With the Trump administration and a Republican congress at the helm of the United States, the US Navy (USN) seems determined to press its case for additional funding. Its 2016 force structure assessment (FSA), a…
Update: Trump’s FY18 budget request only calls for $18 billion over Obama’s planned spending levels, a far cry from what is needed to execute his campaign plans. Note: This article is part of a series…
On Friday, January 28, 2017, President Donald J. Trump made a monumental blunder by blocking all immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries and halting the flow of all refugees into the United States for 120 days….
Updated 5/23/2017 to reflect statements made by Coast Guard commandant Zukunft regarding the program. Earth’s polar regions, the Arctic and the Antarctic, are some of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Receiving little sun,…
Update: As of mid-2017, the US Navy has decided to expand the scope of the frigate program, opening the door for non-LCS designs and investigating the possibility of higher-powered sensors and a heavier armament. While…
In recent years, the United States Air Force has launched a number of programs intended to replace aging aircraft with modern ones. Most of these programs are in various stages of completion; the Advanced Tactical…
Updated 7/6/2017 with grammatical corrections. Mobility, the ability to transport troops and provisions from one place to another, is critical to any military operation. While firepower may be more prominently featured in the popular imagination,…
Article updated 6/15/2017 to add information and improve readability. Also replaced image chart with a table and added a section on the Rolling Airframe Missile. The US Navy uses a variety of air defense missiles,…
Update 11/6/2017: On November 4, 2017, a Patriot missile system intercepted a Burqan 2H ballistic missile destined for the King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. This engagement, which likely prevented tens…
The following is an essay on Thomas Jefferson’s interactions with the United States Navy. Unfortunately, WordPress does not support footnotes; a copy with footnotes and a bibliography can be viewed here. Thomas Jefferson is a figure…