Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
There was a time a few years ago, however brief, that some of us Asia-defense nerds had an unorthodox idea to tip the military...
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The strategic logic behind the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement was straightforward. Australia needed nuclear-powered submarines to operate effectively across the vast Indo-Pacific. The...
Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly famously said the F-111B Navy variant lacked “enough thrust in all Christendom to make a Navy fighter out of that...
For years, analysts and even Air Force officials have argued that plans to procure 100 B-21 Raiders are insufficient, and that a fleet of...
Russia is upgrading the Tu-160M Blackjack long-range bomber as a bridge platform while the Russian PAK DA stealth bomber has been delayed. The Russian...
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...
Key Points and Summary – The recent NATO summit in The Hague, where European allies agreed to a new 5% of GDP defense spending...
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...
A New York Times report published in May 2026 estimates that as many as 1.1 million Russians have been killed or severely wounded during...
The U.S. Army’s G2 Training and Doctrine Command 2024 report “The Operational Environment 2024-2034 Large-Scale Combat Operations” said Russia has lost 3,197 main battle...
Each U.S. Navy Ohio-class SSGN guided-missile submarine carries up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Each U.S. Navy Ohio-class SSGN has 22 missile tubes —...
General George S. Patton’s Third Army of over 250,000 men pivoted 90 degrees in approximately 48 hours to attack the German flank at the...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Vladimir Putin’s paranoia has surged to an all-time high—the Russian president now reportedly spends his days and nights shuttling between underground bunker complexes, terrified...
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...
Summary and Key Points: Reuben F. Johnson, a veteran defense technology analyst and Casimir Pulaski Foundation fellow, scrutinizes the Ninth Congress of the Workers’...
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...
There was a time a few years ago, however brief, that some of us Asia-defense nerds had an unorthodox idea to tip the military...
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has continued to maintain a presence in the neutral waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing doesn’t...
During the Cold War, despite having the world’s largest navy, the Soviet Union was still primarily a land power and as a result, the...
The concept of giant mechanical “walkers” has long been a science fiction staple – beginning with the massive three-legged fighting machines, known as “Tripods,”...
Back in the Winter 2010 edition of Orbis, the always smart James Kraska, at the time an investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, presented his...
