INTERNACIONAL
Pentagon pushes hypersonic weapons production as startups slash costs
As the U.S. works to refill its missile stockpile, it is also looking to develop new weapons for its arsenal.
«We’re going to need all three tiers of missiles. The cheap ones, the ones that are now the high-end like Patriot and then maybe some hypersonics,» said Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marines colonel and senior advisor with the CSIS Defense and Security Department.
The U.S. military is taking an increasing interest in hypersonic weapons, which are maneuverable and travel five times faster than the speed of sound.
«These hypersonic systems are now seen as the novel revolutionary system and the ballistic missile is seen as the archaic one,» said UC Berkeley Senior Research Scholar Cameron Tracy.
US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE
But the weapons the military has traditionally invested in could come at a cost. Estimates from the Government Accountability Office show missiles for the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapon, the Dark Eagle, could cost more than $40 million each. As the Navy works to equip its Zumwalt Destroyers with hypersonics, the GAO puts estimates at $70 million per missile, which includes costs to develop and incorporate the necessary technologies. The GAO also notes the modernization project is two years behind schedule.
«In the long run, for example, the Army thinks that the long-ranged hypersonic weapon will become cheaper as production ramps up,» said Xiaodon Liang, arms control association senior policy analyst for Nuclear Weapons Policy and Disarmament.
Tomahawk missiles cost around $2.6 million, according to the U.S. Navy. Army budget documents show Patriot missiles cost nearly $4 million. Precision Strike Missiles or PrSMs cost $1.6 million per unit. The U.S. Navy could buy almost 27 tomahawks for the price of one hypersonic missile aboard the Zumwalt Destroyers. The Army could buy around 25 PrSMs for the price of one Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon.
«The U.S. has invested in recent years in several of the programs that are starting to become into fruition,» said Liang. «These are exquisite weapons. And I think that the military is acquiring them for exquisite purposes.»
Hypersonic weapons travel up to 20 times faster than traditional missiles and an adversary’s reaction time is thought to be six times shorter. Hypersonic speeds are also vital for both evading enemy defense systems and executing strikes. The Atlantic Council estimates 75% fewer hypersonic weapons would be needed for a mission.
US ARMY OFFERING DEFENSE FIRMS ‘CONCIERGE ACCESS’ TO TEST WEAPONS AT MILITARY RANGES
Startups are hoping to bring down some of the costs to produce hypersonic weapons with more affordable missiles and increased testing capabilities.
«The weapon itself is under $500,000, which, if you know about munitions, that’s incredibly cheap,» Castelion co-founder and CEO Bryon Hargis said.
The Army and Navy are investing in Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic weapon, which the company says is designed for mass production.
«It is a story about hypersonics and what they can provide in terms of a weapon, but it’s really a story of American manufacturing,» Hargis said. «The company is focused on providing America options to have that middle deterrence layer, and we’re doing that through production.»
This year, Castelion began building what it says will be the largest dedicated hypersonic weapon production factory in the U.S. Project Ranger is expected to produce thousands of Blackbeard weapons annually. Those will eventually be used to fill Castelion’s various contracts, such as integrating the weapons into the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Jets, incorporating the system into the U.S. Army’s HIMARS and deploying Blackbeard on unmanned surface vessels.
«The advantage of a hypersonic system is that it goes very far, it gets there quickly and it’s highly survivable because of that maneuverability. And that’s important for achieving deterrence because it’s hard to shoot down,» Hargis said.
Hypersonic weapons remain mostly in Earth’s atmosphere. The missiles are maneuverable during flight and can strike a target quickly, in 15-30 minutes from around 1,725 miles away.
US REBUILDING WEAPONS STOCKPILE COULD DELAY ORDERS FROM ALLIES
«If you don’t know what the target would be initially, unlike a ballistic missile where you can calculate where it’ll land, you might misinterpret, for example, an incoming strike as a decapitation attempt. And that would be very concerning,» Liang said.
Developers say the U.S. speaks with other countries about missile launches and what the intended targets are. But there are other concerns that hypersonic maneuverability could lead to inaccuracy.
«Technologies do tend to improve over time as testing and especially as experience with use builds up, but there are pretty important physical constraints on the performance of these systems,» said Tracy.
Defense contractor Rocket Lab is working with the War Department to improve hypersonic missile capabilities through an increasing number of test launches.
