🇮🇹 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 Italian PM Meloni:

I believe these provocations from Moscow are multiplying because Putin needs to shift attention by creating an escalation with Europe.

This comes from a situation on the battlefield in Ukraine that is not going as Putin had predicted, declared and promised to his people.

I think we should not respond to these provocations. Responding to these provocations would be more in the interest of Moscow than of Europe.

📎 Clash Report

🇺🇸⚡️ — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said U.S. forces must prepare for future warfare extending beyond Earth, including around the moon.

Speaking at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Caine said the military must be prepared to “fight, endure and win in global contested environments from the seabed to cislunar space.”

🇪🇺🇨🇦 Plans for Canada to join the European Union as an “associate member” have been dismissed as meaningless by diplomats in Brussels.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, told Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, she wanted to open the door to the unprecedented, and as yet undefined, associate membership in a flagship speech in Strasbourg.

But the offer seemed to wrong-foot Mr Carney, who attended Ms Von der Leyen’s state of the union address.

He wants a “unique alliance” with the EU as Ottawa pivots to other partners because of the trade war triggered by Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.

But Mr Carney had never publicly asked for associate membership and stopped short of endorsing the plan when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Surprised European diplomats also said they were unsure what being an “associate member” actually meant and the bloc’s capitals swiftly moved to reassert control.

“Member states know they are in the lead here. They know substance-wise it can be a trade deal-plus, as a maximum option,” one envoy told The Telegraph.

“Associate member is an empty phrase and member states will put substance into it, but it won’t be groundbreaking.”

One EU diplomat said “nobody really knows what it means”, adding there were concerns that the commission chief was “overpromising and wouldn’t be able to deliver”.

Another European diplomat called it an “unfortunate proposal, which has never been discussed with member states”.

But Ms Von der Leyen’s announcement – and overnight warnings from the US president that he could hit the EU with tariffs in retaliation for the “laughable” proposal – ensured it would be closely watched.

🔗 https://unwall.app/www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/17/canada-mark-carney-eu-offer-unravels/

🛢 J.P. Morgan in its latest report on the oil market, stated it no longer has a baseline view on which to model the evolution of the oil prices as the reality of permanent disruption is finally settling in for the traders who expected the 3rd Gulf War to be a short conflict with "minimal" disruptions to the global energy market.

@CIG_telegram

🇮🇱🇺🇸🇸🇦 Israel is expected to seek additional weapons systems from the U.S. after Washington informed Israel of plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a reported $25 billion deal.

Israeli officials told Walla they would seek "compensation" from Washington, including access to advanced weapons systems, classified defense projects, Arrow 4 and Arrow 5 interceptor cooperation, space-based weapons, and other capabilities.

Source: Walla

🔗 Clash Report

🚜 Record US diesel prices squeeze farmers; food prices may rise

In northeast Missouri, Addie Yoder, a corn, soybean and cattle farmer, runs two combines, three semi-trucks and several tractors from mid-September to late October to harvest and transport her crops.

With diesel ​prices at record highs and just one combine requiring 300 gallons of the fuel, the best she can do is try to curb other expenses, she said.

In southeast South ‌Dakota, Drew Peterson, a soybean, corn and cattle farmer, expects to spend as much as $1,500 per day to fuel just one of his combines this season, double last year's costs, among the many machines he must use to bring in his crop.

"You can't just say, well, diesel is expensive, I'm not going to harvest," he said. "You've just got to make it work in your budget."

Across the U.S., farmers are confronting record-high diesel prices during the height of harvest season, further squeezing already ​thin margins. Price hikes seem inevitable at America's grocery stores ahead of November's midterm elections, where cost of living is expected to be a primary voter concern.

Global fuel supplies have been squeezed ​by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. The average U.S. diesel price hit a new record this week, $6.29 per gallon, up 68% from $3.74 ⁠a year ago, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Farmers have access to off-road diesel, which is not subject to state and federal taxes. But even with the discount, many farmers are still paying significantly more for fuel than last year.

