Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Shields.


This is coolbert:

Within context of these previous blog entries herehere and here consider this warning [?] as issued [29 Sep.] by the Israeli Prime Minister. Thanks to DEBKAfile.

"Netanyahu accuses Hizballah of hiding missile plant in Beirut neighborhood"

"The calamity at Beirut airport [port facility?] last month could befall the city’s Jannah residential neighborhood, where Hizballah is running a concealed missiles factory, which is located, moreover, near a gas [petrol] station. Addressing the UN General Assembly via video on Tuesday, PM Binyamin Netanyahu called on the people of Lebanon to rise up against the Iran-backed terrorist group and accused the UN of letting Hizballah use the Lebanese people as 'human shields.'”

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

coolbert.




Tuesday, September 29, 2020

MCRD.


This is coolbert:

From the weekly blog of G2mil Carlton Meyer USMC copied in entirety:

"Marines Need a New Boot Camp"

"The Marines are considering closing MCRD [Marine Corps Recruit Depot] San Diego and Parris Island. This makes sense, but not for the co-ed reason."

1. "The Navy and Air Force are twice the size of the Corps yet only have one basic training location. Two boot camps requires lots more overhead."

2. "San Diego has high housing costs and extreme noise from the airport. Marines must move to Camp Pendleton for three weeks to use firing ranges and other training. I'd keep the base as a storage and logistics facility since the amphibs are nearby."

3. "Parris Island is near sea level in a swamp that often floods, which is why the Navy gave it to the Marines long ago. The buildings are old and flooding is projected to get worse. A major hurricane would wash it away . . . I'd use the closed base as an urban warfare training center."

"The Marines could build a new one [recruitment depot Parris Island] a few miles inland (ten feet [three meters] higher) for a smooth transition. If they did this over 20 years it would cost little as money now spent to improve and upgrade the two MCRDs over the next 20 years could be used for a new, modern, well planned MCRD. It's nice to see long-term planning."

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE! USMC RECRUIT TRAINING.

coolbert.



Sunday, September 27, 2020

Freebooters.


This is coolbert:

"A soldier who has decided to soldier no more, who prefers not to desert to the enemy and who can find somewhere to hide may, therefore sometimes manage to sit out the fighting, if it remains static, for  considerable periods. The wastes of the 'old Somme battlefield', pitted with dug-outs and stretches over many square miles, were during 1917 colonized by a freebooting gang of Australians, who lived by raiding military dumps and eluded the sear of the military police for many months, some say until the end of the war." - - Sir John Keegan,  "The Face of Battle"

"freebooter - - noun: PIRATE, PLUNDERER"

Consider once more the topic of the military deserter in this particular instance a troop who abandons his unit but not the battlefield. Thanks to the Internet website "War History Online" and the article by Jerome Baldwin.

"Living In No Man’s Land: The Legend of the Wild Deserters of the First World War"

"Ever since the Great War the legend of the wild deserters has endured.  There are varying stories about them, but the core of the tale is this: a group of deserters from different and opposing armies – British, Australian, Canadian, Italian, French, German and Austrian – banded together and lived in underground caverns and dugouts in the midst of the shell-blasted desolation in certain sectors of the front.  Emerging at night, they took rations, weapons, boots – anything they needed – off of the dead or dying.  Like something out of a horror movie, some have said they also resorted to cannibalism, feeding off the plentiful supply of dead flesh between the lines."

Morlocks of H.G.Wells but World War One style??

Apocrypha [something the authenticity of which cannot be confirmed or denied] of this sort from the era of the Great War deemed as "legend".

PROBABLY MORE THAN LEGEND! SOUNDS REASONABLE THAT SUCH A THING COULD HAVE OCCURRED. I GUESS THE QUESTION WOULD BE MORE AS TO HOW PREVALENT SUCH ACTIVITY WAS AND HOW GREAT WERE THE NUMBERS OF DESERTERS INVOLVED.

Rogues and rascals hardly can such deserters be described!!

coolbert.



Saturday, September 26, 2020

Deserter II.


This is coolbert:

Allied forces during WW2 deserters a serious problem and gangs of deserters engaging in downright gangster activity an even more serious problem. The Canadian Harold Pringle was hardly a unique example of bad behavior in this regard by allied troops during the war.

An excerpt of an excerpt thanks to Chicago National Public Radio 91.5 WBEZ.

"The Deserters"

"A Hidden History Of World War II"

by CHARLES GLASS.

"A minority [of deserters] deserted to make money, stealing and selling the military supplies that their comrades at the front needed to survive. From 1944 to 1946, Allied deserters ran the black market economies of Naples, Rome and Paris. Their plundering of Allied supply convoys, often at gunpoint, deprived General George Patton of petrol as his tanks were about to breach Germany's Siegfried Line. Rampant thieving left their comrades at the front short of food, blankets, ammunition and other vital supplies. In Italy, deserters drove trucks of looted Allied equipment for the Italian-American Mafioso Vito Genovese (who concealed his fascist past and made himself indispensable to Allied commanders in Naples). Military police chased the notorious Lane Gang of deserters for most of 1944. The gang's head, who used the pseudonym Robert Lane, was a twenty-three-year-old private from Allentown, Pennsylvania, named Werner Schmeidel. His mob terrorized the military and civilians alike in a crime spree of robbery, extortion and murder. After MPs captured them in November 1944, they made a daring Christmas Eve prison break and hid among the Roman underworld. Recaptured many weeks later, Schmeidel and his top henchman were hanged for murder in June 1945. That did not put an end, however, to other deserter criminal operations that continued well into the postwar era. (Two members of the Lane Gang who remained at large hijacked an army safe with $133,000 in cash on its way from Rome to Florence one week after their accomplices' hangings.) In France, American deserters collaborated with Corsican hoodlums in the theft and sale of cigarettes, whiskey, petrol and other contraband. French civilians compared the German troops' supposedly 'correct' behavior during their four-year occupation to the terror wrought by rampaging American deserters who raped and robbed at will."

