Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: With maritime tensions rising and modern sea power under constant scrutiny, the question heading into 2026 is whether the U.S. Navy still sits...
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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...
After almost three decades away, Russia's nuclear battlecruiser Admiral Nakhimov has returned to Severomorsk — refitted for up to $5 billion and armed with...
Chinese commentators are mocking the canards on the F-47 renderings as a stealth mistake. Hanging in a museum in Ohio is a small gray...
Count every hull with tracks and a cannon, and Russia owns the biggest tank army on earth. Count the tanks that actually run, and...
Meet the M1 Abrams Tank: The tank is named for Gen. Creighton Abrams, the World War II armor commander who later ran the Army,...
Iran is moving to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway that carries a fifth of the world's oil...
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...
Trump calling Taiwan a "bargaining chip" is the headline, but Denny Roy argues the deeper story is structural: a Chinese military that makes intervention...
For weeks, an August 18 deadline loomed: the day a U.S.–Iran understanding expired, and, by President Trump's own warning, the day fighting over the...
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...
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: With maritime tensions rising and modern sea power under constant scrutiny, the question heading into 2026 is whether the U.S. Navy still sits...
Synopsis: Winston Churchill’s famous “never give in” quote captures the arc of his life: relentless persistence through failure, ridicule, and long stretches in the...
Synopsis: This piece explores the enduring mystique of Sun Tzu and the uncertain origins of The Art of War. While tradition casts “Master Sun”...
Synopsis: This piece revisits Winston Churchill’s defining moment as Britain’s wartime prime minister, beginning with his May 10, 1940 arrival at 10 Downing Street...
Key Points and Summary – Europe’s flagship next-generation fighter effort, FCAS, just missed another decision deadline—with no verdict from Berlin or Paris and no...
