Earlier this month, an aircraft was approaching the Albuquerque airport, miles and miles and miles away from where a group of government officials had gotten together to test a secretive military laser in the New Mexico desert.
The high-energy laser was locked on to a simulated threat at White Sands Missile Range during what officials described as a “first of its kind” evaluation, “holding track” on its target when — unclear to testers in the moment — the system suddenly shut down.
Author: Michael
Summary and Key Points: Defense analyst Jack Buckby evaluates the ongoing aircraft carrier obsolescence debate through the lens of Operation Epic Fury in 2026. Some argue the carrier is nothing more than old ‘battleship’ in today’s world of missiles and cheap drones.
-While the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln have established air dominance over Iran, Buckby asserts that neutralizing a regional power with an “obliterated” navy does not simulate the high-threat A2/AD environment of the Indo-Pacific.
Aircraft Carrier in the Sunset. Image Credit: U.S. Navy.
Approximately 40 government, academic, and independent researchers met at a private workshop last year to standardize processes for capturing, sharing and studying narrative data on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), which is the modern term for UFOs that accounts for maritime and transmedium objects.
The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) set up and sponsored the invite-only event. It was officially hosted by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) in the Washington, D.C. area in early August.
The 2025 workshop marked a notable step in the U.S.
The USS Nimitz began its long career stuck in a time warp. It now seems to be finishing the same way, with its official retirement date pushing into the future.
Just five years into its service in 1980, the ship was the setting and in some ways the star of “The Final Countdown,” a sci-fi time travel film in which the ship and its air wing are transported back to Dec 6, 1941. The next day, of course, would be the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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Momentum is building for the rugby Inter Servic
Summary and Key Points: Defense analyst Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, evaluates reports that researchers at the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center have identified potential stability flaws in the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
-Utilizing a proprietary AI simulation tool called PADJ-X, Chinese scientists are processing open-source flight data—including recent aerial refueling footage—to model the B-21’s aerodynamic performance.
The B-21 Raider was unveiled to the public at a ceremony Dec. 2, 2022 in Palmdale, Calif.
Summary and Key Points: Defense expert Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, evaluates the persistent threat of Iranian mobile missile launchers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) despite the 15,000 strikes conducted during Operation Epic Fury.
-While CENTCOM and the IDF have achieved air dominance and suppressed 95% of launches, Iran’s decentralized “mosaic defense” leverages hardened, mountainous facilities to preserve an estimated 500 ballistic missiles.
A U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II flies over the Gulf of America, September 16, 2025.
The uniform distinctions between the Union and Confederate soldiers were many, but the colors of their Civil War uniforms became the iconic identifier in historical lore. Simply saying “blue” and “gray” was enough to connect either side in both speeches and in stories, but it wasn’t always that way.
As states seceded at the beginning of the Civil War, officers and soldiers alike chose sides. While the United States fully split into two, many on both sides still wore the Union blue.
Summary and Key Points: National security analyst Jack Buckby evaluates the strategic logic of extending Ohio-class SSGN service lives following the 2027 extension of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68).
-As Operation Epic Fury consumes Tomahawk (TLAM) stocks at a rate of 168 missiles per 100 hours, the retirement of the USS Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and Georgia would eliminate over 600 vertical launch cells.
SILVERDALE, Wash. (Oct. 27, 2025) Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) arrives at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor following routine operations at sea, Oct. 27, 2025.