A. It is estimated the pilferage rate from U.S. Army rear-echelon supply depots in France during WW2 about 20 %!!

B. German army "correct behavior" during the occupation of France [1940-1944] markedly quite superior than the bad behavior of allied forces in the aftermath of the Normandy invasion. Ten times the number of French women raped by allied troops during a short period of months [1944] than in four years of German troop presence in France.

"In Paris, especially, the lure of pretty women and unearned wealth beckoned to any American GI or British Tommy willing to desert. One of these was Sergeant Alfred T. Whitehead, a Tennessee farm boy who had earned Silver and Bronze Stars for bravery in Normandy. He became a gangster in post-liberation Paris, living with a café waitress and robbing Allied supply depots as well as restaurants and ordinary citizens. His type of deserter, who operated in what the French press called 'Chicago' gangs, caused more worry to the Allied command than the ordinary deserter who simply went into hiding. New York Times correspondent Dana Adams Schmidt wrote that 'American Army deserters hijack trucks on the open highway and fight gun battles with the American military police.' Another of his dispatches from Paris added, 'The French police fear to interfere unless accompanied by M.P.'s.' Hunting down deserters became a full- time job for MPs from most Allied countries."

Makes for very sad and sorry reading, doesn't it?

Let me get this straight too! These American deserters willing to commit violence and fight gun battles with American military police but unable to return to their unit and participate in combat. Assuming those criminal-minded deserters were even combat arms!!

coolbert.




Friday, September 25, 2020

Magawa.


This is coolbert:

“lifesaving bravery and devotion” 

Magawa the giant Gambian pouched rat. A good news story with a military dimension.

PDSA = People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals.

"Giant rat wins animal hero award for sniffing out landmines"

"LONDON (AP) — A rat has for the first time won a British charity’s top civilian award for animal bravery, receiving the honor for searching out unexploded landmines in Cambodia."

"Magawa, a giant African pouched rat, was awarded the PDSA’s Gold Medal . . . after discovering 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordinance in the past seven years, according to the charity."

"Magawa is the group’s most successful rat, having cleared more than 141,000 square meters of land, the equivalent of some 20 soccer fields."

Unexploded landmines a problem almost without amelioration. Rats trained with keen sense of smell able to detect buried lethal ordnance.

AND THEY WORK FOR PEANUTS. LITERALLY SO!

Good job Magawa. Award well-deserved!

coolbert.







Thursday, September 24, 2020

ATA III.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion.

Originally this was LREW. Long Range Engagement Weapon. NOW called AIM-260.

 From the WAR ZONE and the article by JOSEPH TREVITHICK.

Boeing 747 a military version using the LREW as and air-to-air [ATA] weapon. Net-centric targeting that commercial airliner retrofitted and heavily modified an aspect of American air dominance doctrine and  operational capability.

"Meet The AIM-260, The Air Force And Navy's Future Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile"

"Concerns about the improving capabilities of China's air-to-air missiles pushed the services to quietly begin the program two years ago."

"The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy have been quietly working together to develop a new air-to-air missile called the AIM-260 that will replace the venerable AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM. The two services are worried that the Chinese, in particular, have begun to out-range American fighter jets with their own advanced air-to-air missiles."

Chinese threat as posed by the PL-15 and subsequent in-the-works PL-21 long-range air-air missile countered by Boeing 747 military carrying prodigious numbers of LREW!

This is the hope.

coolbert.








https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/lrew.htm




Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Sailors.



This is coolbert:

Military execution 22 September 1945. Harold Pringle. Canadian deserter and black marketeer criminal.

From the Internet website "Executed Today".

"The only Canadian soldier to be executed during (… actually well after!) World War II, Harold Pringle, caught a fusillade in Italy on this date in 1945."

"A 16-year-old — he fibbed about his age — enlistee from small-town Ontario, Pringle joined the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment."

"Pringle and a mate in the Hasty P’s name of 'Lucky' MacGillivray linked up with some British deserters to form a black market outfit in conquered Rome. The 'Sailor Gang' enjoyed several weeks of picaresque living in the lawless city. Unsurprisingly, as Allied military authorities got control of the place they were eager to make examples of these minor gangsters.''

"picaresque - - of or relating to rogues or rascals. also : of, relating to, suggesting, or being a type of fiction dealing with the episodic adventures of a usually roguish protagonist"

RASCALS NOT ONLY DESERTING IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY BUT ENGAGING IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR AS WELL. THAT COMBINATION IS WHAT GOT HAROLD THE FIRING SQUAD. HARDLY FICTION.

coolbert.







Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Beirut II.

This is coolbert:

Hot off the presses. Only just a short time ago. Mr. and Mrs. America and all ships at sea!!

Beirut II? As reported by DEBKAfile.

"Hizballah stronghold in S. Lebanon rocked by powerful blast"

"Hizballah members have cordoned off the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana overlooking the port city of Sidon, after a strong explosion on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 22, damaged buildings and caused panic among its residents . . . The cause of the blast is not known."

"The Hizballah media office told Al Jazeera the explosion was caused by a 'technical error' at their arms depot, which sent a huge column of black smoke into the sky. This explosion at a house that stored weapons was caused by a technical error, it was claimed. No one was killed or injured."

YET ONE MORE MIGHTY BLAST LEBANON. ARMS DEPOT WENT SKY-HIGH LITERALLY DUE TO "TECHNICAL ERROR".

So as announced!

coolbert.



ATA II.


This is coolbert:

Boeing 747 commercial airliner as a combat weapon of war? An airliner?

This Foxtrot Alpha Jalopnik article by Tyler Rogoway from a number of years ago now. But now assuming  unforeseen consideration due to technological advancement? An idea modified and in context of a recent blog entry.

Boeing 747 capable of air superiority/air supremacy/air dominance operations?

"Why Boeing's Design For A 747 Full Of Cruise Missiles Makes Total Sense"

"After the Carter Administration's cancellation of the B-1A program due to fiscal concerns, the rise of air-launched cruise missiles and the possibility of developing a stealth bomber, Boeing put forward a low-risk, relatively cheap, cruise missile delivery vehicle alternative based on the mighty 747. It was called the Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft, or CMCA for short."

THAT PLAN FROM DECADES AGO TO USE A MODIFIED BOEING 747 COMMERCIAL AIRLINER AS A STAND-OFF MISSILE DELIVERY SYSTEM. AIRCRAFT CARRY A PRODIGIOUS NUMBER OF AIR-LAUNCHED-CRUISE-MISSILES [ALCM], 747 APPROACHING THE PERIPHERY OF THE SOVIET UNION AND LAUNCHING ALCM. THIS WAS DO-ABLE.

Boeing 747 warplane in the modern context with net-centric targeting carrying an enormous number of long-range air-air missiles and able to successfully enemy enemy aviators with relative impunity. This too is do-able? An added big plus would be having an escort of Loyal Wingman drones of the Valkyrie variety.

Consider also the Boeing 747 large enough to provide enough organic power for directed energy weapons!

coolbert.



Monday, September 21, 2020

Cannons.

This is coolbert:

Within context of a previous blog entry consider this item courtesy American Military News the article by RYAN MORGAN.

"Army and Navy cannons shoot down drone ‘cruise missiles’ – here’s a video of the cannons"

"A U.S. Army M109 Paladin-based 155mm howitzer and a U.S. Navy deck gun fired Hypervelocity Projectiles (HVP), successfully downing BQM-167 target drones acting as stand-ins for cruise missiles, demonstrating the ability of the Mach-5 capable guided artillery shells to take out cruise missiles."

"According to a fact sheet by developer Kratos Defense Inc. BQM-167 target drone is capable of reaching speeds of around .91 Mach, or about 700 mph. Subsonic cruise missiles can typically reach speeds of between 500 and 700 mph, making the target drone a capable stand-in."

A. NOT ONLY U.S. ARMY ABLE TO SHOOT DOWN AN INCOMING CRUISE MISSILE WITH THE PALLADIN CANNON. NAVAL GUN TESTED AT THE SAME TIME ALSO WITH IDENTICAL RESULTS.

B. Kratos BQM-167 the target drone. Considered for the purpose of the test "a capable stand-in".

Further to the cost of engaging an enemy cruise missile using conventional existing anti-cruise missile weaponry such as Patriot and THAAD:

"Firing those missiles, however, can come at a cost of about $5 million per Patriot missile and about $12 million per THAAD missile . . . By contrast, the HVP shells could come at an estimated cost of about $86,000 per shell, driving down the cost for weapons capable of destroying incoming missiles."

What did I tell you? An artillery round far cheaper than a missile.

coolbert.





Sunday, September 20, 2020

Siegfried.

This is coolbert:

Deutsch Wunderwaffen? The Siegfried Line WW2?

Courtesy National Geographic, Public Broadcast television and YouTube, thanks to all.


"In 1938, shrouded in secrecy, the German Army starts work on fortifications to secure Germany’s western border with France. Designed to protect the Fatherland, the immense, deadly concrete belt of bunkers, anti-tank traps, minefields, gun emplacements and road blocks is five times the length of Hadrian's Wall."


"The original Siegfried Line (German: Siegfriedstellung) was a World War I line of defensive forts and tank defenses built by Germany in northern France during 1916–1917 as a section of the Hindenburg Line. In English the term 'Siegfried Line' commonly refers to the 'Westwall', the German term for a similar World War II-era defensive line built further east during the 1930s opposite the French Maginot Line."

Siegfried Line as it was in 1939 NOT EVEN a serious impediment to allied [French and English] ground invasion of Germany. Construction only partially done, weaponry hardly present, troop strength mostly nil. 

