19FortyFive — Defense, National Security and Military Analysis

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong was one of seven men secretly chosen to fly the X-20 Dyna-Soar, a reusable Air Force spaceplane cancelled in 1963 two decades before the Space Shuttle — and the orbital mission it was designed for is now flown by the Space Force’s X-37B and China’s Shenlong

Summary and Key Points on the X-20: Years before the Space Shuttle, the US Air Force had designed a reusable, piloted spaceplane that launched...

Harry J. KazianisMay 31, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2004 a twelve-foot unmanned NASA aircraft hit Mach 9.6 and set an air-breathing speed record that still stands today — then America cancelled the Mach 15 machine meant to come next and spent twenty years watching Russia and China field the hypersonic weapons it walked away from

Summary and Key Points: On November 16, 2004, a twelve-foot unmanned NASA aircraft lit a scramjet with no moving parts and rode it to...

Harry J. KazianisMay 31, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach 3 nuclear bomber built to fly so high and fast that nothing the Soviet Union launched could ever reach it — and one of the only two ever built was destroyed not in combat but in a midair collision during a publicity photo shoot for an engine company

Summary and Key Points: The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was built to cruise at three times the speed of sound — so high and...

Harry J. KazianisMay 31, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Over a service life from 1966 to 1998 more than 4,000 missiles were fired at the SR-71 Blackbird and not one ever hit it — because the unarmed spy plane’s entire defense against a surface-to-air missile was a single instruction to the pilot: go faster

Summary and Key Points: The SR-71 Blackbird flew the Cold War’s most dangerous reconnaissance missions — over the Soviet periphery, North Vietnam and North...

Harry J. KazianisMay 31, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

A Chinese defense firm claims its AI tracked four US B-2 stealth bombers over Iran by their radio signals and reconstructed the flight path of an aircraft built to be all but invisible — but it has produced no recordings, no transcripts, no proof

Summary and Key Points: A Hangzhou defense firm, Jingan Technology, says its “Jingqi” AI system intercepted radio signals from four B-2 Spirit bombers —...

Christian D. OrrMay 31, 2026

The Embassy

A Bad Iran Deal and the Price of Credibility

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Europe’s Most Ambitious Fighter Jet Just Collapsed — Now Eight German and Spanish Companies Are Building Their Own Without France

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Air Force’s KC-46A Tanker Headache Might Finally Be Over

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

All Five of Britain’s Astute-Class Attack Submarines Are Stuck in Port at Once — While Russia Probes Its Waters

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

The Iran War Is Giving China Time, Russia Money, and North Korea an Opening

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Russia Is the Big Winner in the Iran War

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

NATO’s 5% Pledge: A Hollow Victory for a Dependent Europe?

Dr. Andrew A. Michta: Geostrategy

Why Putin Believes He Can Win His ‘Civilizational War’ Against the West

Smart Bombs

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

China’s New J-20S Stealth Fighter Puts a Human Where America Puts a Computer — and Nobody Knows Who Guessed Right

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Bomber Crashed At Edwards Air Force Base In California: What We Know

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

What Are China’s J-36 And J-50 Sixth-Generation Fighters, And How Far Ahead Are They Of America’s F-47 NGAD?

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

China Is Launching A New Aircraft Carrier Every 20 Months. The U.S. Navy Cannot Deliver One On Time — And The Gap Is The Shipyards.

Trillions

Trillions - 19FortyFive

One Country at a Time, Embraer’s C-390 Is Displacing Lockheed’s C-130 — and It Just Won Greece

Trillions - 19FortyFive

$2,000,000,000,000 Precedent: Trump In China With Nvidia, Apple, and Boeing CEOs + Elon Musk for the Xi Summit

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Canada Was Going to Buy 88 F-35s — Today It’s Only Committed to 16 and Hedging on 14 More as Saab Pitches the Gripen Alternative

Trillions - 19FortyFive

Two Russian Military Satellites Just Maneuvered Within 10 Feet of Each Other in Orbit — at 17,000 MPH and Without Touching

The Embassy

The Embassy

The AUKUS Submarine Deal Just Changed, and Australia Is Getting Less Than It Was Promised — Because America Can’t Build Fast Enough

The Embassy

Quote of the Day By Ronald Reagan: ‘A Nuclear War Cannot Be Won, And Never Must Be Fought’

The Embassy

Putin’s Russia Looks Like It’s on Borrowed Time

The Embassy

Every Missile Fired in Iran Is One the U.S. Can’t Use to Deter China

Hermit Kingdom

Hermit Kingdom

6,000 North Korean Soldiers Are Dead in Ukraine: Kim Jong Un Keeps Sending More

Hermit Kingdom

Iran Has An ICBM Program: They Got it From North Korea

Hermit Kingdom

North Korea’s Demand: Kim Jong Un Wants Trump To Recognize the Hermit Kingdom as a Nuclear Weapons State

Hermit Kingdom

Korea Reunification Isn’t Coming—And Great-Power Politics Is Why

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong was one of seven men secretly chosen to fly the X-20 Dyna-Soar, a reusable Air Force spaceplane cancelled in 1963 two decades before the Space Shuttle — and the orbital mission it was designed for is now flown by the Space Force’s X-37B and China’s Shenlong

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2004 a twelve-foot unmanned NASA aircraft hit Mach 9.6 and set an air-breathing speed record that still stands today — then America cancelled the Mach 15 machine meant to come next and spent twenty years watching Russia and China field the hypersonic weapons it walked away from

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a Mach 3 nuclear bomber built to fly so high and fast that nothing the Soviet Union launched could ever reach it — and one of the only two ever built was destroyed not in combat but in a midair collision during a publicity photo shoot for an engine company

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Over a service life from 1966 to 1998 more than 4,000 missiles were fired at the SR-71 Blackbird and not one ever hit it — because the unarmed spy plane’s entire defense against a surface-to-air missile was a single instruction to the pilot: go faster

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

A Chinese defense firm claims its AI tracked four US B-2 stealth bombers over Iran by their radio signals and reconstructed the flight path of an aircraft built to be all but invisible — but it has produced no recordings, no transcripts, no proof

Trending

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle’s Propeller Broke Off In The Middle Of The Atlantic — And That Was Only Her Second-Worst Sea Trial

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Charles de Gaulle: The 42,000-Ton Nuclear Aircraft Carrier With A Construction Saga That Makes The F-35 And Ford-Class Look Easy

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-Class Nuclear Aircraft Carriers Have a Message for Russia and China

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The F-35 Is the Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built. A New Report Says It Can Do Its Full Job Just 25% of the Time

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Libre: France’s €10 Billion Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Is A Defensible 80,000-Ton Ship And An Indefensible Fleet