Warhound: Genetic engineering is coming to America's war dogs



The United States military's elite working dogs are close to getting a major upgrade — or so says the newly launched company Warhound.

On Thursday, Warhound, a new defense technology company started by Anduril Technologies' Palmer Luckey and Colossal's Ben Lamm, emerged from a $200 million seed round promising a quick turnaround on its new dogs.

'Man's best friend deserves man's best tech.'

Under CEO David Spirk, the new project from Luckey and Lamm will attempt to revitalize and optimize the military's supply of working dogs through genetic engineering.

Colossal, the company best known for its attempts to bring back the woolly mammoth and the dodo bird, will provide its advanced genetics platform and secure biobanking capabilities, while Anduril will equip the dogs with advanced cybernetic augmentations for increased awareness and effectiveness on missions.

The result will be, the company says, a group of healthier dogs that are better equipped for missions without increasing reliance on Europe for the supply.

"Man's best friend deserves man's best tech," said Palmer Luckey in a Warhound press release.

RELATED: New US Army helmets have 'X-ray' vision — but how?

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

"Colossal has spent years pioneering breakthroughs in genetics, cloning, and animal biology, and now we're applying that science to give these dogs the best possible chance at a long, healthy life and a successful mission. If we're going to ask man's best friend to protect America, we owe it to them to use every tool at our disposal to protect them, too," said Ben Lamm.

The Texas-based company is backed by In-Q-Tel, Sequoia Capital, Ark Invest, 8VC, Breyer Capital, and Neogenesis, to name a few of its early investors.

The company's announcement, however, received some immediate pushback from commenters online.

One commenter, for example, came out swinging at the prospect of "genetically modified" military dogs: "Hey so this should be f**king illegal."

Palmer Luckey replied to the comment, attempting to dispel some of the concerns about the "genetic modifications" that the company plans to make on the dogs in the program.

"Which part of this do you object to? The hearing protection? The eye protection? The body armor? Or gene edits that makes them less likely to develop cancer and joint problems?" Luckey wrote.

"There is a reason the American Humane Society is supporting this," he added.

Indeed, the American Humane Society will support and oversee the treatment of the dogs in the program. The organization will also assist with finding homes for the dogs when they retire from their service.

"We owe these dogs a commitment to their well-being that matches their service to us. What excites me about Warhound is the opportunity to make health, welfare, and exceptional care fundamental to a working-dog program from the very beginning," Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of the American Humane Society, said. "Success means helping these dogs thrive throughout their lives — from training and active service to the loving, dignified retirement every canine hero deserves."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Trump's warning: What it will take for America to join Israel's war with Iran



This past Saturday, Israel continued its Operation Rising Lion with attacks on Iranian gas and oil facilities, Iranian Ministry of Defense buildings in Tehran, and missile launch sites in Tehran.

President Donald Trump responded to the attacks on Truth Social, writing, “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”

“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!” he continued.

The U.S. does have many assets currently in or near Israel, including military troops, U.S. diplomats, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, patriot missile batteries, fighter jets, and U.S. Navy destroyers.


“Trump hints that the United States might get involved if Iran hits our assets,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says. “That was a pretty strong statement that President Trump said, right? If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might is going to come down on you at levels never seen before.”

“He hints that the United States might get involved. But we’re using our assets to already protect Israel, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if Iran attacks our Patriot missiles, our THAAD system, any of those assets,” she continues.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also said in response to the attacks that there is “well-documented and solid evidence of the support provided by American forces in the region.”

“Therefore, the U.S., in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility,” Araghchi said.

Gonzales notes that it would be hard for the U.S. to dispute this accusation, as President Trump had just spoken about Israel’s use of American weapons before the attacks.

“It’s just like if a gun manufacturer makes a gun, and then eventually someone gets sold a gun and they go on to do a school shooting or murder people or whatever. Is it the gun manufacturer’s fault? Of course not,” Gonzales says.

“This is Iran just begging, begging for the United States to get involved,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

‘We’re looking at alternative medicine’: VA secretary reveals MAJOR changes



Veterans of the United States military are struggling, and they have been for a long time.

“Many of them are taking their own life,” U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.” “We’ve got to try something differently here, because we’re not moving the needle.”

“Since 2008, the suicide number has not changed in this country, and yet we’re spending $588 million or more every year to quote, ‘prevent it.’ But yet, in our services, we’re still treating it many times with medicine,” he continues.

