© Tyrone Siu/Reuters
Ukraine is opening grant money for home-built air-to-air missiles and radars, aiming to shoot down Russia’s fastest drones without paying a huge price. The Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Brave1 defense-tech cluster are launching the competitions, Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced in an address to manufacturers, adding that a grant contest for turbojet engines will follow.
Ukraine is being forced to use expensive air defense missiles against relatively inexpensive Russian drones and cruise missiles. Developing cheaper interceptors, domestically produced radars and engines could change the economics of warfare.
The move comes as Russia leans harder on faster, jet-powered drones that strain the cheapest layer of Ukraine’s defenses. It also follows an earlier round of Brave1 grants that had already flagged anti-bomb systems and Ukrainian radars as priorities.
Khmara laid out the threats the money is meant to answer: ballistic missiles, cheap cruise missiles, high-speed drones and guided bombs.
From Ukrainian producers, the ministry wants domestic navigation systems, stronger electronic warfare, radars able to pick out low-signature targets, and affordable designs that can be developed in quantity.
“Our requirements are clear: effectiveness, affordable cost, interoperability between systems, and sufficient volume of supply,” Khmara says.
The grants are one tool among others, meant to carry developments that can later scale for the Security and Defense Forces. Earlier, the ministry and Brave1 ran a large-scale test of drones with AI-assisted targeting.
The minister singled out a separate job for manufacturers: new ways to counter Russia’s guided aerial bombs, known in Ukraine as KABs, and to blunt their use.
These are the glide bombs Russian aircraft release from a distance, and Ukraine has struggled to answer them without reaching the launch aircraft themselves.
“It is important to create innovative solutions that let us act ahead and prevail. We need asymmetric effect. We need technologies that change the rules of the game in our favor,” he argues.
Grants for turbojet engines, the ministry says, are the next step after the missiles and radars.
Courtesy of SkyFall
Izyum thought he was going to die. A devastating blast had taken part of the Ukrainian infantryman's left foot, and he had lost a lot of blood. To make matters worse, Russian soldiers were closing in on his position, and there was no easy escape.
Then came a drone — a massive six-rotor aircraft with an enclosed stretcher underneath. It landed roughly 10 meters away from Izyum's position, in tall grass beside a minefield. Fiber-optic cables were strewn across the area, and he worried the hazards would prevent the rescue drone from taking off.
Dizzy and nauseous, Izyum's comrades helped him over to the unusual aircraft. Summoning what little strength he had left, he hoisted himself into the stretcher capsule. As the drone lifted off, he breathed a little easier, at last feeling some sense of relief.
Izyum is one of two Ukrainian soldiers who have been airlifted out of combat by the StarGate uncrewed aircraft, the first specialized drone for aerial evacuation, which was recently unveiled by Ukrainian company SkyFall. The wounded soldiers were medically evacuated this month in back-to-back rescue missions.
Izyum and KVN, a drone pilot in Ukraine's 475th Separate Assault Regiment who flew StarGate during the rescues, described the missions to Business Insider in interviews this week. Both spoke through a translator and were identified only by their call signs for security reasons.
Casualty evacuation by aerial drone is a new concept being pioneered in Ukraine. This month's rescue missions were among the first of their kind in combat. Skyfall, other defense industry officials, and soldiers say they expect to see more of these missions in the future and believe this experimental tactic is a critical capability, especially in moments when neither medical teams nor robots can reach wounded troops.
Courtesy of SkyFall
Right now, this approach is seen as a last resort — a break-glass option for when battlefield conditions prevent all other evacuation methods.
KVN's first daughter had just been born when the call came in. The 475th assault regiment, known as CODE 9.2, was preparing for a special operation, and leadership needed him to fly the main drone. A car was on its way to pick him up.
He soon arrived at an undisclosed location in Ukraine for the operation, the rescue of a wounded soldier from the 129th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade.
At the center of the operation was StarGate, a heavy hexacopter that SkyFall developed specifically for casualty evacuation purposes. The drone — which SkyFall said is the first of its kind — was unveiled in mid-October, only days before KVN's mission.
Ukraine is increasingly turning to robots to evacuate wounded soldiers in combat. With surveillance and attack drones swarming the front lines, almost any movement carries tremendous risks, making it dangerous for teams to retrieve casualties. Ground robots are one solution, but tough terrain can limit where they can go.
