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EXPLAINER

Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all have new faces in the dugout as Arsenal attempt to defend title for first time in 90 years.

The 2026/27 Premier League season is set to kick off on August 21 as champions Arsenal host newly promoted Coventry.

It has been a busy preseason for many clubs, albeit truncated for some by the World Cup, and as always there are a number of tantalising questions as the new season begins in all its hope and anticipation.

Al Jazeera outlines the five most compelling storylines ahead of the opening game.

Arsenal defend Premier League title for first time since 2005

The Gunners go into the campaign as Premier League champions for the first time since their Invincibles era, bringing a different kind of pressure for Mikel Arteta’s squad. The last time the Gunners retained a league title was in 1935.

They will also be looking to go one better in Europe after reaching the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years last season, only to lose to PSG.

While Leandro Trossard has left for Besiktas, Arsenal have generally kept their squad intact and added to it with some promising signings – buying Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, Illan Meslier on a free transfer, and making Piero Hincapie’s loan permanent. Guimaraes captained Newcastle and adds real leadership, steel and depth to the middle of the pitch.

Arsenal had the best defence in the league last year and the best record from set pieces – maintaining these attributes will be key.

Perhaps one area of uncertainty remains up front, where a convincing out-and-out striker remains elusive, despite the flashes of promise shown by Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus.

New faces in the dugouts

Manchester City have appointed Enzo Maresca to replace Pep Guardiola, ending a glittering decade under the Catalan. Maresca previously worked as Guardiola’s assistant during City’s treble-winning season and now inherits the job of reinventing a team built entirely around one man’s philosophy. His fortunes may depend significantly on whether City can hold on to key midfielder Rodri amid interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Maresca left Chelsea mid-season back in January, and the Blues have since turned to Xabi Alonso, a talented manager with a point to prove after he was sacked by Real Madrid last season. Whether Chelsea’s unpredictable owners give Alonso the freedom he needs to work could be a big factor in whether he succeeds at Stamford Bridge. He’s already made some interesting signings, such as bringing in Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa and the 35-year-old Danny Welbeck from Brighton.

Liverpool, meanwhile, go into the season under new boss Andoni Iraola after a wretched title defence under Arne Slot. The Spaniard will be tasked with making a coherent side out of the very talented but unsettled collection of individuals at Anfield, while also rebuilding after the departure of long-term stalwarts such as Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson.

Newcastle have appointed 38-year-old German coach Matthias Jaissle following Eddie Howe’s departure after nearly five years in charge. He inherits a squad that’s lost much of its spine over the preseason, with Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Kieran Trippier all leaving.

Iraola’s move to Liverpool left a vacancy at Bournemouth, where the club has turned to Marco Rose, a former Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig coach.

World Cup hangover looms over the league

With the Premier League season starting just 33 days after the World Cup final, several of the league’s biggest clubs face a rough turnaround from international duty straight into a title race.

Manchester City sent 19 players to the tournament across 12 nations – the heaviest World Cup workload in the league – while Arsenal had 16 involved, raising questions about squad freshness for two of the sides most likely to be challenging for the title.

New rules target time-wasting and holding but ease up on hair-pulling

The Premier League has confirmed a set of new rules for 2026-27, targeting time-wasting and improving consistency around some of last season’s biggest flashpoints.

Players receiving on-field treatment must now stay off the pitch for a full minute, double the previous 30 seconds, while referees will apply a five-second countdown on delayed throw-ins and goal kicks – time-wasting beyond that means possession or a corner will be awarded to the opposition.

Holding and grappling at corners will also draw closer scrutiny, with penalties now more likely for defenders who impede attackers.

There’s a notable softening on hair-pulling too after three straight red cards for it last season – now deliberate pulls without “excessive force or brutality” will only merit a yellow.

Can Sunderland maintain their remarkable form?

Three years after playing in English football’s third tier, Sunderland finished seventh in the Premier League last season – qualifying for the Europa League.

It is an astonishing achievement for a club that spent close to a decade outside the top flight, with most newly promoted clubs battling for survival at the other end of the table.

Manager Regis Le Bris has built a talented squad, but sustaining this level of performance alongside the demands of European football is going to be tough – indeed, Sunderland are again among the favourites to go down.

The last time Real Madrid went two consecutive seasons without a major trophy (2008-2010), they eschewed Galacticos and brought in Jose Mourinho who built the team from the back.

So after the last two trophyless seasons, they brought Mourinho back.

That means ultra-conservative tactics, plus a slew of central defenders and outside backs, not something that would normally excite Madridistas.

But even a superstar-studded attack does not work without a solid, veteran back line.

Welcome, then, Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate. But Real Madrid President Florentino Perez did not forget about scoring goals.

He also added Yan Diomande and Bernardo Silva to an attack featuring Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, along with Brahim Diaz, Endrick, Arda Guler and Rodrygo.

Recent failures aside, Real Madrid remains ambitious. Los Blancos expect to compete for both the Champions League title and La Liga.

Perez is not going to easily give in to Paris Saint-Germain’s newfound Champions League pre-eminence, or Barcelona’s attempt at a La Liga three-peat.

Real Madrid tops the Champions League charts with 15 titles, and has won La Liga 36 times, seven more than Barca.

Al Jazeera takes a look at the key questions before the new season for Real Madrid.

Second time a charm at Real Madrid for Jose Mourinho?

Mourinho’s first Real Madrid stint followed a two-year trophy drought, and the solution worked, sort of. The Portuguese won La Liga once and reached three Champions League semifinals from 2011-13.

Improvement, but not what the Merengues were looking for when Mourinho arrived on the heels of capturing the 2010 Champions League with Inter Milan.

These days, Mourinho’s stock has not exactly risen, and he is still looking for another Champions League success. But after last season’s coaching fiasco – Xavi Alonso being replaced by Alvaro Arbeloa mid-season – Perez is apparently hoping conservatism and discipline will bring out the best in the most expensive roster in La Liga.

The preseason presented a preview of Mourinho-ball, with Real Madrid winning the Trofeo Teresa Herrera last week. So, Los Blancos carried off a rather bulky trophy, though not a major one.

And the 1-0 victory over Deportivo A Coruna was classified as a preseason friendly, complete with 19 substitutions. They were, though, playing to win at all costs, judging by Antonio Rudiger’s first-half hip-check that sent Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang flying.

Good transfer business for Real Madrid?

Madridistas expected the arrival of a high-profile transfer, such as Alessandro Bastoni, Achraf Hakimi, Michael Olise, or Vitinha – not to mention Rodri. That did not happen, but the newcomers provide upgrades that could make a difference.

Cucurella, replacing Ferland Mendy, brings guile and tactical savvy, supporting Vinicius Junior on the left. He also happens to be Real Madrid’s only World Cup winner with Spain’s national team.

Dumfries might not compare with Hakimi, but he presents an alternative to Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Dutch defender is a dependable, physical right back, who captured two Serie A scudetti and reached two Champions League finals with Inter.

Silva contributes composure, and his ability to settle the midfield fills a need lacking since the departure of Luka Modric. Konate provides physicality and recovery ability in central defence, and could challenge Dean Huijsen and Rudiger for a starting spot.

Diomande burst onto the scene with Red Bull Leipzig and starred for Ivory Coast in the World Cup. Diomande was “discovered” in northern Florida in the United States by Leganes last year, after being passed over in Major League Soccer tryouts.

He earned a 125 million euro ($144.5m) transfer that could be considered excessive, as rival suitors dropped from the scene, leaving Real Madrid to essentially bid against itself. Real Madrid will hope the investment in Diomande pays dividends, as he resembles a dynamic, younger version of Vinicius Junior, and can perform on either wing.

A number 9 for Real Madrid, anybody?

Endrick wears the number 9, but does not fit the profile of a hold-up striker. Nor does Mbappe, though he has made the position his own. Endrick, 20, failed to meet expectations after arriving on a 47.5 million euro ($54.9m) transfer from Palmeiras. He ended up on loan to Olympique Lyon, scoring five times, including a hat-trick against Metz.

At 6-foot-4-inches, Carlos Espi represents Mourinho’s conception of the number-9 role. The 21-year-old lacks experience but showed promise with Levante, converting 11 goals last season.

Perez, though, is sticking with his investment in Endrick. Last year, he let Nico Paz go to Como, and, this year, Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham.

Two go-to guys, but not enough goals?

Few can match Mbappe’s ability to stretch defences and finish.

Last season, Mbappe totalled 42 goals, plus another 10 for France in the World Cup. But should Mbappe be a lone striker, or should he be breaking down defences on the wing?

