Commander of U.S. Forces Korea General Xavier Brunson has stated that the Korean Peninsula represents a “dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s perspective, resulting in diplomatic complaints from Beijing. His comments point to the Korean Peninsula’s position since the late 1940s as a stepping stone for Western power projection into East Asia, which has caused growing controversy in recent years.
Author: Michael
The Russian Aerospace Forces have deployed the world’s heaviest type of helicopter, the Mi-26, to lift Pantsir-SMD-E short range air defence systems onto the roofs of major buildings in Moscow, highlighting ongoing efforts being made to strengthen the capital’s defences against continued attacks being launched from Ukraine. The Mi-26 notably hasan empty weight less than half its maximum takeoff weight, which is important to its continued record holding position as the helicopter with the world’s largest carrying capacity.
Following years of speculation, the Pentagon is finally sending clear signals that the United States needs more B-21 Raider stealth bombers than originally planned and that procurement plans will be adjusted upward.
In February, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced that the Air Force and Northrop Grumman had reached an agreement to increase B-21 production capacity by 25%, using $4.5 billion previously approved by Congress to accelerate deliveries of the next-generation bomber.
China may soon operate its J-35 stealth fighter from all three of its aircraft carriers — a significant upgrade to the PLA Navy. Only the new carrier Fujian, with its electromagnetic catapult, can launch the J-35 today, but China is reportedly modifying the older ski-jump carriers Liaoning and Shandong to match it. A carrier-based counterpart to the J-20, the J-35 is China’s answer to the U.S. F-35. Even so, analysts say America’s carriers still hold a decisive edge.
The J-35 Stealth Fighter Is On the Rise
J-35 Fighter from China. Image Credit: PLAAF.
The B-1B Lancer — the supersonic Cold War bomber pilots call the “Bone” — is getting a powerful upgrade. Boeing’s new modular “Lego” pylons will let it carry up to 36 missiles, including hypersonic weapons too large for its internal bays. First built in the 1970s to penetrate Soviet airspace and revived under Reagan, the 45 remaining B-1Bs will bridge the gap until the B-21 Raider arrives — a reinvention sure to draw notice in China and Russia.
Northrop Grumman is increasing production capacity for the B-21 Raider, hoping that the Air Force ultimately decides to buy more than the original projection of 100 aircraft. For years, 100 B-21s have been treated as the procurement benchmark, but now everyone from the Pentagon to Congress to Northrop Grumman is openly discussing larger procurement numbers. The prospective increase in B-21s reflects growing anxiety over the strategic picture in the Indo-Pacific, which may require a larger number of nuclear-capable stealth bombers.
Three months into his war with Iran, President Trump faces a fork in the road. Thousands of American and Israeli strikes have killed Iranian senior leaders, shattered Iran’s air force and navy, and attrited its missile stocks and production facilities. But the Islamic Republic remains armed and defiant. Its clerical regime is intact and in control, with hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders ascendant. After battering its Arab neighbors, U.S.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thick yellow cables descended from the ceiling, splintering into a network of cords and computers in an otherwise nondescript room where dozens of civilian data engineers clacked keyboards, slung technical parlance and tried to fix one of the Army’s most enduring problems.
Known as “Operation Jailbreak,” an initial swarm of engineers from roughly 20 defense companies descended on Fort Carson earlier this month with the overall goal of getting the Army’s vast stable of disparate military systems to talk to each other.
Last-second drama, massive hits and big-time tr
A new set of Marines is now waiting as the “immediate crisis response force” in Latin America, Marine Corps officials said Friday, as the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit replaced the 22nd MEU in the Caribbean.
Roughly 1,300 Marines from the 24th MEU are now deployed to the area, Marine officials said, as part of Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s ongoing mission to stem drug trafficking in the region. While MEUs often are embarked on Navy amphibious ships, the 24th is deployed as Littoral Combat Force-24 at the recently reopened Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico.