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Remember the F-117 Nighthawk? This was the warbird that ushered in the new era of stealth flight in the 1980s. It was the first stealth fighter-bomber, with a curious, futuristic design. While it does have its “F” designation as a fighter, the Nighthawk was primarily used as a strike aircraft.

Unfortunately, the F-117 program was retired in 2008. The Nighthawk played a valiant role in Operation Desert Storm and was the impetus for other stealth warplanes, such as the B-2 Spirit.

F-117 Stealth Fighter National Security Journal Image.

The U.S. military will soon have a new sub-unified command focused on autonomous warfare, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday.
Sub-unified commands, which combatant commanders can set up with the approval of the SecDef, are joint organizations designed to conduct operations and certain missions assigned to the geographic or functional combatant command that they fall under. The designation typically signifies that the organization’s mission is enduring and a high priority for military leadership.

The Marines will probably need at least eight more amphibious warfare ships to meet their goal of roughly 40 in order to keep three Marine Expeditionary Units deployed at the same time.
An ongoing analysis has not yet determined exactly how many such ships the Marines need, but the number is “probably going to be around 40,” said Marine Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron, deputy commandant for plans, policies, and operations. “It could be a little more.”
Bargeron discussed the ship needs on Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine exhibition in Washington, D.C.

Going back more than a decade, it is hard to believe that an aircraft has undergone a dramatic transformation from its early days to what it is today. The big curiosity at the 2014 Airshow China was the prototype Shenyang FC-31 fighter that made its first public appearance. This aircraft became the J-35A/B models we know today.

The aircraft had previously been called the J-31, a stealthy-looking aircraft design that had completed its first flight only two years prior. It was billed as a smaller complement to the Chengdu J-20, the PRC’s first new stealth aircraft.

China Is Building a Lot of J-20 Fighters Fast: Although the United States builds more stealth fighters of a higher caliber than China, the production gap between the two countries is rapidly narrowing, an expert on Chinese air power explained.

During comments given as part of the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Warfare Symposium, J. Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, explained that commercially available satellite imagery reveals China is greatly expanding its production base for fifth-generation aircraft.

J-20 Fighter Firing Missile.

I co-founded Kessel Run, the Department of War’s (DoW) first software factory, with a simple mission: To continuously deliver valuable software that warfighters love. At our peak, we deployed five applications from concept to operations in an average of 124 days, reducing target development timelines by 85%. Section 31, the U.S. Space Force’s first software factory, deployed eight applications to operations in an average of 64 days and reduced conjunction analysis from three hours to 15 minutes.
These outcomes weren’t luck.

In 2024, Judd Devermont wrote, “Human Geography Is Mission-Critical,” where he argued that the United States should focus on behaviors and attitudes informed by human geography to craft better strategy. Two years later, we asked Judd to revisit his arguments. Image: Samuel Lamptey via Wikimedia CommonsIn your 2024 article, you argued that the United States needed to focus its attention on behaviors and attitudes informed by human geography to craft strategy that adequately navigates a more complex world and threat environment.

The war in Iran and the wide array of persistent global threats indicate that cruise missiles will likely endure into the future. The need for long-range, stand-off weapons such as Tomahawk missiles, for example, is not likely to diminish anytime soon. Tomahawks are vital munitions—they can change course in flight, hit moving targets, and provide a drone-like surveillance ability.

Submarine-fired Tomahawks are often the first weapons to strike.

USS Iowa Tomahawk Box. National Security Journal Photo.

This has been true across many years of conflict.

Applied Intuition UK demonstrated a tactical strike mission scenario powered by its autonomy software product in South Wales.

When it debuted, it was the world’s leading air superiority fighter. Dual-engined, with sleek lines and a robust radar-mitigation capability, the F-22 Raptor was the U.S. Air Force’s dream platform. Built to wrest control of the skies from Soviet aircraft, the stealth fighter was years ahead of its peers.

So why was the Raptor production line permanently closed down after less than 200 of them had been built?

U.S. Air Force Maj.