Courtesy of SkyFall
Heavy hexacopters have emerged as an option when other extraction methods are not possible. Earlier this month, Ukraine carried out its first casualty evacuation using an aerial drone, rescuing an infantryman from the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade with a Heavy Shot Ayudag-6 heavy lift drone developed by Gurzuf Defence.
There have since been two more missions. KVN was the pilot for both, flying Skyfall's StarGate drone.
KVN recalled that his first evacuation happened at night. There were dozens of people — most of them from CODE 9.2, but some from other military units — involved in the rescue operation. The SkyFall team also participated in the planning.
KVN was nervous.
Reaching the casualty meant flying 20 miles out and back through areas flooded with Russian drones and electronic warfare that threatened to derail the mission.
So the Ukrainians assembled something akin to a strike package, with more than a dozen drones flying alongside StarGate to protect it from attack, draw Russian attention away from the rescue, and bomb enemy positions near the evacuation point.
Courtesy of SkyFall
Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones initially prevented the rescue drone from taking off with the wounded soldier, but eventually the skies cleared. KVN said his hands were shaking, but he relied on StarGate's built-in stabilization technology and his teammates' support to steady the drone and his nerves.
The first evacuation took 30 minutes. StarGate didn't have the range for the full 40-mile round trip, so KVN had to land it halfway on each leg so ground teams could swap out the batteries.
After the mission, KVN grabbed some much-needed sleep. When he woke the next morning, he learned that a second evacuation had been approved and would soon be underway.
Izyum, an infantryman in Ukraine's 1st Territorial Defense Brigade, sat down on the ground to rest.
His team had been tasked with holding a position they had just assaulted. When Izyum stood up, he triggered a blast that tore off part of his left foot. His comrades pulled him into a dugout and immediately applied a tourniquet.
Courtesy of SkyFall
They radioed back to their commanders that Izyum had suffered a severe injury and needed evacuation.
The situation was dire. Any attempt to walk to higher-level care would mean navigating roughly 20 miles of Russian drone and mine threats. Izyum had lost so much blood, and his strength was fading fast. Given the severity of his injuries, he would never have been able to make that trek on his own. His fellow soldiers would have had to risk their lives to help him make the journey.
And ground robots, increasingly used by Ukraine to evacuate wounded soldiers as the front-line kill zone grows more perilous, couldn't reach his position because ponds, small rivers, and tree lines blocked their path.
Brigade leadership concluded that the only option was to evacuate him by air. And with crewed helicopters effectively out of the question, they needed a drone. StarGate was chosen for the mission.
Izyum didn't think he was going to make it home. His crew was so deep on the front lines, and the Russians were close. At one point, the enemy was only 5 meters out.
Eventually, the rescue drone arrived. As the StarGate drone landed amid a mess of mines and cables, Ukrainian forces used Vampire drones, smaller hexacopters made by SkyFall, to bomb the Russians and keep them at bay.
Courtesy of SkyFall
KVN said landing near the minefield was one of the biggest challenges he faced during the mission, though Russian drone and electronic warfare threats were also problems. He said he had to fly "like a ninja" to avoid them.
Even with new technologies such as drones and ground robots, evacuating wounded soldiers isn't an easy process, and it takes time to plan, prepare, and execute. Nearly two days passed between Izyum's injury and his rescue. When he landed and opened the capsule to see friendly faces, he finally felt safe for the first time since the blast. KVN, too, felt an overwhelming sense of relief when the mission was finally over.
Izyum had four surgeries and is missing half his foot. He will soon be transferred to a rehabilitation facility. Speaking from a hospital in northeast Ukraine, he said that he is grateful to everyone who saved his life.
Some Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that large rescue hexacopters could be easy targets for Russia and said that they should only be used in the most extreme circumstances.
Both KVN and Izyum, however, said that aerial drone casualty evacuations should be expanded as standard practice; CODE 9.2, for instance, plans to create dedicated units for these missions, and SkyFall is aiming to build out a department within the firm specifically for evacuations.
StarGate drones — which cost roughly $50,000 a unit, can carry up to 330 pounds, and can fly at speeds over 60 miles per hour — are equipped with survivability features, such as artificial intelligence-enabled navigation and communication redundancies. SkyFall said it aims to be able to make 1,000 drones a month by the end of 2026.
On their first day of training, all aspiring officers in US Navy Officer Candidate School must endure a punishing gauntlet known as "First Tuesday," an intense event that tests them mentally and physically in the span of just under two hours.
