Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Synopsis: As of February 2026, the U.S. Air Force is finalizing the deployment of 48 F-35A Lightning IIs to Misawa Air Base, Japan—a strategic...
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Conventional wisdom says Americans vote on domestic concerns and ignore the world abroad. Robert Kelly argues the 2026 midterms are breaking that rule: an...
Germany is studying whether to join GCAP, the sixth-generation fighter Britain, Japan and Italy launched in December 2022 for service by 2035, after its...
The Soviet Victor III attack submarine, introduced in 1979, was the first Soviet boat quiet enough to hide in the ocean’s background noise. As...
The Pentagon’s China Military Power Report says the People’s Liberation Army Navy plans to operate nine aircraft carriers by 2035. China has three today,...
Putin’s proposal for a U.S.-China-Russia trilateral in China — with Ukraine and Europe excluded — has revived Beltway enthusiasm for a “Kissinger-in-reverse” bid to...
The Trump administration’s deal to allow Russian diesel into the United States blindsided Kyiv and Europe alike — halting peace talks, triggering threats to...
Sabotage at Leipzig, Swindon, and Skarżysko-Kamienna. A curfew across the river from Narva. New garrisons at Petrozavodsk, Lupche-Savino, and Pechenga pointing at Finland's 830-mile...
The Witkoff-Kushner shuttle between Moscow and Kyiv ended, predictably, without a breakthrough — and Andrew Michta argues the failure reveals something deeper than bad...
Russia’s Project 545 Laika-class, once code-named Husky, is the fifth-generation submarine meant to replace the Yasen-class and the Soviet-era Akula, Sierra II and Victor...
Summary and Key Points: A line commonly attributed to James Mattis holds that wise leadership requires collaboration, or it ends in failure, and his...
The K-278 Komsomolets was the only Mike-class submarine the Soviet Union ever built: a titanium double hull, a reactor that cooled itself without noisy...
Iran recently fired a hypersonic missile at USS George Washington. In 2005 the Navy blasted the retired carrier USS America for weeks, 300 miles...
Four ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz Thursday against a 10-day average of 16. Iran said it hit tanker Trend on Friday. Brent is...
Jobs dropped out of Reed College and stayed on as what he called a "drop-in," sitting in on classes that interested him. One was...
"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has,...
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has unveiled Operation Economic Outcast: secondary sanctions across five sectors and more than sixty targets, with no relief attached. Iran's...
Dr. Robert Kelly, a professor of international relations at Pusan National University, argues the separation of powers in American foreign policy has nearly collapsed,...
Both sides would use a Ukraine war pause to rearm, and a longer pause may mean a bloodier spring. Michael Rubin argues Kyiv should...
For four and a half years the request was essentially a check, and the argument was that a properly supplied David could match Goliath....
Let Trump be Trump—which he will be anyway. Even if his peace efforts fail (which is entirely possible), American interests will be protected, and...
President Trump says he gets along with Kim Jong Un and wants a new summit before the end of 2026, along with smaller US-South...
Trump is reportedly considering another meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last round produced Singapore, Hanoi, and the DMZ, and by 2020 the status...
American doctrine promises that any North Korean nuclear attack will end the Kim regime. The Iran war has just tested that assumption. The United...
Trump ordered Ulchi Freedom Shield cut from eleven days to five before Kim Jong-un had agreed to anything in return. Kim Yo-jong dismissed the...
Synopsis: As of February 2026, the U.S. Air Force is finalizing the deployment of 48 F-35A Lightning IIs to Misawa Air Base, Japan—a strategic...
Summary and Key Points: The Eurofighter Typhoon has evolved from a Cold War interceptor into a sophisticated multi-role platform capable of operating through the...
Summary and Key Points: Satellite imagery from February 9, 2026, reveals that Russia has concentrated nearly its entire Su-57 “Felon” fleet—approximately 15 to 20...
Summary and Key Points: Dr. Robert Kelly argues that a “new nuclear age” is dawning, driven not just by rogue states, but by U.S....
Summary and Key Points: The F-35 program has entered a high-stakes “radar gap” as Lot 17 aircraft are delivered to the U.S. military without...
