DefSec Pete Hegseth said. He posted video footage of the attack on X and said two people were killed. This brings the officially acknowledged death toll to 34, reports The New York Times. The previous seven attacks took place in the Caribbean Sea. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said it was off the coast of Colombia.
On Friday, the US killed three people in its seventh strike on a suspected drug trafficking boat on a vessel allegedly affiliated with Colombian organization Ejército de Liberación Nacional, designated a terrorist organization by the US State Department in 1997, reports USNI. The day before, two people survived a US strike on a semi-submersible suspected of trafficking drugs. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the two survivors would be returned to Colombia and Ecuador, their countries of origin.
Trump said on Sunday he’d stop all payments and raise tariffs on Colombia, escalating a feud over US military’s strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs in the region, reports Reuters. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said a vessel the US attacked, claiming it was associated with a Colombian rebel group, actually belonged to a “humble family.”
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Rand Paul (R-KY) are planning to force a vote on a resolution to block Trump from carrying out hostilities against Venezuela without the explicit approval of Congress, reports Stars and Stripes. Trump confirmed this week, he had authorized covert CIA actions in Venezuela and might consider ground military operations. The Senate failed in a 51-48 vote last week to advance a measure to prevent further boat strikes without congressional authorization. Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were the only Republicans to vote in support.
A newly formed joint task force out of the Marine Expeditionary Force will synchronize counter-narcotics efforts with the Homeland Security Task Force, reports Seapower Magazine. ADM Alvin Holsey, commander, SOUTHCOM, announced the task force on Oct. 10 and announced his retirement on Oct. 16, reports USNI.
Civilian special agents of the Army Counterintelligence Command expect to gain the authority to conduct searches, execute warrants, and make arrests outside of military bases, reports Defense News. LTGEN Anthony Hale, deputy chief of staff of the Army for Intelligence expects the authority for the more than 3,000 agents to arrive this calendar year. ACIC agents are currently working along the US southern border, Hale said, adding that NORTHCOM has also requested Army counterintelligence support.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to miss their first full paychecks this Friday, reports Federal News Network. Many excepted and furloughed federal employees received partial paychecks around Oct. 10, for workdays through Sept. 30. A GOP-led bill to pay workers required to show up for work and troops cannot gain Democratic support for its failure to cover the some 700,000 federal employees who are currently furloughed.
The Navy selected General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, to develop a semi-autonomous, combat drone to meet changing missions including operations on and from aircraft carriers, reports Seapower Magazine. GA-ASI designed the Air Force’s first unmanned fighter, YFQ-42A, which began flight testing in August.
The Army also plans to expand its autonomous air capability portfolio with a Collaborative Combat Aircraft option, and is working with the other services, partners, and allies to find out what the right option may look like, reports Breaking Defense.
TWZ presents a walk-around tour of Beechcraft’s M-346 jet trainer, looking to replace the Navy’s T-45 Goshawk. The demonstrator Beechcraft is using is an M-346FA (fighter-attack) model of Leonardo’s M-346 Master family of jets. Leonardo and Textron, the latter of which owns Beechcraft, have joined forces for the Navy’s next generation trainer opportunity.
Nordic army leaders have a new critical requirement for new weapons, they must have already proved their worth in the Ukraine war, reports Breaking Defense. “For new [supply] chains and new technologies, I’m never going to buy anything that hasn’t worked in Ukraine,” Maj. Gen. Peter Harling Boysen, chief of the Royal Danish Army told industry and US Army representatives during an AUSA panel discussion last week on Northern Europe.
The New York Times reports that a live, 155-millimeter shell prematurely detonated during Camp Pendleton’s Marine Corps celebration on Saturday, dropping fragments of the shell on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and motorcycle that were part of VP JD Vance’s protective detail. No officers were hurt in the mishap on a major freeway Gov. Gavin Newsom had ordered closed. The governor had objected to the plan to fire over the freeway, against the guidance of military officials, who had said it was safe for it to remain open.
Defense One reports China’s top intelligence agency on Sunday accused the US National Security Agency of carrying out a yearslong cyberespionage campaign against Beijing’s national time-service network, among the nation’s most sensitive pieces of digital infrastructure. “NSA does not confirm nor deny allegations in the media regarding its operations,” an NSA official told Nextgov/FCW. “Our core focus is countering foreign malign activities persistently targeting American interests, and we will continue to defend against adversaries wishing to threaten us.”
Noem brushed aside congressional criticism of the purchase, noting the funding was previously appropriated, reports The Hill. But Democrats also faulted Noem for moving ahead amid the shutdown. “The more than $170 million Sec. Noem is using to buy jets for her luxury travel would help fund a lot of pay checks for TSA & air traffic controllers,” Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CN) wrote on X. “She should pay essential workers & stop putting herself before dedicated public servants.”
Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) are advancing a new bipartisan agreement mandating comprehensive new safety reviews for all aircraft operations near DCA and at all major and mid-size US airports, reports Defense Scoop. Their proposal addresses safety issues identified by the federal investigation into the January collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger plane over the Potomac River near DCA that killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
Defense News reports, the Air and the Army National Guard have exceeded fiscal 2025 recruiting goals, with nearly 50,000 new enlistees combined, officials announced Sept. 23. The Army National Guard has hit 328,000 soldiers in end strength and the Air National Guard on track to surpass 105,000 airmen by the end of the fiscal year, according to the release.
The Army is overhauling how it fights in combat based on lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where drones have eliminated traditional cover and concealment on the battlefield and account for approximately 70 percent of Russian casualties in Ukraine, according to the Modern War Institute at West Point, reports Military.com.
A federal judge sentenced Muhammad Pahlawan to 40 years in prison for charges relating to the death of two Navy SEALs who drowned in the Arabian Sea while attempting to board his boat in 2024, reports Task & Purpose. Pahlawan was captain of the unflagged vessel that SEALs seized in January 2024 as it smuggled Iranian arms to Houthi rebels. Chief Special Warfare Operator Christopher Chambers, 37, slipped and fell into the water during the raid, weighed down by heavy equipment. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, jumped in to save Chambers, but also drowned
On a routine training flight, a Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter crashed a few dozen miles northwest of Yuma Proving Ground in a remote part of southeastern California on Oct. 16, leaving one pilot dead and another injured, reports Task & Purpose. Maj. Tyler R. Braconi, 35, was killed in what is being reported as “an aviation mishap,” reports Military Times. The second Marine pilot, who has not been identified, was in stable condition, officials said Friday.
Contacts awards are not being published during the government shutdown.
