Ground Troops & Draft “on the Table”
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As the US-Israel strikes continue in Iran, the Trump administration has said the prospect of a US military draft remains “on the table,” reports Military.com. Asked about the president’s plans for troops on the ground, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table.”
Approximately 100 members of the Washington Air National Guard have been activated to support US military action against Iran, reports Stars and Stripes. A military spokesperson confirmed Friday that members of the 141st Air Refueling Wing stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane were activated.
In addition to threatening American troops and bases, waves of cheap Iranian drones punching through air defenses require the US to counter with interceptors that take years and millions of dollars to build, reports The Hill. “Tehran is attempting … a strategy of ‘death by a thousand paper cuts’ to bleed US and Israeli defenses,” said Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center.
The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force, Joint Interagency Task Force 401, is set to test a high-energy laser system against drones at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico over the weekend, reports Defense News. High-energy laser systems use concentrated beams to track small unmanned aircraft systems and burn them with focused rays, bringing them down without expending munitions.
The US military said it attacked and destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz amid reports that Iran has begun laying explosive devices in the strategically vital waterway, reports The Guardian.
Roughly 140 American service members have been wounded—eight severely—in the first 10 days of Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday, reports Military Times. “The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” said Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman.
The US military said it killed six men Sunday in another strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged traffickers, reports AP News. Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September.
US and Ecuadorian forces carried out “lethal kinetic strikes” against drug traffickers in Ecuador near the Colombian border, US Southern Command announced on Friday. Task & Purpose reports that the operation targeted a training camp used by the Comandos de la Frontera, according to Ecuador’s defense ministry.
The United States and Iran have offered sharply different accounts of the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean last week, with Washington rejecting Tehran’s claim the vessel was unarmed and Iranian officials insisting it was operating in a noncombat role, reports Military Times.
NATO defenses intercepted an Iranian missile on Monday that entered Turkey’s airspace, the country’s defense ministry said. The interception is the second of a Turkey-bound missile since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, reports Defense News.
The French Navy will send eight frigates and two amphibious assault ships to the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea, joining aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), following an Iranian drone attack on a Cyprus-based joint operating installation, reports USNI. French President Emmanuel Macron, on Monday from the carrier, said,“when Cyprus is attacked, it is Europe that is attacked.”
The United Kingdom’s HMS Dragon warship will set sail in the coming days to a base in Cyprus, reports The Hill.
Russia continues to add new military units near NATO’s eastern flank, according to the latest annual report by the Lithuanian intelligence service, reports Stars and Stripes. New naval infantry units and additional capabilities are being developed in the highly fortified Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders two NATO allies, Lithuania and Poland.
Finland is considering scrapping its Cold War-era blanket ban on nuclear weapons on its territory, reports Defense News, a move the Ministry of Defense says is needed to fully integrate into NATO’s deterrence architecture.
In the wake of Anthropic being blacklisted by the federal government, the company has filed a sweeping lawsuit against over a dozen federal agencies and government leaders—including DefSec Pete Hegseth and GSA Administrator Edward Forst—claiming the federal government is inappropriately retaliating against it, reports NextGov/FCW.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed GEN Joshua Rudd to lead Cyber Command and the National Security Agency in a dual-hatted capacity, giving the signals intelligence and hacking titans their first permanent leader in almost a year. NextGov/FCW reports Rudd was confirmed in a 71-29 vote some three months after he was nominated to the position.
US Special Operations Command MAJ Nicholas Dockery has been authorized by the House and Senate to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest combat valor award, reports Army Times. Dockery, 41, saved a comrade from being dragged away by enemy fighters in Afghanistan in 2012. He was recognized as Military Times’ Soldier of the Year in 2022.
Maryland’s congressional lawmakers are backing an effort to regulate energy use by artificial intelligence companies, reports Capital News Service. The Power for the People Act would require AI companies to bear the costs of increased power demand and any possible infrastructure changes needed to meet the demands of their data centers.
Contracts awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., March 9-11, 2026:
Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $12,460,795 firm-fixed-price contract (H9240826CE001) for the procurement of long-lead material to support the Small Cruise Missile program in support of U.S. Special Operations Command. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, and is expected to be complete by Feb. 26, 2029. U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.
Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $16,790,854 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost reimbursable contract (N0003926CE001) to provide program management, systems engineering, operations and maintenance, and logistics support services for the portfolio of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Foreign Military Sales (FMS) C4I, surveillance and reconnaissance cases with an option for Surge efforts as well as an option for communication security custodial services. The contract is a one-year base with four one-year option periods. The option periods, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $123,209,148. Work will be predominantly performed outside the continental U.S. in Saudi Arabia and is expected to be completed in March 2027. If options are exercised, work could continue until March 2031. This contract will utilize FMS funding. The contract was competitively procured via Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment Solicitation Module and System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website with three offers received. The contract on behalf of the Program Executive Office, Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence International C4I Integration Program Office, by the contracting authority, the Naval Information Warfare Systems System Command, San Diego, California.
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland,* Baltimore, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $17,736,000 modification (P00008) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-24-D-B014) with two one-year option periods for physical fitness uniform jackets. This is an indefinite-delivery contract. Locations of performance are North Carolina and Virginia, with a March 20, 2027, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2026 through 2027 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-24-D-B014).
AIX Tech LLC, Brambleton, Virginia, is awarded a $225,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (HT001526DE001) to provide a variety of acquisition and administrative support services to the Defense Health Agency, such as program management office support, acquisition planning support, engineering program management support services, procurement technician support, business operation support, content management support, computer analyst, and clerical and administrative support services. The contract has a five year ordering period with a June 14, 2031, completion date. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds were obligated at the time of award. This requirement was solicited via SAM.gov as a request for proposals. Place of performance is Aurora, Colorado; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Dayton, Ohio; Falls Church, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California. The Defense Health Agency, Enterprise Medical Services Contracting Division, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 5, 2026)
Fincantieri Marine Systems North America, Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded $17,307,657 to execute the fourth and final option year (modification P00010) on previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00406-22-D-0002 for the scheduled maintenance, repairs, and technical support for the Isotta Franschini diesel engines used on the Navy’s Mine Countermeasure Class ships. The contract also provides for the purchase of necessary repair parts, replacement components and related supplies to keep the engines operational. The original contract was awarded with a base year and four one-year option periods. The execution of Option Year Four represented in this award will bring the contract to its full term and the contract’s total amount to $77,605,845. All work under the contract is expected to be completed by March 2027. Work will be performed in Manama, Bahrain (50%); and Sasebo, Japan (50%). No funding will be obligated at time of award. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year operation and maintenance (Navy) funds at the time of their issuance and will expire at the end of the applicable fiscal year. One company was originally solicited for this sole-source, non-competitive requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Puget Sound, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity.
2 Circle Inc.,* Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $13,292,184 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This contract facilitates the continued development of the Reconstruction and Assessment of Proficiency in an Integrated Debrief software under Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III. The project will refine the software’s analytical tools to provide a comprehensive assessment of warfighting capabilities across live, virtual, and constructive training and testing environments for the US Department of Defense and its international partners in support of the mission and functions of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Corona Division, Range Systems Department. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $65,694,779. Work will be performed in Norco, California (3%); various locations throughout the continental U.S. (84%); and various partner nation training locations outside the continental U.S. (13%). Work is expected to be completed by March 2027. If all options are exercised, work will continue through March 2031. Fiscal 2026 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 15 U.S. Code 638(r)(4), as it is a SBIR Phase III for work derived from prior SBIR contract efforts. NSWC, Corona Division, Corona, California, is the contracting activity (N6426726C7300).
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $12,000,000 modification (P00083) to contract W58RGZ-25-C-0003 for global aviation maintenance services. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Va., with an estimated completion date of March 10, 2026. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $320,008,866. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
System High Corp., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $39,837,500 modification (P00030) to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR001122C0073 for program security services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $166,476,462 from $126,638,962. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 2027. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $12,863,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $700,400,000 modification (P00006) to a previously awarded fixed-price incentive (firm-target), undefinitized, advanced acquisition contract (N0001925C0070). This modification adds scope to procure long lead material, parts, and components in support of Lots 20 and 21 of F-35 production aircraft for the government of Denmark. Additionally, this modification provides additional funding to previously awarded scope that procures long lead materials, parts, and components in support of Lots 20 and 21 of F-35 production aircraft for F-35 Cooperative Program Partners and Foreign Military Customers. Work will be performed Fort Worth, Texas (59%); El Segundo, California (14%); Warton, United Kingdom (9%); Cameri, Italy (4%); Orlando, Florida (4%); Nashua, New Hampshire (3%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); San Diego, California (2%); and other various locations outside of the continental U.S. (2%), and is expected to be completed December 2030. F-35 cooperative program partner funds in the amount of $305,900,000; and Foreign Military Sales customer funds in the amount of $394,500,000, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
