Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security
Summary and Key Points: The United States Navy is drawing a sharp line between two “frigates.” The canceled Constellation-Class concept aimed to be a...
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Summary and Key Points: The United States Navy is drawing a sharp line between two “frigates.” The canceled Constellation-Class concept aimed to be a...
Summary and Key Points: Donald Trump’s proposed Golden Fleet centers on a new Trump-class guided-missile battleship envisioned as a massive magazine ship for hypersonic...
Summary and Key Points: At the Surface Navy Association symposium in January 2026, Daryl Caudle argued that future warships tied to Donald Trump’s “Golden...
Synopsis: The U.S. Navy’s SSN(X) program, designed to combine the stealth of the Virginia-class with the firepower of the Seawolf-class, is facing critical delays...
Synopsis: The U.S. Navy faces a critical misalignment: it remains organized around the supercarrier—a massive, highly visible platform designed for presence—despite modern maritime warfare...
Synopsis: Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz believed leadership meant listening down the chain: “Some of the best advice…comes from junior officers and enlisted men.”...
Summary and Key Points: The battleship-to-carrier comparison is emotionally satisfying but strategically wrong. Battleships became obsolete because their core mission—surface gunnery and line-of-sight combat—was...
Synopsis: U.S. Navy leaders argue F/A-XX is becoming urgent because the era of operating non-stealth aircraft “with impunity” is shrinking as air defenses and...
Summary and Key Points: Swarms of small attack boats, missile-armed drones, and helicopters compress a ship’s decision time and can burn through expensive interceptors...
Summary and Key Points: Lockheed Martin is in high-level talks with the Department of Defense over a “Ferrari” F-35 concept—an upgraded Lightning II meant...