Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Key Points and Summary – This piece explains how the Navy Cross—second only to the Medal of Honor—is actually earned and why it is...
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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...
Turkey built the TF Kaan, a fifth-generation stealth fighter meant to prove the country could field a world-class jet of its own. There's a...
The US has reportedly approved the first-ever export of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) to Australia as part of a $31.6 billion...
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...
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...
Key Points and Summary – This piece explains how the Navy Cross—second only to the Medal of Honor—is actually earned and why it is...
Key Points and Summary – China’s conversion of Y-20 cargo aircraft into YU-20 tankers is a quiet but serious challenge to U.S. and allied...
Key Points and Summary – The F-22 Raptor remains the world’s benchmark for air superiority, combining extreme thrust-to-weight, stealth and high-end sensors to deliver...
Key Points and Summary – The B-1B Lancer was born to blend B-58 speed with B-52 range and payload, evolving into a low-level Cold...
Key Points and Summary – Lockheed Martin’s SR-72 “Son of Blackbird” is designed to leap beyond the SR-71, using a turbine-based combined cycle engine...
