Resolute.

This is coolbert:

“A Chinese [soldier] is tough, he is not afraid of anything. His brother may be killed in battle, but he will not bat an eye... If he understands that he faces an enemy, the enemy is not to be envied. A Chinese [soldier] will fight to the very last,” - - Soviet commander Yakir.

"Chinese soldiers were some of the most disciplined, resilient and cruel among those fighting in the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. They were practically never taken prisoner."

Ethnic Chinese in discrete fighting units a component of the Red Army during the Russian Revolutionary [Civil] War.

Noted for their resoluteness in combat. 

Recall the rating scheme of the famous/infamous Japanese senior officer Colonel Tsuji from the era of the Second World War.

With regard to "fighting spirit" Chinese rated as # 2. Exceeded only by the Japanese #1 best. "Fighting spirit" most likely best defined as doggedness and persistence, offense or defense.

The remainder of Colonel Tsuji's list [in descending order] to include # 3 Russians, # 4 Ghurkha, # 5 American, # 6 Australian, # 7 British Indian Army troops, # 8 English.

Many of these Soviet Red Army Chinese ethnics continuing their military service under the command of Mao. Valuable assets their skill and combat experience greatly appreciated:

"However, most of those who made up the Red Army’s Chinese contingent returned to their homeland. With a wealth of combat experience and additional specialized training, they went home to help Mao Zedong establish Soviet rule there and soon became the core of the Chinese Communist Party"

coolbert.

Revolution VR.

This is coolbert:

VR = Virtual Reality.

From the Internet web site Strategy Page courtesy the tip from Bayou Renaissance Man.

"Technology changes the game - air warfare edition"

 "Strategy Page notes that (relatively) cheap virtual reality (VR) technology is revolutionizing how combat pilots are trained and made combat-ready."

"virtual reality: noun - - A computer simulation of a real or imaginary system that enables a user to perform operations on the simulated system and shows the effects in real time."

As extracted from the Strategy Page article consider merely the cost of VR as a means of training the TOP GUN type fighter pilot in the modern age.

"New technology has made flight simulators a lot more effective and cheaper. Until a decade ago, a realistic combat flight simulator cost about as much as the aircraft it was simulating. While that did reduce the cost (per 'flying' hour) of pilots practicing, it was not enough of a savings to make it practical for less wealthy countries to get these simulators and use them heavily."

"The new generation of simulators cost up to a tenth of the price of the aircraft they simulate. Suddenly, countries like China can buy dozens of simulators, and give their pilots enough realistic training to make them a threat in the air, especially pilots from countries that have long spent money for lots of pilot flight time." 

NOT only cost I might assume but virtual reality much more "real" than a decade ago.

coolbert.

Exhume.

This is coolbert:

"exhume: transitive verb - - To remove from a grave; disinter."

IMHO consider this to be 100 % wrong.

From the British Daily Mail tabloid 

"Spanish tomb of The Man Who Never Was - whose corpse was used in Britain's famous Operation Mincemeat plan to fool Hitler - could be EXHUMED to settle doubts over the body's true identity"

* "Operation Mincemeat was a British plan to fool Hitler about the Allied invasion of Sicily during Second World War using fake intelligence documents" * "Papers, which outlined a plan to attack Greece and Sardinia, were planted on a body dressed to look like a British officer and dropped off the coast of Spain" * "Plan worked, and Sicily was captured in summer of 1943 with minimal casualties" * "But true identity of corpse is a mystery, as calls grow to exhume grave in Spain"

It seems that "the man who never was" his identity well established? Glyndwr Michael a Welshman in death did his bit for the war effort without even realizing it. Grave marker of the deceased says John Martin and the name of Glyndwr Michael both.

coolbert.

M72 drone.

This is coolbert:

Never thought such a thing would ever be considered. A novel approach and expedient. Could be effective?

American M72 66 mm LAW [Light Anti-tank Weapon] as mounted on a drone. Used as a swarm to attack massed enemy armored formations. Not merely now a concept it seems but rather a can-do item.

"Nammo introduces drone-carried M72 light anti-tank weapon concept."

"Norway-based ammunition and rocket systems specialist Nammo has revealed a drone-mounted M72 concept after four years of work."

Drone hovers over an enemy tank. M72 LAW then fires a rocket with shaped-charged warhead downward at the enemy armor. The shaped-charge attacks the weakest point on the tank. Tank even if not destroyed rendered ineffective or out of action.

M72 LAW for many years now understood as the type of shoulder-fired pea-shooter one-time-use anti-tank round no longer useful when engaging a modern main battle tank. Thousands or tens of thousands of such LAW rounds already existing in the military inventory of many nations of the world. An antiquated weapon has now found a new home?

LAW lives? Long live LAW? I fought the LAW and LAW won!

coolbert.

Frontline.

This is coolbert:

I highly recommend without qualification or reservation this video.

Courtesy The Guardian and You Tube and with thanks to both.

Frontline Ukraine. Six years trench warfare stand off between the military forces of the Ukraine and those eastern areas of the nation as deemed "breakaway".

"With tensions escalating along the border with Russia, Luke Harding visits troops in Ukraine's Donbas region to gauge the mood ahead of a possible invasion. The war here has continued since 2014, when pro-Russian fighters attacked Ukrainian territory."

Scenes as reminiscent of what you would have seen during the Great War [WW1]. Lines of trenches muddy and cold in the winter, dry and hot in the summer, mostly barely tolerable at any time of the year.

Constant sniper and harassing fire from the pro-Russian side toward the Ukrainian trenches all the time. BUT no weapons fire in the opposite direction.

Where are the duckboards and rat terriers? Presumably the combatants both side have enough knowledge of  measures to ward off afflictions such trench foot, trench lice, etc. All maladies as associated with WW1.

coolbert.

Archery.

 This is coolbert:

Archery? Vietnam? Archery? American military personnel using a recurve bow shooting flaming arrows at the enemy?

Found this image quite by accident.

"Binh Thuy, South Vietnam – Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, USN, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, Vietnam on December 8, 1967. Lieutenant Commander Sheppard has found that the arrows shot from river patrol boats are the most effective means of eliminating such huts. (AP Photo)"

Now for the rest of the story:

A posed image? For propaganda purposes? Huts having previously been set on fire by a flame thrower and not by flaming arrows. Such is as alleged.

The optics surely everyone will agree make some sort of theatrics for the folks back home [USA] during prime time television news broadcasts.

coolbert.

Possibles.

This is coolbert:

From the CBC and the article by Murray Brewster.

Analysis by Canadian experts the options as possible to the Russian military currently threatening the Ukraine.