Siegfrien Line however AS PERCEIVED by the allies an obstacle at least equal to the finished, well equipped and manned Maginot Line?


See previous blog entry allied invasion of German 1939 tepid and half-hearted:


coolbert.





Saturday, September 19, 2020

ATA.

This is coolbert:

 At, A-A, A/A, ATA = Air to Air. Combat in the skies.

Within context of the previous blog entry see more 6th Gen NGAD info. Thank is to the Internet web site The Drive and the article by JOSEPH TREVITHICK AND TYLER ROGOWAY.

A BOMBER AS AN AIR SUPERIORITY AND AIR SUPREMACY  WARPLANE? A BOMBER?

"'B-21s With Air-To-Air Capabilities,' Drones, Not 6th Gen Fighters To Dominate Future Air Combat"

"The Air Force's vision of the future of aerial combat has evolved greatly as of late and has moved away from plans for new, costly manned fighters."

B-21 bomber the "mother-ship" controlling an escort of drone fighters of the Valkyrie variety can achieve air dominance?

See previous blog entries the Valkyrie drone and mission thereof:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/08/this-is-coolbert-originally-i-had.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/03/valkyrie.html

Now realized that the combination of AI and relatively cheap but effective drones the way to go with future aerial warfare? That is what this is all about?

coolbert.




NGAD.

This is coolbert:

TOP SECRET no longer TOP SECRET?

Aready a done deal?

From the Russian Internet web site Sputnik and the article by Morgan Artyukhina.

"US Air Force Reveals Previously Unknown Advanced Fighter ‘Has Already Flown’"

"The US Air Force’s acquisition chief revealed at a Tuesday forum not only that a demonstrator aircraft for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program already exists, but that it’s already flown, too."

"At the virtual 2020 Air, Space and Cyber Conference on Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Will Roper said the NGAD program, which aims to deliver a new advanced fighter jet every five years, was advancing at a pace never before seen"

A PACE OF WARPLANE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AS PERHAPS NOT SEEN SINCE AT LEAST THE 1950'S..

See additional Sputnik Internet web site entries the topic NGAD and accelerated development of combat warplanes:

https://sputniknews.com/military/201909161076819131-us-air-force-aims-for-rotating-acquisition-system-to-produce-new-jet-every-five-years/

https://sputniknews.com/military/201802231061939160-pentagon-research-sixth-generation-warplane/

https://sputniknews.com/military/202006101079574607-us-air-force-finalises-plans-for-acquiring-new-fighter-jet-models-every-five-years/

coolbert.




Friday, September 18, 2020

Monumental.

This is coolbert:

Paladin in action. A mission the concept of which was never envisioned when Paladin first hit the drawing board. Missile intercept. NOW a done deal.

Bullet hitting a bullet almost literally so and thanks to Fox News.

1. "Massive breakthrough: 155 mm howitzer artillery [Paladin] destroys incoming cruise missile"

"It made history by shooting down a fast-moving maneuvering cruise missile"

FAST-MOVING AND MANEUVERABLE. NOT SPECIFIED WHAT TYPE OF AMERICAN CRUISE MISSILE.

Presumably this involves some sort of net-centric targeting. A whole host of sensors providing fire-control information to the firing unit.

 2. "Army developing 'high-rate-of-fire' breakthrough 1,000-mile range cannon"

"The long-range cannon could be a possibility by 2023"

Think not merely distance. Think also accuracy and lethality. Think also net-centric targeting.

MISSILES EXPENSIVE, ARTILLERY ROUNDS MUCH LESS SO.

See previous blog entry the long-range cannon concept:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/04/stand-to.html

coolbert.



Hell.

This is coolbert:

Playground of the rich and famous now HELL! More info the Mozambique insurgency thanks to the British tabloid The Sun the article by Claudia Aoraha. Islamic jihadists prevailing.

"HELL IN PARADISE ISIS take over stunning islands where Daniel Craig and Bono holiday burning down luxury hotels and imposing Sharia Law"

"ISIS militants have taken over paradise islands in the Indian Ocean, burning down hotels and imposing Sharia Law."

Jihadi tactics scorched earth literally!! No-holds-barred obliteration of the profane.

"The ISIS insurgents have ordered residents to abandon the islands of Vamizi and Mecungo - where celebrities like Daniel Craig, Bono and Prince Albert of Monaco have holidayed in luxury."

SURELY THERE WILL BE NOW AN INTERNATIONAL REACTION! HARDLY CAN WE ALLOW THE RICH AND FAMOUS TO BE DENIED.

See previous blog entries the insurgency in Mozambique:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/08/ansar.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/07/wagner-pmc.html

coolbert.







Thursday, September 17, 2020

Asbestos.


This is coolbert:

"Sometimes the hastily-developed technology turns out to be immensely effective, but other times it can backfire, putting the user in as much or more peril as the danger from which it is supposed to be protecting them. One such example of a supposed advance that actually turned out to be dangerous to the user was the British civilian gas mask of the Second World War.... While the masks were effective in terms of being able to filter out poisonous gases like mustard gas, phosgene or chlorine gas, the filters in them contained a chemical that we now know is extremely harmful to humans: asbestos... Asbestos, which was widely used as a heat-resistant insulator... before it was discovered just how harmful prolonged exposure was. It causes asbestosis, pleuritis, and lung cancer, as well as a number of other lethal and incurable diseases." - -  Jay Hemmings.

