Author: Michael

Tyler Schlitt Photography / LiveStormChasers.com

A balloon, which the Pentagon says is a Chinese surveillance asset, is currently heading along a southeasterly path across the United States. U.S. officials say they considered shooting it down on Wednesday but decided not to over safety concerns. Many are now clamoring for them to try again for a host of reasons, but even attempting to do so is far more complicated than it appears at first glance.
As of yesterday, the balloon was passing over Missouri. It has been soaring at an altitude of around 60,000 feet, according to the Pentagon.

Tomahawk Vs. Kalibr
Since the 1990s, the United States has relied on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from their warships and submarines. The missile, with a flight capability of 550 miles per hour, has been involved in wars in the Middle East, North Africa, the former Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan.
The USS Merrill (DD-976), an American destroyer ship, launched the first cruise missile in March 1980. in June of the same year, the UGM 109, the underwater version of the Tomahawk system, ran an Armament test.

Airmen with the 227th Air Support Operations Squadron, New Jersey Air National Guard, perform the night exercise portion of Fast-Rope Insertion Extraction System (FRIES) training from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with the 1-150th Assault Helicopter Battalion, New Jersey Army National Guard, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., April 21, 2015. (New Jersey National Guard/Master Sgt. Mark Olsen).

On Thursday, American officials speculated that China might have been operating a spy balloon above the United States for the past few days. This would be incredibly bold given that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Beijing in the coming days.
Military leaders cautioned President Joe Biden that shooting down the balloon could damage national security, so he decided not to use the deployed fighter jets. According to U.S. officials, Biden accepted their advice.
Once the balloon entered American airspace, the United States effectively “acquired custody” of it.

Senior British defense commanders in the Royal Air Force (RAF) have strongly advocated the retirement of Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules tactical transport aircraft despite acknowledging that the decision will lead to a two-year gap in airlift capabilities.
“There are a small number of capabilities specific to the C-130J that will not transfer to the A400M program by the time the C-130 is retired in the summer [of 2023],” RAF Deputy Commander Capabilities stated on Wednesday. Air Marshal Richard Knighton, at a UK defense committee hearing.

Francis P. Sempa, Real Clear Defense
The United States and its NATO allies are slowly drifting into a war against Russia.

Stuart Scheller, Real Clear Defense
America’s all-volunteer military is slowly shrinking in size and talent despite leadership’s prevention efforts.

Just one day after launching a historic India-US initiative on critical and emerging technologies, a company official revealed that General Atomics, a major American energy and defense corporation, had begun three significant projects in India in the fields of artificial intelligence, drones, and semiconductors.
According to Vivek Lall, CEO of the General Atomics Global Corporation, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has partnered with Bharat Forge and 114ai, an Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startup, to develop the next generation of innovations in AI.

USCG.

The mouth of the Columbia River can be an extremely treacherous place for mariners. The recent videos posted by the U.S. Coast Guard are a case in point. In it, we see just how absurdly brave Coasties can be – notably those hardened by the at times very hostile seas off the Pacific Northwest. This is especially true of one rescue swimmer who faced down a huge, sudden wave, en route to his target, and went on to still make the save.
The mouth of the Columbia River separates the states of Washington and Oregon.

Saab

The Pentagon on Friday officially confirmed that the U.S. will include an undisclosed number of Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) in the latest $2.17 billion tranche of aid to Ukraine.
The munition – officially listed on the aid package as “precision-guided rockets,” will provide a major boost to Ukraine’s efforts to take back territory from Russia by giving its troops the capability to hit targets at distances much further than longest-range munitions already provided to Kyiv.