The 1950s were a time of rapid innovation in aviation. The world emerged from World War II with an intense curiosity about new technologies and a heightened interest in military superiority. The Cold War was beginning to heat up, and the U.S. military was focused on developing any technology that might provide a strategic advantage.

For decades the United States military has dreamed of developing jetpacks to ferry troops around. Personalized flying machines could turn an infantryman into an airborne fighter. But alongside rocket-propelled soldiers, the U.S. military also once gave personal vertical take-off and landing machines a shot.
They are better described, and are classified as flying platforms. Soldiers would stand on a small platform, which itself was over a large fan that would generate lift and get troops airborne.

L Todd Wood and Pete Blaber detail the continuing lies emanating from Ukraine and the truth on the ground in Donbass.

The post The Logic Of Why Is Missing In Ukraine – Pete Blaber – Ukraine SitRep 12/31/25 appeared first on Armed Forces Press.

NGOs rise out of the muck of the Deep State to foment hate and discontent with those who’ve sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution

Here come the shadowy NGOs in the counter-attack to undermine a legally elected President and his Administration.
The group “Win Without War” is now funding signs, emails, and billboards outside military bases essentially soliciting sworn military and civilian members of the U.S. Government to collect and report information for legal actions against the Administration.

The new year is a busy time, but it’s also a good time to set aside a little to review your financial situation and make plans for 2026. As part of those plans, early January is a great time to increase your contributions to the military’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
Related: Everything there is to know about military pay and veteran benefits for 2026
TSP Basics
TSP is a tax-advantaged retirement savings account, similar to a civilian 401(k). Contributions are made directly from your military pay account.

“We’ll be just as busy, committed and foc

Editor’s Note: Defense tech enthusiasts may be familiar with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous Arsenal of Democracy speech, which solemnly and urgently called for material support to Europe in its fight against the Nazis. In that “fireside chat,” broadcast to radios across the country, Roosevelt appealed to the American people to break from their tradition of noninterventionism and appeasement to support the war effort. But Roosevelt delivered another speech two weeks later to Congress, on January 6, 1941, that struck a different tone. That address is excerpted below.

As part of efforts spanning more than a decade to rapidly expand the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s fleet of advanced destroyers, the service commissioned seven new destroyers in 2025, all of which were Type 052D class ships. These included the warship Weinan (hull number 166), commissioned in March 2025, the Suzhou (hull number 158), commissioned in May 2025, the Cangzhou (hull number 125), commissioned on May 29, 2025, the Heze (hull number 126), commissioned in July 2025, and the Zhumadian (hull number 127), commissioned on July 27, 2025.

The year 2025 saw the intensification of conflicts across multiple theatres, and the outbreak of new hostilities in Latin America, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, while major developments in ongoing arms races have shifted consensus among analysts regarding long term power trajectories affecting several key hotspots.

It was nearing midnight just two days before Thanksgiving when a small Marine Corps drone buzzed to life, obscuring the sound of insects chirping away at the Puerto Rican military facility known as Camp Santiago.
Then there was an explosion, briefly illuminating the drone’s target — a container — and the flora surrounding it in an otherwise dark night, according to a Marine Corps video of the exercise. A voice then cracked over the radio: the target was destroyed.

An analysis of federal health survey data found that children in U.S. military families are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at higher rates than children in civilian families. Children’s Health Defense scientists, who conducted the study, said child exposure to toxins, either directly or through their parents, cannot be ignored and must be investigated.

by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
Children in U.S.

Air Force Special Operations Command is interested in equipping its AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft with SpaceX’s made-for-government Starlink/Starshield terminals.
According to a request for information posted to Sam.gov on Tuesday, AFSOC is conducting market research for “ruggedized Starlink/Starshield integration solutions onto AC-130J Ghostrider” — a gunship that primarily provides close air support and armed reconnaissance for ground-based forces.

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the numbers don’t spin…and happy New Year to all

Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian flight deckImage by 中国新闻社

As the final post of 2025, let’s look at the warships the U.S. Navy commissioned this year.
Carriers:

None. Next scheduled in 2027.

Amphibious Ships:

None. Next LHA expected in 2026.

