One of the Bayraktar TB2 UAVs that was displayed during the reception ceremony on 4 January. (Presidence Mali)
The Armed Forces of Mali (FAMa) held a reception ceremony for another consignment of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on 4 January.
Media coverage of the event showed five TB2s, some of them armed with MAM-L laser-guided bombs, lined up on the apron next to the presidential pavilion at Bamako’s Modibo Keita International Airport. The FAMa released a photograph showing one had the serial TZ-17D.

Quarterhorse Mk 0, Hermeus’ ‘dynamic iron bird’. (Hermeus)
Hermeus has completed tests of its first Quarterhorse hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – a ground test article dubbed “Mk 0”, according to a statement by the company. The ground tests are intended to pave the way for flight-testing later in 2024.
Testing of what the company calls its “dynamic iron bird” took place at the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee, over a 37-day time span.

Lithuania acquires Thales GM200 MM/C radar systems in a deal with the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. (Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania)
Lithuania has acquired new Thales Ground Master 200 Multi-Mission Compact radars (GM200 MM/C) to strengthen its artillery capabilities.
The deal, struck between the Lithuanian and Netherlands ministries of defence, is valued at EUR126.7 million (USD138.6 million) for an undisclosed number of GM200 MM/C radar systems, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced on 3 January.

The NSPA ordered up to 1,000 PAC-2 GEM-Ts from COMLOG on 3 January for Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain (photo of German Patriots deployed to Sliač Air Base in Slovakia in March 2022). (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has ordered up to 1,000 Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) Guidance Enhanced Missiles-Tactical (GEM-Ts) from MBDA-Raytheon joint venture COMLOG for Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain, the NSPA and COMLOG announced in a joint press release on 3 January. In addition to missiles, the USD5.

Justin Overbaugh, Responsible Statecraft
A lack of truth and accountability tends to have a bad effect on trust, and as it turns out, recruitment, too

DS
Marine Corps Information Command is looking to mature regionally first, with eventual aspirations for global integration.

Sandboxx N.
One of the US special operations community’s most important programs might be in jeopardy according to the government watchdog’s latest assessment.

Army Technology
The contract focuses on the continuous procurement of next-generation tactical communications radios, emphasising the role of these technologies in modern military…

Jack Detsch, FP
It’s not just one war or two.

Finland has exercised part of the option to order 40 more 6×6 CAVS vehicles under the agreement for 91 vehicles signed by the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command and Patria in June 2023. (Patria)
The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) is procuring 40 more 6×6 Common Armoured Vehicle Systems (CAVS), prime contractor Patria announced in a press release on 4 January. The FDF was exercising part of the option for 70 vehicles in the agreement for 91 vehicles signed by the FDF Logistics Command and Patria in June 2023.

The global surge in cybersecurity jobs owes itself to several Russian-Ukraine events, one being SSU’s ability to withstand cyber threats.

The announcement of the production of the millionth Ukrainian drone suggests that the year 2024, like the past 2023, will be marked by intense competition in drone warfare.

President Zelensky announced plans to deliver one million drones to the  Ukrainian Armed Forces, marking a major strategic shift. Ukraine is determined to change the landscape of drone production and use compared to Russia.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech on New Year’s Eve,  one million drones are planned to be delivered to the  Ukrainian Armed Forces by the end of 2024.

The North Korean leader requested to speed up the production of rocket launch vehicles, emphasizing that this is a mission to prepare for “a military battle with the enemy”.

Today, North Korea’s central news agency KCNA announced that leader Kim Jong-un visited the factory manufacturing ammunition vehicles and rocket launchers (TEL), confirming the production process of TEL types for strategic weapons. Tactics are a key task to strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrence capacity.
“Mr.

The tactical communications contract with a potential value of $479m was granted to L3Harris Technologies Inc. by the USSOCOM.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukraine has received more than 203 billion USD in support along with more than 5,200 armored vehicles and 23,000 UAVs from 54 Western countries.

On January 4, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a report on military activities in 2023, including statistics on foreign assistance to Ukraine since the conflict broke out in February 2022.
According to this agency, over the past two years, Ukraine has received financial and weapons support from about 54 Western countries, with a total value of more than 203 billion USD.

The American B-1B Lancer bomber encountered a problem and exploded while landing at the base in South Dakota; the crew ejected to escape safely.

“The B-1B Lancer plane crashed at about 5:50 p.m. today while landing at the base,” a spokesman for Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota state, USA, said on January 4.
Images on social networks show the B-1B bomber exploding after crashing and causing a large fire. The US military said the plane was performing a training mission when it crashed, and all four crew members ejected to escape safely.

A news broadcast with file footage of North Korea’s artillery firing, at a railway station in Seoul on 5 January 2024. North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands that day, said the South Korean government. (Jung Yeon-je /AFP via Getty Images)
North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells into waters near the Seoul-controlled Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands early on 5 January, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Colonel Lee Sung-jun disclosed in a statement to reporters on the same day.