As for Vinicius Junior, his effectiveness on the left wing is unquestioned. The problem has been capitalising on the talent of Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. Despite Mbappe’s goal explosion, Real Madrid’s La Liga totals declined from 87 in 2023-24 to 78 the next season and 77 last season.

In the past, Mourinho’s forwards have sacrificed scoring to concentrate on defending. Not exactly what Mbappe or Vinicius Junior signed up for, but Mbappe indicated he is ready to go along with the programme in an interview with Real Madrid TV. Mourinho, Mbappe said, “is a coach that knows how to win.”

Time for Bellingham to go on the offensive?

As a 20-year-old, just arrived from Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham converted 10 goals in his first 12 La Liga games in 2023. Bellingham’s scoring tailed off after that, and he’s fallen into a complementary role in midfield. But after a breakout World Cup, maybe Bellingham will reassert himself as an attacking midfielder.

Performing for England, Bellingham ignited the offence, driving through the midfield, setting up teammates, and also converting seven goals. He also displayed leadership qualities, rallying the team in difficult conditions in Mexico City and leading a comeback against Norway.

Bellingham has plenty of midfield support at Real Madrid, playing alongside Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde. But will Mourinho allow Bellingham to go forward at will, as he did prior to the arrival of Mbappe, or have him thinking defence first?

What about Arda Guler?

Guler was a regular from last season’s opener on; his 51 appearances were second on the team to Vinicius Junior’s 53. And Guler is expected to be a sure starter this season. The arrival of Silva, though, could create a squeeze for playing time.

Mourinho favours experienced players, and also appears to be on a wavelength with Silva, partly because of their Portuguese backgrounds. Guler can be spectacular, breaking past opponents on the dribble, sparking the attack. But the threat of a reduced role has led to reports that Guler is considering a return to Fenerbahce.

A new young adult series has entered the chat.

“Sterling Point” has all the hallmarks of your usual YA obsession — yearning, an awkward love triangle, a lack of adult supervision, an enviable waterfront setting and complicated friendships. Unlike most other YA series of the moment, it’s an original story that isn’t based on a book. Created by Megan Park, the writer-director behind Sundance hit “My Old Ass” and an actor with roots in the coming-of-age circuit in shows like “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” the heartfelt drama centers heavily on the complex relationship between two teens who discover they’re half sisters after a death exposes a deep family secret.

It’s the latest series helping Prime Video step further into its WB/The CW era as a go-to destination for younger audiences, joining hits that include “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Every Year After,” “We Were Liars” and “Off Campus.” Not to show my millennial wrinkles, but unless the streamer invests in a campaign that evokes the spirit of late ‘90s marketing push known as “The Faces of WB,” what’s even the point of it all? Until then, in this week’s Guest Spot, we spoke with Park about the series that has teen drama enthusiasts hooked.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, our writers recommend a six-part British television drama that recounts the tragic 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and a 2007 stoner comedy directed by Gregg Araki that will help you mellow out and pregame this weekend’s latest addition to the genre. — Yvonne Villarreal

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Phyllis Logan, left, Molly Geddes and Cora Bissett in “The Bombing of Pan Am 103.”

(Netflix)

“The Bombing of Pan Am 103” (Netflix)

Admittedly, I didn’t know a lot about the Pan Am flight disaster that this miniseries depicts, but I’m glad that’s no longer the case. This BBC production (it debuted in the U.K. last year) depicts the stories of American and Scottish investigators who spent more than a decade combing through evidence, clues and tips to bring justice to the families affected by the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. In 1988, the commercial jetliner was transporting 259 people, including 190 Americans, when it exploded over the skies of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing everyone on board and 11 Scots on the ground. Until the events of Sept. 11, 2001, it was one of the most lethal acts of air terrorism, according to the FBI. In the series, we see the gravity of the disaster, but also a deep layer of humanity, showing how Lockerbie and its citizens were irrevocably changed, yet their compassion never wavered, whether for each other or the victims’ families, who formed a lasting bond in an unlikely place. The main characters in the show are based on real-life people: Connor Swindells is DS Ed McCusker, who helped lead the investigation in Scotland; Patrick J. Adams is FBI Agent Dick Marquise, who led the American investigation; and the brilliant Merritt Wever is Kathryn Turman, a tireless advocate whose work led to reforms and services for families of victims. Be prepared to watch with a box of tissues. — Maira Garcia

Anna Faris, John Krasinski, center, Michael Shamus Wiles in 2007’s “Smiley Face.”

(Lacey Terrell / First Look Pictures)

“Smiley Face” (Prime Video)

This has been a stand-out summer for highbrow discourse about Homeric adaptations. As a reward, let’s get stupid with Gregg Araki’s 2007 stoner flick “Smiley Face,” a giddy, silly romp about a slacker (Anna Faris) whose troubles start when she snarfs a plate of pot cupcakes for breakfast. Her misadventures treat us to a tour of L.A. — from a Hollywood casting office to the Venice Beach boardwalk, with a pit stop at a meat-packing plant in El Monte. Even better, it’s a tour de force performance from Faris, who plays an impulsive mess with the fearlessness of a clown leaping into a kiddie pool of pudding. She deserved to make a dozen more movies just like it. (The “Scary Movie” franchise only halfway counts.) If “Smiley Face” gives you the munchies for a great new comedy, check out “The Wrong Girls” with Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat and Araki’s latest farce, “I Want Your Sex,” which stars a ferociously funny Olivia Wilde. — Amy Nicholson

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Ella Rubin and Amélie Hoeferle in “Sterling Point.”

(Prime Video)

The enemies-to-lovers romance trope in a teen drama? It’s been done. “Sterling Point” anchors its premise on an enemies(ish)-to-sisters storyline. The coming-of-age drama opens with 17-year-old twins, Annie Jacobson (Ella Rubin) and her twin brother Connor (Keen Ruffalo), who were raised in New York City and inherit a Canadian island following the death of their estranged grandfather. The series follows Annie as she sets out to the island and encounters Ramona (Amélie Hoeferle), the half sister she didn’t know existed until she arrived there. Their initial friction gives way to a tight bond as they piece together emotionally heavy family secrets.

The series hails from Megan Park, who has become known for her nuanced stories about young people with films like “The Fallout,” a drama starring Jenna Ortega about the aftermath of a school shooting, and the Aubrey Plaza-led “My Old Ass,” about a teenager who meets her older self while on a mushroom trip. Over video call, Park discussed the “Sterling Point’s” origins, her hopes for Season 2 and the coming-of-age stories that she admired growing up. — Y.V.

Many series about and catering to young adults right now, some of which are part of Prime Video’s lineup, are based on books that have built-in fan bases. Did that make “Sterling Point” a harder sell? What was your experience of pitching it?

Yes, I think people are always more nervous to take a risk on something brand new when you’re like, “This is just a weird idea I had in my brain, but trust me I think it’ll work.” But I was really lucky with Amazon being so supportive because they had just acquired “My Old Ass” and I think they understood the voice and the stories that I was wanting to tell with the show. I was shocked that people were willing to take the risk of being like, we’re going to go in a writers room and we’re going to figure out the show in an old-school way; we’re not going to rely on any kind of built-in audience or IP. I’m very thankful for Amazon for taking that chance on us. It’s not that I’m against adapting IP. I’m sure I would do that at some point, but I had an idea and somebody still wanted to listen to it, so I feel very grateful for that.

What inspired this story ?

I wanted to try [writing for] TV because I was like, “Well, eight hours is a lot more content than just making a movie.” That was a fun challenge to me. When I was acting, I spent so many years doing TV, so it felt like home. For me, it was the sisterhood story and sort of the the idea of these two young women who are connected by this woman that they don’t know and don’t feel like her death has necessarily affected either one of them, and it has very much affected both of them. I thought it was an interesting idea to explore, nature versus nurture. I come from a family where there’s a lot of adoption, and I had also never really seen a character like Annie where they were adopted and they didn’t have the desire to seek out their biological family, and that was just something they were fine with. That’s been an experience of a lot of people in my family. Oftentimes, [we see] stories about you know people wanting to find their biological family. Both of them exist, but I hadn’t seen the latter in a lot of things. I was excited to explore that.

Daniel Quinn-Toye, Bo Bragason and Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie in “Sterling Point.”

(Prime Video)

Identity, and how that’s shaped by our parents, drives so much of the story. What interested you in that parent-child or just familial dynamic?

