Current Events

From Ares UAVs Cruel as Landmines Says Senior British Judge Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 7/8/2009 12:25 PM CDT A senior British judge, Lord Bingham, says that the use of UAVs as weapons is "cruel as to be beyond the pale of human tolerance", Robert Verkaik, legal editor of Britain's daily The Independent reported earlier this week. Lord Bingham, who was until last year the senior law lord, said in an interview with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, that drones could be compared with cluster bombs and landmines. "Are there, for example, and this goes to conflict, not post-conflict situations, weapons that ought to be outlawed?…

From Code One

Could I suggest that we add Alert 5 to the Intel feed?

Enjoy! FWFS, Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired Renton, WA, USA Summary follows ... 01 January CHINA Aircraft carrier ex-VARYAG completed the third phase of sea trials and returned to Dalian. 03 January Southern Partnership Station 2012: HSV-2 SWIFT continues mission in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. 04 January ALGERIA Norwegian STX OSV Brattvaag is fitting out three TYPE UT 515 CD salvage tugs / rescue ships (similar to French ABEILLE BOURBON) … hulls built at STX Tulcea (Romania) … destined for the Algerian navy. First named EL MOUNDJID (HullNr 701), about to be delivered. INDONESIA The Indonesian Navy has ordered a total of 2…

For news on procurement of weapons. First one: http://alert5.com/2012/10/10/iraq-inks-4-3-billion-arms-deal-with-russia-buying-30-mi-28ne-and-pantsir-s1/

Find it here. This article relates pretty well to what was discussed last night on HG chat.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed CNN has just recently confirmed that the former PM was shot in the back of the neck shortly after a suicide bombing at a rally where she was due to speak. Minutes ago CNN confirmed that the former Prime Minister died at 0616 EST this morning. Reports indicate that at least 5 shots were fired at her resulting in one hit. No further information is available at this time. Later D

Gentlemen, Please find the above article here. It is a very interesting read for better understanding some of the problems encountered with attempts at suppressing enemy air defenses in the relative recent past.

The following is a summary of key events taking with the major navies around the world. All information is gleaned from open source intelligence (OSINT). Ship locators are provided from Naval Intelligence professionals Mail (NIPmail). Source URL’s are provided for stories, whenever possible. Use this info to catch-up on daily navy news and to plan “What-If” Harpoon scenarios. Fair Winds and Following Seas (FWFS), Greg Emerson, DM!(SW), USN-Retired Renton, WA, USA January Summary follows: 30 December RUSSIA KUZNETSOV deployment: Carrier task force south of Sicily, heading east … while enroute, flight operations with 24 sorties Su-33 Flanker and 7 hel…

U.S. To Test 700-Ton Explosive By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE DefenseNews The U.S. military plans to detonate a 700 ton explosive charge in a test called “Divine Strake” that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said March 30. ”I don’t want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons,” said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Tegnelia said the test was part of a U.S. effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply-buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. ”We have several very la…

Found this while trying to find out more about the SA-10b. Scroll to the bottom for an outstanding graphic. Find it here at the Australian Airpower website.

U.N. Drone Investigator: If Facts Lead to U.S. War Crimes, So Be It (Wired, Danger Room blog)

SOSUS- The "Secret Weapon" of Undersea Surveillance By Edward C. Whitman Born of a three-way marriage of early Cold War strategic necessity, World War II progress in underwater acoustics, and an extraordinary engineering effort, the Navy’s pioneering Sound Surveillance System – SOSUS – became a key, long-range early-warning asset for protecting the United States against the threat of Soviet ballistic missile submarines and in providing vital cueing information for tactical, deep-ocean, anti-submarine warfare. And although subsequent events – most notably the end of the Cold War – robbed SOSUS of much of its mission, its history remains an object lesson in how inspire…

Promise and Reality: Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-To-Air Combat (pdf, a research paper by Lt Col Patrick Higby, USAF, submitted to Air War College in March 2005)

Here Comes Adversary Stealth (Air Force Magazine, December 2012)

The Road to Stealth UAS (Aviation Week) Note the unveiling of the RQ-180.

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

The Need for SEAD Part I: The Nature of SEAD (War on the Rocks)

Once again, HCE proving it is ahead of the curve. Raytheon floats idea for offshore missile batteries (Jane's) Seriously, though, I hate the SAM barges. Please don't use them in your scenario building if you can possibly avoid it.

Strategic Stability in the Second Nuclear Age (pdf, Council on Foreign Relations)