Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: As of February 2026, the U.S. Air Force is finalizing the deployment of 48 F-35A Lightning IIs to Misawa Air Base, Japan—a strategic...
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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...
The U.S. Navy can't build nuclear attack submarines fast enough, and it keeps spending its most valuable hulls on jobs a quieter, cheaper boat...
The USS Kitty Hawk arrived in 1961 at a hinge moment — the supercarrier had just been born, and nuclear power was about to...
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...
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...
Synopsis: As of February 2026, the U.S. Air Force is finalizing the deployment of 48 F-35A Lightning IIs to Misawa Air Base, Japan—a strategic...
Summary and Key Points: The Eurofighter Typhoon has evolved from a Cold War interceptor into a sophisticated multi-role platform capable of operating through the...
Summary and Key Points: Satellite imagery from February 9, 2026, reveals that Russia has concentrated nearly its entire Su-57 “Felon” fleet—approximately 15 to 20...
Summary and Key Points: Dr. Robert Kelly argues that a “new nuclear age” is dawning, driven not just by rogue states, but by U.S....
Summary and Key Points: The F-35 program has entered a high-stakes “radar gap” as Lot 17 aircraft are delivered to the U.S. military without...