I’ve always just loved stories that are about that; family dynamics are the most interesting to me because they’re so full of triggers, and everybody has some kind of crazy story within their family, or a mystery. At that age, you’re finally realizing your parents are just people too, and they maybe don’t know everything. And maybe you have different ideas or thoughts about how the world works than your parents, and that can sometimes not go over very well. It is an interesting time. And as a mom now with children — I have a 2- and 6-year-old — you think a lot about like, “Wow, how are my kids going to feel about A, B, and C when they’re this age? What’s my relationship going to be with them as teenagers and adults?” It’s so wild to think about. I was also writing it, thinking about a lot about the mom and the parents POV as well.

The show has romance or feelings of infatuation that are a hallmark of young adult dramas, but it’s not the focus of the show. It’s the relationship between the sisters. There’ve been studies saying that teens want less sex in TV and movies, that they prefer watching stories about deep friendships or platonic relationships. Was that top of mind for you at all?

You’re the first person who’s asked me that, and I feel like yes. We love a love triangle, we love a love story — it’s so fun and such an escape; it’s almost like an essential part of a show in a way. But especially this generation, their friendships are deeply important and they live at home longer, statistically. Their relationships, their parents, are a lot different than maybe millennials’. When I was in high school, I was never involved in romantic relationships. That was a later part of life, and I feel like I’ve talked to a lot of people, they were like, I wasn’t dating really in high school. I was not ready and not there yet. You don’t often see that. And so it was fun to have this this North Star that the real love story and the real heart of the show is the sisterhood, and I hope that sets the show apart in an exciting way, because it felt that way when we were writing it.

The season ends with Annie and Ramona essentially swapping locations. What are you interested in exploring in a Season 2 with these characters?

I have a whole bunch of ideas left, so we shall see. There’s a lot between these two young women having now experienced each other’s lives fully that is going to be really interesting to explore and pick up, hopefully, if we get the chance to. Listen, eight hours seem like a lot, but once you get into it, you’re like, “Wait, man, there’s eight hours more that I think I could get deeper into A, B, and C.” And there’s so many great supporting characters in the show, and we had stuff [for them] that we wanted to fit in for them in Season 1 that we just couldn’t fit in. Season 2 could be fun in that way, where you know these people and know the world, and now you can go more into [who they are.] Who is Oona’s mom? There’s all these other characters who we can get more into their world as well.

The YA genre is thriving right now. And it’s not even just young people tuning in — I feel like I see so many TikToks from millennials and Gen X talking about their obsession with them. Why do you think we’re still turning to these types of stories later in adulthood?

Because it’s nostalgic. It’s such a defining time in every single person’s life. It’s why young people are finding shows that we grew up on, like “One Tree Hill” or “Dawson’s Creek.” And why women in their 50s or 60s are still relating to the newer shows like “Off Campus” and and “Elle.” It doesn’t matter the era; it’s just the unique sort of idea that it’s the first this, the first that; the defining moments of our lives in so many ways.

In the spirit of this series, what were some of the coming-of-age films, TV series or books that shaped you?

I grew up in like the era of such great coming-of-age comedies — “Clueless” was a big one for me — and really epic rom-coms like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Those movies really stuck with me. I would say that Chris Columbus, as a filmmaker, makes movies like “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Step Mom” — those movies that are such wild ideas or really sad things, but you’re also unexpectedly crying. In “Mrs. Doubtfire,” you’re like, oh, this is a story about a dad who misses his kids, but it’s so heartfelt but also funny at the same time.” I want to make things that are heartfelt, which isn’t necessarily a cool word to some people. I think it’s cool because I want to make things that are meaningful but also lead with their heart, and you’re surprised when the emotion comes. It’s not just super, super dark or super, super light and fluffy; it hopefully falls perfectly right in the middle.

ICYMI

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July 29 (UPI) — The stock market opened with the Dow falling 400 points on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest interest rate decision.

The committee will announce its decision on Wednesday afternoon with Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh making his second address since being appointed. Economic indicators point to the Fed holding interest rates at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

“My colleagues and I recognize that high inflation has been an undue burden on American households and businesses,” Warsh said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing earlier this month. “The members of our committee have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation and we share a resolute commitment to restore price stability.”

The war in Iran has increased economic pressure, driven by rising fuel costs as the United States and Iran use the crucial Strait of Hormuz as a point of negotiation. The annual inflation rate rose to 4.2% in May on the back of rising gas prices.

The Federal Reserve has maintained a target goal of 2% annual inflation rate.

The average fuel price in the United States is $4.09 per gallon for regular grade gasoline on Wednesday, AAA reports.

The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision at 2 p.m. EDT, followed by an address by Warsh at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

Briton Josh Kelly was forced to dig deep to retain his IBF light-middleweight world title, surviving a spirited late comeback from Belfast’s Caoimhin Agyarko to win a narrow points decision in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Kelly looked in complete control until the complexion of the contest changed when he received a deserved sixth-round point deduction for repeated punches to the back of the head.

The 31-year-old was then bloodied by cuts across his face and a gash on his nose as Agyarko grew in confidence and began to land with increasing success.

But Kelly stood firm through the championship rounds to secure victory, with the judges scoring the contest 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112.

“That was a messy and hard fight. I didn’t get cuts from punches like this, it comes from heads and elbows. This is what it looks like when you’ve got tight skin,” Kelly said.

“I knew he [Agyarko] was go to be tricky and awkward. [He had] a good game plan. He tried to make it a good boxing match. I had to show a different side to me at the end and that is what a champions does.”

Fighting on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight comeback against Kristian Prenga, Sunderland’s Kelly claimed his 21st professional victory.

Agyarko, 29, had hoped to become Ireland’s first black world champion. Instead, despite a brave second-half comeback, he suffered the first defeat of his professional career in his 30th contest.

Also on the card, WBO super-middleweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz laboured to an underwhelming points win over Simon Zachenhuber.

The 27-year-old Briton was far from his best and struggled to find his rhythm but was awarded a majority decision as he extended his record to 24 wins and one defeat.

LAS VEGAS — The door opened for Arthur Kaluma to show his worth for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League on Saturday night.

He did so in a big way.

Kaluma had 34 points and five rebounds during the Lakers’ 91-70 win over the Dallas Mavericks at the Thomas & Mack Center.

He was 11 for 16 from the field and six for 10 from three-point range.

With Lakers rookie guard Cameron Carr unable to play because of a right thumb contusion, Kaluma took over the scoring role. Carr, the 24th pick in the NBA draft, is averaging 17 points per game.

“Cam doesn’t play tonight, so he gets a little bit more minutes, gets a couple more touches,” said Lakers Summer League coach Ty Abbott about Kaluma. “But he’s done a really good job of making the most of it when he doesn’t have actions run for him. So the way that he’s been able to stay ready, find windows for himself has kept him in a rhythm. So, on a night like tonight, when we can run some actions for him, he knocks them down and just plays out of his mind. It was great.”

Kaluma said he was “a little nervous” but his three-point shooting said otherwise.

“When [teammate] Jon Elmore came down and he pitched it back to me for a three … I just knew when it came off my hand it was cash,” Kaluma said. “So I said, ‘Yeah, I’m hot.’ It went on from there.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Kaluma lined up a three-pointer, setting his feet and scoring from 29 feet out. He flashed three fingers and smiled. His teammates on the bench stood and cheered, as did the fans.

“We have such a great group of guys this year at Summer League and going through this it’s hard to get that camaraderie with a group,” Kaluma said. “But I feel like everybody wants to see everybody succeed and I felt that tonight. I’m not going to lie to you. They tell me to shoot the ball. I passed up a couple of shots and they were mad at me the other day.”

Kaluma played for the South Bay Lakers in the G League last season. He averaged 14.6 points per game, 4.9 rebounds and shot 55% from the field, 37% from three-point range.

“The G can get grimey, you know what I’m saying? It’s a time where everybody is trying to fight for a position and there is a certain hunger that you have to have in order to be successful in the G,” Kaluma said. “And I feel like that drive that I had my first year in it pushed me into this summer to really get better and work on my game and come here and have the opportunity to perform.”

Kaluma wasn’t alone in helping the Lakers improve to 2-0 in Summer League play.

Adou Thiero ran the court, took a lob pass from Chris Mañon and threw down a two-handed dunk. He had another solid outing with 15 points and four rebounds. He shot just four for 12 from the field, but was a plus-15.

But the night belonged to Kaluma.

“I pride myself on the defensive end,” he said. “I know I got hot offensively, but the shot was just falling today, you know what I’m saying? My game is three-and-D. I lock-up on defense and I know I can hit open shots. I just got hot today and I’m not going to try to let it get to my head.”

