The 173rd Airborne Brigade’s commander unpacks lessons from recent exercises in Lithuania and Tunisia.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is skipping the latest meeting of Ukraine’s allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels. That’s a first since the group was set up three years ago, the Associated Press reports. Hegseth will not join via video call-in, U.S. defense officials said. 

“It is the latest in a series of steps that the U.S. has taken to distance itself from the Ukraine war effort,” AP’s Lita Baldor writes. While Kyiv defends itself from three-plus years of gradual Russian military invasion, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group has provided Kyiv with an estimated “$126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including over $66.5 billion from the U.S.,” according to AP. But “Hegseth has upended that position by stepping away from a leadership role, providing no new military aid and now abandoning the gathering altogether,” Baldor notes. 

Hegseth’s team says he won’t arrive in Europe until Wednesday evening, coming off a trip last weekend to Singapore. The Pentagon chief is planning to attend a meeting of NATO military chiefs in Brussels Thursday and later for D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France, on June 6. “The Secretary will deliver a message at the defense ministerial focused on advancing President Trump’s call for NATO allies to commit to spend 5% of their GDP on defense and refocusing NATO on collective defense and deterrence,” Hegseth’s spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Tuesday. 

One big lesson from Ukraine’s recent surprise drone attack on Russian airbases: The U.S. could be attacked in the very same fashion and the results could be similarly devastating, three different major U.S. news outlets warn today—the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The latter leverages the attack to argue that critics of President Trump’s sprawling and costly Golden Dome missile-defense architecture are naive, at best, in our current and evolving era of drone warfare. (To be fair, the Times notes Golden Dome as currently conceived would not have prevented an attack like the one Ukraine inflicted on Russia over the weekend.) The Journal’s editorial board also makes the case for “hardened aircraft shelters” and more defense spending. The Post extends that thinking to “strategic missiles and silos, or strategic nuclear submarines at port,” as well as “U.S. energy grids, transportation hubs and shipyards.” And Bill Hennigan of the Times branches out still more to include U.S. “military bases, ports and command headquarters peppered across the globe.” 

Hennigan: “Congress is poised to set aside about $1.3 billion this fiscal year for the Pentagon to develop and deploy counter-drone technologies. This is a good start. But the Pentagon’s most ambitious and expensive plans fail to address the threat,” he argues. 

Stay tuned: Just this morning, Defense One recorded a discussion on drone warfare and some innovative training across both Europe and Africa featuring the U.S. Army’s Col. Joshua Gaspard, who commands the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade. We plan to have that posted in the next day or so. 

Additional reading: 

• “Pentagon chiefs eye Ukraine’s surprise drone strike with anxiety – and envy,” Breaking Defense reported Wednesday;
• “Troop Casualties in Ukraine War Near 1.4 Million, Study Finds,” the New York Times reported Tuesday; 
• “Russia’s Shoigu meets Kim Jong Un in North Korea,” Reuters reported Wednesday from Moscow; 
• “Turkey to press allies for access to EU defence funds,” the wire service reported separately Wednesday from Ankara; 
• “Crimea bridge reopens after Ukraine says it carried out underwater explosion,” the BBC reported Tuesday;
• And Ukraine’s President “Zelenskiy announces military shakeup, new assignment for commander who resigned,” Reuters reported Tuesday evening.  

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Welcome to this Wednesday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1944, the U.S. Navy captured an enemy vessel at sea for the first time that century when Nazi submarine U-505 was detected, attacked and seized off the coast of French Morocco. Fifty-eight captured crew members were detained under strict secrecy in Louisiana; they were reportedly not returned until 1947.

Trump 2.0

Despite Golden Dome, Space Force budget would shrink again under 2026 spending plan. The young service’s budget would shrink for a second straight year under the Trump administration’s 2026 proposal, which experts said would force the Pentagon to rely on the yet-to-be-passed reconciliation bill to fund the Golden Dome missile-defense project and other space priorities. 

The White House is requesting $26.3 billion for the service, according to budget documents released on Friday. That’s about 13 percent less, in real terms, than the $29.4 billion requested by the Biden administration for 2025. Defense One’s Audrey Decker has more, here.

What will DOD civilians do at the border? The Pentagon won’t say. After releasing a Monday memo about sending some civilian employees to support the Homeland Security Department with the southern border mission and “internal immigration enforcement,” Hegseth’s office has declined to provide any further details, including how many people are going, what their job backgrounds are, and which missions they will be fulfilling. 

