The six-variant armoured vehicle programme is a key element of the British Army’s ongoing modernisation efforts.

Today we’re diving into Operation Desert Shield, the 1990 answer to Iraq’s less-than-neighborly invasion of Kuwait. This was the United States playing traffic cop to 34 nations, banding together like a multinational superhero squad, ready to protect Saudi Arabia from an overzealous Iraq looking to expand its sandbox.
A battalion of troops, enough to fill several sports stadiums, was posted up in the Arabian Peninsula, and the seas became a floating barricade around Iraq.

Multiple regional conflicts represents a world at war, again. War can be many things, not just bombs landing on American territory. China wants to win by collapsing America from within and without.

Image by Unknown author

By my count there are 14 major regional conflicts underway:

Europe/and the Middle East

Ukraine was the first one and Putin’s contribution to the Chinese led alliance to topple America (which is a formal agreement between China and Russia and their proxy allies of Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea).

Robson, Stars & Str.
A pair B-1B Lancer bombers are in the Western Pacific training with U.S. allies and partners, according to Pacific Air Forces.

Easley, DefenseScoop
“Tactically responsive space is about a culture shift with the United States Space Force to get the entire set of guardians thinking on tactically relevant timelines,”…

Laura Heckmann, NatDef
Energetic materials — the chemicals used as propellants, pyrotechnics and explosives — have been on the development backburner since the fall of the Soviet Union,…

Adam Schwarze, RealClearDefense

Thomas Spoehr, RealClearDefense

As part of an existing framework contract, the German Bundeswehr has requested Rheinmetall to produce and supply Puma IFV rounds.

Ammunition production from Norway will receive a $190m boost intended to ramp up supply of the critical military stock.

US intelligence estimates that Israel has killed about 20-30% of Hamas forces, not achieving Tel Aviv’s goal of eliminating the armed group that controls the Gaza Strip.

Anonymous US officials on January 21 revealed reports from a series of this country’s intelligence agencies on the situation in the Gaza Strip, which estimated that thousands of Hamas fighters were killed, equivalent to 20-30% of the force before the conflict broke out in October 2023.

In January 2024, the US Army received a second battery of a short- and medium-range missile complex (Mid-Range Capability, or MRC), which has the official name Typhon. This complex is special in that two types of missiles can be fired from it – Tomahawk in the Block IV and Block V versions with a launch range of up to 1,800 kilometers and anti-aircraft SM-6 on a quasi-ballistic trajectory for striking ground targets, the launch range, in this case, is 460 kilometers.

PT PAL officials making final checks ahead of the keel-laying ceremony for the third SSV that will be delivered to the Philippine Navy. (PT PAL)
Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL has laid down the keel for what will be the third landing platform dock (LPD)-like strategic sealift vessel (SSV) it will deliver to the Philippine Navy.
The keel was laid down on 22 January at the shipbuilder’s facility at Surabaya, a representative from the shipbuilder told Janes on the same day.
Manila signed a follow-on contract for two more SSVs with PT PAL in June 2022.

On January 19, 2024, a ceremony was held at the Turkish Sefine shipyard to commission four new ships into the Turkish Navy, including the frigate TCG Istanbul (F-515), the tanker TCG DERYA, and the logistics ship TCG Ütğm: Arif Ekmekçi and the surface unmanned ship MARLIN.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s 2023 Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China report noted a 2021 “core military concept” in China centered on multi-domain precision warfare. The concept is “intended to leverage a [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] network that incorporates advances in big data and artificial intelligence to rapidly identify key vulnerabilities in the U.S.

Israel’s war against Hamas has been largely focused on the military dimensions of the conflict, with limited discussions about the role of diplomacy outside of a successful one-off hostage-for-prisoner swap. Now, more than three months into the fighting, there are more frequent references to political proposals on what a governing structure in Gaza might look like in a post-conflict setting. On Jan. 11, departing from Egypt and heading back to the United States after a whirlwind trip of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East, U.S.

