Military Archives

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

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2017 Russian Navy divers pulled an American-built P-39 Airacobra out of an Arctic lake 72 years after it crashed on a 1945 training flight — and where they expected to find the pilot’s remains, all that was left was part of his fur-lined boot

Summary and Key Points: More than 70 years after it sank, an American-built P-39 Airacobra was raised from an Arctic lake near Murmansk —...

Stephen SilverMay 31, 2026

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, currently forward deployed with 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division as part of the Unit Deployment Program, engage a simulated enemy while rehearsing squad attacks during the Korean Marine Exchange Program 26.1 on Suseong-Ri, Pohang, South Korea, April 2, 2026. The Korean Marine Exchange Program (KMEP) is a semi-annual exercise that provides opportunities for ROK Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps units to train together, improving their combined capabilities to deter threats and maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joaquin Dela Torre)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Marine Corps assigns every Marine to one of four color-coded stress zones — green, yellow, orange or red — and the system exists to catch what it calls a “mental injury”

The U.S. Marine Corps fosters an environment that provides physical fitness training, elite morale, unit cohesion, valuable friendship and camaraderie, and a high level...

Brent M. EastwoodMay 31, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

On 30 October 1961 the Soviet Union detonated a single bomb called Tsar Bomba over the Arctic — and its 50-megaton blast was more powerful than every bomb, shell and explosive used by every nation in the entire Second World War, ten times over

Summary and Key Points: The Tsar Bomba is still the largest nuclear device ever detonated: a 50-megaton blast over the Arctic that outstripped every...

Christian D. OrrMay 31, 2026

(August 16, 2006) - USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) sits moored in the Magnetic Silencing Facility at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor Aug 16 for her first ìdepermingî treatment. The deperming process reduces a ships electromagnetic signature as she travels through the water. U.S. Navy Photograph by MCCM(AW) Jerry McLain (Released)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The Quiet War: How The Seawolf-Class Became The Submarine The U.S. Navy Built When Cost Did Not Matter — And Why Its Acoustic Edge Still Holds

One of the greatest joys of my life was back in 2004 when I literally got within 100 feet of USS Connecticut, an actual...

Harry J. KazianisMay 28, 2026

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class Anika Ramos directs the launch of an F-35B Lighting II, attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 during flight operations on the flight deck of the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) in the South China Sea, Dec. 11, 2025.

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Australia Just Named China as The Primary Cause of Worsening Indo-Pacific Security in Its New National Defense Strategy

Amid U.S.-China competition, Australia has proven to be a strong U.S. ally and, frequently, a thorn in China’s side. While Australia continues to demonstrate...

Wilson Beaver and Andrew J. HardingMay 27, 2026

USS Kingsville (LCS 36) points its bow toward the harbor at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division in California on a recent morning as the ship arrives from its homeport of San Diego. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship features a trimaran hull design, which allows it to reach speeds much greater than destroyers and cruisers, as well as to operate in shallower waters closer to shore. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons)

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Navy Is Going to Shrink — at The Same Moment China’s Navy Is The Largest on Earth

Summary and Key Points: The U.S. Navy’s latest shipbuilding plan would retire 46 ships from 2027 to 2031 — including 2 aircraft carriers, 10...

Robert Peters and Wilson BeaverMay 27, 2026

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Russia Built Only One Su-47 Berkut Stealth Fighter Because Its Forward-Swept Wings Could Tear Themselves Apart at High Speed

Russia has long competed with the United States and other Western powers for innovative military aviation designs. During the Cold War, this lust for...

Brandon WeichertMay 27, 2026

19FortyFive

All posts tagged "Military"

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

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In 2017 Russian Navy divers pulled an American-built P-39 Airacobra out of an Arctic lake 72 years after it crashed on a 1945 training flight — and where they expected to find the pilot’s remains, all that was left was part of his fur-lined boot

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Marine Corps assigns every Marine to one of four color-coded stress zones — green, yellow, orange or red — and the system exists to catch what it calls a “mental injury”

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

On 30 October 1961 the Soviet Union detonated a single bomb called Tsar Bomba over the Arctic — and its 50-megaton blast was more powerful than every bomb, shell and explosive used by every nation in the entire Second World War, ten times over

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The Quiet War: How The Seawolf-Class Became The Submarine The U.S. Navy Built When Cost Did Not Matter — And Why Its Acoustic Edge Still Holds

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Australia Just Named China as The Primary Cause of Worsening Indo-Pacific Security in Its New National Defense Strategy

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

The U.S. Navy Is Going to Shrink — at The Same Moment China’s Navy Is The Largest on Earth

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

Russia Built Only One Su-47 Berkut Stealth Fighter Because Its Forward-Swept Wings Could Tear Themselves Apart at High Speed

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