19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

Space and Technology

In July 2028 NASA launches a car-sized, 1,000-pound nuclear drone toward Saturn’s moon Titan, a six-year, $3.35 billion trip to a world where the air is four times denser than Earth’s, gravity is one-seventh as strong, and flying is the easy part.

NASA is about to try something it has never attempted: instead of another six-wheeled rover, it will fly a car-sized, plutonium-powered drone across the...

Harrison KassJuly 24, 2026

The Embassy

Laura Loomer Once Called Ukraine ‘Full of Nazi Apologists’ — This Week She Apologized and Met Zelensky

Zelensky met Raytheon executives in Kyiv, saying Ukraine is moving to co-produce Patriot missiles under plans he discussed with Trump — though waiting lists...

Stephen SilverJuly 24, 2026

Space and Technology

NASA’s first space station weighed 77 tons and its launch nearly destroyed it, but engineers saved the thing with an improvised parasol, and when it finally fell out of orbit in 1979 a small Australian town fined the agency $400 for littering.

America's first space station was built out of leftover Apollo hardware — a modified Saturn V third stage, 77 tons and 118 feet long,...

Harrison KassJuly 24, 2026

The Embassy

Trump Has Already Won the Iran War, a Twenty-Five-Year Army Veteran Argues — ‘the Enemy Gets a Vote’

In a new analysis, national security expert James Jay Carafano argues President Trump has already achieved America's key objectives against Iran and is de-risking...

James Jay CarafanoJuly 24, 2026

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) sails in the Atlantic Ocean, Feb. 6, 2026. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is at sea as an integrated warfighting team. Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) is the Joint Force’s most complex integrated training event and prepares naval task forces for sustained high-end Joint and combined combat. Integrated naval training provides combatant commanders and America’s civilian leaders highly capable forces that deter adversaries, underpin American security and economic prosperity, and reassure Allies and partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John R. Farren)

Aerospace & Defense

The Houthis Just Became Iran’s ‘Nuclear Option,’ an Expert Says — Able to ‘Hold the Global Economy Hostage’

The Wall Street Journal says a new front has opened after the Houthis declared an embargo on Saudi oil through Bab al-Mandeb. Reuters detailed...

Stephen SilverJuly 24, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Germany’s Great Military Reboot Is Just Getting Started

Aerospace & Defense

There Is No Such Thing as a ‘Black Hole’ Kilo-Class Submarine: A US Navy Anti-Submarine Operator Had ‘No Respect’ For the Russian Sub

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

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 US Navy Is Spending $622,800,000 on a 10,000-Ton Nuclear Attack Submarine It Can’t Build Until the 2040s. The 10,000-Ton SSN(X) Is Waiting Behind Virginias and Columbias at Two Full Yards

Aerospace & Defense

The Mach 3 US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird at the Smithsonian Still Leaks JP-7 Fuel on the Museum Floor

Aerospace & Defense

The Royal Navy Dropped Catapults on Queen Elizabeth-class Aircraft Carriers and Paid Billions to Fly the F-35B Stealth Fighter

Aerospace & Defense

The Mach 3 Air Force SR-71 Blackbird Ran on a Fuel So Stable You Could Put Out a Match in It. Then They Had to Invent a Way to Light It.

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

Space and Technology

In July 2028 NASA launches a car-sized, 1,000-pound nuclear drone toward Saturn’s moon Titan, a six-year, $3.35 billion trip to a world where the air is four times denser than Earth’s, gravity is one-seventh as strong, and flying is the easy part.

The Embassy

Laura Loomer Once Called Ukraine ‘Full of Nazi Apologists’ — This Week She Apologized and Met Zelensky

Space and Technology

NASA’s first space station weighed 77 tons and its launch nearly destroyed it, but engineers saved the thing with an improvised parasol, and when it finally fell out of orbit in 1979 a small Australian town fined the agency $400 for littering.

The Embassy

Trump Has Already Won the Iran War, a Twenty-Five-Year Army Veteran Argues — ‘the Enemy Gets a Vote’

Aerospace & Defense

The Houthis Just Became Iran’s ‘Nuclear Option,’ an Expert Says — Able to ‘Hold the Global Economy Hostage’

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

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

81 Years Ago, Army General George Patton’s Advice on History Is Still One of the Greatest Military Quotes in Armed Forces History

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

Canada Finalized an Agreement to Buy 88 Lockheed Martin F-35A Fighter Jets Back in January 2023. Almost 18 Months Into a Review Ordered by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ottawa Is Committed to Only 16 of Them — and the First Ones Still Arrive This Year.