"Tough choices ahead for Canada as Ukraine and Russia teeter on brink of war"

"Canada's long-standing, stalwart support of Ukraine will be under new and intense pressure early in the new year, say experts and a former top military commander"

Canada does has a large ethnic population of Ukrainians living in the western provinces, persons still having strong adherence to Slavic traditions. 

"There could be as many as five possible scenarios on how the current crisis in Eastern Europe might play out, and they're almost all bad." 

* A massive Russian invasion of the Ukraine, classical conventional warfare in the traditional manner. Defeat the Ukrainian military, occupy the land, break the will of the Ukrainian population to further resist.

* "limited invasion: one that sees Russia establish a land bridge to Crimea by taking the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and possibly driving further west as far as the port city of Odessa"

* "overt reinforcement of Russian-backed proxy forces in the breakaway oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as the Donbass region."

* "A fourth option; to use special forces and subversion to wear down Ukraine and its allies"

* "The fifth option would be to do nothing and allow the giant military force to sit on Ukraine's border and wear down the government in Kyiv, as well as NATO, with a perpetual state of crisis."

All bad and fraught with great danger. Danger not only to the Ukraine but also NATO, all of Europe and the trans-Atlantic nations of the USA and Canada. Beware.

coolbert.

Perverse.

This is coolbert:

Surely this one takes the cake!

NORAD = North American Air Defense.

Christmas story gone bad.

"take the cake: 1. To be the worst in a series of negative actions."

A harmless and amusing American Christmas tradition under attack. Just plain stupid. From the Internet web site "Blazing Cat Fur" and thanks to same.

"MSNBC Columnist: We Need To Cancel The NORAD Santa Tracker"

"On Christmas eve, as has happened for the past sixty years, NORAD tracked Santa Claus and his sleigh as he made his way around the world. Of all of the modern traditions of Christmas, you might think that this is one of the more harmless and fun ones for children to follow and, in some cases, participate in by calling the hotline. But it would appear that there is a grinch for every season these days, since someone found a reason to object to the tradition and call for it to end."

"grinch: a grumpy person who spoils the pleasure of others"

Not only a "grumpy person who spoils the pleasure of others" in addition seems to do so in a perverse way, almost sickening.

"Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint."

The man who made this suggestion is a sick and terribly troubled person who needs serious medical help and who hopefully will receive strong pharma to calm down his fevered brain.

coolbert.

Marque.

This is coolbert:

"letters of marque [märk]: noun plural - - A document issued by a government in a time of war allowing private ships to attack the ships and seize the property and citizens of a hostile nation."

Consider the venerable wartime practice of "Letter of marque".

"A letter of marque and reprisal . . . was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the issuer. Once captured, the privateers could bring the case of that prize [and any booty from the captured vessel] before their own admiralty court for condemnation and transfer of ownership to the privateer"

Basically piracy but during a time of war a legalized and recognized valid action. Again, only during a time of war and then acceptable only permissible when authorized by legally constituted authority.

Described as venerable but with a relatively recent history?

"In December 1941 and the first months of 1942, Goodyear commercial L class blimp Resolute operating out of Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, flew anti-submarine patrols. As the civilian crew was armed with a rifle, a persistent misconception arose that this made the ship a privateer and that she and sister commercial blimps were operated under letters of marque until the Navy took over operation. Without congressional authorization, the Navy would not have been able to legally issue any letters of marque."

Commercial blimps operating out of a Naval Air Station [Moffett Field] with an armed crew member referred to [?] as privateers. NO! Not so. Without that Letter of Marque lawfulness highly questionable.

coolbert.

Austral.

This is coolbert:

So much for globally accredited certification company.

Within context see a recent prior blog entry.

"Warship construction hits major delay as faulty aluminum imported from China found"

From Pal Joey the article by Abby Liebing, The Western Journal [Australia]

"The Royal Australian Navy [RAN] is now experiencing this firsthand after getting poor-quality aluminum from China, which is now prohibiting the launch of new patrol boats."

"In March, shipbuilders announced a delay due to the botched materials, which are believed to have been sourced from Wuhan [China] , the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [ABC] reported."

"Austal, the shipbuilder company awarded a contract to supply the navy with six vessels, said that 'the aluminum had been independently certified by a globally accredited certification company prior to arriving at Austal,' according to the ABC."

Questions to be asked at a minimum to include: * Is this a random event or was it deliberate? * Why was the independent "accredited certification company" unable to detect the faulty metal? * Have other ships been made with similar defective aluminum and for how long?

The famous economist Adam Smith had two exceptions to the concept of free trade. One of which was that a nation must have the independent capacity to produce whatever materials are needed for defense and security. Soup to nuts. Raw ore to finished metal to a ship.

coolbert.

Burial.

This is coolbert:

Headlines such as this can cause a lot of concern in some circles.

Preparations being made as we speak in the Russian civilian sector for war.

"Russia Introduces Regulations To Expedite Mass Burials Of Those Killed During Military Conflicts"

"MOSCOW -- Russian authorities have published new regulations on the expedited mass burial of humans and animals who die as a result of military conflicts or noncombatant emergencies, stoking already heightened tensions that the country may be preparing to invade Ukraine."

Also look for hospitals to take additional measures to include: * stockpiling blood plasma * setting up extra bed space * storing skin from cadavers to treat burn victims [skin taken from cadavers can be stored up to five years].

PUTIN HAVING ISSUED HIS ULTIMATUM IF NOT RECEIVING THE CORRECT RESPONSE FROM NATO WILL FEEL IT NECESSARY TO TAKE SOME ACTION OR HE WILL LOOK BAD?

coolbert.

Drenched.

This is coolbert:

''If the bombardment of London [1944] really became a serious nuisance and great rockets with far-reaching and devastating effect fell on many centers of Government and labour, I should be prepared to do anything that would hit the enemy in a murderous place. I may certainly have to ask you to support me in using poison gas. We could drench the cities of the Ruhr and many other cities in which a way that most of the population would be requiring constant medical attention. We could stop all work at the flying bomb starting points. I do not see why we should always have all the disadvantages of being the gentleman while they have all the advantages of being the cad '' - - W.S. Churchill.

"Memo: From Winston Churchill To: General Ismay Date: July 6, 1944. It may be several weeks before I ask you to drench Germany with poison gas, and if we do it, let us do it one hundred per cent"

Courtesy The Herald of Scotland and thanks to same.

Winston Spencer Churchill advocating mass murder during wartime?

Comments:

* Chemical weapons to be used ONLY if the V-1 and subsequent V-2 wunderwaffe of the German became a nuisance [?]. I had thought the V-1 rockets hardly a nuisance.

* Chemical weapons without a doubt the warring parties during WW2 had an abundance of ready to go.

* Ismay to ONLY consider the pro and con of employing such weapons. Benefits outweigh debits and by how much?

