19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

Space and Technology

A NASA space telescope is falling out of the sky, and to save it the agency skipped its own contractors and handed the job to a four-year-old startup that had never flown a spacecraft — nine months and $30 million after its own $2 billion rescue program collapsed.

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has spent 21 years as astronomy's first responder, swinging toward exploding stars faster than any other telescope. Now it...

Harry J. KazianisJuly 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Finally Opened the Money Taps for Its Military. Its Army Still Can’t Deploy Half Its Equipment

Canada hit NATO's 2 percent target five years early and plans to triple defense spending toward $900 billion — a rearmament triggered by a...

Harry J. KazianisJuly 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Germany’s Type 212CD: The Submarine That Looks Like a Stealth Fighter That Can Shoot Down the Helicopters Hunting It

Canada's chosen Type 212CD is engineered to vanish — a stealth-fighter-faceted hull, steel that barely registers on magnetic detectors, and weeks submerged on fuel...

Harry J. KazianisJuly 10, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

Canada’s 40-Year-Old CF-18 Hornets Are Running Out of Airframe Life. Replacing Them Became Its Biggest-Ever Fighter Fight

For four decades the CF-18 Hornet has been the backbone of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and it is now worn out and running...

Harry J. KazianisJuly 10, 2026

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) conducts U.S. blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16. The ship's embarked carrier air wing includes eight F-35C stealth fighters, F/A-18 fighter jets, EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, E-2D command and control planes, MH-60 helicopters and CMV-22B Ospreys for logistics support. (U.S. Navy photo)

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Keeps Asking Whether It Needs Aircraft Carriers. It’s the Wrong Question

What if Canada had aircraft carriers in 2026? It would look impressive, visit useful ports, and let ministers speak. It would also do little...

Andrew LathamJuly 10, 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 Air Force Wants 100 Northrop Grumman B-21 Raiders at $700 Million Each. It Probably Needs 300 Stealth Bombers

Aerospace & Defense

‘Saturation Strike’: F-16 Fighters Used Swarm Tactics to ‘Destroy’ A US Air Force F-35 Stealth In a Dogfighting Drill

Aerospace & Defense

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

Aerospace & Defense

Air Force 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.

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

A NASA space telescope is falling out of the sky, and to save it the agency skipped its own contractors and handed the job to a four-year-old startup that had never flown a spacecraft — nine months and $30 million after its own $2 billion rescue program collapsed.

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Finally Opened the Money Taps for Its Military. Its Army Still Can’t Deploy Half Its Equipment

Aerospace & Defense

Germany’s Type 212CD: The Submarine That Looks Like a Stealth Fighter That Can Shoot Down the Helicopters Hunting It

Aerospace & Defense

Canada’s 40-Year-Old CF-18 Hornets Are Running Out of Airframe Life. Replacing Them Became Its Biggest-Ever Fighter Fight

Aerospace & Defense

Canada Keeps Asking Whether It Needs Aircraft Carriers. It’s the Wrong Question

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.