Who Repairs the Internet in Wartime?; Polaris Crafts New Snowmobile for Arctic Missions

INNOVATION

Who Repairs the Internet in Wartime?

In spring 2026, Britain, Norway, and the United States tracked and disrupted a covert Arctic exercise off the coast of Norway involving Russian deep-sea submersibles simulating the deployment of a weapon designed to disable the two 1,400-kilometer submarine cables linking the islands of Svalbard to mainland Norway.

Svalbard hosts a satellite ground station serving Europe, the United States, and Japan. This encounter revealed that NATO allies can detect a covert subsea operation and, if caught in time, disrupt it.

AI

NATO's Crossed Swords Cyber Exercise Adds AI Agents to Training for First Time

Participants in Tallinn are building and deploying AI agents and using OpenAI’s Daybreak for the first time.

TECHNOLOGY

Polaris Crafts New Snowmobile for Arctic Missions

Amid intensified military focus on the Arctic region, Minnesota-based vehicle manufacturer Polaris has developed a new snowmobile for defense that combines the agility and heavy tow capacity of the company’s existing lightweight and utility models.

The Military 850 Voyageur Crossover snowmobile has already received orders from the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, with deliveries set to arrive in 2026 and early 2027, said Dave Skog, business development manager at Polaris Government and Defense.

Israeli arms maker IWI, Dutch defense company to start weapons production

The planned cooperation between the two defense companies is expected to create the foundation for long-term domestic production, technical expertise, and lifecycle support in the Netherlands.

SPACE

Ukraine Moves to Create Its Own Space Force Within Armed Forces

Ukraine’s parliament has approved the first reading of legislation to establish Space Forces within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, advancing plans to develop independent satellite communications, space-based intelligence capabilities, and early-warning systems against Russian missile attacks.

Space Force Evaluating How to Defend Assets Near Moon

The Space Force is increasingly considering what defense of cislunar space should look like as the United States pursues new moon landings and the domain grows more contested, the service's chief said Nov. 4.

Cislunar orbit — often defined as beyond Earth’s geosynchronous orbit, to and around the moon — must become a priority and cannot be ceded to adversaries like China or Russia, Gen. Douglas Schiess, chief of space operations, said during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies webinar.

Pentagon launching mission operations center for Space Data Network to support Golden Dome and other modernization efforts

Viasat received an initial task order valued at $115 million to design, field and scale the MOC.

European Bodyguard Sats are Closer Thank You Think

Swiss propulsion startup PAVE Space announced its plans to launch a demo mission of its IBEX spacecraft—designed as a highly maneuverable platform to host commercial and defense payloads—as early as February 2028.

EUROPE

From 7,500 to 31,000: Ukraine’s Ground Robot Use Is Surging

Ukrainian forces carried out a record 31,398 logistics and evacuation missions using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in October, the first time the monthly total has exceeded 30,000, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence reported on November 6.

The Future of French Fleet Close-in Defense

Behind the bridge wings of one of Europe’s most modern combat supply ships, a team of French sailors donned gloves and flash hoods.

The group were preparing for a close-in defense drill aboard Bâtiment ravitailleur de forces-class (BRF) resupply ship FS Jacques Stosskopf (A726) last month. At its Toulon naval base berthing, the modern logistics vessel was flanked by the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine escorts of France’s sole carrier strike group. Its size is considerable compared to previous generations of French combat support ships, one of which was rusting away at a pier to Jacques Stosskopf’s portside.

RUSSIA

Russian Mi-28 Attack Helicopters Are Now Firing Cruise Missiles

New footage highlights Russia’s push to field lower-cost standoff weapons from unconventional platforms.

STARTUPS

Onodrim raises $300M at a $1.3B valuation to scoop up smaller defence techs

Backers include some of the biggest investors in those smaller startups: Lux Capital, General Catalyst and more

ARMY

Why more pilots can now apply for the Army’s special ops helo unit

As flight hours decline, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment lowered its requirements so more pilots can apply to join.

US Army Is Building Mission-Specific AI for Tracking, Targeting

Sightline Intelligence and DEVCOM AvMC are combining military datasets with AI tools to build target-recognition models tailored to operational requirements.

NAVY

Acting Navy Secretary Visits Blount Island, Observes How It Equips Marines Worldwide

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao visited the industrial waterfront at Marine Corps Support Facility at Blount Island, Florida, Nov. 4, to see how it equips Marines worldwide.

Marine Corps Col. David Merles, support facility commander, and Michael Erhardt, installation department director, briefed Cao from the weather deck of the USNS Dahl. They discussed how the installation's slipway infrastructure, maintenance warehouses, staging areas and waterfront access support the Marine Corps' global positioning network.

AIR FORCE

C-17s Will Soon Be Armed With Pallets of Cruise Missiles

After years of experiments and tests, senior Air Force leaders say they’re on the verge of using C-17s and other cargo aircraft to launch cruise missiles via airdrop, touting the development as a way to bolster the combat fleet and a major shift in the service’s mindset.

US Air Force eyes reviving WWII air bases in the Pacific

The U.S. Air Force hopes to conduct more than 6,000 aircraft operations annually at four airfields on three American islands in the northwest Pacific Ocean, including a major WWII-era airfield that is being refurbished, according to an announcement from the Department of the Air Force.

STRATEGY

Is Haiti becoming a front in a multinational conflict?

Any security effort should be Haitian-led and accountable, vetted under mechanisms like the Leahy laws. Haitians keep hoping for these missions to work, but they have not addressed core problems. Above all, Haiti needs a legitimate government to hand territory back to, and an end to the plague of socio-economic misery.

MARITIME

One Radar, Two Fronts: Saab Debuts a New Naval Watchkeeper

Saab’s new Giraffe AMB D radar can spot aerial targets from up to 250 kilometers way for early warning information.