The military’s latest attempt to create cheap and effective counter-drone weapons looks like a shipping container. And for the first time, it took out a mid-sized aerial drone with a Joint Air-to-Ground Missile.
The Army and weapons developer Lockheed Martin successfully took out the drone during recent testing at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, the Army and Lockheed announced. They used Lockheed Martin’s GRIZZLY platform, a missile launcher based on the M229 launcher system that is heavily used by the U.S. military. However this one has a shipping container built around it.

Summary and Key Points: Muammar Gaddafi had drawn a “line of death” across the Gulf of Sidra and swore to shoot down any aircraft that dared cross it. On the morning of April 15, 1986 — in the aftermath of an American bombing raid on Libya — an SR-71 Blackbird crossed that line anyway, at full throttle, to photograph the damage. When a missile alert flashed in the cockpit, the pilot pushed the legendary spy plane harder than it had ever flown.

Summary and Key Points: In the spring of 2005, the United States Navy set out to sink one of its own aircraft carriers — and for most of a month, it failed. The decommissioned USS America absorbed torpedoes, missiles, and bombs and refused to go under until the Navy finally scuttled her with charges set off inside the hull. To this day, she is the only supercarrier ever sent to the bottom, anywhere on earth. That ordeal is often cited as proof that the American aircraft carrier is nearly unsinkable — and in one sense, it is.

The British Army has deployed new Bolt loitering munitions in Estonia, less then 70 kilometres from the Russian border, highlighting NATO’s continued efforts to enhance its forward offensive capabilities near Russian territory at a time of continuing hostilities in the Ukrainian theatre. The Bolt is a single use attack drone capable of identifying and striking armoured vehicles and other battlefield targets with precision.

Summary and Key Points: For the first time in history, all 22 National Guard generals who command America’s Air National Guard fighter squadrons have signed a single letter to Congress — and the warning inside it is blunt. The U.S. Air Force, they say, has never been older, smaller, or less ready in its entire existence. The alarm comes at a striking moment: the same Air Force just proved its worth over Iran during Operation Epic Fury, even as the generals warn that pilots are being sent into combat in jets built before they were born.

The U.S.

The U.S. Air Force is facing an unexpectedly severe capability gap after suffering extensive combat losses of MQ-9A Reaper drones during operations against Iran and Iranian-aligned Yemeni Ansurullah Coalition Forces forces, leading the service to initiate an urgent search for replacement aircraft. This has included efforts to purchase unused MQ-9A Block 5 airframes from the producer, General Atomics, although fewer than ten new aircraft remain available worldwide.

Summary and Key Points: When two American pilots ejected from their F-15Es over Iran and were pulled to safety, they survived something most people never think about: one of the most violent experiences a human body can endure. The pilots who’ve been through it describe a brutal, split-second ordeal. The moment the handle is pulled, rockets blast the seat out of the cockpit with a force that can bruise shoulders to the bone and snap collarbones — and a pilot who fails to tuck in fast enough risks far worse.

What Every Fighter Pilot Fears: Ejection 

A U.S.

North Korean state media has shown footage of a major facility producing tactical ballistic missiles for the KN-23 system, as the country’s leadership has announced plants for a 2.5 fold expansion in ballistic and cruise missile production capacity over five years. The planned increase in capacity was ordered as North Korea faces both high demand for its missiles abroad, most notably from Russia, as well as an increasingly unstable security situation as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continue.

This video describes the military situation in

Footage from Moscow’s Sokolniki District has shown continued operations by the world’s largest and most powerful transport helicopters to position Pantsir-SMD-E stationary air defence systems onto the rooftops of high rise buildings, which appears to be part of an effort to rapidly expand a multi-layered defensive network across the capital to respond to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine.

The French Ministry of Defence has announced the first successful supersonic launch of the MICA NG air-to-air missile from a Rafale fighter, marking a significant milestone in efforts to keep the ageing mid-1990s missile design viable into the 21st century. The MICA NG is available in two primary variants, including one with infrared thermal imaging passive guidance and one with active radar guidance. Both are equipped with a new dual pulse motor, resulting in improved manoeuvrability and combining beyond-visual-range and close-range combat capabilities.

