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(Photo courtesy of Dino Garner / Crucibeljournal.com)

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES

The House Is Sound, the Wiring Is Not

SOFX contributor Dino Garner, edited by SOFX founder Sam Havelock, examines whether the turmoil at the Pentagon, including the removal of more than two dozen senior officers and cuts to promotion lists, points to anyone secretly directing events.

Drawing on primary election results, probability models of secrecy, and the record of which officers objected and what followed, he finds no evidence of a hidden hand. Instead, he traces the situation to structural rules: safe House seats, low-turnout primaries, and a cabinet removal process that gives military dissent no outlet. The piece ends with five dated predictions and four actions available to any voter. (Read More)

OpenAI Discloses Six Cases of Its AI Agents Going Rogue in Testing

OpenAI disclosed six cases of AI models going rogue as it launched a framework to track and report “misalignment,” or failures to follow intended instructions or safety goals.

The cases included models creating their own instructions, fabricating information, sharing files without authorization and uploading data online. The disclosures follow a July incident in which an OpenAI agent swarm breached Hugging Face during a cybersecurity test. Anthropic and Meta have also reported unexpected AI behavior during controlled testing. (Read More)

U.S. State Dept. Approves $24 Billion F-35 Sale to Saudi Arabia

The State Department approved the possible sale of 48 F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, which would become the second Middle Eastern country to operate the aircraft after Israel. The $24 billion deal comes as the country faces ongoing Houthi attacks.

The department said the sale “will not alter the military balance in the region” and will support U.S. “national security objectives.” U.S. intelligence officials however warned that the deal could risk China gaining access to sensitive U.S. military technology. (Read More)

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QUICK UPDATES

CONFLICT UPDATES

➤ U.S. forces intercepted and sank a floating refueling vessel in the Eastern Pacific allegedly supporting drug trafficking linked to Ecuador’s Los Choneros criminal group. The crew was removed and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities before the vessel was sunk, U.S. Southern Command said. (Read More)

➤ The Institute for the Study of War said Russia is conducting coordinated kinetic and non-kinetic campaigns against Europe and warns NATO should prepare for a possible limited conventional attack on a member state before 2029. The report comes after Germany reported an increase in Russian “hybrid attacks,” including a drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport that German officials attributed to Russia. (Read More)

➤ Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck one An-12, two An-26 transport aircraft and three helicopters at a Russian military airfield in the Rostov region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The SBU conducted the strike as part of a broader operation that also targeted an oil refinery in Yaroslavl. (Read More)

SECURITY UPDATES

➤ Hackers who obtained a Flock surveillance camera reportedly found an encryption key stored on the device and extracted more than 27,000 video clips and 1.6 million images captured over 21 days. The discovery challenges Flock’s claim that images are only briefly stored on the cameras before being transmitted to its servers. (Read More)

➤ The International Meteor Organization said a cyberattack severely damaged its aging infrastructure, taking much of its website offline. The nonprofit expects partial service disruptions for several weeks while it migrates to new infrastructure. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. (Read More)

➤ Spain’s data protection agency (AEPD) reported its first breach attributed to an autonomous AI agent, which reportedly exploited a vulnerability to modify personal data and access invoices. The agency urged organizations to strengthen access controls and fix vulnerabilities, warning that AI-powered cyberattacks are becoming a real-world threat. (Read More)

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

➤ The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin reached an initial agreement to increase production of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, a classified long-range air-to-air missile designed to replace the aging AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. The Pentagon has not disclosed the number of missiles or the cost associated with the agreement. (Read More)

➤ The U.S. Army awarded Northrop Grumman a $4.8 billion contract for full-rate production of the Common Infrared Countermeasure system, which protects aircraft from infrared-guided missiles. The Army plans to equip all of its rotary-wing aircraft with the system. (Read More)

➤ Japan is considering nuclear-powered submarines as part of a review of its defense policies, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said, after a U.S. Navy official said Japan has the technical expertise needed to build them. Japan currently operates conventionally powered diesel-electric submarines. (Read More)

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SPECIAL CATEGORY

➤ Researchers have identified the tilcayo tiger cat as a new wild cat species, marking the first new cat species named in about a century. The spotted animal lives in Bolivia’s Yungas cloud forest and is smaller than a typical house cat. Researchers said little is known about its population and biology, and further studies are needed to determine its conservation status.

➤ Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said China could develop its own advanced chipmaking machines by 2030, potentially reducing its dependence on Western technology to produce advanced chips used in artificial intelligence and other high-tech systems. China currently relies on foreign equipment, particularly from ASML, for the most advanced chipmaking processes.

➤ Japan has the world’s largest centenarian population, with 107,677 people aged 100 or older in 2026, making it the first country to surpass 100,000. The U.S. follows with about 64,000 and China with 39,000. Japan’s health care system and low obesity rate are considered factors behind its high number of centenarians.

On this day in history: On September 18th, 1947, the National Security Act took effect, remaking the US defense establishment in a single day. It created the Air Force as an independent service and established the Central Intelligence Agency, along with the National Security Council and Secretary of Defense.

SENTIMENT COLLECTION

Will humans set foot on Mars in your lifetime?

Yes

Unsure

Yesterday's Results:

Do you trust the US intelligence apparatus?

No (61.9%)
Yes (27.6%)
Unsure (10.5%)

n=717

Have your own question that you'd like polled? Email us at editor@sofx.com.

70,000+ daily readers trust The SOFX Report for independent coverage of global conflict and defense technology. Over 11 years of consistent publication has built an engaged audience of defense professionals and decision-makers.

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About SOFX: We are an independent media and communications technology company reporting on the conflicts, security, and technology issues impacting your lives and businesses. SOFX was founded by former special operations & intelligence professionals, not career journalists or Big Tech / Big Media.

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