NATSEC-TECH THURSDAY — June 19, 2025: Every Thursday’s edition of Threat Status highlights the intersection between national security and advanced technology, from AI to cyber threats and the battle for global data dominance.
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President Trump says he may not make up his mind about whether to order a U.S. military strike on Iran until “one second before … because things change, especially with war.”
… Israeli strikes hit Iran’s Arak heavy water plutonium reactor Thursday, while Iranian missiles hit a hospital in southern Israel.
… Threat Status breaks down the precarious state of the conflict between Israel and Iran in an exclusive video.
… The U.S. Navy reached its 2025 recruiting goal three months ahead of schedule.
… A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded on its platform during a testing exercise Wednesday in Texas. There’s a new artificial intelligence model showing promise for brain control. And FBI Cyber has a new leader: Brett Leatherman.
… Senate Intel Committee ranking Democrat Mark R. Warner says the Trump administration is “ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed” by China-controlled TikTok.
… Washington Times reporter Matt Delaney offers readers a close-up look at the weaponry and tech on display at the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade with this exclusive video.
… And here’s a detailed analysis of the $200 million contract OpenAI scored this week with the Pentagon.
The advanced-tech Israeli missile shield appears to be holding its own, although dozens of the Iranian missiles fired in daily barrages since last week have managed to pierce the multilayered air defense system, hitting targets and claiming lives in Tel Aviv and Haifa — and wounding more than 200 Thursday at the main hospital in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba.
Israel says Iran fired more than 400 missiles over the first six days of the war and more than 40 caused damage or casualties. The munitions used to shoot down incoming missiles, including Arrow 3 interceptors, are under strain. Israeli defense officials warned of “unsustainable usage rates” over the past 48 hours. Emergency shipments from the U.S. are reportedly en route.
Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense batteries have been activated in northern Israel and integrated into the air defense system. This enables real-time coordination across Israel and with U.S. missile defense platforms. U.S. Navy Aegis-equipped destroyers have also shot down incoming missiles from Iran’s aerial assault, which has its own problems. The Institute for the Study of War estimates more than 120 missile launchers and 70 Iranian battery sites have been destroyed. As many as 300 launchers remain.
U.S. critical infrastructure, American elected officials and media outlets are potential targets, according to Theresa Payton, former White House chief information officer in President George W. Bush’s administration. She tells Threat Status that entities within the energy, finance, and transportation sectors need to be especially vigilant.
“Iran might first target energy and finance for maximum disruption — public pain points that cripple daily life,” said Ms. Payton, CEO at cyber firm Fortalice Solutions. “Remote access points for maintenance are prime targets, as Iran exploits unpatched systems. With Iran, if they have a successful cyber intrusion, they may want to make a loud, visible blow.”
People should be on the lookout for AI-enabled phishing campaigns, and businesses should “contact FBI InfraGard for tailored threat briefings and deploy zero-trust defenses now,” Ms. Payton said, referring to the joint FBI and private sector security effort. On the eve of Israel’s strikes against Iran last week, the State Department posted a message on X requesting tips and offering a $10 million reward for information that helps hunt down hackers linked to Iran.
U.S. defense start-up Anduril has made its inaugural visit to the annual Paris Air Show, inking a major partnership with German defense firm Rheinmetall to develop a European counterpart to Anduril’s Barracuda cruise missiles and Fury drones. U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin has spent the week touting “Technology Refresh 3,” a set of software and hardware improvements meant for the F-35 fighter jet.
Threat Status Correspondent Vaughn Cockayne offers a deep dive on the show, noting how organizers erected a large black barrier around the booths of Israeli defense firms. It reportedly went up on the order of the French government, which refuses to supply Israel with offensive weapons over the Jewish state’s war in Gaza.
The show has also laid bare the feud between European aerospace companies over the development of “Future Combat,” a joint effort among three European companies — Germany’s Airbus, France’s Dassault Aviation and Spain’s Indra Sistemas — to develop an integrated next-generation weapon system for the continent.
The U.S. Army has recruited tech execs from Meta, OpenAI and Palantir to formally join its ranks and upgrade its innovation expertise through “Detachment 201,” the service’s new executive innovation corps aimed at driving a tech overhaul with brain power from Silicon Valley.
The Army officially swore in four new Army Reserve lieutenant colonels last week, including Shyam Sankar, Palantir chief technology officer; Andrew Bosworth, Meta chief technology officer; Kevin Weil, OpenAI chief product officer; and Bob McGrew, former chief research officer at Meta and adviser to Thinking Machines Lab.
“Det. 201 is an effort to recruit senior tech executives to serve part-time in the Army Reserve as senior advisers,” the Army said in a statement. “In this role they will work on targeted projects to help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems.”
Among the targeted projects and modernization efforts will be the Army Transformation Initiative, which is a strategy intending to deliver new warfighting capabilities, the optimization of its force structure and the elimination of waste and outdated programs.
As the U.S. harnesses the potential for American innovation in the race for AI infrastructure, there’s a “hidden danger,” writes Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, who points to a recent McKinsey study on the U.S. data center capacity deficit — capacity needs to be doubled in a fraction of the time it took to build the existing infrastructure, according to the analysis.
“Goldman Sachs estimates that $720 billion in electric grid investments may be necessary by 2030 to meet the energy demands of these data centers,” writes Ms. Magruder Lyle, executive director of the Damage Prevention Action Center and president and CEO of the Common Ground Alliance. “This rapid expansion increases construction activity, elevating the risk of damaging critical underground utilities.
“Even before the AI boom, damage to buried infrastructure — power, water, fiber, natural gas and other utility lines — cost the U.S. $30 billion annually,” she writes. “That’s one incident almost every three minutes.”
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