Radar, missile defence and the money: every explainer, in reading order

How missile warning works, and why hypersonic and cruise weapons broke the model

The physics behind early warning radar, why the Earth's curvature hides low-flying weapons, how hypersonic glide vehicles fall between the sensor layers built for ballistic missiles, and what the new North American architecture, from over-the-horizon radar to space tracking constellations, is being designed to see.

Why read this one. The geometry lesson: how line of sight works against altitude, why low flying weapons hide below the horizon, and what hypersonic gliders do to the prediction that makes ballistic warning computable.

How over-the-horizon radar works: the ionosphere as a mirror, from Jindalee to Canada's Arctic shield

Over-the-horizon radar bounces high-frequency signals off the ionosphere to see aircraft and ships 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres away, far past the curvature of the Earth that blinds conventional radars. How the physics works, why the Arctic is the hardest place to do it, and how Australia's Jindalee became the technology Canada is buying for its northern approaches.

Why read this one. How bouncing high frequency signals off the ionosphere extends radar to thousands of kilometres, the forty year Australian record that proved it, and why Canada is buying the design to watch the Arctic.

The full map: every sensor in the North American early warning network, counted

Why read this one. The inventory: every radar and satellite constellation in the network, organised into four layers, with each count dated and the blind spot each layer watches named.

Three radars, one arc: where the Greenland base sits in NORAD's sensor rebuild

The radar at Pituffik is not a Greenland asset with a mission of its own. It is the middle node of a three-site phased-array arc that stretches from Beale in California to Fylingdales in Yorkshire, and the northern anchor of a warning architecture being rebuilt on four levels at once: upgraded ground radars, a new over-the-horizon layer in Canada, a space tracking constellation for manoeuvring weapons, and a family of discrimination radars that tell warheads from decoys. Mapping every node shows what the Greenland agreement actually connects to, and why each site's geography assigns it a fixed and non-transferable job.

Why read this one. The three site arc from California to Yorkshire to Greenland, and the geometry that assigns each node a job no budget line can relocate.

What Golden Dome actually is, and what no shield can promise

Why read this one. What the homeland shield actually consists of, layer by phase of flight, with the cost estimates compared and the physics record on what it can and cannot intercept.

The other side of the pole: Russia's and China's early warning networks, mapped and counted

Why read this one. The mirror: Russia's eleven site ground ring beside its withered satellite tier, China's seven confirmed arrays beside its new staring constellation, and the corridors all three networks watch.

How US military construction gets funded: from a base's wish list to federal law

The complete path of a military construction project, from a base's DD Form 1391 through the president's budget request, congressional authorisation and appropriation, to a building under construction, explained through the fiscal 2026 cycle that funds Pituffik and the new Greenland defence areas that do not yet appear in any budget line.

Why read this one. The path from a project form to federal law, using the fiscal 2026 cycle that funds Pituffik as the worked example, with the same dollar priced at four stages.

How to search the Pentagon's budget: the C-1 Construction Programs volume, step by step

The Construction Programs volume lists every military construction project the Department of War proposes, by installation, state and dollar figure, and it is free to download and searchable with any PDF reader. A worked search for Pituffik Space Base shows how to find a funding line, read the four number columns, and avoid the mistake of taking prior year comparison tables for a new request.

Why read this one. How to search the Pentagon budget yourself: download the Construction Programs volume, find any base, and read its four number columns without mistaking history for a request.

What the Greenland build actually costs: every verified dollar at Pituffik, tracked

The Greenland agreement was signed with a promise of no cost, and the records show why that claim survives on a technicality: the existing build was committed line by line before the agreement existed. A 12-year, $3.95 billion base operations contract awarded in December 2022. A $323 million power plant modernisation awarded in August 2024. Roughly $384 million of construction executed since 2016. A $32 million runway appropriation in the fiscal 2026 military construction law. And since the signing, the first pipeline for the expansion has surfaced: a USACE solicitation worth up to $500 million for heated hangars, a maintenance facility and a weapons arming station at Pituffik, and a $9 million engineering award to three Nordic firms. For the two new defence areas the agreement creates, still nothing: no budget line, no request, no published estimate. Every verified dollar and every new award is recorded here, as the standing account of what the agreement's promise turns into.

Why read this one. The living record: every verified dollar at Pituffik, the solicitations and awards as they are announced, and the standing test of the no cost claim.