Can you tell the story of America in 10 movies? Maybe so — at least a version of it — if you stick to moments of serious national friction and those rare instances when a filmmaker meets the mood with a true vision. If you want tearjerkers about red, white and blue triumph, this is not your list (although the Space Race drama “The Right Stuff” always does the trick). Meanwhile, our current state of disunity and division will find its own expressions in time; start with “Civil War,” though it’s a bit too soon. Instead, we thought about historical pivot points and built a list of classics, along with a few alternatives for each title.

The Great Depression

Henry Fonda, left, in the 1940 film “The Grapes of Wrath,” directed by John Ford.

(20th Century-Fox)

‘The Grapes of Wrath’ (1940)

America is a broken place in John Ford’s poetically charged adaptation of the Steinbeck novel: a downbeat landscape of Oklahoma dust storms, long shadows and the teetering sight of a car turned into a truck transporting a family westward. This will always be one of those essential movies about a particular national dream — not just a myth — of emerging from economic catastrophe and being reborn in the promised land of California. Ford, with the instincts of a showman, foregrounded hope on the horizon via inspired performances by Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell’s pragmatic Ma Joad getting the final word (“We keep a’coming…”). But there is still so much darkness in “The Grapes of Wrath,” especially in its scenes of John Qualen’s Muley Graves, crumpled on the ground, suddenly a squatter on his own piece of land. He’s no match for the bulldozers. As long as the idea remains that property gets its purpose from those tending it, working it, nourishing it and dying on it, the film will never become a relic. Its binding values of labor and community remain relevant, even if today’s Hollywood rarely speaks to them. — Joshua Rothkopf

See also: “Modern Times,” “Sullivan’s Travels,” “Bonnie and Clyde”

Postwar optimism

Michael Hall, from left, Teresa Wright, Myrna Loy and Fredric March in the 1946 movie “The Best Years of Our Lives.”

(Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ (1946)

World War II ended with ticker-tape parades and soaring expectations. William Wyler’s sweeping drama arrived just as America was beginning to reckon with what coming home actually meant. Harold Russell, a real-life veteran who lost both hands during the war, plays a sailor struggling to imagine a future with the woman he loves. Dana Andrews is a decorated bombardier who returns to the same soda fountain job he held before the war, discovering that military heroism doesn’t necessarily translate into peacetime opportunity. The movie became one of the biggest hits of 1946 because it understood a challenge facing millions of Americans: The war had given the country a common purpose but peace meant each person had to find their own. Yet for all its honesty about that dislocation, the film remains remarkably hopeful. Its faith that people can rebuild their lives and start over feels almost radical today. Seen from the distance of eight decades, it feels like a dispatch from a country that had just survived a catastrophe and still believed its best days lay ahead. — Josh Rottenberg

See also: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Giant”

Capitalism, unchecked

Daniel Day-Lewis in the 2007 movie “There Will Be Blood,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

(Paramount Vantage)

‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007)

“I drink your milkshake — I drink it up!” Oil man Daniel Plainview’s deranged metaphor, allegedly taken from congressional transcripts from the 1920s Teapot Dome scandal in which Interior Secretary Albert Fall defended the practice of directional oil drilling, a.k.a. drainage, became a catchphrase when “There Will Be Blood” arrived in 2007. Elon Musk probably has a T-shirt in the back of a drawer emblazoned with the line. It epitomizes the American ethos of extracting resources that belong to someone else and then brutally bragging about the beatdown. Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie is part history lesson, part horror film, which, when it comes to chronicling the American experience, feels like the perfect blend. The oil man’s exploits take place more than a century ago, but seem particularly relevant now with Musk newly minted as the world’s first trillionaire and income inequality rapidly widening. Plainview confesses, “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed.” It neatly sums up the endgame in which we find ourselves — and his vanquishing of the preacher Eli speaks to what we worship in the United States. He’s finished and sometimes it feels like we are too. — Glenn Whipp

See also: “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “WALL-E,” “Sorry to Bother You”

Post-Vietnam/Watergate cynicism

‘Nashville’ (1975)

Ronee Blakley in the 1975 movie “Nashville,” directed by Robert Altman.

(Paramount Pictures)

Could one movie capture the breadth of emotions around this year’s 250th anniversary celebrations as well as Robert Altman did the bicentennial? As the country was still reeling from the assassinations and discord of the 1960s, the despair of Vietnam and the scandals of Nixon and Watergate, there was a soul-baring uncertainty to what it even meant to be an American. With 24 main characters interwoven around the town of Nashville, home of country music and intersecting political undercurrents, the film tries to make sense of the chaos. While the conspiracy thrillers of the 1970s are seen as the most direct response to the moral malaise of the moment, Altman finds an unexpected way to gild his innate skepticism with a light filigree of hope, a complex quilt of characters capturing the contradictions inherent in the American identity. And yet as cynical and beaten-down as the film’s viewpoint can often be, there is still a spark of decency and perseverance. That is the America that Altman celebrates, even as he lets no one off the hook. Few films capture the hum of life in all its maddening beauty quite like this one. — Mark Olsen

See also: “Blow Out,” “The Conversation,” “The Parallax View”

‘Network’ (1976)

Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway and William Holden in the 1976 movie “Network,” directed by Sidney Lumet.

(MGM Studios / Getty Images)

Much has been made over the years about how prescient this film was, as if screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky and director Sidney Lumet saw the constrictive dangers of corporate consolidation in the distance and came back to warn us. But if these rumbling premonitions have remained true across multiple eras of an ever-evolving media landscape, have we really learned anything? Perhaps we really do live in a “demented slaughterhouse of a world,” as the unhinged newsman Howard Beale says in one of his apocalyptic broadcasts, and have all along. Maybe what “Network” nails most of all is apathy: that even the most righteously committed can have their heads turned from their true goals and then struggle to get back on track. What may be most shocking rewatching the film today is the suspicion that some current media figures see the maneuverings of villainous executives played by Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway and somehow think that they were the heroes of the story all along. Not even Lumet or Chayefsky would have predicted that. — Mark Olsen

See also: “Broadcast News,” “The Insider,” “Nightcrawler”

Gentrification and racial tensions

Spike Lee, left, and Danny Aiello in the 1989 movie “Do the Right Thing.”

(Universal Pictures)

‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

Spike Lee’s masterpiece was met with hand-wringing when it arrived in theaters 37 summers ago, with white critics fretting how “urban audiences” would react to its shocking ending of brutality and angry protest. “If some audiences go wild, [Lee] is partly responsible,” critic David Denby wrote in New York Magazine. Nobody rioted. “Do the Right Thing” made some people uncomfortable because it told truths from a Black perspective that they did not want to accept. That unwillingness to have hard conversations and learn from them remains evident today as we prepare to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday without an honest reckoning of the anguish that lies beneath the storybook version of America’s founding. The paradox is that Lee’s movie is itself that conversation, its characters engaging in a series of arguments, evenhanded and empathetic, about how race affects the lives we lead in America. Until our country engages in that dialogue, nothing will change. For a moment, the Black Lives Matter movement signaled a willingness to grapple with the past. But the pendulum swung and we’re back to days of “Driving Miss Daisy” denial. But “Do the Right Thing” remains with us, its urgency and relevance undiminished, waiting for an America open to listen and live up to its idealized aspirations. — Glenn Whipp

See also: “Get Out,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Fruitvale Station”

The rise of the yuppies

Roddy Piper, left, and Keith David in the 1988 movie “They Live,” directed by John Carpenter.

(Universal Pictures)

‘They Live’ (1988)

“I believe in America,” the guy says, but we’re not in the private office of some all-powerful Corleone. Rather, this is a working man in a plaid shirt and denim. As the sun sets on his sad L.A. tent city (inspired by the real-life Justiceville), he only wants what everyone else wants: a hard day’s work for fair pay and the chance to get ahead. “It’ll come,” he says, serenely. He doesn’t know he’s in a John Carpenter movie — Roddy Piper was never put to better on-screen use — and that those keeping him down are, in fact, aliens hypnotizing us into an unseeing stupor as they carve up the world’s resources. Released at the tail end of Reaganomics, Carpenter’s most politically forward thriller now feels like a decoder ring for ’80s-era greed, detachment, complacency and ruthlessness. Carpenter meant us to to see his bug-eyed space invaders as yuppies. He also intended us to question whether we were selling each other out, just to join the “human power elite” for a tiny piece of pie. “They Live” looms just on the other side of appreciated. Many genre films say what our more prestigious dramas can’t about the creeping forces that are changing America; this one still feels like it’s getting away with murder. — Joshua Rothkopf

See also: “American Psycho,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “After Hours”

’80s women in the workplace

Harrison Ford, left, Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the 1988 movie “Working Girl.”