Thailand’s earlier approval for the Boeing AH-6i light attack helicopter has now been firmed up into a confirmed sale. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has confirmed the sale of eight Boeing AH-6i light attack and reconnaissance rotorcraft to Thailand, with a related contract notification posted in late December 2023.

On Sept. 16, 1920, a horse-drawn wagon slowly made its way down New York City’s Wall Street. It came to a stop at the Financial District’s busiest corner, just opposite the J. P. Morgan bank headquarters. And exploded. Thirty people were killed and nearly 150 others wounded. For most of the ensuing century, bombing was the preferred terrorist tactic in the United States. During one 18-month stretch between 1971 and 1972, there were an astonishing 2,500 bombings.

As of December 27, 2023, the United States has sent 198 155mm howitzers to Ukraine. Over half of these guns were M777 towed artillery pieces. In addition to the U.S., Canada and Australia have provided M777s to Ukraine. With so many howitzers sent to Ukraine from allied stockpiles, the Army signed an agreement with the manufacturer of the M777 to put it back into production.
Marines fire an M777 on exercise in Latvia (U.S. Marine Corps)
On January 4, 2024, BAE Systems announced the production of major structures for the M777 under an Undefinitized Contract Action limited to $50 million.

U.S. Air Force Video by Airman Adam Olson (video frame)
Details are extremely limited at this time, but there has been a major incident at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. A B-1B crashed while attempting to land at the base this evening, with all crew ejecting safely. Ellsworth is one of two master bases that house the B-1B ‘Bone’ bomber fleet.
The statement from the public affairs office for the 28th Bomb Wing, the main unit at Ellsworth, reads:
“An Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base crashed at approximately 5:50 p.m.

(Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
The Houthis have introduced unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to their current array of threats to Red Sea shipping. While the Yemeni militant group has used crude drone boats before — they actually pioneered the operational use of kamikaze USVs years ago — these weapons have not appeared in the current crisis until today.
The USV “detonated in international shipping lanes,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), told reporters, including from The War Zone.

PHOTO © 2024 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION
China has constructed a new aircraft carrier target on a sprawling range in the northwestern end of the country that is a dead-ringer for the U.S. Navy’s newest supercarrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. The target underscores the People’s Liberation Army’s continued focus on expanding and refining its ability to engage American carriers and other warships over long distances, which includes a growing arsenal of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles.

This article delves into the dynamic landscape of military technology, highlighting seven cutting-edge missiles that nations worldwide are actively developing. These are the Top 7 Hypersonic and Cruise Missiles In Development
1. CAKIR (Turkey)

Cakir is a new-generation cruise missile that can be launched from land, sea, and air platforms with a range of more than 150 kilometers. It is designed by Turkish rocket and missile manufacturer RoketSan.

For the first time since the Pentagon launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to counter intensifying Houthi-led attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Iran-backed rebel group on Thursday sent a maritime drone on a kamikaze mission into international shipping lanes on that crucial trade route, according to a senior military officer.
“Fortunately there were no casualties and no ships were hit” when that unmanned surface vessel exploded after transiting about 50 miles into the Red Sea shipping lanes, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks recently selected a small number of “capabilities” that the Pentagon will prioritize for the initial tranche of her Replicator unmanned systems initiative. However, specific platforms haven’t been chosen yet, a Pentagon spokesperson told DefenseScoop.
Hicks announced Replicator in August, and the military services have proposed systems for consideration. In November, she told reporters during a Defense Writers Group meeting that she would “select the candidates” in the weeks following.

Hermeus
Quarterhourse, the uncrewed hypersonic test aircraft project, from aviation startup Hermeus, has completed ground testing in its ‘dynamic iron bird’ form, a ground-based test rig used to prove various systems and their integration. The milestone comes as Hermeus works toward a planned first flight before the end of this year.
Hermeus announced today that it had finished test work involving its dynamic iron bird, also known as Quarterhorse Mk 0, which it describes as its “first fully integrated vehicle.

NSC/White House
The U.S. government says that Russian forces are now firing North Korean-made short-range ballistic missiles at targets in Ukraine. The War Zone has highlighted in the past how Russia could rapidly bolster its arsenal of ballistic missiles, which present particular challenges to intercept, by acquiring examples from foreign sources like Iran.
John Kirby, the top spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council (NSC), provided details about U.S. intelligence on Russia’s recent use of North Korean ballistic missiles at a press conference earlier today.

A year after being established, Marine Corps Information Command is focusing on maturing regionally — specifically in the Pacific — with the longer-term goal of global integration and synchronization of information capabilities with traditional military operations.
The MCIC, activated in January 2023, is designed to more tightly link the service’s information forces — including cyber, intelligence and space — in theater with the broader joint force.

The Boys in the Boat is a wonderful, true story of overcoming the odds, facing defeat and winning on a global stage as underdogs against the Nazi superpower of Germany during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The movie, based on the best-selling book of the same name, released in 2013, focuses on the University of Washington’s men’s rowing team as they prepare to compete in the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men’s Eight.

Photo courtesy of imdb.com.
The movie features an experienced cast led by the superb direction of George Clooney.

