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To paraphrase J. Robert Oppenheimer and Gen. James Mattis, some 64 years later, the United States learns again and again that it cannot achieve its political ends with coercion alone and with more investment in soft power like humanitarian aid and diplomacy, less is needed for war.Last month, reduction-in-force notices pinged into email inboxes throughout the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the U.S. Department of State. When the dust settled, pursuant to the department’s reorganization plan, 168 people — 75 percent of the bureau’s staff — were gone.

Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh has reported that BrahMos cruise missile strikes were launched against Pakistani air bases during clashes in early May, and hit a additional surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters parked in hangars at two facilities. His statement provides new insight into the targets of Indian attacks under Operation Sindoor on May 7-10, during which the Indian Air Force lost an estimated five fighters in air-to-air combat including one to four Rafale jets, which were reportedly shot down by Pakistan’s new Chinese-supplied J-10C fighters.

A VT-4 main battle tank has for the first time appeared in Bangladesh Army camouflage, fuelling speculation that a contract for the sale of the vehicles has already been signed. The tank in question appears to be a modernised variant integrating the new GL-5 hard-kill active protection system, which has not been procured by other clients. The VT-4 is produced solely for export, and has been acquired in significant numbers by Pakistan and Thailand while also being evaluated by Algeria.

Germany invading the United States might sound crazy by today’s standards, but global power at the turn of the 20th century was very different from what it is today. The great powers of Europe were carving up Asia and Africa for imperial clout, riches, and raw materials, and sending their forces all over the world required a lot of manpower and firepower. The need for more resources meant that empires required more colonies, but space was limited; uncolonized areas were being snatched up quickly.

Ships from several allied nations sailed together through the North Philippine Sea this weekend in a large-scale show of naval force, led by three aircraft carriers from three separate nations. 
The United Kingdom’s Carrier Strike Group shared an image on X of the three carriers, plus the U.S. Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS America, sailing side by side in the North Philippine Sea on Aug. 10, with a large aerial force flying overhead. It’s a strong naval presence, with the HMS Prince of Wales, the American Nimitz-class USS George Washington and Japan’s JS Kaga among them.

As the war in Ukraine drags on, Ukrainian forces have apparently found a new way to take on the ever-present threat of Russian drones: strap a bunch of missiles to a decades-old crop duster as a new kind of air defense system. Video posted to Telegram channels show a Czechoslovakian-made Zlin Z-137 Agro Turbo crop duster plane with two R-73 air-to-air missiles strapped under its wings.
Videos were brief so it’s unclear how many of these planes are being used by Ukraine or how effective they actually are against Russian drones.

A British Royal Air Force F-35Bmade an emergency landing at Kagoshima Airport in southern Japan on August 9, with the Japanese Ministry of Defence confirming that it landed due to “an aircraft malfunction” and had been operating from the Royal Navy’s troubled aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The incident closely follows the forced landing of a British F-35B at Thiruvananthapuram Airport in southern India on June 14, which resulted in the aircraft being grounded for 39 days as efforts to make it airworthy continued to fall short.

U.S. Air Force

In an excellent article published recently, Andrew Latham makes a strong case for increasing the Air Force’s buy of B-21 bombers from the current plan of 100 to a much larger number. “The 300 to 400 range? That starts to become a full-spectrum strategic force that’s credible, resilient, and able to absorb the inevitable shocks associated with warfighting.

Russia’s most widely fielded class of active radar guided air-to-air missiles has achieved its most high value kill on record in over three decades of service. The missile was reported by Sudanese sources to have bene used to shoot down a United Arab Emirates Air Force transport Near Nyala Airport in the south of the country’s Darfur region. Previously Sudanese sources had only reported that an air-to-air precision attack had been launched, fuelling speculation that one of the country’s MiG-29S fighters procured in the 2000s had launched the attack.

The Indian Defence Ministry has suspended negotiations for the procurement of six Boeing P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, in response to escalating tensions with the United States. Relations between the two countries have worsened significantly over the past six months, as Washington has increased pressure on Delhi both to significantly reduce its defence procurements from Russia, and more broadly to cut economic ties in particular relating to purchases of Russian oil.