Key Facts Overview: A Nation Still Largely Offline Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces an uphill battle in bringing internet access to its population, which is dispersed across difficult terrain and hundreds of islands. General internet penetration remains very low – only about 24.1% of the population were internet users at the start of 2025 datareportal.com…
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Overview: Current Internet Infrastructure and Access in Tuvalu Tuvalu is a Polynesian microstate of about 10,000 people spread across nine coral atolls. Until recently, its internet infrastructure consisted solely of satellite links – there were no subsea fiber cables, and even regional microwave links to neighbors were absent due to the vast ocean distances. All…
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The F-35 has three variants—F-35A, F-35B, and F-35C—and can carry 2× 2000-lb bombs internally (or up to 18,000 lb externally) with a top speed of about Mach 1.6. As of 2025, the F-35A unit flyaway price is roughly $80–$90 million (B/C around $100 million), with production around 150 jets per year and over 1,000 aircraft…
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The Micronesian region comprises the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Palau, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Kiribati. In 2010 the HANTRU-1 fiber cable reached Majuro and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, branching from Pohnpei to FSM, marking the region’s first international fiber backbone. Palau connected to the SEA-US cable in 2017 and is slated to…
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Nauru has a population of about 12,000 and an area of 21 km², with roughly 83% of residents using the internet as of 2023. Since 2022–2023, SpaceX Starlink has become available in Nauru, and the Starlink Community Gateway on Command Ridge began operating in December 2024. In January 2025 Neotel launched a nationwide 5G network…
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By early 2025, Starlink was available in over 100 countries across every inhabited continent. In the past year, Starlink launched in 42 new countries and territories and surpassed 6 million active customers worldwide. In the United States, the standard Starlink plan costs about $90 per month with a $599 equipment kit. SpaceX added about 2,300…
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In June 2025, F-22 Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing deployed from Langley AFB to the Middle East as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, joining a strike package of 125 U.S. aircraft including B-2 bombers dropping 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz, marking the Raptor’s first direct strikes against a nation-state. On July…
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March–May 2025: six B-2 Spirit bombers deployed to Diego Garcia to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, marking the bomber’s first combat employment in years. June 21–22, 2025: seven B-2s launched from Whiteman AFB for Operation Midnight Hammer, striking Iran’s Fordow and Natanz facilities after an 18-hour flight with multiple refuelings and dropping 14 GBU-57A/B Massive…
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The HANTRU-1 cable is 2,917 km long with a 160 Gbps design capacity, extended to Majuro and Kwajalein/Ebeye in 2010, linking to a Pohnpei hub and onward to Guam. A 2017 HANTRU-1 cable fault caused a nationwide 3-week outage, forcing a 97% bandwidth cut as the islands relied on limited satellite links. The East Micronesia…
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China formally unveiled a stealth aircraft carrier program in 2025, highlighted by CCTV footage showing two J-35 prototypes in a Shenyang hangar and Fujian sea-trial progress. The Type 003 Fujian is the first Chinese carrier with electromagnetic catapults (EMALS), configured with three EMALS launchers, displacing about 80,000–85,000 tons and measuring roughly 318 meters. The J-35…
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