(20th Century Fox)

‘Working Girl’ (1988)

Mike Nichols’ zeitgeisty hit opens on a shot of the Statue of Liberty hoisting her torch like a paycheck. Down by her green toes, Melanie Griffith’s Staten Island secretary Tess McGill ferries to Manhattan to type memos for important men. Tess has a job, not a career. But 1988 was the first year that female undergraduates outnumbered men on college campuses. Even without a degree, Tess is ambitious to climb the corporate ladder — once she swaps out her practical white sneakers for a pair of pumps. The script by Kevin Wade throws up hurdles of sexism and class snobbery, never sugarcoating how Tess’ male co-workers treat her like a blow-up doll. (Critics dismissed Griffith, too, until this performance earned her an Oscar nomination.) Yet note how her Ivy League-educated boss Katharine (Sigourney Weaver) isn’t immune to harassment either; she’s just mastered how to parry her colleagues’ advances. Fantastic as it is, “Working Girl’s” core flaw is that Tess can’t snag her seat at the conference table until she yanks Katharine out of it. Weaver said that when she showed the script to real-life working girls on Wall Street, they asked, “This awful secretary steals your man, wears your clothes, takes your office — who’s going to sympathize with her?” Millions did and still do. — Amy Nicholson

See also: “9 to 5,” “Baby Boom,” “Silkwood”

Digital alienation

Justin Timberlake, left, and Jesse Eisenberg in the 2010 movie “The Social Network,” directed by David Fincher.

(Merrick Morton / Columbia TriStar )

‘The Social Network’ (2010)

In 2010, Apple introduced the iPad, Instagram launched its app and Silicon Valley still looked to many tech-besotted Americans like a force for progress. At a moment when technology companies were promising to bring people closer together, David Fincher’s acerbic drama about the founding of Facebook had a darker theory about why people wanted to connect in the first place. Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay traces Facebook’s creation back to a very old human desire: getting noticed by the people who matter. Instead of celebrating innovation, the movie unfolds through lawsuits and broken friendships. At Harvard, Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg fixates on the exclusive final clubs that won’t quite accept him. It’s a surprisingly sour approach for a Facebook origin story. Years before social media became a political battleground, Fincher was focused on something more basic — the fear that everyone else had been invited to a party you couldn’t get into. The movie ends with Zuckerberg alone at a computer, refreshing the Facebook page of the woman who dumped him and waiting for her to accept his friend request. More than 15 years later, it’s still hard to think of a better image for the loneliness and insecurity lurking beneath our connected lives. — Josh Rottenberg

See also: “Her,” “Eighth Grade,” “Ingrid Goes West”

Post-9/11 anxieties

A scene from the 2004 movie “Team America: World Police,” directed by Trey Parker.

(Melinda Sue Gordon / Paramount Pictures)

‘Team America: World Police’ (2004)

To add drama to the ennui over the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone pledged to immediately produce a silly sitcom about the winner. “That’s My Bush!” ran for eight episodes in the spring of 2001, with plans to spin off into a feature called “George W. Bush and the Secret of the Glass Tiger.” But the Sept. 11 attacks changed everything, including the work of satirists. Parker and Stone pivoted to “Team America: World Police,” a bomb-throwing comedy about our country’s napalm-strength combination of naiveté and swagger. To prevent an attack hailed as “9/11 times a thousand,” a squadron of puppet commandos blows up the planet themselves. The dark joke is these marionettes aren’t behaving much differently than the action heroes who have shaped the national id — it’s a through-the-looking-glass lens into our Hollywoodized view of the globe, down to the Parisian streets made of cobblestone croissants. At once straight-faced, sacrilegious and scatological, “Team America” needed nine tries to eke past the MPAA. Yet in divided times, it was a unifier. The political spectrum from Kim Jong Il to Alec Baldwin got equally savaged and the film’s eff-yeah patriotic theme song (“Rock and roll! The internet! Slavery!”) could even be heard blaring from real-life tanks in Fallujah. — Amy Nicholson

See also: “Eddington,” “Idiocracy,” “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay”

The U.K. Royal Navy has launched a kamikaze drone, the Nyan one-way effector, from a ship at sea, marking a significant step toward the U.K.’s ambition of a so-called ‘hybrid’ naval force. This is just one element of a much broader push toward increased reliance on uncrewed platforms, something that was underscored in the long-awaited Defense Investment Plan, unveiled earlier this week.

During recent trials off the south coast of England, the Nyan one-way effector drone was launched from the experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett, a platform used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies.

The trial, known as Exercise Neptune Reach, involved personnel from the Royal Navy’s 744 Naval Air Squadron, 26 Royal Artillery of the British Army, and the Royal Air Force.

In a statement, Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defense Readiness and Industry, said: “Britain is serious about the transition to a Hybrid Navy with new, powerful drones at the heart of the Royal Navy. By bringing together Army and Navy expertise to field strike drones from a ship at sea, we are accelerating the capabilities our forces need to stay ahead of our adversaries.”

The catapult launcher for the Nyan was installed on the ship’s deck. Operators then programmed the drone to fly to a specific target, which it flew to autonomously, while the ship was underway.

Developed starting in 2022, specifically for precision strike, the Nyan was designed and built by Callen-Lenz, a subsidiary of BAE Systems. It is intended to be a low-cost strike platform, with a unit cost of less than £100,000 ($132,000), according to the manufacturer.

The drone has a wingspan of around 9.5 feet and a reported range of more than 93 miles (150 kilometers) — meaning it can hit targets at a greater distance than the Harpoon anti-ship missile. Built mainly of carbon fiber, the Nyan is powered by a small turbojet engine. The design of the drone and its construction include reference to low observability, including a stealthy exhaust nozzle, making it harder for hostile air defenses to detect and destroy.

The Nyan drone and launcher have already been tested extensively during land exercises. During Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia this year, the British Army used the system in support of NATO allies on maneuvers. Thereafter, the British Army’s Royal Artillery adopted the Nyan for operational service.

Ahead of that, the Nyan made its combat debut in Ukrainian hands.

In the maritime context, the Exercise Neptune Reach trials from the Patrick Blackett were part of the wider, tri-service Project Vantage. This is focused on rapidly testing and delivering one-way effectors for the Royal Navy.

“This trial makes a significant step forward in delivering maritime one-way effectors at pace,” explained Lt. Cmdr. David Burton, Maritime One-Way Effectors Capability Sponsor with the Royal Navy. “Under Project Vantage, we are planning to integrate these capabilities into the Hybrid Navy, combining crewed platforms with uncrewed systems to expand reach, increase tempo and enhance lethality.”

The Nyan is already in quantity production, with more than 1,000 units manufactured so far, according to Matt Foster, CEO of Callen-Lenz.

The Royal Navy has said that the recent at-sea trials pave the way for further experimentation and also potential future deployment of the Nyan across the fleet.

Beyond the strike mission that the Nyan is currently equipped for, Callen-Lenz has said that the Nyan could be adapted to carry other payloads, or potentially be scaled up for increased range or endurance.

Interestingly, BAE Systems has also outlined the potential for further trials of the Nyan aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

In its last Strategic Defense Review, published last year, the U.K. Ministry of Defense described how plans for a hybrid naval force would also affect the two carriers and their air wings:

“The Royal Navy must continue to move towards a more powerful but cheaper and simpler fleet, developing a ‘high-low’ mix of equipment and weapons that exploits autonomy and digital integration,” the review stated. “Carrier strike is already at the cutting edge of NATO capability, but much more rapid progress is needed in its evolution into hybrid carrier air wings, whereby crewed combat aircraft (F-35B) are complemented by autonomous collaborative platforms in the air, and expendable, single-use drones. Plans for the hybrid carrier air wings should also include long-range precision missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck.”

Earlier this week, the Defense Investment Plan noted that the development effort for the hybrid carrier air wing will include trials of jet-powered drones from the carrier. Previous drone trials aboard the British carriers have involved the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+, an adapted target drone, launched from HMS Prince of Wales in 2021. Subsequently, the General Atomics Mojave short takeoff and landing (STOL) drone was operated from the same carrier in 2023, as you can read about here. The Mojave’s impressive STOL capabilities meant that no launch and recovery systems were required for these tests.

Beyond catapult-launched drones like the Nyan, the Royal Navy has a longer-term ambition for ‘cat and trap’ drone operations aboard its carriers, under an effort named Project Ark Royal.

If successful, Project Ark Royal will see the two carriers start to operate drones that can undertake a variety of missions and then increasingly heavier, complex, and higher-performance ones. In the past, General Atomics has pitched to the Royal Navy a carrier-capable fifth member of its Gambit drone family, intended to fit into a future air wing aboard the U.K. carriers.

