CV32

I will be getting to it eventually, but so many competitors for my time lately.

Russia Delivers 1st S-400 Missile Defense Regiment to China (The Diplomat)

Eric, the question is about ship 'sprint and drift' behaviour in the ASW zone of the formation rather than player controlled ASW tactics generally. Btw, a towed array is omnidirectional. It does not suffer the same kind of problem with 'baffles' that a bow mounted sonar would.

You will want to sprint far enough to make it worth the effort. In other words, when you're creeping and acoustic conditions are at their optimum, your detection range is at its peak. So, you can potentially already hear out to the first CZ (30-33 nm), possibly further. When you sprint, then, you're intending to be in a position (at the end of the sprint) that allows you to hear out to a new, useful distance. I would say at least half of that CZ (15-17 nm). This means, if you're a typical warship sprinting at 25-30 knots, you need to do so for at least 25-30 minutes to move 12-15 nautical miles. When you start the drift, you're trying to once again attain optimum acoustic conditions, both for the sake of your equipment and to try and catch an opponent making too much noise (e.g. trying to catch up, intercept, etc.). And, then, if you get a sniff of a contact, trying to work out a solution without giving your precise position away. Calculating exactly how long this will take (either in terms of time or distance) is a relatively complex physics question, but I think a 10-15 minute drift makes good sense as a rule of thumb.

Declassified: How an Israeli operation derailed Syria’s nuclear weapons drive (DefenseNews)

Russian Ground Forces OOB (Institute for the Study of War, pdf)

Most recent DOT&E report here (pdf)

2018 World Navies in Review (Proceedings, March 2018)

Only Half of F-35s Available for Flight, Program Head Says (Military.com)

Thanks!

A Guide to the Type 26 ‘City class’ Frigate (UK Defense Journal)

Russia Admits Su-57s Were In Syria But Claims They Left After Just Two Days (The War Zone)

Here's The Six Super Weapons Putin Unveiled During Fiery Address (The War Zone) A nuclear powered cruise missile, a la Project Pluto (SLAM)? That is nuts.

F-35 Price Dropping But Not Enough for the Pentagon (USNI News)

Lockheed Not Cooperating Enough On F-35 Contract: Vice Adm. Winter (Breaking Defense)

The February 2018 Air War Between Israel, Syria and Iran Was Brief and Violent (War is Boring) Lots of detail in this article, including consensus that the F-16I was probably brought down by an SA-5. They appear to have fired plenty of them.

I think the deployment of two prototype aircraft is little more than window dressing at this point. The Su-57 has not been weapons qualified as far as anyone knows, and since development is expected to be stretched out for potentially as much as the next decade, there is little operational significance to this deployment. The same applies to any H4 data compiled at this point.

Did Russia Just Send Su-57 Stealth Fighters to Syria? (The War Zone)

LRMTS is a reference to Laser Ranger and Marked Target Seeker, useful for gauging range to target and for working with other assets on the ground (and otherwise) that might be marking targets for your aircraft. An ESM/radar targeting pod would be relevant to anti-radar missions. The Kh-23 (NATO AS-7 Kerry) is an early generation, radio command guided air to surface missile. The pod carries the electronics necessary for the aircraft to guide the weapon to its target. (For aircraft that did not have that capability built into their avionics.) Regarding radars, the MiG-27 (NATO Flogger D) did not have a radar. The MiG-27K (NATO Flogger J) added more avionics, but still no radar. The Su-25 (NATO Frogfoot) and Su-17 (NATO Fitter) were much the same.

Even a 155mm HVP would be better than having the guns sit idle.

The Navy’s stealth destroyers to get new weapons and a new mission: killing ships (DefenseNews)

Concur.

If I had to guess, I would say SA-17. Israel attacked SA-5 and SA-17 sites after the shootdown. Meanwhile, which of you sleuths can identify this missile that fell into Lebanon? I see command link antennas on those tail fins, and I am thinking SAM.

2018 Nuclear Posture Review (pdf)

Catching up with ‘The Chieftain’: US Army officer and ‘World of Tanks’ historian (Army Times)