Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: Forward-swept wings promise sharp subsonic agility, better lift behavior, and shorter takeoffs—exactly why designers flirted with them for carrier and air-superiority fighters. But...
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Canada is just weeks from a decision that could become the most expensive procurement in its history: choosing the submarines that will guard its...
The Air Force recently announced it will keep the beloved A-10 Warthog flying until 2030, seeming to end years of retirement fights. But a...
Iran's first danger after sanctions relief isn't the first Russian jet or Chinese radar it buys, argues scholar Andrew Latham. It's the workshop that...
Germany still must address a readiness issue: large portions of the army are not considered fully combat-ready, with some readiness estimates for land forces...
The second Trump administration is reviewing America's military footprint in Europe, and the worst-case outcome is a full withdrawal. Andrew Michta argues that would...
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is being judged on whether it cools tensions in the Persian Gulf. Strategic-studies scholar Andrew Michta argues that's the...
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...
Russia designed the Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate to modernize a navy that hasn't built a destroyer-sized warship since the Cold War. Then the program stalled...
Australia has test-fired its first domestically built GMLRS rockets, becoming the only country outside the United States to make them. But the rounds are...
Germany has just canceled an $11.3 billion program to build six new frigates, after the shipbuilder warned it couldn't deliver them on time or...
China continues to defy expectations with its massive military buildup. As the Americans tut-tut about whatever overpriced and underperforming manned system, like the F-47...
My best friend in the U.S. Army was a Special Forces officer with service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once, we had a conversation about...
A few days ago I learned my 2024 Jeep Gladiator is one of more than a million Wranglers and Gladiators that federal regulators say...
Iran keeps returning to the Strait of Hormuz because it works. As Andrew Latham argues, Tehran doesn't need to close the waterway, or even...
SpaceX exists to put humans on Mars, so its shift toward the Moon looks like an admission that the Mars dream has stalled. It...
Vice President JD Vance has hailed his Switzerland negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as diplomatic progress. Middle East Forum scholar Dr. Michael Rubin argues...
Ukraine hasn't moved the front — but its drones have broken the war's one-way character, reaching the Russian heartland Putin promised was safe. The...
The terms of the Memorandum of Understanding ending the U.S.-Iran war are now public. This analysis argues the deal is worth supporting as an...
Ukrainian “long-range sanctions” continue to hammer targets in Russia, with continued targeting of the Russian capital of Moscow with massive drone attacks. Tuesday’s drone...
The KN-23, North Korea's version the Russian Iskander missile, showed up to fight in the Ukraine war. And it isn't the same platform as...
On May 21, 2025, a brand-new North Korean destroyer rolled over and partially capsized at its own launch ceremony — with Kim Jong Un...
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...
Synopsis: Forward-swept wings promise sharp subsonic agility, better lift behavior, and shorter takeoffs—exactly why designers flirted with them for carrier and air-superiority fighters. But...
Synopsis: Carl von Clausewitz’s line “war is an act of violence pushed to its utmost limits” comes from On War, published in 1832 after...
Key Points and Summary – South Korea’s KSS-III program is the Navy’s pivot from German-derived boats to a truly indigenous submarine built for long,...
Synopsis: Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “speak softly and carry a big stick” line captured the foreign-policy instinct that made him a defining figure of the...
Key Points and Summary – The SR-71 Blackbird didn’t just demand exotic titanium and hand-built parts—it needed a fuel system unlike anything else in...
