Policy & Regulation

Public Notice DA 26-314 invites industry comment on opening the 5030-5091 MHz, 960-1164 MHz, CBRS 3.5 GHz, 450 MHz, and 24 GHz bands to drone operations, creating innovation zones, and modernizing counter-UAS experimental licensing, with responses due May 1.

The Netherlands signed a $627 million contract with Raytheon for a complete Patriot fire unit to rebuild air defense capacity after donating systems to Ukraine, rushing to secure a production slot before a 2033 backlog.

Attacks on desalination facilities in Bahrain, Iran, and Kuwait have demonstrated that the Gulf's water infrastructure — supplying up to 90 percent of drinking water for some nations — is an exploitable strategic weakness in the ongoing regional conflict.

The warrantless surveillance program authorized under FISA Section 702 is set to expire on April 20, with Congress divided between a clean reauthorization backed by the White House and reform proposals that would require warrants for searches of Americans' communications.

Apple asks the Supreme Court to review a contempt ruling and injunction scope in its Epic Games case, while the Ninth Circuit grants a stay on fee calculations.

Spain's MiDNI app gained mandatory legal acceptance on April 2, positioning the country among the first EU member states with a fully operational national digital ID as the bloc's December 2026 EUDI wallet deadline approaches with uneven progress.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires September 30, 2026, threatening to slash highway, bridge, transit, and broadband funding to pre-2021 levels as Congress struggles to agree on reauthorization.

The EU and US are finalizing a non-binding agreement to coordinate critical minerals supply chains and challenge China's processing dominance, while the DOE launches a $69 million funding program for domestic extraction and refining.

Colorado, California, and Oregon are all enforcing or adopting wildfire-resistant construction standards in 2026, though municipal capacity and cost concerns threaten to slow the rollout.

A bipartisan Senate bill, a sweeping executive order on gain-of-function research, and a GAO report exposing transparency gaps converge to reshape how the United States governs biological risk.

The CFPB's landmark open banking rule missed its April 1 compliance deadline after a court injunction and agency reconsideration, but major banks are forging private data-sharing deals that may shape the market before regulators act.

A RUSI Journal paper argues that restoring peatlands, wetlands, and forests along Eastern European frontiers could impede mechanized forces while delivering climate and biodiversity benefits at a fraction of the cost of traditional anti-tank defenses.