Chad Machiela & Seth Gray, Small Wars Journal
Department of Defense Instruction 3000.

WSJ
If diplomatic efforts to end Iran’s nuclear program fail, the president’s appetite for a potentially lengthy war will be tested

Global Defense N.
The U.S.

Colton Jones, Defence Blog
The United States Marine Corps has decided to retain the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle for its close combat formations rather than adopt the Army’s M7 Next…

This video describes the military situation in

North Korea’s troops in Russia — where

South Carolina Air National Guard F-16CJ fourth generation fighters in the process of being deployed to the Middle East have been confirmed to have integrated new Angry Kitten electronic warfare pods, which has the potential to significantly improve variability against advanced air defences like those deployed by Iran.

Summary and Key Points: The British Challenger 2 has proven to be a vital, though heavy, asset for Ukraine’s 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade.

-Renowned for its Dorchester composite armor, the tank provides exceptional crew survivability, famously allowing a crew to survive a 720mm-deep hit from a helicopter rocket.

Challenger 2 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-Its 120mm rifled gun acts like a “sniper rifle,” enabling precision strikes up to 5.3 km away.

Leopard 2 vs. Drone: How Ukraine is Adapting Germany’s Best Tank 
The Leopard 2 is widely considered one of the world’s best, most reliable, and most capable main battle tanks; some armor analysts and enthusiasts consider it the equal of, if not better than, the American M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams.

Swedish soldiers with the Wartofta Tank Company, Skaraborg Regiment in a Stridsvagn 122 main battle tank conduct the defensive operations lane during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge, June 7, 2018. U.S.

President Donald Trump’s vow this week to direct the release of government files about UFOs and aliens is sparking a new wave of anticipation and momentum around long-standing calls for more transparency on this historically taboo topic, experts and whistleblowers told DefenseScoop. 
Yet as they acknowledge that this could mark a meaningful step towards addressing national security concerns, public intrigue and congressional oversight, multiple officials who have been involved for years in influential U.S.

Lockheed Martin just unveiled Lamprey, a multi-

Summary and Key Points: The U.S. Navy’s undersea dominance is threatened by a shrinking force structure and an overstretched industrial base. While the Virginia-class Block V remains a formidable multi-role asset—restoring strike capacity via the Virginia Payload Module (VPM)—it is a 1990s-era design. The proposed SSN(X) promises the speed, quieting, and advanced sonar necessary to penetrate 2040-era Chinese A2/AD networks.

The Defense Intelligence Agency held an assumption of directorship ceremony Friday for its new boss, Marine Lt. Gen. James Adams.
Adams, also known as “Rainman” among colleagues, is a U.S. Naval Academy alumnus with a degree in computer science who has more than 300 combat flight hours under his belt as an AH-1W Super Cobra pilot.
He most recently served as deputy commandant for programs and resources, the top advisor to the commandant of the Marine Corps on issues related to resourcing, budgeting, financial execution and audit.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben did not arrive in America as a conqueror or a celebrated general with armies at his command. He arrived as a professional soldier without a commission, without wealth, and without fluency in English. What he possessed instead was knowledge.
At a time when the Continental Army lacked uniform training, consistent discipline, and professional standards, von Steuben provided the structure necessary for liberty to endure.

This video describes the military situation in

The best cross country runners across the milit

You don’t get to be a person of Teddy Roosevelt’s stature in history by being lazy.
The president who could barely breathe as a youngster never took his body for granted. He was an avid outdoorsman, athlete, and boxer.
When he became president in 1901, he was appalled at the lack of fitness among Navy sailors at the time. As commander in chief, he set out to do something about it.

Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***IranU.S. and Iranian negotiators gathered in Geneva on Feb. 17 for their second round of talks in less than a fortnight. There appears to be incremental progress around what a possible deal between Washington and Tehran should cover. However, the two sides remain far apart on fundamental aspects of a potential agreement.

When Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft arrived in the Middle East this week, it marked the latest chapter in a nearly 50-year flying history for the venerable jets.
Better known as AWACS, for Airborne Warning and Control System, the E-3s play a crucial role as eyes in the sky and command and control platforms for U.S. and allied aircrews in combat zones around the world.
But the AWACS is aging fast. The Air Force is down to 16 of the planes with an average age of 45.

The Army will soon have senior warrant officers bid against each other in an eBay-style auction for retention bonuses and six-year service commitments. Soldiers who agree to take a “minimum” bonus can cash in, while those who ask for larger ones will lose out, Army officials announced in a recent press release.
Dubbed the “Warrant Officer Retention Bonus Auction,” the system will debut in March, an Army official said Friday.

Summary and Key Points: Despite initial reports of high attrition and crew complaints, the deployment of 31 U.S. and 80 Australian M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine is now viewed as a strategic necessity.

-While approximately 27 of the first 31 U.S. tanks were damaged or destroyed, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling has labeled many crew complaints as “BS,” attributing the losses to inexperience and a lack of combined-arms support. By early 2026, the initial “bellyaching” has largely subsided.

U.S.

Summary and Key Points: China’s H-20 stealth bomber is designed to menace the U.S. “unsinkable aircraft carrier” on Guam and potentially strike as far as Hawaii.

-With an estimated unrefueled range of 6,200 miles, the H-20 aims to rival the B-2 Spirit and the new B-21 Raider.

H-20 Bomber Mock Up. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-In response, the U.S. is implementing “Agile Combat Employment,” dispersing assets across Japan, the Philippines, and Australia to avoid a “Pearl Harbor” style knockout.

When the call comes, there’s no time for

Rheinmetall has signed a contract with GDELS to supply turret systems for the German Army’s new Luchs 2 reconnaissance vehicle.

The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence has concluded its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) acquisition project.

