I - On Defense Podcast Unknown

For Review:1. Iranian President's (Ebrahim Raisi) Helicopter Crashes in Mountainous Region. Condition of passengers unknown. Heavy fog and bad weather challenge rescue efforts.2. Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) rejects normalization with Saudi Arabia at the cost of a two-state solution- (with Hamas in control- marginalized or not).3. US Forces Begin Departing Niger. All US Forces will depart country by 15 September 2024.4. Latest Denmark Assistance to Ukraine worth $813...

For review:1. US Gaza Pier ready for operation. Goal is for 500 tons of humanitarian assistance daily via the pier.2. IDF airstrike in southern Lebanon potentially reveals that Hezbollah has Iranian-made Sayyad-2 surface-to-air missiles. 3. Report: Hezbollah has the capability to arm drones with 2 x S-5 rockets. The S-5 is a Soviet-era 57-mm unguided air-to-surface rocket equipped with a high-explosive warhead.4. Israel: Nearly 700 tunnel shafts have been identified in Rafah, ...

For review:1. IDF locating and destroying tunnels in Rafah operation.Israel Defense Minister (Yoav Gallant): "many tunnels have already been destroyed and many more will be destroyed soon." 2. Strange Story: US Secretary of State (Antony Blinken) visits Kyiv weeks after Washington approved a $61 billion package of aid for the country- and plays guitar. 3. Finnish Leaders: No Appetite for Troops in Ukraine.4. Australia defense budget for 2024-2025 is AU$55.7 billion.5. US & Japan...

For review:1. US - built Gaza Pier ready in one or two days.US Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary (Sabrina Singh): "Improved sea conditions will allow the U.S. Army to anchor a causeway onto the beach this week."2. IDF Moves Further into Rafah. Israel's relations with Egypt strained.3. Ukrainian Commander of Kharkiv Region Removed. Offensive in Kharkiv Region has given Russian forces control of an estimated 162 square kilometers of border territory and ten villages in a pair of 5-8 ki...

For review:1. Report: Hamas leader (Yahya Sinwar) is not hiding in Rafah, but possibly in the Khan Younis area- some five miles away.2. Latest US Security Assistance Package to Ukraine is Worth $400 million. It includes air defense munitions, artillery ammunition, and anti-tank weapons among other materiel.3. Apparently referencing the AP report about US M1 Tanks pulled from frontline duty (due to targeting by Russian drones), the Netherlands Ministry of Defense states that it does not impose...

For review:1. US Pauses Delivery of 2000lb & 500lb Bombs to IDF.US President (Joe Biden): (if Israel goes into Rafah), “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”2. Israel Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) reaction to US weapon pause: “We are determined and we are united to defeat our enemy and those who seek to destroy us… If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”3. Great Article from Breaking Defense (...