The U.S. military is moving to a “wartime footing” level of production for munitions burned through in the war with Iran. Multiple offices inside the Pentagon are influencing private defense companies to leverage massive investment in production lines, while offering the promise of longer-term contracts to smooth out demand from the military.

A Threat Status exclusive published Thursday reveals how the Trump administration is using the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to open a pathway for missile and rocket producers to collaborate in near-unprecedented ways without violating antitrust laws.

“We brought all of the solid rocket motor companies in … for discussions around our goals and how to achieve this and how we can drive better coordination,” Michael Cadenazzi, the assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, told Threat Status in an exclusive interview.

The Kremlin reacted with outrage this week to public assertions by German authorities that Russia was responsible for a failed drone attack inside Germany last month. Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, threatened in a social media post that Russian forces could begin bombing German targets to punish Berlin for providing military support to Ukraine.

“Berlin has accused Russia of an unproven attack on Leipzig Airport,” Mr. Medvedev, a former Russian president and deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, said on his Telegram page. “Given the neo-Nazi, rabidly Russophobic policies of the current German leadership, a fabricated act of sabotage is the weakest form of punishment for their sins.”

Mr. Medvedev was once seen in the West as a moderate. He now plays a role as Mr. Putin’s “bad cop” in what analysts describe as a carefully choreographed Kremlin propaganda campaign devised to stir unease and division within NATO. His threats this week underscore an escalation of what analysts describe as Russia’s hybrid warfare and gray zone tactics aimed at infrastructure destruction, sabotage, targeted violence and mis-information inside countries that support Ukraine.

The threat of a futuristic electromagnetic pulse weapon attack by China or another American adversary has made its way into the Senate version of the 2027 defense authorization, which contains language asserting that the U.S. is vulnerable to EMPs — directed energy wave attacks that can disrupt the power grid, cause massive blackouts, and damage or destroy cellphones, internet service and satellites.

Recent EMP advances by the Chinese government now also threaten Taiwan, according to a report attached to the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act. The report says an EMP could “rapidly degrade [Taiwan’s] ability to sustain its civilian population and mount an effective defense.”

The EMP phenomenon was discovered in 1962 after a high-altitude U.S. nuclear test in the Pacific Ocean, called Starfish Prime, that disrupted the electric grid and telephone service and knocked out streetlights in Hawaii — nearly 900 miles away. Lawmakers say it’s time for the Pentagon to mount a better defense against the EMP threat.

Concerns are swirling inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill over the lack of confirmed leadership in some of the military’s highest civilian-held positions, following this week’s sudden resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Sources tell Threat Status that Mr. Driscoll’s deputy, Dave Fitzgerald, is also expected to resign soon. 

That would leave the secretary positions of the Army and Navy, the services’ highest-ranking civilian roles, unfilled by Senate-confirmed leaders. Mr. Trump this week nominated Hung Cao to become secretary of the Navy. Mr. Cao has been serving in the post in an acting capacity for months. The announcement came the morning after news broke of Mr. Driscoll’s resignation on Tuesday.

Mr. Cao, a retired Navy captain, was initially appointed as acting secretary in April after John C. Phelan was fired. Mr. Cao is a staunch Trump supporter who ran unsuccessfully in Virginia for the House in 2022 and the Senate in 2024. He and whoever steps into the shoes of Mr. Driscoll will have to convince the Senate of their bona fides to be confirmed.

Russian hackers are deep inside the “backbone of America’s critical and defense infrastructure,” according to retired U.S. Army Gen. Keith Kellogg of the America First Policy Institute, who writes in an op-ed for The Washington Times that “Artificial intelligence has made the situation more urgent.

“AI tools now enable adversaries to find vulnerabilities at scale, automate reconnaissance that once required skilled human operators, and craft deception faster than most organizations can detect,” writes Gen. Kellogg, a former Trump special envoy to Ukraine.

“Congress must begin treating cybersecurity as an arsenal requirement on par with ships, aircraft and munitions,” he writes. “Federal agencies must accelerate the modernization of their networks while ensuring that the companies they partner with build to the same standard.”

• Sept. 3 — AI for Defense Summit, Defense Strategies Institute

• Sept. 3 —The AI Open-Weight Debate: Balancing Innovation and Security, Center for a New American Security

• Sept. 8-10 — Billington Cybersecurity Summit 2026, Billington Cybersecurity

• Sept. 9 — Bend but Do Not Break: Shaping the Future of the All-Volunteer Force, Center for Strategic & International Studies

• Sept. 9 — Global Affairs Expert Webinar: China’s Influence in the Americas, Council on Foreign Relations

• Sept. 11 — The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks at 25: Assessing the Legacy, Addressing the Future, Brookings Institution

• Sept. 12-13 — AFA National Convention, Air & Space Forces Association

• Sept. 22-23 — Nuclear Energy Policy Summit 2026, Atlantic Council