See from the Internet blog of John Simkin this very sad account of good measures taken during wartime that resulted in unanticipated and very bad results decades later.


Gas masks and filters as distributed to British civilians [and presumably too military personnel] prior to and during WW2 effective against poison gas attack but injurious to the wearer in the long term.

A CONSTITUENT ELEMENT [ASBESTOS] USED IN THE FILTERS EXPOSING CIVILIANS AND MILITARY BOTH TO A VERY DEADLY CARCINOGEN AGENT. 

Deadliness of asbestos not known [?] at the time. Maybe only decades later was the link between diseases such as asbestos and mesothelioma understood. But too late for many.

The threat of widespread poison gas warfare in the European theater of battle during WW2 never materialized. But the threat as perceived did have to be taken into account and prudent measures taken in advance.

coolbert.





Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Thermopylae.

This is coolbert:

From the Internet web sites "Coffee or Die" and "We Are The Mighty" this article the topic of which interesting albeit hypothetical.

"IF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE WAS FOUGHT TODAY WITH 300 MARINES"

"The legendary defense of the Spartans at the 'hot gates' of Thermopylae has gone down in military history as one of the greatest last stands."

"But what if 300 Marine infantrymen, along with a couple thousand other fighters, had to repeat what Leonidas, 300 Spartans, and their Greek allies did in 480 B.C. against a modern foe?"

THAT MARINE FORCE OF SEVERAL RIFLE COMPANIES WITH GREEK ALLIES THE MARINES HAVING MANY ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AT THEIR DISPOSAL BEYOND ORGANIC WEAPONRY!!

Hypothetical combats such as this more for amusement than anything else? Courtesy our good friend Binkov see some You Tube video as are relevant.


Analysis by Binkov. One-hundred thousand [100,000] Mongols versus a battalion USA Marines. American Marines that battalion limited to organic weaponry. Who would win?

Further analysis by Binkov. A rifle platoon of USA Marines versus a Roman Legion. That rifle platoon also limited to organic weaponry. A Roman Legion the normal size of about 5,000 men. Who would win?

A modern combat unit of USA Marines defending Thermopylae using only organic weaponry without ammunition re-supply would run out of ammo and be overwhelmed by numbers alone. Climactic battle concluding with hand-hand combat, bayonet and rifle butt versus sword and spear.

I also highly recommend the entire Binkov archive as seen at You Tube. Very good.

coolbert.



TALWS.

This is coolbert:

An item from the Internet web site The Aviationist of interest.

THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE POSSIBLE EVER!

Airborne tactical laser system able toknock anenemy missileout of the sky.


Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System (TALWS), 

“Tactical Airborne Laser Pods are Coming”. An interesting new video has just been released by Lockheed Martin. Focusing on the Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System (TALWS), the animation shows F-16s equipped with laser pods cooperate with a Boeing KC-46 Pegasus equipped tactical infrared sensors able to passively detect and track threats. Once the tanker (a High-Value Aerial Asset that can be targeted by several different threats) detects an incoming missile, it passes its position to the two Vipers that can use their the beam director in their pod to put high-energy light on-target and keep it there with high precision to defeat the threat."

AT THIS STAGE TALWS STRICTLY [?] ANIMATION.


See previous blog entry with a number of additional embedded links the status and future of the airborne directed energy weaponry the opinion of the experts less than sanguine:


coolbert.



Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Ostentatious.


This is coolbert:

NOT for millionaires. FOR billionaires!

Thanks to the Internet website English Russian we have an item borderline suitable to the blog but still worthy of posting.

Military vessels of the old Soviet Union refurbished/retrofitted/remodeled into super-luxury yachts for the very rich.

"Soviet Ships Transformed Into Yachts For Millionaires"

"ostentatious: attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration, or envy often by gaudiness or obviousness : overly elaborate or conspicuous"

"Some modern super-yachts used to look differently and perform basically military missions. They served interests of their native country and its people. Many Soviet yachts became the property of foreign buyers in the 1990s who bought them quite cheaply"

THESE VESSELS AS ORIGINAL THE BASIC MILITARY MISSION OR QUASI-MILITARY MISSION APPARENTLY INVOLVING INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AS DESCRIBED BUT NOT CONFINED STRICTLY SO!

Devoted readers to the blog are strong encouraged to read the full article without reservation or qualification. 

Images of the extravagance quite startling in the extreme!!

During the Russian Imperial era nobility EXPECTED to lead an "ostentatious" lifestyle. A government yearly stipend of considerable value [200,000 roubles] even by modern standards provided. Think multi-millions.

"200,000 Russian rouble [1880-1917] in year 1885 could buy 145,528 grams [of] gold. The price of  [that amount of gold] in year 2015 was $5,427,749 US dollar [1791-2015]."

YES, BILLIONAIRES ONLY!

coolbert.






Sunday, September 13, 2020

Gauntlet.


This is coolbert:

Fight’s on!! Gaunlet thrown! It begins.

From the Internet website Coffee or Die this article by Nolan Peterson

"ESPER [MARK] SAYS AIR COMBAT SHOWDOWN BETWEEN HUMAN AND AI PILOTS WILL HAPPEN IN 2024"

MACHINE SI, HUMAN NO? WE SHALL FIND OUT?

