Episode Details

For review:

1. US & Iran Talk in Geneva While More US Warplanes Move to Region. 

The aircraft included F-22, F-35, and F-16 jets. Several refuelers were also spotted on the move, according to social media accounts dedicated to tracking military flights.

A US official also confirmed to the Axios news site that more than 50 fighter jets were moved to the region in the past 24 hours.

2. Iran says it temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. 

The move came as semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported live fire exercises in the vital waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

3. Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. held a new round of trilateral peace talks in Geneva on Feb. 17, as Washington presses for progress toward a deal before summer.

A follow-up session is scheduled for Feb. 18. 

4. General Atomics’ LongShot is aiming to have its first flight test “as early as the end of 2026,” — three years after the company first said tests would begin, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today.

LongShot is an unmanned aircraft system dropped from a bomber or fighter that can launch missiles of its own. It could potentially be useful for both the Air Force and Navy, DARPA says. 

5. Australia is one of the pioneers exploring collaborative combat aircraft, or CCAs, as it throws its full weight behind Boeing Defence Australia’s MQ-28A Ghost Bat platform.

6. The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday it expects its next-generation LGM-35A Sentinel nuclear missile to reach initial capability in the early 2030s, following a revamp of the over-budget program’s acquisition plan set to finish this year.