B-52s

The unexpected decision by President Trump to amend an emergency Sept 11 order signed by George W Bush, allowing the Air Force to recall up to 1,000 retired air force pilots to address what the Pentagon has decribed as "an acute shortage of pilots" caught us by surprise. After all, this was the first time we have heard of this particular labor shortage - perhaps there was more to this executive order than meets the eye. Indeed, a just released report may help explain the reasoning behind this presidential decision.

As part of South Korea’s response to the latest escalations out of its northern neighbor, the country's defense minister on Monday said it was "worth reviewing the redeployment of American tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula" to guard against the North, a step that analysts warn would sharply increase the risk of an accidental conflict. On Monday, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo said that he asked his American counterpart, Jim Mattis, during talks at the Pentagon last week that strategic assets such as  U.S.

With the naval and economic blockade of Qatar extending into the second week, while Qatar's banks and money exchanges are fast running out of dollars, today the wealthy Gulf state defied and accused the Saudi-led alliance of engaging in an "illegal siege" designed to apply political pressure, while rebuffing the Saudi "offer" of food and aid.

One month after the US intercepted Russian tactical bombers flying in proximity to Alaska on several occasions, and just four days after Russia returned the favor earlier this week when a Russian Su-27 was scrambled to "accompany" a US B-52 bomber flying over the Baltic Sea, on June 9 a Russian fighter jet was "photobombed" in a series of dramatic photos while intercepting a group of US warplanes over the Baltic Sea during annual military drills over the Baltic Sea, the US Department of Defense said.

The U.S. is to deploy the B-52 Stratofortress long-range strategic bomber to the Middle East to fight ISIS. The huge nuclear capable jet-powered bomber is made by Boeing and can drop 32 tons of conventional bombs simultaneously. Russia Today reports: The B-52s will replace several Rockwell B-1 Lancer supersonic strategic bombers, which had been striking terrorist positions near Kobani, Syria for several months and have now returned to their base in Texas, the Air Force Times reports. Defense officials also confirmed the information to Fox News.