Wayne Gularte, who grows a variety of vegetables on roughly 600 acres near Gonzales, California, said his fuel costs have risen about 40%, from roughly $5 a gallon to $7 a gallon.

To save on costs, he has put some older gasoline-powered tractors from the 1950s back into service and parked one ​of the farm's diesel pickups. "The only money we can make is the money we save," Gularte said.

Farm fuel costs are up $11 per acre from last year for corn and $7 per acre for soybeans, according to ​Michael Langemeier, an economist at Purdue University.

Corn, soy and wheat futures all have rallied significantly since mid-August and hit multi-year highs in early September. Still, farmer margins remain thin compared to historical averages, said University of Illinois agricultural ‌economist Nick Paulson, ⁠who warned high fuel prices could raise costs next year for seed and fertilizer.

Many farmers have already tightened their belts, leaving little margin to accommodate fuel price increases, said Jon Paul Driver, a hay farmer near Spokane, Washington, and second vice president of the Washington Farm Bureau.

Though fuel accounts for a small share ​of the cost of food, consumers could still see prices rise as the supply chain absorbs higher fuel costs over the coming months, Ortega said.

Those ​effects could take time to ⁠play out because retailers may attempt to absorb short-term price increases, or because freight contracts locked in at lower prices do not yet reflect fuel surcharges, Ortega said.

He added that some of the items most vulnerable to price hikes are grocery essentials like produce, dairy and meat that require fuel-intensive refrigerated trucking.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/record-us-diesel-prices-squeeze-farmers-food-prices-may-rise-2026-09-18/

🇸🇾❌🇸🇦 Syria refuses Saudi Arabia's request to send Syrian fighters to Yemen

Saudi Arabia's recent months long efforts to recruit military personnel from abroad for Yemen did not result in an organized deployment of Syrian forces, as sources clarify that Damascus turned down a formal request from Riyadh to organize and dispatch fighters.

Syrian sources who spoke to Türkiye Today said Saudi Arabia had in recent months sought fighters to meet its military needs in Yemen, but that the Syrian government had "politely" rejected a request to organize and deploy a Syrian force against the Houthis.

"This issue has been exhausted and is over. The Saudi request was made several months ago. Syria politely turned it down, saying it was focused on its own military organization process and did not intend to enter a conflict as a third party," one of the sources said.

The source said the Syrian government was not preventing individuals from traveling outside Syria to participate in the conflict, but stressed that Damascus would not accept responsibility for such individual involvement.

Saudi Arabia is continuing to explore options for recruiting military personnel and instructors from different countries as it seeks to address its military needs in Yemen, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The search comes as fighting has intensified in Yemen and Iran-backed Houthi forces have taken control of key positions along the Red Sea coastline and near the entrance to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the sources said.

The sources said Saudi Arabia had been looking at personnel from several countries, with Pakistan among the countries where the recruitment effort had gained traction.

Unconfirmed reports also suggest that Saudi security authorities are continuing to look for personnel in North African countries, including Egypt and Libya.

The developments have also brought renewed attention to the Mecca pact, under which Türkiye, Pakistan and other participating countries are expected to coordinate on security and defense issues.

Sources familiar with the discussions said active defense cooperation could be considered once the pact has been incorporated into the domestic legal mechanisms of the participating countries.

📝: With the outbreak of the Sudanese Civil War, the KSA and the PLC in Yemen lost a lot of manpower as the thousands of Sudanese mercenaries which were brought to Yemen by the KSA and the UAE left to join the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, the Saudis and the UAE have struggled to find fighters for the PLC as the PLC is significantly outnumbered by Ansarallah who controls most of Yemen's population centers.

The KSA has asked Turkey, Pakistan, the U.S. and China to help in the war with the Houthis, and they all refused. The PLC is viewed by the international community as a failed Saudi imperialist project and they would rather deal with the Houthis than a rump Yemeni state.

🔗 https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/exclusivesyria-refuses-saudi-arabias-request-to-send-syrian-fighters-to-yemen-3228401?s=2

🇸🇦🇪🇺 Saudis Tell European Refiners They’ll Get No Crude Next Month

Saudi Aramco told at least two oil refining customers in Europe that they will be allocated no crude oil next month after the kingdom’s key pipeline to the Red Sea was attacked, people informed of the decision said.

European customers normally receive Saudi Arabian crude on so-called term contracts, ensuring a steady flow of supply every month. Those deliveries will not take place next month, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The decision applies to all European buyers, they said.

Saudi Aramco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Saudi Arabia was forced to shut its East-West pipeline last week after it was attacked by drones. The line is due to partially restart within days and be fully back up and running within six weeks, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

European refineries typically lift Saudi crude from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, which is connected to the Red Sea via a pipeline.

The pipeline halt caused panic buying from some of Aramco’s customers. Poland’s Orlen SA issued more than ten tenders since Friday in a race to secure alternative supplies.

European countries in the OECD imported 577,000 barrels a day of crude from Saudi Arabia in June, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly Oil Market Report.

🔗 https://unwall.app/www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-18/saudis-tell-european-refiners-they-ll-get-no-crude-next-month?srnd=homepage-europe

🇵🇰🇮🇷🇸🇦 Pakistan sent a message to Iran asking them to intervene in Yemen and tell the Houthis to stop attacking Saudi oil infrastructure to which the Iranians rejected interfering claiming that it is a matter between the KSA and the Yemeni people.

🔗 https://www.ft.com/content/dc6b63b3-2853-48eb-88cb-33b9c46d1a31

🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 CENTCOM released an infographic on the cost of the 3rd Gulf War and it cost U.S. taxpayer $43.6 billion as of September 3rd, to get to the point where Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz and forced the U.S. military out of a dozen military bases near the Persian Gulf.

@CIG_telegram

🇬🇧 🇷🇺 🇺🇸 War may be coming. Are we psychologically ready?

The [UK] government wants us all to start preparing for severe disruption to our lives. It wants us to stockpile canned food and drinking water, strengthen our civic resilience, and plan for the possibility of war — BBC

The UK's most senior soldier has sounded the alarm. The Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton this week said the threat from Russia meant Britain was living through the "most dangerous" period of his 35-year career in the armed forces.

Europeans, and especially Western Europe's leadership elites, have succumbed to a decades-long "crisis of disbelief", argues Andrew Michta, a Polish-born American academic who is professor of strategic studies at the Hamilton School, University of Florida.

"The Germans have totally disarmed during the last 30 years. The UK is also largely disarmed and, most importantly, mentally. There is no readiness for what's happening because the policy elites are not addressing their publics in a way that would honestly state the gravity of the situation," Michta says.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, many European countries began a decades-long winding down of military preparedness, dramatically cutting defence spending, in the belief that the threat from Russia had disappeared.

General Sir Richard Shirreff argues that Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 was the real turning point, the moment Russia revealed itself as a tenacious threat to western security.

"The reality is that Russia believes it's been at war with Nato since 2014. Not a conventional war, but a war designed to undermine the integrity of target states or alliances.

This "crisis of disbelief", as Michta put it, is not evenly spread. The further east you go, the closer you get to the Russian border, the more alert a nation's people are to the threat, and the more psychologically prepared.

Finland has universal male conscription, and some women also volunteer to serve. When their service is complete they then become part of Finland's reserve force. This has the effect of closing the gap between the professional military and the civilian population.

"If conscription is done well, it ties every single family into national security thinking. Your grandfather, your great-grandfather and your sons, they all go to the same military service," says the retired three-star General Arto Raty, a former permanent secretary of Finland's Ministry of Defence.

"We bind the whole of society into supporting the military. Every single hospital has its crisis tasking. Every water supply agency. And interestingly, the most publicly trusted organisations in Finland today are the military, the defence forces and the police. That is not the case in most countries."

The Finnish military also runs a series of courses annually for leaders of society - MPs, government ministers, the CEOs of private enterprises and public utilities, the health service, even NGOs and the churches.

"We train them in crisis management, so that they understand how society will work in a crisis. We've been doing it every year since 1960."

