The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 06:16

Additional details have now been released about this week’s attack on Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Northwestern Syria, which resulted in the death of five soldiers and injury of several others deployed to the base with the Russian Armed Forces. 

The attack appears to have been perpetrated by several current and/or former members of the “Red Bands” Brigade, a special forces unit under Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which carried out a number of operations against Assad’s Arab Army in Idlib during the Syrian Civil War. Two of the fighters were able to infiltrate the base, killing and injuring a group of Russian soldiers near the fence, while other fighters outside the base opened-fire with small arms, machine guns, motors, and one-way attack drones. The two fighters inside the base and two others outside were eventually killed during the ensuing battle, while four others are claimed to have been captured later by forces under the Syrian Interior Ministry.

The motive of the attack appears to have been “revenge” for attacks against civilians, with Khmeimim being used by both the Russian and Syrian Air Forces to launch strike missions during the Civil War. Since the attack, a warning to the Russian Armed Forces has been circulated in several channels affiliated with the Red Bands and HTS, stating that if Russia does not withdraw its forces from the base in the next 30 days, then the attacks against the base will only escalate.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 03:19

Amidst today’s cuts to the National Security Council, Former Principal Deputy NSA Alex Wong will be retained by the Trump Administration for a yet unannounced role, according to CBS. This is notable as Wong was instrumental in shaping the first Trump administration’s approach to North Korea.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 02:54

The President of the National Press Club, Mike Balsamo has released a statement criticizing today’s announcement of additional press restrictions at the Pentagon, ordered by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Mr. Balsamo states, “The updated policy marks a stark departure from long-standing norms that balanced operational security with meaningful press access. By blocking access to common areas, restricting movement without escorts, and complicating basic reporting functions, the Pentagon is making it harder for journalists to do their jobs and easier for power to go unchecked.”

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 01:38

Russia tonight has launched a major ballistic missile and drone attack against the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, likely one of the largest since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Hundreds of drones have reportedly been downed by Ukrainian air-defenses and fighter jets, while a number of missiles have struck the city, causing damage to several high-rise residential buildings.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 00:32

The White House today placed over 100 staff members at the National Security Council on administrative leave, as part of a restructuring of the council being led by National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. NSC Chief-of-Staff Brian McCormack is reported to have sent out an email to the affected staffers at 4:20pm today, informing them that they would have 30 minutes to clean out their desks. If they weren’t on campus, the email read, they could email an address and arrange a time to retrieve their stuff later and turn in devices. This apparent “restructuring” of the council follows the firing earlier this month of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and several other officials, after a number of far-right influencers and senior advisors who have President Trump’s ear suggested that they were either “disloyal” or did not support his agenda of “America First.”

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 21:11

In a statement earlier today, Finland’s Ministry of Defense reported that two military aircraft of the Russian Air Force are suspected of violating Finnish Airspace today over the Gulf of Finland in the Eastern Baltic, with the incident said to have occurred off the coast of Porvoo. An investigation into the violation is being led by the Finnish Border Guard.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 19:59

Reports of at least 12 injured at the central train station in Hamburg, Germany following a stabbing attack carried out by a suspect who is now in police custody. 6 of the 12 injuries are said to be life-threatening, with the attack being investigated as possibly terror-related.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 19:06

Early reports suggest that today’s nuclear talks between the United States and Iran have potentially broken down, with White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff reportedly leaving the talks, while the rest of the U.S. delegation remains in Rome.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 11:23

Preparations for the massive military parade in Washington, D.C. for the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army on June 14th, which also happens to be the 79th birthday of President Donald J. Trump, are in full-swing this week at Fort Cavazos in Killeen, Texas. As soldiers with the 1st Cavalry Division, III Armored Corps were seen loading 28 M1126 Strykers, 28 M2A3 “Bradley” Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 28 M1A2 SEPv3 “Abrams” Main Battle Tanks, and 7 M109A7 “Paladin” Self-Propelled Howitzers onto railcars at Fort Cavazos, bound for Washington. 

