UK To Become ‘Harder Target’ In Potential War With Russia

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – We need more people ready to fight for their country. U.K. military chief Sir Richard Knighton says more families will know what “sacrifice for our nation means” as the threat from Russia worsens.

While the chief of the defense staff suggested there was only a remote chance of a direct Russian attack on the U.K., he noted that so-called hybrid attacks showed the threat was worsening.

He then referenced a Russian spy ship that was recently suspected of mapping undersea cables near U.K. waters.

He said “a whole-of-society response” was needed, including an increase in regular forces, cadets, and reserves. He also called for more school leavers and graduates to join the defense industry.

“Every day the U.K. is subject to an onslaught of cyber-attacks from Russia, and we know that Russian agents are seeking to conduct sabotage and have killed on our shores,” he added.

At the same time, Russia’s military had become a “hard power [which] is growing quickly.”

While Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine had been a strategic failure, he said, “we should be under no illusions that Russia has a massive, increasingly technically sophisticated, and now highly combat-experienced military.”

Sir Richard said the U.K. needed to make itself a “harder target” for hybrid threats and to avoid war.

This, as the Swedish Navy confirms, Russia is taking increased steps to protect its shadow tanker fleet while it is operating in the Baltic.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

THE PDB – Not the President’s Daily Briefing, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Pros and cons of Trump’s new national security strategy. New strategy strikes a notably different tone from previous iterations.

Trump’s new national security strategy has drawn criticism for presuming to tell European allies how to arrange their domestic affairs, but importantly, it also ignores space threats.

Trump expands travel ban list to 39 countries.

Trump launches $1m ‘gold card’ immigration visas.

HOMELAND DEFENSE

Space Force wants advanced technologies for space-based interceptors that can intercept ballistic missiles during their boost phase inside the atmosphere.

HOMELAND SECURITY

“Aggressive” new flu variant sweeps globe along the northern hemisphere as doctors warn of severe symptoms.

Is it a cold, “super flu,” or Covid? How to tell the difference.

DEFENSE POLITICS

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of the strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat carrying cocaine in the Caribbean.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said the Pentagon’s newly announced escalation of investigation into him for potentially ‘inciting mutiny’ in the ranks by urging troops to disobey unnamed “illegal orders” is part of an effort to deter service members and government employees from speaking out against Trump.

Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd appears to be the Trump administration’s pick to fill the months-old dual-hatted vacancy atop the National Security Agency and Cyber Command.

The Trump administration is planning an executive order to limit dividends, buybacks, and executive pay for defense contractors that are over-budget and late in delivering their products.

Air Force revised its medical shaving profile guidance to better align with Hegseth’s stricter grooming standards.

VENEZUELA-NARCO THREAT

President Trump ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on its illegitimate authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, by putting a tighter chokehold on the country’s economy.

CHINA THREAT

China reveals first flight of stealthy CH-7 UAV for long-range targeting mission. The tailless uncrewed jet contains several features associated with low-observable aircraft and is believed to play a role in the development of kill chains for the Chinese military.

China is building the world’s most powerful hydropower system deep in the Himalayas. It remains shrouded in secrecy.

China’s Homeland Defense. Still the Priority? In 2024, “Don’t Ever Invade China: Xi Jinping Prioritizes Border, Coastal, and Air Defense,” argued that homeland protection has always been and will continue to be the Chinese military’s primary mission. A year later, we ask if that’s changed.

UKRAINE WAR

U.S., Europe vow to secure Ukraine, as Kyiv asks for $60 billion in 2026. Negotiators have wrapped up two days of talks with what officials describe as the most substantial movement yet toward a political framework to end Russia’s invasion, even as core territorial questions remain unresolved.

Europe is trying to convince holdouts to support a novel plan to use billions of Moscow’s frozen assets to aid Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Security Service claimed the first strike of a Russian submarine using an underwater strike drone in footage seemingly sourced from compromised (hacked) Russian security cameras.

NATO-EUROPEAN DEFENSE

French defense-electronics firm Thales has developed a miniaturized sonar that can equip underwater drones to detect submarines, and will demonstrate the system to the U.K.’s Royal Navy.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Hamas confirmed the killing by Israel of veteran senior leader Raed Saad and other top operatives.

One opinion: One year on, U.S. sanctions are killing Syria’s recovery. Short-term waivers are a start, but Congress must act on full repeal. Syria needs to rebuild.

SPACE THREATS

U.S. Space Command has conducted a second bilateral space domain awareness operation with France.

How Space Force trains Guardians for future space warfare.

Space Force wants to emphasize small, low-cost systems and commercial capabilities in the next generation of Silent Barker surveillance satellites.

US MILITARY

Drone hunter-killer MADIS vehicles are now being produced for Marines. New weapons system effectively transforms two light tactical vehicles into a drone hunter-killer team.

Future USS Idaho is the second attack boat the Navy has received this year, after taking USS Massachusetts last month.

Scale-up of defense 3D printing. Inside a standard shipping container, a “factory-in-a-box” hums to life. It is not waiting for a supply drop from across the ocean; it is manufacturing drones for the Air Force on-site using 3D printers from HP.

Air Force embracing new commercial-first approach to IT ordered by Secretary Hegseth, outsourcing networks and other infrastructure, and reducing the amount of customization required from vendors.

Pentagon inspector general found the Army and Navy miscalculated the number of low-scoring recruits entering the military through their preparatory programs.

Pentagon to review records of thousands of service members forced out of the military solely for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and could facilitate some discharge upgrades.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

READ NEXT: Vote Decides Fate Of Crucial Trump Nominee