* The British during the  inter-war years [between WW1 and WW2] having great success in what was referred to as air policing. Bomb the restive colonial natives, forcing those into rebellion against the British Empire into submission or more proper behavior. Found to be extremely cost effective. Saturation of German cities with chemical weapons during WW2 reminiscent [?] of air policing?

coolbert.

T-5 & T-15.

This is coolbert:

Here with a follow up to my recent blog entry, the super-bomb [T-15] Soviet forty megaton device. To be carried to the target by a November class submarine.

Before there T-15 there was T-5.

"RDS-9 / T-5 Torpedo"

A conventional submarine torpedo [533 mm] but with atomic warhead T-5 Soviet fission device

Innards [RDS-9] of the T-5 warhead slated as the initiator for the T-15 "monster" forty-megaton super-torpedo.

"development of the T-5 (or more accurately, the nuclear charge for it) were well under way. On 19 October 1954 this charge (under the symbol RDS-9) was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site, and the first rejection [a "fizzle"] products in the history of Soviet nuclear testing"

WARHEAD RDS-9 not detonating as an atomic detonation. T-5 a fission device. Failure to cause an atomic explosion called a "fizzle".

Further work on the T-15 cancelled in part because of the T-5 "fizzle". Single monstrous torpedo as carried by the November class submarine a project scrapped. Soviet later did perfect and field an atomic warhead torpedo but as a fission weapon, not a thermonuclear.

And we should be eternally grateful too.

coolbert.

ASRAAM.

This is coolbert:

Courtesy the Aviationist. I am not sure if any of this is good or bad!

"RAF [British Royal Air Force] Typhoon's First Air-To-Air Kill: Terrorist Drone Shot Down In Syria"

"In what the UK Ministry of Defence called an 'unprecedented event', an RAF Typhoon conducted the type’s first ever operational air-to-air engagement in Syria on Dec. 14, 2021. The event marked also the first RAF air-to-air missile firing during Operation SHADER, the UK’s contribution to the military campaign against ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant),"

"The kill was carried out using an Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM) that successfully hit and destroyed a small-sized drone."

Small-sized drone taken out by an air-to-air missile. Does the pilot get full credit for a kill? Or is it half a kill or one quarter?

And consider how cost effective is all this? Price of a single ASRAAM: "COST: $274,830 per missile".

Contrast with the of a small-sized commercially available drone: "Chinese Skywalker X8 drone . . . less than 200 US Dollars". [My assumption here is that this was a commercially available drone modified by the Islamic State weapons experts. Military grade small-sized drones can be very expensive.]

Consider also:

"US Gen. David Perkins made headlines last week when he announced that a US ally had used a $3 million Patriot missile to destroy a single small ISIS drone." [May 2017]

I guess as long as it saves the life of one troop it is OK?

coolbert.

Karamojo.

This is coolbert:

"White hunter is a literary term used for professional big game hunters of European or North American backgrounds who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century. . . . " 

"The term 'great white hunter' emphasizes the racial and colonial aspects of the profession, as well as its colorful aspects."

Here with two men of the Imperial British period, "great white hunters" who stood tall when called to the colors during World War One.

1. W D. M. Bell. Karamojo Bell.

"At the outbreak of the First World War, Bell was hunting in the French Congo and immediately headed back to England and began to learn to fly. He enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps, becoming a reconnaissance pilot in Tanganyika (present day Tanzania) . . .  Later, he became a Flight Commander in Europe, flying Bristol Fighters."

"Bell was mentioned in dispatches for the first time in 1916. By the end of the war he had received this distinction five times. He was awarded the Military Cross in June 1916 which was presented by General Smuts, and received a bar . . . for service in Greece and France. Bell was discharged in April 1918 for medical reasons (stated on his discharge papers as 'nervous asthma' and was permitted to retain his rank of captain."

BELL A MAN OF MUCH DARING-DO OF WHICH HE COULD BE RIGHTLY PROUD.

2. John Henry Patterson.

Serving British military officer prior to the period of the Great War [WW1] famous for his killing of the man-eating mane-less male lions deemed the Tsavo lions.

It can be argued that Patterson was not per se a Great White Hunter by trade or profession. Was a military man and engineer but for the purposes of this blog entry he will be considered to be so.

Even beyond that Patterson during the Great War known additionally for his command of the Zion Mule Corps.

Jewish soldiers organized as a distinct units consisting only [?] of Jews.

"Patterson served in the First World War. Although he was himself a Protestant, he became a major figure in Zionism as the commander of both the Zion Mule Corps and later the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (also known as the Jewish Legion) which would eventually serve as the foundation of the Israeli Defence Force [IDF] decades later. The Zion Mule Corps, which served with distinction in the Gallipoli Campaign has been described as 'the first Jewish fighting force in nearly two millennia'.'"

From Zion Mule Corps to IDF? Not 100 % but it did demonstrate to the leaders of the Zionist movement what was possible.

coolbert.

B & B.

This is coolbert:

A rags to riches story and now a riches to rags story? English army troop a bold lad has stepped in it big time.

From the Daily Mail and thanks to same.

"The Army deserter who Escaped to the Chateau: Spotted on Channel 4, the soldier who fled to France, married, and turned a rundown 18th century mansion into a £900,000 [$1.2 million USD]B&B"

B and B = Bed and breakfast accommodations.

* Billy Petherick, 33, went AWOL from the Household Cavalry in 2009  * He bought and restored a £890,000 French chateau with a new French wife * He was caught after he went on the Channel 4 series 'Escape To The Chateau' "

Billy "lured" back to England and promptly arrested. Escape and desertion not total forever. He will receive harsh punishment? Billy was a soldier with the Household Cavalry. Those are the horsemen you see parading at Buckingham Palace.

I doubt the Queen will be pleased with Billy.

coolbert.

Ethiopia.

This is coolbert:

From several sources everything you always needed to know about the ongoing Ethiopian civil war but were afraid to ask?

1. "Ethiopia's Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader says he'll lead troops on front lines against rebels"

Tip from Gravitas the original story from CNN by Bethlehem Feleke, 

"Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed has announced he will lead his country's soldiers on the front lines of the war against advancing rebel fighters, in the latest escalation of the year-long conflict between his government and rebel groups from the northern Tigray region. alone" 

Let us be 100 % perfectly clear. The Nobel Peace Prize winner now functioning as a warlord in the manner of a generalissimo. My definition of generalissimo not totally in agreement with the normal understanding of the word but close enough.

Also from the articles as seen at the Internet web site South Front written by Piero Messina.