This is in stark contrast to nearly seven years of ongoing DOD support to the DHS border mission—including during the first Trump administration—when the Pentagon routinely released troop levels and descriptions of their activities.

It’s likely that the jobs will be largely administrative, according to Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Defense One’s Meghann Myers has more, here.

Related reading:

• “Deportation Flights Reach Highest Level Under Trump So Far,” the Times reports, with a month-by-month chart that shows a peak in March, a decline in April, and then a surge in May;
• Hegseth orders the Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk, a supply vessel named for the gay civil-rights leader. Military-dot-com and AP have a bit more.

And lastly: USAID–State merger proceeding without key plans, IG finds. State Department leaders set hiring goals without a strategy, began the merger without finishing the plan, and is slated to dismiss an oversight board before the effort is complete, the inspector general found in a report issued on Monday. Sean Michael Newhouse of Government Executive reports, here.

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Developing: Trump’s Pentagon authorized its civilian employees to assist with “border security” operations for the Department of Homeland Security. The authorization was requested by DHS and paves the way for DOD civilian “volunteers” to assist with the White House’s immigration enforcement plans, according to Fox. The order was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and released publicly Monday along with a statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who described the effort as “temporary assignments…in support of critical ongoing operations.” 

Fine print: “Detail assignments may be either reimbursable or non-reimbursable,” according to the memo. 

What does that mean exactly? It’s not yet entirely clear; but Hegseth suggested civilian employees’ bosses “should consider factors such as whether the tasks to be carried out by employees during the detail are of a similar nature to the tasks those employees execute in the course of their normal duties; whether the detail would otherwise enhance the skills and further develop the employees professionally; the duration of the contemplated detail for each employee, including the fact that the training and professional development value might diminish over time as the employee gains experience; and the impacts to the Department from the employee’s absence.”

Some questions we have include: Why is this necessary? What kinds of skills have been requested? What jobs will they do? Is there a time period in question? Is there a precedent? Is this a first for border-security operations?

Parnell: “Protecting our homeland from bad actors and illegal substances has been a focus of the President and of the Secretary of Defense since Day One of this Administration,” Hegseth’s chief spokesman said in his statement. Read over the entire half-page memo (PDF), here. 

How many civilians have left the Defense workforce in recent months? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to shed 5 to 8 percent of his department’s civilians, or roughly 60,000 employees, has included a hiring freeze; on-again, off-again attempts to lay off hundreds of probationary employees; and early retirement and deferred resignation programs—all on top of a comprehensive review of staffing.  

How’s that going? DOD officials wouldn’t say. “Certain near-term changes in workforce structure, composition, and workforce will be reflected in the department’s forthcoming President’s Budget request for FY26,” a defense official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told Defense One on Monday.

But the White House released its budget proposal on Friday, and the 1,224-page document contains no specific proposals for changes to the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, which stood around 770,000 in September. Read on, here.

Pentagon pushes U.S. dronemakers to innovate as quickly as Ukraine does. Launched on Monday, the Defense Innovation Unit’s Project GI initiative aims to embed troops’ feedback into a perpetual loop of design, testing, and deployment. It’s a deliberate effort to mimic how the Ukrainian military has out-innovated Russian forces by rapidly fielding and iterating drone technology under fire. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker has more, here.

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Welcome to this Tuesday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1969, Australia’s light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea, killing 74 sailors aboard the U.S. destroyer. The American captain was found guilty in a court-martial.

Ukraine, Russia exchange attacks 

Developing: Ukrainian officials claim to have carried out a new attack on the 12-mile Kerch Strait Bridge, which links occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland. If confirmed, it would be the third time the Ukrainians have attacked the bridge since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. 

Kyiv’s Defense Ministry shared a video of the purported attack Tuesday on social media, saying Ukrainian elements executed “a new, unique special operation and struck…this time underwater!” Explosives were allegedly placed on the bridge’s support columns, “And today, at 4:44 a.m., without any civilian casualties, the first explosive device was detonated!” the Defense Ministry said. “The bridge is now in critical condition…thanks to 1,100 kg of explosives in TNT equivalent,” they added. 

Russia used the bridge “as a logistical artery to supply its troops,” a Ukrainian official said in a statement, according to the New York Times.

Moscow, meanwhile, stepped up rocket attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy city, killing at least three people and wounding more than two dozen others on Tuesday. 

