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U.S. defense officials believe China is ahead of Russia in developing hypersonic weapons and may have already deployed a weapon capable of reaching U.S. sites in the Pacific, drawing attention away from Moscow’s use of such weapons in Ukraine.
According to testimony given before a US congressional committee on March 10, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s head scientist for science and technology confirmed that China and Russia had conducted successful tests of hypersonic missiles and likely deployed operational systems.
MV-22 Ospreys with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit carry out an assault on a beach in Thailand as part of Cobra Gold 23. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Chad J. Pulliam.
Over the last year, the United States has been carrying out multiple exercises with partner nations in the Pacific. They’ve served two purposes, both for practical training and to send a regional security message to nations such as China and North Korea.
The U.S. Air Force sent a U2 surveillance plane deep within Soviet territory in 1960 to perform aerial surveillance at the height of the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Unfortunately, Soviet soldiers shot down the plane, and the pilot was captured.
USAF pilot Francis Gary Powers was flying the single-seat aircraft when it was hit by an S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missile and crashed near Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg). Powers parachuted but was stopped by the Soviet Army.
Defense officials and government advisers have said that Australia’s nuclear submarines are key to defending the country’s 36,000km coastline and maintaining the advantage against China, whose growing military presence means conflict can break out without warning.
They noted that shifting from Australia’s diesel-electric fleet to nuclear-powered submarines brings greater range, stealth, and strike capability. These crucial capabilities gave Canberra’s reliance on maritime cargo for trade and underwater cables for telecommunications.
The Air Force’s new B-21 Raider stealth bomber may be as shocking as it is secret, given that the largely “black” program will soon explode on the scene with its maiden flight this year.
B-21: What we know
For reasonable security concerns, very little is known about the aircraft, but senior Air Force weapons development officials have made it plain for years that the new platform will be capable of threatening any target, anywhere in the world, at any time.
The Army may still have to determine the specifics of some of its future vehicles. The concrete plan for the “heavy armored” tank type and the emerging concept for its “Optionally Manned Tank” program is still in development. However, there seems to be a consensus that the Abrams tank will not likely go away anytime soon… at least not in the next few years.
In recent years, the Abrams have received so many paradigm-shifting upgrades that the platform is essentially an entirely new weapons system compared to what was created years ago.
The United States Air Force is exploring a novel concept to increase the probability of a hit in air-to-air combat. The idea is to use an air-to-air missile with a bending nose to hit the target before it can escape.
The Next Generation Air Dominance program is developing a sixth-generation stealth jet to help the military deal with threats that are becoming more agile, and the service sees this as a way to equip current and future combat aircraft with a new tool to counteract these threats.
Members of the California National Guard’s Joint Task Force Rattlesnake go door to door to help people trapped in the San Bernardino Mountains. (photo courtesy California National Guard).
Amid severe winter storms that have left parts of California flooded or trapped under feet of snow, the California National Guard is taking part in rescue efforts. That includes ongoing work to get supplies to people trapped in the snow covered San Bernardino Mountains, where many have been snowed in for two weeks.
“Silo” is dystopian sci-fi at its best, and if its upcoming TV adaptation is well-made it has the potential to become a blockbuster.
The post Silo: newest entry in the dystopian television genre is coming to Apple TV+ appeared first on Sandboxx.
The latest iteration of the US-made F-15 Eagle fighter – the mighty F-15EX or the F-15EX Eagle II – broke key records for the number and tonnage of weapons carried, test flights conducted earlier in the day revealed this year.
The improved platform could hold and launch up to twelve air-to-air missiles, which is twice as many as its predecessor. In addition, the F-15EX can carry more than 13.5 tons of weapons, a figure much higher than its previous variants. This makes it what some defense experts call a “truck bomb.
According to one expert on Russian naval doctrine, Moscow intends to further arm its fleet with Kalibr missiles, which will be installed aboard many ships. Recently, Russia launched an attack against Ukraine using Kalibr cruise missiles and other weapons.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s minister of defense, said on Tuesday that the Lada Kronstadt-class submarine currently under construction would have the capability to launch Kalibr cruise missiles.
Congress has finally authorized the US Air Force’s intention to begin the process of retiring its fleet of A-10 Thunderbolts after years of dispute. Congress has hesitated to sanction the retirement of these deadly ground-attack aircraft because they are the only American military aircraft equipped for close air support.
The Thunderbolts were a critical asset in United States counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq for nearly two decades.
U.S. Soldiers, assigned to 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, train with the Integrated Visual Augmentation System and the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles during Project Convergence 2022 (PC22) at Fort Irwin, Calif., Nov. 7, 2022. PC22 brings together members of the All-Service and Multinational force to rigorously test the effectiveness and interoperability of cutting-edge weapons and battle systems. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Thiem Huynh)
There is no shortage of commentary on the lessons to be learned from the war in Ukraine.
