aatm shakti

The U.S. military has explored deploying its new Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon to the Middle East, according to a report, as the Army begins fielding the long-range system after years of delays.

U.S. Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, known as Dark Eagle, to the Middle East, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

A defense official told Fox News Digital the system has reached initial operational capability, marking the first time the U.S. has a land-based hypersonic weapon available for potential use.

The request was driven in part by concerns that Iranian ballistic missile launchers have been moved beyond the range of existing U.S. systems, including the Army’s Precision Strike Missile, which can strike targets more than 300 miles away, according to the Bloomberg report.

US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE

It reflects growing concern that existing U.S. strike capabilities may not be sufficient to reach key Iranian missile assets, while also highlighting a major milestone for the Army as it fields its first land-based hypersonic weapon. If deployed, Dark Eagle would significantly expand the U.S. military’s ability to strike distant, hard-to-reach targets with little warning, marking a shift in how the Pentagon can project power in the region.

The Army began fielding the system to one of its multidomain task forces in December 2025 following testing and live-fire exercises, according to the official, placing the weapon within specialized units designed to carry out long-range precision strikes across multiple domains.

Individual Dark Eagle missiles are estimated to cost around $15 million each, though earlier analyses have placed the cost significantly higher, while a single battery — including launchers and support equipment — is estimated at roughly $2.7 billion.

No deployment of the system to the Middle East has been publicly announced, and officials have not confirmed any request. The U.S. and Iran are still currently adhering to a ceasefire in hopes of broader negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

Dark Eagle is designed to travel at hypersonic speeds while maneuvering in flight, allowing it to strike targets at much longer ranges — potentially exceeding 1,700 miles — and with far less warning than traditional missiles.

That combination of speed and range makes it particularly suited for targeting mobile or hardened systems, such as missile launchers, that are difficult to reach with existing weapons.

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons can maneuver in flight, making them more difficult to track and intercept.

US GENERAL WARNS RUSSIA MAY BE DEVELOPING NUCLEAR ANTI-SATELLITE WEAPON IN ORBIT

The reported request comes as the Pentagon continues efforts to accelerate its hypersonic weapons programs amid concerns about competition with China and Russia.

The U.S. has spent years developing hypersonic weapons, though some programs have faced delays, testing constraints and shifting priorities as the Pentagon works to advance the technology.

China and Russia already have fielded hypersonic systems, underscoring the growing importance of weapons designed to travel at extreme speeds while maneuvering in flight, making them more difficult to detect and intercept.

"Fielding and scaling hypersonic weapons is a top priority for the War Department — and we are delivering at a  rapid speed," a Pentagon official told Fox News Digital. "'Scaled hypersonics' has been designated as one of the Department’s critical technology areas by Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael to focus resources on delivering cost-effective and lethal hypersonic solutions to the warfighter." 

"The Department’s Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) is working to upgrade test facilities and establish new, nontraditional testing locations," the official said. "Simultaneously, the Department is placing its acquisition system on a ‘wartime footing’ to forge a robust, responsive industrial base capable of rapidly delivering these advanced technologies."

U.S. Central Command declined to comment to Fox News Digital. 

from Latest & Breaking News on Fox News https://ift.tt/f5SbxMT

The bill, already cleared by the US Senate, now moves to the desk of President Donald Trump who is expected to swiftly sign the legislation.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/7KyjDN3

The UK has issued similar advice, telling citizens who stay, that they do so at their own risk.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/SFe3hDo

Actor George Clooney defended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday as the comedian faces backlash over describing first lady Melania Trump as an "expectant widow."

"Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired," Clooney said at the 51st Chaplin Award Gala, according to Variety. "She was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, ’Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately."

Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in an interview before the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) Dinner that there would be "shots fired" in the president's speech at the event, referring to his likely verbal jabs at the press.

"When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated," Clooney said.

DISNEY UNDER FIRE AS ABC GRAPPLES WITH ANOTHER JIMMY KIMMEL CONTROVERSY

Kimmel defended his joke about the first lady during his show on Monday.

"This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm," Kimmel said during his monologue. "I said, our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at her. So beautiful. This is from the glow. Like an expectant widow, which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they were together."

"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80, and she's younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that," he continued. "I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house."

WHO IS COLE ALLEN? CALIFORNIA MAN NAMED AS SUSPECT IN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' DINNER SHOOTING

Clooney also decried political violence at the gala.

