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The Russian Irkutsk Aviation Plant has completed a new batch of Su-30SM2 fighter aircraft, with footage released of a display of the newly built aircraft alongside newly produced Yak-130 trainers. The Su-30SM2 is the most advanced evolution of Russia’s twin-seat Su-30 fighter type that first entered service in early 2022, and was developed as part of a broader push to standardise systems across Russia’s fighter fleet, while also reducing maintenance costs and simplifying logistics and significantly improving combat performance.

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Patricia Sandoval once believed she would never marry someone in the military. With two brothers and an uncle who had served, she had witnessed the demands of military life and doubted her ability to keep up with its constant movement. Yet life proved otherwise. Shortly after completing graduate school, she met a sailor—and fell in love.
When she shared the news of her upcoming marriage, the response was not what she expected.

This video describes the military situation in

The U.S. Air Force has initiated an industry search for a new mission computer for its F-16 fighter, as existing Cold War era avionics limits the aircraft’s ability to incorporate new upgrades. This reflects part of a broader trend towards the Air Force significantly increasingly investment in modernising the F-16 fleet, primarily due to the fact that major shortcomings with the F-35 fifth generation fighter program forced the service to keep the older fourth generation aircraft in service for decades longer than expected.

The French Air Force has scrambled Rafale fighters scrambled from Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania to intercept two Russian Navy Su-30SM2 long range fighters over the Baltic Sea, with the French Armed Forces Armed Forces General Staff publishing images of the interception. The Rafales assumed a new rotation for Baltic Air Policing in the first week of April, arriving at Siauliai Air Base which is located just 130 kilometres from Russian territory.

Commander of U.S. Forces Korea General Xavier Brunson has stated that the Korean Peninsula represents a “dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s perspective, resulting in diplomatic complaints from Beijing. His comments point to the Korean Peninsula’s position since the late 1940s as a stepping stone for Western power projection into East Asia, which has caused growing controversy in recent years.

The Russian Aerospace Forces have deployed the world’s heaviest type of helicopter, the Mi-26, to lift Pantsir-SMD-E short range air defence systems onto the roofs of major buildings in Moscow, highlighting ongoing efforts being made to strengthen the capital’s defences against continued attacks being launched from Ukraine. The Mi-26 notably hasan empty weight less than half its maximum takeoff weight, which is important to its continued record holding position as the helicopter with the world’s largest carrying capacity.

Following years of speculation, the Pentagon is finally sending clear signals that the United States needs more B-21 Raider stealth bombers than originally planned and that procurement plans will be adjusted upward.

In February, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announced that the Air Force and Northrop Grumman had reached an agreement to increase B-21 production capacity by 25%, using $4.5 billion previously approved by Congress to accelerate deliveries of the next-generation bomber.

China may soon operate its J-35 stealth fighter from all three of its aircraft carriers — a significant upgrade to the PLA Navy. Only the new carrier Fujian, with its electromagnetic catapult, can launch the J-35 today, but China is reportedly modifying the older ski-jump carriers Liaoning and Shandong to match it. A carrier-based counterpart to the J-20, the J-35 is China’s answer to the U.S. F-35. Even so, analysts say America’s carriers still hold a decisive edge.

The J-35 Stealth Fighter Is On the Rise 

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

The B-1B Lancer — the supersonic Cold War bomber pilots call the “Bone” — is getting a powerful upgrade. Boeing’s new modular “Lego” pylons will let it carry up to 36 missiles, including hypersonic weapons too large for its internal bays. First built in the 1970s to penetrate Soviet airspace and revived under Reagan, the 45 remaining B-1Bs will bridge the gap until the B-21 Raider arrives — a reinvention sure to draw notice in China and Russia.

Northrop Grumman is increasing production capacity for the B-21 Raider, hoping that the Air Force ultimately decides to buy more than the original projection of 100 aircraft. For years, 100 B-21s have been treated as the procurement benchmark, but now everyone from the Pentagon to Congress to Northrop Grumman is openly discussing larger procurement numbers. The prospective increase in B-21s reflects growing anxiety over the strategic picture in the Indo-Pacific, which may require a larger number of nuclear-capable stealth bombers.