The M1-Abrams main battle tank (MT) is still in use by the Army despite being obsolete compared to newer and more advanced technologies used by the rest of the US Armed Forces. For nearly four decades, the United States military has relied on the Abrams family of tanks, with each new generation receiving improved capabilities and technology.
More recently, the tank manufacturer, General Dynamics Land Systems, strives to develop another, more advanced, and innovative variant of the Abrams family: the AbramsX.
Rainier Lippert / Wikimedia Commons.
One of NATO’s legacy Cold War tanks will soon be on the way to Ukrainian units, with the Danish Ministry of Defense announcing the first of its Leopard 1A5DK tanks will be delivered by spring.
Acting Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, along with German Defense Ministry State Secretary Thomas Hitschler, visited Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) to speak on the planned transfer. FFG is renovating the formerly Danish, Dutch, and German Leopard 1A5s before their delivery.
The American company Lockheed Martin has started deliveries of Block 70, the most advanced configuration of the F-16 fighter. On Friday, March 10, at a ceremony held at the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, South Carolina, the first F-16 Block 70 fighter was delivered to the United States Air Force. The aircraft, which was delivered with ceremony, made its maiden flight on January 24, 2023.
According to the information provided by the company, this first F-16 Block 70 will be transferred to Bahrain in 2024 after undergoing various tests at the Edwards US Air Force base.
Dmitry Avdeev/Wikicommons.
An Iranian state-run broadcaster, IRIB, reports Russia and Iran have agreed on the purchase of Su-35 “Flanker-E” fighter jets for the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).
IRIB’s report cited Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations that a contract has been finalized, but at this time there has not been corresponding confirmation from Russia.
Iran to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, Iranian broadcaster reports https://t.
FILE – Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of, a fighter of the Wagner group on Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo, File).
One of the bloodiest battles in the war in Ukraine now is the fight for the town of Bakhmut, where Russian forces are on the offensive. And leading that fight is the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-aligned private military company with a history of operating in Syria, the Central African Republic and other countries. And things aren’t really working out in Wagner’s favor at the moment. Just ask its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Lockheed Martin, a global defense and aerospace company, and the TATA Group, from India, have signed a deal to make fighter plane wings at their joint venture, TATA Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd (TLMAL), in Hyderabad.
According to Lockheed Martin, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) envisions the production of 29 fighter wing shipsets, with an option of additional shipsets, with deliveries commencing in 2025.
KAI
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has shared the first photos of what will be Poland’s new FA-50 Fighting Eagle light fighter after the European country inked the deal to acquire the aircraft last September. The FA-50s will help ease the Polish Air Force’s dependence on its aging Soviet-era fleet of Su-22 Fitter ground-attack jets and MiG-29 fighters, the latter of which Warsaw has been saying it would be willing to send to Ukraine on and off for nearly a year.
The photos of the Polish FA-50s released by KAI were taken at the company’s Sacheon facility in South Korea.
Band of Brothers (photo courtesy HBO).
Grenades. They are great for taking out a machine gun nest, disrupting enemy lines and adding a little extra punch to an attack. And in a military movie or show they can really ramp up the spectacle. A great war or action film will throw those in for some extra pyrotechnics, a big finale or a dramatic moment of a character jumping on one to save their buddies. It can be a test of character, such as in Captain America: The First Avenger, or a way to take out a tank, as in All Quiet on the Western Front. They generally make for a crowd pleasing scene.
Much of China’s military budget has gone towards improving China’s navy, and the country has built sophisticated naval and aviation bases on islands in the South China Sea that are the subject of territorial disputes. Because of these two considerations, China’s neighbors are on edge over the prospect of a military showdown over territorial claims.
Various countries, from Japan and South Korea to the Philippines, are increasingly wary of Beijing’s growing aggressiveness and influence in the region.
Russia’s Wagner Group controls the eastern part of the Ukrainian Donbas city of Bakhmut, while Ukrainian forces remain in the western part of the city, according to an intelligence report released by Britain’s Defense Ministry on Saturday.
It was reported that “this sector has become a killing zone,” with Ukrainian forces firing from fortified structures, making it difficult for Wagner’s forces to continue their frontal assault to the west.
The US Air Force released two new images of the B-21 Raider on Thursday during the 2023 Air and Space Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado.
At the seminar, Air Force Global Strike Command Commander General Thomas A. Bussier discussed the measures that must be taken to protect the United States from the threats that have been identified.
One such feature was a bomber fleet that included the B-21 Raider, which was touted as a bomber with both nuclear and conventional capabilities that could adapt to future threats.
Export regulations and the overloading of shipyards pose numerous problems for the US-UK-Australia deal.
The leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia will meet in San Diego next Monday to discuss building nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian Navy. San Diego is located on the Pacific coast.