"I can’t be here on a night like tonight and just ignore everything that’s going on in the world," Clooney said, speaking on stage, according to Variety. 

"I disagree with everything that this administration stands for, but there’s no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago in Washington, D.C. Nor is there room for this kind of violence in Minnesota with Alex Pretti or Renée Good," he added.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

"It seems to me there’s a struggle that has to be won against hatred and corruption and cruelty and violence," Clooney continued, according to the report. "It’s a struggle for the very soul of this republic because to foment hate and violence is to inherit the wind."

Clooney is an outspoken critic of the president, recently arguing that a threat Trump issued to Iran on social media was a "war crime."

from Latest & Breaking News on Fox News https://ift.tt/EBeLUMZ

Oz Pearlman, the mentalist who was scheduled to perform at the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) Dinner on Saturday, pulled out of his Monday appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Instead of Pearlman, Kimmel brought on liberal "Pod Save America" host Jon Lovett.

Deadline reported that it was unclear why Pearlman backed out of Kimmel's show.

DISNEY UNDER FIRE AS ABC GRAPPLES WITH ANOTHER JIMMY KIMMEL CONTROVERSY

Pearlman did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to Kimmel's show. 

Kimmel has faced backlash in recent days over remarks he made about first lady Melania Trump during a mock WHCA Dinner bit he did on Thursday.

Kimmel referred to Melania as an "expectant widow" in the bit, which occurred two days before the actual dinner and shooting.

"Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel said.

TRUMP PRAISED FOR 'STRENGTH' IN MOMENTS AFTER SHOTS RANG OUT AS EYEWITNESS DESCRIBES 'TERRIBLE' SCENE

The liberal late-night host defended the joke during his show on Monday.

"This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm," Kimmel said during his monologue. "I said, 'Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at her. So beautiful. This is from the glow. Like an expectant widow,' which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they were together."

"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80, and she's younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that," he continued. "I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Pearlman opened up about the chaotic moments during the weekend shooting at the WHCA Dinner, describing the scene as "surreal" and filled with immediate fear and confusion.

"This is something nefarious and dangerous, and you feel the hairs on your neck starting to lift and, if you watch the video, it's surreal that this was 24 hours ago," Pearlman said Sunday on "One Nation with Brian Kilmeade."

Pearlman, who was with President Donald Trump at the time, said he initially struggled to process what was unfolding.

from Latest & Breaking News on Fox News https://ift.tt/0iRsnLW

A New York Yankees fan learned a very valuable lesson about reach advantage on Monday night during a fight in the stands at Globe Life Field: Never give up the high ground to your opponent.

Emotions boiled over in the center field seats during the first of a three-game set in Arlington. On the field, the Yankees raced out to a 4-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 win. Off the field, the Yankees took a big loss when one of their pinstripe-wearing knuckleheads decided it was a smart decision to run his mouth at a couple of good old boy Rangers fans who held the reach advantage.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE

Watch what happens when a Yankees fan smacks a bottle out of Rangers fan's hands:

A major debate has broken out on Twitter over whether that was a sucker punch that instigated the melee. "Anyone about to fight needs to announce they’re going to punch the other person. Otherwise, it’s a sucker punch," one fan fight analyst wrote.

However, there are those who say if you're going to take a swing at someone, even if you hit a bottle out of their hands, it's game on. "Don’t knock something out of a grown man’s hands and not expect there to be consequences to your actions, especially having the lower ground. Yes, red shirt was the coward, but blue shirt gave dude what he deserved, then held his friend back," another analyst shot back.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

But, wait, there's more. The fight didn't end with the Yankees fan being sent flying backward. Further video evidence from the fight shows that a woman with the Yankees fan went flying down several rows of stairs after the initial fight.

The video also shows the male Yankees fan being led away by stadium security with a bloodied face after a wild night at the ballpark. To his credit, the bloodied Yankees fan fought back much better than most pugilists who give up the high ground. If he had matched up with Rangers fans on even ground, it might've been a much different story.

from Latest & Breaking News on Fox News https://ift.tt/9I7fns3

The Pentagon is seeking roughly $55 billion for drone and autonomous warfare programs in its fiscal year 2027 budget, as battlefield conflicts from the Middle East to Ukraine expose a growing problem: cheap drones are increasingly able to overwhelm costly U.S. defenses.

