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President Donald Trump is threatening to continue his escalation against the Islamic Republic of Iran; this comes after a brief interlude in which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) paused the fighting for around 18 days before the entire military operation resumed.

Ostensibly, the new round of warfare centers around control over the Strait of Hormuz (SoH). The Americans want it to remain an open international waterway, whereas the Iranians insist that the SoH be governed at least partly by them (with the other part governed by Oman).

Ukrainian special operations forces say they destroyed a Russian Su-24M strike bomber at Saky Air Base in occupied Crimea using two upgraded Hornet strike drones after a three-week planning effort.

Ukraine says the bomber was preparing for a combat sortie when it was hit.

Tu-95. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-95 Bomber Russian Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The incident provides yet another example of Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated deep-strike capabilities, demonstrating the vulnerability of Russian air bases and assets behind the front.

For decades, new recruits joining the Air Force have left their hometowns and taken commercial flights to San Antonio, Texas, home of the service’s boot camp for all enlisted troops.
But perhaps oddly for a military branch built on aviation, that final civilian flight to Texas was the only exposure to a real airplane an Air Force recruit could expect for months or even years.

Back in late February, President Donald Trump joined Israel in launching strikes on Iran, including an initial strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killing him and other top leaders.

That decision, for which Trump never quite made the case to the American people, came just weeks after the U.S. intervention in Venezuela, which included the arrest of that country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, and the installation of a pro-Western regime. So the success of that intervention likely emboldened Trump to once again attack Iran.

Crimea Is Quickly Slipping Away From Russia And Putin: Crimea was an integral part of Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin joked then that “little green men” were responsible for the takeover of government facilities, as Crimea was the ”jewel” in Putin’s attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union.

But the peninsula is now looking vulnerable. Intensifying Ukrainian drone strikes and the resulting state of emergency have made Crimea a severe strategic and symbolic liability for Putin.

Russia may be pushing to make more gains in the Donbas ahead of what seem like inevitable peace negotiations in the coming months, but according to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the country is rapidly losing its troops.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday, July 16, that Russian soldiers survive only an estimated 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield before they are wounded or killed.

According to the director of the CIA, the average lifespan of a Russian soldier on the battlefield in Ukraine is somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes.

This claim is consistent with other statements from official Ukrainian sources. The Russians have reportedly taken very high casualties during 2026, with Zelensky suggesting that Ukraine is killing around 30,000 Russian soldiers per month.

NLAW Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

If true, this would make Ukraine the deadliest conflict in all of Russian history, more so than WWI and WWII.

Gas prices in the United States are once again on the rise, with many top market analysts predicting further increases in the coming months due to the renewed conflict in Iran.

However, the United States is once again the world’s leading oil producer. The US imports only 8 percent of its oil from the Middle East.

F-22 Raptor Elephant Walk. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Lt. Col. James Hecker (front) and Lt. Col. Evan Dertein line up their F/A-22 Raptor aircraft behind a KC-10 Extender to refuel while en route to Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Crimea was seized by Russia in 2014 and has been occupied by Russia ever since. Eight years later, Russia launched its wider invasion of Ukraine.

The Crimean Peninsula has remained a battleground in the war for the last four and a half years, especially in recent months.

Secretary of the Army, Hon. Dan Driscoll, fires a round from a M1A2 Abrams Tank while visiting Fort Stewart, GA., June 23, 2025.

The Army’s newest psychological operations unit will be focused on Africa, as the United States shifts away from direct combat against militants on the continent.
On Wednesday, July 15, the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) officially activated Delta Company, 7th Psychological Operations Battalion. The new company will assist the battalion in its psychological operations mission under U.S. Africa Command.