Twitter Screencap
More than a month into the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive, U.S.-supplied M2A2 Bradley ODS infantry fighting vehicles have taken some punishment from Russian forces. Videos early in the counteroffensive showed Bradleys taking hits and being abandoned as Ukrainians advanced on Russian lines. Now Ukraine appears to have upgraded some of its Bradleys with at least parts of the Bradley Urban Survival Kit (BUSK), offering improved protection.
Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer.’ (Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures).
“What do you expect from theory alone?” That question and variations on it echo throughout the new movie Oppenheimer. It also provides the central throughline, as wartime ambition and hope give way to paranoia and military escalation. What is nominally a biopic of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer ends up a dark prophecy of how the Cold War arms race and the chain reaction it caused could lead to global destruction.
Adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J.
It turns out that the Pentagon is no better at keeping its submarine fleet afloat, so to speak than it is at keeping its F-35s flying.
Nearly 40% of the Navy’s 49 attack submarines are not ready for war due to bottlenecks at naval shipyards. “The number of [attack submarines] on depot maintenance or inactive (i.e., awaiting depot maintenance) has increased from 11 ships (about 21% of the force in fiscal year 2012 to 18 ships (about 37% of the [attack submarine] force) in fiscal year 2023,” the Congressional Research Service has reported.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro hosted a Department of the Navy (DON) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Summit, June 22, with senior DON, Navy and Marine Corps leaders. The goal of the summit was to discuss opportunities and identify action items to promote DEI initiatives and establish a renewed focus on data and evidence-based decision making. (U.S. Navy photo by CMCS Shannon E. Renfroe)
The Navy is all in for DEI. At the Navy website if one clicks on “who we are,” one of the first things that shows up is “diversity and equity.
Chinese company CH UAV recently announced that it is developing a new type of super-long-range loitering munition that offers a number of new features.
Aerospace company CH UAV Co Ltd is developing a type of loitering munition based on technology from the AR series of air-to-surface missiles, the Global Times learned on Friday.
It can carry out missions that include battlefield communications relay, radar jamming and suppression, precision strikes against time-sensitive targets, as well as battle damage assessment.
A series of explosions at an ammunition depot near the Crimean town of Octiabrskoe led to evacuations amid several Ukrainian strikes on the occupied peninsula.
Towering explosions shook what was reportedly a Russian ammunition depot and railyard in the town north of Simferopol, capital of the Crimean Autonomous Republic. An air base near the town was also reportedly attacked.
Huge detonations are currently happening in the center of Crimea after the Ukrainian strikes
Reportedly, several drones & possibly Storm Shadow missiles were involved.
Tony Bennett (center), an Army private, singing with fellow soldiers in Germany in 1945. (Photo courtesy tonybennett.com).
Award winning singer Tony Bennett died on Friday, July 21 at the age of 96. The vocalist, whose career spanned seven decades and who sang hits such as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” was also a veteran of World War II and got his start singing for his fellow troops.
Bennett’s publicist confirmed his death on Friday. Bennett, born Anthony Benedetto in 1926 in Queens, New York City, grew up in poverty, listening to jazz during the Great Depression.
Following the Russian withdrawal from the grain agreement, Moscow threatens to attack merchant ships. What does international law propose, and what can the West do?
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that, from July 20, 2023, all ships heading to Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo. The countries under whose flags they sail will be classified as “involved in the conflict in Ukraine” in favor of Kyiv.
The main spokesperson for the Biden administration has stated that they expect US-made F-16 fighter jets to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the year, signaling increased urgency to deliver the aircraft.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has persistently sought modern fighter aircraft to strengthen its defense against invading Russian forces.
Kyiv’s ground forces face difficulties advancing their counteroffensive due to Russia’s air superiority, which slows them down and makes their advance difficult.
A command investigation released by the Marine Corps found that five Marines killed in June 2022 Osprey crash were not at fault in the accident. Top, Capt. John J. Sax, Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio; Bottom: Cpl. Nathan E. Carlson, Cpl. Seth D. Rasmuson, and Lance Cpl. Evan A. Strickland.
A senior Marine with over 1,200 hours of flight time was the first to see the smoke.
No one onboard Swift 12, a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey, saw the actual crash of its sister ship, Swift 11, which killed five Marines on June 8, 2022, on a desert range near El Centro, California.
