PLA

China’s long-serving aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, boasts a small fleet of troubled J-15s and, as of 2016, only 25 qualified pilots. Now, as the Chinese test and expedite production of two new domestically developed aircraft carriers, they face a number of significant challenges. Their goal is to become a true “blue water” Navy. But they […]

As President Trump’s trade war with China continues, weakening relations between the two powerful states have already begun exacerbating tensions between U.S. and Chinese interests in other realms of geopolitics. Diplomatic spats about how the United States views Taiwan, and a looming standoff between the Chinese and the U.S.-led Pacific forces that challenge China’s claimed […]

China’s long-serving aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, boasts a small fleet of troubled J-15s and, as of 2016, only 25 qualified pilots. Now, as the Chinese test and expedite production of two new domestically developed aircraft carriers, they face a number of significant challenges. Their goal is to become a true “blue water” Navy. But they still have much […]

In recent years, China’s People’s Liberation Army has undergone a massive modernization effort that has sought to not only expand their military presence around the world, but also to serve as the military backbone behind a broader diplomatic initiative. China wants to dethrone the United States as the most prominent super power on the globe, […]

Although the breadth of American media attention has been focused on the hybrid warfare threat posed by Russia, it is widely believed that Vladimir Putin’s nation wouldn’t have the economic strength required to sustain an actual war with a nation like the United States. In fact, despite possessing a few high profile “doomsday” style weapons, […]

China’s Navy has undergone a period of rapid expansion in recent years. With more than twenty new vessels launched in the past 18 months, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) seems intent on first dominating the South China Sea and eventually, making the transition toward a globally capable blue water navy. Nowhere is that push […]

The debate about establishing a new branch of the United States military that specializes in space and orbital defense has been going on since long before President Trump threw his support behind a “Space Force.” In fact, a “Space Corps” was even included in Congress’ defense budget last year, before being lost in the effort […]

In recent years, both China and Russia have begun deploying ballistic missiles that were developed with one specific target in mind: America’s massive super carriers. As the most potent means of American force projection, Nimitz and Ford class super carriers provide the U.S. with a platform to launch air strikes from aircraft like the Super […]

Defense Secretary James Mattis has tapped Admiral Phil Davidson, a four star admiral with expertise in anti-submarine and electronic warfare, to take command of the U.S. Navy’s troubled Pacific Fleet. With what some have characterized as a “grueling” operational tempo and a rash of tragic and embarrassing incidents involving surface vessels in the Pacific over […]

In recent months, the United States Navy has been working at a fever pitch to find ways to bridge the operational gap between the anti-ship missiles fielded by near-peer competitors like China and the fuel ranges of America’s carrier-based aircraft. The effort has included adding supplementary fuel tanks to the fuselage of Super Hornets, developing […]

China’s out of control space station, the Tiangong-1, finally fell into the fiery grip of earth’s atmosphere on Sunday night, reentering at approximately 8:16 p.m. EST somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. “U.S. Strategic Command’s (USSTRATCOM) Joint Force Space Component Command (JFSCC), through the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), confirmed Tiangong-1 reentered the Earth’s atmosphere over the […]

As a part of China’s People’s Liberation Army’s continued modernization efforts, China is now experimenting with converting outdated tank platforms into unmanned combat drones. Footage released to the public last Wednesday on state-owned television shows a Type 59 Chinese tank being maneuvered via remote control, using a steering wheel and dual screened console to manage […]