Should the rest of Europe go to the expense of following Finland's lead when the prospects of a conventional war with Russia seem vanishingly remote?

"An army of 70,000 is simply not going to cut the mustard in the sort of war we are going to have to face," says Gen Sir Richard Shirreff. "So I don't see how we could generate the military capability needed without some form of call-up."

He says the Norwegian model might be one that helps change the British mindset around war.

"There, every school leaver is registered for conscription… and they go and do a year's training after which they go on to university and when, later, they are competing for jobs, if they've got national service on their CV, they're seen as the best candidates… That's the sort of thing we should look at."

Sweden has a system of partial conscription, in which all school leavers must register for military service. The armed forces pick - and conscript - the best candidates. The conscripts then do up to 15 months compulsory training before going back into civilian life, in employment or higher education. At the same time, they become part of their country's large reserve force.

"There's a lot of citizen engagement," says Minna Alander, an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies think tank. "It was almost an internet joke in 2022 and 2023 that everybody wished for a call up. Sometimes people get frustrated if they haven't been called up for a long time. It's an expectation for sure.

"Sweden has, for example, been identifying civil engineers with some relevant skills in, say, electricity supply who could be exercised in case of disruption. So Sweden can access this pool of civil engineers [who know] what they could do and how they could be activated."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmn0jke547r5o

📎 BBC

🇪🇺⛽️ Several EU governments are discussing a windfall tax on oil companies claiming they are making too much money from gas prices

Germany’s finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, called on ‌the European Commission at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday to propose possible ways to tax what he described as the excessive profits of oil companies.

“Several member states have been calling for models for a long time,” Klingbeil said, demanding proposals by next month. “People can see how oil companies are exploiting the situation, overcharging and significantly increasing their profits.”

Pump prices have already reached all-time highs across Europe. In Germany, diesel prices surged to a record average of €2.45 a litre on Wednesday, while petrol hit a fresh high of €2.31 a litre, according to Europe’s largest motoring association, ADAC.

Prices are even higher in the Netherlands, where petrol eclipsed last week’s record high to reach €2.73 a litre on Wednesday, with diesel at an average €2.78 a litre. Prices have risen higher still for petrol in Denmark and for diesel in Finland.

Across the EU, petrol prices are 24% higher than a year earlier, while diesel is up 38% and jet fuel costs more than 100% more. Benchmark gas is trading at €81 a megawatt hour, up 150% on a year earlier, with analysts suggesting it could hit €100.

The EU’s economic commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, has said the commission has no plans “at this stage” for an ⁠EU-wide taxing mechanism, but stressed it was “ready to engage in discussion” and member states were free ​to impose their own taxes.

Sky-high fuel prices are already a major domestic political issue in France and Italy, both of which next year face crunch elections in which voters’ concerns are likely to be dominated by the soaring cost of living, driven largely by high energy prices.

In Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s ruling rightwing coalition, trailing rivals in the polls, said this week it would scrap road tax for 14.5m cars and motorbikes from next year at a cost of over €2bn, on top of a cut to diesel duty that has already cost €2.8bn.

In August, Spain doubled its diesel tax discount to €0.20 a litre from 1 September after diesel prices jumped by 15.7% in July, while in Germany, the embattled chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has promised action “soon” to ease the impact of record fuel prices.

Berlin cut fuel taxes for two months in May, but that lapsed just as renewed clashes in the Middle East began further pushed up oil prices. Merz’s centre-right CDU was this month heavily defeated in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt by the far-right AfD.

🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/18/eu-europe-fuel-prices-calls-windfall-tax-energy-firms

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 Situation on the Stepnogorsk and Orekhov directions:

Over the last few weeks, Russian forces have continued their intensified assault operations, making substantial progress in several different areas, while significantly expanding their zone of infiltration.