An artist’s portrayal of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. (Northrop Grumman)
The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programme is to cost at least 37% more and enter service two years later than anticipated, the USAF said in a 19 January statement.
The Program Acquisition Unit Cost (PAUC) has increased from a projected USD118 million in 2020 to roughly USD162 million per missile in December 2023.

(U.S. Navy photo/Task & Purpose composite).
After 10 days, the U.S. military ended search and rescue efforts for two missing Navy SEALs, who are now presumed dead after going missing near Somalia on Jan. 11, U.S. Central Command announced on Sunday, January 21.
“We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing U.S. Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased,” CENTCOM said in its statement.

Progress in the development of the MiG-41 must be considered in the context of the current challenges of the Russian aerospace industry.
Rostec’s announcement on the development of the MiG-41 fighter and its feasibility
In January, the Russian state military technology conglomerate Rostec announced the initiation of the development of the MiG-41. However, considerable doubts remain about the feasibility of this project.

In the years shortly after World War II, the United States military found itself one of if not the dominant force on Earth. Freshly reorganized in 1947, with a new department, new service branches and a massive industrial powerhouse behind it — not to mention a growing nuclear arsenal — the U.S. military found itself in a massive Cold War with the Soviet Union. Each year meant new recruits and new soldiers who needed to be educated in how the massive military infrastructure worked. One way to inform personnel was a series of intricate and stylistic slides.

(Screenshot via TCH/@wartranslated on Twitter).
A little over a week ago combat footage out of Ukraine went viral, showing a U.S.-donated Bradley Fighting Vehicle with Ukraine’s armed forces taking on a Russian T-90M tank and quickly making short work of it. The decades-old Bradley, essentially an armored personnel carrier and not a tank itself, drove circles around the modern Russian tank. It fired its 25mm gun nonstop until the Russian armor was disabled and crashed into a tree. It turns out the Bradley did that with only a crew of two.
Seriously.

What’s the Buzz About the KN-23 Missile Transfer?
In recent developments, analysts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) have shed light on the transfer of ballistic missiles from North Korea to Russia, raising concerns about potential threats to Ukraine. Let’s delve into the details to understand the gravity of this situation.
The Potential Players: KN-23 and KN-24
The IISS analysts refrain from pinpointing the specific ballistic missile types Russia acquired but suggest two potential variants – KN-23 or KN-24.

In a startling revelation, a recent report by the Air Force Accident Investigation Board unveils an incident that occurred in March 2023 at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. This incident involved a flashlight inadvertently left inside the air intake of a fifth-generation F-35 during maintenance, resulting in a staggering $4 million worth of damage to the engine.
II. The Incident Details
During routine maintenance, a technician overlooked a flashlight in the air intake, only to be discovered after the engine was run for five minutes.

Ethiopia has confirmed the addition of two first-generation Russian Su-30K fighter jets to its Air Force [ETAF]. The Ministry of Defense of the African country has officially confirmed the news.

The Su-30K fighters came from Russia and were initially manufactured years ago to meet the needs of the Indian Air Force. However, in an unexpected turn of events, India returned the entire batch of 18 fighters to Russia in 2007, when they started production of the self-made Su-30MKI. In a subsequent negotiation, Russia sold 12 of these returned fighters to Angola, another African nation, in 2017.

The US military said it had struck a Houthi anti-ship missile in Yemen in “self-defense”, as the group prepared to launch the projectile into the Gulf of Aden.

“US forces determined the missile posed a threat to US cargo and naval vessels in the area and therefore attacked and destroyed it in self-defense,” the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on the social network X on January 20.
CENTCOM added that the latest airstrike was conducted at dawn on January 20 in Yemen. This is the fifth US raid targeting Houthi missile launch locations in the past week.

MacDill Air Force Base. (Image courtesy U.S. Air Force).
After two years of study, and five years after military officials at MacDill Air Force Base were first contacted about it, researchers have located more than 120 possible graves on the base from a Black cemetery the base was built on top of.
This week officials with MacDill Air Force Base announced that it had located 58 probable graves and 63 possible graves that would have been part of Port Tampa Cemetery, an African-American cemetery from the time of segregation. WFTS-TV first reported on the findings.

