Global coverage on wars, weapons, intelligence, and diplomats lying about all three. Opinions are mine.
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Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The Kongsberg company has presented a containerized launch system for the NSM cruise missiles.
The system, called the NSM Mission Module, is based on a 20-foot maritime container and can hold 4 NSM missiles, with a range of approximately 300 km and a payload of 120 kg.
The use of a container allows for the creation of a discreet launch system, and it can be used in a stationary configuration, on a truck, or on a maritime platform.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The U.S. Army could strike a moving warship from 1,000 km away, and it wouldn't need a new launcher to do it.
Lockheed Martin is preparing a ramjet-powered Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 4 that existing HIMARS launchers could fire at moving ships and relocatable land targets alike.
No earlier PrSM could pair that range with moving-target capability. Mobile batteries, scattered across dispersed positions along coastlines, could then reach into maritime operations from land.
Lockheed is already building the factory capacity to support production. The proof comes in 2027 and 2028, when flyoff competitions will test the design and its readiness for the field.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Cheap air-launched cruise missiles from the ERAM program, launched by Biden and funded by Europe, should start arriving in Ukraine soon. Will Trump dare delay or block them?
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Helsing unveiled Contra, an autonomous air defence system, with two interceptors: AD-1 Inferno and AD-2 Ambush
The announcement follows reports that Russia's Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet drone output has risen to about 4,000 a month, with new launch sites bringing parts of the EU within range.
AD-1 INFERNO:
— Jet propulsion
— Over 700 km/h in speed
— 20+ km operating range
— Over 9,000m operating altitude
— Containerised launch
AD-2 AMBUSH:
— Solid rocket motor propulsion
— Over Mach 2.5 speed
— 20 km+ operating range
— Over 9,000m operating altitude
— Containerised launch
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
A Chinese H-6KG bomber has been photographed carrying what looks like a new large electronic jamming pod, nearly identical to the RKZ930-22 or RKZ930-32 pods on the J-16D, the PLAAF's dedicated electronic warfare jet, but with a differently shaped nose.
If it is a working jammer, the H-6KG, the latest version of China's modernized Tu-16 derivative with D-30KP2 engines and long-range cruise missiles, could blind or confuse enemy radars on its own during an approach rather than relying on escort electronic warfare aircraft.
The J-16D, a two-seat Flanker derivative first shown at Zhuhai in September 2021 and often compared to the U.S. Navy's EA-18G Growler, has carried RKZ930-10, -22, -31 and -32 pods.
I believe their distinct shapes cover different radar frequency bands, similar to the U.S. Navy's Next Generation Jammer.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The SDA (Strategic Defense Alliance) has unveiled the X-12 reactive drone interceptor.
The drone has a cruising speed of 350 km/h, a maximum speed of up to 700 km/h, a range of up to 126 km, and an altitude of up to 10 km.
The X-12, developed by companies from Lithuania, Latvia, and Ukraine, has already undergone testing and is planned to be supplied to Ukraine.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
BAE Systems showed its TRV-150 drone as an air defense platform carrying three APKWS II rockets.
At Eglin Air Force Base, it intercepted multiple aerial targets in one flight without landing. The laser-guided rockets reach about 6 km, and the drone flies roughly 36 minutes.
BAE also agreed with the U.S. Department of Defense to raise APKWS II production from 25,000 to 35,000 units a year.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Every time I see a SLAM-ER in CENTCOM, a small part of me dies inside. They should be in Ukraine, not being wasted against Iran
WSJ has published footage of USS George Washington rearming at sea. The amount and type of munitions being loaded would be utilized in a strike campaign. Strike missiles, penetrating bombs and such. The stills come from the footage in the thread.
A UK Guardian reporter on board earlier this week captured a shipment in footage showing much the same.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
UAV Launch from Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
A UAV was launched from Ghost Shark, an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XL-AUV) developed by Anduril.
Anduril and the Australian Government confirm Ghost Shark can deploy drone swarms, sea mines, air-launched effects for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike, and underwater logistics payloads.