The French Joint Staff on June 5 published footage showing a Rafale fighter conducting a close-range visual interception of a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 long range fighter,in a tense encounter over the Baltic Sea. The engagement, which took place on June 2, occurred after the Su-35 was deployed to escort five other Russian aircraft, including a An-30 reconnaissance and survey platform, two transports, and Su-24M and Su-34 strike fighters.

The New Zealand Army has deployed infantry platoon to South Korea for a three-month rotation, which was designed to improve interoperability with both the Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces and the United States Army, exposing personnel to operational scenarios and force structures that are significantly larger and more technologically advanced than those normally available at home. Stationed primarily at Camp Casey alongside the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, under 20 kilometres from the inter-Korean Demilitarised Zone and 20-25 kilometres from the North Korea’s borders.

Summary and Key Points: It is being built to do something no weapon ever wants to be used for: survive the unthinkable and strike back. The U.S. Navy’s first Columbia-class submarine is expected to arrive in 2028, and its developers are already calling it the quietest and most lethal submarine ever built.

Summary and Key Points: For more than three decades, the official story of the SR-71 Blackbird’s retirement has been simple: the legendary spy plane that flew at the edge of space, faster than three times the speed of sound, simply cost too much to keep flying once the Cold War wound down. Now, a man who sat in the back seat says that the story was never the whole truth.

Summary and Key Points: China is building aircraft carriers at a pace not seen since World War II. By 2035, the Pentagon expects Beijing to triple its fleet to nine flattops — and the next one may be a nuclear-powered supercarrier larger than the USS Gerald R. Ford, capable of carrying more than a hundred aircraft. On paper, it’s a staggering rise. But the numbers hide a very different story.

China Has Thousands Of Missiles Aimed At The Pacific. The War With Iran Was The Warm-Up Act: The recent war against Iran strained the United States military in ways that rattled defense planners, and Iran fired its missiles by the hundreds. China can fire them by the thousands. That difference in scale is the most important fact in any honest discussion of a Pacific war, because it converts a problem the United States managed against a regional power into one it cannot fully solve against Beijing.

Ankara, Turkey – Ukraine’s military – and specifically its “drone army” – has proven that it can now hit any target anywhere in Russia at will. Today, there is also little that Moscow’s armed forces can do to stop them.

Ukraine Proves Its Ability to Now Hit Russian Targets Anywhere and at Any Time

Russia’s President Putin Sitting at a Desk. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The proof came on Saturday, 6 June, when residents of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were told not to leave their homes.

84 years ago

Back in 2007, I did a Battle of Midway FbF that featured one of my favorite aircraft, the Brewster Buffalo. In the post, I focused on then 2LT William “Bill” Brooks, USMCR.
In the mid-60’s Mr. Brooks helped found Bellevue University, among other things. Back in 2010, I was notified by the President of Bellevue University that Mr. Brooks passed away. In his honor, I would like to repost that FbF from 2007 and 2010.
You could spend a lifetime on Battle of Midway posts – that is what I like about it.

The Army wants you…to leave nicotine pouches behind when traveling through France. Seriously, the Army says don’t take Zyn or any other brand with you inside French borders.
On Friday, the 21st Theater Sustainment Command and Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz issued a formal travel advisory, calling on soldiers to not bring any kind of nicotine pouches into or through France, after the country criminalized them.
“France has criminalized the possession, importation, and use of non-medically approved nicotine pouches (such as Zyn and Velo),” the joint message from the command garrison said.

This video describes the military situation in

“Their sacrifice will not be forgotten”
A momen

Jason Hanson, HansonWriter
Pressure and a Permanent Riddle

The post The Greatest Generation: 82 Years Ago And The Longest Day appeared first on Armed Forces Press.