However, as America starts on the path to making itself healthy again, the VA is beginning to look at alternative forms of medicine to help veterans who otherwise feel forgotten.


“We’re looking at alternative medicines. We’re looking at hyperbaric chambers, we’re looking at possible use of psychedelics along with counseling, anything we can to get them the help that they need so they don’t feel like the VA is not listening to them or they’re just getting handed a bottle of pills,” Collins explains.

Glenn believes this is a good direction to head in, especially considering how much energy is put into preparing veterans for war — but not what they’ll be facing when they come home.

“We train our people to be able to go in and pull the trigger when they have to, but is it fair to say we spend all that money doing that, but when they come home, we don’t spend enough money and enough time to try to deprogram that, to bring them back into our society,” Glenn says.

The Department of Defense is responsible for the transition of veterans back into society, which Collins has made clear needs reworking to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

“This is why the secretary of defense and I are on an unprecedented level,” Collins tells Glenn. “So I just told Pete, I said, ‘We’ve got to fix this, we’ve got to start working on this. You may own it, but I’m getting blamed for it. And I’m not going to get blamed for something I can’t do.’”

“So right now, we’re working on getting that transition better,” he continues, adding, “So that we have a warm handoff, especially for those who are hurting already.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

American consumers may be unknowingly helping develop Chinese military equipment



Through purchases of Chinese-made military equipment by state-owned manufacturers, North American consumers may be providing feedback to the communist nation on how to better their technology.

Argus Night Vision is reportedly a Chinese night vision housing and image intensifier tube manufacturer based in Tianjin, China, that sells products in the United States and Canada.

The company has received preferential treatment from the Chinese government, including preferential tax policies, special government financial incentives, staff settlement bonuses, and policy benefits such as office space or wage support.

Vermilion China also reported that through the sales of night vision goggles to Western markets, the Chinese manufacturers benefit from feedback to improve the quality of their equipment.

According to their confidential sources, the outlet said that Argus has contacted Americans who are affiliated with the military and offered to have them travel to China for training on night vision equipment and to provide product feedback.

While the outlet could not corroborate such information with Argus, it was however able to confirm that Canadian companies that sell Argus products are indeed facilitating the product development through feedback.

According to HCC Tactical, a U.S. firm that has a government contract and sells Argus products, its "sister company in Canada (Opfor Night Solutions) has worked directly with Argus to improve and evaluate the BNVD-1431 series of products."

"Their feedback and recommendations led directly to many of the improvements made to this housing for the MK II. Their weatherproofing service is no longer necessary as all changes have been made at the factory, and the OPFPR Night Solutions upgrade screw kit has been supplied to the factory so all units come with them as standard."

In a video posted to the Kinetic Consulting YouTube channel, the host described being in a class with the OpFor Night Solutions owner, who then sent the host a pair of night-vision goggles. The host went on to describe how Argus took the owner of the Canadian company's suggestions and then made them standard for the product.

"I originally got [the goggles] from OpFor Night Vision in Canada, they offered to send them to me after we were spending time in the class — the owner and I were in a class together down here in Miami and we had a great time," the YouTube presenter recalled. "He was offering up some cool night vision or housings that were optimized by him originally, and then Argus started taking in all his optimizations and making them standard for that Mark II system."

During an interview with what was described as an industry representative, Vermilion China was told that "individuals and companies involved in distributing Chinese thermal devices in the U.S. help guide their development and production efforts."

At least four U.S. companies were listed as selling the Chinese products, without mentioning their origins.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Women Could Soon Be Required To Register For The Draft

'amends the Military Selective Service Act to require the registration of women for Selective Service'

'Our Army Combat Fitness Test shouldn't be the equivalent to an Instagram yoga a** model': Steven Crowder



The United States Army considers changes to the Combat Fitness Test scoring for male and female soldiers. Steven Crowder offered his thoughts on the issue on Monday's episode of Louder with Crowder.

In this clip, Crowder said he believes soldiers "should not enter the battlefield" if they are unable to do a pull-up. "Our Army Combat Fitness Test shouldn't be the equivalent to an Instagram yoga a** model," Crowder said with a smirk.

Watch the clip for details.

Can't watch? Download the podcast here.



Use promo code LWC to save $10 on one year of BlazeTV.

Want more from Steven Crowder?

To enjoy more of Steven's uncensored late-night comedy that's actually funny, join Mug Club — the only place for all of Crowder uncensored and on demand.