Military News

Forty years ago Thursday, President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people to announce his plan for a national ballistic missile defense system. This new program, known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, was envisioned to eventually protect the United States from any Soviet nuclear attack. However, years of force degradation and confusing policies from…

Service members increasingly are concerned with the growing politicization of the U.S. military, recent polling shows. In October, The Heritage Foundation established an independent panel to address political practices or policies within the Pentagon that hinder the operational effectiveness of the armed forces. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.) As part of its…

In early 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin fired all the members of 42 separate defense advisory boards and suspended operation of the panels until the Pentagon could do a “zero-based” review.  The Defense Department sponsors these advisory boards to provide the Pentagon advice on matters such as business operations, innovation, health care, retirement, and operation…

Although in many countries around the world, liberal political views are dominant, some nations in Eastern Europe have notably resisted the left-wing ideology. One of the most criticized among the latter is Hungary. The Hungarian government stands for national sovereignty and conservative values among the world’s nations. In a Heritage Foundation event on Monday, “Promoting…

The U.S. military not only is weak overall but “at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests,” according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation. On Tuesday, Heritage released its 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength, a document of nearly 600 pages that assesses the strength…

Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed his calls for the “reunification” of China and Taiwan on Sunday during the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use…

Educators and administrators running K-12 education on America’s military bases are indoctrinating the children of military personnel in radical gender ideology, critical race theory, and left-wing activism. In a new Claremont Institute investigative report, my colleague Scott Yenor and I document this latest evolution in America’s culture war. This development at military-run schools tracks broader trends…

Parental rights in education is not domestic terrorism. Any organization that says otherwise should have no influence over public policy whatsoever. And yet, in a first draft of a letter to President Joe Biden, the National School Boards Association requested the Army National Guard and military police to monitor parents in school board meetings. Why?…

Since the transition to an all-volunteer force in 1973, there have been years when the military services missed their recruiting goals. These include 1999, 2005, and 2018 when either the economy was booming or casualties in a conflict were perceived high. But according to military personnel officials at a Senate hearing last week, 2022 is…

In response to increasing missile threats from regional terrorist groups, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that a new laser defense system will be deployed within a year to intercept incoming missile attacks. This news highlights the increasing pace of development and utility of using high-energy lasers—a directed energy weapon—for missile defense. Israel already deploys…

Gallup recently released a poll describing how American’s confidence in military officers had declined to its lowest level since it began measuring in 2001. The big news was that between 2017 and 2022, Americans who believe military officers possess “high ethics” declined by a full 10 points, down to 61%. An optimist could see this…

On Sept. 15, 2020, President Donald Trump brokered the signing of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and Israel and Bahrain. This historic achievement creates a pathway for increased cooperation between American, Israeli, and Arab countries on trade and investment while strengthening the abilities of all three to deter…

’Tis the season of Christmas wish lists and New Year’s resolutions, so there are a few items that The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense would love to see under the tree this Christmas.   As we close out 2021, we see Russian President Vladimir Putin massing more than 100,000 troops across from Ukraine, China…

From Call of Duty to Minecraft, virtual spaces are where more and more people are spending a good amount of their lives. Facebook’s plan to create a metaverse—a sort of next-generation internet that promises to blur the line between the actual and virtual worlds even further—raises valid concerns. And yet, the demand for virtual environment…