Before World War II, Kathleen McCarthy Summersby (Kay for short) was an Irish fashion model. Once the Germans started dropping bombs on Britain, she stepped up and showed her grit, driving an ambulance during the Blitz to pick up dead bodies and deliver them to the morgue. Later, she became Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s right hand man, helping to make D-Day a success. 
Also Read: ‘Pressure’ is a D-Day film unlike any other before it
She was 33 years old and a civilian volunteer with the British Motor Transport Corps when she was assigned to be Eisenhower’s driver in London.

Ankara, Turkey – After years of rumors, the state-controlled Chinese Central Television (CCTV) broadcaster has confirmed reports that the Chengdu J-10CE fighter aircraft operated by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) won a series of victories in simulated air-to-air engagements against the Qatar Emiri Air Force. The Qataris were operating their export versions of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in these exercises.

These combat drills, now being revealed, reportedly took place in January 2024 and resulted in a 9-0 score for the Chinese-made single-engine jet.

The Department of Defense is drastically reducing the number of religious faiths and belief systems it recognizes in its personnel records, from 211 to just 31. 
The military’s revised list of religious affiliation codes removed 180 previously accepted ones, according to a May 20 memo signed by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata. The codes are used to identify troops’ faith and help plan religious support services for them. The memo notes that the changes will not impact what religion is marked on troops’ dog tags.

How do elite cricketers cope outside their comf

Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg’s story of a group of World War II soldiers venturing behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France to rescue a single soldier, has been named to various lists of the best war movies ever produced.

Hollywood has been churning out movies about World War II since the war was still underway in the 1940s, and it hasn’t really stopped since. Made near the end of the 20th century, Private Ryan was one of the best of them.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses American paratroopers prior to D-Day. “Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the order of the Day.

Ankara, Turkey – The London Financial Times reports that the UK Treasury is preparing to seize control of spending on the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) from the Ministry of Defense (MoD). The aircraft, which is supposed to be a 6th-generation fighter jet, is projected to cost in the billions of pounds Sterling, which is what prompts the Treasury’s move to take over the financial reins of the effort “before it is too late,” said one long-time UK defense analyst who spoke to National Security Journal.

The GCAP Fighter Problem: All About the Money 

GCAP 6th Generation Fighter.

Last July, I spent two days at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force outside Dayton, Ohio, walking among the aircraft that represent the roads American airpower chose not to take. I literally took almost 4,000 pictures, yes, I am serious. I stood close to the Boeing X-32, the Northrop YF-23, and the strange little YF-118G Bird of Prey — you can get right up next to most of these machines, even if you can’t quite stand beneath all of them — and the photographs I shot that day run throughout this piece.

As a student of military history, a passion of mine even before attending the U.S. Air Force Academy where that passion intensified, I have always been interested in unique military stories, no matter the uniform, no matter the war.
So, when offered to read Stream 3.0, I did not say no, as I had heard of the operation and wanted to know more.

Summary and Key Points: DARPA and the U.S. Air Force are developing Next Generation Responsive Strike, a reusable hypersonic strike aircraft designed to fly above Mach 5, penetrate advanced air defenses, conduct strike or ISR missions, and return for reuse. The concept points to a major shift in American air warfare, away from relying mainly on stealth and toward speed, altitude, maneuverability, and rapid response. Some defense analysts argue NextRS should take priority over the F-47 NGAD fighter.

Summary and Key Points: For decades, American warplanes ruled the skies against enemies who could barely shoot back. That era is ending — and the war in Iran has laid bare how exposed older, non-stealthy fighters are to modern air defenses. Now the U.S. Navy has tested its answer, and it’s a clever one. Engineers took the ordinary JDAM — a cheap, dumb bomb strapped with a guidance kit — bolted on foldable wings and a small jet engine, and turned it into a weapon that flies hundreds of miles, roughly twenty times farther than before.

G.

Emzari Gelashvili, RCD
the Beijing summit between Trump and Xi was not a breakthrough. It was not even a pause.