Destroyers:

None. Two expected in 2026.

Frigates or Other Small Surface Combatants:

USS Pierre, LCS-38

Attack Submarines:

USS Iowa, SSN-797

So, a LCS and a SSN. 2026 should be a bit better, but it is what it is.
Two.

If you are reading this, conduct a sensitive items check on your sanity. You made it. You survived another twelve months of last-minute orders to places that haven’t been added to maps yet, healthcare transitions that will be studied for centuries, and the special brand of politics that comes from being told “we care about you.” At the same time, you’re doing battle with the black mold that has achieved sentience in your laundry room.

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A failure to properly follow procedures and a lack of supervision led to the death of an airman last year in Alaska. That’s according to a newly released Air Force investigation, which found that Staff Sgt. Charles Crumlett’s death while working on a F-22 Raptor was in part because of a lax attitude from his maintenance crew.
Crumlett died on March 15, 2024, while working as a weapons load crew chief at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. He was working on an F-22A Raptor fighter jet when a weapons bay closed on him, resulting in a fatal head injury.

Radcliffe, Express Russian state broadcaster have thanked Trump and claimed “knockout victory” over Ukraine after his Mar-a-Lago summit

Straits Times The drills forced Taiwan to cancel some domestic flights and dispatch jets and warships to monitor. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures There is talk of Russia moving into Belarus, launching attacks on Latvia and Lithuania, and preparing a massive operation in and around the Black Sea.

Another year of military entertainment has come and gone, and 2025 gave us everything from gritty “SEAL Team” authenticity to Netflix documentaries that’ll make you want to reenlist. But it also delivered some absolute stinkers that make you wonder if anyone involved ever actually met a service member. From blockbuster films to video games and podcasts, here’s what dominated the military media landscape this year.

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Precision in planning is the key to success on

As 2025 comes to an end, we at War on the Rocks reflect on the stories and events that our readers found most compelling in a year marked by fresh conflicts, long-standing rivalries, cutting-edge military technology, and the ongoing importance of learning from the past. Our most-read pieces show the variety of our interests and the complexity of our world, from geopolitical conflicts in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East to the change in how the United States views itself and interacts with allies and adversaries.

DroneShield has secured an $8.2m contract to deliver counter-drone equipment and related services to a Western military customer.

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The Belarusian Armed Forces have placeda Russian-made 96L6 all-altitude long range air defence C-band radar system on combat duty, marking a major milestone in the modernisation of its ground-based air defence network at a time of high tensions with neighbouring NATO members. Belarusian defence officials have described the new system force multiplier that significantly enhances the early-warning and fire-control architecture of the country’s surface-to-air missile network, which is build around the S-400 long range missile system.

Military commissars sprayed a gas canister at a young mother with a small child while her relative was being pushed into a car. The ‘bounty hunters’ are paid $200 a head for meat to send to the front. The average survival time is measured in days once on the front line.
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Russian ‘Pravda’ is reporting the deaths of three former American soldiers on the Ukraine battlefield.
Pravda writes — As a result of the drone attack, three former US Army soldiers who fought as foreign mercenaries were killed.
Kelly previously served in elite units: the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 20th Special Forces Group (Green Berets). The militants were killed as a result of a Russian FPV drone hitting a pickup truck in which the group was located, besides them, 2 more foreign mercenaries were seriously injured.

The U.S. Navy tried to build a new frigate.

Sailors will once again be required to take two physical fitness tests per year, the Navy announced today. The changes to the Navy’s Physical Readiness Program, released via a Navy Administrative Message or NAVADMIN, say they will be implemented in January 2026. 
The new NAVADMIN directs sailors to a Navy fact sheet outlining the new guidance. Per the new policy, sailors will go through two fitness assessment cycles each year, one between the start of the year and the end of June and the second starting in July and running to the end of each year.

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Junior enlisted Marines have a reputation for doing some pretty insane, off-the-wall, or altogether unexpected things (even among other junior enlisted service members). It’s just what they’ve always done. In 1999, one of the Marines stationed in Bahrain, Lance Cpl. Jason Johnson, faced a court-martial and legal battle to wed his beloved girlfriend, a Bahraini local named Meriam. The Marine met Meriam at a local mall and, despite her family’s objections, the two continued their love affair.

