Browsing: All news

The most powerful navy in history should be able to pry open the world’s most important shipping lane. In practice, it’s far harder than it looks. The Strait of Hormuz is shallow, noisy, and cramped — exactly where America’s warships and sonar lose their edge — and Iran needs only to make passage dangerous, not win. The U.S. could force a corridor open, but keeping it safe would be risky and ruinously expensive. The likeliest ending isn’t a victory for either side — it’s something messier.

The Strait of Hormuz Crisis and Iran War Have No Simple Off-Ramps 

The U.S.

Summary and Key Points: Russia’s own polls show Putin is as popular as ever — with approval near 80 percent and no sign of public revolt. But there’s a gap between the numbers and the Kremlin’s actions. As Ukraine’s drones bring the war home, Putin has reportedly pulled back from public view, fearful of drones and assassination, and the state is arming private guards to shoot them down. Russians may not be at a breaking point — but the people in charge are acting as if something has changed.

The Ukraine War Is Coming Home to Russia 

Putin New Year’s Message.

Summary and Key Points: The last 48 hours in the Middle East have been a blur. Netanyahu threatened to bring the war to Beirut; Trump got on the phone and, by his own account, talked him out of it — and even says he persuaded Hezbollah to halt its attacks. But the ground was messier: Israeli drones kept striking southern Lebanon, and U.S. forces hit an Iranian military site after downing Iranian drones. Whether any of it holds is the real question.

Why Israel Is Striking Lebanon

F-15I Fighter from Israel. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A new report argues that an independent Cyber Force should be staffed by only commissioned officers and warrant officers to better develop the highly technical skillsets that digital conflict demands.
Published Wednesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, two Washington, D.C. think tanks, the report proposes a blueprint for standing up a Cyber Force, should Congress decide to do so.
Policymakers in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill have debated for years whether the U.S. military needs an independent Cyber Force.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is scheduled to expand its fleet of destroyers from its latest generation of vessels to 59, after passing a landmark 45 ships of the modern Type 052D class and Type 055 class in service in late May with the commissioning of the 35th Type 052D class destroyer Tongchuan. Beyond the first 35 Type 052D class ships, a further eight are currently under construction, which will bring the fleet up to 43 ships.

A source in the Russian security forces has reported that a group of defence contractors from Germany and the United Kingdom fighting for the Ukrainian Army has been eliminated in a forest belt on the frontlines in the Zaporozhye Region. The source added that documents found on these personnel after their deaths confirmed their identities, with Russian state media publishing the names and dates of births of some of the deceased.

In 2023, the NATO Baltic Defense College in Tartu, Estonia devoted its entire annual conference to the Interwar Period (1919 to 1939), a theme repeated at subsequent conferences sponsored by national militaries and academic societies throughout the United States and Europe.

The U.S. Navy has announced plans to station up to eight modernColumbia class ballistic missile submarines at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington State from 2032, providing a much improved strategic strike capability against targets in the Pacific, most notably China, but also North Korea and the Russian Far East. The U.S. Armed Forces publication Stars and Stripes has repotted that the deployment highlights broader efforts to preserve credible nuclear deterrence and undersea dominance in the Pacific, as the region remains central to strategic competition with China.

CEO of the Russian state run United Aircraft Corporation Vadim Badekha has provided new details on ongoing work on theS-75 Checkmate program, also known as the Light Tactical Aircraft program, as its development belatedly enters a new stage to prepare for flight testing. “We are developing the aircraft for both the Russian Defence Ministry and foreign customers. The aircraft has significant potential. Delivery times will depend on how we work with customers, their interest and objectives. The Defense Ministry has set a goal of reducing the cost of the final product,” he stated.

The British Army has deployed Challenger 2 main battles tanks for exercises in Estonia’s Voru county, a small territory that lies directly on Russia’s borders, with the tanks operating under the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and playing a central role in NATO’s Spring Storm war drills. These exercises have simulated a major conflict with Russian forces, with the tanks’ presence representing part of a broader expansion of NATO ground units around Russian territory.