Business Insider's chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan went inside "First Tuesday" at Navy OCS in Newport, Rhode Island as 126 candidates began their journey toward earning their commissions as Naval officers.
Led by a US Marine Corps drill instructor, the event sets the tone for the 13-week training course, potentially weeding out anyone having second thoughts.
A Republican member on the House Armed Services Committee told Fox News Digital ahead of the midterm elections that the Trump administration has a key decision to make on the future of the U.S.-Iran war as "continuing to do just enough not to lose, but not enough to win, is not OK."
Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., made the comments as Vice President JD Vance declared during a Fox News town hall on Thursday that he promises "Donald Trump is not going to let Iran become a forever war." Official and military sources also told Fox News this week that movements are being made in the Middle East to give the president options if he decides to resume strikes against Iran.
"I share my constituents and many Americans' perspective that I'm very, very frustrated that this war is not over. The way that ultimately this administration went about conducting the war, it needed to execute it and wrap it up in a very short period of time, and we are not there yet," said Harrigan, who is running for re-election in North Carolina's 10th Congressional District.
"That being said, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. And so at the end of the day, I do believe that this was a war that was inevitable at some point, but the party that's in power and the administration that decided to pull the trigger on it is responsible for the outcome, and they're responsible for the outcome in a very short period of time. Otherwise, things get really, really difficult," Harrigan continued. "And I think we've been seeing that, both from a political perspective but also from a policy perspective."
TRUMP SUPPORTERS CONFRONT IRAN, AFFORDABILITY CONCERNS WITH A MESSAGE FOR CRITICS: 'GIVE HIM TIME'
"And so while the administration needs to wrap this up, we are not in a forever war, but we need to make sure that we're not... we keep the mission the same. We accomplish the mission. And we do what it takes to either win or come home," Harrigan added. "And that binary decision has to get made by this administration."
Harrigan told Fox News Digital that Trump "needs to involve Congress" if he chooses to renew military action against the Iranian regime.
"I think that that will long-term set the course for the country to be resolute in affirming and actually executing and accomplishing the objectives that exist. Because look, like it or not, Congress is responsible for the funding arm of the government. And if they run out of money to accomplish the objectives, then that is not good for our strategic interests," he said. "So, in my opinion, Congress and the White House need to be very closely involved in making the next set of decisions that exist for this conflict."
GOP CRACKS WIDEN OVER IRAN WAR AS VULNERABLE CANDIDATES BREAK WITH TRUMP, DEMAND ITS END
"And we do need to make sure, again, that we either do what it takes to actually win in Iran, or we need to take the three out of five objectives that we've accomplished and say that, you know what? We've largely accomplished our strategic objectives. We've got more work to do over the long-term that's going to require consistent and persistent over the horizon monitoring of their nuclear program. And we're going to have to mow the lawn every now and again, and everybody's got to realize that, and leave, right?" Harrigan continued, mentioning how the U.S. has prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and eliminated Tehran's missile and drone production.
"But we've got to choose one of those two options because continuing to do just enough not to lose, but not enough to win, is not OK," he said. "It's not OK for the American people, it's not OK for our troops, it's not OK for geopolitical and economic stability. And it does not serve the long-term strategic interests of the United States. So it's time to choose."
Harrigan, a Green Beret and business entrepreneur, is running for re-election on Tuesday in North Carolina. He is facing off against Democrat challenger Ashley Bell, a physician associate, and Libertarian candidate Steve Feldman, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat two years ago.
As a current member of Congress, Harrigan told Fox News there is "no question" the Republican Party's House majority is at stake heading into Election Day.
"Whoever has 218 votes gets to chart the course of the direction of the House, the work that its committees do. And in particular, as it relates to the Trump administration, whether or not President Trump's going to get impeached," he added.
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"What this boils down to is the future direction of the country. Are we going to be stuck looking backwards instead of actually looking forwards, dealing with the actual business of the county and the free world, or are we going to be stuck in some sort of a Democratically-led nightmare that is simply going to be obstructionist to the conservative principles and values that people voted for in 2024?" Harrigan asked. "That's what's on the line this election cycle."
Peter Rhee is a Navy trauma surgeon who served 24 years in the US military. He operated in several active war zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Peter Rhee speaks to Business Insider about treating bullet wounds, battlefield trauma surgery conditions, AI-powered medical technology, and military medical training
He also discusses his role treating Rep. Gabby Giffords after she was shot in an attempted assassination in 2011 in Arizona.
