Asked whether the U.S. would retaliate against Iran if it were determined to be behind the attack on the plane, President Trump said:

“They’ll be hit very hard. You just ask them. They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced six new War Department initiatives during a "State of the Force" address at Quantico on Tuesday, delivered to 600 officers and enlisted service members and broadcast Pentagon wide.

The centerpiece is Autonomous Warfare Command, a new four star combatant command Secretary Hegseth said will build autonomous and robotic capabilities across the force. A separate effort, "Project Agincourt," will lead the pathway to stand up that command while also running the Pentagon's existing unmanned systems mission. "Project Meridian" is a forward-looking study led by the Pentagon's chief technology officer with private sector partners to identify future warfare domains and capabilities, Secretary Hegseth said it is explicitly not meant to set new strategy or policy.

"Fortress America" is a long-term push to get military installations running on independent power and to bring critical supply chains onshore. Linked to that is "The Next Great American Base," a call for a new installation Hegseth said will house 15,000 to 25,000 troops, with states invited to pitch why it should be built there; no site has been chosen. "America's Corps of Cadets" will expand commissioning pathways beyond the service academies and senior military colleges to six additional partner universities.

The sixth initiative, an Office of Religious Affairs, will report directly to the Secretary's office. He said it would ensure "first class religious support" for troops, citing his own figure that 95 percent of the force "recognizes an Almighty God."

Secretary Hegseth said the announcements build on recruitment and retention gains over the past year and reaffirmed his three stated priorities: reviving the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military, and reestablishing deterrence.

For the first time, Ukrainian forces have reportedly used the domestically produced Fire Point FP-7 ballistic missile in combat.

The FP-7 is reportedly capable of carrying a 200 kg warhead and striking targets at ranges of up to 250 km.

A major gas explosion erupted at Syria's Tishreen Thermal Power Plant near Damascus tonight, sparking a large fire.

The Pentagon has announced a contract for the Navy’s 6th gen F/A-XX Strike Fighter.

Boeing will lead the $20 billion program.

Trump on Nvidia CEO: He's still a young guy, handsome guy. Look at him. He's a very handsome guy

US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and Alaska Command (ALCOM) have wrapped up a heightened readiness season, testing flexible deterrence options under Operation Tundra Merlin.

Operation Tundra Merlin is an enduring U.S.-Canadian homeland-defense operation in the Alaskan Theater of Operations, rather than a single exercise. Under USNORTHCOM and ALCOM, it integrates U.S. forces assigned to NORAD and USNORTHCOM with Canadian forces and other mission partners.

Tundra Merlin provides the Commander of USNORTHCOM or ALCOM with a range of options to both deter and/or respond to potential adversaries who may present themselves in the region.

This year's activities have included integrated air and land operations near Nome, multiple combined maritime patrols in the Bering Sea and Bering Strait, and a larger joint maritime-strike scenario, encompassing more than 1,300 personnel, 30 aircraft, and 8 ships from the U.S. and Canadian Armed Forces.

Near Nome on August 4 and 6, two F-35s, two F-16s and a KC-135 from Eielson AFB operated alongside a HIMARS launcher, an AN/TPQ-53 radar and 11th Airborne Division soldiers. The HIMARS and F-35s were synchronized to engage a simulated target approximately 135 miles away, combining long-range precision fires, offensive and defensive counterair, and aerial refueling in a single mission.

The HIMARS had been deployed from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to Nome aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17, which stopped at Fort Wainwright to pick up 11th Airborne Division soldiers.

At sea, the U.S. and Canada conducted multiple combined operations. In July, USCGC Munro, Storis and Fir sailed with the Royal Canadian Navy's HMCS Max Bernays on a five day, 800 mile patrol through the Bering Sea and Bering Strait. A second combined sail paired Max Bernays with USCGC Stratton in August, followed by a third sail involving Max Bernays and Munro in September.

The September activity expanded the concept further, integrating U.S. and Canadian surface and subsurface vessels with RCAF maritime patrol aircraft, U.S. Air Force F-35s and an E-3 Sentry to rehearse detection, targeting and simulated maritime strikes.

The individual events are being conducted as Flexible Deterrent Options under the broader, enduring TUNDRA MERLIN operation, allowing U.S. and Canadian forces to repeatedly integrate air, land and maritime capabilities across Alaska's Arctic approaches.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert D. Davis, commander of the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, Alaskan Command and Eleventh Air Force, delivers a recap of the heightened campaign season for Operation Tundra Merlin.

Trump: "You're gonna see that data centers are gonna be very popular"

President Trump, flanked by technology CEOs, told reporters that the U.S. has “a very big lead” in artificial intelligence and intends to maintain it.

“It’s a very positive thing. There are those that say it’s bigger than the Industrial Revolution,” Trump said.

Referring to those in the room, Trump added: “These are the greatest, most brilliant people probably in the world.”

The attendees included Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Trump: "We're gonna be signing a document today renaming artificial intelligence, because it's not artificial. We're gonna be naming it Super Intelligence. Officially renaming it."

A single AI-powered portal for U.S. government services is coming. President Trump signed an executive order directing all federal agencies to integrate their services with America.gov

Rare cockpit footage reportedly shows a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 Frogfoot conducting a strike mission over the eastern front, flying at extremely low altitude before pitching up, climbing, and launching a French AASM guided bomb toward a Russian target.