2. "ETHIOPIA: TIGRAY REBEL FORCES CONQUER THE HOLY CITY OF LALIBELA"

"The rebel forces of Tigray have recaptured the city of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. The news was spread by the local media. It is yet another development of the civil war in Ethiopia, with government forces engaged for over a year in fierce fighting against the TPLF militias, the liberation front of the people of Tigray. Lalibela is becoming the symbolic city of the conflict. The city center had previously been captured by Tigrinya fighters"

Lalibela the religious significance of which can not be underestimated. A symbol of great importance to the people of Ethiopia. 

3. "CIVIL WAR IN ETHIOPIA, AN ETERNAL STALEMATE WHILE PEOPLE DIE"

"The future of Ethiopia hangs in a precarious balance. It seems to never end the endless tug-of-war between the armed forces of the central government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, against the Tigray fighting formations, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The Tigrinya movement, while representing a minority in the country, until 2018 . . . was a fundamental element for the political balance of the country . . . Tigrinya have been the politically dominant ethnic group in the country, despite being only 6% of the total population of Ethiopia."

Pity the plight of the Ethiopian people. Stability, progress and harmony never seems to return to the country. Recurring calamity brought about by warfare a constant for many decades now.

coolbert.

Moudge.

This is coolbert:

Not necessarily bad luck?

From Freeper and You Tube both.

"Iran's Talayieh warship has capsized in dry dock"

Taliayieh a Moudge class frigate of the Iranian navy.

"The Iranian Navy's bad luck is continuing when it comes to warship accidents. An Iranian naval vessel known as the Talayieh, which was still under construction, capsized in dry dock. This happened at the Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran. Videos posted on social media seem to show the naval vessel on its side and people could be seen hanging onto railings along the side of the ship tipped upwards."

See the You Tube video of the capsized vessel with commentary of an acerbic nature.

Warship still not completed or having made a maiden voyage but afloat, in drydock, capsizes, men seen hanging onto the railing in desperation.

Greater danger to these warships while a vessel docked, not sailing, then when at-sea, on combat duty? Seems to strange,  does it not?

Instantly this incident reminds me of the USS Guitarro class submarine. Ship having been launched but having sunk to the bottom while at dock not having seem one day of service. Humiliating and embarrassing in the extreme. Guitarro eventually refloated and after an extensive and expensive refurbishment saw thirty years of duty.

Bad luck or is it? Israeli saboteurs many will suspect active in a clandestine manner are responsible? Many will think this to be highly plausible.

coolbert.

Arsine.

This is coolbert:

"6. The German Commandatura used small amounts of colourless and odourless gas on the MAGINOT LINE and at LIEGE. A medical man who has been treating soldiers suggests that this gas was of the arsine type." [as extracted from a Soviet secret message dated 1940, PRESS REPORTS ABOUT THE  LUFTWAFFE AND USE OF GAS IN FRANCE (1940)].

"The Arsine Scare of October 1939 and the EA Container"

Elements within the EA British container filtering poison gases. Life of troop wearing the respirator saved.

Gas mask filters [EA container] of the period found to be hardly effective against the arsine form of poison gas. Arsine a choking agent 

"In October 1939, based on research undertaken on a recovered German Respirator, it was discovered that British Type E Containers [filtration] were around 10x more susceptible to the effects of Arsine Gas. This suggested to scientists that the Germans must have been planning to use this gas."

GREAT WAS THE FRIGHT FROM POISON GAS ATTACK ON BOTH TROOPS AND CIVILIANS IN THOSE DAYS IMMEDIATE TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

No such poison gas attacks by the Germans during World War Two? For reasons not properly or fully explained? Even though the German possessing Tabun, a nerve agent for which neither the allies or Soviets had protective respirator filters.

The Japanese of course making extensive use of chemical munitions during the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1941. Hirohito himself [?] authorizing use of such weapons. Also the Italians make use of such weapons during their campaign to subdue Ethiopia [called Abyssinia at the time].

coolbert.

Tularemia II.

This is coolbert:

Bio-warfare Fourteenth Century B.C. Tularemia.

Bruce G Charlton says: "This reminded me of a paper I published when I used to edit Medical Hypotheses"

As extracted from the hypothesis of Siro Igino Trevisanato:

"A long-lasting epidemic that plagued the Eastern Mediterranean in the 14th century BC was traced back to a focus in Canaan along the Arwad-Euphrates trading route. The symptoms, mode of infection, and geographical area, identified the agent as Francisella tularensis [tularemia], which is also credited for outbreaks in Canaan around 1715 BC and 1075 BC. At first, the 14th century epidemic contaminated an area stretching from Cyprus to Iraq, and from Israel to Syria, sparing Egypt and Anatolia due to quarantine and political boundaries, respectively. Subsequently, wars spread the disease to central Anatolia, from where it was deliberately brought to Western Anatolia, in what constitutes the first known record of biological warfare. Finally, Aegean soldiers fighting in western Anatolia returned home to their islands, further spreading the epidemic."

DELIBERATE INFECTION REFERRED TO AS THE "HITTIE PLAGUE".

See several web sites as described the intellect of Bruce Charlton quite protean:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Charlton

https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2020/

"pro•te•an prō′tē-ən, - - adj. Exhibiting considerable variety or diversity."

ACCORDING TO THE SOVIET/RUSSIAN DEFECTOR THE SOVIETS IN 1942 MAY HAVE RELEASED TULAREMIA AS A RESPONSE AND "ANTIDOTE" TO THE GERMAN CASE BLUE.

The first recorded instance of bio-warfare? Could be. 

coolbert.

Mid-Oceanic.

This is coolbert:

Courtesy the tip from Darius.

Consider not so much the second attack on the American naval base Pearl Harbor but rather the possibilities in the modern context as the topic of a most recent blog entry.

"Flying Boats Flew Japan’s Little-Known Follow-On Raid On Pearl Harbor"

"The second attempted attack on Pearl Harbor indirectly changed the course of the war in the Pacific."

From the Internet web site "The Drive" and the article BY THOMAS NEWDICK.

"The flying boats first touched down at French Frigate Shoals, around 1,900 miles from Wotje Atoll, 560 miles northwest of Honolulu. This was the largest atoll available in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, owned by the United States, but remote and unoccupied and used by the IJN as an anchorage. Here the flying boats rendezvoused with two submarines that were waiting to refuel them."

Japanese flying boats their mission to bomb the American naval base Pearl Harbor requiring a mid-oceanic refueling from submarine. US-2 current Japanese flying boats as has been suggested possibly being employed [with some modifications] as refueling tanker aircraft not being tied to a conventional ground airfield. 

Aerial refueling tanker mission of a US-2 made more flexible and robust. US-2 AVGAS "cargo" can be loaded from a logistics ships at sea or even a tethered rubber bladder anchored in shallower water?