It is unsure how Russian troops, who are unfamiliar with the country, will help to push back the terrorist groups plaguing Burkina Faso.
The post Burkina Faso ordered French troops to leave the country and brought in Russian advisors appeared first on Sandboxx.
A Russian T-72B tank has been destroyed in Ukraine, and a new video of the event has been released on Twitter. In the 51-second clip, a Russian T-72 is seen moving along a dirt road in a wooded location close to the Dnipro riverside.
As the T-72 leaves the dirt road and winds through the trees, the video shows a Ukrainian texting on a mobile phone, likely to help aim or shoot.
Then the moment of impact: An M982 Excalibur impacts the tank, its action shown from the perspective of a tablet screen. The tank explodes instantly.
The last 20 seconds of the video show the consequences of the impact.
Kinzhal hypersonic missiles possessed by Russian forces could have been shot down with Patriot defense systems if Ukraine already had the anti-missile system in its possession, Ukrainian authorities confirmed after a new massive missile attack on Wednesday.
At least six people were murdered in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a “massive” wave of strikes across the country, which involved the launch of 81 missiles.
According to the information published on the Twitter account of “A-129 Mangusta” on March 8, 2023, citing an interview with Lieutenant General Pietro Serino, Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army, Italy intends to acquire up to 250 main battle tanks—Leopard 2A7 of German manufacture for an amount of 8,000 million euros.
The Italian government has not yet made a formal announcement about this. According to a military source, Italy will only be buying 125 Leopard 2A7 main combat tanks rather than 250.
GA-ASI
It is a “misconception” to say that the advanced drones that the U.S. Air Force is planning to acquire in the coming years will necessarily be “attritable,” according to a senior officer who has been directly involved in the initial planning process. This reflects a broader shift away from the term attritable — meaning inexpensive enough to be willing to lose on high risk missions while being capable enough to be relevant for those missions — to a new concept the service has dubbed “affordable mass.
USAF
The U.S. Air Force’s two future VC-25B presidential aircraft will wear a paint scheme more in line with the iconic ones on the existing VC-25A Air Force Ones. President Joe Biden’s decision on the paint job reverses one made by his predecessor, Donald Trump, which would have seen the aircraft wear an entirely new red, white, and blue livery.
USAF
USAF
The Secretary of the Air Force’s Public Affairs Office announced the decision on the VC-25B’s paint job today and provided specifics on how it differs from the VC-25A’s scheme.
WASHINGTON – When Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Kremlin had hundreds of MiG and Sukhoi planes in reserve in its air force.
By some estimates, the Ukrainian fighter fleet was much meager, numbering 69 aircraft at most. According to experts, its size was one-tenth that of Russia.
Ukraine and its supporters claim that Western fighters are now needed to tip the scales in Ukraine’s favor while enabling close air support and air interdiction missions.
Given the pace at which China is accelerating shipbuilding and fleet expansion, the new Chinese aircraft carriers are not without concern for the Pentagon.
In recent months and years, China has been adding new shipyards and spawning new classes of Type 075 amphibians, new Type 055 near-stealth destroyers, and new aircraft carriers.
China continues to increase its naval capabilities.
It is well known that, in numerical terms, the PRC’s naval fleet is larger than that of the United States, which does not necessarily translate into maritime superiority.
Military forces from several NATO countries are participating this week in three major exercises inside the Arctic Circle, focused on capacity building, cooperation and cross-border law enforcement.
More than 30 ships, four submarines and multiple aircraft, from maritime patrols to troop transports, have kicked off NATO’s Joint Warrior 2023 maneuver.
Set primarily off the northern Norwegian coast and along the northern European seas, Joint Warrior is run by the British Royal Navy and incorporates surface, underwater, airborne and land-based scenarios.
A battery issue forced the Army and Navy to call off a planned flight test of a hypersonic missile that was scheduled for March 5, military officials said Friday.
The two services are working together on a common hypersonic glide body that could be used for the Army’s ground-launched Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) and the Navy’s sea-launched Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system. The Pentagon wants these types of missiles because their speed and maneuverability are expected to pose challenges for enemy air defenses and provide a new quick-strike capability.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off to participate in a night flying sortie at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Aug. 6, 2014. (U.S. Air Force).
This article by Rob Verger first appeared on Popular Science.
Before the jet fuel that powers an aircraft’s engines can be burned, it begins its life in the ground as a fossil fuel. But the US military is exploring new ways of producing that fuel, synthetically, and on site, where it needs to be used.
Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Forces from Russia’s Wagner Group private military company may be taking a “tactical pause” as fighting continues around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, control of which has been fiercely contested for several months now. According to a U.S. research group and think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, the Wagner Group may have taken this action as it awaits much-needed reinforcements to arrive.
