Author: Michael

The MBT-70 Tank Was Built to Fight the Soviet Union. It Ended Up a Historical Footnote
Recent reports about Europe’s flagging next-generation fighter programs and the related industrial and political battles taking place show once more how complex multinational defense projects are. The intended platform frequently struggles under the weight of competing national priorities.

Take the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), for example—the joint effort between France, Germany, and Spain to build a next-generation fighter jet.

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The YF-23 Stealth Fighter Was Almost Flown By Japan 
The YF-22 versus the YF-23 stealth fighter jet fly-off was one for the ages. The airplane that would become the F-22 Raptor almost lost out to another model. The result in this competition has always spurred many defense wags to wonder if the YF-23 should have been picked. It could have been used for technology demonstration, research, and development.

YF-23A Black Widow II Stealth Fighter in Torrance

The YF-23 was comprised of two Northrop and McDonnell Douglas prototypes – the Black Widow II and the Grey Ghost.

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The Iran War Kharg Island Invasion Challenge: Why U.S. Troop Deployments Are Just Political Posturing
The news media are largely pearl-clutching about the results of a possible U.S. incursion in Iran, particularly Kharg Island, as Newsweek proclaimed, “Paratroopers leaping down from Osprey choppers and swarming onto the shores of Kharg Island under a hail of gunfire…could this be the next phase of fighting in the Iran war?”

Kharg Island is where the bulk of Iran’s oil (approximately 90 percent) flows through. So, it is an economic lifeline for the current regime.

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A Department of Veterans Affairs official who oversaw the effort to modernize VA health records was indicted this week and is accused of leveraging his position to receive gifts from a group of government contractors that he nicknamed “the Power Group.” 
John Windom, 64, a retired Navy officer, was charged with making false statements, concealment of material facts and falsification of a record or document tied to a failure to report more than $15,000 in cash, casino chips and other gifts from contractors.

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WTOC TV news (channel 11) in Savannah reported on a media event at Fort Stewart in southeastern Georgia. The event in late February showed new technology utilized by the U. S. Army.
“We also got an up-close look at the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team’s work from cutting-edge, drone demonstrations to live M1 Abrams tank fire,” said the news presenter. (See the video below).
WSAV TV news, also in Savannah, reported, “The U.S.

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A B-52 Stratofortress Bomber Did the Unthinkable: Lost A Load of Nuclear Weapons 
Unsurprisingly, the premise of lost, missing, or stolen weapons of mass destruction—be they chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear—has been the plot line of many a fictional thriller story.

During the Cold War, bestselling novels by authors such as Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy included Vixen 03 by the former and The Sum of All Fears by the latter.

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The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Is No Stealth Fighter, and Iran Could Take It Down 
Aerial combat is always risky. Over the skies of Iran, even though the Americans and Israelis have declared air superiority and even air dominance, there have been instances when Iranian air defenses almost enjoyed a win over U.S. pilots. Take the example of the Air Force F-35 nearly destroyed when it was hit by enemy fire and forced into an emergency landing.

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