"US Secretary of Defense [SECDEF] Mark Esper threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday, declaring that within four years human fighter pilots would go mano a mano against artificial intelligence adversaries piloting tactical aircraft."

Battle in the skies. A human piloted warplane in mockbattle with an Artificial Intelligence [AI] piloted warplane, the latter totally [?] autonomous.

"mano a mano - - eyeball-to-eyeball, face-to-face, head-on, head-to-head, one-on-one, toe-to-toe" [a duel]

EYEBALL TO EYEBALL AND THE HUMAN BLINKED?

Matched F-16 versus matched F-16 for the aerial duel? Some sort of control from the ground possible if the robot-piloted warplane goes rogue? 

See previous blog entries as germane:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/08/ai-glock.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/08/banger.html

Reporting for DUTY sir!

coolbert.




Saturday, September 12, 2020

Marcha.


This is coolbert:

Conclusion!

Yet one more blog entry that topic the marching ability of troops. Think not merely relegated to a historical account.

Spanish and English a reenactment the march of the Light Brigade to Talavera. Thanks to Seamus Hamill-Keays for the tip.

TROOPS IN THE MODERN ERA DEMONSTRATING THEIR METTLE, STILL SHOWING THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TOO.

"The Forced March to Talavera de la Reina" [1985]

LOAD CAREFULLY MEASURED THE DISTANCE EQUAL TO THAT TRAVELED BY THE LIGHT BRIGADE. A TREK HOWEVER ACCOMPLISHED IN FOUR DAYS RATHER THAN ONE!

As it was in 1809 so was it so in 1985. Temperatures in the midst of summer extreme, no respite for the participants. That Light Brigade troop suffering under similar conditions duly noted.

"A difficulty not encountered by the Light Brigade were modern asphalt road surfaces that retained the heat of the previous day throughout the night. The heat encountered in 1985 was the hottest for a century at 42 deg C. [107 F.]. All knew that the last day was going to be very tough as there would be forced marching for most of the day in that heat."

coolbert





Friday, September 11, 2020

Light Brigade.


This is coolbert:

Continuing more info on the historical marching ability of light infantry. Again a blog entry edited and re-posted. 

"The forced march of Brigadier-General Craufurd’s Light Brigade to Talavera on 28/29 July 1809 to join Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army is a matter of legend."

"a distance of 42 miles [68 kilometers] in 26 hours, including halts, has become generally accepted."

"The march was conducted in the extreme heat of an Iberian summer on poor roads and tracks with the soldiers carrying heavy packs, their weapons and ammunition"

"On Friday 28 July the Light Brigade set off at around 4 a.m. from Navalmoral at what was to be the start of their forced march of 42 miles in 26 hours . . . By noon, the Brigade had marched 21 miles [34 kilometers] since leaving Navalmoral."

"Craufurd ordered a halt during the heat of the day before setting off on the final 21 miles [34 kilometers] of the march at around 5 p.m. A further two-hour halt took place during the night before the Brigade eventually reached the battlefield at Talavera at dawn (6 a.m.) on Saturday 29 July."

The Light Brigade with band playing and flags flying however ARRIVING TOO LATE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BATTLE OF TALAVERA.

ALSO that percentage of troops that fell by the wayside during that forced march was? Those individuals unable to maintain the pace and left behind considerable or otherwise. That number of significance too!

I would have thought that the necessity of the Light Brigade being present at Talavera at the insistence of Wellington that those English soldiers made to march in a "stripped" manner.

Carrying only rifle, ammunition, bayonet, canteen filled, and nothing more!

Speed march to the battlefield., further impedimenta dropped and loaded on wagons following behind. Walk a mile, run a mile, walk a mile, run a mile, etc. Continue at that pace until the objective reached. THIS WAS NOT DONE?

coolbert.



Thursday, September 10, 2020

Anecdotes.


This is coolbert: 

Continuing the marching ability of troops. Quite often arduous and difficult circumstances. Herewith an edited and re-posted blog entry.

Concerning the march of the British Light Brigade toward Talavera [1809]. A march to battle, sixty-two [62] miles in twenty-six [26] hours being the pace. Here with anecdotal accounts and extracts from memoirs of those English soldiers, members of the Light Brigade and actual combatants who fought at Talavera. 

Sixty-two miles equals about one-hundred kilometers.

1. From: "THE RIFLE BRIGADE - - BY LIEUT.-COLONEL LEACH, C.B." 

 "The long march which was made by General Crawfurd's light brigade, with a view of reaching Talavera in time to take a part in that bloody battle, is almost universally known to military men; and it is recorded as one of the most extraordinary that the British or any other army has been known to perform. In twenty-six hours it passed over upwards of sixty miles of country, and in the very height of summer, where the heat was intense, and but little water could be procured to slake the intolerable thirst of the soldiers. In spite of these obstacles very few men were left behind" 

2. From: "The Napoleonic Wars" - - the memoirs of Edward "Ned" Costello. 95th Rifles, Light Brigade. 

"Hardly had Costello arrived than the Light Brigade began one of history's greatest forced marches when it left to join Wellington's main body at Talavera: 'Our men suffered dreadfully on the route, chiefly from excessive fatigue and the heat of the weather. The brain fever [heat stroke??] soon commenced, making fearful ravages in our ranks, and many dropped by the roadside and died.' 'Despite being light troops, the 95th still carried 70-80 pounds [lbs] of equipment, provisions, ammunition, a rifle and the blistering July heat took a terrible toll." 

