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A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama, following the capture of the area by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024. Syria's embattled government said on December 7 it was setting up a ring of steel around Damascus, state media reported, as rebels on a lightning advance said they were bearing down on the city. The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group which has headed the assault, told fighters to prepare to take Damascus, just over a week into a renewed offensive in the long dormant conflict. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images) News & Features

The Assad Regime Has Fallen, Claims Swirl Around Possible Crash Of His Escape Jet (Updated)

In a stunning 12-day blitz, anti-regime forces have ousted Bashar al-Assad from Syrian rule.

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Storage-tunnel for nuclear missiles at an abandoned soviet military in Brandenburg State, Germany

Bunker Talk: Let’s Talk About All The Things We Did And Didn’t Cover This Week

Better late than never!

The USS Zumwalt's hypersonic missile launchers are now installed.

USS Zumwalt Returns To The Water With A Hypersonic Missile Launcher Upgrade

It's hoped that the tiny and hugely expensive Zumwalt class might find new utility with its hypersonic missile launch capability.

F-35 CCA under trump admin

Former Trump Acting SECDEF Talks About The Future Of Big Ticket Defense Programs

Chris Miller offered some insights into how the next Trump administration could approach defense procurement.

Gen. Bussiere said the number and speed of delivery of the B-21 is a “valid discussion” to have “based on the age of the B-1 and B-2” and the advancing strategic capabilities of Russia and China.

B-21 Raider Numbers Could Be Boosted With Existing Production Capacity

As the Air Force grapples with questions over B-21 force size, the head of Global Strike Command says the capacity exists to ramp up production.

Homs, Syria.s third-largest city, is close to being captured by rebels opposed to Bashar Al-Assad.

Syrian Rebels Closing In On Homs, Cutting Off Damascus From Coast An Imminent Possibility (Updated)

Homs is the last major city on anti-Assad forces' road to Damascus and its capture would put them 75 miles north of the city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised the possibility of forward deploying new conventionally-armed Oreshnik missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads in neighboring Belarus in the latter half of next year.

Experimental Ballistic Missile Russia Used On Ukraine Could Be Headed To Belarus

The broader ramifications of the secretive Oreshnik missile only continue to grow after its emergence in an unprecedented attack on Ukraine.

5 inch Mark 45 deck gun firing.

USS Carney’s Red Sea Operations Highlight 5-inch Deck Gun’s Anti-Air Capability

USS Carney executed a whopping 51 engagements of Houthi drones and missiles during its deployment to the Red Sea.

The Pentagon has released a summary of a new classified strategy to guide efforts to protect American forces abroad and across the U.S. homeland from growing drone threats.

This Is The New ‘Counter-Drone Strategy’ Just Unveiled By Pentagon

The new Pentagon strategy is an important acknowledgment of growing drone threats, but also highlights long-standing lag in addressing them.

Ngad punted to trump adminstration

Future Of NGAD Fighter Punted To Trump Administration

While the Air Force continues its deep review into the NGAD future crewed fighter, a final decision on its fate will be taken by the Trump administration.

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An anti-government fighter remotely fires rockets against regime forces, in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama on December 4, 2024. Syrian government forces pressed a counterattack against Islamist-led rebels around the key city of Hama on December 4 after suffering a string of staggering losses further north, a war monitor said.

Anti-Assad Forces’ Capture Of Strategic Hama A Critical Stop On Road To Damascus

Hama, a critical post on the road to the Syrian capital, is the latest city to fall to the rebels’ fast-moving offensive.

Russia is massing for a possible attack across the Dnipro River to draw in Ukrainian troops.

Russia Massing For Possible Cross-River Offensive In South Ukraine

Ukraine Situation Report: Russia is increasing attacks across Dnipro River to draw Ukraine's troops away from other areas of the front.

A U.S. official said U.S. forces backed an SDF raid on ISIS troops in eastern Syria.

Claims Swirl Around U.S. Strikes In Eastern Syria (Updated)

The U.S. insists that it supported an operation against ISIS that had no connection with anti-Assad offensive, reports state otherwise.

South Korean military forces have descended on the country's parliament building and other parts of the capital Seoul following President Yoon Suk Yeol's unexpected declaration of martial law.

Surprise Martial Law Declaration Throws South Korea Into Turmoil (Updated)

South Korean troops appeared at the country's parliament and elsewhere in the capital after President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration.

Rebel forces have taken most of Aleppo.

Aleppo Has Fallen, Assad’s Forces Regrouping As Rebels Blitz South

The rebel forces' blitz south is impressive, but holding all that territory will be put to the test if a robust response materializes.