So, you’re planning a permanent change of station (PCS) to Germany? You probably have a lot of feelings about it, excitement, nervousness or even uncertainty. I have a few things to share with you that I wish I had known or had better understood about the transition to the Ramstein Air Base that can help […]
The post 5 Tips for Your PCS to Germany appeared first on Sandboxx.
The chain gun is an electrically-powered autocannon that can deliver extremely powerful rounds at a rapid rate of fire and with style.
The post What makes the chain gun special? appeared first on Sandboxx.
Iran’s alleged plan to acquire Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet platform is the latest sign of strengthening ties between the two authoritarian states.
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that an underground Iranian air force base could house a shipment of major Russian fighter jets. If it occurs, the agreement is significant on many levels.
Su-35 contracts with Indonesia, Algeria, and Egypt fell through in recent years under pressure from US economic sanctions, leaving China the only military other than Russia to possess the fourth-generation platform.
Waters Edge Winery is more than a place to gather over delicious wine and food in military-town Norfolk, Virginia. The walls are filled with a new future for a family who has given decades of service to this country.
Retired Navy Commander Jason Witt has a storied 21-year career as a pilot but the way he met his wife, Dyan, was just made for a blockbuster romcom. And – it was all set up (unknowingly) by his mother.
“I was a fourth grade elementary school teacher and Jason was already at his first squadron here in Norfolk as a helicopter pilot.
During World War II, various deception campaigns were used to make the enemy believe that the enemy’s military force was greater.
The most famous was the creation by the Allies of a ghost army “outfitted” with inflatable tanks and other vehicles that looked real from the air. Similar tactics were later employed when the Allies liberated France and Western Europe.
What worked for the Generation of Greats in WWII is now being tried again by fighters in Ukraine, and probably with the help of a Czech Republic-based company that makes fake inflatable weapons that can be used as decoys.
Russia’s Kinzhal missile may have kicked off the hypersonic arms race, but new evidence suggests it may be powered by U.S. technology.
The post Evidence suggests Russia’s ‘hypersonic’ Kinzhal missile is powered by American tech appeared first on Sandboxx.
Iceworm. The very word conjures all kinds of ideas. A frozen worm? A super-secret lab tucked away into the North Pole? In fact, it was a nuclear lab inside an arctic glacier, and its history is pretty remarkable.
Cold War gets colder
Well, back in 1959, the U.S. was having a little tiff with the Soviets over who’d get to run the world. Both had cutting-edge military technology, not to mention, impressive nuclear arsenals. In fact, the two superpowers played the ultimate game of chicken when it came to atomic testing.
Brian Freeman served in the Army from 2002-2015, and early on, he lost a few friends in combat. PTSD emerged in the form of anxiety and depression, and trudging on nonetheless, he became a paratrooper in his 40s. Unfortunately, the soldier hurt his back, and became medically separated. Of course, Freeman’s mental health struggles didn’t go away, so he simply fell back on his military training. “If I can learn it, I can fix it,” said Freeman of the mindset, and the veteran earned a Bachelors (2018) and Masters (2019) in Social Work from Fordham.
The Marine Corps is the latest military service to launch its own software factory to enhance its in-house software development capability.
The Marine Corps Software Factory (MCSWF) will start as a three-year pilot to demonstrate that there’s demand for the concept and that it can scale. It will be co-located with the Army Software Factory in Austin, Texas, where Marines embedded last summer to kickstart the software development effort before its formalization.
This is the third installment of Mid-Afternoon Map, a cartographic perspective on current events, geopolitics, and history from the Caucasus to the Carolinas, for members only. Paying members can look forward to interesting takes on good maps and bad maps, beautiful maps and ugly ones — and bizarre maps whenever possible. Nothing brings the scale […]
The post The Axis in Arkansas appeared first on War on the Rocks.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Stephanie Serrano
The U.S. Air Mobility Command is expanding the limited-aircrew employment concepts it has been exploring with aircraft like the KC-46 Pegasus to include the C-130J Super Hercules. The initial plan is to get select C-130J pilots and loadmasters trained on exactly how a flight utilizing only one of each would be executed, which will include the loadmaster helping the pilot fly the aircraft.
As the Department of Defense has reoriented to prioritize competition with nation-states over counterterrorism, special operations forces are undergoing a transformation to figure out what it means to meet that directive while maintaining their global counterterrorism mission.
“We’re transforming the SOF enterprise to achieve the goals of the” National Defense Strategy, Christopher Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7.
HNLMS De Ruyter (F 804), 10.2013 (Michael Nitz – Naval Press Service)
The Royal Netherlands Navy’s (RNLN’s) third De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigate (luchtverdedigings en commandofregatten – LCF) HNLMS
De Ruyter
(F 804) is preparing to start its sea-acceptance tests (SATs) in late March, following the completion of a major maintenance and capability upgrade.
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