Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: Ukraine has confirmed the shootdown of a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-30SM multirole fighter, reportedly intercepted by a U.S.-made PAC-3 Patriot system....
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“Sphere of influence” has returned as a defining idea, but the real story is bigger than a U.S.-China-Russia triangle. Eight powers—India, Japan, Brazil, Saudi...
Masoud Barzani’s February 6 meeting with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi spotlights a decade of U.S. partnering that helped defeat ISIS in eastern Syria, but...
Summary and Key Points: As the U.S. Navy approaches decommissioning of the supercarrier USS Nimitz, a dangerous aircraft-carrier availability gap looms before USS John...
Summary and Key Points: Analysts argue Russia’s Navy has been hit hardest in the Ukraine War, not just in hull losses but in prestige,...
Key Points and Summary – The recent NATO summit in The Hague, where European allies agreed to a new 5% of GDP defense spending...
The Trump administration made the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire its priority foreign policy initiative shortly after the inauguration. Setting aside Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric that he...
The strain in US-European relations under the second Trump administration stems primarily from a deepening ideological divide, not just policy disputes over trade or...
Since the ill-fated Oval Office meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, the headlines have been dominated by pronouncements about the end of NATO, the...
Summary and Key Points – The SR-71 Blackbird remains an aviation marvel, defined by its record-shattering Mach 3.2 speed and $85,000-foot ceiling. -While its...
Summary and Key Points: The debate over aircraft carrier obsolescence has reached a fever pitch following Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s warning that Chinese...
Summary and Key Points: China is accelerating the great-power technological race with the J-20A “Mighty Dragon,” a “fifth-generation-plus” variant featuring a redesigned airframe and...
Synopsis: The M60 Patton main battle tank, once a Cold War staple destined for museums, is experiencing a global resurgence through Service Life Extension...
Summary and Key Points: The famous “old man” quote captures Mark Twain’s trademark wit—whether or not he actually said it. Born Samuel Clemens in...
Summary and Key Points: Samuel Langhorne Clemens rose from a difficult childhood in Missouri to become Mark Twain, the sharpest comic voice of 19th-century...
Synopsis: Thomas Jefferson’s famous advice—“When angry, count ten; if very angry, a hundred”—came in a February 21, 1825 letter to young Thomas Jefferson Smith....
Yellowstone National Park remains open to visitors during the federal government shutdown that began January 31, 2026, after Congress failed to enact full federal...
Summary and Key Points: While Confucius is often reduced to fortune-cookie aphorisms, his actual philosophy offered a radical framework for critical thinking and emotional...
Summary and Key Points: A popular “Quote of the Day” line often attributed to Abraham Lincoln—“I am not bound to win…”—has no documentary evidence...
“There are four ways of doing things: the right way; the wrong way; the Navy way; and my way. So long as they do...
The Trump administration is facing a diplomatic crisis in the world of sports, with significant controversies surrounding both the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan...
Korea’s Division Isn’t a Glitch Anymore. It’s a Feature of the New Order The division of Korea was always understood to be temporary. In...
Key Points and Summary – When North Korea stormed across the 38th parallel in June 1950, an exhausted post-WWII US Army rushed a tiny...
Key Points and Summary – North Korea’s special operations forces are often overlooked, but estimates place them among the world’s largest elite formations. -Designed...
Key Points and Summary – North Korea’s most underrated weapon isn’t its nukes or artillery, but its vast tunnel network under and around the...
Synopsis: Ukraine has confirmed the shootdown of a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-30SM multirole fighter, reportedly intercepted by a U.S.-made PAC-3 Patriot system....
Synopsis: The FB-22 “Strike Raptor” was a proposed high-speed stealth bomber variant of the F-22 Raptor, championed in the early 2000s as a solution...
Summary and Key Points: The F-15EX Eagle II is being positioned as a high-end 4.5-generation force multiplier for Pacific operations, pairing with F-35s to...
Summary and Key Points: The Saab Gripen E isn’t a minor refresh—it’s a re-architected fighter built around Sweden’s Cold War logic of survivability under...
Summary and Key Points: Canada’s CF-18 replacement effort once included the Eurofighter Typhoon, a highly capable NATO fighter that fit Ottawa’s earlier priorities: air...
