Browsing: All news

Summary and Key Points: On October 3, 1967, test pilot William “Pete” Knight flew the rocket-powered X-15 to Mach 6.7 — about 4,520 mph — a speed no crewed aircraft has matched in nearly 60 years.

-Dropped from a B-52 over the Mojave, the X-15 was part airplane, part rocket, part spacecraft, reaching the edge of space on a single rocket burn before gliding home.

-Its 12 pilots included Neil Armstrong, and its data helped shape Apollo and the Space Shuttle.

-We visited this plane back in July, 2025 and took some amazing pictures we have included below.

Even if the Trump administration secures a 60-day ceasefire that reopens the Strait of Hormuz, the world will still suffer economic damage from the month-long closure. By the way, the current deal will allow Iran up to 30 days to reopen the strait.

The Strait May Reopen, But the Damage Is Done
There are no indications yet that Tehran is interested in reopening that strategic chokepoint quickly. But, for the sake of argument, let’s say for a moment that the Iranians do reopen the Strait quickly.

Unfortunately, all of us will feel the economic burn irrespective of the Strait’s reopening.

“Putin made a grave mistake invading Ukraine, and the Russian people should never forgive him for it.” That’s what a now-retired Russian military commander told me earlier in the week when I began plotting out this article. This expert, whom I met many years ago on the sidelines of a Track 2.0 think tank forum in Asia in the early 2010s, was clear: “Putin will never be able to undo the damage he has done to Russian power due to his Ukraine fiasco.”

And he is clearly correct.

Since the Ukraine war began four years ago, Putin has issued dozens of explicit or implicit nuclear threats. Depending on the methodology used, some analysts estimate that Putin’s nuclear threats have exceeded fifty instances.

Naturally, the way the rest of the world receives Putin’s threats has changed.

Vladimir Putin of Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Early in the war, every nuclear comment dominated headlines and shook markets.

Now, however, fifty instances later, a Putin nuclear threat barely moves either the news or markets; overuse has reduced the shock value.

Summary and Key Points: Russia has lost at least 19 generals since invading Ukraine in 2022 — a rate of senior-officer deaths no modern army has seen since World War II.

-By contrast, the U.S. lost just one general in two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan. Analysts blame Russia’s highly centralized command, which pushes generals toward the front, plus Ukraine’s growing ability to strike headquarters with drones and HIMARS.

Putin in 2022. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-Some commanders have even been assassinated by bombs inside Moscow itself.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded a multibillion-dollar deal to SpaceX to speed up delivery of satellites that can track moving aircraft, drones and cruise missiles, the service’s acquisition arm announced Friday.
The $4.16 billion Other Transaction Authority agreement is for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, which aims to develop and field a network of satellites carrying sensors that can continuously detect and follow airborne targets. The deal will allow the Space Force to field an AMTI constellation by 2028, Space Systems Command said in a press release.

Summary and Key Points: While Xi Jinping publicly calls for peace between the U.S. and Iran, American intelligence says China is quietly arming Tehran — reportedly funneling shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles through third countries to hide its hand.

-Analysts see it as proof that the “CRINK” axis of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea is tightening against the West.

-China needs Iran’s oil and the Strait of Hormuz, and it’s studying the war closely — with Taiwan in mind.

Ryan Curtis thought he knew exactly who he was supposed to be.
An Army veteran and Massachusetts native who deployed all over the world as well as a filmmaker and producer, he spent years building a career rooted in storytelling for the likes of Oprah, Nike, and the VA. Making films was always the ultimate dream. 
Music, however, had other plans.
Also Read: 6 songs that will always remind America of the Vietnam War
“It really messed with me at first,” Curtis told We Are The Mighty. “I had planned my entire life around being a filmmaker.

Summary and Key Points: Four years into a war the Kremlin expected to win in weeks, Russia is leaning on North Korean soldiers to keep fighting.

-British intelligence says nearly 500,000 Russian troops have been killed, and rather than risk another mobilization, Putin has imported roughly 14,000–15,000 North Koreans — about 6,000 already killed or wounded around Kursk.

North Korea Soldiers. Image Credit: KCNA/North Korean State Media.

Summary and Key Points: Ukraine has done something planners thought impossible: cripple a great power’s navy without having one of its own.

-Over four years, Kyiv’s missiles and cheap sea drones have cost Russia roughly a third of its Black Sea Fleet, struck a Kalibr-launching submarine inside a “protected” Crimean base, and forced the rest to flee east.

-The threatened Russian assault on Odesa never came. The lesson now rippling through the world’s navies: ship count no longer decides who controls the sea.

Russia’s Navy Under Siege in Ukraine War 

Kirov-Class Russian Navy.