ARES.

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ARES enters the fray? U.S. Army ISR warplane. High-flying and high-tech!

Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance! ISR!

From "Defense News" as dated 2021 and thanks to same. Story by Jen Judson. 

"US Army’s recon, electronic warfare-capable aircraft flies for the first time"

"L3Harris achieved a first flight for the U.S. Army's Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Attack System [ARES] aircraft in the summer of 2021 after winning the integration contract in late 2020. (Courtesy of L3Harris Technologies)"

"WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies said it has flown for the first time a new U.S. Army technology demonstrator aircraft that will be capable of conducting both reconnaissance and electronic warfare, according to an Aug. 27 announcement."

"The Army’s Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System, or ARES, aircraft will help the service modernize its airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] capabilities and will feed into the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System [HADES] program, which could produce an aircraft to replace the Army’s aging Guardrail ISR aircraft fleet with greater capability and increased standoff ranges."

U.S. Army fast-mover high-flying jet aircraft not in violation of the 3,000 foot [1,000 meters] rule? Army warplanes at one time restricted to the airspace, flights to exceed that 3,000 foot level?

That rule gone with the wind now so to speak?

Before there was ARES there has been ARTEMIS. Prior Army warplane already in action in the skies vicinity of Ukraine. ISR mission. ONLY within friendly NATO confines.

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SMAW-D.

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As was described in the prior blog entry, the Florida ARNG unit in the Ukraine in part training the locals on the use of the American SMAW-D bunker buster munition.

For all of you previously unfamilar [as I was] with the SMAW "bunker buster" see this You tube video.

"The M141 Bunker Defeat Munition [SMAW-D] In Ukraine"

"The M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (or SMAW-D) anti-structure weapons have arrived in Ukraine as part of the ongoing US military aid shipments. There has been some confusion over what the SMAW-D is capable of and even over what it looks like, with some confusing it with the AT-4 and even the M72 . . . it would be useful to take a look at the SMAW-D"

Fuzing instantaneous when striking a hard object. Fuzing delayed when striking a softer target [sand-bag fighting position]. All rocket propellent consumed BEFORE the projectile leaves the tube. AND always check the back-blast area. Can defeat a thin-skinned or lightly armored vehicle.

Single-shot disposable weapon. AND let us not forget the price:

"The M141 BDM is quite expensive for a disposable rocket launcher; in FY2012, US Army documentation stated it had a unit cost of $17 867.83."

HEY, who ever said WAR was cheap? No one!

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Network II.

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Conclusion. 

Diamond. Israeli counter-tunnel combat unit.

Yahalom Unit.

"The special unit of the Combat Engineering Corps is the Yahalom unit, the spearhead of the corps. As such, the unit is trained to deal with special engineering tasks that are unique to it, such as the underground and hidden terror tunnels as well as sabotage."

See courtesy You Tube and the Israeli Defense Forces this video of Yahalom in action. Technology such as the robot only a partial panacea to the difficulty of tunnel warfare. Highly trained and prepared dedicated troops with a lot of guts needed for such missions. Proper preparation in advance the key to success as it is in most endeavors.

See also addition prior blog entries [some with additional embedded links] the topic tunnel warfare:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2019/05/mystics.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/05/3d-tunnels.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/06/dowsing-rod.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/06/tunnels-of-isil.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/07/soviets-tunnels.html

As shown in the video Israeli Yahalom unit preparing for tunnel warfare vis-a-vis Hamas. Those tunnels of Hezbollah in Lebanon posing a totally different set of difficulties I might thank.

coolbert.

Whaledimir.

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From the Internet web site Barents observer an update on the strange case of the beluga whale as found by Norwegian fishermen wearing some sort of "espionage" collar.

"Satellite images reveal Russian navy's secret Arctic marine mammal facility"

Article as dated 27 May.

From Google oblique satellite [?] photography some analysis of what is deemed a Russian marine mammal military program.

"These pens near the naval town of Polyarny on the Kola Peninsula might very well be the home from where runaway ‘Whaledimir’ beluga escaped from. Or was he brought to Norwegian waters on purpose?"

