The Forgotten Angels of Dien Bien Phu
In November 1953 the French army began building a base in the mountains around Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, hoping that it would lure the Viet Minh guerrilla fighters into an open battle. Eventually, 16,000 French personnel each manned the six fortified outposts named, as legend has it,  after... Read more
The French Military Recruited Colonial Sex Workers
The French army procured prostitutes for its troops in the field throughout the 20th century. And it was hardly alone in doing so. During and prior to World War II, Japan and Germany were infamous for large-scale state-organized military brothels that often included unpaid or captive sex slaves. France’s... Read more
Can Russia’s Pantsir Air-Defense System Handle Drone Swarms?
In November 2018, Viktor Murakhovsky, a writer for the Russian publication Arsenal of the Fatherland, posted a comment regarding the performance of Russia’s Pantsir S-1 air-defense system. “In Syria, it turned out that the Pantsir was practically incapable of detecting low-speed and small-sized targets, which include military UAVs. At... Read more
In 1941, British and Soviet Troops Invaded Iran
Iran’s aggressive military posture is often attributed to its quasi-theocratic revolutionary government. However, the Middle Eastern state also had the misfortune of experiencing three devastating, unprovoked invasions in the 20th century. The last and best known of these, the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, killed hundreds of thousands... Read more
Facebook Let Myanmar Perpetrate Genocide
During the infamous Rwandan genocide of 1994, radio stations such as Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines helped foment—and later, even directed—the violence and atrocities of nationalist militias, filling the airwaves with hateful messages exhorting Hutus to slaughter the Tutsi minority and their allies, whom they labeled as “cockroaches”... Read more
South and Central Asian Air Forces Need Women, Too
There are more and more female military pilot on the Indian subcontinent. Some of the reasons are similar, such as long-running conflicts giving rise to nationalistic and patriotic sentiment, as well as a desire to expand the pool of motivated and well-educated personnel. However, the socio-political context is very... Read more
Asian Air Forces Recruit Women Fighter Pilots
On Aug. 23, 2018, Capt. Misa Matsushima, pictured at top, became the first woman to qualify to fly a jet fighter for the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. Three more women soon followed. Before starting operational service, the 26-year-old Matsushima will practice intercepting intruders with the 305th squadron at... Read more
Hurricane Maria Killed as Many American Citizens as 9/11 Did
On Aug. 28, 2018, the Milken Institute School of Public Health released a study concluding with 95-percent confidence that Hurricane Maria had led to the “excess” deaths of between 2,658 and 3,290 U.S. citizens on the island of Puerto Rico. It so happens that the average figure of 2,975... Read more
A Tsunami Devastated Japan’s Souped-Up F-16s
In the 1980s, Japan phased in its first domestic jet fighter to enter operational service — the Mitsubishi F-1. Tokyo wanted to follow up with a more capable fourth-generation F-2 “support fighter.” It was an ambitious effort. And one that a tsunami nearly destroyed. The Reagan-era Pentagon was worried... Read more
The Forgotten Tale of How Allied Bombers Chased a German Sub to Its Doom
In June 2018, Spanish media reported that divers Anxi González Roca and Eduardo Losada and naval historian Yago Abilleira had re-discovered the wreck Nazi submarine U-966 off Estaca de Bares in the Galician region on the northwestern tip of Spain. The divers found debris scattered across a wide area... Read more