The National Interest

The AJ 37 Viggen was a Real Aerial Killer

Here’s What You Need to Remember: Smart design also meant the Viggen could rearm extremely quickly, turnaround times were clocked at under twent…

The Eurofighter Typhoon Deserves More Praise

Here’s What You Need to Remember: In exercises, the Typhoon has quickly established a reputation as one of the world’s most formidable dogfighte…

Why Hungary Is Zelenskyy’s Other Big Problem

VOLODOMYR ZELENSKYY, who is the president of Europe’s poorest country, confronts a welter of problems, including Russian separatism in the east,…

China’s Economic Blackmail of Lithuania Could Backfire

The Republic of Lithuania has become an unlikely standard-bearer for transnational cybersecurity issues, with the country’s Defense Ministry urg…

Japan’s Kamikaze Jet Fighter Couldn't Alter the Outcome of World War II

Here’s What You Need to Know: With an even worse fuel and raw-materials situation than Germany, Japan probably would have fared no better. It is…

The SR-71 Blackbird Was Almost Shot Down by Sweden

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The Swedes’ Saab Viggen fighter once became the closest to ever shooting down the famed Blackbird, even achiev…

Gatling Gun 2.0: The General Dynamics M61A2 Relied on Civil War Technology

Here’s What You Need to Remember: Technically the Gatling Gun wasn’t a “machine gun” in the modern sense, as it was hand-cranked – with each cra…

Don't Overlook the Saab Gripen as a Serious Export Fighter

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The Gripen has come to serve as the modern mainstay of a number of second-tier air forces, offering a low-cost…

World War II Came Back to Haunt Poland, 75 Years Later

Here’s What You Need to Remember: Though there are no doubt hundreds of thousands of unexploded munitions still littering Europe today, this may…

Don't Count the Russian MiG-21 Out

Here’s What You Need to Remember: Modern fighters don’t fly much faster than the MiG-21, or maneuver much more capably. Military aircraft can ha…

Meet the Flying P-38 Powerhouse of WWII

Key point: Despite its flaws, the P-38 was a rare early example of a successful “heavy” fighter boasting speed, range, and firepower—similar to…

Heading South: How Hitler Took the Fight to Latin America

Here’s What You Need to Remember: More than a thousand Brazilians lost their lives in the naval war for the South Atlantic—but their sacrifice p…

U.S. Airlines Responded to Pentagon Call to Help in Afghan Evacuation

The evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghan civilians who worked with the U.S. military hasn’t exactly been as organized as government officials…

Eastern Europe Will Have to Learn to Live with Nord Stream 2

The United States and Germany recently reached an agreement that allows the project completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, accompanied by a p…

Is the Woke U.S. Military Going the Way of 1940’s France?

America’s woke military of 2021 has echoes of the heavily politicized French military that was routed by the Nazi Germans in 1940. My grandmothe…

Germany's Post-Merkel Choice: Commercial Interests or the Transatlantic Relationship?

President Joe Biden was also speaking for Chancellor Angela Merkel when he said at their meeting last week in Washington in the context of the N…

Hitler's Nightmare: Why If France Never Gave Up?

Here’s What You Need to Know: The eventual course of World War II put an especially bad light on the decision of the French military and politic…

Forged in War: The Israeli Air Force was Founded Under Siege

Here’s What You Need To Remember: When the Israeli pilots learned of the attack, they demanded to return to Israel early. Their Czech instructor…