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Summary and Key Point: The Air Force plans to keep the B-52J Stratofortress a core component of America’s long-range strike capability for decades, but the bomber faces a fundamental problem: modern integrated air defenses have made it too dangerous to fly over contested airspace.

The B-52J Problem

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron sits on the flightline during exercise Prairie Vigilance 25-1 at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, April 12, 2025. Vigilance series exercises are conducted with a focus on the safe and secure handling of equipment. (U.

The Justice Department charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro and other Cuban officials with murder for their roles in the February 24, 1996, shoot-down of two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over international waters, and U.S. Southern Command has confirmed the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and her Carrier Strike Group are now operating in the Caribbean.

The USS Nimitz Has One Last Mission: Make Cuba Think Twice 

The U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Nimitz (CVN-68), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) underway in the Western Pacific on 12 November 2017.

Summary and Key Points: During a May 13 House Armed Services Committee hearing, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence Lt. Gen. David H. Tabor signaled that the long-standing requirement of 100 B-21 Raiders no longer reflects operational reality, given China’s rapidly expanding air defense and missile capabilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently confirmed that the United States will need “a lot more” than 100 Northrop Grumman stealth bombers.

Over Memorial Day weekend this year, as most Americans were paying exorbitant prices on beef and other meats for significantly pared-down barbecues, the United States military blasted Iranian naval facilities. Per the White House, the US military attacked Iran in self-defense and in no way violated the carefully agreed-upon ceasefire between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States.

Nor, according to the White House, did these attacks represent the abandonment of what many had hoped would be a successful end to the war that the United States initiated on February 28.

A U.S.

Special operators are getting a new rifle that can fire both 7.62mm and 6.5mm Creedmoor rounds as a replacement for the MK17 SCAR-H Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle-Heavy, according to U.S. Special Operations Command.
The MK24 Mid-Range Gas Gun-Assault features a “quick-change swappable barrel” that allows the weapon to fire both kinds of ammunition, said Navy Cmdr. Joe Vermette, a spokesperson for U.S. Special Operations Command.
Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, expects to begin receiving the MK24 later this fiscal year, which runs until Sept.

The Russian army is now losing ground in Ukraine for the first time since January 2024. As one top retired British Army commander told me several hours ago: “Ukraine might actually have a path to something that might look like a victory.”

The Ukraine War Is Changing Fast: Russia Has a Problem

MSTA-S Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

That’s a big deal. This is not a minor tactical development, and it is not propaganda from Kyiv.

Europe’s biggest joint defense project has huge ambition, but its top players just cannot seem to get along on how it should proceed. The so-called “FCAS” (Future Combat Air System) was formerly touted as the poster child for European military unity. France and Germany kick-started the program back in 2017, with Spain jumping on the bandwagon in 2019. The program, worth some €100 billion, was intended to deliver much more than a cutting-edge fighter jet.

Surprise strikes inside southern Iran on May 26 are risking fragile negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which are beginning to collapse only weeks after both sides suggested that they could be close to an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command confirmed on Tuesday that American forces carried out “self-defense strikes” targeting Iranian missile infrastructure and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval assets near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently renamed and restructured two, well-established technical offices, in a move that officials said is meant to expand the defense innovation hub’s research scope to better confront contemporary technology challenges.
The Microsystems Technology Office is transforming into the Multi X Office (MXO), while the Information Innovation Office is becoming the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) in a nod to its historic roots.

Summary and Key Points: In 2014, a company called the USA Firefighting Air Corps proposed converting retired A-10 Warthog ground-attack jets into aerial firefighting tankers, calling the concept the “Firehog.”

-The converted aircraft would fly low through smoke at night, drop retardant with precision, and refuel in midair — capabilities that sounded ideal for wildfire suppression. The proposal collapsed against basic physics.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the 303rd Fighter Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrive at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, April 10, 2014.