In the west, Russian forces repelled earlier Ukrainian infiltrations to the northwestern outskirts of Kamenskoe and recaptured the southern part of Plavni. They also cleared a number of positions along the highway north of Kamenskoe and have begun expanding their zone of infiltration in Primorskoe. Some Russian DRGs were even detected in the northern part of Primorskoe. Some of these assault operations are taking place along the dried-up river bed of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

To the northeast, the Russians re-established control over the southern bank of the Sukhi River and established a foothold just south of the town centre. Heavy fighting is now ongoing in the southwestern and eastern parts of the town as they attempt to reverse the earlier advances made by Ukraine and cut off the Ukrainian positions in the Plavni area. Additionally, they were able to improve their positions along the tactical heights southeast of Stepnogorsk, which has allowed Russia to intensify their infiltrations into the area of the solar panel farm and the treelines to the north. From here, DRGs have begun infiltrating the fields north of Stepnogorsk and the highway to the north, as well as the southwestern approaches to Magdalinovka.

To the southeast, the Russians cleared the salient west of Stepovoe and recaptured positions along the southern bank of the gulley northwest of Stepovoe. From there, they are trying to assault Ukrainian strongpoints along the treelines northeast of Kamenskoe from the south and west, while simultaneously trying to bypass them from the north in the direction of Lukyanovskoe and the solar panel farm.

To the northeast, Russian forces continued gradually expanding their zone of control north of Malye Shcherbaky and Shcherbaky, where they were able to entrench in the treelines south of Pavlovka and infiltrate through the village and the surrounding areas. Other assault groups cleared the remaining treelines north of Shcherbaky and began advancing further north towards the fields east of Pavlovka. These advances have allowed Russian small infiltration groups and DRGs to significantly expand their zone of operations, following heavy KAB glide-bomb bombardment of Ukrainian positions. Russian infiltrators are now actively advancing northwest of Pavlovka towards Novoboikovskoe and north towards Novoyakovlevka. DRGs are infiltrating even further north towards Zapasnoe and the fields northeast of Magdalinovka.

To the east, the Russians marginally advanced in the treelines northeast of Shcherbaky, and significantly intensified their infiltrations on the western flank of Orekhov, entering the village of Novopavlovka in small numbers and beginning infiltrations north towards Zarechnoe and Yurkovka, along with the adjacent forests, following heavy KAB glide-bomb bombardment of Ukrainian positions.

🔗 AMK Mapping

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 Situation on the Orekhov direction, Zaporozhye Oblast:

Over the last two weeks, fighting in the Orekhov direction has continued to intensify as Russian forces continue their offensive operations on the city from multiple directions.

In the southwest, Russian forces cleared a number of advanced Ukrainian positions southwest of Novoandreevka and began continued their attacks towards the village from the south and west, where heavy fighting is ongoing for the forested areas near the settlement.

To the east, the Russians cleared additional parts of Novodanilovka and the forests north of the village which they subsequently began accumulating in. This allowed them to gain a foothold in the southeastern streets of Orekhov, which they are now trying to expand by attacking towards the city centre under heavy artillery, MLRS, and KAB cover. Some infiltrations are also taking place north across the river into the neighbouring village of Preobrazhenka. However, Ukrainian forces are actively counterattacking both in Orekhov itself and in Novodanilovka, trying to clear out the infiltrators and cut off their infiltration routes south of the city.

Further east, Russian forces began clearing the salient south of Malaya Tokmachka, which is now largely in the grey-zone. They also improved their positions in Malaya Tokmachka, capturing the town centre and expanding their zone of infiltrating in the rest of the town. Some soldiers continue to infiltrate north of the river into the nearby fields.

To the northeast, Russia intensified their assault operations, attempting to capture the tactical heights and fortifications in order to reach Orekhov from the northeast and cut the highway leading from Omelnyk. Russian forces improved their positions in the treelines and forest plantations southwest of Charivnoe and began significantly expanding their zone of infiltration to the west, entering Chervonaya Krinitsa and reaching the large trench fortification to the south. Some DRGs have even managed to reach the Orekhov-Omelnyk Highway.

Further northeast, the Russians continued to slowly clear out the forested areas west of Zaliznichnoe, continuing their advance north of the highway towards Omelnyk.