This is a concept worthy of consideration of which we can find historical precedent?

coolbert.

FIDO.

This is coolbert:

"It is difficult for the modern (2008) UK resident to comprehend what World War II fogs were like. It was not uncommon for a person to be unable to see the hand at the end of an outstretched arm. The post-war Clean Air Act hugely ameliorated UK fogs" - - B. Main-Smith.

Never heard of such a thing. English pea-soup fog during wartime aviation [especially during hours of darkness] and impediment to landing combat warplanes a solution found.

This was FIDO. As extracted from the wiki entry.

"Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) (which was sometimes referred to as 'Fog Intense Dispersal Operation' or 'Fog Intense Dispersal Of]") was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely. The device was developed by Arthur Hartley for British RAF bomber stations, allowing the landing of aircraft returning from raids over Germany in poor visibility by burning fuel in rows on either side of the runway."

"The system".

"The device consisted of two pipelines situated along both sides of the runway and through which a fuel (usually the petrol from the airfield's own fuel dump) was pumped along and then out through burner jets positioned at intervals along the pipelines. The vapours were lit from a series of burners, producing walls of flame. The FIDO installation usually stored its fuel in four circular upright tanks built at the edge of the airfield with a low brick bund wall in case of leakage. The tanks were usually encased in ordinary brickwork as protection from bomb splinters or cannon fire."

Read further the English pea-soup fog as deemed a problem for English society in general. Remediation and elimination of the phenomenon finally accomplished in the last few decades.

coolbert.

Recovered.

This is coolbert:

"The recovery effort was complicated by the location where the F-35 ditched, as it happened in open water with depths that can exceed, in some areas, over 3,000 meters (about 10,000 feet), and by rough sea conditions while the operations were taking place.

From the Internet web site "The Aviationist". F-35B found and recovered.

"Wreckage Of The British F-35B Ditched In the Mediterranean Sea Has Been Recovered"

"The remains of the aircraft are now being transported to an allied port so it can then be airlifted back to the UK."

"The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence [MoD] announced on Dec. 7 the completion of the operations for the recovery of the Royal Air Force F-35B that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. As we already extensively reported, the aircraft crashed while taking off from the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier on Nov. 17, 2021, as it couldn’t achieve enough speed to lift off reportedly because the engine ingested a 'cheap plastic rain cover' or an air intake cover."

Plane very quickly located and recovered from the abysmal depths [3,000 meters (about 10,000 feet)]. Con side the effort to be a great success just of itself.

Sensors the reputed greatest edge the F-35 possesses over any potential adversary safeguarded. At least we would hope so.

coolbert.

Stockpile CVN.

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USS Ford. Ford class CVN. The saga continues and for the worse too. 

YET more problems with the USS Ford aircraft carrier. Sure and steady progress being made for operational deployment status, but at an unexpected cost.

"NAVAL AIR: USS Ford Relies On Spin And A Prayer"

Courtesy the Internet web site Strategy Page.

"December 6, 2021: The first of the new American Ford class CVN (nuclear-powered aircraft carrier) has run into another problem as it struggles to be ready for deployment in 2022."

"The latest problem, the need to borrow components from those stockpiled for the second Ford-class carrier, the Kennedy, to deal with the need to fix existing problems in the Ford. None of the borrowed parts are exotic, but the Ford did not have enough available to deal with all the needed modifications and repairs required to meet the 2022 deployment date."

Let us be crystal clear about this. Spare parts initially allocated for the SECOND aircraft carrier of the class already being used to keep the Ford up and going. SECOND carrier not even in the water or sailing?

For one-hundred years the  U.S. Navy has been building aircraft carriers. You would have thought by the now the entire process would be worked out and well understood.

See previous blog entry with many additional embedded links the problems with the USS Ford:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/07/lessons.html

coolbert.

NMCB-5.

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Some Americans still have what it takes. Naval Construction Battalion # 5 for instance.

See the latest Commander Salamander article with a very good graphic. Opposing forces terribly arrayed western Pacific. [WESTPAC] 

"The WESTPAC Template is There: Build on it"

"Technology changes; faster, more accurate, deadlier, more automated, more expensive. These things and more will always advance. What remains a constant is, like we covered last week, geography."

"The last time we had a serious challenge in the Pacific, WWII, we had a whole constellation of bases that allowed us to fight forward, sustain forward, repair forward, and keep in the fight."

One of the four major elements of victory in the Pacific theater of war during the Second World War was the bulldozer. That ability of naval construction battalions [CB's]. Able to within a two week period transform a pristine and remote jungle island into a major military installation. Air base, naval base, barracks, electricity, flush toilets, hot showers, mess halls etc.. The proverbial soup to nuts.

In the modern context, as we speak, Naval Construction Battalion # 5 having just completed a major improvement of military facilities, Manus island, southwest Pacific ocean. 

See previous blog entry the topic Manus island:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2018/11/manus.html

As promised as delivered. Thank you # 5.

coolbert.

Directly.

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Directly under command of the state Governor. AND only answerable to same.

Florida State Guard. Not to be confused with the Florida National Guard.

"DeSantis Moves To Reactivate Florida State Guard, A Defense Force Answerable Only To Florida Governor"

Thanks to National File and the article by Tom Pappert.

BELIEVE ME THAT THIS WILL BECOME A BIG TO-DO ABOUT NOTHING!

"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced a budget including funds to reactivate the Florida State Guard, a World War II-era defense force answerable only to the state’s governor."

"As part of a $100 million budget funding the Florida National Guard, Republican firebrand Ron DeSantis has requested $3.5 million for the purpose of reactivating the Florida State Guard. This defense force was first started during World War II, and answers directly to the Florida governor."

A State Guard must be carefully differentiated from the National Guard. Both State and National Guard in a time of PEACE under the control of the state governor. During a time of war and when activated a National Guard unit under the control of the President USA.

State Guard at all times [war and peace both] only during the direct control of a state governor.

Primary mission as I understand it of a State Guard disaster relief. NOT combat troops although State Guard personnel almost always having prior military experience.

See the contrarian view the State Guard described as a "disgusting reality". Governor DeSantis seen as having ulterior motives in his "reactivating" the State Guard.

Fevered minds [the contrarians] at work and greatly fearful but without justification?

coolbert.

Compass.

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"On the ground troops are being reintroduced to the compass, paper maps and orienteering. Most managed to figure out how it worked before GPS when the joke was that the most dangerous man on the battlefield was a second lieutenant with a map"

Within the military dimension, the best ways are the old ways? Think in context map reading and land navigation.

