In case you didn’t already know this, James Stewart—yes, “It’s A Wonderful Life” Jimmy Stewart—set down his Academy Award and put on the uniform of the Army Air Corps to fight in World War II. He enlisted as a private and by the time the war was over, he had flown 20 combat missions over Germany as leader of a squadron of B-24s, earning him the rank of colonel, not to mention his two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the French Croix de Guerre.
Author: Michael
China’s J-15 Flying Shark, the backbone of the PLAN’s carrier air wing, traces its origin to a single T-10K-3 Su-33 prototype that Beijing bought from Ukraine in 2001. Russia had refused to sell production Su-33s unless China ordered at least 50, citing past Chinese reverse-engineering of the Su-27 into the J-11. Beijing reverse-engineered the aircraft instead. Early J-15s used Russian AL-31F engines; since 2022, newer J-15T variants fly on domestically produced WS-10B engines.
The Kitty Hawk-class — the USS Kitty Hawk, USS Constellation, and USS America — were America’s last great conventionally powered supercarriers. Each ship displaced about 84,000 tons fully loaded, exceeded 32 knots on eight boilers and four Westinghouse steam turbines, and carried up to 90 aircraft ranging from the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet to the E-2 Hawkeye and EA-6B Prowler. The class anchored U.S. naval aviation through Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf, and the Global War on Terror. The USS Kitty Hawk earned a Presidential Unit Citation during the Tet Offensive.
The U.S. Air Force announced in May that the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program completed its Critical Design Review, clearing Boeing to begin converting the first two B-52H bombers into the upgraded B-52J configuration later this year. Rolls-Royce will supply eight F-130 engines per aircraft to replace the Pratt and Whitney TF-33s that have powered the bomber since the Cold War. The Air Force has warned the TF-33 becomes unsustainable beyond 2030. The first two converted aircraft will test at Edwards Air Force Base before fleet-wide conversion.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation confirmed on May 19 that the new two-seat Su-57D Felon stealth fighter completed its first flight, with Sukhoi chief test pilot Sergei Bogdan at the controls. The Su-57D features an elongated canopy and a tandem cockpit configuration, with the second crew member positioned behind and above the pilot. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said the aircraft will function as a combat trainer and a command-and-control platform. UAC CEO Vadim Badeha said the aircraft is intended for export. Algeria, India, and North Korea are among potential customers.
A remarkable story of resilience and courage un
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle told Congress this month that the Trump-class nuclear-powered guided-missile battleship will use the A1B nuclear reactor — the same one that powers the Ford-class aircraft carrier. The lead ship will be named the USS Defiant. The Navy considered conventional propulsion to speed delivery but ultimately returned to nuclear, with Caudle saying nuclear is the exact right answer. Existing Ford-class reactor plant components — steam generators, pressurizers, reactor coolant pumps — will carry across.
In future fights, deployed troops could be resupplied with critical supplies by a six-wheeled vehicle that is small enough to be transported in an MV-22B Osprey, so it can go places larger vehicles can’t reach, according to Polaris, which is developing the vehicle for the military.
The Polaris MRZR Alpha 6×6 can carry up to 3,000 pounds of cargo, which is about 1,000 pounds more than what can be carried by the Marine Corps’ four-seat version of the vehicle, said Erin Telander, defense program manager for Polaris.
Israel’s F-16I Sufa — Storm in Hebrew — is a heavily modified two-seat F-16D Block 50/52 built by Lockheed Martin and customized by Israeli defense industries for the Israeli Air Force. The Sufa can reach Iran or Libya without refueling thanks to Israeli-designed conformal fuel tanks that extend its range by 50% and let it carry 50% more weapons. Israel operates more than 360 F-16s — second only to the U.S. Air Force globally. Half of the aircraft’s avionics are Israeli, including the Elisra SPS 3000 self-protection jammer and Elbit’s DASH IV helmet.
Rear Admiral Mike Brookes testified to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in March that Beijing is building an undersea Great Wall of sensors — integrating air, surface, seabed, and undersea systems into a networked architecture designed to track American submarines and push them out of contested waters. China’s Blue Ocean Information Network combines a seabed sensor grid with satellite imagery from the Ocean Star Cluster, smart buoys, wave gliders, autonomous underwater vehicles, and the Deep Blue Brain data integration system.