A telecom failure contributed to last week’s near-miss between Marine One and a departing passenger jet at Reagan National Airport, prompting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to work with the FAA and White House on a fix. The incident is especially significant because mixed helicopter and commercial jet traffic around Reagan was restricted after the January 2025 midair collision that killed 67 people. Duffy said the problem involved communications systems and has now been “elevated” for action. The FAA is already spending billions to replace aging air-traffic-control telecommunications and radar infrastructure following a series of outages and failures.

Ukrainian Air Force airstrike on a group of Russian drone operators carrying out attacks on the city of Kherson.

President Donald Trump has announced the release of former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2022, saying the decision came after his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gilman was originally sentenced to 4 1/2 years after being convicted of assaulting a Russian police officer, but his sentence was later extended after additional allegations involving prison officials. His family and U.S. advocates have disputed aspects of the case. His release comes after serious deterioration in his health. Recent reports said Gilman had been hospitalized and had spent weeks in a dissociative state, prompting increased pressure from U.S. officials for Moscow to release him on humanitarian grounds. According to Trump, Russia released Gilman without a prisoner exchange or other concessions, describing it as a humanitarian decision following his discussions with Putin. U.S. officials likewise characterized the release as a goodwill gesture rather than a negotiated swap. Gilman is now returning to the United States for medical treatment.

Amid reports that Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean has imposed a curfew for U.S. and UK Servicemembers, due to the possible threat of unidentified drones seen flying recently near the base fuel farm, the Facebook group “Air Force amn/nco/snco” has published the hours of operation for a number of base amenities during the curfew, which begins every night until further notice at 1800.

Canadian Islamic scholar Younus Kathrada: "Palestine is Muslim land. No infidel can rule it. It cannot be governed by democracy or infidel laws, only Sharia. It is the Muslims' duty to expel the Jews from Palestine."

The Panama-flagged cargo vessel M/V Vela Nova was targeted early Tuesday by a missile fired from a U.S. military helicopter enforcing the ongoing naval blockade against Iran, after the vessel allegedly attempted to breach the blockade, according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The official said the helicopter issued multiple warnings before firing a single missile that struck the vessel’s rudder chain, sparking a small fire. Initial reports indicated that no crew members were injured. Maritime security firm Vanguard reported that the incident occurred while the Vela Nova was transiting westbound through the Gulf of Oman toward Iran, approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan.

A U.S. Air Force F-16CG Fighting Falcon assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, and a KC-46A Pegasus received aerial refueling from a KC-135R Stratotanker over an undisclosed location in the Middle East on August 7, 2026.

A Russian soldier reportedly went to fight in Ukraine seeking to die as a “hero,” but while attempting to evade a Ukrainian FPV drone, became stuck in a window frame.

GM NOSTR 🫡

Question: Can you give us an estimate of when you think the Strait of Hormuz will be open? Trump: It’s open now. We control the strait. Can Iran make trouble? Yeah.

Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (DIU) says its forces struck two Russian S-400 “Triumf” launcher systems and a drone-control antenna in Crimea. According to the agency, the operation was carried out using Magura multipurpose maritime platforms equipped with FPV drones. DIU estimates that the Russian military’s losses from the strike could amount to tens of millions of dollars.

Ukrainian drones struck Nizhnekamsk in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan this morning, according to reports. The city is home to a major industrial complex that includes the TANECO and TAIF-NK oil refineries, as well as the Nizhnekamskneftekhim petrochemical facility. Reports indicate that the industrial area was targeted in the attack.

Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi: “Tomorrow, it could be enough for someone in Australia to press two buttons for robots to destroy, for example, Poland’s entire energy infrastructure. That’s it. This is the new nuclear weapon that has now emerged. It is even more frightening: machines capable of waging war.”

Footage of a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum dropping the Russian 14K-33 road bridge at Urazovo using a pair of French-supplied AASM guided bombs The bridge, 25km behind the front, was destroyed last month as part of a campaign to degrade Russian supply lines around Kupiansk.

Video footage circulating online appears to show the wreckage of an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that reportedly crashed earlier tonight near Sirik in Hormozgan Province, southern Iran. The drone has been tentatively identified as a Chinese-made Wing Loong II possibly operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force, though its identity and operator have not been independently verified.

According to The Atlantic, citing a Republican congressional official, a major obstacle to the Trump administration’s decision on licensing Ukraine to produce air-defense launchers and missiles, including the Patriot system, has reportedly been concerns from its manufacturers, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The official said the companies are expected to publicly cite intellectual-property theft and technology-transfer concerns, but claimed their underlying concern is that Ukrainian engineers could improve the Patriot system and eventually manufacture it at greater scale, faster, and at significantly lower cost than existing U.S. production lines. If accurate, the concerns could create tension between efforts to expand Ukraine’s domestic defense production and the interests of U.S. defense manufacturers.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche as the 88th Attorney General of the United States, approving President Donald J. Trump's nomination by a 50–49 vote that fell largely along party lines. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) joined Democrats in opposing the nomination, while the remaining Republicans voted in favor. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who most recently served as Deputy Attorney General, will now lead the Department of Justice following his Senate confirmation.

Videos and pictures posted recently by the Alaskan Region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) show integrated air and land domain components during Operation Tundra Merlin near Nome, Alaska, between August 4-6. Carried out by 2 F-35 Lightning Ils, 2 F-16 Fighting Falcons and a KC-135 Stratotanker, from Eielson Air Force Base, along with a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and a AN/TP Q-53 Radar System accompanied by U.S. Paratroopers with the 11th Airborne Division.

"A US official on Friday reported progress between Iran and Oman that could soon reopen the Strait of Hormuz, potentially restoring oil exports that have been disrupted by the five-month-old US war with Iran."

Ukrainian attack drones struck Russia's Syzran Oil Refinery tonight, setting the facility ablaze. Locals reported multiple explosions and a large fire around the refinery complex.