An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on January 1, 2026. The demonstrations erupted after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest the sharp fall of Iran’s currency and worsening economic conditions. (Getty Images)
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers during a reporting trip to the Third Guard Division of the PLA on July 28, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Feng Li/Getty Images)
A Standard Missile Three (SM-3) is launched from the guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh during a joint Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy ballistic missile flight test June 22, 2006 in the Pacific Ocean. (Chris Bishop/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
US navy warship, forward-deployed Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65), docks at the Sydney Harbour in front of the Harbour Bridge on October 4, 2013. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (C) speaks as President Barack Obama (L) and Vice President Joe Biden look on during a press conference announcing Hagel's resignation, November 24, 2014. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)