TCH screencap
The Ukrainian Bradley Fighting Vehicle gunner whose attack on a Russian T-90M Breakthrough tank was captured in a viral video says playing video games helped prepare him for that engagement.
In an interview with the Ukrainian TCH media outlet, that soldier, identified only as “Serhiy,” explained he’d just recently returned to Ukraine in December from Bradley training in Germany. Also the vehicle commander, he and his driver, Oleksandr, were only on their second mission together.

Technical analysis of the USS Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class submarine, unravels its role in naval strategy and technological legacy.
The legacy of the Cold War and submarine competition between superpowers
The USS Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class submarine, is a tangible testament to the Cold War, playing a crucial role in clandestine missions. This submarine is a product of the intense undersea competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, an era marked by the race to dominate the oceans with advanced technologies.

In a significant policy shift, the United States has once again designated the Houthis as a “specially designated global terrorist group” (SDGT). This move, less than three years after their removal from the terrorist list, has sparked concerns over potential repercussions and its impact on the already dire situation in Yemen.
Biden’s Decision: A Risky Move or Necessary Action?
Shortly after assuming office in 2021, President Joe Biden removed the Houthis from the “global terrorist” list, emphasizing the acknowledgment of the severe humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Google Earth
It’s been a very active day in terms of hostilities in the Middle East. Al Assad Air Base in Iraq, where U.S. military personnel and contractors are based, came under a massive barrage from Iranian-aligned militant groups in the country. The attack was so big that reports state it overwhelmed Al Assad’s air defenses, with multiple projectiles landing within its permitter, causing injuries.

Massive rocket attack on Ain Alasad Airbase. 17 impacts inside the base reported. #Iraq pic.twitter.

FILE: Airmen conduct a routine flight line patrol with U.S. flags flying from their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected-All Terrain Vehicles at Al Asad Air Base on July 4, 2021. (Sgt. 1st Class Christie Smith/U.S. Army National Guard).
A series of missiles were launched at the al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, injuring American and Iraqi troops on site according to multiple reports. 
Agence France-Press reports that more than a dozen rockets and missiles were fired at the base in Iraq’s western Anbar Province. Although 13 were shot down, two hit the base, an Iraqi police official told AFP.

(Image courtesy British Ministry of Defense).
The British military is one step closer to deploying lasers onto the battlefield after a successful test of its new anti-drone DragonFire directed energy system.
The British Ministry of Defense announced the successful firing of the directed-energy weapon system on Friday, Jan. 19. The DragonFire system took out an aerial drone while it was in flight, the first time it had done so.
An image shared by the British MOD even gives a striking look at DragonFire in action, with a bright beam of light taking out the drone.

Brandi Vincent, DefenseScoop
An agreement was officially signed on Sept. 18, 2023, but it wasn’t announced publicly until now.

Alex Hollings, Sandboxx News
The F-16 Fighting Falcon, known affectionately by many pilots as the Viper, is the most widely operated fighter aircraft on the planet for a reason.

John J.

USNI N.
ARLINGTON, Va.

Josh Luckenbaugh, NatDefMag
Refueling Navy ships while at sea — particularly larger vessels like destroyers — takes a lot of time and effort, requiring a supply ship to come fill up the…

Photo By Staff Sgt. Nicholas Ross | A plaque honoring Staff Sgt. Kory Wade is on dispay during his memorial service at the 48th Rescue Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., June 23, 2023. Wade, a medical logistics Airman assigned to the 48th RQS, was found dead June 17, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Ross)

SSGT Kory Wade drowned after a ‘cardiac event’ while training in Air Force Rescue techniques.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Kory Wade, 33, drowned June 14 after disappearing during a training exercise on Theodore Roosevelt Lake in Arizona.

Image by “Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.”

