19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

Aerospace & Defense

A 100,000-ton US Navy nuclear aircraft carrier hit a tanker and lost F/A-18s to friendly fire, a tow tractor and a snapped arresting cable, investigators found undermanned watches, skipped maintenance and a ‘just get it done’ culture, and the fleet behind her is 18,000 sailors short

A Senate letter put the bill for military mishaps from 2020 to 2024 at $9.4 billion, 90 lives and 89 aircraft, with Marine Corps...

Sean SpoontsOctober 4, 2026

USS Iowa (BB-61) Fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. Photographed by PHAN J. Alan Elliott. Note concussion effects on the water surface, and 16-inch gun barrels in varying degrees of recoil. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the the Department of Defense Still Media Collection.

Aerospace & Defense

Four US Navy battleships mothballed for decades came back in 1982 for $1.7 billion to answer a Soviet nuclear battlecruiser, one plan cut off an aft 16-inch turret for a Harrier flight deck, the Navy bolted on 32 Tomahawks and 16 Harpoons instead, and all four were gone by 1992

Reactivating USS New Jersey alone was estimated at $247 million in 1982, about $857 million today. The battleships got AN/SPS-49 radars, SLQ-32 electronic warfare...

Isaac SeitzOctober 4, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed Drew Up an SR-71 Blackbird Firing 210-Kiloton Nuclear Missiles From 80,000 Feet at Mach 3.2, Range 500 Nautical Miles, and Half Would Have Missed

Ben Rich's paper reshaped the Blackbird's forward fuselage with blunter chines, a rounded underside and a longer nose for radar to fit the 14-foot...

Brandon WeichertOctober 4, 2026

A-12 Oxcart. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

The SR-71 Blackbird’s Ancestor Was Redrawn in 1961 to Carry 4 Nuclear Bombs at Mach 3.2 and 90,000 Feet, Then the Air Force Chose the 6-Engine XB-70 Valkyrie

Gen. Curtis LeMay and SAC commander Gen. Thomas Power both took interest in the RB-12 in 1961, but the XB-70's backers inside the Air...

Brandon WeichertOctober 3, 2026

(July 29, 2025) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) fires its forward Mark 45 5-inch gun during a weapons maintenance shoot, July 29, 2025. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jacob I. Allison)

Aerospace & Defense

A 122-missile cruiser had $161.15 million set aside for a four-year overhaul and was decommissioned before a worker touched her, one of four the Navy retired mid-upgrade after putting $1.84 billion into them, and the three it finished leave the fleet in 2029

USS Hue City had $161.15 million allocated for her upgrade and was decommissioned before work began. A 2024 GAO report counted 9,000 contract changes...

Isaac SeitzOctober 3, 2026

The Embassy

Saudi Arabia’s Worst-Case Iran Scenario Hasn’t Even Begun

Hermit Kingdom

The Case for Another Donald Trump-North Korea Summit

Aerospace & Defense

Germany’s Great Military Reboot Is Just Getting Started

Aerospace & Defense

The ‘Black Hole’ Kilo-Class Submarine Isn’t Reality: A US Navy Anti-Submarine Operator Had ‘No Respect’ For the Russian Sub

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’s Boeing F-47 Stealth Fighter Is Not Scheduled to Fly Until 2028. China Is Already Flying 2 Sixth-Generation Jets. The Air Force’s Answer Is to Run 2 Test Phases at the Same Time

Aerospace & Defense

US Air Force Stealth Fighter Down: $334,000,000 Lockheed F-22 Raptor Was ‘Shot Down’ By Navy EA-18G Electronic Warfare Plane in a Combat Drill

Aerospace & Defense

China’s New ‘Flying Wing’ Xi’an H-20 Stealth Bomber Is Now Frozen In a Development ‘Doom Loop’

Aerospace & Defense

George S. Patton’s Most Powerful Quote About Going Into Battle and War Is Simple: ‘All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty’

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

A 100,000-ton US Navy nuclear aircraft carrier hit a tanker and lost F/A-18s to friendly fire, a tow tractor and a snapped arresting cable, investigators found undermanned watches, skipped maintenance and a ‘just get it done’ culture, and the fleet behind her is 18,000 sailors short

Aerospace & Defense

Four US Navy battleships mothballed for decades came back in 1982 for $1.7 billion to answer a Soviet nuclear battlecruiser, one plan cut off an aft 16-inch turret for a Harrier flight deck, the Navy bolted on 32 Tomahawks and 16 Harpoons instead, and all four were gone by 1992

Aerospace & Defense

Lockheed Drew Up an SR-71 Blackbird Firing 210-Kiloton Nuclear Missiles From 80,000 Feet at Mach 3.2, Range 500 Nautical Miles, and Half Would Have Missed

Aerospace & Defense

The SR-71 Blackbird’s Ancestor Was Redrawn in 1961 to Carry 4 Nuclear Bombs at Mach 3.2 and 90,000 Feet, Then the Air Force Chose the 6-Engine XB-70 Valkyrie

Aerospace & Defense

A 122-missile cruiser had $161.15 million set aside for a four-year overhaul and was decommissioned before a worker touched her, one of four the Navy retired mid-upgrade after putting $1.84 billion into them, and the three it finished leave the fleet in 2029

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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

82 Years Later, General George Patton’s Best US Army Line Is Still the Greatest Military Quote in Armed Forces History

Aerospace & Defense

The US 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

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Came Back From Every Mission 3 to 4 Inches Longer Than It Took Off. At Mach 3.2 the Titanium Skin Ran Around 620 Degrees Fahrenheit, So Lockheed Built the Panels Loose on Purpose and the Fuel Tanks Leaked on the Ramp Until Heat Swelled the Joints Shut.

Aerospace & Defense

23 Years Later, General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis and His Line on the Marines Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History