The Army is pulling the reins and now plans to keep its military horse programs at two bases that were set to end in 2026.
The Military Working Equid programs will remain active at Fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Hood, Texas, the Army announced today. In July, the Army decided it was time to say goodbye to horses, donkeys and mules at five bases, in order to “align more resources with warfighting capability and readiness.

The first year of President Donald Trump’s second term brought many significant changes to U.S. foreign policy, as the administration worked to reshape policy to fit its priorities and to respond to emerging challenges to U.S. interests. As the 2025 National Security Strategy laid out, the Trump administration’s tone and approach to the world departs from many long-held assumptions in American foreign policy. The last year also saw events such as Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran in June, the buildup of U.S.

Every Christmas, we watch a handful of films that are so iconic to Americana that, no matter how many times they’re played, you’ll watch ’em again next year. One such film is “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Though never explicitly stated in the film, it’s clear that Chevy Chase’s character, Clark Griswold, is a former U.S. Navy sailor. Every action he takes falls perfectly in line with how 90% of veterans are in real life.
We get a clue into Clark’s service when crazy Aunt Bethany arrives for Christmas Eve dinner.

The Army recently established an artificial intelligence career field that select officers can transfer into starting next month, DefenseScoop has learned. It is also considering the potential for warrant officers to join the new role.
The service created the 49B “area of concentration” for AI and Machine Learning on Oct. 31, according to Maj. Travis Shaw, a spokesperson for the Army. Between Jan. 5 and Feb.

The Black Seminole Indian Scouts stand among the most skilled and effective irregular fighting forces ever to serve in the United States Army. Operating between 1870 and 1914, they inherited a legacy forged through centuries of resistance, migration, cultural fusion, and frontier survival. Their abilities in tracking, reconnaissance, border security, and small-unit tactics made them indispensable to the Army during the final decades of the Indian Wars.

Maria Levi did not carry a rifle. She carried pasta. After an Allied prisoner of war escaped from an Italian camp in September 1943, Levi waded barefoot across a river with a pot balanced on her head to feed him. It sounds like a fable until you remember what it really was: supply and sustainment, delivered by a civilian, in occupied territory, to a man the Germans would happily shoot. She was one of the thousands of Italian women who did their part to win World War II.
Related: 6 military spouses who grabbed a weapon and joined the fight
Italy’s armistice on Sept.

Marines, civilians and members of industry interested in attending the U.S. Marine Corps’ AI “workshop” at Quantico should mark their calendars for March 9-12, 2026, according to a new MARADMIN message released Monday.
The gathering was originally scheduled to take place last month, but it was postponed due to a lapse in appropriations associated with the federal government shutdown.
The Marine Corps’ service data officer is organizing the event, which will focus specifically on generative AI and agentic AI.
The term “agentic AI” has been added to the name of the event.

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Ishaan Tharoor, The Washington Post

Chris Panella, Business Insider The US Navy is struggling to compete with China due to a spate of failed ship classes. A new report warns there’s no easy fix.

Hanson, Alaska News Huntington Ingalls Industries has delivered the guided missile destroyer USS Ted Stevens to the the U.S. Navy, the company announced Monday.

Zacks HII strengthens its role as a top U.S. naval contractor with the delivery of Flight III destroyer Ted Stevens, marking another milestone for Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Jack Buckby, 19FortyFive New watchdog data shows F-35 availability at 50% and Air Force readiness sliding to 67%. “Fly, fix, fight” now meets hard reality.

When Discipline Replaces Fear | Military Motiva

Some weapons win firefights, and then some weapons decide whether a firefight is even allowed to happen.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the MK19 Mod 3 automatic grenade launcher lived firmly in the second category. It didn’t need to be fired often to do its job. This beast’s presence, mounted high, visible, unapologetic, was more than enough to ease anxiety. Its presence rewrote behavior, redrew boundaries, and simplified decisions in wars defined by the fog.
This was not about precision or finesse. It was about controlling the battlespace in environments where space was a problem.

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How does guard duty compare around the world?