Later on, full catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) capability could even add fixed-wing crewed aircraft, as we have explored in the past.

Of course, the United Kingdom is not alone in these aspirations, with China and Turkey, most notably, also increasingly exploring using drones aboard big-deck amphibious warfare vessels and other non-conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft carriers.

For the time being, the Nyan represents a fairly modest strike capability. Based on its range, what is likely a relatively small warhead, and subsonic performance, it is best understood as a low-cost tactical precision weapon. It lacks the reach and payload of the kinds of long-range precision-fires capabilities that the U.K. Armed Forces are increasingly looking to develop. However, it is an affordable means of engaging targets at relatively short distances and could be particularly effective if launched in large numbers and from a variety of platforms. As we have explored in the past, quantity has its own advantages in this context, and launching swarms of these at enemy ships or shore targets would make them very hard to defend against.

At the same time, experience with the Nyan in a maritime environment will help pave the way for introducing more capable drones.

As such, the successful at-sea launch of the Nyan drone marks an important milestone in the Royal Navy’s transition toward a hybrid naval force.

More generally, by demonstrating the ability to deploy low-cost, autonomous strike drones from a moving ship, the trial highlights the U.K.’s commitment to expanding precision strike capabilities and expanding its use on uncrewed platforms.

As the Royal Navy continues to experiment with ship-based drone operations, including air wings featuring uncrewed systems, these kinds of assets are set to play an increasingly important role, complementing traditional platforms and enhancing the fleet’s overall combat effectiveness.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Imagery has recently appeared showing a Russian Sukhoi Su-57 Felon fighter with an unusual external weapons load of short-range air-to-air missiles, as well as what looks like a previously unseen type of targeting pod. While we cannot say for sure, we may just have gotten our first close look at a Su-57 equipped to counter the Ukrainian kamikaze drones and cruise missiles that are now a regular menace to air defenses increasingly deep inside Russia.

Two photos, the original source of which is unclear, show a Su-57 configured with a pair of R-73/R-74 (AA-11 Archer) series short-range air-to-air missiles on pylons under the wings. One of those photos further shows the mysterious targeting pod below the left engine nacelle.

Both show a Su-57 seen from the rear inside a large shelter. One photo apparently surfaced on the TikTok social media platform. Somewhat surprisingly, it is one of a pair that also show apparent teenagers posing alongside the Felon — one of them inside the fighter’s cockpit — suggesting some kind of unofficial tour of the base.

The photos have been reposted on Russian social media, with military bloggers identifying them as showing Su-57s configured to hunt and shoot down Ukrainian drones.

While this certainly seems likely, we should not rule out some other possibilities, including a Felon involved in some kind of weapons trials. On the other hand, it is unusual to see Su-57s, in operational service or otherwise, carrying short-range air-to-air missiles externally. After all, the jet has internal bays specifically for this purpose, something we have described in detail in the past.

At the very least, this would appear to be a load-out optimized for close-range engagements, of the kind that would be required for hunting Ukrainian long-range one-way attack drones and, increasingly, cruise missiles.

It is also worth noting the large shelter in which the Su-57 is parked. This looks to be of the same type that has been installed at the airfield at Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, located more than 350 miles from the front line. In June of 2024, Akhtubinsk was itself hit by Ukrainian drones, which appear to have severely damaged, if not destroyed, a Felon parked in the open.

Russian military bloggers complained bitterly about the lack of protection from drone attacks at Akhtubinsk.

This reflected wider questions about the ability of Russia’s widely dispersed and heavily targeted air defenses to counter Ukrainian drone incursions and the ability to protect its own aircraft. Almost all of these assets, at the start of the conflict, sat in the open without any sort of shelters, let alone hardened ones. This is an area that Russia has since begun to address, even extending this to its long-range bomber fleet.

The Su-57 is very much a prized, ‘silver bullet’ asset of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). But it is also notably well-equipped for countering drones and cruise missiles, as we will come onto later.

The number of production configuration Su-57s in Russia’s inventory is notoriously limited. As of early 2023, there were just around nine series-production Su-57s in Russian service, along with less than a dozen pre-production and prototype aircraft that are not fully equipped for combat operations. The number of production Felons has expanded since then, but not on a grand scale as Russia prioritizes production of fighters like the cheaper and less complex Su-35S Flanker.

The scope of the Su-57’s contribution to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine is hard to quantify.

The U.K. Ministry of Defense has stated that Su-57s have been used in Ukraine since “at least June 2022.”

Prior to that statement, there had been on-and-off claims of the Felon being used to launch standoff strikes, mirroring tactics for other Russian jets involved in similar missions, in which they avoid the highly contested airspace over Ukraine itself.

For this purpose, the Felon can be armed with the Kh-69 stealthy cruise missile, intended to destroy small, hardened targets at distances of over 180 miles. It also carries the Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missile (including in its internal weapons bays) with a maximum range of around 150 miles, depending on launch parameters.

There was also combat testing between the Su-57 and the S-70 UCAV that went terribly wrong.

Meanwhile, the Su-57 has very impressive air-to-air capabilities.

Most impressively, it is armed with the 124-mile-range R-37M (AA-13 Axehead) air-to-air missile, complemented by the R-77-1 (AA-12 Adder) air-to-air missile, with a range of 68 miles, which are also capable of engaging Ukrainian aircraft ‘across the border’ in some scenarios.

Using high-end, fifth-generation, or equivalent fighter jets to tackle hostile drones and cruise missiles would not be unique to Russia. The U.S. military, as well as Israel and the United Kingdom, have called upon their F-35 fleets to deal with lower-end threats like these in the Middle East.

The Su-57 is the only operational Russian fighter available in any kind of meaningful numbers with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

The N036 radar, which has five separate AESA arrays, is part of a broader, integrated fire-control system that includes the 101KS electro-optical suite, the N036Sh identification friend or foe (IFF) system, and the L402 electronic countermeasures suite.

AESA radars are, in general, much better able to deal with drone and cruise missile threats.

Overall, any kind of AESA radar provides a significant boost to modern combat aircraft. In comparison with traditional mechanically scanned array technology, an AESA can find and track a target at a much greater range, more quickly, and with a greater degree of accuracy. This also applies to smaller threats, including those with limited radar signatures, or flying at very low levels, such as drones and cruise missiles.

The passive 101KS electro-optical suite should also be very useful against the same kinds of threats. It comprises an infrared search-and-track (IRST) sensor ahead of the cockpit, four ultraviolet missile-approach warning sensors, two directional infrared countermeasures turrets, and one imaging infrared sensor for low-level flying. Using the IRST, in particular, for counter-drone and cruise missile work, would reflect U.S. fighters’ employment of podded infrared sensors for the same. These sensors allow for long-range detection of low-radar-signature targets, including drones and cruise missiles. They can work collaboratively with the radar and other sensors to detect, classify, and engage these kinds of hard-to-spot targets at long distances.

Furthermore, unlike previous Russian tactical fighters, the Su-57 has a navigation and targeting pod, the 101KS-N, developed for it from the outset. Again, these kinds of stores have begun to be employed much more widely in efforts to counter drones and cruise missiles.

While targeting pods were first fielded for air-to-ground applications, they can also be used for air-to-air engagement, being highly important for visual ID at range. The laser designator can also be employed to illuminate, or ‘laze,’ a target, although that does not come into play with the Felon, since the aircraft has no laser-guided air-to-air weapons that we know of.

Most likely this is the 101KS-N Atoll from UOMZ.
If that’s the case, that’s actually very good—UOMZ usually produces some pretty low-quality stuff. https://t.co/54laFDZ6gc pic.twitter.com/6cqMFyYIzw

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) May 18, 2026

Interestingly, the pod seen in the accompanying image has a different rear end from the standard 101KS-N. It is unclear if it represents a new version of the pod, or even one that is optimized for air-to-air engagements, but that is a possibility. We also should not rule out that this is another type of store entirely, although its position on the nacelle makes that less likely.

Meanwhile, despite claims that Russia is developing laser-guided rockets that can be used for air-to-air engagements, like the U.S. developments of the 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rocket as a lower-cost way to down drones, there is no evidence that these have yet been fielded. This leaves the R-73/R-74 series short-range air-to-air missiles as the cheapest option for bringing down these kinds of threats.