Hsinchu, Taiwan is the location of TSMC AP1, one of their first “foundries” for computer chips. This cluster of mega-size buildings is where the magic of chip making happens. This is one of six or more clusters in Taiwan where the most advanced chips, the 5nm, 3nm, and next in line 2nm are made. 80% of the world’s most advanced chips are made here.
The Boeing plant in Everett, WA, the world’s largest indoor assembly facility could likely fit inside the volume of this one TSMC cluster.

Via X (screencap)
After many attacks in recent weeks on ships traveling through the southern Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden, we are finally getting a glimpse of a Houthi anti-ship missile impacting a vessel.
The crisis in the region has seen cruise missiles and drones being used against vessels, but it also marked the first operational use of anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), which has its own implications. While many are saying this shows an ASBM strike, and it very well could, we cannot make that same definitive conclusion based on close examination of the video.

A pararescumen from the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron conducts hoist rescue training in 2015. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Gregory Brook.
An Air Force medical technician who drowned while riding a Pararescue team’s specialized jetski was not wearing a life jacket when he suffered a “cardiac event” that sent him into the waters of an Arizona lake.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Kory Wade, 33, drowned June 14 after disappearing during a training exercise on Theodore Roosevelt Lake in Arizona.

The SPRINT aircraft must demonstrate glide stability, an efficient transition between hover and forward flight, and a distributed energy system that powers all propulsion systems during this transition.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) is developing an innovative vertical take-off and landing aircraft: SPRINT.
This initiative, called SPRINT (Speed ​​and Runway Independent Technologies), involves a collaboration with prominent aeronautical companies such as Aurora Flight Sciences, Bell Textron, Northrop Grumman and Piasecki Aircraft Corp.

Whether it’s a division formation or a fire team, the Army has several layers of structure built within. (U.S. Army photo/Spc. Casey Brumbach; U.S. Army National Guard photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Campbell. Task & Purpose composite image).
The U.S. Army has been evolving since it was established in 1775. The Army started with six infantry companies and has grown to over 450,000 active duty soldiers — constantly fluctuating with the demands of foreign conflict.

Host L Todd Wood speaks to Col Rob Maness (USAF, Ret) about his career as a bomber crewmember.
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In order for the Space Force to be able launch military payloads on demand, the service must embrace a new mindset that enables capability delivery on “tactically relevant timelines,” a senior officer said.
The service’s tactically responsive space (TacRS) effort is intended to rapidly speed up how it acquires, builds and launches national security systems into orbit — a process that normally takes several weeks or even months to complete.

Hosts L Todd Wood and Col John Mills (USA, Ret) discuss the aftermath of the Taiwanese election.
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Estonian MoD
Learning lessons from Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed an agreement Friday to create joint defensive fortifications along the roughly 450 miles of border they share with Russia and Belarus.
The agreement, signed in Riga, Latvia, says the goal “is to deter and, if necessary, protect against a military threat,” according to a statement from the Estonian Ministry of Defense.

🛡️ The Baltic countries have agreed on the 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 #BalticDefenceLine along their eastern border.

A flashlight left inside an F-35’s engine during maintenance work led to $14 million in damages at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, according to Air Force officials. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Crane.
A flashlight left inside an F-35’s engine during maintenance work destroyed the $14 million engine at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, according to Air Force officials. 
The mistake by a team of three maintainers damaged the F-35’s engine “beyond local repair,” according to a Ground Accident Investigation Board report released Thursday.

Via X
A Cold War-era supersonic anti-ship missile has apparently been used by Russia for the first time in its war in Ukraine, almost certainly having been repurposed for the bombardment of a land target.
Evidence of the huge missile — known to NATO as the SSC-1B Sepal — having been used in this way points to the fact that Russia is increasingly making use of much older weaponry in this conflict as well as using missiles in roles for which they were not primarily designed.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that his country’s priority for 2024 is to gain control of its skies as Russia’s large-scale assault enters its third year.

His comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos came just hours after Russian drone and missile strikes injured 20 people in Ukraine overnight.
The drone bombing left huge craters in the southern city of Odessa, where AFP journalists saw charred residential buildings after the assault.