It’s a sobering reality for government officials and defense industry leaders: When it comes to space, China is dangerously close to being America’s peer.

The latest episode of the Threat Status podcast, recorded at last week’s Space Symposium conference in Colorado, dives deep into behind-the-scenes discussions among space industry leaders about how the U.S. can maintain an edge over its communist competitor. Jeff Thornburg, the co-founder and CEO of spacecraft maker Portal Space Systems, explains how Beijing studied America’s approach to space and spent the last 20 years building its own highly capable program.

“I think the leadership of the United States specifically is trying to figure out how do we deal with a near-peer, or now peer, competitor that we’ve never had before,” Mr. Thornburg said. “Especially in China, they’ve sat back and watched what are the keys to execution for the United States from a defense standpoint specifically … and they’ve made significant investments and have executed on those over the last 20 years, where we have not so much.”

And remember that China is determined to achieve space power parity with the U.S. by 2040. 

An Iranian-flagged ship, the Touska, is the first vessel seized by U.S. forces since a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz began early last week. President Trump announced on social media that the ship tried to get around the blockade and American forces responded “by blowing a hole in the engine room.”

The incident could change the trajectory of the U.S.-Iran conflict, which had mostly paused for the past two weeks amid a temporary ceasefire. That ceasefire will expire Wednesday. Trump administration officials are set to travel to Pakistan today for another round of peace talks with the Iranians, but Tehran indicated it won’t participate in the negotiations. 

CENTCOM shared dramatic video footage of Marines rappelling onto the ship after American forces disabled it. 

The U.S. has carried out some 13,000 strikes against Iranian military targets since launching its war against Iran in late February. But nearly two months later, Iran’s military still holds stockpiles of thousands of missiles and attack drones that pose a threat to U.S. and allied forces in the region, the head of the DIA told Congress.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz has more on this story and the warning from DIA chief Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James H. Adams, who also revealed that the remnants of the Iranian regime remain in control and are expected to use asymmetric warfare against the U.S. and Israel as long as the conflict lasts.

The testimony from the military’s intelligence chief raises questions about whether key aspects of Iran’s military machine, including its production capacity to build new drones and missiles, have been as degraded as the Trump administration asserts. 

There’s no doubt Iran’s military has been severely weakened by the relentless U.S. bombing campaign, but the regime in Tehran is still in control. And Gen. Adams said if the Islamist regime survives the conflict, it will seek to rebuild its military capabilities, including drones and missiles.

Asia Editor Andrew Salmon is tracking a major development in what has become a supercharged global arms race. Japan signed a deal over the weekend to sell 11 Japanese-designed stealth frigates to emerging defense partner Australia. The $6.5 billion arms-export deal is the biggest in Tokyo’s history.

It’s important because it underscores Australian concerns about the ability of American and British naval shipyards to deliver promised nuclear submarines to Canberra. And it casts doubt on the long-term future of the 2021 Australia-U.K.-U.S., or AUKUS, deal. AUKUS called for London and Washington to deliver nuclear attack submarines to Australia.

But shipbuilding capabilities in the U.S. and U.K. have faltered, and it appears Australia is now looking to other partners such as Japan. South Korea, Japan’s rival Asian shipbuilding powerhouse, is also well-positioned to capitalize. 

A recent episode of the Threat Status weekly podcast dove deep into what went wrong with U.S. shipbuilding more broadly and what could be done to revive it. 

Democrats take issue with a host of Pentagon moves under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including America’s conduct in its military campaign against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, personnel changes across the Defense Department and many others. But is there something deeper driving opposition to Mr. Hegseth?

Robert Knight believes that there is. In a new piece, he argues that at least some Democrats fundamentally object to Mr. Hegseth’s outspoken Christian faith.

“The biggest black marks in Democrats’ minds are Mr. Hegseth’s unabashed evangelical faith, initiating Bible studies at the Pentagon and encouraging prayer,” says Mr. Knight, a columnist for The Washington Times.

Still, it’s worth remembering that some senior officers and Pentagon officials say Mr. Hegseth has lost the trust of some military commanders.

• April 20 — Shared Risk, Shared Responsibility: Lessons from Canada on Allied Burden-Sharing in Global WMD Threat Reduction, Stimson Center

• April 21 — Profiting from Chaos? Russia’s Energy Windfall from a Fragmented Middle East, Chatham House

• April 21 — What’s Next for Pakistan After the Islamabad Talks? Atlantic Council

• April 22 — Pakistan at the Center: A Year of Change at Home and Abroad for Islamabad, Stimson Center

• April 22 — Commanding the Air: the Future of Airborne Battle Management, Center for a New American Security

• April 23 — The New India Conference: India’s Importance to American Interests, Hudson Institute

• April 27 — Power, Religion, and Ideology in North Korea, Brookings Institution