He is the author of "Trauma Red: The Making of a Surgeon in War and in America's Cities."
Automated gun turrets now serve in Ukraine’s Air Force and are destroying Russia’s jet-powered weapons, the Defense Ministry reported on 29 October. It gave no count for those jet kills, and it did not say what type of drones the turrets downed over Kyiv.
Jet drones are where Ukraine struggles most. From 1 to 26 September, Ukraine downed 55% of jet-powered drones against 90% of slower ones, partly because its interceptor drones fly at about 300 km/h, too slow to catch them. Yurii Cherevashenko, Deputy Commander of the Air Force, told a parliamentary inquiry commission on 6 October that jet-drone interceptors would arrive in the needed numbers no earlier than late November. Guns have limits too. On 5 October, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said turrets had already downed Geran-5s, but that their range is short because their main weapon is a machine gun.
According to the ministry, Brave1, a defense innovation cluster, began developing automated turrets in 2024. The systems have since “moved beyond the experimental stage and become an integral part of air defense,” it said. In Air Force service, the turrets are destroying jet-powered Banderol munitions and Geran-5 drones.
Russia first used the Geran-5, a 6-meter jet-powered strike drone, in early 2026. The Banderol, a jet-powered cruise missile, flies at 520–560 km/h and can reach 650 km/h.
Separately, the ministry said turrets have destroyed more than 60 targets within the private air defense project. The project lets companies form anti-drone teams that work under Air Force command.
Yet on 14 October, the ministry gave the same 60-plus total for all private teams. At the time, it named interceptor drones and heavy machine-gun turrets as their main weapons. Groups from six companies were on combat duty, about 50 groups had been formed in total, and some were still training. Nearly 100 companies had joined by then, up from 81 in mid-September.
The ministry says the project expands air defense “without placing an additional burden” on the military’s own air defense. It and Brave1 say they will keep integrating automated turrets into the air defense system.
Viacheslav Madiievskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Ukraine is using machine gun turrets controlled by artificial intelligence in battle, and they're working well enough that Kyiv wants to roll them out at a faster pace.
While Ukraine began revealing prototypes of these systems last year, Brave1, the country's defense innovation platform, said on Thursday that they've now become "an integral part of air defense" for its forces.
"In the last month alone, automated turrets have destroyed dozens of enemy drones over Kyiv," Brave1 said, adding that it started work on these weapons in 2024 as experimental technology.
Not much is publicly known about the core capabilities of these turrets, such as their range or how their software works, but they've primarily been described as an air defense tool against Russian drones.
The idea is that artificial intelligence helps the turret detect, acquire, and track a target, making it more accurate than human operators at engaging high-speed air targets such as jet-powered Gerans.
More than a dozen such systems are now deployed in the Kyiv area, with another eight planned for the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in early October.
In a sign that Ukraine plans to lean further into the technology, Zelenskyy later praised the systems further, saying on October 19 that AI-powered turrets have "proven highly effective against shaheds."
"We are increasing orders, and it is important to accelerate every process as much as possible — organizational, financial, and production-related," Zelenskyy said.
One such system, the Sky Sentinel, is a .50-cal M2 Browning turret developed and operated by private air defense firm Carmine Sky. It can spin 360 degrees and lock onto a target while firing by calculating speed and trajectory.
Each one costs about $150,000, a Ukrainian commander told Business Insider's Jake Epstein last summer, and can distinguish between birds and drones. The turret still requires a human operator to authorize when to fire, the commander said.
Courtesy of United24
Brave1 released a montage on Thursday indicating that Ukraine is also fielding other types of automated turrets, showcasing clips of several designs.
It said turrets had shot down at least 60 targets under its Private Air Defense Project, a pilot that allows private Ukrainian firms to buy air defense equipment and train civilian staff to use them against drones threatening factories, warehouses, and other important sites.
Notably, Brave1 said these turrets took down Russian Geran-5s and Banderols — jet-powered drones and cruise missiles that can reach speeds of 375 to 400 mph.
A similar claim was made by Yuriy Ihnat, the Ukrainian air force's spokesperson, in early October, when he said that AI-powered turrets had shot down Russian jet-powered drones for the first time. Ihnat did not say which system was used.
Kyiv has eagerly integrated AI into much of its war effort, using machine learning models for other functions, such as predicting enemy drone strikes and autonomously conducting supply runs with robotic buggies.
The turrets do have limited range, making them more useful as a final defense against drones or against low-flying targets.
