PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 2nd, 2026: Thousands More U.S. Troops Are Heading Toward Iran & Ukraine’s New Ballistic Missile

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Pick for it by AFP Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. AFPaction.com. It's Friday, the 2nd of October. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. And apparently still on the road. All right. Let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. is sending thousands more troops and potentially a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East as President Trump keeps the door open to renewed strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. Later in the show, Ukraine passes a major milestone in its war effort, putting its homegrown ballistic missile into combat for the first time. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The U.S. is sending another major wave of military power toward the Middle East. Potentially putting three American aircraft carriers in the region at the same time. According to reports, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is now heading toward the region, along with the USS Mackin Island amphibious ready group and Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Altogether, we're talking about roughly 9,000 additional sailors and Marines. And they'll be joining, obviously, an already significant American military presence. The USS George H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington are both operating in the Middle East right now, along with ships from the USS Boxer amphibious ready group. If the George Washington remains in theater, when the Roosevelt arrives, the U.S. will once again have three carrier strike groups concentrated in the Middle East. Now, that overlap isn't guaranteed. The USS Washington may head back toward its home port in Japan. But if all three are there together, we're looking at a level of American naval power that we haven't seen in the region since the spring of this year. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also extended the deployments of American air defense units in the region, along with elements of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The U.S. already has around 20 Navy ships operating in the region, helping enforce the blockade of Iran and protect commercial shipping. Now, as we've been covering here on the PDB, President Trump just recently rejected Iran 's latest ceasefire proposal. That offer supposedly included a seven-day pause in the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and supposedly restarting negotiations over Iran's nuclear program in exchange for concessions from Washington, including easing the blockade and economic relief. In an interview with Time published earlier this week, the President was asked directly whether the U.S. could ramp up its bombing campaign against Iran after the November 3rd attack. Trump said it was possible. He wouldn't say what that might look like or what the U.S. might target. So while the President keeps that option on the table, the Pentagon is positioning significantly more military power in the region. And that, of course, gives the White House options. More carrier aircraft means more capacity for strike operations. Additional air defenses give American forces greater protection against Iranian missiles and drones. The amphibious group brings thousands of sailors and Marines and another rapid-response capability. And the U.S. does continue to maintain the naval forces needed to enforce its blockade and keep shipping moving through the region. Putting another carrier and thousands of additional American troops into the region sends the Iranian regime a rather visible message about what could happen if diplomacy fails. And there is the question, though, of what happens should the U.S. reengage with military strikes. Iran has already demonstrated that it is ready. Iran has already demonstrated that it can still threaten American forces in the region. In recent weeks, Iranian ballistic missiles have been fired at U.S. warships. And the Iranian leadership has just issued a warning that any renewed military strikes by the U.S. will result in the regime engaging in a broader response than in the past. For now, the diplomatic track reportedly remains open, primarily through Qatari mediators. But as the USS Roosevelt makes its way to the region, neither side appears interested in making the first move with concessions. Well, the clock may be running out on a potential negotiated deal. All right, coming up next, Ukraine's new FP-7 ballistic missile has now moved from testing to combat. The next challenge, of course, is making enough of them. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here with a word about personal health and weight loss. Now, everybody's talking about weight loss injections because, well, the results are so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. 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John Huston will be courageous, stand strong, say no to socialism, and deliver common-sense solutions. Delivering tax relief when you need it most, unleashing American energy to drive down costs, and putting Ohio families ahead of partisan politics. John Huston said it. Paid for by AFP Action. AFPaction.com Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. Ukraine says it's crossed an important threshold in its effort to build more of its own long-range weapons. President Zelensky announced on Thursday that Ukraine has used its domestically produced FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time. Zelensky posted video of the launch and offered a very brief assessment. First combat use. Thank you for the result. And next comes production. Ukraine has not said where the missile was fired, what it targeted, or what kind of damage it caused. So it's hard to say yet how effective the FP-7 proved on the battlefield. But the fact that Ukraine has gotten this weapon from the development stage into combat is very significant. The FP-7 is built by the Ukrainian defense company Firepoint and has a reported range of roughly 200 kilometers. That's approximately 125 miles. The missile can also carry a warhead of around 330 pounds. Firepoint has compared it to the American-made Atacoms missiles that Ukraine has received from the U.S., but says the Ukrainian weapon can be produced for roughly half the cost. And that's really where this becomes important. For years, Ukraine's ability to conduct precision missile strikes beyond the U.S. borders. immediate front lines, has depended heavily on weapons supplied by the U.S. and other Western countries. That means Kyiv has also been dependent on Western stockpiles, Western production capacities, and in some cases, political decisions about how those weapons can be used. A Ukrainian-built ballistic missile begins to change that equation. If Ukraine can manufacture the FP-7 in meaningful numbers, it would give Kyiv its own supply of precision weapons capable of reaching Russian military targets well behind the front. Analysts say that could include missile launch sites, logistics hubs, and other military infrastructure. Zelensky's message points to the next challenge, production. Russia still has a substantial advantage when it comes to ballistic missile inventories and manufacturing, so the real test for Ukraine is whether it can turn this first battlefield launch into a weapon that it can produce consistently at scale. And Firepoint is already working on something considerably more ambitious. The company is developing another ballistic missile called the FP-9 with a claimed range of up to 850 kilometers, and if my math is correct, that's around 500 miles. Company officials say they hope to have that missile ready by the end of this year. If those plans hold, Ukraine would potentially gain the ability to strike military targets much deeper inside Russian territory using a weapon designed and produced at home. Now, it may not be a complete game changer. In fact, it won't be a game changer in that sense, but it does mark another step. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Friday, the 2nd of October. If you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, just reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you know you can do that. It's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. And finally, don't miss this weekend's PDB Situation. You can catch it this evening at 10 p.m. on the First TV, and of course, the show and past episodes are always available on our YouTube channel. Just go to YouTube and search up at President's Daily Brief, and you can find the show wherever you get your podcast stuff. 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