Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska— In support of the enduring Operation TUNDRA MERLIN, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755), USCGC Storis (WAGB 21), and USCGC Fir (WLB 213) conducted a combined sail in the Bering Sea alongside Royal Canadian Navy HMCS Max Bernays, reinforcing themaritime partnership between our two nations on July 21, 2026. Through a series of rigorous training drills and collaborative exercises, crews of Munro, Storis, Fir, and Max Bernays sharpened their combined interoperability, showcasing a strong, united presence in the Arctic. This combined sail directly supports Operation TUNDRA MERLIN, which is designed to expand combined capabilities…

For the first time in its history, the United States must plan to deter and potentially fight two nuclear peer adversaries simultaneously. Russia’s persistent nuclear modernization and China’s accelerating strategic buildup together create a complex and fraught environment that existing policy assumptions have not confronted. Into this environment arrives the B-21 Raider and its associated family of systems, platforms with potentially revolutionary conventional and nuclear capabilities that offer planners new tools for horizontal escalation, precision strikes across contested geographies, and the kind of flexible, survivable conventional dominance that previous bomber generations could not reliably provide. And yet the institutional logic…

Concerned by the lack of docks on the West Coast that can service large vessels such as aircraft carriers, the U.S. Navy is moving forward with plans to build a new dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Navy recently published a Sources Sought notice for a massive, multi-award contract — worth up to $30 billion — for the multi-mission dry dock. The dock is part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, which aims to modernize the service’s four long-neglected shipyards at Norfolk, Virginia, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Portsmouth, Maine, as well as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard &…

Bottom lines up front WASHINGTON—Last week, Shanghai welcomed more than 1,400 executives and investors to its World AI Conference, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials pitched China as a responsible steward of artificial intelligence development. This conference took place at an awkward moment, as the Trump administration has focused much of its attention this summer on reducing the risk of access by adversary countries such as China to frontier AI models like Fable and Mythos, which are known for their advanced cyber capabilities. On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an investigation into Chinese intellectual-property theft…

Jessica Andrade fought 30 times inside the UFC octagon since 2013, winning the strawweight title and also challenging for the flyweight belt, but needed to find a side gig recently to bring some extra money home.Away from fighting while recovering from a shoulder injury after losing to Loopy Godinez in her most recent UFC bout in Aug. 2025, “Bate Estaca” told Direto de Vegas she’s “not afraid of hard work” if that means earning extra income.“Thank God I managed to save some money, so things are going well,” Andrade said. “But whenever I need to, I work as a delivery…

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 The Space Force is tripling the size of one of its main launch procurement contracts from $5.6 billion to $17 billion to accommodate growing demand from government customers. The service on July 17 announced an increase in the ceiling value for Lane 1 of its National Security Space Launch program, the contract mechanism the Space Force uses to launch government payloads with less stringent mission assurance requirements. The scope of the…

What Is DEFCON? DEFCON, short for Defense Readiness Condition or simply Defense Condition, is the U.S. military’s ranking system for defense readiness for a potential nuclear attack. The system of ranking the perceived threat to national security originated during the Cold War, when fear of communism was at a high. DEFCON 5 is in effect for the lowest perceived threat, while DEFCON 1 is the highest threat level and readiness for a state of war. In 1959, when the DEFCON system was implemented, the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained in a memo: “A uniform system of progressive readiness is essential…

No. 3 UFC middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov recently confirmed that he has been informed about his next fight.Imavov, who is riding a five-fight win streak, was expected to fight for the title earlier this year when Khamzat Chimaev was still the champion. However, when Sean Strickland stopped Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston, fans and “Tarzan” demanded that he must get the next title shot over Imavov.Imavov was willing to wait, as he did not want to fight Chimaev because of the relationship between their countries, Dagestan and Chechnya. “Borz” also had similar sentiments. Additionally, Imavov’s mother also did not want…

Sean Strickland is once again the middleweight champion.According to top contender Nassourdine Imavov, he’s “100 percent fighting for the belt.”“My next fight is (for) the belt,” Imavov told Jaiden Cable (via MMA Junkie). “Before the fight with Strickland and Khamzat, I wanted to fight Dricus (Du Plessis) to stay active, and the UFC told me I could fight only for the belt. After Khamzat vs. Strickland, I’m 100 percent fighting for the belt.”“I do not like him, he’s not a good person,” Imavov added. “He talks shit every day. We already fought before, and he insulted me several times. Even…

Terry Gerton You’ve recently published a new management tool, the Operational Readiness and Resiliency Index, or ORRI. My read of it says it kind of starts with the idea that government leaders don’t have a good way to assess whether they have the talent and the capabilities they need to achieve their mission objectives. As you started to think about this, what do you think is missing from the tools they have today? John Mullins That’s an interesting question, Terry. I think historically what we’ve done in planning is we’ve looked at goals and objectives, and we looked at budget…