3. "The Talavera Campaign" - - the anecdotal account of: Lieutenant Wood of the 82nd Regiment.

 ". . . it was now as suddenly as intensely hot, and we had very little except the olive-trees, which we were prohibited from cutting, to screen us from the scorching rays of a sun almost vertical. This being an open corn country, we were the whole day exposed to its beams, and the ground was so exceedingly warm, that it produced the greatest number of insects I ever saw. We were infested and annoyed, beyond measure,. . . our advance continued, and the weather retained its sultry heat. Many a weary step, over many a dreary league, we dragged through the dusty way . . . sometimes without a drop of water to wet the parched and swollen tongue of the way-dropped solder -- for there were many who sunk under the oppression of this excessive heat . . . we were enabled to continue our exertions till we arrived at Talavera de la Reyna." 

coolbert.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Forced.


This is coolbert:

Here begins a series of blog entries the topic the marching ability of military units throughout history, ancient and modern.

As excerpted from the Roosh Internet web site the article by ANDRÉ DU PĂ”LE  the Roman Legions their marching ability second to none.

Roman troops carrying a weight while on the march that to the modern man  would be considered ponderous.

A COMBINED LOAD "PONDEROUS' OF BODY ARMOR, WEAPONS, PERSONNEL ITEMS. WHAT IS CALLED AN EXISTENCE LOAD IN THE U.S. ARMY.

"THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS BUILT AND MAINTAINED BY TOP ATHLETES"

As excerpted:

"All this weighted between 75 lbs. [34 kg.] and 100 lbs. [45 kg.]. Once a week, legionaries had to undergo an 18 miles [29 km.] long testing walk across the country carrying all their equipment."

"Only after centuries of a burgeoning empire would the supply networks become more secure. Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) then reduced the load to 45 lbs per man, improving his legions’ maneuverability, yet he maintained the test and training walks with the original load."

CAESAR AS I REMEMBER NOT ONLY REDUCING LOAD BUT DOUBLING PAY AT THE SAME TIME.LEGIONS MORE LOYAL TO HIM THAN ROME ITSELF AS A CONSEQUENCE.

Forced march to battle also an aspect of the amazing marching ability of the Roman Legions:

"forced march  - - (military) A movement on foot by soldiers . . . who must, in order to satisfy a military requirement, travel at a speed or in adverse conditions that would normally tire them excessively."

"In times of war, forced march could come in as well: Crassus’ (115-53 B.C.) legions once walked 23 miles without stopping, while Caesar’s stepped 28 miles—and later carried out the prowess of treading 46 miles in 24 hours, without their usual load, but with just one 3-hour break."

THAT FORCED MARCH OF CRASSUS DONE TO BOLSTER THE ROMAN ARMY IN THE LAST BATTLE WITH SPARTACUS AS I RECALL.

I might correctly think that in modern American society only the Amish man having that essential proper combination of strength and endurance to match the ordinary Roman legionnaire. Amish man walking twice as far per day as the the average American man and twice as strong pound for pound.

coolbert.




Monday, September 7, 2020

RDS-220.

This is coolbert:

RDS-220 = Tsar Bomba.

Courtesy our good frineds at The Barents Observer the DECLASSIFIED Soviet documentary the detonation of the largest nuclear device [bomb] ever. Tsar Bomba [King Bomb].


"Photos and short video clips have previously been available, but this unseen 40 minutes declassified footage of the Soviet Union’s monster nuclear bomb give a whole new insight into what happened on Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961."


Detonation of Tsar overwhelming. Was supposed to be a one-hundred megaton bomb but scaled-down to fifty-two megatons. Bomb carried to target by specially painted [anti-flash] Tu-95 BEAR bomber, Tsar slung under the warplane rather than carried in the bomb-bay compartment. That apparatus of personnel and equipment as needed to monitor the test astounding. My understanding is that thermo-nuclear weapons can be scaled-up to any size desired. Good luck with that.

coolbert.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Unprecedented.


This is coolbert:

TOP SECRET EYES ONLY SENSITIVE [as it was in 1969].

From Freeper this alarming [?] headline original article THE DRIVE and  the article by JOSEPH TREVITHICK.

"B-52 Bombers Fly Unprecedented Patrol Along Edge Of Russian-Controlled Territory In Ukraine (Updated)"

"In another unprecedented show of force aimed at Russia, U.S. Air Force B-52H Strato-fortress bombers flew from the United Kingdom to Ukraine airspace earlier today. After arriving there, they orbited for an extended period right at the edge of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and near areas under the control of Kremlin-supported separatists."

BUT NOT UNPRECEDENTED! THINK GIANT LANCE FROM OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO!

"Operation Giant Lance was an undercover military operation by the United States in which the primary objective was to apply military pressure towards the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Initiated on October 27th, 1969, President Richard Nixon authorized a squadron of 18 B-52 bombers to patrol the glacier caps around Moscow and escalate the nuclear threat poised. The goal was to coerce both the Soviet Union and North Vietnam to agree on favourable terms with the US, and conclusively end the Vietnam war"

GIANT LANCE A SHOW-OF-FORCE VICINITY THE ARCTIC PERIPHERY OF THE SOVIET UNION NUCLEAR WEAPONS INTIMIDATION THE GOAL!!

