A MIM-104 Patriot Surface-to-Air Missile System fires as part of a bilateral live-fire exercise with military members from the Royal Netherlands Ground-based Air Defense Command at McGregor Range in New Mexico on May 11, 2024. (US Army)
A Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Uzushio-class submarine participates in an international fleet review at Sagami Bay on November 6, 2022, off Yokosuka, Japan. (Getty Images)
Iran Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting on June 26, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Fu Tian via Getty Images)
A Task Force 99 team member conducts pre-flight checks on an unmanned aerial vehicle in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Mar. 18, 2025. Task Force 99 is a nimble, mission-driven unit built to drive innovation and strengthen U.S. Air Forces Central capabilities across all domains. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ricky Arnold)
Ukrainian military personnel control the unmanned ground vehicle platform Rys Pro equipped with a remote-controlled machine-gun turret during training on April 18, 2025, in an unspecified area of Ukraine. (Serhii Mykhalchuk via Getty Images)
Ukrainian servicemen of a mobile air defense unit fire a Soviet-made ZU-23 anti-aircraft twin autocannon toward a Russian drone during an air attack near Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on July 19, 2025. (Roman Pilipey via Getty Images)
A formation of Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles takes part in a military parade celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (Xia Yifang via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Pilots of the 28th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine test a fiber optic drone with RPG munition on June 18, 2025, near Kostiantynivka, Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov via Getty Images)