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Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class Anika Ramos directs the launch of an F-35B Lighting II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 during flight operations on the flight deck of the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) in the South China Sea, Dec. 11, 2025. Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class Anika Ramos directs the launch of an F-35B Lighting II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 during flight operations on the flight deck of the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) in the South China Sea, Dec. 11, 2025.

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Australia Just Named China as The Primary Cause of Worsening Indo-Pacific Security in Its New National Defense Strategy

Amid U.S.-China competition, Australia has proven to be a strong U.S. ally and, frequently, a thorn in China’s side. While Australia continues to demonstrate...

May 27, 2026
USS Kingsville (LCS 36) points its bow toward the harbor at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division in California on a recent morning as the ship arrives from its homeport of San Diego. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship features a trimaran hull design, which allows it to reach speeds much greater than destroyers and cruisers, as well as to operate in shallower waters closer to shore. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Navy Is Going to Shrink — at The Same Moment China’s Navy Is The Largest on Earth

Summary and Key Points: The U.S. Navy’s latest shipbuilding plan would retire 46 ships from 2027 to 2031 — including 2 aircraft carriers, 10...

May 27, 2026
Su-47

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Russia Built Only One Su-47 Berkut Stealth Fighter Because Its Forward-Swept Wings Could Tear Themselves Apart at High Speed

Russia has long competed with the United States and other Western powers for innovative military aviation designs. During the Cold War, this lust for...

May 27, 2026
220213-N-TL932-1221 PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb. 13, 2022) Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), back, and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) transit the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 13, 2022. Vinson and Nimitz are currently conducting routine maritime operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Joshua Sapien)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The USS Nimitz Was Supposed to Be Decommissioned This Month — Instead the U.S. Navy Just Parked the Oldest Aircraft Carrier Off Cuba’s Coast

Summary and Key Points: The USS Nimitz — laid down in 1968 and originally scheduled to begin decommissioning at Norfolk this month — has...

May 27, 2026

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy
240105-N-LK647-1019 STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR (Jan. 5, 2024) A view from the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) of the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), as the Ford Carrier Strike Group passes through the Strait of Gibraltar, Jan. 5, 2024. Normandy is part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense. The U.S. maintains forward-deployed, ready, and postured forces to deter aggression and support security and stability around the world. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Malachi Lakey)

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

The Iran War Is Giving China Time, Russia Money, and North Korea an Opening

Iran: A War at the Wrong Time and Place: As the war in Iran continues and analysts debate how long it will last and...

April 14, 2026
M1 Abrams Tanks for Ukraine. Image: Creative Commons. M1 Abrams Tanks for Ukraine. Image: Creative Commons.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Russia Is the Big Winner in the Iran War

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...

March 22, 2026
Baltic Air Policing is a peacetime mission in which NATO Allies deploy fighter jets to cover the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Baltic Air Policing is a peacetime mission in which NATO Allies deploy fighter jets to cover the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

NATO’s 5% Pledge: A Hollow Victory for a Dependent Europe?

Key Points and Summary – The recent NATO summit in The Hague, where European allies agreed to a new 5% of GDP defense spending...

June 29, 2025
Russian President Putin. Image Credit: Creative Commons. Russian President Putin. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Why Putin Believes He Can Win His ‘Civilizational War’ Against the West

The Trump administration made the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire its priority foreign policy initiative shortly after the inauguration. Setting aside Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric that he...

May 28, 2025

Smart Bombs
WESTERN PACIFIC (Nov. 12, 2017) The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Western Pacific during a three-carrier strike force photo exercise. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Strike Groups are underway and conducting operations in international waters as part of a three-carrier strike force exercise. The U.S. Navy has patrolled the Indo-Asia Pacific region routinely for more than 70 years promoting regional security, stability and prosperity. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelsey J. Hockenberger/Released)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2015 a small, decades-old French submarine slipped undetected through the destroyers and helicopters screening the USS Theodore Roosevelt and “sank” the supercarrier in a war game — and a Swedish boat had already done the same thing to another US carrier

Summary and Key Points: In the waters off Florida in early 2015, a French nuclear attack submarine named Saphir — a 1970s-era Rubis-class boat,...