"Six beluga whales in pens are visible on this satellite image from Garyachie Ruchy in the Kola Bay, some 3,5 km south of the closed naval town of Polyarny on the Kola Peninsula. Image: Google Earth 3D / The Barents Observer". Click on image to see an enlarged view.

"This weekend, H I Sutton, a leading expert on Russia’s submarine fleet and known for publishing analysis based on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revealed a satellite image on the portal Covert Shores from April this year showing the appearances of two pens moored at a pier in Olenya Guba (Bay) on the Kola Peninsula. Inside one of the pens is what looks like a beluga whale swimming." Again, click on image to see an enlarged view.

Outstanding! And isn't it just amazing what one can do with a few keystrokes and movements of a mouse! The Internet has brought the average citizen technology that not so long ago was strictly reserved for the persons at the highest echelons of government.

That beluga whale too seems to be totally dependent on being fed by handlers and is not able to forage for itself. Expect a sudden and abrupt demise for Whaledimir

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Honey.

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BOYS! LISTEN UP CLOSELY AND PAY ATTENTION.

Honey trap = "Using a beautiful seductive woman to solicit, obtain and get information for a government." Espionage Mata Hari style in the ancient and venerable manner but in the modern version done virtually using Internet social media..

From Strategy Page and thanks to the tip from Freeper copied more less in entirety and unashamedly so:

"Intelligence: Facebook And The Virtual Honey Trap"

"In early 2018 Indian media reported cases of officers (one air force, one army) being arrested after getting caught stealing, or attempting to steal, classified documents for a girlfriend they met on the Internet (often Facebook). This is called a honey trap and usually involves a female spy befriending someone and seducing secrets out of him. But since Internet access via cell phones became so common in the last decade the 'virtual honey trap' has become more popular in many parts of the world. By 'virtual' is meant that military men, usually officers, are seduced by virtual women via social networks where the recruiters use photosand [?] talk of eventual physical contact in exchange for digital photos of documents sent via encrypted apps like WhatsApp. After some initial success the Indian military cracked down by ordering military personnel, especially those with access to classified data, to not use their real names or indicate they are in the military while online, especially on social networks. In addition rules forbidding having cell phones in areas where classified documents or activities are were more strictly enforced."

Boys, the beautiful and seductive woman at the other end of the Internet conversation may not even be a woman! Boys, those applications [apps] and images you download to your smart phone may indeed contain malware of a bad sort. Your smart phone can be turned on from afar and used to spy on you and done in a manner you are not even aware of. Beware!

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DGI Strikes!

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"Cuba was 'so exciting!' . . . 'The revolution has released enormous potential and liberated the Cuban spirit.'”

Another spy scandal!

A retired couple, husband and wife both spying for the Cubans. And EVADING DETECTION FOR THIRTY YEARS! A couple, aged now, seventy nine years old is the husband, leading a comfortable retirement, now in deep trouble!

"Cuban spies very difficult to uncover
Intelligence service recruits 'true believers,' say former U.S. officials"

Cuban intelligence specializes in recruiting "true believers" rather than agents who are out to make money!

The Cuban intelligence service, the DGI, has a characteristic signature? Recruits only those persons that are true believers to the cause of communism? Persons not wanting payment for their work? Betraying their nation for ideological reasons?

This Myers guy was suspected of villainy for some time? Was on a "watch list" but STILL had access to highly classified information. And passed on that info to the Cubans in an uninhibited manner!

"According to court documents, Myers had been put on a watch list by his State Department boss in 1995 . . . The FBI investigation didn't start until 2006, after his boss raised fresh suspicions when he returned from a trip to China."

"They used shortwave radio, Morse code, and grocery carts to pass US secrets to Cuban agents"

[Myers was tuning in to the numbers stations. Clandestine communication using transmitters located in Cuba? Just about anyone with a high frequency radio receiver and knowing when and where to tune can pick up these messages!]