The vehicles are being built in New South Wales, Australia, and payload testing is underway.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Cummings Aerospace has demonstrated the launch of the Hellhound S3 jet-powered drone.
A launch platform capable of carrying up to 8 Hellhound S3 drones was installed on a Polaris RZR buggy.
During the test, 2 drones were launched, and the company plans to install the launch platform and conduct tests with both land-based and maritime drones.
The Hellhound S3 weighs 5.9 kg, has a range of up to 60 km, and a speed of up to 618 km/h. It can be used as an attack drone or as an interceptor drone.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US Navy controlled an MQ-25A Stingray refueling drone from an aircraft carrier more than 2,100 miles away.
Operators aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in the Pacific linked to the aircraft, which was sitting at Boeing's facility in Mascoutah, Illinois.
Using the carrier's Unmanned Air Warfare Center and a low Earth orbit satellite network, the crew made a beyond-line-of-sight connection during sea trials.
The Navy calls it the first successful link between an underway carrier's control station and an MQ-25A, a key test of the systems needed to bring drones onto future carrier decks.
[Archive Footage]
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
An interesting piece released at an opportune time. Given its massive missile capabilities and industrial base, South Korea should pursue collaborative initiatives (similar to those recently emerging for deep-strike missile systems) with partners like Poland and certain Middle Eastern nations.
ELSA serves as a fitting example; the France ArianeGroup, for instance, recently unveiled an intriguing presentation on this subject.
Poland is a key partner for South Korea in the defense industry.
A point underscored by the fact that missile facilities related to the K239 (Homar-K, Chunmoo) system are already being constructed in Poland.
Such facilities are designed not only for the development and production of everything from basic rockets to complex missiles, but also for quality assessment and testing. (rocket motor, sensor tests, flight tests using telemetry and ground based measurement equipment, etc.)
There appears to be significant potential for broad cooperation with Poland, spanning state-led research and development, investment, testing, production, and deployment.
It is highly likely that such collaboration is already taking place quietly under the surface.
Naturally, it would be prudent to begin by focusing on less sensitive strategic assets, such as the L-SAM-I and L-SAM-II high-altitude, long-range interceptor systems, which are better suited for public disclosure.
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While cooperation on ground-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and interception systems will likely take a long time, it is also significant that the FA-50 can be equipped with various air-launched long-range strike missiles (such as KALCM, SASM, L-MCM and much more) to provide a rapid deep-strike capability.
Because the FA-50 is larger than a typical trainer aircraft, it possesses the unique advantage of being able to carry large missiles.
The recently released image of an FA-50 carrying two long-range cruise missiles (KALCM) was quite encouraging.
However, since air-launched weaponry was not their primary focus, as the priority was achieving high performance, the mass production of these air-based missiles is not expected to take place for several years.
Broń hipersoniczna przestaje być domeną wyłącznie największych państw.
Kilka dni temu Korea Południowa przetestowała pierwszy pocisk hipersoniczny własnej produkcji. Zgodnie z oświadczeniem tamtejszych władz, test był udany, osiągnięto pożądaną wysokość, prędkość, tor lotu i cel. Na dalszym etapie lotu pocisk miał przeprowadzić udane manewry, które w razie użycia bojowego znacząco utrudniałyby jego przechwycenie. Co najważniejsze z perspektywy Seulu, po dokończeniu prac rozwojowych, ma on zyskać zdolność do prowadzenia ataków z zaskoczenia "na obszarze Półwyspu Koreańskiego". Mówiąc inaczej: istotnie zwiększyć swój potencjał odstraszania, wobec najważniejszego zagrożenia jakim jest agresywny sąsiad z północy.