4 days ago
U.S. Sailors conduct routine flight deck operations on the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, March 22, 2026. Gerald R. Ford is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations to support the warfighting effectiveness, lethality and readiness of U.S. Naval Forces Europe Africa, and defend U.S., Allied and partner interests in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tajh Payne) U.S. Sailors conduct routine flight deck operations on the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, March 22, 2026. Gerald R. Ford is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations to support the warfighting effectiveness, lethality and readiness of U.S. Naval Forces Europe Africa, and defend U.S., Allied and partner interests in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tajh Payne)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the most expensive warship ever built, a $13 billion supercarrier and the most advanced on earth — and after being kept at war for eleven months until a fire and 600 failed toilets drove sailors from their bunks, she may now sit broken for up to two years

Summary and Key Points: The USS Gerald R. Ford is the most expensive warship ever built — a $13 billion supercarrier and the most...

4 days ago
X-20 X-20

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong was one of seven men secretly chosen to fly the X-20 Dyna-Soar, a reusable Air Force spaceplane cancelled in 1963 two decades before the Space Shuttle — and the orbital mission it was designed for is now flown by the Space Force’s X-37B and China’s Shenlong

Summary and Key Points on the X-20: Years before the Space Shuttle, the US Air Force had designed a reusable, piloted spaceplane that launched...

5 days ago
X-43A X-43A

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2004 a twelve-foot unmanned NASA aircraft hit Mach 9.6 and set an air-breathing speed record that still stands today — then America cancelled the Mach 15 machine meant to come next and spent twenty years watching Russia and China field the hypersonic weapons it walked away from

Summary and Key Points: On November 16, 2004, a twelve-foot unmanned NASA aircraft lit a scramjet with no moving parts and rode it to...

5 days ago

Trillions
President Donald J. Trump signs an Executive Order creating an anti-fraud task force to be led by Vice President JD Vance, Monday, March 16, 2026, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Trillions - 19FortyFive

$2,000,000,000,000 Precedent: Trump In China With Nvidia, Apple, and Boeing CEOs + Elon Musk for the Xi Summit

President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a 2-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump is the first sitting U.S. president...

May 13, 2026
An F-35 Lightning II assigned to the 62nd Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., sits in a hangar ahead of operations for the F-35 Lightning II TDY, Oct. 28, 2021, at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field, Texas. The 62nd FS will be training with F-16s from the 149th Fighter Wing and the 301st Fighter Wing, along with T-38s from the 301st Fighter Wing. The multi-role capabilities of the F-35 allows them to perform missions which traditionally required numerous specialized aircraft. The complimentary air superiority capabilities of the F-35 will augment our air superiority fleet and ensure we continue to "own the skies" over future battlefields. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian G. Rhodes) An F-35 Lightning II assigned to the 62nd Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., sits in a hangar ahead of operations for the F-35 Lightning II TDY, Oct. 28, 2021, at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field, Texas. The 62nd FS will be training with F-16s from the 149th Fighter Wing and the 301st Fighter Wing, along with T-38s from the 301st Fighter Wing. The multi-role capabilities of the F-35 allows them to perform missions which traditionally required numerous specialized aircraft. The complimentary air superiority capabilities of the F-35 will augment our air superiority fleet and ensure we continue to "own the skies" over future battlefields. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian G. Rhodes)

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Canada Was Going to Buy 88 F-35s — Today It’s Only Committed to 16 and Hedging on 14 More as Saab Pitches the Gripen Alternative

Canada committed in 2023 to buy 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters to replace its CF-18 fleet — today it has firmly committed to...

May 8, 2026
Russian Mobile ICBMs. Image Credit: Creative Commons. Russian Mobile ICBMs. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Two Russian Military Satellites Just Maneuvered Within 10 Feet of Each Other in Orbit — at 17,000 MPH and Without Touching

Two classified Russian military satellites maintained a 10-foot gap in low Earth orbit on April 28, while traveling at 17,000 miles per hour. The...

May 7, 2026
A new study has uncovered a deeply troubling problem hidden in the world's network of undersea commercial tunnels: the rubber GINA gaskets that keep seawater from flooding through joints are degrading 35% faster than engineers originally predicted. Tested at Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, the gaskets lost a stunning 67.66% of their sealing force—raising urgent questions about the safety of vehicle and rail tunnels around the world. A new study has uncovered a deeply troubling problem hidden in the world's network of undersea commercial tunnels: the rubber GINA gaskets that keep seawater from flooding through joints are degrading 35% faster than engineers originally predicted. Tested at Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, the gaskets lost a stunning 67.66% of their sealing force—raising urgent questions about the safety of vehicle and rail tunnels around the world.

