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Following confirmation of the entry into service of the R-77M active radar guided air-to-air missile in the Russian Aerospace Forces, the scale on which the new missile will be fielded and the impact it will have on the ongoing war in the Ukrainian theatre have been widely speculated. The air-to-air armaments of Russian fighter aircraft have long lagged behind their American, Chinese and even European counterparts, with the R-77M belatedly providing a direct counterpart to the Chinese PL-15 and the American AIM-120D which entered service in the mid-2010s.

Images from Pakistan have for the first time confirmed the delivery of Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters to serve in the Pakistan Army, following years of speculation and unconfirmed reports that the aircraft were set to be procured to replace the South Asian state’s ageing U.S. supplied AH-1F Cobras. The release of the images closely coincides with the first deliveries of American AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Army, which represents India’s only major procurement of manned combat aircraft from the United States.

The Republic of China Army (RoCA) has received a second batch of M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks, which arrived at Taipei Port on the night of July 27, before being transported out of the the port area by trailer at around 0:10 am the following day. The tanks were transferred to Armoured Forces Training Command in Hsinchu. The delivery has more than doubled the Army’s fleet of modern tanks, following the delivery of the first batch of 38 M1A2T tanks through the same port December 2024.

Its not industrial planning, it is national survival.

Commander Salamander Substack
There has been a growing awareness over the last couple of years—and especially the last year—about the “rare earth element” challenge.
It is more than a challenge, it is a problem.

Maybe Time to Rid Ourselves of Divisive Political Parties and Partisan Destructive Politics

Public Domain

By MG Paul E Vallely, US Army (Ret) And Ray DiLorenzo
Have political parties finally outlived their usefulness and stand in the way of getting anything done for Americans. Maybe we should to turn to electoral, high tech AI approach options. Americans complain frequently that politicians do not work together to get the simplest things done to make American lives easier.

One of the most often-overlooked wars in American history, the War of 1812 is somewhat like a disappointing sequel to a much more exciting movie. In this case, the original film is the American Revolution, and the War of 1812 is really “AmRev II: the Hubris.” Since no one really won, and the reasoning for the war was something that could have been avoided, history classes tend not to be as invested.
Besides, no one likes a stalemate.

Rules that already cover most civilian health insurance plans might soon be coming to TRICARE, allowing children to remain on their parents’ policy until they turn 26 with no extra fees.
The legislation, titled the “Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act,” would extend TRICARE coverage for active duty and retired beneficiaries up to 26 years old without paying an additional premium — a standard that exists for civilians with private insurance. 
The House and Senate bills were introduced by veterans in Congress who say it would save military families money each year.

The Space Force’s uncrewed space plane is set for its next mission. The X-37B, the nine-meter-long spacecraft known for its lengthy trips in orbit, will blast off for its eighth mission on Aug. 21. As per usual with the secretive spacecraft, many of the mission details including its expected length are being kept under wraps, but the Space Force announced on Monday that it will be testing out new laser communications and a “quantum inertial sensor.”
The next mission, OTV-8, will see the spacecraft launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

There’s a fundamental mismatch between the agile acquisition processes that the Pentagon says it wants, and the unfortunate bureaucratic reality. Bonnie Evangelista, an acquisition maverick, joins the show to explain why. She spent the last seven years implementing rapid acquisition strategies for Army Defensive Cyber, the Joint AI Center, and the Chief Digital AI Office, and is now a strategic advisor supporting the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul team rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

After stepping down from leading the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office during the Biden administration in January, Radha Plumb has taken a role at IBM, leading what the firm calls “AI-first transformation.”
As vice president of AI-first transformation, Plumb will spearhead IBM’s Next-Generation Transformation Strategy and work across the company’s core business lines to foster adoption of AI, automation and hybrid cloud computing throughout the global organization and with its clients and partners.
Plumb started in the role July 14.