They'll likely be one of several tools Ukraine is developing to counter Russian jet-powered threats.
Over the last few months, the Kremlin has been ramping up production and deployment of cheap cruise missiles or drones equipped with turbojet engines. These weapons, flying at nearly half the speed of sound and launched by the thousands every month, have become a major challenge for Ukrainian air defenses.
Two concealed carriers in a Polk County, Florida, Dollar General Store, pulled their firearms and held a knife-wielding woman for police, Sheriff Grady Judd said on Wednesday.
The post Concealed Carriers Stop Alleged Knife Rampage in Dollar General appeared first on Breitbart.
Depuis le tarissement du soutien américain à l'Ukraine, l'Union européenne a décidé de subvenir seule aux besoins de Kiev. Mais les États membres en ont-ils les moyens ? Tenus en marge des négociations, engagés dans un grand réarmement en vue d'un conflit sans fin avec la Russie, ils pourraient à présent redouter qu'un arrêt des hostilités expose leur absence de stratégie.
Jusqu'où peut aller l'écart entre les faits et les discours des autorités, autrement dit, le déni politique (1) ? Longtemps cantonnée, en Occident, aux régimes totalitaires, la question se pose désormais à propos de l'Union européenne. Certes, ses dirigeants avaient déjà fait la preuve de leur capacité à maintenir un cadrage idéologique de plus en plus désajusté par rapport aux réalités politiques. Après les référendums perdus sur le traité constitutionnel européen en 2005 en France et aux Pays-Bas, la « démocratie » européenne a contourné le rejet populaire massif en toilettant légèrement son projet de sanctuarisation du néolibéralisme.
Vingt ans plus tard, MM. Friedrich Merz et Emmanuel Macron, Mmes Ursula von der Leyen et Kaja Kallas relèvent un autre défi : faire consentir les peuples à une militarisation illimitée, financée par la réduction drastique des dépenses sociales et écologiques sur fond d'endettement massif des États. Mais comment convaincre les habitants du Vieux Continent d'accepter une dégradation de leurs conditions de vie ? Comment leur faire admettre qu'à ce prix seulement naîtra une Europe libre, démocratique et renforcée par une Ukraine rétablie dans ses frontières de 1991 ?
Selon les mots de M. Macron lors d'une conférence conjointe avec le président Volodymyr Zelensky le 17 novembre 2025, « l'Union européenne devra continuer d'apporter à l'Ukraine un soutien financier prévisible et stable à long terme. Nous y parviendrons, y compris, s'il le faut, en explorant les voies nouvelles, comme nous avons su le faire dans d'autres cas quand la situation l'exigeait. Je pense en particulier à l'endettement commun dans le contexte de la pandémie » de Covid-19.
Comme le suggèrent les mobilisations actuelles en France, parier que le coût social du soutien à la guerre et au « grand réarmement » n'entamera ni l'adhésion au projet politique européen ni la popularité des dirigeants qui le portent semble de plus en plus illusoire. Comme un crépi trop vite posé, le récit héroïque élaboré depuis l'invasion russe de l'Ukraine s'effrite : pris séparément, chacun de ses éléments comporte une part de crédibilité ; mais l'ensemble présente un tel écart avec la situation qu'il ne tient pas. L'Europe se prétend engagée dans une lutte existentielle face à une menace russe devenue omniprésente et chaque jour plus agressive, avec la multiplication des cyberattaques et des menaces de drones. Elle affirme qu'elle suppléera aux faiblesses du parrain américain et satisfera sans faillir les besoins financiers toujours plus importants de Kiev.
D'un côté, la « guerre hybride » menée par une Russie omnipotente aux frontières de l'Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord (OTAN) justifierait une mobilisation européenne de chaque instant. De l'autre, l'Ukraine et ses invincibles alliés ne cesseraient d'affaiblir Moscou, d'asphyxier son économie invariablement décrite comme exsangue, de marquer des points contre son armée de soudards incompétents et mal commandés.
