Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Bottom lines up front WASHINGTON—As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues, some commentators have speculated about why China and Russia appear to be keeping their distance from the conflict. Neither appears eager to intervene militarily to support Iran. Moreover, China is reportedly hesitant to send arms to Iran, while Russia is benefiting from the global oil supply shock caused by the conflict. Some rhetorical support aside, many commentators predict that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will not get meaningfully involved in Iran. But such conjecture misunderstands the economic relationships and motivations behind the “Axis of Evasion,”…

Parker Porter continues to carve a swath through Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, and his next throwdown in the world of gloveless combat transpires on Saturday. The ranked BKFC heavyweight will collide with Haze Wilson at BKFC Mohegan Sun on March 28th, but that wasn’t always the plan. Fellow-ranked BKFC contender Josh Watson was initially slated for the Connecticut card. But Watson had to withdraw, which made way for Wilson, and touching upon the opposition switch, Parker Porter said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker], “It’s a shame that Josh and I weren’t able to meet each other in the ring. Some situations…

An Iranian-backed militia carried out a drone strike on Camp Victory in Iraq, targeting a United States military installation and hitting multiple assets, according to video released on March 24 and open-source analysis. Footage shows a first-person view (FPV) attack drone striking a parked Black Hawk helicopter within the base perimeter. Open-source imagery from the […]

In the early 1910s, British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey was surveying the world from his office in Whitehall. He saw many minor wars, but nothing that would pit the great powers at the time against one another. Even “in the early months of 1914 the international sky seemed clearer than it had been,” he later wrote in his memoirs.World War I, of course, broke out just months later, and went on to kill 40 million people. Almost nobody saw it coming, but many, including Lord Grey, concluded afterward that it happened because the great powers did not manage to solve…

Based on images published today, long-range Ukrainian drone appear to have damaged Russian Icebreaker Purga – under construction in Vyborg Shipyard, St Petersburg, far away from the frontline. Purga was launched in October 2022. The arctic patrol ship is intended for the border guard service (Coast Guard) of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation. The latest strike on the icebreaker Purga at Vyborg is another reminder that Ukraine’s use of drones is opening a new era in naval warfare. The main lesson is not only about reach, but also about cost asymmetry: relatively inexpensive drones can damage,…

The US military is building a battlefield where nothing is hidden. Through billions of dollars invested in networked sensors, artificial intelligence, and joint all-domain command and control, the assumption is clear: If we can connect every sensor to every shooter, we will achieve decision dominance. More information will produce faster, better decisions. Friction will decrease. Tempo will increase. Unless it doesn’t. At the tactical edge, a platoon leader stands behind cover, staring at an ATAK screen that refuses to agree with itself. A drone feed shows an empty tree line, but the digital overlay pushed from higher headquarters marks the…

After Dev Diary 1 and Dev Diary 2, Slitherine and Frag Games are pulling back the curtain on the “core and soul” of the Bolt Action experience with their third Developer Diary. For those following the transition from tabletop to digital, this update tackles the most iconic mechanic in the franchise: The Turn Order System. Unlike the traditional “I-go-you-go” format found in most strategy titles, in Bolt Action every unit in a player’s platoon contributes an Order Die to a virtual bag. When a die is drawn, a unit is activated, but you never know whose side it will be.…

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org Space Systems Command just conducted its second Tactically Responsive Space mission, Victus Diem—but this time, instead of preparing and launching a live rocket and satellite on rapid timelines, the exercise was a simulation designed to refine its processes for repeatable rapid launch missions.  The two-part exercise, which the Space Force announced in a March 20 press release, included a tabletop excursion held last July and a field training exercise in January.…

Israel Adesanya wants to remind everyone just how good he is at UFC Seattle. Adesanya is set to headline UFC Seattle on Saturday against Joe Pyfer in a pivotal fight at middleweight. Adesanya is coming off three-straight losses, and he knows there are plenty of doubters around him about whether or not he is still an elite fighter. So, heading into UFC Seattle, Adesanya is confident he can turn back the clock and prove he’s still the top fighter he once was. “This is the classic tale of when they try to get the old guard and give him a…

Eighty seconds. That is all it took to hand Takeru “Natural Born Krusher” Segawa the most humiliating defeat of his career — and the wound that has driven every single training session since. On Wednesday, April 29, the former three-division K-1 Champion makes his final professional appearance at ONE Samurai 1, live from Tokyo’s Ariake Arena. The ONE Interim Flyweight Kickboxing World Title is on the line. The rematch with Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon is the real prize. Their first meeting at ONE 172 inside Saitama Super Arena in March 2025 ended in an instant. Rodtang backed Takeru to…