Thanks to the Strategy Page Internet web site article:

"Electronic Weapons: Slide Rules And Sextants Survive In The Sky"

"December 6, 2021: In late 2021, Russian video appeared that showed a heavy bomber in flight with one of the crew using s slide rule, apparently to calculate course and/or fuel consumption rate. Most pilot training, especially for the crews of long-range aircraft, includes instruction on how to use special slide rules for such calculations in the event of problems with the electronic navigation and flight management instruments that do this automatically."

Training in navigation by the traditional methods used by the military not confined to the Air Force. Also done by the USN and USA. Marines too I assume.

IF AND WHEN GREAT POWER CONFLICT OCCURS, SATELLITES OF THE GPS VARIETY GOING TO BE A PRIMARY TARGET FOR THE ADVERSARY. A FALL-BACK WILL BE A NECESSITY. BREAK OUT THE LENSATIC COMPASS. ORIENTEERING AND FOLLOWING A COURSE ON THE GROUD FROM A MAP ABSOLUTE MUST!

Those of you who attended Non-Commissioned Officers school while on duty with the U.S. Army will well remember the SINGLE ONE REASON for failure and wash-out the inability to use a map, compass, determine your grid coordinates, etc.

Indeed! The American military for some time has done real-world training, operating in an environment where GPS no longer exists. See previous blog entries as relevant:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/01/gone.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2019/02/gps-jam.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/07/gps-mojave.html

coolbert:

RPA.

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RPA = Remotely Piloted Aircraft. A drone.

"Air Force previews plan to phase out enlisted drone pilots"

Thanks to yahoo.com and the article by Rachel Cohen.

"Four years into an experiment to let enlisted airmen fly reconnaissance drones, the Air Force is signaling plans to wind down the program."

"The proposed change . . . would reroute the careers of about 75 enlisted airmen who fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk"

HEY! I had thought the USAF was going to encourage enlisted men to fly drones. Perhaps this "winding down" is strictly for those enlisted already pilot the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone.

I can only imagine the reaction of those enlisted RPA pilots. Any alternative offered by the USAF is going to much less than satisfactory. Once on the champagne lifestyle [an aviator] you will never be satisfied with the beer diet?

coolbert.

EQ.

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EQ = Equatorial Guinea.

Again from the Internet web site of Commander Salamander and thanks to same.

Chinese naval forces to have an Atlantic Ocean base? The Chinese?

"Keeping an Eye on the Long Game: Part XCI"

"I [Salamander] found two things curious about the response to this news over the weekend"

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE TWO POINTS AS RAISED BY THE COMMANDER.

"China is looking to create its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of the small African nation Equatorial Guinea, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal based on classified U.S. intelligence."

Consider also within context:

"HIDDEN STRIKE China feared to be hiding missiles in shipping containers for Trojan Horse-style plan to launch attack ANYWHERE in world"

Merchant vessel carrying Kalibr-K containerized anti-ship missile. Missiles as raised the gray vertical tubes in the center of the ship. Click on image to see an enlarged view. Net-centric targeting needed.

Courtesy the American version of the English tabloid Sun and the article by Tariq Tahir.

THE CONTAINERIZED ANTI-SHIP MISSILE. THINK THE RUSSIAN KALIBR-K.

Chinese naval bases the Atlantic a force multiplier? American naval resources being deployed to counter the Atlantic threat diminishing a capability to focus energy and means in one area of the world?

"String of Pearls" Chinese geo-political strategy now hardly going to be confined as originally envisioned? Not limited to the east coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean basin?

coolbert.

Chemo.

 This is coolbert:

"an unthinkably rare chance to perform a pioneering investigation into the toxin’s biological effects on the human body—the kind that would be impossible with living volunteers."

Courtesy here the Smithsonian and the article by JENNET CONANT.

From bad can come good? The Bari Raid? Italy, WW2. Weapons of mass destruction.

"THE BOMBING AND THE BREAKTHROUGH"

Little Pearl Harbor 1943! The Bari air raid WW2. Last fling of the Luftwaffe. Air raid, Adriatic Sea, WW2. Thought to be impotent Nazi air force hardly ineffectual. Woe to the allies, loss of personal and munitions significant.

"How a chemical weapons disaster in World War II led to a U.S. cover-up—and a new cancer treatment."

"All told, the Nazis sunk 17 Allied ships and destroyed more than 31,000 tons of valuable cargo. More than 1,000 American and British servicemen were killed, and almost as many wounded, along with hundreds of civilians."

NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY. THANKS TO YOU TUBE.

HS = Hot Stuff. Hot Stuff = Mustard agent. Secret cargo [not acknowledged by Churchill or Eisenhower] released into the water and air the Bari harbor area as a result of the Luftwaffe attack causing horrific casualties.

Cancer remedies prior to 1945 limited to surgery and radiation. Medical professionals treating the Bari Raid casualties reasonably inferring that some sort of chemical "derivative" of mustard agent would be useful in treating certain types of cancers [blood diseases such as leukemia where the white blood cells run amok and destroy the human body].  Reasonable inferences proving correct with the rest being history.

coolbert.

Jan Žižka.

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Jan Žižka? Best general you never heard of? Could it be?

A professional soldier and intuitive combat commander during that period in Europe during the Hussite religious rebellion.

Jan Žižka most famed [?] for his use of Wagenburg Tactics. Able to counter the armored knight on horseback with an ill-equipped military force of peasants and city dwellers. Žižka a master of this form of combat without peer?

See the You Tube video the topic Jan Žižka:

Comments:

* Žižka his methods for waging successful war sound and appropriate. Occupy and prepare ground of your own choosing suitable for the defense. Compel and allow the enemy to attack, initially fight a strictly defensive action all the while husbanding your resources for a counter-attack when the time ripe.

* Defense is the stronger form of combat. You can accomplish more with less and easier. Žižka his combatants normally [?] at a numerical disadvantage peasants and city dwellers their training I might think rather limited but having high morale and motivation. Troops willing to stand their ground, fight and die for an ideal CAN make for formidable opponents!

* "The moral is to the physical as three is to one." Žižka the BEST general officer you have never heard of. You can surely make a case it is so.

coolbert.

T-15.

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Before there was Status-6/Kanyon there was T-15? Apparently so.

Only in a very vague way was I familiar with any of this.

That original class of Soviet era nuclear powered submarine carrying [as originally envisioned] a single torpedo [conventionally battery powered] of  colossal size with an atomic warhead of prodigious size.

This was the T-15 torpedo, Soviet navy. That explosive power of the warhead believed to measure about forty megatons. [consider the bomb dropped on Hiroshima only a twenty kiloton bomb by comparison]

Comments:

* A single torpedo on detonation destroying an entire city or port facility.

* Warhead when tested a failure?

* Project cancelled before even first November boat took to the water?

