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SecWar Orders Personal Firearms Authorization System Wide

Published about 3 hours ago • 5 min read

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Major Developments

SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES

 

Pentagon Orders All Bases to Allow Off-Duty Troops to Carry Personal Firearms

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed a directive ordering all military installation commanders to allow off-duty service members to carry privately owned firearms on base, reversing decades of restrictions. Commanders must now presume approval, and any denial requires a written explanation.

Hegseth framed the policy as constitutional, stating "our warfighters are no less entitled to keep and bear arms." The directive follows deadly security incidents at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fort Stewart and Holloman Air Force Base. (Read More)​

U.S. F-15E Shot Down Over Iran With One Crew Member Still Missing

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath was shot down over central Iran, the first manned U.S. aircraft loss of Operation Epic Fury. One crew member was rescued; search and rescue operations continued for the second.

Videos flooded social media showing CSAR aircraft flying at extremely low altitudes over Iranian countryside, including HC-130Js refueling HH-60s. Iranian state TV broadcast wreckage photos and offered a bounty for the crew's capture. (Read More)​

A-10 Warthog Crashes Near the Strait of Hormuz in Second Aircraft Loss of the Day

A U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the second American combat aircraft lost in a single day during Operation Epic Fury. Officials told the New York Times the pilot was safely rescued.

The crash came around the same time an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over central Iran. Whether the A-10 was brought down by enemy fire or mechanical failure has not been disclosed, and CENTCOM has not yet released an official statement. (Read More)​

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QUICK UPDATES

CONFLICT UPDATES

➤ Austria rejected multiple U.S. requests for military overflights since the Iran war began, citing its neutrality law. A defense ministry spokesman said requests "involving a country at war" are refused by default, joining Switzerland, Spain, Italy and France. (Read More)​

➤ ISIS-linked ADF fighters killed at least 43 people in Bafwakoa in northeast DR Congo, attacking victims with machetes and burning homes. The army said the ADF targets civilians to sabotage peace efforts. (Read More)​

➤ A French container ship and a Japanese tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the first Western-linked vessels to transit since Iran closed the waterway at the start of the war. Both passages were coordinated with Iranian maritime authorities. (Read More)​

SECURITY UPDATES

➤ Hackers broke into the European Commission's cloud servers and stole over 52,000 internal emails and personal data from at least 30 EU agencies. The breach went undetected for weeks before two criminal hacking groups leaked the data online. (Read More)​

➤ Cuba pardoned and released 2,010 prisoners under mounting U.S. pressure, including an oil blockade that cut off fuel shipments for months. It is unclear whether any political prisoners were among those freed. (Read More)​

➤ LinkedIn is accused of secretly scanning users' browser extensions and sending the data to third parties without consent. An investigation found the platform tracks up to 6,000 extensions that can reveal political beliefs, disabilities and competitive intelligence. (Read More)​

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

➤ DARPA's X-65 completed fuselage assembly at Aurora Flight Sciences, advancing a design that replaces traditional control surfaces with jets of pressurized air. The 7,000-pound demonstrator has a 30-foot wingspan and is targeting first flight in 2027. (Read More)​

➤ China's Tianlong-3 rocket failed 33 seconds after liftoff from Jiuquan when a small engine explosion killed thrust. The partially reusable vehicle, billed as China's answer to SpaceX's Falcon, was designed to carry nearly 49,000 pounds to low Earth orbit. (Read More)​

➤ The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.36 billion contract for Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles to arm the USS Zumwalt destroyer class. The ship can carry 12 hypersonic missiles in four large-diameter launch tubes installed last year. (Read More)​

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Special Interest

SPECIAL CATEGORY

➤ The Artemis II crew shared their first photos from beyond low Earth orbit, stunning images of Earth taken from Orion as it speeds toward the moon on humanity's first crewed trip past Earth orbit since Apollo 17.

➤ SpaceX filed confidentially with the SEC for what could be the largest IPO in history, reportedly targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation and a $75 billion raise. Starlink crossed 10 million subscribers and generated $10 billion in revenue last year.

➤ Nepali authorities charged 32 Mount Everest guides for allegedly poisoning nearly 5,000 foreign climbers with baking powder to fake altitude sickness, then billing insurers for helicopter rescues. The scam netted an estimated $20 million between 2022 and 2025.

On this day in history: On April 4th, 1949, twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C., forming NATO to counter Soviet expansion. The alliance's Article 5 committed each member to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.
Special Interest

SENTIMENT COLLECTION

We have seen many arguments in both directions on social media, send us your thoughts and we will share them with the audience on Monday.

Yesterday’s Results:

Overall, Do you think the campaign against Iran has been a net positive or net negative for the U.S.?

  1. Net Positive (54.9%)​
  2. Jury's still out (23.2%)
  3. Net Negative (21.9%)

Have a question you would like polled? Email us at editor@sofx.com​
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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.

Have feedback for us? We want to hear any and all comments you may have. Contact us at editor@sofx.com​.​

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