Though it’s been drowned out by other news lately, let us not forget about Iran. In recent months alone it shot down a $200 million U.S.-made drone, captured a British oil tanker, and was implicated in last month’s drone and cruise missile strikes against Saudi oil refineries. Conflict—at least in a limited…

The Brisbane Festival is an annual three-week arts extravaganza in Queensland’s capital, traditionally ending with some military flyovers before a lot of fireworks are set off in an event called Sunsuper Riverfire. This year, like in 2018, that included a C-17A Globemaster, looking pretty spry as it made it’s way…

A Russian Navy expedition to the frozen wastes of the Arctic last week ended in disaster when one of the expedition ships was lost to hostile forces, specifically the kind with flippers and whiskers. The ship, an inflatable landing boat, was sunk by a walrus after the Russian expedition was deemed a threat to nearby…

Japan, which at the start of World War II was the proprietor of the world’s mightiest aircraft carrier fleet, is getting back into the naval aviation game after decades. Under pressure to counter a growing Chinese navy and air force, the island country is planning to convert two “helicopter destroyers” into…

In the 1986 science fiction movie Aliens, heroine Ellen Ripley dons a powered exoskeleton suit to engage in hand to hand combat with the Xenomorph Queen alien. Now, thanks to modern technology, the U.S. Marines may soon do the same. Sort of. And minus the Xenomorph. (Hopefully.)

Between December 2017 and March 2018, To The Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences—a foundation headed by Tom Delonge of Blink-182 fame that’s dedicated to investigating alien life—posted some strange videos of UFOs captured by the military. And, according to the US Navy, those videos are real, they’re confidential, and…

On September 14, some as-yet officially unknown perpetrators launched a complex attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. The attack was apparently carried out by drones, cruise missiles, or both. It cut Saudi Arabia’s oil exports by half, a big deal considering the country supplies 10 percent of all oil worldwide.…

Twice in the last month, the President of the United States has claimed that the Pentagon has weapons even more powerful than nuclear weapons, with the ability to easily kill millions. He is either bluffing, confused, or is incapable of understanding the difference between conventional and nuclear weapons.

Seventy percent Americans think showering the rest of the world with tanks, ships, planes, radar and munitions makes the U.S. less safe, according to a new survey, a bipartisan consensus on a policy that both Republican and Democratic administrations have embraced. Imagine that.

A year ago, then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis ordered America’s air forces to achieve what seemed like an unattainable goal: make eight out of 10 fighter jets ready for action within one year. Today, a good chunk of the Pentagon’s fighter inventory is set to hit that goal—all except for the newest, so-called…

A Texas-based beer company stirred up controversy earlier this month when it was revealed to have named a beer after the site of nuclear weapons tests. The Manhattan Project Beer Company recently re-released its Bikini Atoll beer, named after the site of U.S. nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific in the 1940s.…

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened to escalate into global thermonuclear war. The United States and Soviet Union both mobilized over nuclear missiles in Cuba, and a single spark could have effectively ended civilization. But what’s not well-remembered today is that at the height of that dispute, a…

This week, the United States announced its intention to sell Taiwan a fleet of new F-16 fighter jets. The sale involves nearly 70 F-16 fighter jets worth $8 billion and is intended to help the island democracy defend its airspace against attack from the communist-dominated mainland. The People’s Republic of China’s…

Late last week, America’s attention was successfully diverted from unsettling economic news by the latest shiny bauble: news that President Donald Trump has discussed the idea of buying Greenland. The fact that Greenland was never for sale aside, owning Greenland would not be all that useful to the United States. At…

The A-10 Warthog—Cold War tank killer, terrorizer of the Taliban, ugly but fearsome duckling of American airpower, one-plane motivation poster and hero to ground troops everywhere—is sporting new wings.

North Korea has conducted a round of long range rocket tests designed to kick down the door and destroy ballistic missile defenses protecting South Korea. The new rockets fly under U.S. high altitude missile defense weapons, paving the way for further missile strikes. The missiles are proof that, far from disarming,…

The People’s Liberation Army—the official name of the Chinese Army—still rides yaks to patrol some of the country’s most difficult borders. The use of yaks, basically hairy cows adapted to mountain life, allows the PLA to go places tanks and armored vehicles can’t. Here’s why a surprising number of military forces,…

During the Democratic presidential debates this week, candidates wrestled with a particularly thorny national security issue: whether they would forsake the use of nuclear weapons first in a conflict. This policy, known as No First Use, is the policy of just a handful of the declared nuclear powers.

The Top Gun: Maverick trailer is here, and while there is such a thing as “suspension of disbelief” and “it’s just a movie” and “you guys are a bunch of jerks ruining nice things that people enjoy,” there are things in it that are WRONG. Not from a “why is Ed Harris so old” perspective, but something far worse. From a…