⚔️ How ‘Absolute Resolve’ harnessed 150 aircraft and more to launch a regime change in Venezuela

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🧭 Aselsan Scores Direct Hit in Debut Flight of Winged Guidance Kit — Read More

🛰️ Hacker Claims 200GB Data Theft From European Space Agency — Here’s What We Know — Read More

⚔️ How ‘Absolute Resolve’ harnessed 150 aircraft and more to launch a regime change in Venezuela — Read More

🏛️ ‘A line crossed’: Lawmakers, lawyers, anti-war advocates alarmed by Venezuela overthrow — Read More

📡 China Teases Smart Tech That Harvests Radar Energy to Power Stealth Jets — Read More

🎱 Plus 10 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🧭 Aselsan Scores Direct Hit in Debut Flight of Winged Guidance Kit — Read More

• Aselsan’s KGK-84 “winged guidance kit” is designed to convert standard bombs into longer-range, precision strike weapons, and the company says it scored a direct hit during its first live drop from an F-16. The test followed predetermined waypoints to a naval target and destroyed it, with released footage emphasizing accuracy and stand-off reach.

• The article frames the kit as a cost-effective alternative to more expensive purpose-built precision munitions, highlighting how add-on guidance packages can quickly scale a country’s strike capacity. It positions the KGK-84 as a flexible “adapter” approach—using existing bomb stocks, aircraft, and mission planning to produce precision effects at range.

• Aselsan and Turkish defense officials describe the test as proof of domestic competence, while the article highlights technical claims: carriage of ~1-ton-class munitions (including general-purpose and bunker-buster bombs), GPS-guided systems with anti-jamming features, and all-weather day/night operations. The stated range is “over 100 km,” implying a meaningful upgrade to stand-off strike options for Turkish aircraft.

🛰️ Hacker Claims 200GB Data Theft From European Space Agency — Here’s What We Know — Read More

• ESA confirmed it is investigating a cyber incident after a threat actor (“888”) claimed they accessed and stole data from external science/collaboration servers, alleging roughly a week of access in mid-December and offering the exfiltrated material for sale on a cybercrime forum. ESA’s early assessment said only a “very small number” of external servers may be affected and that they supported unclassified collaborative engineering activities.

• TechRepublic argues the incident fits a “dangerous pattern,” noting prior ESA-related compromises (including a recent merch store payment-page injection and older domain breaches) as indicators of recurring security weaknesses on peripheral/third-party systems. The piece emphasizes the risk profile of externally hosted collaboration environments, which can sit close to code, automation pipelines, and shared credentials that attackers prize.

• The article stresses timing and strategic risk: recent supply-chain breach case studies show how “external” footholds can become stepping stones into core environments. It also highlights ESA’s broader context—space infrastructure’s growing economic importance and ESA’s relatively new cyber operations efforts—while underscoring that, until ESA publishes full forensic findings, the scope and credibility of the 200GB claim remain uncertain.

⚔️ How ‘Absolute Resolve’ harnessed 150 aircraft and more to launch a regime change in Venezuela — Read More

• Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine described months of rehearsal leading to a highly synchronized operation that captured Venezuela’s president, emphasizing that “more than 150 aircraft” and thousands of personnel executed tightly interlocking tasks, where the failure of one element could jeopardize the whole mission. Planning also focused on selecting conditions that minimized civilian harm while preserving tactical surprise.

• According to the account, helicopters carrying an extraction force flew low toward Venezuela while the U.S. “layered” effects from SpaceCom, CyberCom, and interagency partners to create a pathway, including strikes against military facilities to dismantle/disable air defenses. Trump also claimed Caracas was plunged into darkness using U.S. expertise, while tactical aircraft provided coverage as commanders monitored the approach.

• Caine said helicopters landed at the palace around 2:01 a.m. local time on Jan. 3 and came under fire; the force responded in self-defense, with one aircraft hit but still flyable. Maduro and his wife—described as indicted—were taken into DOJ custody with no U.S. fatalities, and the force exfiltrated under fighter/RPA cover, ultimately embarking aboard USS Iwo Jima.

🏛️ ‘A line crossed’: Lawmakers, lawyers, anti-war advocates alarmed by Venezuela overthrow — Read More

• The piece captures the political split after the Jan. 3 Venezuela operation: senior Republicans praised the mission as necessary to remove a dictator and deter adversaries, while Democrats argued the strikes and capture were illegal and risked a destabilizing escalation without a clear exit plan. It also reports concern that Congress was not properly notified or engaged ahead of such a significant use of force.

• Defense One highlights specific critiques: Sen. Jack Reed condemned the administration’s stated objective (as reported) of seizing oil reserves as “ludicrous” and said no serious plan had been presented for what comes next, while Rep. Adam Smith warned the action could violate international norms and signal a broader Western Hemisphere dominance agenda. The piece frames this as a test of war powers and oversight.

• The article notes legal experts arguing that presidents often use significant force unilaterally and Congress rarely responds with decisive formal action, and it contextualizes the scale as the largest U.S. Latin America mission since the 1989 Panama invasion. It also quotes Sen. Tim Kaine, accusing the administration of misleading Congress and criticizing the lack of public hearings, pushing for transparency.

📡 China Teases Smart Tech That Harvests Radar Energy to Power Stealth Jets — Read More

• Chinese researchers claim they’ve developed a “smart surface” that can harvest usable electricity from electromagnetic waves—conceptually including enemy radar emissions. The system is framed as an “all-in-one” device that combines sensing, communications, wireless data transfer, and energy harvesting, with the aim of supporting intelligent stealth systems and next-gen 6G networks in contested environments.

• The article suggests the concept could reshape stealth thinking: instead of purely avoiding radar, future aircraft might exploit radar beams as a power source while using the architecture to support coordination and communications across multiple platforms. It also hints at electronic warfare relevance, stressing resistance to jamming and the ability to sustain intensive tasks with self-generated power.

• Beyond aircraft, the write-up points to potential satellite and comms applications, including self-powered sensors, micro base stations, and integrated relay systems. The researchers argue the approach could contribute to “environment-adaptive integrated sensing and communication” and broader 6G/IoT impacts as the technology matures, positioning it as a building block for more connected, autonomous systems.

🌏 Other Important News

✈️ Air

• Pakistan’s Taimoor Cruise Missile Hits 600-Km in Breakthrough Test — Read More

• India to Become First Army to Field Ramjet-Powered 155mm Artillery Shells — Read More

• India Moves to Shield Its Capital With a Multi-Layered Air Defense ‘Dome’ — Read More

🌊 Sea

• U.S. Navy accepts delivery of third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer — Read More

🛡️ Land

• What US aircraft were used in Operation Absolute Resolve? — Read More

🏛️ Policy

• Venezuela is the latest in a long history of US interventions in Latin America — Read More

• Trump gives up on National Guard deployment in 3 cities — Read More

• US spy agencies contributed to operation that captured Maduro — Read More

• The US will ‘run’ Venezuela for now, Trump says after armed assault on capital — Read More

🏭 Industry

• Service acquisition leaders: Why this time will be different for defense acquisition — Read More

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