INSIDE AMERICA’S LASER REVOLUTION AS THE MILITARY NEARS BIG BATTLEFIELD BREAKTHROUGH
«With our HASTE program, what we have enabled is low-cost, high-frequency hypersonic and missile defense testing. And when you can say that you can get that cheaper and faster, now you’re looking at more of a shots on goal approach to demonstrating capability of the technology insertion cycle,» Rocket Lab Vice President of Global Launch Services Brian Rogers said.
Rocket Lab’s HASTE is a suborbital test bed launch vehicle that provides flight test opportunities for the government to advance hypersonic and suborbital system technology development. The vehicle is derived from Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which has launched nearly 100 missions.
«Rather than saying we need to be stuck in an analysis environment, and then it’s a very rigorous test campaign that costs a lot of money and involves a lot people, now you can say we’re planning 12 tests this year. We don’t have to bet the farm on any one of them, which allows us to take more risk and really move the needle in terms of technology development,» Rogers said.
The U.S. military has never used a hypersonic weapon but has explored deploying its Dark Eagle to the Middle East.
«I would be very surprised if we used them and would be even more surprised if we used it extensively because of the small number of missiles that exist and the concerns already about the munitions stockpile,» Liang said.
military tech, spending, military, politics, armed forces topics
INTERNACIONAL
Rep Ilhan Omar’s immigration history faces new scrutiny as federal investigators subpoena relatives
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., immigration history is facing fresh scrutiny after federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home, with new reports detailing subpoenas to relatives and a request from her congressional staff to change the birth year listed in public biographies.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other person in her family circle as they examine possible fraud and false statements in immigration paperwork, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation.
has also learned that subpoenas have been sent to multiple family members of Omar.
Separately, the New York Post reported that Omar’s staff asked the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library in May 2019 to change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982, a discrepancy a former political opponent has questioned while challenging the Minnesota Democrat’s account of how she became a U.S. citizen.
HOMAN CONFIRMS ‘CRIMINAL’ INVESTIGATION INVOLVING ILHAN OMAR, SAYS HE KNOWS ‘THINGS ARE GOING ON’
The reports come one day after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home.
Two sources familiar with the probe told Digital the search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation involving her immigration paperwork.
The Justice Department confirmed that agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
Omar has repeatedly denied immigration wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against her.
«I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,» Omar, a member of DC’s progressive «The Squad,» wrote Monday on X.
«For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,» she continued. «I will not be silenced.»
According to emails reviewed by the Post, Omar’s congressional staff contacted the Minnesota library months after she entered Congress to request the birth-year correction.
«On May 17, 2019, Library staff were informed by Rep. Omar’s congressional staff that her birth year was incorrect and requested that we change it to 1982,» the library’s director wrote in a May 24, 2019, email, according to the outlet.
DEMOCRATS’ FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’
The director also said Omar’s staff were working with Wikipedia, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and other sources to correct the year.
But the library’s original entry was not based on a birth certificate or other supporting documentation. In another email cited by the Post, the director said the 1981 date had been drawn from other reference sources and added «without documentation.»
The discrepancy does not establish that Omar falsified immigration records, and neither report established that the biography change prompted Monday’s search.
Omar has said she became a citizen through her father’s naturalization in 2000, before she turned 18.
«I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,» she told The Intercept in a September 2018 interview, according to the Post. «My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process.»
COULD TRUMP REVOKE ILHAN OMAR’S CITIZENSHIP FOR ALLEGED BROTHER MARRIAGE? EX FEDERAL PROSECUTOR BREAKS IT DOWN
AJ Kern, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the 2022 Democratic primary, has questioned whether Omar was still a minor when her father became a citizen, the Post reported.
Kern told the outlet that she filed a Federal Election Commission complaint and sued to demand proof of Omar’s citizenship. A state judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, according to the Post.
The Times reported that investigators have been examining the immigration history of Omar’s family, including whether her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, lied or omitted information on immigration forms before becoming a citizen.
The precise scope of the investigation remains unclear. Grand jury subpoenas seek evidence and do not, by themselves, mean the recipients are suspected of wrongdoing.
The Times reported that previous federal inquiries into Omar’s immigration history have not resulted in charges.
