Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Is Russia Giving Up Its Only Aircraft Carrier? You may have heard of Russia’s only aircraft carrier – the cursed Admiral Kuznetsov – that...
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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 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...
South Korea and Japan want nuclear-powered submarines, and a stronger allied undersea force would bolster deterrence against China's expanding navy. But diplomatic friction, labor...
The diplomatic center of gravity in the Middle East has decisively shifted to Riyadh. On June 23, 2026, talks between Iranian Majlis Speaker Mohammed...
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...
NATO is openly debating whether to expand its nuclear arsenal in Europe — Finland's parliament just voted to allow nuclear weapons on its territory,...
Rank the world's militaries by the raw number of full-time troops in uniform, and the order looks nothing like a ranking by firepower or...
The M1A2 SEPv3 is one of the world's best tanks — but it was designed before drones, and the real lesson from Ukraine isn't...
Less than a year after entering service, China has already built its 30th J-35 stealth fighter, a pace that outstrips Russia's Su-57 and signals...
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...
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 terms of the Memorandum of Understanding ending the U.S.-Iran war are now public. This analysis argues the deal is worth supporting as an...
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...
Is Russia Giving Up Its Only Aircraft Carrier? You may have heard of Russia’s only aircraft carrier – the cursed Admiral Kuznetsov – that...
Yes, after all this time, there are still some stimulus checks programs: just not run by the federal government: On three occasions early on...
Donald Trump, during the four years of his presidency, was impeached twice, in a historical first. The first impeachment, in late 2019, was in...
F-35 to Receive Next-Generation Radar and Other Improvements: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II remains the most capable multirole fighter in service in the...
Clearly, the war in Ukraine has damaged Russia’s armed forces beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Last fall, the Russian military was losing upwards of 10...
