Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Summary and Key Points: Critics often cite the strained U.S. submarine industrial base—currently prioritized for Columbia-class SSBNs—as proof that AUKUS will fail. -However, AUKUS...
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The second Trump administration is reviewing America's military footprint in Europe, and the worst-case outcome is a full withdrawal. Andrew Michta argues that would...
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is being judged on whether it cools tensions in the Persian Gulf. Strategic-studies scholar Andrew Michta argues that's the...
Iran: A War at the Wrong Time and Place: As the war in Iran continues and analysts debate how long it will last and...
Strategic expert Andrew A. Michta explores how Russia is capitalizing on the Iran War to consolidate gains in Europe. With U.S. resources drained and...
Rank the world's navies by the sheer number of ships they float, counting a 100,000-ton supercarrier and a 200-ton patrol boat as one each,...
USS Midway entered service eight days after Japan's surrender, missing the war that shaped her by a week. Instead of a quiet career, she...
For four decades Iran kept the world's last F-14 Tomcats flying under an embargo meant to ground them. In March, Israel said it finally...
In 1942, the U.S. built an aircraft carrier in just over 20 months, then made two dozen more. Today a single shipyard builds every...
A film celebrating ten years of China's Y-20 transport slipped in something no other country has shown on official camera: a sixth-generation fighter refueling...
A decade after it surfaced, China's H-20 has no flying prototype and no production line. The reasons are industrial, not financial: an intercontinental flying...
A new 1.5-gigawatt project in Utah will use five 300-megawatt Holtec small modular reactors rather than two massive conventional ones, part of a broader...
A Belgian joint venture, BeHydro, has earned the world's first Type Approval Certificate from Lloyd's Register for a marine engine that runs on 100...
The diplomatic center of gravity in the Middle East has decisively shifted to Riyadh. On June 23, 2026, talks between Iranian Majlis Speaker Mohammed...
Germany still must address a readiness issue: large portions of the army are not considered fully combat-ready, with some readiness estimates for land forces...
Vice President JD Vance has hailed his Switzerland negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as diplomatic progress. Middle East Forum scholar Dr. Michael Rubin argues...
Ukraine hasn't moved the front — but its drones have broken the war's one-way character, reaching the Russian heartland Putin promised was safe. The...
The KN-23, North Korea's version the Russian Iskander missile, showed up to fight in the Ukraine war. And it isn't the same platform as...
On May 21, 2025, a brand-new North Korean destroyer rolled over and partially capsized at its own launch ceremony — with Kim Jong Un...
Fake Russian IDs, Orders Never to Be Captured, and 50% Casualties: Inside North Korea’s Secret War in Ukraine The Russian Army has sustained nearly...
Summary and Key Points: Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., a political science professor and proliferation expert, evaluates the strategic partnership between Iran and North...
Summary and Key Points: Critics often cite the strained U.S. submarine industrial base—currently prioritized for Columbia-class SSBNs—as proof that AUKUS will fail. -However, AUKUS...
Summary and Key Points: In February 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Budapest to herald a “new golden age” of relations, signing a...
Summary and Key Points: The Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier program has become a cautionary tale of strategic overreach. -Originally budgeted at £2 billion, the...
Summary and Key Points: The M60A2 “Starship” represents a unique, albeit failed, chapter in American armored history. Designed as a high-tech “bridge” between the...
Summary and Key Points: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest air-breathing aircraft ever built, famously “flew back in time” during trans-Pacific missions from Kadena...
