Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Summary and Key Points: The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, has been plagued by endless failures—from engine breakdowns to fighter jet crashes. -Its...
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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...
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...
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...
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...
The YA-9, The Aircraft That Could Have Been The A-10: The Northrop YA-9 was the primary competitor to the Fairchild Republic YA-10 in the...
China's J-20 "Mighty Dragon" is the only fifth-generation fighter in service built without a gun, a deliberate bet that stealth and long-range missiles have...
Most people don't know Italy operates an aircraft carrier at all. The Cavour, flagship of the Italian Navy, is a fraction the size of...
On paper, the Navy's Wasp-class ships are amphibious assault ships, built to land Marines, helicopters, and vehicles on a hostile shore. But load one...
A few days ago I learned my 2024 Jeep Gladiator is one of more than a million Wranglers and Gladiators that federal regulators say...
SpaceX exists to put humans on Mars, so its shift toward the Moon looks like an admission that the Mars dream has stalled. It...
America won the Moon race in 1969, then mothballed the rockets that got it there, leaving only disassembled Saturn Vs in museums. Now it...
Germany spent decades as a reluctant military power, its Cold War army allowed to atrophy and a deep pacifism running through its politics. Russia's...
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...
NATO is not collapsing, but it is changing: some of its most important members want the alliance's protection while keeping a freer hand outside...
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...
Summary and Key Points: The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, has been plagued by endless failures—from engine breakdowns to fighter jet crashes. -Its...
Time to Retire: For decades, Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, has been a floating testament to the systemic dysfunction of the Russian Navy. ...
Did the North Carolina-class Battleships Turn the Tide During World War Two? – The United States Navy’s North Carolina-class battleships were known for being...
Aircraft Carriers: Now Just As Obsolete as the Battleships? The American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan explained just how much he thought naval tactics...
Nukes and NATO for Ukraine? In an eye-opening interview released today by Piers Morgan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed two things he believed would...
