19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), right, and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) sail in the South China Sea, Sept. 14, 2026. Frank E. Petersen Jr. is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Units assigned to 7th Fleet conduct continuous patrols to deter aggression, strengthen alliances and partnerships, and advance peace through strength. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathaly Cruz)

Aerospace & Defense

Iran’s Missiles and Drones Missed US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carriers. It Attacked the Base That Fed Them. Resupply for the USS Abraham Lincoln Moved 2,200 Miles to Diego Garcia, and the Food, Mail and Soap Had to Come That Far.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier sailed from San Diego on November 21, 2025 for a seven-month deployment and was extended twice. Her air...

Steve Balestrieri2 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Best Striker-Fired Trigger in America Is Not on a Glock or an M&P. It Is on a $649 Walther.

American Rifleman's test guns broke between 4 pounds 8 ounces and 5 pounds, and put 27 of 30 five-shot groups under two inches at...

Steve Balestrieri2 days ago

USS Wasp CV-18 Aircraft Carrier Creative Commons

Aerospace & Defense

A destroyer that survived Utah Beach and a kamikaze bomb turned in front of an aircraft carrier at 24 knots off Newfoundland in 1952, after her executive officer said the turn would hit it, and was cut in half, killing 176, while the carrier was back at sea in 10 days

USS Hobson's executive officer objected that the maneuver would put her on a collision course with the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, lost the argument,...

Isaac Seitz3 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: 15.87 Ounces Loaded, a Glock 42 Weighs Less Than an Empty Glock 19, and 12 Years On It Is Still the Smallest Glock

The G42's locked breech makes it soft-shooting for its size, but the recoil spring is stout enough that Larry Vickers helped build an $18.95...

Steve Balestrieri3 days ago

Aerospace & Defense

A tank with an unmanned turret and an armored crew capsule was shown off in 2015, kept out of its own country’s war because cheap drones might kill it, and is now being redrawn around a 152mm gun with 40 rounds, 24 in the autoloader, and a drone on a tether

The 152mm idea dates to the Soviet Object 195, which never entered production, and it forces a turret redesign, more internal volume and a...

Brandon Weichert3 days ago

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

Aerospace & Defense

A 25% Chance: NASA’s Former SR-71 Blackbird Engineer on Whether Tail 844 Flies Again

Aerospace & Defense

100,000-Ton US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Has a ‘Math Problem’ That Can’t Seem to Be Solved

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

A Los Angeles-Class Sub Tied to the Pier Was Louder Than a Seawolf at 20 Knots. 70 Times Quieter, It Dove Past 2,000 Feet to Hunt Typhoons Under Arctic Ice

Aerospace & Defense

Forget the F-35 Debate: Canada’s Old Diesel Victoria-Class Submarines Need to Somehow Limp Along Until 2034

Aerospace & Defense

Forget the F-35 or China’s J-20: Japan Is Turning 98 F-15J Eagles Into ‘Super Interceptors’ Carrying JASSM-ER

Aerospace & Defense

Russia’s New ‘Diesel’ Lada-Class Submarines Summed Up in 4 Words

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

Aerospace & Defense

Iran’s Missiles and Drones Missed US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carriers. It Attacked the Base That Fed Them. Resupply for the USS Abraham Lincoln Moved 2,200 Miles to Diego Garcia, and the Food, Mail and Soap Had to Come That Far.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Best Striker-Fired Trigger in America Is Not on a Glock or an M&P. It Is on a $649 Walther.

Aerospace & Defense

A destroyer that survived Utah Beach and a kamikaze bomb turned in front of an aircraft carrier at 24 knots off Newfoundland in 1952, after her executive officer said the turn would hit it, and was cut in half, killing 176, while the carrier was back at sea in 10 days

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: 15.87 Ounces Loaded, a Glock 42 Weighs Less Than an Empty Glock 19, and 12 Years On It Is Still the Smallest Glock

Aerospace & Defense

A tank with an unmanned turret and an armored crew capsule was shown off in 2015, kept out of its own country’s war because cheap drones might kill it, and is now being redrawn around a 152mm gun with 40 rounds, 24 in the autoloader, and a drone on a tether

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

Boeing Spent $67,000,000 of Its Own Money Building YF-118G Bird of Prey Stealth Aircraft. It Flew 38 Times on Landing Gear From a Beech King Air and an Ejection Seat From a Harrier.

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

$850,000,000 Australian Submarine ‘Sank’ $5,500,000,000 US Navy Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier By Evading US, Japanese, Canadian, Chilean, Korean, and British Forces — 6 Navies — and Photographed the Supercarrier

Aerospace & Defense

A Canadian Oberon-Class Diesel Submarine Built in the 1960s Worth About $80,000,000 Slipped Past an Entire US Navy Carrier Group. The Umpire Declared the $5,500,000,000 Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Sunk.