Next month’s parade in D.C. is expected to be the biggest and most expensive military parade in the nation’s capital city since the National Victory Celebration on June 8, 1991, which celebrated the conclusion of the Gulf War, with cost estimates for the parade placing it between $35-45 million according to officials at the Pentagon. The parade will also be the first to feature tracked-armored vehicles, like tanks, on the streets of Washington, D.C. in decades, with the Department of Defense pledging to place steel plates on roads while also equipping the vehicles with track-pads to prevent damage to roads and bridges along the parade route, one of the major concerns which was raised by city officials in both Washington and Arlington, Virginia.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 06:59

Two B-52H Long-Range Strategic Bombers with the U.S. Air Force’s 23rd Bomb Squadron based at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota arrived this week at Moron Air Base in Southern Spain on a deployment with Bomber Task Force Europe.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 06:18

According to a report today from the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration has directed the Pentagon to draw-up a plan for the withdrawal of roughly 4,500 troops from South Korea, and redeploy them to other bases across the Indo-Pacific, including Guam. The plan is reportedly being prepared for President Trump as part of an informal policy review on dealing with North Korea. 

This is despite nearly all top military commanders in the region urging against this, including the Commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), General Xavier Brunson, and the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), Admiral Samuel Paparo, who both stated recently to Congress that a drawdown of forces in South Korea could jeopardize their ability to prevail against North Korea, and in other possible conflicts against China and Russia that could arise in Northeast Asia.

Considerations for a troop withdrawal, even partial, from South Korea would likely cause alarm in Korea and other U.S. allies across the region, specifically Japan and the Philippines, who rely on close military coordination with the United States to defend themselves and project power against China. In a statement earlier today, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces stated that the U.S. has not discussed with them any kind of troop withdrawal or drawdown, adding that the two countries would maintain their combined defense posture to deter an invasion by North Korea.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 05:17

In the last 24 hours, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have launched at least three medium to long-range ballistic missiles at Central Israel, all of which have been intercepted by either the Israel Defense Force or U.S. Army. The Houthis appear to have stepped-up their attacks on Israel since their ceasefire earlier this month with the United States, and the end of Operation Rough Rider. The frequency of these attacks against Israel will likely continue to increase, as the Houthis are able to reconstitute following the U.S-led strike campaign and the IDF continues their offensive operations in Gaza.

The Defender Dome

22 May 2025 18:23

The Israel Defense Force has issued an evacuation order for a Hezbollah-linked building within the town of Toul in Southern Lebanon, ordering all residents within 500 meters of the building to immediately evacuate for their safety.

The Defender Dome

18 May 2025 07:17

Two sailors of the Mexican Navy who were critically injured tonight in New York City, when the mast they were standing on aboard the ARM Cuauhtémoc (BE01) collided with the Brooklyn Bridge, have since passed away, with at least 25 others remaining in critical and serious condition in hospitals across New York. It appears that the ship was under tow or at least had a pilot onboard while leaving South Street Seaport, though the reason that harbor authorities, the ship's crew, and the tugboats didn’t realize that the mast of the ship would impact the bridge is still not fully known.

The Defender Dome

18 May 2025 04:05

The ARM Cuauhtémoc (BE01), a sail training vessel of the Mexican Navy who has been in New York City since May 13 on a goodwill visit to the United States, struck the Brooklyn Bridge tonight while trying to depart the South Street Seaport. The mast of the ship suffered serious damage and over a dozen sailors were injured, according to the Secretariat of the Mexican Navy.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 04:04

Fires seen burning across the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, following tonight’s large-scale ballistic missile and drone attack by Russia.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 03:15

The Pentagon Press Association has just released a scathing statement against today’s updated physical control measures imposed on reporters covering the Pentagon by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth:

“There is no way to sugarcoat it. Today’s memo by Secretary Hegseth appears to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America’s right to know what its military is doing.

The Pentagon Press Association is extremely concerned by the decision to restrict movement of accredited journalists within the Pentagon through non-secured, unclassified hallways.

The decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, without any concern about OP-SEC from DoD leadership.

And this decision does not come in a vacuum: It follows the unprecedented move by the Defense Department this year to evict many of America’s largest news organizations from their dedicated workspaces. Journalists working from the Pentagon everyday will now have less freedom of movement than officers from foreign countries who are assigned to the U.S. military’s headquarters, as well as maintenance staff and concessions workers scattered throughout one of the world’s largest office buildings.

This decision eliminates the media’s freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries.

We would welcome any serious conversation about operational security in the Pentagon with reporters, many of whom have embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere and who have followed the U.S. military’s ground rules without fail throughout their careers. No such conversation has been offered by Secretary Hegseth or his team, despite regular outreach from PPA that has sought to keep in place a professional working relationship that has persisted for decades.

The PPA is also concerned by the memo’s promises of additional security measures to come that appear set to further limit our ability to cover the Pentagon.

Lastly, the PPA is puzzled why the DoD is devoting such attention to restricting Pentagon media instead of engaging with it as senior leaders have long done, including Secretary Hegseth’s failure to brief the press in the briefing room in his first 100 days.”