The funding request, a dramatic surge from roughly $225 million a year earlier, signals a major shift in how the U.S. military plans to fight future wars, accelerating a move toward large numbers of lower-cost, AI-enabled systems.

The funding, tied to a little-known Pentagon office known as the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, represents a broad category spanning multiple programs across the services — including procurement, research, training and sustainment — rather than a single standalone weapons system.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to face questions on the budget when he testifies before Congress Thursday, as lawmakers begin weighing what would be the largest Pentagon request in modern history. The administration is seeking roughly $1.5 trillion in national defense spending for fiscal year 2027 — a more than 40% increase from the prior year and the biggest single-year jump in decades — with major investments in drones, missile defense and next-generation warfare systems at the center of the request.

At the center of the shift is a change in doctrine: moving away from a force built around a small number of high-cost platforms toward one designed to deploy large numbers of cheaper systems capable of operating in coordinated groups, often referred to as drone swarms.

In recent confrontations in the Middle East, Iranian drone and missile attacks have forced U.S. and allied defenses to respond to waves of low-cost aerial threats, exposing what defense officials describe as a growing "math problem" — firing expensive interceptors at far cheaper drones.

In one recent engagement, Gulf air defenses tracked dozens of incoming drones alongside ballistic missiles, intercepting many but underscoring how clustered attacks can strain even advanced systems.

US DRAINS CRITICAL MISSILE STOCKPILES IN IRAN WAR AS YEARSLONG REBUILD LOOMS

The same dynamic has played out in Ukraine, where Russia has used Iranian-designed drones in large numbers to pressure air defenses, forcing defenders to expend significant resources to stop relatively inexpensive systems.

Those battlefield lessons are now shaping Pentagon planning, driving a push toward systems designed not just to defend against drone swarms, but to deploy them at scale.

Unlike traditional unmanned systems operated individually, the Pentagon’s new approach emphasizes networks of drones designed to operate together, sharing data and coordinating movements in real time. In theory, such swarms can overwhelm defenses by attacking from multiple directions at once, forcing adversaries to track and respond to dozens — or even hundreds — of targets simultaneously.

Pentagon initiatives are already moving beyond experimentation, with programs aimed at fielding coordinated drone groups in the near term and allowing a single operator to direct multiple systems simultaneously.

While the concept has been tested in limited scenarios, fully autonomous coordination at scale remains a technical challenge, particularly in contested environments where communications can be disrupted.

The funding supports a wide range of systems across air, land and sea, from small, expendable aerial drones to autonomous surface vessels and ground-based platforms, along with the software and communications networks needed to link them together.

Officials increasingly have emphasized rapid production and lower-cost designs, aiming to field large numbers of systems quickly rather than relying on smaller fleets of more expensive platforms. Much of that effort is expected to draw on commercial technology as the Pentagon seeks to accelerate development timelines.

The shift reflects a broader change in warfare, where industrial capacity and the ability to produce large numbers of systems quickly are becoming as important as technological superiority.

Military planners also have warned that adversaries are investing heavily in similar capabilities.

ALLIES RUSH THOUSANDS OF DRONES TO UKRAINE AS RUSSIA UNLEASHES DEADLY MISSILE BARRAGES

China has demonstrated large-scale drone swarm operations involving hundreds of coordinated systems, highlighting the pace of global competition in autonomous warfare and raising concerns about how such capabilities could be used in a future conflict.

On the battlefield, adversaries are continuing to adapt. Russian forces have begun experimenting with larger "carrier" drones capable of launching smaller attack drones mid-flight, extending range and complicating air defenses, while Iran has refined the use of mass-produced strike drones to overwhelm defenses through sustained attacks.

At the same time, the Pentagon and its allies are racing to develop countermeasures designed to match that scale.

Layered defenses now include a mix of traditional interceptors, electronic warfare tools and emerging systems such as interceptor drones, aimed at addressing the cost imbalance exposed by recent conflicts. The goal is to build defenses capable of absorbing large waves of incoming threats without relying solely on high-cost missiles.

Despite the scale of the investment, questions remain about how quickly the Pentagon can field these capabilities at scale. Previous efforts to accelerate drone production have faced delays, and integrating large numbers of autonomous systems into existing military structures presents technical and operational challenges.

from Latest & Breaking News on Fox News https://ift.tt/lNzpBGv