Looking ahead: “Military analysts say that if Russia advanced 12 miles into Ukraine, its forces could target the city of Sumy with short-range weapons like small exploding drones,” the Times reports. “Such attacks in Kherson, in southern Ukraine, have killed at least 150 civilians; a United Nations commission said last week that those attacks amounted to crimes against humanity.”

Update: More details emerge from Ukraine’s surprise drone attack over the weekend. At least four Russian air bases were targeted, as far east as the Siberian region of Irkutsk, Reuters reported Tuesday. 

According to satellite imagery, affected targets appear to include two destroyed Tu-22 Backfires and four strategic heavy Tu-95 bombers at Irkutsk. A separate base in Russia’s northwestern Murmansk region appears to have hosted three attacked Tu-95s. The Kremlin said three other locations were targeted, including bases in the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions; but air defense elements prevented damage at those sites, Russian officials claimed. 

For what it’s worth, Ukrainian officials said 41 Russian aircraft were struck in the drone attack, which reportedly took 18 months to plan. However, Reuters notes “The Ukrainian military added 12 aircraft to its running tally of Russia’s wartime military losses on Tuesday, without elaborating.”

A second opinion: “This was an ingenious, well-planned and precisely executed strike on the Russian bomber fleet, which is an absolutely legitimate target for Ukraine to strike,” retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told The D Brief. 

“These same Russian strategic bombers have been hammering Ukrainian targets—civilian and military, without a concern for civilian casualties for nearly three years—so much so that they caused President Trump to rightly say ‘Vladimir STOP’,” he said. “Unfortunately President Trump has hesitated to put a maximum pressure campaign on the aggressor in this war—Russia—but instead has pressured only the victim—Ukraine. As a result President Putin has taken no steps to end his violent attacks. If President Trump wants the war to end he has the economic and military tools to pressure President Putin and make it happen,” Montgomery said.

Bigger picture: 

• “Ukraine’s Drone Strike on Russia Aims to Change Putin’s Calculus,” Paul Sonne of the New York Times reported Tuesday from Berlin;
• See also, “Russia and Ukraine Ratchet Up War While Trying to Show Trump They Want Peace,” via the Wall Street Journal, reporting Tuesday as well.  

Trump 2.0

Possibly coming soon: Syria wants to assimilate foreign jihadist ex-rebels into its new army, and U.S. officials have given their authorization, Reuters reported Monday from the Middle East. 

Involved: “some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, [who] would join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians.”

Asked about U.S. consent, Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack replied, “I would say there is an understanding, with transparency.”

Why it matters: Syrian defense officials fear that if the 3,500 or so fighters are not incorporated in government forces, they might re-take up arms for al-Qaeda or ISIS in the months ahead. More, here. 

Nuclear negotiations: “U.S. nuclear deal offer allows Iran to enrich uranium,” Axios reported Monday. 

Despite Elon Musk’s announced departure from government, the White House’s new budget request includes $45 million in additional DOGE funding, Nextgov reported Monday. 

The administration’s budget request includes provisions for 150 DOGE employees, the majority of whom would be classified as reimbursable and funded by agencies.

Requested: $10 million for a “software modernization initiative,” and an additional $35 million would come from agencies reimbursing DOGE for services, a setup that the U.S. Digital Service used before President Donald Trump remade the organization into DOGE. 

Panning out: So far, DOGE hasn’t garnered the $1 trillion in savings Musk promised when he came into the administration. Even so, it has tried to shutter entire agencies, helped lay off thousands of federal employees and worked with agencies to cancel government contracts. Read on, here. 

Related reading: “Trump Administration Targets Tech Firms as It Cuts More Contracts,” the Wall Street Journal reported late last week. 

And ICYMI: Trump’s DNI Gabbard is reportedly considering transforming the president’s daily intelligence brief so it looks more like a Fox News broadcast, and that might involve granting the Fox News team security clearance to access classified information, NBC News reported late last week as well. 

That’s just one of several pitches National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has solicited “from current and former intelligence officials about steps she could take to tailor the briefing, known as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, to Trump’s policy interests and habits,” five different NBC reporters write. 

Also worth noting: “According to his public schedule, since his inauguration Trump has taken the PDB 14 times, or on average less than once a week, which is less often than his recent predecessors—including himself during his first term.” Continue reading, here. 

Additional reading: 

• “FEMA staff baffled after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season,” Reuters reported Monday;
• And “OAN’s Pentagon reporter learns the limits of expressing her own opinion,” the Associated Press reported Monday.  

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