Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Russia is losing some of its fleet of “fighter-bomber” Su-34s in Ukraine, as many have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
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China's aerospace industry did something that looked impossible 20 years ago: it built one of the world's largest stealth-fighter fleets. But the J-20's greatest...
The Iran war was as close to a pure air campaign as America has fought, and James Holmes — who holds the J.C. Wylie...
Trump calling Taiwan a "bargaining chip" is the headline, but Denny Roy argues the deeper story is structural: a Chinese military that makes intervention...
The Navy finally settled it: the new battleship will be nuclear-powered — and that single decision put the $17 billion Trump-class in direct competition...
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...
In 1997, the Pentagon bought 21 Soviet MiG-29 fighters out from under Iran and flew them to Ohio in pieces. The bargain was real,...
For years, Washington assumed that if it spent enough, the ships would appear. They haven't. America's naval industrial base needs 250,000 workers it doesn't...
The Navy spent fourteen years trying to turn its last unfinished Iowa-class battleship into a carrier, an anti-aircraft ship, then the missile ship BBG-1,...
In December 1958, the U.S. Navy chose the F-4 Phantom over a Vought fighter that was faster, lighter, and cheaper — the better airplane,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Russia is losing some of its fleet of “fighter-bomber” Su-34s in Ukraine, as many have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
Make adjustments for the famous “Silent Trump” voters, too, and the Democrats could be looking at a real upset in the 2024 race.
There is heavy fighting on the ground in Ukraine, and Russian forces are putting up a skillful defense. But there are some signs that...
Governor Ron DeSantis, who looked late last year like a legitimate threat to knock off Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, seems to be...
Russian tanks simply continue to get decimated by Ukrainian forces in the ongoing war, and the current counteroffensive may well be accelerating the pace...
