D. Malyasov, Defence Blog
The U.S.
Author: Michael
This video describes the military situation in
This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with Bret C. Devereaux, an ancient military historian and Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at North Carolina State University. As one of the earliest detailed records of how technology drives war and statecraft, Thucydides’ history proves a valuable guide to the human element for strategists and practitioners amid a time of great technical change. Thucydides is often described as a founder of the discipline of history, a writer who sought to explain events through causes rather than divine will or myth.
The U.S. military spends billions trying to predict what its adversaries will do — and almost nothing testing whether its own plans make sense. In part, this asymmetry reflects the decline of red teaming, the practice of systematically challenging plans to expose biases, blind spots, and weak assumptions before they become operational liabilities. As U.S. adversaries become more sophisticated and the Department of Defense integrates AI into planning, restoring systematic self-critique isn’t optional — it’s urgent.
Multiple media outlets have reported that talks are currently underway for a $6 billion procurement of Chinese JF-17 fighter aircraft to equip the Royal Saudi Air Force. A portion of JF-17s are currently assembled under license and partly produced in Pakistan, with the delivery of the aircraft reportedly being considered to help Islamabad pay back part of its loans to Saudi Arabia. A report by Reuters cites two different Pakistani sources, one of whom said the JF-17 is the “primary option” being considered for procurement.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel on December 6 executed a 37 year old a resident of the Twin Cities, Renee Nicole Good, during an incident that was captured on film and has ignited significant tensions within the United States. The mother-of-three was shot dead in the head during an ICE operation in Minneapolis, prompting calls for the agency’s personnel to leave the state. Footage showed Good inside her Honda Pilot outside her house surrounded by ICE personnel, one of whom opened fire and shot her in the head after she began to move the vehicle.
CEO of Russia’s state-run corporation Rostec in late December Sergey Chemezov revealed that Russian Aerospace Forces Su-57 fighter aircraft had demonstrated their ability toevade detection by multiple kinds of radar systems, as well as electronic attacks, when deployed for operations in the Ukrainian theatre. “At least our military is satisfied. The aircraft evades all kinds of obstacles very well, I mean radars and electronic warfare systems,” he stated before a State Council meeting in the final week of December.
New footage released b the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command showing the Justice Mission 2025 joint services exercises in late December appears to show a J-20 fifth generation fighter flying close to Pingtung Airbase on Taiwan Island, raising questions regarding the vulnerability of local defences. The base is operated by the Republic of China Air Force, which remains in a state of conflict with the People’s Liberation Army as part of the technically ongoing Chinese Civiil War between the rival Chinese governments in Taipei and Beijing.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that his administration will request $1.5 trillion in military spending for fiscal 2027.
That request would be a record high by far, exceeding recent annual defense budgets by hundreds of billions of dollars.
“After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars.
The collection of ribbons military members wear on their uniform is sometimes called a “rack,” but a Montana National Guard helicopter pilot agreed this week he’d been caught trying to bring home several particularly large ones from a flight last spring.
In May 2025, Montana Army National Guard pilot Deni Lynn Draper landed his UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter on a private ranch in the foothills of the state’s Crazy Mountains — yes, the Crazy Mountains, sometimes called the ‘Crazies’ — to recover a set of elk antlers the crew had spotted from the air.