Three months into his war with Iran, President Trump faces a fork in the road. Thousands of American and Israeli strikes have killed Iranian senior leaders, shattered Iran’s air force and navy, and attrited its missile stocks and production facilities. But the Islamic Republic remains armed and defiant. Its clerical regime is intact and in control, with hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders ascendant. After battering its Arab neighbors, U.S.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thick yellow cables descended from the ceiling, splintering into a network of cords and computers in an otherwise nondescript room where dozens of civilian data engineers clacked keyboards, slung technical parlance and tried to fix one of the Army’s most enduring problems. 
Known as “Operation Jailbreak,” an initial swarm of engineers from roughly 20 defense companies descended on Fort Carson earlier this month with the overall goal of getting the Army’s vast stable of disparate military systems to talk to each other.

Last-second drama, massive hits and big-time tr

A new set of Marines is now waiting as the “immediate crisis response force” in Latin America, Marine Corps officials said Friday, as the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit replaced the 22nd MEU in the Caribbean.
Roughly 1,300 Marines from the 24th MEU are now deployed to the area, Marine officials said, as part of Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s ongoing mission to stem drug trafficking in the region. While MEUs often are embarked on Navy amphibious ships, the 24th is deployed as Littoral Combat Force-24 at the recently reopened Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico.

Five Ways The YF-23 Black Widow Was Better Than The F-22 Raptor
The Advanced Tactical Fighter program was born in 1981 out of a straightforward Cold War problem. The U.S. Air Force needed a fighter that could dominate the skies against the next generation of Soviet aircraft, the MiG-29 Fulcrum and the Su-27 Flanker, and whatever Moscow built after them.

The requirements were demanding for the era.

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.

Orange orbs, military witnesses and UFO footage

“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.

Before handing over money for the Trump-class b

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.

This video describes the military situation in

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.

Summary and Key Points: The A-10 “Warthog” is the plane the U.S. Air Force keeps trying to retire — and Congress keeps refusing to let go.

-Built around a massive 30mm GAU-8 Avenger cannon and a titanium “bathtub” cockpit, the Cold War tank-killer became indispensable for close air support in Afghanistan and Iraq.

-In the Iran War, it became a surprising drone-hunter — and even helped rescue a downed U.S. pilot.
-No other aircraft, Congress argues, can replace it.

-BONUS: We present our own video and photos of the A-10 Warthog from our visit to the National Museum of the U.

“Marine Raiders, our saying is that ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ means never above you, never below you, always beside you,” Marine Corps veteran Luke Focer told a crowd gathered at SOF Week in Tampa. “It’s that bond created purely over blood, sweat and tears.”
Focer was part of a panel discussing “Noori,” a new feature documentary following the life of Ahmad Khalid Noori, a former Afghan special operations veteran, as he struggles to integrate into his new American life.
Many Americans may be familiar with the plight of former Afghan interpreters trying to come to the U.S.

Norway signed an agreement with France that will secure the nation with another layer of strategic security besides US nuclear guarantees.

Summary and Key Points: Despite America’s intense bombing in Operation Epic Fury, Iran is rapidly rebuilding its missile and drone arsenal — roughly half its launchers survived, many hidden in underground “missile cities” carved deep into granite mountains.

-Defense columnist Brent Eastwood argues the conflict revealed a new era of warfare he calls the “Kinetic Missile Fight,” where massed barrages decide outcomes and victory depends on stockpile depth.

France is building an 80,000-ton nuclear supercarrier, the FS France Libre — twice the displacement of the Charles de Gaulle and the largest warship ever built in Europe. Announced by President Macron, it will carry up to 30 Rafale-M fighters launched by three American-made EMALS catapults, the same system on the U.S. Navy’s Ford-class. Due in 2038 at a cost of €10.25 billion, the carrier is built for global power projection — and to operate alongside U.S. forces against China.

Libre: France’s New 80,000-ton Aircraft Carrier Dream 

PANG France Aircraft Carrier.

Ukraine’s parliament has ratified an agreement with the European Union on a €90bn ($104bn) Ukraine Support Loan.

A fifth round of talks to end the Iran war is underway, but there’s little sign of a breakthrough. The proposed 60-day ceasefire would give Tehran 30 days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — but Iran, which has built a bureaucracy to charge transit fees, has little reason to hurry as the global economy strains.

The Iran War Just Won’t End 

Iran’s Drones That Russia Is Using. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A new round of negotiations to end the war between the Trump administration and the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran is dominating the news cycle.

Summary and Key Points: The Iowa-class battleships were the fastest and most powerful the U.S. Navy ever built. The four ships — Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin — could hit 33 knots and fire nine 16-inch guns, hurling 2,700-pound shells up to 24 miles.

