10 Key Military And Defense Developments (December 24January 4, 2026)

(MENAFN- The Rio Times) The period from December 24 to January 4 was dominated by the United States' shock raid on Venezuela and China's record-setting war games around Taiwan, two events that pushed questions of sovereignty, blockade tactics and regime change back to the centre of global security debates.

At the same time, new missile and space milestones in North Korea, India, Iran and China confirmed that long-range strike and unconventional warhead programmes are advancing on multiple fronts, even as governments talk about deterrence and arms control.

Behind the headlines, budgets and defence-industrial moves-from Japan's record spending plan to Burkina Faso's security-heavy finances and India's drive for indigenous technologies-show how states are locking in long-term military trajectories rather than treating these crises as short-term shocks.

The brief is intended for planners, analysts and investors who need to track how these developments reshape force posture, escalation ladders and defence markets into the late 2020s.
1. U.S. seizes Venezuela's president in Operation Absolute Resolve (Jan 2–3)
In the night of January 2–3, the United States launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a two-hour raid that used roughly 150 aircraft to smash air defences and military sites around Caracas before special-operations teams stormed President Nicolás Maduro's fortified residence.

Commandos captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and flew them to New York to face long-standing narcoterrorism charges, while President Donald Trump announced that Washington would“run” Venezuela until a transition is in place.

The strikes reportedly killed dozens, triggered an emergency UN Security Council session, and split governments between those welcoming the move and those calling it a blatant violation of sovereignty.

Summary: A U.S. special-operations raid to remove a sitting president redraws red lines around regime-change missions and will shape how allies and rivals read American power-and international law-for years.
2. China encircles Taiwan in“Justice Mission 2025” mega-drills (Dec 29–30)
On December 29–30, China's military staged its largest exercise to date around Taiwan,“Justice Mission 2025,” encircling the island with warships, aircraft, drones and missile units.

The drills rehearsed blockades of major ports, strikes on air bases and U.S.-supplied systems, and showcased amphibious assault ships plus robotic dogs and humanoid platforms in propaganda footage, while airspace restrictions disrupted hundreds of flights.

Beijing cast the operation as a response to a record U.S. arms package and growing Taiwan–Japan cooperation; Taipei condemned it as a dress rehearsal for invasion and kept forces on high alert.

Summary: The exercise turns coercive signalling into a full-scale blockade scenario, tightening timelines for any future crisis in the Taiwan Strait.


3. North Korea tests long-range cruise missiles as five-year build-up looms (Dec 28)
On December 28, North Korea test-fired at least two long-range“strategic” cruise missiles over the Yellow Sea in a drill personally overseen by Kim Jong Un, with the weapons flying long racetrack patterns before hitting sea targets.

State media described the launch as a routine inspection of nuclear-deterrent readiness and a demonstration of“combat responsiveness,” following Kim's orders days earlier for factories to expand missile and artillery production under a fresh five-year plan.

The test adds another system designed to fly low and maneuver around missile defences to Pyongyang's fast-growing arsenal.

Summary: By pairing long-range cruise tests with an industrial ramp-up, North Korea signals that a more numerous and harder-to-intercept missile force will be a central feature of the next five years.
4. India salvo-tests Pralay quasi-ballistic missiles off Odisha (Dec 31)
On December 31, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation carried out a salvo launch of two Pralay short-range quasi-ballistic missiles from a single mobile launcher off the coast of Odisha.

Both missiles followed separate trajectories, met all trial objectives and hit their designated target areas, completing user-evaluation steps for a system designed to strike high-value targets roughly 150–500 kilometres away with manoeuvring conventional warheads.

Indian officials hailed the test as proof that a domestically developed, fast-reaction tactical strike option is ready to move toward full operational service.

Summary: Pralay gives India a flexible conventional tool for hitting airbases, logistics hubs and command posts, tightening regional missile competition with both Pakistan and China.
5. Japan approves record defence budget and funds“SHIELD” coastal system (Dec 26)
On December 26, Japan's cabinet approved a record defence budget of about 9.04 trillion yen (around $58 billion) for the 2026 fiscal year, another step toward lifting military spending to roughly NATO levels.

The plan pours money into long-range“counter-strike” missiles, a SHIELD layered coastal-defence network of sensors, drones and interceptors, and unmanned“arsenal” platforms, while also covering upgrades to air and naval forces.