En même temps que des missiles européens lancés depuis l'Ukraine tuent des soldats et des civils russes et que les exécutifs occidentaux examinent la possibilité d'un conflit généralisé, l'engagement en faveur de Kiev exprimerait avant tout une volonté pacifique. « Face à ce qui est devenu aussi une forme d'addiction de la Russie à la guerre, affirmait M. Macron le 17 novembre 2025, nous demeurons, nous, déterminés et entêtés pour la paix. » À cette paix par la guerre, le pape Léon XIV, en visite le 25 septembre dernier à l'Élysée, a objecté : « La paix n'est pas un équilibre des forces, elle se construit chaque jour par le dialogue et la justice. »
Après quatre ans et demi de combats, la ligne de front relativement figée mais toujours aussi mortelle s'est doublée d'une campagne de destructions mutuelles d'infrastructures. Elles affectent tout particulièrement l'Ukraine qui ne parvient plus à exporter de céréales ni à produire de l'acier dans les conditions habituelles. Le 16 octobre, Kiev a réclamé 70 milliards d'euros supplémentaires pour financer l'effort de guerre en 2027. Le pays résiste toujours militairement face à l'agression russe. Mais il est désormais tenu à bout de bras par les crédits des États européens, eux-mêmes en proie à de fortes tensions budgétaires, auxquels M. Trump a transmis le fardeau.
Or les dirigeants du Vieux Continent n'ont officiellement fixé aucune limite temporelle ou quantitative à leur engagement, même s'ils peinent à concrétiser des annonces souvent fracassantes. Présentée comme une solution miracle, l'affectation à l'Ukraine des 200 milliards d'avoirs russes gelés se heurte à des risques juridiques critiques. Le prêt de 90 milliards, finalement validé par le Conseil de l'UE le 23 avril 2026 après la levée du veto hongrois, n'a pas été entièrement versé… et le compte-gouttes ne suffit pas à couvrir les besoins énormes du pays. Mme von der Leyen dessine elle-même la sombre perspective d'« un hiver de guerre qui sera le pire d'entre tous » (discours sur l'état de l'Union du 16 septembre 2026).
Le futur cadre financier pluriannuel (CFP, ou « budget européen »), proposé par la Commission en 2025, validé par le Parlement en avril 2026 et dont le montant total s'élève à 2 000 milliards d'euros sur sept ans, illustre la contradiction profonde des politiques économiques menées presque partout en Europe. Plusieurs dirigeants d'États membres dits « frugaux », emmenés par le chancelier allemand Friedrich Merz, ont d'ores et déjà fait savoir qu'ils jugeaient la dépense globale trop élevée (2). Ils désirent réduire les dépenses mais sanctuariser les 131 milliards d'euros consacrés à la défense. L'enveloppe peut sembler « petite » rapportée à des budgets nationaux de défense eux-mêmes en forte augmentation, à l'image de celui de la Pologne (autour de 45 milliards d'euros annuels), mais elle représente une multiplication par cinq par rapport au précédent CFP. Il faut du reste lui ajouter la « réserve pour l'Ukraine », hors plafond, fixée à environ 90 milliards d'euros, ainsi que le prêt du même montant censé couvrir des besoins croissants nés de la sophistication technologique du conflit. Ces sommes importantes manqueront aux mobilités estudiantines et à la recherche (en dehors des applications à la défense de l'intelligence artificielle comme de la physique quantique), au monde agricole et à la transition énergétique en Europe. Elles restent malgré tout insuffisantes du point de vue ukrainien.
Ce tonneau des Danaïdes se changera-t-il en un baril de poudre, puis en déflagration sociale et politique ? Le contexte macroéconomique, très défavorable, le laisse penser. Au lourd bilan de la guerre en Ukraine pour les finances publiques européennes s'ajoutent depuis 2022 les conséquences d'une réduction de la dépendance aux hydrocarbures russes. La hausse des prix de l'énergie qui en découle a déjà affecté très durement l'industrie européenne, en premier lieu allemande, alors même que la perpétuation des dogmes libre-échangistes maintient son économie ouverte à des biens et services à bas prix importés de Chine, des États-Unis, de l'Inde ou du Marché commun du Sud (Mercosur). Le taux de croissance du produit intérieur brut (PIB) de l'Allemagne a stagné trois années durant. Surtout, ses bases industrielles ont beaucoup souffert de la nouvelle configuration des échanges mondiaux. Même M. Pascal Lamy a fini par reconnaître que l'Europe avait perdu pied face à la concurrence chinoise. L'ancien directeur général de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), de 2005 à 2013, et héraut de la mondialisation libérale propose désormais une généralisation de la « clause de sauvegarde » pour l'acier entrée en vigueur en juillet 2026, ce qui marquerait une inflexion notable vers un nouveau protectionnisme (Le Monde, 7 octobre 2026).
