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international military intervention

Pentagon pursues cheaper, faster missiles to address slow replacement rates

Illustration accompanying article: Pentagon pursues cheaper, faster missiles to address slow replacement rates
  • The Pentagon is pursuing cheaper, faster-produced missiles through programs such as the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles initiative, which requires missiles that cost less than $500,000 each.
  • The U.S. has fired more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles in the Iran war this year, costing at least $2.5 billion; RTX takes at least one year to produce each cruise missile.
  • Startups including CoAspire are using nonstandard contracts and commercial parts to develop low-cost missiles, with CoAspire's Ghost missile set for flight testing this year.
  • Defense experts said the Pentagon's habit of micromanaging programs and unpredictable congressional funding contribute to slow, expensive production.
 3 MIN READ

Iran war expected to dominate Trump's G7 meeting with allies

Illustration accompanying article: Iran war expected to dominate Trump's G7 meeting with allies
  • President Donald Trump is traveling to France for a G7 summit where the U.S.-led war in Iran is expected to dominate discussions, according to senior U.S. administration officials who were not authorized to speak publicly.
  • Trump will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other G7 and Middle Eastern leaders, officials said, in a schedule originally designed around economic and security issues but overtaken by the conflict.
  • The war in Iran has widened rifts between Washington and its European allies, illustrated by Trump's announcement of the withdrawal of at least 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany — a decision partially reversed by redirecting the troops to Poland.
  • Former Obama-era National Security Council official Brett Bruen said the war in Iran would dominate the agenda as a military, economic, and political challenge, and questioned America's ability to contain the conflict's fallout.
  • Analyst Constanze Stelzenmüller of the Brookings Institution said European leaders approach meetings with Trump expecting "significant uncertainty" due to the president's volatility.
 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Pentagon held far fewer briefings during Iran war, review finds