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 02:24

Tonight’s lifting of sanctions against Syria by the U.S. Treasury Department also lifts all sanctions imposed by the United States on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, who previously served as the commander and deputy commander of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Rumors are that al-Sharaa and Khattab, as well as HTS itself, will be removed in the coming weeks from the list of foreign terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 01:21

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued “Syria General License (GL) 25” earlier today, providing immediate sanction relief to Syria in line with President Trump’s recent announcement on a lifting of all sanctions imposed on Syria under the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The Defender Dome

24 May 2025 00:02

For a Pentagon and administration which claims to be the most “transparent in history” they sure have done a lot since January to push against that notion. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has released a memo today announcing additional physical control measures for press agencies assigned to the Pentagon Press Corps.

Effective immediately, reporters are not authorized to access the offices of the Secretary of Defense or the Joint Chiefs without an escort from the Public Affairs Office. Besides a select few areas including the press office, press secretary office, food court and authorities entrances, reporters are required to be formally escorted to-and-from other parts of the building by authorized DoD personnel from those specific Agencies or Military Departments.

Secretary Hegseth claims that such measures are needed to “reduce the opportunity for in-person inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures.” This is despite nearly all “leaks or unauthorized disclosures” by the DoD since January being committed not by reporters, but by Hegseth himself or other senior officials at the Pentagon.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 20:38

In a post earlier today on Truth Social, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that he will be recommending a straight 50% tariff on all goods entering the country from the European Union beginning June 1st, claiming that trade negotiations between the U.S and EU are “going nowhere!” The U.S. recently became the largest trade partner of the European Union, overtaking China, while the EU is the second-largest trade partner of the United States, with a trade war between the two likely to push Europe back towards China. President Trump continues to refuse to increase tariffs and sanctions against Russia, while recently decreasing tariffs on China down to 30%, but now wants to place a 50% tariff and begin a trade war with several of the United States’ major allies in NATO.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 19:13

The fifth round of nuclear talks today between the United States and Iran have reportedly concluded in Rome without any kind of framework agreement, as both the Iranian and the Omani Foreign Minister claim that “gaps” still exists between the position of the U.S. and Iran.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 19:03

390 Ukrainians will be returning home this weekend as a part of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap agreed upon during direct talks earlier this month between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 09:34

In a slight blow yesterday towards U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s objective of purchasing or otherwise annexing Greenland; the Danish-French mining group, Greenland Anorthosite Mining (GAM), was awarded a 30-year mining permit by Greenland on Wednesday, for the extraction of anorthosite, a white rock composed mainly of aluminium, micro silica, and calcium, similar to the material brought back from the Moon during the NASA Apollo Missions.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 06:49

A UH-60 “Black Hawk” with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, assigned to Joint Task Force–Southern Border, conducted an air mission to drop several bundles of signs designating the New Mexico National Defense Area (NMNDA) to U.S. Soldiers operating within the NMNDA near Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

The Defender Dome

23 May 2025 05:44

U.S. President Donald J. Trump spoke earlier today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give his condolences for last night’s murder of two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, with the two leaders also discussing the ongoing nuclear talks between the United States and Iran alongside the situation across the Middle East.

The Defender Dome

22 May 2025 19:44

Following the evacuation order issued earlier for the town of Toul in Southern Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force carried out a precision-strike on a Hezbollah-linked building in the town, resulting in its total destruction. It is not known what the building contained, but secondary explosions after the strike suggest some kind of munitions, possibly rockets or missiles.

The Defender Dome

18 May 2025 08:28

The body of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar has reportedly been discovered in a tunnel beneath Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza, several days after the Israeli Air Force targeted an underground command-and-control center operated by Hamas beneath the European Hospital in the Southern Gaza Strip. Also discovered in the tunnels were several senior officials and aides to Sinwar, including Muhammad Shabana, the commander of the Rafah Brigade.

The Defender Dome

18 May 2025 04:15

Multiple additional angles showing the mast of the Mexican Navy’s ARM Cuauhtémoc (BE01) striking the Brooklyn Bridge tonight in New York City.

The Defender Dome

17 May 2025 06:44

Earlier on Friday, the Israel Defense Force announced that it had launched the beginning stages of Operation “Gideon's Chariots” across the Gaza Strip, with aircraft, artillery, and naval vessels launching dozens of strikes against Hamas terror targets throughout Gaza. The goal of the operation is the establishment of total Israeli control over the Gaza Strip, and the complete destruction of Hamas.