Welcome to the big league: Ukrainian SOF unit operationally greenlighted by US & NATO

A Ukrainian Special Operations unit has become the first-ever non-NATO unit to pass the Alliance’s arduous SOF certification process. The 140th Special Operations Forces Center (140th SOFC) is now eligible to deploy and operate under the umbrella of NATO’s Response Force, the NRF. Being a SOF unit, however, means that if it were to be called, […]

Russia gets into a Twitter beef with Poland over WWII invasion

On September 1, 1939, Nazi troops stormed through Poland’s western border, capturing territory as they defeated Polish forces right up to around the nation’s midpoint. On the 17th of the same month, troops from the neighboring USSR poured into Poland from the East — but not with the intention of engaging the Nazi occupiers as […]

Theory posits that Roswell crash was a Soviet hoax meant to make Americans panic

In July of 1947, something fell from the sky and crash landed in Mack Brazel’s ranch, just northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. According to the official story, it was an experimental weather balloon. If you listen to the long list of conspiracy theories surrounding the event, it was a spaceship from another world, crewed by […]

Declassified supersonic spy drone flew multiple failed missions over China in the 1960s

This week, the National Reconnaissance Office declassified a trove of documents pertaining to the long defunct “Tagboard” drone program, a reconnaissance effort so ahead of its time that it seemed like science fiction until only recently. In the 1960s, the United States found itself in a unique position: Nuclear programs in both China and the […]

Declassified supersonic spy drone flew multiple failed missions over China in the 1960s

This week, the National Reconnaissance Office declassified a trove of documents pertaining to the long defunct “Tagboard” drone program, a reconnaissance effort so ahead of its time that it seemed like science fiction until only recently. In the 1960s, the United States found itself in a unique position: Nuclear programs in both China and the […]

Soviet space successes: the Venus lander the world forgot about

On Monday, August 6th, 2012, I got up four hours before the sun rose. I wasn’t due on post for another five hours and I’d barely slept, but there was history to observe – and the warm comfort of my bed wasn’t going to keep me from witnessing it. I blindly silenced my phone’s alarm, […]

Proxy warfare: The strategic dilemma of relying on proxy counterterrorism forces

Proxy warfare isn’t a new concept. It has been used since ancient times. More recently, the British used it quite successfully during the Dhofar War in Oman in the early 1970s. Special Air Service (SAS) operators trained, advised, and, perhaps, accompanied Yemeni dissenters in cross-border operations deep inside Yemen. Another example—this time of active proxy […]