* T-15 sixty-one inch [One and one-half meters] stupendous diameter in contrast to the normal and much more reasonable 533 millimeter torpedo tube [twenty-one inch] as found in most submarines.

* Soviets and Russians seem to be have been and are enamored of grandiose weapons the mere threat of which will scare your adversaries into submission.

* Status-6/Kanyon a more advanced copy of the T-15 [autonomous and nuclear powered] but still requiring a "mothership" to carry the weapon to the scene of the fray. Status-6 also will carry a multi-megaton warhead?

coolbert.

Quadrants I-IV.

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From the Internet web site of Commander Salamander and as always thanks to same.

A very illustrative graphic the spending habit for defense the constituent members of NATO!

"An Alliance’s Four Quadrants"

Those nations as indicated to the right of the green vertical axis within the graph spending the agreed upon percentage [2 %] of gross domestic product on defense as a percentage of budget. Click on graph to see an enlarged view.

Those nations as indicated below the green horizontal axis within the graph not spending an adequate amount of money  [20 %] budgeted for defense on equipment. 

Regarding the four quadrants and those nations within each quadrant:

Quadrant I: The Show Ponies:

Money spent well but just not enough.

"Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Hungary, Turkey, Denmark and Montenegro."

Quadrant II: The War Horses:

Enough money spent and spent well.

"United States, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Norway, France, Lithuania."

Quadrant III: The Free Riders:

Not enough money spent or spent well.

"Slovenia, Belgium, North Macedonia, Albania, The Czech Republic, Canada, Bulgaria, Portugal, Germany, and Croatia. Great Britain, and Romania."

Quadrant IV: The Garrison Army:

Enough money spent but not spent well.

"Greece."

WAR HORSES GOOD. FREE RIDERS BAD!

coolbert.

Unvaccinated.

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From the Internet web site Bayou Renaissance Man and thanks to same.

This could be big? Very big?

"Are the US military's actions against unvaccinated personnel illegal?"

 "They may well be, if the ruling of a judge in a Florida federal court is allowed to stand.  He makes the important point that EUA-authorized (Emergency Use Authorization) vaccines are legally NOT the same as licensed, approved, vaccines.  I'm going to quote at length from the report, because if the judge is correct, the way that the US armed forces are treating unvaccinated service personnel at present appears to violate Federal law."

NOT ACCORDING TO MY UNDESTANDING OF PRECEDENT AND FEDERAL LAW!

American military personnel to the best of my understanding cannot refuse medical treatment. Medical treatment so broadly defined as to include ANY SORT of prophylactic medicine. INOCULATIONS OF A VACCINE  EVEN NOT APPROVED in the ordinary manner can be administered!!

See some of the recent previous and pertinent blog entries on topic:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/11/decertify.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/11/okang.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/10/archbishop.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/10/deviants.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/09/dishonorable.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/09/pandemic.html

coolbert.

X-AMP.

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"designed to replace four different shells; the current multipurpose (bunkers and light armored vehicles) M830A1 (and its improved version M908), the HEAT (shaped charge anti-tank) shell, and the M1028 ('shotgun' shell) rounds."

From the Internet web site Strategy Page and thanks to same.

"Armor: One Shell Will Replace Them All, Eventually"

"November 26, 2021: After 15 years of development, the U.S. Army’s new XM-AMP (Advanced Multi-Purpose) 120mm tank round was considered stable enough in 2020 to be test fired by troops."

One multi-purpose tank round to replace the multiplicity of dedicated purpose types of rounds as might be carried in a modern battle tank. Project five YEARS behind schedule and not yet ready to become part of the standard inventory.

THE U.S. military tank [current version] main gun to be replace by a much more advanced 120 mm caliber gun?

Normally [?] an Abrams tank would carry a mix of rounds to include HEAT, sabot, HEP, anti-personnel.

ONE HIGHLY ADVANCED, MULTI-PURPOSE AND PROGRAMMABLE SHELL WILL NOW REPLACE THEM ALL?

A worthy concept but I hope this is not going to be an instance of "trying to do it all but not being able to do any of it."

coolbert.

Decertify.

This is coolbert:

Here with more on the refusal of the OKARNG [Oklahoma Army National Guard] commander refusing to enforce a mandated vaccination order [Covid-19] from the Pentagon.

Courtesy the Internet web site The Expose'.

"US Pentagon Threatens to “Decertify” Oklahoma National Guard if Commander Doesn’t Reverse Ban on Covid Vaccine Mandate"

"The US Defense Department is allegedly threatening to ‘decertify’ the Oklahoma National Guard after its commander, on approval of the state commander-in-chief, Governor Kenny Stitt, issued an order instructing his troops that they will not be required to comply with Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate."

"On November 12th, The Oklahoman posted some background on the situation. They wrote that the head of the Oklahoma National Guard, new Adjutant General Thomas Mancino, updated the guard’s Covid-19 vaccine policy, stating that no members would be required to get the jab. This information was shared in a memo which was obtained by The Oklahoman, noting that 'no negative administrative or legal action will be taken' against troops who refuse the vaccine."

Decertify? Unprecedented? Never heard of such a thing. Troops doing their monthly weekend drill will not be paid?

See previous blog entry the same topic.

coolbert.

Bison.

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NATO code name Bison. Myasishchev M-4.

"The Bomber Gap was the Cold War belief that the Soviet Union's Long Range Aviation department had gained an advantage in deploying jet-powered strategic bombers. Widely accepted for several years, the gap was used as a political talking point in the United States to justify a great increase in defense spending."

"On February 15, 1954, Aviation Week published an article describing new Soviet jet bombers capable of carrying a nuclear bomb from their bases to the US. The aircraft was the Myasishchev M-4 Bison. Over the next year and a half, the rumors were debated publicly in the press and soon in Congress."

Bison in flight. Four-engine long-range strategic bomber analogous to the American B-52 Stratofortress. Could deliver atomic munitions of the continental United States from bases in the Soviet Union so it was thought. Refueling would be necessary en route? Hundreds of these bombers [estimated about eight-hundred] were going to be rolling off the assembly line in a few years. American intelligence terribly wrong in this regard. Less than one-hundred finally built, their role as a long-range strategic bomber not the real deal. The threat as thought to be major never materialized, threat much less than thought.

Now for the rest of the story and thanks to the tip from the Internet web site English/Russian.

A number of Bison converted to a civilian version, with rather little modification so it seems. This is the VM-T transport aircraft. From apparently a Soviet era poster a VM-T with Aeroflot markings transports the Soviet Space Shuttle piggy-back.

Yet an additional civilian application of VM-T as a special purpose transport aircraft. Long-range bomber Aeroflot conversion with an enormous pod. A container for space booster rockets to be used in the Soviet space program. I guess you have to see the image to believe it. Appears ungainly and not really worthy of flight but obviously the plane can take to the air and operate normally.