Nieprzypadkowo @RozwojPlus postuluje rozwój polskiej rodziny pocisków manewrujących i balistycznych. Suwerenne możliwości rażenia na dalekich zasięgach to jedna z osiągalnych przez nas metod realnego wzmocnienia odstraszania wobec przeciwnika. Czerpiąc z doświadczeń takich państw jak Korea Płd. czy Izrael, warto wyciągnąć dwie zasadnicze lekcje. Po pierwsze, ten program wymaga wieloletniego, konsekwentnego zaangażowania państwa, np. w formie strategicznego programu rządowego - pewnych zdolności po prostu nie kupimy z półki. Po drugie, choć współpraca z partnerami zagranicznymi przy wybranych elementach programu rozwojowego jest wskazana, a czasem niezbędna, na końcu dnia to my musimy podjąć wysiłek integracji, testowania i doskonalenia finalnego produktu.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Lockheed Martin has revealed more details about the PAC-3 ACE interceptor for Patriot.
— It will cost less than half as much as the PAC-3 MSE (roughly $2-2.5M vs $4-5M), with trade-offs in range and capability.
— It fits the same canister as the MSE, so one M903 launcher holds 12. It targets aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
— Lockheed's lineup, in order of increasing range: PAC-3 ACE → PAC-3 MSE → PAC-3 Edge.
The MSE is in production, the ACE is a cheaper complement, and the Edge (testing 2027, deployment 2031) will have longer range.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Ukraine's Air Force says no US intelligence warning arrived on time during Russia's evening ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, so Ukrainian forces had to detect the missiles with their own radars.
A US warning did arrive around 3 a.m., but too late for a full response, and in some parts of Kyiv the air raid sirens may have sounded only after the explosions.
This is the second time this month that Kyiv has been hit without warning.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US will continue lifting sanctions on Russia and is preparing new relief covering tankers and gas, and possibly some companies and individuals, while also considering how to take control of frozen assets, according to a source cited by RBC-Ukraine.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US is delaying delivery of Patriot interceptors already paid for through NATO's PURL initiative, Zelensky told Bloomberg on Oct. 18, saying Washington approved only some of the missiles and that this “is not a technical issue.”
He said the US is currently supplying just 12 Patriot missiles a month, about a quarter of the number under the Biden administration, as Ukraine faces renewed Russian ballistic attacks and severe interceptor shortages.
He added that he had offered to halt strikes on Russian diesel infrastructure in exchange for more Patriot missiles, but the US “just want us to stop attacking diesel.”
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Ukraine has carried out what it calls the world's first battlefield medical evacuation of a human by drone, saving a wounded soldier of the 30th Mechanized Brigade from a minefield.
Enemy drones and mined terrain made a conventional evacuation impossible, so troops from the 92nd Assault Brigade worked with the manufacturer to modify a Ukrainian-made heavy hexacopter bomber drone to stay stable while carrying him out.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US military has drawn up strike plans that could include the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB), its largest non-nuclear weapon, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain.
The plans would take effect if President Trump orders combat to resume.
Sources told CNN the strikes would come before a US pullback from the CENTCOM AOR, which could let the administration declare victory and withdraw.
Its effectiveness is doubtful, since the GPS-guided bomb likely cannot penetrate the granite-fortified, deeply buried sites.
Its blast would mainly hit the surface and raise civilian casualty concerns near populated areas.
The MOAB weighs 21,600 lbs and is over 30 feet long. Its size means it can only be delivered from the cargo hold of an MC-130 special operations aircraft, where a parachute drags it out on a pallet.
It then falls toward its target, guided by GPS. Its blast yield is about 11 tons of TNT, and it has been used in combat only once, in Afghanistan in 2017, as seen in the footage.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Yemen's Ansarallah (the Houthis) released footage it says shows a Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon hit by a Houthi surface-to-air missile over Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.
The video shows the missile detonating above and ahead of the jet, damaging its starboard wing.
The pilot is seen releasing flares and making evasive manoeuvres, and reportedly flew the damaged aircraft back to friendly territory.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
A clip from a newly released Russian MoD video showing a VKS Su-34 series strike fighter releasing five UMPK-equipped FAB-500T bombs during a combat sortie. The release sequence is: midboard wing stations (first port side then starboard side), inboard wing stations (first port side then starboard side), and forward centerline fuselage station.