Entretenue par la pression sur le coût du travail et par la réduction des dépenses publiques, l'atonie devrait perdurer. La crise au Proche-Orient entraîne les prix de l'énergie à la hausse et conduit la Banque centrale européenne à augmenter à nouveau les taux d'intérêt directeurs le 10 septembre, limitant d'autant l'investissement des entreprises et des ménages. La conjonction de la hausse des taux et de la réduction des déficits par la baisse des dépenses publiques — le mantra officiel dans la plupart des États membres — n'annonce donc pas des lendemains qui chantent pour les populations, en particulier les plus fragiles.
Il faut sans doute voir là l'origine d'une perte d'attractivité du projet européen de plus en plus souvent soulignée par les observateurs : l'Islande a rejeté par référendum la perspective d'une éventuelle négociation d'adhésion à l'UE ; les difficultés à engager le processus d'intégration de l'Ukraine s'ajoutent à des initiatives hasardeuses de Mme von der Leyen, comme celle consistant à associer le Canada à l'Union au moment où plusieurs pays candidats pauvres et périphériques souhaiteraient bénéficier des ressources budgétaires de Bruxelles.
Dans les anciennes régions industrielles de l'Europe où les populations se déplacent en voiture pour aller travailler et où les politiques sociales et les services publics s'effilochent, le choc socio-économique est rude. Il commence à s'accompagner de secousses politiques, en particulier en Allemagne, avec le succès de l'Alternative pour l'Allemagne (AfD) en Saxe-Anhalt le 6 septembre dernier, suivi d'une réplique en Mecklembourg-Poméranie-Occidentale deux semaines après. Ces résultats contribuent à remettre en cause un récit de l'intégration réussie des Länder de l'Est, peu contesté depuis 1989. La rupture totale avec la Russie n'a cessé d'y nourrir la progression du vote pour la droite radicale, et la posture moralisatrice des démocrates autoproclamés de l'Ouest parvient de moins en moins à convaincre des majorités, même lorsque la participation électorale est forte. L'effondrement historique de l'Union chrétienne-démocrate (CDU), qui disparaît du Parlement de Mecklembourg-Poméranie-Occidentale, cache un bouleversement déjà palpable dans les sondages d'intentions de vote, l'AfD étant désormais créditée de près de 30 % au niveau national, faisant presque jeu égal avec les scores additionnés des deux partis au pouvoir (CDU et Parti social-démocrate [SPD]).
Les politiques économiques et sociales menées en Europe ont d'ores et déjà abouti aux succès des partis de droite nationaliste ou extrême. La gauche radicale n'a, elle, pas voix au chapitre dans une partie des États d'Europe centrale et orientale, où le socialisme a d'ailleurs parfois quasi disparu de l'offre politique, comme en Hongrie, en République tchèque et en Slovaquie. Dans certaines régions ou villes (Saint-Denis en France, Berlin en Allemagne), des poussées électorales « rouges » traduisent sporadiquement l'importance du mécontentement social.
De façon plus structurelle, le processus en cours pourrait conduire à une forme d'ingouvernabilité, voire, à terme, à une paralysie politique, quand le « centre » constitué par une coalition allant des sociaux-démocrates aux chrétiens-démocrates se contracte électoralement et se divise. Le cas français depuis 2022, et surtout 2024, l'illustre, avec une tripartition instable et un « bloc central » déliquescent.
Les indicateurs, électoraux ou mesurés dans des enquêtes, révèlent une colère sociale dans différents pays. En France, elle se traduit par un puissant mouvement lycéen et étudiant (lire le dossier). Le tournant militaro-austéritaire de l'UE n'apporte aucune solution au mécontentement des classes populaires et des classes moyennes, lequel alimente les succès de l'extrême droite. Acculée, la technocratie bruxelloise n'entend pas ouvrir de débat de fond sur l'avenir du modèle économique, social et politique européen. Rien ne semble à court terme devoir stopper l'enchaînement dont chacun reconnaît à présent le caractère fatal : hausse des budgets de la défense et radicalisation belliciste, baisse des dépenses publiques, en particulier sociales, inflation due aux chocs énergétiques, ouverture libre-échangiste à la concurrence internationale qui élimine les entreprises fragiles, pression à la baisse sur le coût du travail…
À ce stade, la perspective d'un conflit ouvert avec la Russie semble d'autant moins crédible, et entendable, que l'Europe reste largement dépendante des États-Unis, sur le plan tant militaire qu'idéologique. Mais la paix en Ukraine présenterait pour l'Union une menace également impérieuse : elle placerait ses dirigeants face au grand vide de leur stratégie.