Ted Delicath, MWI
Americans hold institutional trust on two tracks rather than one.

Rebecca Grant, Lexington Institute
At The July NATO Summit In Turkey, Trump Should Commit To Permanent Basing Of A U.S.

Anthony Capaccio, Bloomberg
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin LLC remains eligible to be…

Summary and Key Points: Australia’s six Collins-class submarines were meant to be the pride of its navy. Instead came defective welds, propellers too loud to hide, and a combat system so bad the Navy scrapped it for U.S. tech. By the mid-2000s, often just one of six could put to sea — then came the turnaround.

The Collins-Class Nightmare? 

SSN-AUKUS. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Australia’s Collins-class submarines were supposed to be the pride of the Royal Australian Navy—stealthy, advanced, and the cornerstone of Australian undersea power.

🗣️“That peace they fought for 82 years a

Summary and Key Points: After years of delays turned its next frigate into an expensive disaster, the Navy made a hard call — and the Trump administration pulled the plug on the troubled Constellation-class program. Now the Navy is racing to fill the gap, and its solution is raising eyebrows: a new warship called the FF(X) that, stripped of the jargon, is essentially a militarized Coast Guard cutter.

Here Comes the FF(X)
After the disastrous cancellation of the Constellation-class frigate program, the U.S.

In 1863, Adm. David Dixon Porter famously wrote, “A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons.”
Remembering that this was a time before t-shirts when people dressed properly, his words hold true. Sailors crew and fight a ship, but a Marine detachment is a critical element on a warship.
Also Read: The role of the Marine Corps during the Civil War
The Army loves to remind the Marine Corps that the largest amphibious invasion in military history was conducted by soldiers.

Summary and Key Points: China’s island fortresses in the South China Sea are usually told as a military story — the runways, the missiles, the unsinkable aircraft carriers. But there’s a second story beneath the surface, and ecologists call it one of the fastest ecological collapses ever recorded. To build those bases, China dredged and buried tens of thousands of acres of living coral reef — some of the most biodiverse oceans on the planet.

An Ecological Disaster for the History Books 

J-35 Fighter from China. Image Credit: PLAAF.

Tributes have been paid to those who gave their

Summary and Key Points: Most people picture China’s South China Sea islands as little more than runways carved out of the sea. The reality is far more imposing — and far stranger. Thousands of Chinese troops now live on these man-made outposts year-round, scattered across dozens of reefs, crewing missile batteries, radar arrays, and runways that push Chinese air power hundreds of miles toward America’s allies.

China’s South China Sea Island Reality 

J-20 Fighter Fueling Up. Image Credit: Chinese Weibo.

Summary and Key Points: It was supposed to be one of the great strategic masterstrokes of the century. Over more than a decade, China dredged up coral and sand to build a chain of artificial island fortresses across the South China Sea — runways, radars, hangars, and harbors, some rivaling Pearl Harbor in scale, all designed to lock the United States and its allies out of the Pacific. But according to one regional analyst, Beijing may have overlooked something its own scientists could have warned it about: these islands sit on loose, waterlogged sand and coral.

Russia’s economic forecast is gloomy, with slow growth predicted for 2026. Economic forecasts range from around 0.8% to 1.1% of GDP, according to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, respectively. Indeed, Russia’s central bank largely concurs with the forecast and estimates this year’s growth in the 0.5% to 1.5% range. Conservatively, Russia can expect about 1% growth this year, give or take a few tenths of a percentage point.

Why Growth is Slowing

China’s Xi Jinping. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

By some estimates, Russia has recruited tens of thousands of foreign fighters to support its war in Ukraine. The countries of origin of these foreign fighters are incredibly varied, but some of the biggest sources appear to be South and Central Asia, parts of Africa, and many post-Soviet countries. Investigations have pointed to recruits from at least 44 countries, depending on the source.

The Foreign Fighters of Ukraine

Su-34 Fullback Fighter-Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A tribute to the fallen
Lieutenant Commander Ch