Category: National Security

The Department of the Treasury sanctioned a transnational criminal organization operating large-scale cyber fraud operations, including fraudulent call centers, online investment scams, and romance fraud, that have targeted thousands of Americans, the department announced Sept. 11. The organization has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds, primarily by exploiting victims in the United States and other Western countries, according to Treasury. The sanctions freeze U.S.-accessible assets and prohibit Americans from conducting transactions with designated individuals and entities linked to the criminal network. The designations are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Online investment fraud, often called

U.S. Northern Command issued an operational update on Sept. 4 detailing the defeat of cartel-linked drones at the southern border, providing one of the first public accountings of the military’s counter-drone effectiveness along the U.S.-Mexico boundary. Military forces have employed directed energy weapons and other counter-drone systems to neutralize cartel unmanned aerial systems threats, NORTHCOM said. The update includes specific operational metrics on the number of drones defeated. Cartel drone use has expanded significantly in recent years, with criminal organizations deploying unmanned aerial systems for surveillance of law enforcement, cargo smuggling and potentially armed operations, according to defense and law

The U.S. Coast Guard will commission the Fast Response Cutter Jeffrey Palazzo in New York on Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, honoring a Coast Guardsman killed during the evacuation of lower Manhattan. Petty Officer Jeffrey Palazzo died on Sept. 11, 2001, while helping to evacuate civilians in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The Coast Guard played a central role in the largest maritime evacuation in U.S. history that day, moving approximately 500,000 people from lower Manhattan by boat. The FRC Jeffrey Palazzo is a 154-foot patrol vessel used for maritime law enforcement, search and

Air Force Global Strike Command launched the North Star Readiness Campaign on Sept. 8, targeting parts supply chain shortfalls and maintenance backlogs affecting the B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bomber fleets. The campaign addresses what the Air Force has acknowledged are below-acceptable mission-capable rates for key elements of the nation’s bomber fleet, aircraft that are essential to both nuclear deterrence and conventional strike missions. North Star is a joint effort involving Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Materiel Command and the Defense Logistics Agency, according to the Air Force. The three-command partnership signals leadership urgency about readiness shortfalls that

The State Department and Treasury Department announced coordinated actions on Sept. 9 to dismantle Xinbi Guarantee, a transnational criminal organization linked to large-scale cyber scam operations that have cost American victims billions of dollars. The dual-agency action uses the full weight of U.S. financial and diplomatic tools against a network that allegedly facilitates romance scams, investment fraud and cryptocurrency theft targeting U.S. citizens. The State Department announced the coordinated dismantlement effort under its counter-crime authorities, while Treasury separately sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee entities under its financial crimes enforcement powers, according to the departments. Xinbi Guarantee is believed to operate primarily in

The State Department designated former Ecuadorian government officials on Sept. 9 for involvement in significant corruption linked to foreign terrorist organizations, announcing the sanctions from Ecuador’s capital during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s diplomatic visit. The designations were announced simultaneously with the foreign terrorist organization designation of Los Tiguerones, an Ecuadorian criminal gang, indicating a coordinated enforcement package targeting both criminal networks and the government officials who facilitated their operations. The sanctions were imposed under Section 7031(c) of the annual foreign operations appropriations law, which makes designated officials and their immediate families ineligible for U.S. visas, the State Department said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a formal warning to Ford Motor Company on Sept. 8 against its embrace of Chinese technology and manufacturing, citing national security concerns. The warning represents a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to pressure major American companies to decouple from Chinese technology partners in sectors deemed strategically sensitive. Ford is one of the nation’s largest automakers, with significant exposure to Chinese manufacturing through joint ventures and supplier relationships. Duffy’s action targets specific Ford technology partnerships or supply chain relationships with Chinese firms, according to the Department of Transportation. The warning stops short of a

The Department of the Treasury imposed sweeping sanctions on Iranian airlines on Sept. 8, cutting the country’s civil aviation sector off from the U.S. dollar financial system. The sanctions, announced the same day U.S. forces destroyed five IRGC oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, signal a coordinated military-financial pressure campaign against Iran. The dual-track approach of simultaneous kinetic strikes and economic penalties represents a significant escalation of the maximum-pressure strategy. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted specific Iranian carriers and associated entities, severing their access to dollar-denominated transactions used for aircraft parts purchases, fuel contracts and international

U.S. Space Command conducted Apollo Maneuvers 2026 on Sept. 8, its first live-fly exercise demonstrating dynamic on-orbit operations, contested logistics and space maneuver doctrine using actual satellite movements. The exercise marks a doctrinal milestone, signaling the U.S. military has moved from planning to practicing space combat operations. Unlike previous tabletop or simulation exercises, Apollo Maneuvers involved real satellite maneuvering in orbit, a significant escalation in the operational testing of space warfighting capabilities. Space Command said the exercise tested contested logistics in space, a concept addressing how satellites can be resupplied, repositioned or protected in an environment where adversaries are capable

The U.S. Space Force selected Lake Kickapoo, Texas, as the preferred location for the third and final Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability site on Sept. 10, completing the network’s global architecture for monitoring adversary satellites. The DARC network, once complete, will provide continuous surveillance of geostationary orbit approximately 22,236 miles above Earth, the orbital band where critical U.S. military communications, missile warning and intelligence satellites operate alongside commercial assets. The Space Force said the three-site DARC network will close a critical gap in U.S. space domain awareness by enabling persistent, global monitoring of the geostationary belt. The two other DARC