The team developing the largest cargo aircraft

For nearly 20 years, sailors have been wearing PT gear that features a distinctive gold shirt, but now the sun is setting on the Navy’s original physical fitness uniform.
Next year, the Navy plans to phase out the physical training uniform, or PTU, in favor of a newer one that was approved for wear in 2018, said Robert Carroll, branch head of Navy Uniform Matters and Emerging Issues.

The Heckler & Koch HK416 is a short-stroke, external piston assault rifle (yes, that’s a real word) famed for its durability and reliability. First pitched as a replacement for the M4 carbine after it experienced issues when pressed into hard combat, Big Army passed on the HK416 for the improved M4A1.
Also Read: This Marine Corps veteran codified the modern handgun shooting techniqueSpecial operations units, however, have more flexible funding.

The true theater of modern conflict isn’t found in the charred husks of Soviet-era tanks that litter Ukrainian landscapes, or the sleek, cold lines of an aircraft carrier barreling through the Persian Gulf; it’s humming inside a small, white, inconspicuous, plastic dish tucked neatly under a camouflage tarp in a Ukrainian foxhole.

Former British Army Major Andrew Fox (3 PARA) j

A soldier who risked his life to protect hundreds of Jewish-American prisoners of war during World War II will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor more than 40 years after his death.
Master Sgt. Roderick “Roddie” Edmonds will be honored at a White House ceremony on Mar. 2, 2026. The recognition comes 80 years after Edmonds defied Nazi orders at a German POW camp, declaring “We are all Jews here” to prevent the identification and potential execution of Jewish soldiers under his command.

Set the Fire — Legends Are Forged in Battle |

Image by jay-jerry

The United Kingdom has reportedly refused U.S. requests to utilize key military facilities—RAF Fairford in England and the joint U.S.-U.K. base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean—for any potential strikes against Iran. This decision, driven by concerns over possible breaches of international law, has sparked tensions between Washington and London.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has withheld permission for American forces to operate from these bases in support of preemptive or offensive actions against Iran.

Benedict Arnold occupies a singular place in American history.
His name has become permanently linked with treason, yet that association conceals the reality that Arnold was once among the most effective and courageous officers in the Continental Army.
Before his defection, he helped save the American Revolution during its most fragile years. He possessed energy, imagination and battlefield brilliance whose actions repeatedly altered the course of the war.
Related: The Raid on Richmond was Benedict Arnold’s best battle as a British general
Arnold’s fall was not sudden or simple.

F.

M. Cox, Air & Space Forces
Contractors Northrop Grumman and Embraer are teaming up to offer the Air Force and U.S.

Global Defense News
The U.S.

Z.B. Fletcher, Army Times
Soldiers from across the U.S.

Gidget Fuentes, USNI News
Marine Corps’ Project Dynamis Wants to Bring the Benefits of AI and Automation Downrange

One of the newest sports at the Winter Olympics

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) scrambled fighter aircraft to intercept an approaching flight of U.S. Air Force F-16C/D fighters, which approached Chinese airspace across the Yellow Sea near North Korea. The F-16s had taken off from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, before making a rare flight over international waters in the Yellow Sea between the air defence identification zones of South Korea and China.

Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) combines brutal endu

This video describes the military situation in

During the recent protests in Iran, most Gulf states quietly but actively pushed back against calls in Washington for military strikes. Their judgment was simple: Escalation would almost certainly destabilize the region without producing meaningful political change inside Iran, while leaving Gulf cities, infrastructure, and populations directly exposed to retaliation. At the core of Gulf reluctance lies a fear of chaos rather than a preference for regime continuity.

Editor’s Note: This is a new occasional series brought to you by War on the Rocks. If you would like to pitch your own version, please refer to the contact information and guidance on our submissions page.Wars very often inspire great American literature about the experience of war and its legacies — think of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, or Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. We are fortunate now to be living through a great renaissance of veteran writing of policy analysis, memoir, poetry, and prose literature.

Fuel, connect, go🔥✈️
A Turkish aircraft

In December 1940, as snow dusted city streets and America prepared for another uneasy holiday season, a comic book quietly appeared on newsstands that would forever alter the relationship between popular culture and politics. “Captain America Comics” #1, cover-dated March 1941, featured an image so confrontational that it bordered on the unthinkable for its time: a costumed American hero delivering a crushing right hook directly to the jaw of Adolf Hitler.
Also Read: The Marine Corps used ‘Doom II’ to train Marines to work together
This was not metaphor. It was not subtle symbolism.

The U.S. Air Force has reportedly deployed a second group of F-22 Raptor fifth generation fighters to forward bases in the Middle East, as part of a large scale military buildup in the region aimed at Iran. The Raptors were observed transiting through RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom on February 20. This closely follows the deployment of newer Air Force F-35A and Marine Corps F-35C fifth generation fighters to the region, and the British Armed Forces’ deployment of F-35B fighters to Cyprus where they will also be in range to support operations.

The Iranian Army has reportedly received multiple new batches of Russian Mi-28 attack helicopters, following confirmation in January that the first of the new aircraft had been delivered. The operationalisation of the Mi-28 marks the first significant improvement to the Iranian attack helicopter fleet in over half a century, with the aircraft expected to replace a fleet of approximately 50 Vietnam War era AH-1 Corbras that were supplied by the United States in the 1970s.

The U.S. Air Force is nearing an agreement with the B-21 Raider next generation strategic bomber’s primary contractor Northrop Grumman to accelerate the production of the aircraft, according to statements by the firm’s CEO Kathy Warden. Since its first flight in November 2023, the B-21 has moved into a low-rate initial production phase consisting of five lots, which will between them produce a total of 21 aircraft. Northrop Grumman has indicated it plans to invest between $2 billion and $3 billion over multiple years to support an increased production capacity, with the U.S.