Brandon Weichert

Ottawa is still debating whether to complete its purchase of 88 F-35s, and the arithmetic has moved against it. The original figure was about C$19 billion. Lifecycle estimates have since reached C$27.7 billion, with bleaker projections running considerably higher. What the debate tends to skip is how little room Canada has left. Sixteen aircraft are already bought with deliveries beginning late this year, long-lead components are funded for fourteen more, and Canada has been inside the Joint Strike Fighter programme since 1997. Exiting now means contractual penalties, a lost place in the production queue, and industrial work that goes elsewhere.

Lockheed built three YF-12 interceptors, and not one ever entered service. They flew above 80,000 feet at better than Mach 3, and on May 1, 1965, one set an officially recognized world speed record of 2,070 miles an hour. Another fired a live AIM-47 and destroyed a drone. The Air Force wanted a fleet of them to meet Soviet bombers far from North America, and never got it: procurement costs rose, Vietnam consumed the money, and the Defense Secretary put ballistic missile defense ahead of a Mach 3 interceptor force. One crashed, one burned, one went to Dayton.

Satellite imagery taken in late June and early July indicates eleven J-20 fighters at two Chinese bases near the disputed border with India — seven at Hotan in Xinjiang, four at Damxung in Tibet. Beijing has said nothing about their mission, their readiness state, or how long they will remain. Altitude imposes its own penalties on the aircraft: thin air reduces engine performance, fields need longer runways, and both fuel capacity and payload suffer. India, meanwhile, operates no fifth-generation aircraft at all, and its own Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft remains years from availability.

The Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers cost billions and displace 65,000 tons each. Aboard one of them, sailors spent months without dependable hot water in Portsmouth — showers that had to run for long periods before warming, replacement parts that took months to arrive, and crew members living ashore until it was fixed. The propulsion problems are more serious. Prince of Wales broke down in 2022, Queen Elizabeth withdrew from a NATO exercise in early 2024 over a propeller-shaft coupling, and Prince of Wales suffered another fault near Norway. Britain is now debating whether to place one carrier in reserve.

While everyone knows about the iconic F-22 Raptor and the ubiquitous F-35 Lightning II, China's Chengdu J-20 (as well as their J-35) fifth-generation warplane is a real challenger to the American F-22 as well as the F-35.

Oman splits Hormuz traffic between Iran's route and its own — Tehran seems interested and Trump is standing down. The deal, and the catch.

A EUCOM warning: the fleet can't cover Israel and the homeland. The oil reserve is at a forty-year low. The case Trump had to stand down on Iran.

While many are breathing a sigh of relief over President Donald J. Trump’s apparent de-escalation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, there remain some fears that the war is not over.

Iran War Ending? We Should Hope So: The world is sitting in stunned confusion (perhaps pleasant surprise is a better term, considering where it looked like we were headed on Friday) as President Donald J.

Bessent says an Iran deal could land within a day. An analyst argues the terms cede control of the strait to Tehran for three months.