Australia Is Getting Aircraft Carriers, Sort Of
Pretty soon, the Royal Australian Navy will take possession of HMAS Canberra, a 27,000-ton-displacement, flat-deck amphibious assault ship. The RAN plans to use Canberra and her sister HMAS Adelaide to manage crises across the South Pacific. But could the Canberras also give Australia an offensive naval air capability that... Read more
Ever Wanted to Be Spider-Man? The Pentagon Is Working on That
We can all relate to Spider-Man. He’s not an alien like Superman or a billionaire like Batman. He’s got real problems, like dating and making rent. Spidey—a.k.a., Peter Parker—is just like us. Now, the U.S. military is trying to make us more like him. With science. Minor spoilers to... Read more
British Destroyer Versus the Russian Navy
The Royal Navy’s high-tech warship HMS Dragon has sortied twice in recent weeks to find and escort eight Russian naval vessels steaming through British waters. The Kremlin’s naval groups lately have grown overall larger and seemingly more powerful. Events have reinforced the impression of renewed strength. Moscow forcefully annexed... Read more
This Was Your Week at War
The world’s slow-motion outrage over Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamic terror group dominated the news in the first week of May, as awareness spread of the group’s kidnapping and enslavement of hundreds of schoolgirls. War is Boring’s Peter Dörrie has been on the Boko Haram beat since the beginning. Joe... Read more
America Helping Nigerian Commandos Target Kidnappers
U.S. Army Africa has announced that American commandos and other forces will begin training Nigerian army rangers. The American military trainers in Nigeria are part of a larger group that includes members of the intelligence community and the FBI. The team deployed this week in response to the abduction... Read more
American Troops Are Unwell
American Troops Are Unwell Service members suffering a mental health crisis America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines—and their families—are unwell. More unwell than the official reporting indicates. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that mental illness is far more common among America’s soldiers... Read more
Washington scores 30-year extension at Djibouti’s Camp Lemonnier You won’t find any foreign locale more important to U.S. security interests than Camp Lemonnier, the sprawling air and sea base in Djibouti, a tiny nation on the Horn of Africa. Djibouti borders Somalia—and Yemen is just a short flight away over... Read more
Japanese Pitcher Could Have Been a U.S. Baseball Star—But Fought America Instead
American baseball integrated its first black player, Jackie Robinson, in 1947. But if it had been up to one general manager, the sport would’ve added non-whites much earlier. In the mid-1930s, the Philadelphia Athletics’ Connie Mack tried to recruit Japanese pitcher Eiji Sawamura. But World War II intervened. And... Read more
A Drone Could Be the Ultimate Dogfighter
Here’s an idea for an awesome dogfighting aircraft. Make it small, light and fast. Build it out of materials that are hard to detect on radar. Even give it a laser cannon. Oh, and don’t put a human in the cockpit. In fact, don’t even closely tie the drone... Read more
Pentagon Gets to Keep Vital African Base—For a Price
You won’t find any foreign locale more important to U.S. security interests than Camp Lemonnier, the sprawling air and sea base in Djibouti, a tiny nation on the Horn of Africa. Djibouti borders Somalia—and Yemen is just a short flight away over open water. The U.S. conducts operations against... Read more