Author: Errica Jensen

The question, “Did Iran hit the USS Abraham Lincoln?” echoed through newsrooms and screens for several tense hours. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps made the first claim, saying that the American aircraft carrier had been hit by four ballistic missiles in the Gulf. The language, which warned that the sea would turn into a cemetery and described a new stage of conflict, was dramatic, almost cinematic. It is difficult to distinguish between psychological warfare and battlefield reality in situations like that. The American response followed. The US Central Command retaliated quickly and forcefully. According to officials, the Lincoln was unharmed.…

It’s simple to visualize the Patriot missile as a single object: a sleek interceptor that soars into the sky and hits a ballistic missile in midair. However, you soon discover that the Patriot is more than one thing when you are in the industrial ecosystem that creates it. It’s a team effort. And occasionally a subtle rivalry. Raytheon, which is currently a part of RTX Corporation, is the main manufacturer of the Patriot system. As the prime contractor, Raytheon constructs the command centers, radar systems, and overall architecture. The system’s name, Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, comes…

The Tomahawk missile has an almost cinematic quality. There is a certain weight to the name alone—it is incisive, historical, and distinctly American. A production line in Tucson, Arizona, however, is much less dramatic than the headlines declaring launches in far-off wars or the shaky Pentagon footage of missiles streaking through the night. Today’s Tomahawk missiles are manufactured by Raytheon, which is now a part of RTX Corporation. It wasn’t always that easy. In the early days of the missile’s development, General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas, and Hughes Aircraft were involved. However, Raytheon has been the only manufacturer since the late…

At first look, the new M4 iPad Air seems like a machine that is unaware of its own power. Its display tables, which were thin slabs in Space Gray, Blue, Purple, and Starlight resting under bright white lights, remained the same when I walked into an Apple Store the morning after its announcement. However, Apple’s M4 chip—the same generation of silicon that was previously only found in Pro badges—is located beneath that recognizable aluminum shell. The figures are startling. Apple claims a 2.3x speed boost over the 2022 iPad Air, which was powered by the M1. The M4 offers about…

The cost of the iPhone 17e isn’t the first thing that stands out. The storage is the problem. Apple is now selling 256GB as the base model for $599, which is twice as much as what its entry-level devices used to come with. Even though it might seem like a minor spec bump, it felt more purposeful than giving when I was inside an Apple Store on launch morning, watching customers whisper numbers to each other and compare boxes. Quietly, storage has emerged as the new value currency. Naturally, Apple is aware of this. The A19 chip, which is based…

The silence was broken just before dawn, when Riyadh is usually at its most peaceful. Flames licked upward from within the U.S. Embassy compound as a loud blast reverberated through the Diplomatic Quarter. Black smoke curled into the pale morning sky for a brief moment, rising above the beige concrete walls and palm trees. Later, Saudi officials acknowledged that the facility had been hit by two drones, resulting in what they said was a small fire and some minor material damage. There were no reported injuries. Several accounts state that the building was mostly deserted at that early hour. A…

Lucy Hamilton tried to appear calm as she stood a little to one side of the team huddle with her hands clasped behind her back on a warm afternoon in Hobart, just before Australia’s third ODI match against India. The cameras lingered. During her final one-day international match, Alyssa Healy gave her cap number 151. The symbolism—a teenager stepping forward, a legend stepping away—was almost too neat. Hamilton is 19 years old. That figure seems significant. At this age, the majority of cricket players are still learning how to prepare for matches and aren’t getting an international cap in front…

The air feels charged before the first ball is bowled on some cricket afternoons. When Alyssa Healy walked out for her last one-day international, Hobart experienced that emotion. The stands were speckled with yellow shirts, the sky was a vivid blue, and a handcrafted sign that said, “Thanks Midge,” was visible somewhere in the crowd. It’s difficult to ignore how infrequently sports give their greatest players the happy ending they so richly deserve. The 35-year-old Healy didn’t simply retire. She blew up her exit. Two sixes vanishing into a late-summer sky, 27 boundaries flashing across Bellerive Oval, and 108 runs…

When the question first appears on a phone screen, it almost seems theatrical: was the Strait of Hormuz closed? There’s nothing theatrical about it, though, out on the water. Tankers are idling in loose formations off the coast at dawn, instead of gliding in steady formation toward the Gulf of Oman. Dozens of ships can be seen hardly moving on satellite maps, their digital markers remaining stationary. The ocean appears to be serene. It’s not tense. Iran has not formally announced that the waterway will be sealed. According to reports, however, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has radio-warned ships that “no ship…

The words “Iran hit Burj Khalifa” flashing across a phone screen has a surreal quality. The tower has always seemed inaccessible, more of a symbol than a structure, rising 828 meters into the Gulf sky. Gleaming like a silver needle at night and shimmering in desert light during the day, it anchors Dubai’s skyline with an almost theatrical confidence. Rumors spread more quickly than the interceptors when missiles and drones started flying over the United Arab Emirates this past weekend. The Burj Khalifa itself was not hit, according to official statements from Dubai authorities. However, debris from Iranian drones that…