Wednesday NatSec Roundup

So much courage deserved a better fate.

• If you’re into such things, interesting longread on the India-China military balance. “In 2000, India’s military outlays were 66 percent of China’s; by 2017, despite significant absolute growth in India’s defense budget, this figure had declined to 26 percent.”
• The MV-22 Osprey: Now for all of your snowmobile delivery and pickup needs.
• Ulysses S. Grant and the Ryuku Island Dispute. More on this a bit later, but the big world tour he and Julia conducted after the second term is one of the most interesting, least discussed parts of his career.
• Say what you will about ISIS, but they totally went Mad Max on a bunch of improvised vehicles…
• India’s last MiG-27 will fly into retirement at the end of this year. This will leave a very limited number of Floggers (including the MiG-23) in service worldwide, including more than a few in semi-service in places like Cuba, Syria, and Libya.
• Not security, but I did enjoy this recap of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting career. Without ever being quite what one could call a “good” actor, Arnold certainly managed to leverage his extraordinary charisma and screen presence into some very memorable roles…