A small, unmanned quadcopter drone — something available on the commercial market for a few hundred dollars — crashes near a village. Green smoke streams from a canister affixed to the body of the drone. A yell shatters the morning air: “Gas!” Five villagers collapse on the ground, gagging and writhing. It’s a sign of exposure to a chemical warfare agent that, left untreated, can asphyxiate its victims. A multinational team of Egyptian, Qatari and Indian Soldiers arrives on the scene. “Deploy the robot!” a Soldier shouts as a remote-controlled vehicle rolls up to investigate the drone wreckage. Qatari troops…
Unipath
Qatari Special Forces raided an enemy-held oil platform, rescued hostages on a passenger jet, stormed a metro train and cleared city streets. These crisis simulations were part of Invincible Sentry 2025, a counterterrorism exercise in which special operations troops from Qatar and the United States proved once again they could operate together as partners to strengthen regional security. Qatar hosted Invincible Sentry from April 13 to 17, 2025, the third time in six years it has invited U.S. forces to participate in the combined military exercise. The previous iteration, in 2021, focused on securing the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament…
In a world where asymmetric threats evolve faster than conventional responses, effective intelligence gathering is no longer the exclusive domain of satellites, cyber assets or even elite military units. Increasingly, it is the alert citizen — the person on the street, in the market or along a smuggling corridor — who becomes the key to stopping the next attack. Recognizing this, the U.S. Department of War has long employed a powerful tool: the DoW Rewards Program (DoWRP). This initiative offers money to people who provide timely, credible information that helps protect U.S. and allied forces or disrupts threats to regional…
As a Task Force Falcon joint patrol maneuvers through the forests of northern Atropia, near the disputed border with its aggressive neighbor Donovia, Soldiers scan the sky for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the terrain for hostile ground forces. Intelligence reports indicate that ethnic Donovian insurgents, loyal to the neighboring state and seeking to destabilize the disputed region, lurk among the trees. Suddenly, an enemy UAV appears above the tree line and the patrol is ambushed by insurgents. The task force Soldiers react rapidly and effectively, maneuvering to neutralize the enemy and its UAV. Though the attack injures three task…
Over the past quarter-century, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad, the Kingdom of Bahrain has worked tirelessly to engage constructively across our region and beyond to strengthen security, uphold stability and deepen prosperity. Since then, Bahrain has gone from strength to strength, with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister as the driving force behind its growing importance in tackling contemporary regional issues. At the heart of Bahrain’s diplomatic efforts lies a steadfast commitment to the principles of dialogue, coexistence and mutual respect, extending hands of friendship and cooperation to like-minded friends and partners, as we…
Photos by TECH SGT. DANIEL ROBLES/U.S. AIR FORCE The nation of Red Land, conspiring to reassemble its former empire that had disintegrated 30 years earlier, hires mercenaries to harass one of its former satellite states called Blue Land. Alarmed when the Red Land proxies cross the international border and occupy a stretch of Blue Land territory, the United Nations Security Council summons a multinational military coalition to protect citizens of Blue Land and, if necessary, expel Red Land-backed forces. The peacekeeping duty falls to task forces consisting of troops from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the…
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) earned international plaudits for disarming and stabilizing the southern part of the country after recent conflicts. U.S. Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, then Chairman of the Ceasefire Implementation Mechanism, accompanied LAF officers on a visit to the South Litani region of the country. The January 2025 trip included a stop in Al Khiam, the first border region to fully transition back to Lebanese control since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities on November 27, 2024. In just a month, the LAF cleared over 9,800 pieces of explosive ordnance from more than 80 locations. “I am…
The United States and its allies and partners have reiterated that waterways are vital to worldwide shipping and must remain open. To that end, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) and others are stepping up the Combined Joint All-Domain Operations (CJADO) campaign, an international initiative committed to preserving the safe movement of cargo and military vessels through strategically critical oceans and seas. More than 80% of the world’s goods transported by ships move through Indo-Pacific sea lanes and chokepoints, from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Japan and include the Luzon, Malacca, Singapore and Taiwan straits. A…
The Houthi terrorist group continues to promote political and economic instability through its Iranian-backed campaign of violence and intimidation in Yemen. Chief among the disruptions to the region are the drone and missile attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. “The Houthis want to blackmail the world in the Red Sea and are cloaking their acts of sabotage in misleading political justifications,” Yemeni President Dr. Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said in the spring of 2025. Restraining the Houthis from threatening regional and international law and order will require a collective effort from international partners,…
Bioterrorism refers to the use of microorganisms or biological products as a means of terrorizing and causing harm. This type of terrorism is characterized by its ability to cause widespread fear and destruction while making it difficult to trace the source of the attack and identify those responsible. Bioterrorism differs from other types of terrorism in several respects: Nature of agent: Microscopic organisms or their toxins are used, while conventional terrorism relies on conventional weapons such as bombs and firearms. Method of spread: Biological agents can be spread in different ways, such as air, water or food, and symptoms of…