Trillions - 19FortyFive

‘Degrading 35 Percent Faster’: Special Rubber Used to Keep Undersea Tunnels Sealed Is Dissolving from Within Faster Than Engineers Predicted

A new study has uncovered a deeply troubling problem in the world’s network of undersea commercial tunnels: rubber GINA gaskets are degrading 35% faster...

May 5, 2026

The Embassy
2/8/1982 President Reagan at a rally for Senator David Durenberger in Minneapolis Minnesota

The Embassy

Quote of the Day By Ronald Reagan: ‘A Nuclear War Cannot Be Won, And Never Must Be Fought’

Summary and Key Points: At the 1985 Geneva Summit, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev issued a joint statement declaring that a...

May 26, 2026
Putin Russia Putin Russia

The Embassy

Putin’s Russia Looks Like It’s on Borrowed Time

On May 9, 2026, Russia held its annual Victory Day parade in Red Square. It was the shortest in the event’s history. Just 43...

May 11, 2026
USS Savannah (LCS 28) conducts a live-fire demonstration in the Eastern Pacific Ocean utilizing a containerized launching system that fired an SM-6 missile from the ship at a designated target. The exercise demonstrated the modularity and lethality of Littoral Combat Ships and the ability to successfully integrate a containerized weapons system to engage a surface target. The exercise will inform continued testing, evaluation and integration of containerized weapons systems on afloat platforms. USS Savannah (LCS 28) conducts a live-fire demonstration in the Eastern Pacific Ocean utilizing a containerized launching system that fired an SM-6 missile from the ship at a designated target. The exercise demonstrated the modularity and lethality of Littoral Combat Ships and the ability to successfully integrate a containerized weapons system to engage a surface target. The exercise will inform continued testing, evaluation and integration of containerized weapons systems on afloat platforms.

The Embassy

Every Missile Fired in Iran Is One the U.S. Can’t Use to Deter China

The U.S. war with Iran has now lasted more than two months. Pentagon munitions stockpiles are critically short. The Pentagon recently attempted to reclaim...

May 11, 2026
Image: Creative Commons. A Royal Australian Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet (s/n A21-46) firing an AIM-7M Sparrow missile. The aircraft also carries another AIM-7, two AGM-84 Harpoon missiles and two AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles. Image: Creative Commons. A Royal Australian Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet (s/n A21-46) firing an AIM-7M Sparrow missile. The aircraft also carries another AIM-7, two AGM-84 Harpoon missiles and two AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.

The Embassy

Trump Set 3 Deadlines for Iran’s Unconditional Surrender — Tehran Watched All Three Pass Without Consequence

The Iran Ceasefire Isn’t Dead. That’s Exactly the Problem: The ceasefire is holding, and Iran is the reason. Not because Tehran has any interest...

May 11, 2026

Hermit Kingdom
North Korean Military. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Hermit Kingdom

6,000 North Korean Soldiers Are Dead in Ukraine: Kim Jong Un Keeps Sending More

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...

March 27, 2026
Hwasong-17 North Korea ICBM. Image Credit: Creative Commons. Hwasong-17 North Korea ICBM. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Hermit Kingdom

Iran Has An ICBM Program: They Got it From North Korea

Summary and Key Points: Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., a political science professor and proliferation expert, evaluates the strategic partnership between Iran and North...

March 4, 2026
North Korea North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

North Korea’s Demand: Kim Jong Un Wants Trump To Recognize the Hermit Kingdom as a Nuclear Weapons State

Summary and Key Points: Reuben F. Johnson, a veteran defense technology analyst and Casimir Pulaski Foundation fellow, scrutinizes the Ninth Congress of the Workers’...

February 26, 2026
North Korean Military. Image Credit: Creative Commons. North Korean Military. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Hermit Kingdom

Korea Reunification Isn’t Coming—And Great-Power Politics Is Why

Korea’s Division Isn’t a Glitch Anymore. It’s a Feature of the New Order The division of Korea was always understood to be temporary. In...

February 2, 2026