📱 Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, according to a new lawsuit.

Twenty-six former Meta employees are suing, accusing the company of using AI that disproportionately targeted people with disabilities or workers who took medical leave in selecting people ​for mass layoffs.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/meta-used-ai-target-workers-with-medical-conditions-layoffs-former-employees-2026-07-14/

🇺🇸 LRASM and JASSM Production to Triple Under New US Air Force Contract

The U.S. Air Force now anticipates buying more than 11,000 new JASSM and LRASM cruise missiles over the next five to seven years according to a notice of intent published Friday, dramatically expanding the Pentagon’s JASSM and LRASM topline inventory objectives for both weapons that have had their objectives periodically increased over the past decade.

The move comes amid large-scale reconstitution in the wake of Operation Epic Fury, as well as major demand signals from the Pentagon to push suppliers towards internal investments to support higher production rates of key weapons needed for a potential conflict in the Pacific.

The planned procurement would span JASSM Lots 27–33 and LRASM Lots 13–19, covering up to 11,200 missiles in multiple variants over the next five to seven years. The expansion would also increase sustainment capacity, missile repair infrastructure, software support, and production at Lockheed Martin’s two existing manufacturing facilities, with deliveries expected to begin 27 months after contract award.

The contract covers all current and future variants of the LRASM and JASSM, including the new LRASM-ER and JASSM-XR — two new variants of the shared missile family that add some of Lockheed Martin’s newest anti-spoofing and survivability equipment.

The LRASM-ER also includes a series of sensor upgrades that Lockheed Martin considers “the key to the future growth of [LRASM]”, according to a Lockheed Martin spokesperson who provided comments to Naval News during the Sea Air Space Symposium in April.

Air Force officials acknowledged that expanding production to support the larger procurement will require substantial upfront investment and an extended manufacturing ramp-up. The notice also says government-owned production equipment remains committed to Lockheed Martin’s existing JASSM and LRASM contracts in the interim, supporting the company’s initiative to begin investing heavily into its supply chains and current production lines to meet new production demands.

Lockheed Martin has already met that demand with heavy investments across its supply chain and major manufacturing centers.

🔗 https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/07/lrasm-and-jassm-production-to-triple-under-new-us-air-force-contract/

🇺🇸 New $500M Artillery Shell Plant Failed To Produce Any 155mm Parts

A scathing new Pentagon Inspector General report found problems at the plant delayed the Army's 100,000 round-per-month goal.

The inability of a munitions plant in Mesquite, Texas, to build a key part set back the U.S. Army’s plans for ramping up production of 155mm shells to 100,000 rounds per month, according to a scathing new report by the War Department’s Office of Inspector General (DOWIG). Despite receiving close to $500 million from the U.S. Army funded through supplemental spending bills from Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), failed to make a single subcomponent needed to produce the badly needed shells as of last March.

“Without the 30,000 additional projectile metal parts anticipated from the Mesquite facility, the Army will be unable to reach its monthly capability goal of 100,000 155-mm artillery rounds,” the report concluded. “As of March 2026, the CPE A&E [Capability Program Executive Ammunition & Energetics] officials have not developed a plan to produce the additional rounds that are supposed to be produced at the Mesquite facility.”

At present, the Army is only producing 36,000 rounds per month, inspectors revealed.

Through modernization efforts and two new facilities, the Army expects to exceed the 100,000-round-per-month goal significantly by the end of next year. The initial goal was established by Congress in the wake of the U.S. providing millions of rounds to Ukraine.

Still, the report highlights the challenges U.S. arms makers face in trying to meet tighter timelines to produce more weapons. This all comes as the U.S. is increasingly concerned about stockpiles of a wide array of munitions after heavy usage in past and current conflicts and donations to partners like Ukraine, as well as foreign military sales. These are issues that we raised long before and during the current war with Iran, but they have become major headlines in the aftermath of the initial stages of that conflict.

🔗 https://www.twz.com/land/new-500m-artillery-shell-plant-failed-to-produce-any-155mm-parts

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 U.S. president Donald Trump, signals a return to the hot phase of the 3rd Gulf War saying that the U.S. will hit Iran "hard tomorrow, and even harder tomorrow night".

Trump also reused his threat to "take out" Iran's power plants and bridges, contradicting CENTCOM's claims about the pure military nature of the places targeted by the USAF while also signalling that the conventional weapons the USAF possesses are ineffective on Iran's missile cities hence why they haven't been targeted since the 40 Day hot phase of the 3rd Gulf War ended.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸⚡️ — Senate Democrats blocked the annual National Defense Authorization Act in a 50-46 vote, arguing Congress should not advance a $1.15 trillion defense bill as President Trump continues the war with Iran.

➡️ Democrats also opposed measures deepening U.S.-Israel military ties, including expanded intelligence sharing, defense technology cooperation and greater integration between the two militaries.

🇮🇷⚔️🇯🇴🇺🇸 U.S. military assets have again been repositioned to King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, Jordan.

Satellite imagery shows five USAF C-17A airlifters alongside what appear to be three U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft relocated from Bahrain.

🔗 EGYOSINT

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 Around 2 hours ago, U.S. aircraft struck for a 2nd time in a week the Chabahar lighthouse, southeastern Iran.

Moment of the strike was captured by Iranian TV.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 CENTCOM released footage of last night's U.S. airstrikes against Iran, claiming to have hit "coastal defense systems" and "cruise missile storage and launch sites" but the only footage they could provide was that of a truck being destroyed.

@CIG_telegram