19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

PACIFIC OCEAN (Dec. 17, 2025) - Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Annapolis (SSN 760) steams forward off the coast of Guam during a photo exercise, Dec. 17, 2025. Assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 at Polaris Point, Naval Base Guam, Annapolis is one of five fast-attack submarines forward-deployed in the Pacific. Renowned for their unparalleled speed, endurance, stealth, and mobility, fast-attack submarines serve as the backbone of the Navy's submarine force, ensuring readiness and agility in safeguarding maritime interests around the world. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. James Caliva)

Aerospace & Defense

The Royal Navy Confirms the USS Dallas Conducted Simulated Torpedo Attacks on Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious in 2013. It Has Never Released the Detection Timeline, the Firing Solutions, or the Umpire’s Assessment.

In September 2013 the American attack submarine USS Dallas got inside the protective screen around the Royal Navy carrier HMS Illustrious in the Gulf...

Brandon WeichertSeptember 9, 2026

U.S. Air Force Capt. Nick “Laz” Le Tourneau, pilot and commander of the F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team, performs an aerial demonstration during the 52nd Annual SUN 'n FUN Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, April 18, 2026. Capt. Le Tourneau showcased the unmatched capabilities of the F-22 to the SUN ‘n FUN crowds by performing multiple series of combat maneuvers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Lauren Diaz)

Aerospace & Defense

A $68,000,000 US Navy EA-18G Growler Simulated the Shootdown of a $143,000,000 US Air Force F-22 Raptor at Nellis in 2009. The Navy Pilot Painted an F-22 Silhouette on His Cockpit.

The F-22 Raptor was built so that American pilots could kill enemy fighters before those pilots ever saw them, at nearly $143,000,000 per aircraft....

Brandon WeichertSeptember 9, 2026

PACIFIC OCEAN (Jan. 24, 2026) – U.S. Navy Lt. Patrick Urrutia, left, and U.S. Navy Lt. Jg. Gabriela Patrick depart a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Jan. 24, 2026. Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, is underway conducting exercises to bolster strike group readiness and capability in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Cesar Nungaray)

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy EA-18G Growler Costs About $67,000,000. The Jamming Pods That Make It a Growler Cost Roughly $45,000,000 More, and a Combat-Ready Aircraft Passes $112,000,000.

The EA-18G Growler is a modified F/A-18F Super Hornet, and the airframe alone runs about $67,000,000. What makes it a Growler is bolted on...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 9, 2026

J-20 stealth fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

A Chinese Chengdu J-20 Stealth Fighter Was Filmed Carrying 8 PL-15 Missiles on External Hardpoints. Loaded Inside and Out It Can Carry 14 Missiles, and at That Point It Is No Longer Stealthy.

A Chengdu J-20 was filmed carrying 8 PL-15 air-to-air missiles on external hardpoints — a configuration Lockheed Martin's marketing department named "beast mode." Inside...

Isaac SeitzSeptember 9, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Turkey Was Thrown Out of the F-35 Program in 2019 and Built Its Own Fifth-Generation Fighter. The Kaan Flies on 2 American General Electric F110 Engines Producing Roughly 29,000 Pounds of Thrust Each.

Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after buying the Russian S-400, and responded by accelerating its own fifth-generation fighter. The TAI...

Harrison KassSeptember 9, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Iran Bet on Waiting Out the Midterms. It Misread the Calendar and Donald Trump

Aerospace & Defense

Occupying Iran Would Take 500,000 Troops. The Entire Active US Army Is Smaller

Aerospace & Defense

A 25% Chance: NASA’s Former SR-71 Blackbird Engineer on Whether Tail 844 Flies Again

Aerospace & Defense

100,000-Ton US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Has a ‘Math Problem’ That Can’t Seem to Be Solved

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Putin’s Next Target May Be NATO Itself

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Why the Witkoff-Kushner Mission Failed: Washington Still Misreads the Stakes in Ukraine

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Germany Is Becoming Ukraine’s Most Important Ally in Europe — and Poland Is Paying the Price

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

NATO’s Answer to the Pentagon’s Europe Review Already Exists: The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative

Aerospace & Defense

Aerospace & Defense

The Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Burned Through 8,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel On the Way to Hitting Mach 3 and over 80,000 Feet of Altitude

Aerospace & Defense

On September 13, 1985, an F-15 Fighter Shot Down a Satellite at 345 Miles Up — 42 Years Later, No Aircraft Has Done It Again

Aerospace & Defense

Army Texas Quote of the Day By George Patton: “Give me an army of West Point graduates, and I’ll win a battle; give me an army of Texas Aggies, and I’ll win a war.”