-They escorted carriers across the WWII Pacific, hosted Japan’s surrender aboard Missouri in 1945, and returned for Korea, Reagan’s Navy, and the 1991 Gulf War armed with Tomahawks. All four survive as museum ships.

-We present here both the original video and photos of our USS Iowa battleship visit last year.

When Darius Rucker started Hootie and the Blowfish in 1986, he sang in bars with his buddies hoping they’d make enough money to keep playing music another week. Four decades later, he’s still making records, still touring, and even more impressive, he’s giving back to a very deserving demographic: veterans.
Also Read: 6 songs that will always remind America of the Vietnam War
At the 52nd American Music Awards on May 25, 2026, Rucker received the Veterans Voice Award, presented by USAA’s Honor Through Action.

Drone warfare now dominates the war in Ukraine,

Summary and Key Points: Iran has quietly built the legal and bureaucratic machinery to take permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz.

-In May 2026, it created the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which now requires transit permits — banning Israeli ships, restricting American ones, and charging up to $2 million per passage, paid in Chinese yuan to dodge U.S. sanctions.

Navy Aircraft Carrier At Sea. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-Iran’s map even claims waters that the UAE and Oman have long held. Five Gulf states, the U.S., and China have all objected.

Summary and Key Points: For decades, rumors claimed the U.S. had secretly built the SR-91 Aurora — a hypersonic spy plane flying at Mach 5 to replace the SR-71 Blackbird.

-The legend was fueled by a mysterious 1980s Pentagon budget line, a triangular aircraft spotted over the North Sea, and “sky quakes” over Los Angeles near Area 51.

B-2 Bomber Sitting in Museum National Security Journal Photos. All Rights Reserved.

B-2 Stealth Bomber July 2025 National Security Journal Photo.

Edwin “Ned” Nye didn’t want to become a lawyer.
Seeing that he was already enrolled in law school, Nye—whose famous son simplified complex topics for millions of television viewers as Bill Nye the Science Guy—did the only thing he could. He dropped out.
Also Read: This plane survived Pearl Harbor and struck back at Midway
Not one to sit around, Nye went job-hunting. He found work as a contractor for the United States Navy, building an airstrip on Wake Island.

Summary and Key Points: The F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II are America’s two most advanced stealth fighters, both built by Lockheed Martin but designed for opposite missions.

-The twin-engine, thrust-vectoring F-22 is a pure air-superiority fighter built to dominate the skies, with supercruise speed, a 1,800-mile range, and up to six AIM-120 missiles.

-The single-engine F-35 is a multi-mission “Swiss Army Knife” — flying strike, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance across three variants for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Summary and Key Points: The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has removed roughly a billion barrels of oil from the market, triggering the worst supply shock since the 1970s OPEC embargoes.

-Exxon Mobil warns that Brent crude — about $92 a barrel now — could spike to $160 within weeks as global inventories near record lows.

NORFOLK, Va. (May 16, 2026) USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) returned to Naval Station Norfolk, May 16, 2026, following a historic 11-month deployment to U.S. 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Fleets as part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.

Summary and Key Points: Canada has selected Sweden’s Saab GlobalEye as its new Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced at the CANSEC defense show. Built on a Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500 jet, the GlobalEye carries an Erieye radar that can track threats on land, sea, or air from 400 miles away — a priority as Arctic activity intensifies. The choice may also signal Canada scaling back its F-35 order in favor of Saab’s Gripen.

The F-35 Slash in Canada? 

F-22 and F-35 and the Flag. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Summary and Key Points: The F-111 Aardvark was the world’s first production variable-sweep-wing aircraft — a Cold War bomber built to fly fast and low after Soviet surface-to-air missiles made high-altitude bombing a death trap.

-Its swing wings let it sprint through contested airspace and land on shorter runways. Below are our own photos from a visit to the F-111 last July at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

-The Aardvark carried about four times the payload of the F-4 Phantom, saw heavy use in Vietnam and the Gulf War, and was retired in the late 1990s.

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Summary and Key Points: The F-14 Tomcat became one of the most successful fighters in U.S. Navy history — a Mach 2.3 jet that anchored carrier air wings from the 1970s through Operation Iraqi Freedom.

-But its early days were rocky. Grumman, squeezed by inflation after underbidding to win the contract, needed emergency loans, and Navy buyer Bob Belter once countersigned a $38 million check by hand.

-The Tomcat also overcame dangerous TF30 engine flaws before a new engine secured its legendary career.