Romanian military forces scrambled two F-16 fighter jets Friday after a Russian attack drone hit the roof of an apartment building in a southeastern area of the NATO nation that borders Ukraine. The incident has sent tensions soaring between NATO and Moscow.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte swiftly condemned Russia’s “recklessness,” saying Friday he had spoken with Romanian President Nicusor Dan and that NATO “stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory.”

The drone hit in the Romanian city of Galati. Authorities said at least two people were injured. Russian drones have previously crashed near the Romania-Ukraine border, but this was the first to strike so far into Romanian territory. Friday’s incident came days after Russia threatened to dramatically increase attacks on Ukraine.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has increased its army, navy, air force and rocket force structures, and has expanded its military specialties for waging information and cyberwar, as well as conflict in space, according to a new report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute, a U.S. Air Force think tank.

“This restructuring is explicitly intended to improve the PLA’s ability to conduct joint, all‑domain operations and informationized warfare in contingencies ranging from Taiwan to the western Pacific and Indian Oceans,” warns the report that was circulated online this month. It says PLA military reforms also have refined and improved Chinese military command structures for the five, relatively new, theater commands.

Chinese military writings describe air, missile, naval aviation and space capabilities that are “mutually reinforcing tools for deterrence, coercion and, if necessary, high‑intensity regional conflict,” according to the report. It notes a troubling advance in the PLA air force’s long-range nuclear deterrence and strategic signaling that was put on display over the past year with H-6 nuclear bomber patrols and joint flights with Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers near Japan and South Korea.

The ability of adversaries to use commercial location data from smartphones to find and target U.S. troops in the Middle East is a “five-alarm fire” that demands immediate action, according to a letter that a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers sent this week to Kirsten A. Davies, the Defense Department’s chief information officer.

The lawmakers are calling on the Pentagon to take specific new steps to address the growing threat from “ubiquitous technical surveillance,” or UTS, which refers to the trail of data, or “digital exhaust,” produced by modern smartphones that an adversary can easily purchase from so-called data brokers. 

In their letter, the lawmakers cited examples of how commercial data was used to track phones from U.S. military bases, including at least one incident involving special forces personnel in Syria.

Seoul is striving to secure strategic and industrial autonomy by promoting an ahead-of-schedule release of its troops from longtime U.S. operational control and disclosing plans for a nascent South Korean nuclear submarine program.

Asia Editor Andrew Salmon examines the situation in a dispatch from Seoul, writing that those and other related matters indicate a widening gap in the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Army Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, is sticking to the U.S. script on the “OPCON Transfer” issue. Current agreements stipulate that command transfer must be based on the achievement of certain conditions, rather than any specific time frame. Gen. Brunson also has repeatedly promoted the U.S. military foothold in South Korea as a node for regional operations — a concept that makes Seoul uncomfortable as it seeks amicable relations with China.

Conservative South Korean administrations typically align as closely as possible with Washington, while progressive ones such as that currently in power in Seoul have prioritized more defense independence. It’s notable that the Trump administration is pushing U.S. allies worldwide to take greater responsibility for their own defense. It’s also notable that South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung said in remarks this week that “the fundamental duty of the state is to defend itself through its own resources.”

Conservative Canadian political theorist William Barclay sharply criticizes the South Korean president’s posture toward the Seoul-Washington alliance, arguing that Mr. Lee is pandering to China, mistreating U.S. businesses and undermining Washington’s military efforts to contain Iran.

“Mr. Lee has … refused to support America’s Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East. Instead, the government has sent aid to Iran,” Mr. Barclay writes in an op-ed for The Washington Times, adding that “South Korea’s 2025 elections were marred by claims of fraud and foreign interference by China.”

Mr. Barclay goes on to say that “Mr. Lee may have recently attempted to ingratiate himself with President Trump to disguise the degenerate state of the South Korean nation and its damaged relationship with America, but one thing is apparent: Whenever President Lee opens his mouth, only [Chinese leader Xi Jinping] spills out.spills out.”

• May 29-31 — IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2026, the International Institute for Strategic Studies

• June 2 — War at Arm’s Length: How America Can Build Effective Partners Through Military Assistance, Brookings Institution

• June 3 — Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran, Brookings Institution

• June 12 — Winning the Innovation Competition (Featuring Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael), Hudson Institute

• June 18 — Deterring Russia and China: Securing America’s Nuclear Future, Hudson Institute

• June 24 — IndoPac 2026 | Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2, Threat Status Events