Beijing denounced the package as a“sinister” attempt to remilitarise, but Tokyo argues it is simply catching up to China's rapid build-up and addressing lessons from the Ukraine war.

Summary: Japan is moving beyond incremental upgrades toward a doctrine that assumes it may need to hit back hard at distant targets, not just defend its immediate airspace.
6. U.S. airstrike in Nigeria opens new front in global counter-ISIS campaign (Dec 25–Jan 2)
On December 25, U.S. forces launched a rare strike deep inside Nigeria, using MQ-9 drones to drop 16 precision-guided munitions on two Islamic State–linked camps in Sokoto state at the Nigerian government's request.

Washington presented the attack as retaliation for massacres of Christians, while Abuja framed it as part of a joint counter-terrorism effort; local reporting described craters near the village of Jabo but no confirmed civilian deaths.

By January 2, Nigeria's military was publicly warning residents not to collect debris or unexploded ordnance from the sites, after videos showed villagers scavenging fragments from the impact zones.

Summary: The strike extends U.S. kinetic counter-ISIS operations into another African state and raises fresh questions about intelligence, sovereignty and civilian safety in an already fragile region.
7. Yemen's southern separatists launch two-year independence track as Saudi–UAE rift deepens (Dec 24–Jan 2)
In the wake of a December offensive that gave them control over most of southern Yemen, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council on January 2 announced a constitutional declaration and a two-year roadmap toward an independence referendum for a“State of South Arabia.”

Saudi-backed government forces have since launched counter-offensives and airstrikes to retake cities such as Mukalla, while Saudi jets reportedly hit Emirati-supplied armoured vehicles and weapons shipments at port.

The split has turned the former anti-Houthi coalition partners Riyadh and Abu Dhabi into de facto rivals on the ground, even as regional actors push for a Saudi-hosted dialogue on southern Yemen's status.

Summary: A separatist independence timetable and open Saudi–UAE friction risk turning Yemen's already complex war into a multi-layer conflict over borders, oil ports and Red Sea access.
8. Pentagon report confirms China's DF-27 conventional ICBM with anti-ship role (Dec 24 onward)
From December 24, analysts and governments digested the U.S. Defence Department's 2025 China military power report, which revealed that Beijing has fielded a DF-27 conventional intercontinental ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle.

With an estimated range of 5,000–8,000 kilometres and variants for both land-attack and anti-ship missions, the DF-27 can threaten U.S. carrier groups and bases from far inside China while also reaching parts of the American mainland.

The report frames the missile as part of a broader build-up in nuclear forces, cyber tools and blue-water naval power aimed at giving China credible options to fight-and win-a high-end war by the late 2020s.

Summary: A conventional ICBM that can also hunt ships adds a new rung to China's escalation ladder and complicates U.S. planning for both homeland defence and Pacific sea control.
9. Reports of Iranian unconventional warheads and Russia-assisted satellite launch raise alarm (Dec 29–31)
On December 29, multiple outlets citing anonymous sources reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard is working on biological and chemical warheads for long-range ballistic missiles, allegations Tehran has neither confirmed nor clearly denied but which, if true, would breach key international weapons conventions.

Two days later, Iran announced that three domestically designed satellites had been lofted into orbit on a Russian rocket, the latest in a series of Tehran–Moscow space launches that Western governments fear could also strengthen Iranian missile technology.

Together, the claims and the satellite launch suggest Iran is trying to rebuild and diversify its deterrent after suffering heavy damage in the June 2025 war with Israel and the United States.

Summary: Even unproven reports of unconventional warheads, combined with visible Iran–Russia space cooperation, will intensify pressure for tighter monitoring and raise the stakes of any future confrontation with Tehran.
10. Burkina Faso's 2026 budget channels scarce resources into security (Dec 27–29)
Between December 27 and 29, Burkina Faso's transitional legislature approved a 2026 national budget worth more than 3,400 billion CFA francs, with defence and security explicitly listed alongside health and rural development as top priorities.

The plan boosts ordinary revenues and steers a large share of new spending into the army and auxiliary forces fighting jihadist insurgents that control swathes of the countryside, even as the economy struggles and international financial support remains uncertain.

Officials argue that without stabilising the security situation there can be no growth, but critics warn that a heavily militarised budget risks deepening dependence on force and squeezing out longer-term investments.

Summary: Burkina Faso's security-first budget underscores how Sahel states are reallocating limited funds toward warfighting, with implications for both regional stability and sovereign-risk profiles.

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