ILHAN OMAR’S EMBATTLED HUSBAND APPEARS AT SCENE OF HSI RAID IN MIDST OF CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION
The immigration developments also come as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro disclosed a separate examination of Omar’s financial disclosures.
Speaking Tuesday on Fox News’ «America Reports,» Pirro said her office was investigating the filings, which previously showed that the combined reported value of two businesses tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, climbed from approximately $15,000 to $51,000 in 2023 to between $6 million and $30 million in 2024.
Digital previously examined the disclosures involving eStCru LLC, a California winery, and Rose Lake Capital LLC, a Washington-based venture capital firm.
‘SQUAD’ DEM DISMISSES FRAUD PROBE SPECULATION AFTER $29M NET-WORTH DROP
Omar amended the filings in April, reducing the couple’s combined reported assets to between $18,004 and $95,000. Her office said the original disclosures failed to properly account for business liabilities. Financial disclosures list assets in broad ranges and do not establish an exact net worth.
In September, the Office of Congressional Conduct voted 5-1 to recommend that the House Ethics Committee dismiss misconduct allegations related to the disclosures, finding no substantial reason to believe Omar reported false or incomplete information in violation of federal law or House rules.
That review is separate from the federal investigation Pirro described. It remains unclear whether the financial inquiry is connected to Monday’s search.
President Donald Trump renewed his criticism Tuesday in a statement shared by the White House on X, questioning the change in Omar’s financial filings.
«America wants answers, and we want them, NOW!» Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance, who previously accused Omar of immigration fraud, said Tuesday that he had no advance knowledge of the search, according to the Times.
«If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts,» Vance said. «If there’s not a real case there, then we won’t.»
Digital reached out to the Justice Department, Omar’s office and the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library for comment.
Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
ilhan omar, justice department, investigations, homeland security, national security, democrats, the squad, politics
INTERNACIONAL
El hermano mayor del papa León XIV también fue internado por cáncer: sus médicos detectaron la enfermedad en 2017
Mientras el papa León XIV se recupera de una cirugía pulmonar en Roma, se conoció que su hermano mayor, Louis Prevost, también está internado y recibe tratamiento contra el cáncer en un hospital de Florida, Estados Unidos.
La información fue confirmada este martes por Deborah Prevost, esposa del hombre de 74 años, en declaraciones a la cadena estadounidense CBS News. Según explicó, su marido padece mieloma múltiple, una enfermedad que afecta la médula ósea, y recientemente sufrió una recaída.
La noticia se conoció el mismo día en que el Vaticano informó que el pontífice fue operado en el Policlínico Gemelli de Roma para extirparle el lóbulo inferior del pulmón derecho. Los estudios realizados durante la intervención confirmaron que León XIV tiene un adenocarcinoma de pulmón.
En medio de la preocupación por la salud de ambos hermanos, Deborah reveló que el Papa y Louis mantuvieron una conversación telefónica la semana pasada, antes de que este último ingresara al hospital para comenzar un nuevo tratamiento.
“Nos llamó para avisarnos lo que iba a pasar”, recordó la mujer, al explicar que el pontífice les había anticipado que debía someterse a una operación, antes de que la noticia se hiciera pública.
La enfermedad del hermano del Papa y la recaída que sufrió hace tres meses
Louis Prevost recibió el diagnóstico de mieloma múltiple en 2017. Dos años después, se sometió a un tratamiento que incluyó terapia con células madre y su participación en un ensayo clínico.
La respuesta fue favorable y permitió mantener la enfermedad bajo control durante varios años. Sin embargo, hace tres meses el cáncer dejó de estar en remisión, por lo que los médicos debieron evaluar nuevas alternativas terapéuticas.
Cáncer
INTERNACIONAL
Ucrania golpeó tres centros de datos de Yandex y desató apagones digitales en toda Rusia
Drones ucranianos destruyeron o dejaron fuera de servicio tres centros de datos de la empresa rusa Yandex entre el 8 y el 11 de octubre, un ataque que provocó fallas en bancos, aplicaciones de reparto, taxis y plataformas de streaming en buena parte de Rusia, según confirmaron la compañía y medios locales.
La primera ofensiva alcanzó el centro de Sasovo, en la región de Riazán, en la madrugada del 8 de octubre. El ataque provocó un incendio y obligó a suspender por completo las operaciones del predio, que alberga dos de las tres supercomputadoras que Yandex usa para entrenar sus modelos de inteligencia artificial.