When the R-73 first emerged in the early 1980s, it soon established itself as a very capable short-range air-to-air missile. Its combination of an all-aspect infrared seeker, high off-boresight capability, thrust-vectoring controls, and the fact it could be cued by the pilot’s helmet-mounted sight was unusual for the time, but is now much more commonplace. It has also been proven as a drone-killer, as seen in the video below, of a Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum shooting down one of Georgia’s Israeli-made Hermes 450 drones over Abkhazia in March 2008.

Russian jet shoots Georgian drone © Reuters

The successor to the R-73 is the R-74M, which looks almost identical but has a new two-band infrared seeker. This provides an increased seeker range and an expanded off-boresight capability, reducing the possibility of the enemy aircraft escaping it in a tight-turning dogfight.

However, since critical parts of the R-74M were sourced from Ukraine, Russia then moved to the R-74M2, which is optimized for internal carriage by the Su-57. This uses a Russian-made seeker and a rocket motor with increased burn time, for longer range. The weapon can also be fired in lock-on-after-launch mode, which is typically required when launched from an internal bay, the missile beginning its flight under inertial control before achieving an in-flight lock-on.

It’s unclear which of these weapons are carried under the wings of the Su-57 in these images. However, with plentiful stocks of older R-73s still available, it would make good sense to carry these externally, since they cannot be accommodated in the internal weapons bays.

Another key counter-drone and cruise missile weapon could be the Su-57’s 30mm single-barrel cannon within the starboard wing root and provided with 150 rounds of ammunition. You can see it in action here. On the other hand, downing slow and low drones with the gun is very challenging from a fighter and can be outright dangerous. The 30mm gun on the Felon also has a notably limited magazine size.

All in all, there is some circumstantial evidence that Su-57s are now being used — whether routinely, or as part of combat trials — for air defense against Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles.

Clearly, this is a growing problem for Russia, underscored very publicly by the large-scale daylight raid on Moscow last month. In what was one of the biggest attacks on the Russian capital in the conflict, multiple Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles hit several locations across the city.

Ukraine is pursuing a relentless campaign that is particularly targeting Russia’s refineries, as well as weapons production sites, and key military facilities.

In response, Russia is calling upon a wide variety of assets to help defend against the drones and cruise missiles.

Although many key assets are deployed closer to the front lines in Ukraine, there is now an array of additional layered air defenses deployed in and around key potential targets. Defensive systems extend from S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile batteries to attack helicopters tasked with gunning down drones in midair. Most prominently, Pantsir short-range air defense batteries have been positioned on rooftops and elevated towers.

The ruSSians are using a Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopter to deliver a Pantsir-SMD-E air defense system onto the roof of the Nordstar Tower business center in downtown Moscow.

Well thanks, now everyone knows where the next Ukrainian drone is going to hit 🎯 👍 pic.twitter.com/hgeIPJUwSq

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) May 28, 2026

Ukraine has demonstrated it can now strike targets over vast expanses of Russian territory. With its ground-based air defenses already stretched extremely thin, robustly protecting a growing landmass from potential strikes with those systems alone just isn’t possible. With Ukraine increasingly using long-range cruise missiles capable of delivering very heavy warheads, the stakes are further increased. Even if fighter aircraft were just focused on defensing key targets from the heavy cruise missile threat, it would make sense as these missiles can do huge amounts of damage and are easier to spot using both infrared and radar sensors.

New, incredibly clear footage of a Ukrainian Flamingo cruise missile slamming into Russia’s Titan-Barrikady missile plant last week. pic.twitter.com/Su30R6qRXI

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 30, 2026

In addition, we know fighters are part of the overall response equation already. For instance, they have been forward-stationed on alert at the bomber base at Engels for some time now.

These kinds of fighter activities are less visible, and the Russian authorities are unlikely to publicize them much, since the fact they are doing this work paints a less-than-impressive picture of the state of Russian air defenses, and further underlines expanding Ukrainian capabilities. This is especially true of the prized Su-57s, which may well now be involved in these lower-end defensive efforts.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Cyle Larin’s equaliser gives Canada first World Cup points after Jovo Lukic put Bosnia in the lead in the first half.

Canada striker Cyle Larin came off the bench to salvage a 1-1 draw for his side against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a frenetic Group ⁠⁠B opener that had long looked like it would end in defeat for the World Cup cohosts.

Bosnia went ahead in the 21st minute of the game on Friday when Jovo Lukic steered home a flick-on from a corner ⁠⁠for his first international goal in his country’s return to the World Cup after 12 years.

Canada thundered forward and should have equalised through Richie Laryea in the 53rd, only for Bosnia’s Sead Kolasinac to miraculously steer his shot off the crossbar and away to safety.

The Canadians continued to attack relentlessly, but despite creating plenty of chances, they lacked precision in their finishing as the ‌‌Bosnians dealt with a succession of crosses and looked to be heading for a narrow win.

Larin had other ideas, however, when introduced in the 76th minute and made an immediate impact, swivelling in the box and firing home a deflected strike less than three minutes later to equalise and send the home crowd into raptures.

The result gave Canada their first-ever World Cup point but left them short of the winning start they had craved.

Jonathan David had a glorious chance to put Canada in ⁠⁠front early on, but the country’s all-time leading scorer sent his well-struck shot ⁠⁠from the centre of the area right at goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.

After Lukic put the battle-tested Dragons on the board, it was Canada, roared on by a boisterous red-clad crowd, who took over.

Canada pressed for the rest of the half but were unable ⁠⁠to establish much of a presence deep in the Bosnia half, with almost every ball they sent into the area quickly cleared from danger.

The hosts nearly ⁠⁠drew level at the start of the second period when Laryea ⁠⁠went through on goal and his shot looked certain to head over the line until Kolasinac stepped in at the last moment to clear via the bar.

With the game starting to open up, Bosnia nearly doubled their lead moments later when Ermedin Demirovic went ‌‌through on goal, but Maxime Crepeau, making his World Cup debut after missing the 2022 edition with a broken leg, made a crucial save.

That set the stage for Southampton striker Larin, who earned the honour of ‌‌scoring ‌‌Canada’s first World Cup goal on home soil when he blasted home a right-footed shot from the centre of the box in the 78th minute, moments after entering the game.

SEATTLE — Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high 24 points against her former team, Kelsey Plum added 19 points and 11 assists, and the Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 88-83 on Wednesday night.

Ogwumike, who spent the last two seasons in Seattle, also grabbed nine rebounds to move into fourth on the WNBA career list, passing Rebekkah Brunson.

Cameron Brink added 15 points off the bench and Dearica Hamby grabbed 10 rebounds for the Sparks (6-6) in the Commissioner’s Cup game.

Natisha Hiedeman scored 16 points for Seattle (3-11), which has lost seven straight games. Dominique Malonga scored 15, Flau’jae Johnson added 14, Awa Fam had 12 and Jordan Horston 11 as all five Seattle starters scored in double figures.

Chance Gray made three free throws with 8:27 left in the fourth quarter to give the Sparks a lead, 72-70, they would not relinquish.

The Sparks were called for a defensive foul on a drive by Horston with 28.9 seconds left in the fourth, but it was overturned after a coach’s review. The Sparks took possession, leading 86-83, but Plum missed a long jumper and Seattle called a timeout with 12.1 left.

Seattle struggled to get off a quick shot and settled for a long three-pointer by Hiedeman that hit off the rim. Plum sealed it by making two free throws with 1.6 seconds left.

There’s a time limit

A bank is tempting new customers with 10,000 Avios Points.

J.P Morgan Personal Investing confirmed the deal was running until July 31, 2026. The bank revealed customers could put their points towards flights at a time when concerns are mounting over potential fare increases.

The offer is open to new customers who invest £500 or more in a single payment before the end of July.

To qualify for the points, new clients must keep at least £500 invested from August 1, 2026, until February 1, 2027, after which the Avios will be awarded within 55 days of this holding period concluding. New clients can open a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, Lifetime ISA, Personal Pension or General Investment Account.

New investors will need to complete the sign-up form, accessible via the promotional page. J.P Morgan reminded customers that their capital was at risk and that transfers in were excluded from the offer.

Claire Exley, head of advice and guidance at J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, said: “Many UK savers are curious about investing for the first time but unsure when to get started. Over the long term, it’s often more important to stay invested over several years than to try to time the market and pick the ‘perfect’ moment.

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The New York Knicks’ winning streak lives on, and they struck first in the NBA Finals.

Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

OG Anunoby had 17 points for New York — which has won 12 consecutive playoff games, the seventh team to have such a streak in NBA history.

And the Knicks, who finished on an 11-0 run, made a little more history. They became the first team to beat San Antonio in a Game 1 of the title series — the Spurs were 6-0 in those — and this is also the first time the Spurs have trailed a finals before the finish.