Bison finally performing yeoman duty but not as originally envisioned. Long-range strategic missiles rendering the mission of Bison as not  necessary.

The much vaunted and found-to-be-erroneous Bomber Gap subsequently followed by the also found-to-be-erroneous Missile Gap. American intelligence falling face down twice and at a most critical period of the Cold War!!

coolbert.

Malfunction.

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"RAF F-35 Med crash was SEVENTH time £100m jets have malfunctioned in seven years"

A rain cover? A rain cover?

"£100m F-35 fighter jet crashed into the Med while taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth because the cheap rain cover hadn't been taken off properly, investigators fear"

 £100m  equal about $133 million USD!! As originally touted a F-35 was supposed to sell for about thirty to forty million $ USD?

"* £100m F-35 jet may have crashed because a cheap rain cover was not removed * Sailors said they saw the cover floating in the Mediterranean after the accident * A race underway to recover the aircraft's sunken wreckage after Sunday's crash"

"My kingdom for a horse". Or is it one "cheap rain cover" for $130 million USD!

An effort is on right now to recover the plane? The electronic suites and sensors must be safeguarded from prying eyes.

Thanks you Daily Mail and great graphics.

coolbert.

Advance.

This is coolbert:

Consider this to be a war warning? From Commander Salamander headlines and an article most disturbing.

"Some Damn Fool Thing in Ukraine"

Bir Red on the move? Ukraine style. Hope not!

"The U.S. has shared intelligence including maps with European allies that shows a buildup of Russian troops and artillery to prepare for a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade, according to people familiar with the conversations."

Read the entire Salamander article. Pay paritucular attention to the:

1. The "Five Planning Assumptions".

'2. "Red Most Likely COA".

Red in war games the aggressor. CoA =  Course of Action.

RED MEANS RUSSIA FOLKS!

And how exactly will NATO, the USA and the world community respond to Russian aggression? And can the Ukrainian military  hold the line and repel an invasion? Doubt in all cases we are going to find a positive!

coolbert.

Space.

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From the Internet web site isegoria.net and thanks to same.

Space! The final frontier?

"It would not be like the movies with intense dogfights"

"Physics would constrain space-to-space engagements. These five key concepts help explain how"

 * Satellites move quickly.. * Satellites move predictably. * Space is big.  * Timing is everything.. * Satellites maneuver slowly. "

"Warfighting on Earth typically involves competitors fighting to dominate a physical location:"

"Opposing military forces fight to control the land, sea, and air over a certain part of Earth to expand influence over people or resources. Space warfare does not follow this paradigm; satellites in orbit do not occupy or dominate a single location over time. Instead, satellites provide capabilities, such as communications, navigation, and intelligence gathering, to Earth-based militaries. Therefore, to “control space” is not necessarily to physically conquer sectors of space but rather to reduce or eliminate adversary satellite capabilities while ensuring one retains the ability to freely operate their own space capabilities"

In a nutshell you command the high ground, destroying the enemy satellites while protecting your own satellites.

See an impressive listing those nations currently able to employ anti-satellite weaponry [ASAT]. Keep in mind no X fighters or Y fighters. Star Wars it will not be.

coolbert.

Triple.

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Mercenaries II Conclusion. See previous blog entry SADAT.

Yet one more Private Military Contractor [PMC] I have never heard of Triple Canopy. Like to call themselves a private security company.

From the wiki entry for Triple Canopy:

"Triple Canopy, Inc., is an American private security company that provides integrated security, mission support and risk management services to corporate, government and nonprofit clients. The firm was founded in May 2003 by Army Special Forces veterans, including former Delta Force operators. In June 2014, the firm merged with rival security contracting firm Academi, formerly Blackwater, to form Constellis Group, with Craig Nixon, the former CEO of Academi, becoming the CEO of Constellis Group, and training facilities being consolidated at the existing Academi training facility in North Carolina. It was staffed by, among others, a number of former Army Special Operations personnel, Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, MARSOC Critical Skills Operators, other special operations personnel, and a select few law enforcement officers. Over 5,000 employees  worked for Triple Canopy at the time of the merger."

See also additionally the Internet web site for Triple Canopy:

"Triple Canopy Security Jobs"

"Triple Canopy, Inc. is a private military company specializing in risk management, mission support, and integrated security services. The company’s clients range from government, to corporate and non-profit clients. Originally founded by former U.S. Army Special Forces and Delta Force veterans, the current staff includes a number of former law enforcement officers, Rangers, SEALs, and Army SF personnel in the more than 5,00 total employees who work for the company. For prior military and police veterans, there are typically a fair number of Triple Canopy Security jobs available to apply for when looking for good paying military-related gigs outside of the armed forces."

Combat arms special operators preferred if not mandatory. The American professional military man for nearly a hundred years able to practice his trade and craft in a way no other professional military man has done since the time of the Roman Empire?

I see mention of Blackwater. American PMC now defunct but nothing regarding the continued presence/participation of Erik Prince.

coolbert.

Wagenburg.

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Make the enemy fight the war on your terms. Wagenburg tactics,

To war by wagon! Hussite style! Wagons not merely for transport but miniature and maneuverable forts. 

The video courtesy You Tube and SandRhoman History. I highly recommend without qualification or reservation the  entire SandRhoman History series of You Tube video. 

"The Hussite wagon fort, also known as Wagenburg answered a problem in late medieval warfare that puzzled military leaders of the time: how could infantry deal with armies of heavily armored knights on horseback? Initially the Hussite armies consisted mainly of ill-trained farmers and city dwellers, often only armed with the daily tools of your average farmer such as threshing flails, pitchforks but also polearms. But they made a virtue out of necessity and combined their farmers wagons, which they soon turned into war wagons, with early handheld firearms and small artillery and managed to defend successfully against well-trained and well-equipped knights [men-a-horse]."

Comments:

* That entire episode of the Hussite War's a prelude to the Protestant Reformation and both the Eighty Years and Thirty Years Wars.

* Zizka his troops amateurs fighting professional soldiers.. Amateurs however with high moral and confidence in their leader. Weapons often as carried consisting to an extent of farm implements readily available, without however neglecting more advanced arms such as hand cannon.

* Zizka a master of the strategic defensive. Occupy terrain for the defense, goad the adversary to attack. Selected terrain combined with Wagenburg tactics negating the power of the armored knight on horseback.

* Martial artists of Okinawa, peasant farmers, also using farm implements as weapons, the rulers of period forbidding the lower classes from possessing traditional means of self-defense.

Zizka the best military commander you have never heard of? probably so.

coolbert.