Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert is the Senior National Security Editor. He was previously the senior national security editor at The National Interest. Weichert is the host of The National Security Hour on iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8 pm Eastern. He hosts a companion show on Rumble entitled "National Security Talk." Weichert consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, among them Popular Mechanics, National Review, MSN, and The American Spectator. And his books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China's Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran's Quest for Supremacy. Weichert's newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed on Twitter/X at @WeTheBrandon.

171030-N-EA818-367 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 30, 2017) The aircxraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Atlantic Ocean. Harry S. Truman has successfully completed tailored shipboard test availability and final evaluation problem and is underway preparing for future operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tommy Gooley/Released)

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

Iran Calls It a Flight of Mourners From Khamenei’s Funeral — Sources Say It Carried IRGC Officers and Gold

Iran secretly flew IRGC members, missile-related equipment and gold into Yemen aboard a Mahan Air flight from Tehran this month, sources say — Tehran...

Brandon WeichertJuly 24, 2026

A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer departs after conducting aerial refueling with a 28th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker during a mission in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, Oct. 25, 2019. The B-1B flew directly from its home station of Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., demonstrating the U.S. Air Force’s ability to rapidly deploy strategic bombers anywhere in the world. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Russ Scalf)

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

B-1B Lancer Bombers Have to Fly In From England Now Because Iran Has Degraded the American Bases Closer to the Fight

American B-1B Lancers have struck Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, flying in from the United Kingdom because closer bases have been degraded. CENTCOM did...

Brandon WeichertJuly 23, 2026

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

A King’s College Expert Doubts Tehran Ordered This at All — He Thinks the Houthis Are Exploiting Iran’s Distraction

Riyadh has confirmed that the tanker Encelia caught fire near Bab el-Mandeb, with its crew safe and no significant spill. The Houthis call it...

Brandon WeichertJuly 23, 2026

Putin Back in 2018. Image Credit: Creative Commons

Dollars and Sense

The Gasoline India Is Now Shipping to Russia Was Refined From Russian Crude That Left the Country Earlier This Year

Russia is taking delivery of gasoline from India and Belarus after Ukrainian strikes cut roughly two-fifths of its refining capacity. The country still pumps...

Brandon WeichertJuly 23, 2026

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

‘Black Eye’ for Russia’s Air Force: An Unreplaceable Su-57 Felon Fighter Looks Like It Was Just Destroyed (Or Was It?)

A Russian military aircraft came down near Zvenigorod during a training flight and the pilot ejected safely, Russian state media acknowledged. Ukrainian outlets say...

Brandon WeichertJuly 23, 2026

Ukraine War

Ukraine’s Newest Weapons Can Reach a Thousand Kilometers Inside Russia — Oil Depots and Aircraft Plants Are in Range

Ukraine has hit warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia's answer to Amazon, for the third time in a week, extending a long-range campaign that now...

Brandon WeichertJuly 22, 2026

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), while participating in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, fires the first naval strike missile from a U.S. destroyer July 18. Twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC in and around the Hawaiian Islands, June 27 to Aug. 1. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2024 is the 29th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Jennings)

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

The Regime Decentralized to Survive — and Now Iran No Longer Speaks With One Voice or Answers to a Single Commander

More than ten days into the renewed fighting, Iran faces three strategic paths over the Strait of Hormuz, according to a BBC assessment: settle...

Brandon WeichertJuly 22, 2026

The Treaty

The Houthis Have Not Fired a Single Shot at Red Sea Shipping — and Saudi Tankers Are Already Reversing Course Away From It

The Iran-backed Houthis have not sealed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the threat alone has been enough: three Saudi tankers bound for China and...

Brandon WeichertJuly 22, 2026

U.S. Air Force Maj. Josh Gunderson, F-22 Demo Team commander, performs the Raptor Slide during the Abbotsford Airshow, Aug. 5, 2021, at Abbotsford International Airport, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. During the Raptor-slide the aircraft actually slides down and backwards under control before Gunderson adjusts the aircrafts position and powers out of the maneuver. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Don Hudson)

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

Saudi Arabia Quietly Moved Its Oil Exports to the Red Sea to Get Around Hormuz — and the Houthis Can Choke That Route Too

Saudi Arabia quietly rerouted much of its crude to Red Sea ports to bypass Hormuz, and now moves more than three million barrels a...

Brandon WeichertJuly 22, 2026

National Security Journal

Brandon Weichert

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

Iran Calls It a Flight of Mourners From Khamenei’s Funeral — Sources Say It Carried IRGC Officers and Gold

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

B-1B Lancer Bombers Have to Fly In From England Now Because Iran Has Degraded the American Bases Closer to the Fight

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

A King’s College Expert Doubts Tehran Ordered This at All — He Thinks the Houthis Are Exploiting Iran’s Distraction

Dollars and Sense

The Gasoline India Is Now Shipping to Russia Was Refined From Russian Crude That Left the Country Earlier This Year

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

‘Black Eye’ for Russia’s Air Force: An Unreplaceable Su-57 Felon Fighter Looks Like It Was Just Destroyed (Or Was It?)

Ukraine War

Ukraine’s Newest Weapons Can Reach a Thousand Kilometers Inside Russia — Oil Depots and Aircraft Plants Are in Range

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

The Regime Decentralized to Survive — and Now Iran No Longer Speaks With One Voice or Answers to a Single Commander

The Treaty

The Houthis Have Not Fired a Single Shot at Red Sea Shipping — and Saudi Tankers Are Already Reversing Course Away From It

Military Hardware: Tanks, Bombers, Submarines and More

Saudi Arabia Quietly Moved Its Oil Exports to the Red Sea to Get Around Hormuz — and the Houthis Can Choke That Route Too

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