Members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitaries carry the bodies of two of their slain comrades during their funeral at the PMF headquarters in Baghdad on January 4, 2024 following a US airstrike in Baghdad. Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the PMF’s factions, said in a statement that “the deputy commander of operations for Baghdad, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi”, had been “martyred in a US strike”. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images).
A U.S.

Welcome to Rewind & Reconnoiter. Each week, we’ll ask one of our authors to look back at an article they’ve written for War on the Rocks in light of a current news event. Did their argument hold up? Read more below to find out.

Soldiers both past and present have been trained on firing the Thompson submachine gun. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. U.S. Army photo by K. Kassens. Task & Purpose composite image).
Tom Hanks famously depicted Captain John Miller in “Saving Private Ryan” toting his trusty Thompson submachine gun — “Tommy gun” — from the beaches of Normandy far into the interior of France in 1944. 
Though the history of the Thompson submachine gun predates World War II, it didn’t see significant use until then.

After a volcano erupted at the center of the remote Pacific island of Bougainville last summer, Marines had to fly through skies filled with ash, navigate mountain peaks, and avoid typhoons to deliver humanitarian relief to thousands, the commander of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit told reporters Thursday.
“The weather patterns of Bougainville were really pretty exceptionally challenging,” said Commander Col. Matthew Danner. “It’s a very densely covered jungle island with some high peaks in the middle which leads to low ceilings for clouds and stuff.

Via Twitter
U.S. military officials have acknowledged responsibility for a drone strike Thursday in Baghdad that killed a top leader of an Iranian-backed militia group and several others.
“The United States is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face,” a U.S. defense official told The War Zone when asked to confirm American involvement in the attack that killed Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, deputy head of operations for an Iranian-backed militia working with the Iraqi government.

Aftermath of U.S.

YouTube screencap
While Russia’s tactical aircraft fleet has notably been targeted by Ukrainian forces in recent weeks, leading to a string of claimed losses, the latest such action is perhaps the most brazen yet.
A Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber was apparently set on fire last night by a Ukrainian special forces raid, as it sat at its airbase, deep inside Russia.

A contract for 155mm ammunition was extended from $96.5m to $147.5m by the US Secretary of State, without congressional review.

Nato has acquired 1,000 Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM-Ts) for a several European nations to reassert its air defence priorities.

Mass production of Aselsan’s new electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting system, ASELFLIR-500, has begun and it is expected to be integrated onboard the Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle and the TCG
Anadolu
multi-purpose amphibious assault ship.
(Janes/Olivia Savage)
Aselsan’s latest electro-optical systems – ASELFLIR-500, DORUK-2, and TULGAR – achieved important production and delivery milestones in 2023.

The Lithuanian MND has completed the first phase of the procurement of JLTVs, with the delivery on 29 December 2023 of the last 50 of the first 200 vehicles ordered in 2019. (Lithuanian MND)
The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (MND) announced on 30 December 2023 that it had completed the first phase of the procurement of Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs), with the delivery of the last 50 of the first 200 vehicles the day before.
The ministry signed a first contract with the US government for 200 JLTVs in 2019 and a second one for 300 vehicles in 2022.

An artist’s impression of the C295 MPA and MSA in Spanish service. (Airbus)
Spain has signed for 16 Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA), the manufacturer announced on 20 December 2023.
The EUR1.695 billion (USD1.853 billion) deal came six months after Jean-Brice Dumont, head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space, announced during the Paris Air Show in June 2023 that the Spanish Ministers Council had approved the budget for the acquisition of six MPA and 10 MSA-variant C295s.

Benedict ArnoldPublic Domain

Our republic has experienced treason before, Benedict Arnold and the Rosenbergs come to mind.
As Major General Paul Vallely pointed out in his magnificent recent piece, The Covid-19 Biological War, “There is no way the globalist community could have gotten this far without paying off a multitude of traitors.”
Many of the traitors are inside our U.S. military leadership.
General Mark Milley went behind the back of the Commander-in-Chief to collude with the Chinese Communist Party. That is treason.

Broadwater & Haberman, NYT Col. Earl Matthews, the top lawyer for the D.C.

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, Naval History Magazine
After participating in the Okinawa campaign, the British Pacific Fleet joined the U.S.

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics
From the 1950s to present day, American fighter jets have defined the technological limits of their era.

Francis P. Sempa, The American Spectator
It was an early, prescient, and devastating attack on the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration.

Mark B.

The prisoner exchange was the first since August, involving more than 200 soldiers from Russia and Ukraine.

Bombardier Defense has been awarded a contract by the US Army to provide Global 6500 jets for enhancing aerial intelligence.

Poland has ordered 12 new command vehicles from Polish manufacturer Rosomak to support its 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 MBTs. (Polish Armaments Agency)
Poland has ordered 12 new command vehicles based on the Rosomak wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) to support its 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 main battle tanks (MBTs).
The command vehicles will be used at the battalion level and will be equipped with internal communication subsystems and other basic communication equipment to ensure the secure exchange of classified information, the Polish Armaments Agency announced on 27 December 2023.