Un segundo ataque, el 9 de octubre, dañó parte de la infraestructura del centro de Kaluga, al suroeste de Moscú, uno de los más grandes del país. Nueve personas resultaron heridas en la zona, aunque las autoridades regionales no vincularon de forma directa las lesiones con las instalaciones de Yandex.
El tercer golpe llegó el fin de semana sobre el centro de Vladimir, al este de la capital rusa. Allí funcionaba Galushkin, otra supercomputadora de la empresa que ocupaba el puesto 134 del ranking mundial Top500 con una capacidad de 20,64 petaflops. Unos 1.600 usuarios quedaron sin electricidad en la zona, según sus autoridades locales.
Un monopolio que lo controla casi todo
Yandex suele compararse con Google por el tamaño de su ecosistema: un buscador con cerca del 70% del mercado ruso, según datos citados por Ars Technica, además de mapas, correo electrónico, pagos, taxis y reparto de comida bajo una misma marca. Su servicio de nube, Yandex Cloud, contaba con más de 64.000 clientes empresariales a mediados de 2026.
La aplicación Yandex Go, que combina las funciones de Uber y de un servicio de reparto como DoorDash, es un ejemplo del peso cotidiano de la empresa: para millones de rusos resultó, de un día para el otro, más difícil pedir un taxi o encargar comida.
Los cortes alcanzaron bancos digitales, supermercados, cadenas de comida rápida y una cadena de electrodomésticos que dependen de esa infraestructura, de acuerdo con el diario independiente The Moscow Times. También se reportaron fallas fuera de Rusia, en Kazajistán, Kirguistán y Armenia.
Yandex admitió que reponer el equipamiento dañado podría demorar hasta seis meses, según una fuente citada por el diario ruso Kommersant.
Una guerra que empezó Moscú
Rusia había lanzado en septiembre una campaña de ataques contra centros de datos y redes de telefonía móvil ucranianas, parte de una ofensiva más amplia con misiles y drones que también alcanzó la red eléctrica, nudos de transporte y edificios residenciales, según relató Ars Technica.
El presidente ucraniano Volodymyr Zelensky presentó los ataques como una respuesta simétrica a los bombardeos rusos contra centros de datos en Kiev ocurridos en septiembre. “Siempre respondemos de la misma manera. Ustedes saben que ellos atacan y siguen atacando nuestros centros de datos”, dijo ante la prensa, según citó Al Jazeera.
Según el medio especializado The Record, Rusia había atacado antes al menos seis centros de datos ucranianos, entre ellos los operados por las firmas MiroHost, Parkovy y Data Group, además de infraestructura de las operadoras Kyivstar y Ukrtelecom. Un bombardeo del 23 de septiembre dejó sin conexión fija a unos 100.000 hogares en la región de Kiev.
A diferencia de Rusia, la red ucraniana está más descentralizada y recibe apoyo de compañías extranjeras: Amazon Web Services aloja más de 15 petabytes de datos de más de 60 organismos del gobierno ucraniano, entre ellos la energética DTEK, según reportó Ars Technica.
Blogueros militares rusos cercanos al Kremlin advirtieron que la ley de “internet soberano”, sancionada en 2019, complica que compañías como Yandex construyan respaldos fuera del país en plena guerra, de acuerdo con traducciones difundidas por el investigador independiente conocido como ChrisO_wiki.
Una disputa sobre los bots
Zelensky sostuvo además que los ataques habían reducido la actividad de cuentas rusas vinculadas a operaciones de desinformación, incluidas publicaciones de apoyo al movimiento estadounidense MAGA y al partido alemán AfD.
Pero la cadena BBC consultó a investigadores especializados que no hallaron pruebas de ese freno. El grupo dTeam, que monitorea redes de bots prorrusas, afirmó que no detectó “ningún cambio de tráfico” en las cuentas rusas conocidas. La oficina de Zelensky explicó luego que el mandatario se refería al clima general en las redes sociales y no a una caída medible en la actividad de los bots, según precisó la propia cadena británica.
El ministro ruso de Desarrollo Digital, Maksut Shadayev, confirmó que su cartera trabaja junto al Ministerio de Defensa para reforzar la protección del resto de los centros de datos del país, mientras persisten fallas parciales en los servicios de Yandex.
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