Fighters fire towards Syrian Army troops in the Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and allied factions continue their offensive in the Aleppo province against government forces. The jihadists along with Turkey-backed factions launched this week a shock offensive against Syrian regime troops and sparked the deadliest battle the country has seen in years, with the violence killing so far 242 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The war monitor said most of the victims were combatants on both sides but also including civilians.

Rebel Forces Enter Syria’s Second Largest City Of Aleppo

A surprise offensive launched against the Assad regime earlier this week has made startling progress in northwest Syria.

050714-N-5345W-093 Atlantic Ocean (July 14, 2005) – Landing Signal Officers watch as an F-14B Tomcat, assigned to the "Swordsmen" of Fighter Squadron Three Two (VF-32), catches an arresting wire with its tail hook aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Truman is currently conducting carrier qualifications and operations off the East Coast and is also participating in a Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) with USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). JTFEX is a key component in the training cycle of an aircraft carrier and carrier air wing in the U.S. Navy Fleet Response Plan. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Kristopher Wilson (RELEASED)

Bunker Talk: Turkey Day Edition

It's all gravy baby!

An old-time Navy thanksgiving.

Navy Ship Menus From Thanksgivings Past

A look way back at what U.S. Navy sailors ate for Thanksgiving while on the high seas.

One especially interesting detail about the Phoenix Ghost family of kamikaze drones has now emerged: the different types can be configured to launch attacks straight down while passing overhead rather than having to careen into their targets and detonate.

Warheads In Phoenix Ghost Kamikaze Drones Blast Straight Down Like Air Burst Artillery Rounds

Air-bursting top-down attacks offer benefits against troops and softer-skinned targets in trenches or behind cover, as well as ones out in the open.

The Royal Australian Air Force, or RAAF has experimented with a new rapidly laid temporary surface, making it easier to conduct expeditionary aircraft operations, something that is of increasing relevance across the Indo-Pacific region. The trial, which used a temporary surface known as Dura-Base, involved an RAAF F-35A stealth fighter at RAAF Base Tindal, in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Australian F-35 Tests Expeditionary Base Concept

Dura-Base matting can be used for air base repairs as well as for helping establish austere operating locations across the Pacific.

A mysterious Chinese vessel with a large open flight deck, which TWZ was first to report on, looks to have made its maiden voyage.

China’s Wacky And Puzzling New Aircraft Carrier Has Set Sail

With the curious carrier now at sea, more details about its design and purpose may begin to emerge.

Ukraine's top commander says a new offensive is the only path to victory.

Ukraine’s Top Commander Wants New Counteroffensive, Says It’s The Only Path To Victory

Ukraine would face serious challenges and take on significant risks pulling off another counteroffensive.

ideos purporting to show a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian oil refinery may actually have been of a wayward civilian An-2 biplane.

An-2 Biplane Caused Major Scare When Russians Thought It Was A Long-Range Kamikaze Drone

The fear that An-2s could be converted into explosives-laden, deep-penetrating drones should come as no surprise.

The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783) arrives onboard U.S. Naval Base Guam, Nov 26. Minnesota, the first Virginia-class fast-attack submarine to be forward deployed to Guam, joins four Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines forward deployed in the Pacific. Regarded as apex predators of the sea, Guam's fast-attack submarines serve at the tip of the spear, helping to reaffirm the submarine forces' forward-deployed presence in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Justin Wolpert)

Submarine Presence In Guam Gets Boost With Its First Forward-Based Virginia-Class

Stationing the USS Minnesota in Guam brings persistent, forward-based Virginia class capabilities to the Western Pacific.

Still unidentified drones continue to be spotted around air bases in the United Kingdom that host American forces.

British Troops Reinforce USAF Airbases Amid Mysterious Drone Incursions: Reports (Updated)

Unidentified drones continue to be spotted flying around a trio of airbases in the United Kingdom resulting in a growing response in manpower and equipment.

A U.S. Army High Mobility Rocket System (HIMARS).

Marine HIMARS Deployment To Southern Japanese Islands During Taiwan Crisis Detailed In Report

The U.S. Army's Multi-Domain Task Force and its long-range missiles would also purportedly deploy to the Philippines.

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The War Zone — also known by the shorthand TWZ — has become an essential resource for the defense industry, the national security community, and the interested public at large since it was launched in 2016.

 

From its early beginnings to the present day, TWZ’s purpose remains the same.

 

The site stands at the nexus of military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. As a full-spectrum defense news and analysis website, TWZ covers the air, sea, land, space, and cyber domains of warfare, with an infusion of geopolitical context and technological analysis to offer readers deeper, yet easy-to-consume, insights than what they will find anywhere else….

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