🔗 AMK Mapping

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 Situation on the Pokrovskoye direction, Zaporozhye/Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts:

Over the last month, the intensity of fighting on the Pokrovskoye direction has decreased, although both Russian and Ukrainian forces continue periodic assault operations.

In the southwest, Ukrainian forces continued clearing areas previously infiltrated by Russian forces, and re-established control over some forest plantations west of Verkhnaya Tersa. Russian forces continue attacking in small numbers towards Dolinka and Rovnoe.

To the north, Ukrainian forces cleared most of the rest of eastern Vozdvizhovka, while Russian forces continued attacks towards the village from the east. Russian forces were also able to improve their positions along the railway line and capture some treeline positions to the east, before carrying out new assault operations towards Rizdvyanka and Kosovtsevo.

To the northeast, Russian forces cleared out a number of advanced Ukrainian positions east of Dobropolye and recaptured several treelines further north, resuming infiltrations towards Novoe Zaporozhye and Radostnoe. Other assault groups recaptured the southern part of Sladkoe and nearby treeline positions. Ukrainian forces improved their positions south of Rybnoe and are trying to clear the remaining part of the village. Other Ukrainian assault groups are now advancing further southeast, attempting to reach Uspenovka.

Further northeast, the Russians cleared a number of treeline positions north of Novogrigorovka and continued infiltrations through the large grey-zone south of Verbovoe. The intensity of fighting near Kalinovske and Beryozovoe has significantly decreased.

🔗 AMK Mapping

🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦 "Russia is increasingly targeting Ukrainian passenger trains with jet-powered drones, threatening a rail network crucial to the country's economy, military logistics and movement of people.

Moscow's strikes have damaged or destroyed more than 500 locomotives since the full-scale invasion began in 2022; more than 60% of them have been hit in the past eight months. Ukrainian Railways is now losing 37 to 40 locomotives a month."

🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-hits-passenger-trains-to-break-the-backbone-of-ukraines-economy-morale/

🇺🇸🌐🇳🇴 US Marines' boots fell apart during NATO's Cold Response 2026 Arctic exercise in Norway.

Brand-new Belleville Intense Cold Weather Boots developed holes in the leather, soles peeling off, and heel cups digging into tendons within days.

Marines had to be pulled from the field and buy Norwegian-made replacements from local stores.

Inspections back at Camp Lejeune found a 12% defect rate across 4,400+ boots — nearly 540 pairs with "out-of-the-box" failures, peaking at 20% in the July inspection.

Industry norm is 2-3%.

US law (Berry Amendment) requires military boots to be American-made, and proposed BOOTS Act legislation would tighten this further.

Source: Newsweek

🔗 Clash Report

🇺🇸🇭🇰🇨🇳 Sensitive F-35 fighter jet technology was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong this summer, sparking an inquiry on Capitol Hill and raising the possibility that China could have access to key components of the highly classified weapon system.

A shipment of F-35 parts bound for the United States for repairs was rerouted as it transited the Pacific Ocean from Australia, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The Pentagon confirmed the disappearance of some components.

The parts, which an intermediary was transporting on behalf of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, instead wound up in Hong Kong. It’s not clear why the equipment was rerouted or who has possession of it now.

The incident, which has not been previously reported, triggered an ongoing series of briefings for congressional staff on key national security committees. State Department and Pentagon officials first briefed staff in June, according to the people, and multiple additional briefings are expected in the coming weeks.

The shipment included one of the jet’s canopies, which covers the cockpit and contains stealth technology that only the U.S. and its allies have access to, according to two of the people. An adversary could study the parts and potentially reverse-engineer the prized technology if it had one of the canopies.

The canopy, a critical component of the F-35’s stealth capabilities, is an acrylic bubble that tops the cockpit and is coated with a thin layer of transparent radar absorbent material that helps hide the plane from enemy radar.
According to the Air Force’s own description, that layer of stealth protection can degrade over time, prompting the repair or replacement of canopies among the more than 1,300 fighter jets that have been produced for the U.S. and its allies.

🔗 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/18/congress-f-35-china-investigation-01083647