Myers and his wife, too, visited Cuban in a clandestine manner and HAD A PERSONAL INTERVIEW AND MEETING WITH FIDEL CASTRO? A MEETING LASTING FOR FOUR HOURS!? SUCH A THING IS ALMOST INCONCEIVABLE BUT HAS OCCURRED?!

"In January 1995, they traveled to Cuba via Mexico and met with Fidel Castro. They spoke through interpreters, according to court documents"

We have not heard the last of this case!

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RAW.

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"Create mayhem, make it last. And leave the rest to the power of television news." - - Vikram Sood, former chief of India's Research and Analysis Wing - - commenting in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist atrocity!

Here, from the wiki, is the full dope on R&AW.

Research and Analysis Wing.

"Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW) is India's external intelligence agency"

Roughly analogous to the American CIA or British M16.

"the militants in the Taj and Oberoi hotels were getting details of the movement of security forces around the hotels on Wednesday night from Pakistan through satellite phones and laptops"

"The satellite phone intercepts indicated that television was being used to provide information to militants inside the hotels"

It was one of these two "child" agencies of R&AW that monitored the satellite phone link between the terrorists in Mumbai and supporters in Pakistan?

* "The Radio Research Center (RRC) is an agency under Research and Analysis Wing. RRC deals with SIGINT and allied works. Most of its work is classified."

* "The National Technical Research Organisation (NTFO) is a secret agency under the PMO in India. It is believed that it deals with imagery and communications intelligence using various platforms, including satellites."

R&AW does not exist in a vacuum! Hardly so! Consider the number of Indian intelligence agencies currently active.

List of Indian Intelligence Agencies: [thanks again to the wiki entry]

* Intelligence Bureau.
* Joint Intelligence Committee (India).
* Central Bureau of Investigation.
* Directorate of Naval Intelligence (India).
* Joint Cipher Bureau.
* Directorate of Air Intelligence (India).
* Research and Analysis Wing.
* All India Radio monitoring service.
* Defence Intelligence Agency (India).
* Directorate of Signals Intelligence.
* Defence Image Processing and Analysis Centre (DIPAC).
* Directorate of Military Intelligence (India).
* Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.
* Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI).
* Economic Intelligence Council.

Fifteen bureaus, agencies, services, directorates, centers, committees, wings, etc.

NOT a whole lot less than what the U.S. has [sixteen to be exact]!

"Westerners" like to think of India in terms of Mahatma Gandhi, ahimsa, non-violent protest, etc. Passive, non-violent persons, not given over to aggression and the use of force under any circumstances.

"Literally speaking, ahimsa means non-violence. But to me it has much higher, infinitely higher meaning. It means that you may not offend anybody; you may not harbor uncharitable thought, even in connection with those who consider your enemies. To one who follows this doctrine, there are no enemies."

That image of India, if it ever was accurate, is now a long-gone thing of the past.

India possesses a military of considerable size, a nuclear arsenal, advanced weapons, etc. Indian history and culture has a long tradition of warfare, martial arts, para-military organizations, etc. Communal violence on a large scale, terrorism/guerrilla warfare being endemic to the Indian sub-continent, it is not surprising, at least it should not be, that the government of India has a lot of intelligence assets at the disposal of policy makers and decision makers.

The image [ahimsa] is "nice", but the reality is different!!

coolbert.

The Report

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This news item - - on the radio today too!!

From the Chicago Tribune today:

“Report: U.S. clout will wane”

"WASHINGTON - - A new assessment by American intelligence agencies predicts that U.S. influence in the world will decline over the next two decades as surging powers such as China and India, as well as independent entities including ethnic tribes and criminal networks, gain international clout."

"The report titled 'Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World.' Represents the U.S. intelligence community’s most comprehensive examination to date of the long-term security issues that the United States is likely to face."

"China stands to have more impact on the world over the next 20 years than any other single country, and India will strive to represent one of the world’s economic poles, the report says."

This is a report - - the analysis of which is done and placed into the public domain - - once every five years. NOT findings unknown to devoted readers to this blog! Surely not so!

