The myriad problems with Australia’s new fleet of F-35 aircraft mean pilots aren’t getting the flying time they need and the jets themselves are in danger of becoming obsolete.
To make a more accurate comparison of the real purchasing power of a country’s military spending, we need to factor in differences in labour and operational costs between countries.
Roman Pilipey/EPA
While the US has the most powerful military machine in history, it is also incomparably the most expensive – and members of Congress work aggressively to maintain it.
New Zealand’s military aircraft are used for disaster relief, such as following a series of earthquakes in Sulawesi in 2018.
EPA/Holti Simanjuntak
New Zealand’s coalition government has to balance strong martial and pacifist traditions. But ageing equipment and climate change will require taxpayers to fund expensive upgrades for the military.
American-made F-15 warplanes fly over Riyadh.
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar
Trump claimed that ‘we would be punishing ourselves’ by using US arms sales to Saudi Arabia as a bargaining chip over the disappearance of Khashoggi. A look at the arms trade shows why he’s wrong.
A tank on its way to port for the Normandy landings in 1944.
PA Archive
Millennials are less inclined than older Americans to intervene abroad, maintain superior military power or believe the US is an exceptional nation. What does that mean for the country’s future?
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin
The most expensive defense program in world history has yielded a multi-role fighter plane that is an inelegant jack-of-all-trades, but master of none.
Though daunting, the challenge of a Trump presidency is pregnant with possibilities.
EPA/SHAWN THEW
The outcome of this election may depend more on what we make of it than on what Trump and his advisers intend. Though daunting, the challenge is pregnant with possibilities.