Aerospace & Defense

Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird’s Ceiling Was Thought to Be 85,000 Feet. In 1965, Test Pilot Flew It Past 90,000, Felt It Wobble, Lost an Engine and Landed on One at Edwards

Trillions

Trillions - 19FortyFive

‘Effectively Closed’: The Strait of Hormuz Oil and Gas Crisis Is Going from Bad to Even Worse

Trillions - 19FortyFive

21 Years Ago, Apple Founder Steve Jobs Advice on Time and ‘Living Someone Else’s Life’ Is the Truth Serum That Still Shapes Our World

Trillions - 19FortyFive

“Money Never Made a Man Happy Yet, Nor Will It. The More a Man Has, the More He Wants.” Benjamin Franklin Was the 8th of 17 Children, Got 2 Years of Schooling Because His Family Could Not Afford More, and His Face Is on the $100 Bill.

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Iran’s Economy Is Buckling. That Is Not the Same as Iran Being Ready to Sign a Deal

The Embassy

The Embassy

The Case for Economic Pressure Over Nuclear Diplomacy With Iran

The Embassy

9/11’s Forgotten Lesson

The Embassy

Russia and NATO’s Gray Zone Actions Could Spark a War No One Wants

The Embassy

Putin’s Giant Gamble: Another Ukraine War Mobilization Is Filled with Unknown Risks and An Angry Russia Simmering

Hermit Kingdom

Hermit Kingdom

Donald Trump Needs to Bring Concessions if He Wants a Deal with North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

What the Iran War Proved About America’s Nuclear Weapons Threat to North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

The North Korea Deal Donald Trump Should Actually Want

Hermit Kingdom

North Korea’s Fingerprints Are All Over Iran’s War Against America

Aerospace & Defense

The Royal Navy Confirms the USS Dallas Conducted Simulated Torpedo Attacks on Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious in 2013. It Has Never Released the Detection Timeline, the Firing Solutions, or the Umpire’s Assessment.

Aerospace & Defense

A $68,000,000 US Navy EA-18G Growler Simulated the Shootdown of a $143,000,000 US Air Force F-22 Raptor at Nellis in 2009. The Navy Pilot Painted an F-22 Silhouette on His Cockpit.

Aerospace & Defense

The US Navy EA-18G Growler Costs About $67,000,000. The Jamming Pods That Make It a Growler Cost Roughly $45,000,000 More, and a Combat-Ready Aircraft Passes $112,000,000.

Aerospace & Defense

A Chinese Chengdu J-20 Stealth Fighter Was Filmed Carrying 8 PL-15 Missiles on External Hardpoints. Loaded Inside and Out It Can Carry 14 Missiles, and at That Point It Is No Longer Stealthy.

Aerospace & Defense

Turkey Was Thrown Out of the F-35 Program in 2019 and Built Its Own Fifth-Generation Fighter. The Kaan Flies on 2 American General Electric F110 Engines Producing Roughly 29,000 Pounds of Thrust Each.

Trending

Aerospace & Defense

‘She Broke Free’: The CIA Used a Cover Story to Recover a Chunk of a Russian Ballistic Submarine Armed with Nuclear Warheads But Part of the Sub Slid Back Below the Waves

Aerospace & Defense

Boeing Spent $67,000,000 of Its Own Money Building YF-118G Bird of Prey Stealth Aircraft. It Flew 38 Times on Landing Gear From a Beech King Air and an Ejection Seat From a Harrier.

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Ran at Full Afterburner for Hours at a Time With Exhaust Temperatures Near 3,400 Degrees. At Mach 3.2 Cruise, Roughly 80 Percent of the Thrust Came From the Inlet, Not the Engine.

Aerospace & Defense

$850,000,000 Australian Submarine ‘Sank’ $5,500,000,000 US Navy Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier By Evading US, Japanese, Canadian, Chilean, Korean, and British Forces — 6 Navies — and Photographed the Supercarrier

Aerospace & Defense

A Canadian Oberon-Class Diesel Submarine Built in the 1960s Worth About $80,000,000 Slipped Past an Entire US Navy Carrier Group. The Umpire Declared the $5,500,000,000 Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Sunk.