Victor Wembanyama had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but he shot six for 21 from the field in his finals debut. Stephon Castle scored 17, while Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper each had 16 for the Spurs.

Game 2 is Friday in San Antonio.

Former San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was at the game, as he’s been for every finals game in Spurs history, albeit watching from a suite and not stomping the San Antonio sideline. The Spurs legends — David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen and more — were there, too.

So were Knicks great Patrick Ewing and the world’s most recognizable New York fans: Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Ben Stiller, Fat Joe, Timothée Chalamet and more. Plenty of non-celeb Knicks fans made the trip as well; Tommy Sherlock, an auto sales manager from Brooklyn, said it cost less for two Game 1 tickets in San Antonio, with hotel and airfare, than Game 3 tickets in New York would have set him back.

“First-class air, too,” Sherlock said. “By a lot.”

Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs shoots over Og Anunoby in the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

(Eric Gay / AP)

The Knicks led 14-7 early, the Spurs answered with a 20-13 run to go up by 10, the Knicks rallied and the second quarter saw six lead changes before San Antonio took a 55-48 lead into the break.

San Antonio pushed the lead to 14 midway through the third quarter before the Knicks stormed back, finishing the period on a 22-9 run and sending the game into the fourth tied at 76.

New York’s lead was eight midway through the final period. Wembanyama made a pair of free throws with 2:16 left to put San Antonio up 95-94, but Brunson made a corner three on the next possession to put the Knicks on top for good.

San Antonio’s run of never trailing the finals had some close calls over the years. The Spurs were tied twice with New Jersey in 2003 finals, tied with Detroit twice in 2005, tied with Miami three times in 2013 — they lost that series in seven games, so they only trailed when it was over — and then were tied with the Heat once more in 2014.

Well, I gave him a chance, offering my services.

I was willing to give the young novice a primer on what a mayor can and can’t do, and let him know City Hall is a reality show like no other he’s been on. But Spencer Pratt didn’t call me in response to my column last week.

I did, however, hear from a slew of his most ardent supporters.

Steven C. had this to say: “You’re a left-wing idiot, and … it’s time for you to retire. You’re a joke!!! You always have been!!! God bless Spencer Pratt and the 45th and 47th President of the United States Donald Trump!!!!!”

You may be onto something, Steven!!! I’ve been thinking about retiring!!!! But then a former reality TV star like Pratt comes along and tells Vanity Fair he had a chat with God, who told him He wants Pratt to be mayor of L.A!!!!! With people like this running for office, how can I retire?!!!!!

R.W. wrote to say: “You say Spencer has never done anything in his life…What credentials do you have? From what I’ve read about you, you are a lousy commie journalist who has never accomplished anything in your life!!”

Just recently, R.W., I replaced a broken toilet tank flush valve and I learned two Willie Nelson songs on the guitar. That’s not nothing.

Peter did not mince words: “Your piece on Pratt is a hit piece filled with bull— . You should go f— yourself before someone takes you out, which is the appropriate response to a s—bag like yourself. So please f— off and drop dead, which is exactly what you deserve.”

Peter, I did drop dead once. Cardiac arrest. While on the other side, I saw God, who told me to snap out of it because He was going to tell Spencer Pratt to run for mayor. Who knew God had a defibrillator?

All of these, by the way, were actual emails, and there were many more just like them. But it’s only fair to note that despite the fulminating knucklehead wing of Pratt’s posse, he’s tapped into a justifiable sense of frustration with City Hall, given homelessness, the Palisades inferno and budget issues that squeeze all manner of basic city services.

That’s why Mayor Karen Bass is paddling furiously, trying to keep her political career afloat. In the latest UC Berkeley-L.A. Times poll, Bass is at 26%, Nithya Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22%. That’s so tight, it appears that no one will get the 50% needed to win outright, and if we get a top-two runoff, it’s not clear who will go to the dance.

So as we close out the primary, with the election on Tuesday, five talking points come to mind.

Which candidate knows the city best?

Los Angeles has 114 distinct neighborhoods spread across 470 square miles (that’s 10 times the size of San Francisco), with an estimated 220 languages spoken. Diversity is a defining characteristic, and roughly half the population is Latino, which makes it a shame there’s no Latino candidate for mayor, especially given the raids and roundups by President Trump.

A mayor doesn’t have to speak six languages and know every corner of the city, but residents want to be seen and heard, and feel like they’re understood and represented.

Raman is well-versed on homelessness policy, and she’s spot-on about the need for greater urgency in problem-solving, but as my colleague Noah Goldberg reported, constituents in her district complain that they haven’t seen enough of her.

As I said, Pratt has wisely targeted municipal failure. But in the realm of outsider candidates with Republican credentials, Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass last time, was comfortable whether he was in the Valley, South L.A. or anywhere in between. And he easily connected with people. Would Pratt be a tourist in his own city?

By virtue of her job the last four years, Bass — who raised a blended Black and Latino family — knows the city best, although her unfavorability rating is a big problem.

What about the other candidates?

In the aforementioned poll, minister and housing activist Rae Huang had 9% and former educational technology businessman Adam Miller had 5%. Virtual unknowns, neither had a legit chance of winning, but they could be spoilers for one of the top three candidates.

I spoke to both, and if you’re undecided, you should read up on them before voting. On Huang’s website, the first words are “Homes are for people, not profit.” Miller wants to bring his success in the business world to City Hall, and when you consider his policy agenda along with his nonprofit work with veterans and homelessness, he’s a better candidate than Pratt.

But he wasn’t on a reality TV show.

Democrats ruined L.A. and California, right?

If only I had a nickel for every time a reader suggested that.

By 101 measures, Los Angeles is one of the great cities of the world and California has built the world’s fourth-largest economy while leading on climate change, so apocalyptic diagnoses are a bit off the mark.

Also, local elections are nonpartisan. You don’t run for mayor as a D or an R.

And yet it’s true that Democrats and their policies and sensibilities rule the day, and they have a lot to answer for in Los Angeles and in California.

But would the same critics suggest that in conservative cities like Fresno and Bakersfield, which have their own homelessness and other problems, Republicans are to blame?

When it comes to housing, poverty, healthcare and streets occupied by people who are addicted or mentally ill, the failures go back decades, touch all levels of government, and cross party lines.

Have I given up on Los Angeles?

When I pointed out that Pratt seemed unaware of these complexities, and of the structural limits of mayoral power, readers suggested he was rising to the challenge while I was giving up on L.A.

Not at all. I care about L.A. enough to hold its leaders to a higher accountability, and to scrutinize posers and pretenders who think they can do a better job.

My advice for the next mayor.

Fix what’s broken, celebrate what works and take responsibility for what doesn’t.

Now let me try one more time:

Spencer, give me a call.

You can’t tell us you had a conversation with God about running for mayor and not share more details.

Did God scold you for referring to the mayor as Karen “Basura,” which means trash in Spanish?

Did He say we should pull out of the ‘28 Olympics, or have any advice on how to fill potholes and fix sidewalks?

If you’re having regular conversations about City Hall with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we’re dying to know:

On homelessness, what would Jesus do?

steve.lopez@latimes.com

LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum scored a season-high 38 points, Erica Wheeler hit the go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and the Sparks defeated the Las Vegas Aces 101-95 on Saturday night.

A three-pointer by Wheeler capped an 8-0 run for the Sparks in the first minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Sparks a 80-73 lead. The Aces battled back and tied it at 90 on a jumper in the lane by Chelsea Gray and again at 94 on two free throws by A’ja Wilson.

Wheeler then took a pass from Plum and hit a 27-foot three-pointer with 1:15 remaining, giving the Sparks a 97-94 lead. The Aces missed a couple of three-pointers and a free throw on their final possessions while Dearica Hamby and Plum sealed the win with two free throws each.

Hamby and Cameron Brink each scored 16, Ariel Atkins had 11, and Rae Burrell added 10 for the Sparks (3-3). Wheeler had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Plum had nine assists.

Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Aces (4-2). Carter scored 23 points off the bench. NaLyssa Smith added 22 points, Gray 12 and Jewell Loyd 10.

A three-pointer by Smith gave the Aces a 57-48 lead early in the third quarter but Plum rallied the Sparks with five points and three assists as the Sparks surged ahead 60-57. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the quarter and Las Vegas took a 73-72 lead to the final period.

Las Vegas, the reigning WNBA champions, saw a four-game winning streak end. The Aces had won 20 of their last 21 regular-season games after finishing the 2025 regular season on a 16-game winning streak.

Up next

Aces: at Dallas on Thursday.

Sparks: at Washington on Friday.