Intimidation worked? The archives in Moscow have the final world? Maybe we will never know?

coolbert.





Saturday, September 5, 2020

Permission.

 This is coolbert:

Permission? Permissive? Non-permissive?

A comedian but here with what is not comedy.

Courtesy the article by Kurt S. as seen at the Internet web site Townhall.

"Why Trump Doesn’t Just 'Send In the Troops'"

"There are a lot of solid conservatives frustrated and appalled by the Biden Riots, and a lot of those folks wonder why Donald Trump doesn’t just make it all stop – you know, sort of like Grandpa Badfinger implicitly promises he will do if we restore the garbage liberal establishment, except with military force. 'Call up the Guard,' right? But what folks do not understand are the practical problems with Trump using troops (sending federal law enforcement officers presents similar problems, but also a unique and big one – there just aren’t as many federal cops as there are soldiers). The devil is in the details"

CONSIDER THE ARTICLE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE RIOTS THAT HAVE PLAGUED AMERICAN CITIES FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS GOING ON FOUR NOW!

Devoted readers to the blog will want to read the whole article. I recommend highly without qualification or reservation.

Comments:

* Military forces of any nation have at any given moment a dual role. To repel external aggression and for internal security when the need arises. Enemies external and internal.

* At least with regard to Oregon and Washington state the environment for deployment of troops is non-permissive? Federal help to suppress riots is eschewed?

* Those anarchist elements also involved in the riots their goal insurrection and their organization and techniques actually quite admirable. Capture of a autonomous zone such as CHOP and CHAZ high on their agenda. NO staying-power however. As of yet.

*National Guard and Federal troops if committed to suppress the riots had better hone their fighting skills in the manner of a Roman Legion prior to deployment this from my perspective.

Kurt Schlichter his credentials impeccable: "He is a name partner at a growing Los Angeles trial lawyer, a retired Army Infantry colonel with a masters in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, and a former stand-up comic."

And thank you Kurt.

coolbert.



Thursday, September 3, 2020

Tenzin.


This is coolbert

SFF not only activated but active!

Courtesy  the tip from Freeper.

"Tibetan soldier's death near tense India-China border sheds light on covert unit"

"MUMBAI/ NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The death of a Tibetan member of an Indian special forces unit in a mine blast near the site of a border flare-up with Chinese troops has offered a rare glimpse into a little-known group of elite, high-altitude warriors."

"Tenzin Nyima, 53, was killed and another commando critically wounded in the blast near the shores of the Pangong Tso lake in the western Himalayas, three Indian government officials and two members of his family told Reuters."

Special Frontier Force [SFF] ethnic Tibetan their mission to wage unconventional warfare behind-the-lines in case of war between India and China 

Tenzin fiftey-three years old? Too old for military action in the high altitude, regardless of his background. The man his spirit was strong we can count on that.

See previous blog entries the subject SFF:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/10/sff.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/08/sff-ii.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/04/tibetans.html

coolbert.







Guards.


This is coolbert

Ros = Rus = rowers.

Happy holiday Russian style.

Thanks to our good friends at the Barents Observer this article by Atle Staalesen.

"Kids return to school after patriotic summer camping with the National Guard"

"They [children] have been shown how to handle an automatic rifle and learnt about patriotic upbringing. Thousands of kids across Russia took part in this summer's camps co-organized by the Russian National Guard.

"Children and youth from all over the country are returning to school, some of them with summer experiences from camps organized by Russia’s para-military National Guard, Rosgvardia."

Children and youth not even teenagers. Indeed, this all seems too early for military indoctrination.

ONE OF THOSE WEAPONS ON DISPLAY A 9 MM SILENCED SNIPER RIFLE AS WOULD BE USED BY SPETSNAZ RUSSIAN RANGER/COMMANDO UNITS.

Men also wearing OMON uniforms. Russian head-knocking elite national police.

coolbert.






Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Guards USMC.


This is coolbert:

NO COMPROMISE!

"Fight all enemies, external and internal"

From military.com Internet web site and the article courtesy "We Are The Mighty | By Blake Stilwell." A thanks to Ken for the tip. Consider this one a new one for me.

"The Intense Rules for US Marines Who Protected Mail from Gangsters"

"'When our Corps [USMC] goes in as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered,' wrote Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby. 'Or there must be a Marine dead at the post of duty. There can be no compromise.' It was the Golden Age of the Gangster, when bank robbers were folk heroes, cheered on by citizens who were suffering under the weight of Prohibition and the Great Depression. But when the mail started getting robbed by these hoods, the Postmaster General asked President Harding to send in the Marines."

ONE-HUNDRED YEARS AGO LARGE BULK SHIPMENTS OF MAIL AND OTHER GOODS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY SHIPPED BY THE RAILROADS. A FAVORITE TARGET OR ORGANIZED CRIME AND CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES. GANGSTERS POSSESSING AND NOT HESITATING TO USE HEAVY WEAPONS TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS.

Marine Corps always ready to prove their mettle and in this case were successful.

coolbert.