(1) Marc Joly et Christian Savestre, En finir avec le déni. Gaza, chaos climatique, finance prédatrice et masculinité toxique, Anamosa, Paris, 2026.
(2) Mette Frederiksen, Rob Jetten, Friedrich Merz, Petteri Orpo et Christian Stocker, « Five EU leaders : Europe must spend better, not just more », Politico, Arlington, 18 septembre 2026.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth fired one of the Pentagon’s senior strategic planners amid an investigation into allegations he leaked classified information to journalists about the Iran war, Russia’s war in Ukraine and other sensitive matters, a Department of War official told Fox News.
The official said Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia failed three polygraph examinations related to alleged disclosures of classified information. The investigation has been referred to the Justice Department.
Sylvia is also accused of meeting journalists outside the Pentagon with the alleged intention of leaking classified material after Hegseth imposed new media restrictions requiring reporters to be escorted inside the building.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ and Sylvia for comment but did not hear back at time of publication.
Sylvia served as director of the Joint Staff’s Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, known as the J5, a senior role responsible for developing military strategy and advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The J5 has been sidelined from that role since the spring, according to well-placed sources who spoke to Fox News.
The official stressed that Sylvia was not a central planner of the Iran war, which falls under U.S. Central Command and its commander, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The Atlantic first reported Sylvia’s ouster Wednesday night, citing sources who said Hegseth had lost confidence in the three-star general amid tensions with Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby.
Sylvia is the second officer leading the J5 to be removed under Hegseth, following Lt. Gen. John McGee. Hegseth also removed Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, then director of the Joint Staff, earlier this year.
The abrupt removal comes as the Pentagon reportedly weighs renewed military action against Iran.
U.S. officials have reportedly warned allies in the Middle East to prepare for possible renewed strikes after next week’s midterm elections and potential Iranian retaliation, while additional U.S. forces are moving into the region.
A 1994 West Point graduate, Sylvia has served more than three decades in the Army, including multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and was wounded in combat. Before taking over the J5 in December, he commanded the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell and had previously served as the J5’s vice director.
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Sylvia’s removal is the latest in a broader turnover of senior military leadership under Hegseth, with nearly two dozen generals, admirals and other senior leaders fired, pushed out or otherwise departing during his tenure.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
A new NATO artificial intelligence model gives Ukraine's forces a frontline map of where Russian drone activity is expected the next day, per the alliance's innovation center.
The system, called Initiative 13 or Model 13, "turns an array of disparate data into a clear map of expected activity" for commanders to plan their next day of operations, a spokesperson for NATO's Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Center, or JATEC, told Business Insider.
Business Insider reported on Ukraine's announcement of the program earlier this month, but JATEC is now providing new details on how it works.
Initiative 13 covers areas 5 to 50 km, or roughly 3 to 31 miles, of Ukrainian territory behind the line of contact, and divides that space into geographical cells, per JATEC.
"For each cell, the system determines the expected intensity of strike and reconnaissance activity of UAVs, the level of threat, the trend of its change, and the range of possible values," its spokesperson said.
The map shows a forecast for the next day, helping commanders to highlight risk areas so they can better deploy their forces and equipment, they said.
They added that the AI model is trained on battlefield data and considers previous Russian drone activity, what types of drones were used, when and how they were deployed, weather conditions, terrain, and distance to the line of contact.
"Initiative 13 does not replace data from the current situation and commander's decisions," the JATEC spokesperson added. JATEC is NATO's joint organization with Ukraine, based in Poland, that aims to glean lessons and innovations from the war.
Ukraine's defense ministry said in mid-October that Initiative 13, which it called Model 13, was "ready for integration into the Armed Forces of Ukraine's situational awareness systems."
The AI model, it said, could predict Russia's drone strikes with "high probability."
Kyiv's forces use a battlespace management system called Delta, which feeds data from the front lines onto an interactive map that commanders can access via laptop, phone, or tablet.
The drone-predicting AI was developed by Ukraine's forces and NATO's Allied Command Transformation, with support from JATEC.
Ukraine's defense ministry said in its initial announcement that another AI model, dubbed No. 32, for planning artillery deployments was also in the works but is still in prototype stages.
Artificial intelligence has increasingly been making its way into Ukraine's war, from helping mid-range attack drones identify and strike targets to sending uncrewed ground vehicles to autonomously complete supply runs.
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