And, it should be emphasized, that when we are speaking about clout, we ARE NOT [??] necessarily talking about the U.S. becoming WEAKER, we are only talking about nations such as China and India becoming STRONGER, as the terms strong and weak are judged in the international arena, by a set of variables, with nuance!

Two things are NOT mentioned in this Tribune article [for what reason the Tribune did not see fit to print?] that ARE included in the intelligence report:

* Nations will compete more vigorously for scarce and need resources. [this is a common reason for wars starting!]

* Alternative sources of energy will be coming on-line in a big way by 2025, replacing the use of fossil fuels.

Some personal comments:

* No mention was made that England and Ireland will become wastelands by 2025! Becoming tundra like arctic regions, uninhabitable, due to a change in the oceanic currents!!

* Trans-national and criminal enterprise networks are enormous already and becoming stronger. Consider this too from the same Tribune today: “Criminal groups account for about 6 percent [%] of Italy’s gross domestic product”. “This includes the four large Mafia gangs - - the Costa Nostra, Ndrangheta, Camorra, and Sacra Corona Unita”. All that from just Italy alone.

And this - - again - - from the Tribune syndicated columnist George Will. According to George: “In America’s saturated [auto] market, there is almost one car for every persons of driving age; in China there are 3 [autos] for every 100 [persons of driving age], and fewer than that in India.”

Well, there it is, in a nutshell, as they say!! China and India - - - - are light years behind the U.S. with regard to general prosperity and wealth for the average man in the street!! Those guys [China and India] have nowhere else to go but up!

[some of you may recall this from a blog entry long ago now. In 1939, only one adult American male in four could own an automobile. By 1947, almost all adult American males could own an automobile. Such was the sea change in the U.S. in the aftermath of the Second World War.]

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Spy!

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"Spy Daniel James became British general’s interpreter before leaking military secrets to Iran"

Here is an Englishman, who, only today, has been found guilty of espionage. A crime, that in war time, carries the punishment of death!

Actually, too, not exactly an Englishman. An Iranian national, a naturalized British citizen, going by the name of Daniel James. [born Esmail Mohammed Beigi Gamasai in Tehran]



Deployed [the man was a corporal in the British TA [territorial Army, reserve forces]] to Afghanistan, was the interpreter for the British general who commanded the NATO Forces currently engaged in combat with the Taliban.

"The unmasking of an Iranian spy who was working as a British general’s personal interpreter has become an embarrassing espionage fiasco raising questions about the screening for sensitive military posts."

"Corporal Daniel James, 45, who had been security-vetted to work alongside General Sir David Richards when he was commander of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan in 2006"

Was discovered to have been in contact with the Iranian military attache' in Kabul. Exchanging e-mails and phone calls. Had the intent of passing on classified information regarding NATO activities in the country [Afghanistan]!

NOW FOUND GUILTY AND AWAITING HIS SENTENCING. I assume he will not be given death. The EU nations now totally eschew the death penalty, even for treason in a time of war.

This guy was really a weird bird. Had some strange behaviors that did not impede his getting a very high level [?] security clearance. Just to be in company with such a high ranking personality as General Sir David Richards meant that while performing translation duties, HE HAD TO BE PRIVY TO SOME IMPORTANT SECRETS!?
"Spy suspect Daniel James says he used voodoo to protect general"

"The army interpreter accused of spying for Iran while serving in Afghanistan told the Old Bailey yesterday that he was a voodoo priest who had used black magic to protect his military boss from the Taliban in 2006."

". . . he had been trained as a voodoo priest on one of his many trips to Cuba and told the jury: 'Black magic is not bad.'"

That part - - about many trips to Cuba - - during which he trained as a voodoo priest! He did not - - come to the attention of the Cuban intelligence service - - the DGI!!?? An Englishman, presumably not totally stable mentally, making repeated trips to Cuba, and, who was a serving military man [even as a reservist], would be a prime candidate for recruitment!!

This guy - - maybe all the time, was working for someone other than the Iranians?

Maybe I am paranoid, but my intuition tells me that Five [MI5] and Six [MI6], should be looking at that angle also!

coolbert.