James Chew, National Defense M.

Robert Redding, Small Wars Journal
Those of us of a certain age grew up thinking that the first space battles would be

YouTube screencap
Two of the world’s largest shipping companies have decided to pause transits into the Red Sea after the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels stepped up vessel attacks this week, including setting two more ships ablaze today.
Both the Danish Maersk and German Hapag-Lloyd shippers placed temporary bans on their ships passing through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, which has become an increasingly dangerous chokepoint.
The Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and Djibouti has become a dangerous chokepoint of Houthi attacks.

Immerse yourself in warfare with Russia‘s Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, a titan of air warfare in the modern era.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a fierce drone battle has dominated the skies, with Moscow and Kyiv deploying an arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In this scenario, drones emerge as essential war tools, standing out for their effectiveness and accessibility.
The S-70, a Russian-designed war machine, symbolizes this new era of conflict.

IDF
A top White House leader on Friday tried to downplay U.S. differences with Israel over the future course of its war against Hamas.
While both parties see an eventual transition from wide-scale bombardment and intense ground fighting to a more targeted campaign against Hamas leadership, the U.S. and Israel remain at loggerheads over when that might happen. As civilian casualties mount, the Biden administration wants that to happen within weeks, while Israeli officials say its large-scale ground operation has many more months to go.

FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP via Getty Images/unknown author
Throughout history, from ancient times to more modern conflicts, intimidating the enemy through aggressive noises and sounds has played an important part of warfare. During the Iron Age and Greek/Roman periods, a specific instrument was used to make the loudest, and most fear-inducing sounds possible — the carnyx. 
These valveless, trumpet-like instruments were colossal — standing as tall, or even taller, than the people who played them.

A key element of the Defense Department’s plan to become “AI ready” by 2025 — or fittingly organized and resourced to outcompete adversaries like China and defend against emerging artificial intelligence-enabled threats — is cultivating a workforce with deep expertise in the technology. However, a government watchdog says the Pentagon lacks key information about its employees.

Congress authorized special duty pay for troops in cold weather stations where “the temperature is expected to drop below -20 °F,” based on the 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone Map published by the Department of Agriculture. Still from an Army video by Staff Sgt. Paul Anthony.
Troops who endure freezing temperatures may soon find their hands a little toastier in pockets lined with some extra cash.

U.S. Army Rangers from 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and the Ranger Recruiting Liaison office participate in a 12-mile ruck march with trainees of infantry One-Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Fort Benning, Ga., April 18, 2019. (U.S. Army photo.).
Packs are as essential for the military as bullets and chow. But for decades, two rucks have weighed down more military backs than any others. That’s the O.G. All-Purpose Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) pack and the Modular Lightweight Load Carrying Equipment (MOLLE) pack.

PHOTO © 2023 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION
Satellite imagery suggests that North Korea may be in the process of building an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. Should work be underway to develop a North Korean AEW&C capability, the result could well provide a very useful addition to Pyongyang’s armory, especially the potential to offer advance warning of aircraft and missile strikes launched from the south. On the other hand, such an asset would itself immediately become one of the highest-priority targets for South Korea and the U.S.

Three soldiers and two Marines have been awared Purple Hearts in the surge of attacks on bases in Syria and Iraq. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dennis Sloan.
Five U.S. troops have been awarded Purple Hearts after being wounded in the latest surge of attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria that began on Oct. 17, service officials confirmed.
Three active-duty soldiers have received the Purple Heart since Oct. 1, said Army spokeswoman Heather J. Hagan.

twitter Screencap
A deputy of a local Ukrainian town council detonated multiple grenades during a packed meeting earlier today, leading to dozens of injuries and at least one confirmed fatality.
The incident took place in a local government building located in the village of Keretsky, western Zakarpattia Oblast, at around 11:30 A.M. local time. Of the 26 individuals injured during the meeting, reportedly centered on financial matters, at least six are thought to be in critical condition.

Public Domain

An overarching tenet for decades in the American national security planning environment was the ability for the U.S. military to simultaneously conduct two-and-a-half major regional conflicts (MRCs).
Translated, this meant that the United States had the military size to generate and project military force for a major conflict in the European area, a major conflict in the Asian area, and a smaller “brushfire” conflict somewhere else.

The German frigate Sachsen (Saxony) (F219), has recently completed installation of the replacement launcher, five years after an erroneous firing of the SM-2 medium-range missile disabled the VLS Mk 41 launcher. This is mainly because Deutsche Marine decided to wait for the scheduled maintenance period to replace the system (i.e., the vessel was needed, and money was tight).

The missile launcher systems are installed at the same time as the ship is built. At Sachsen, this weapon system was damaged beyond repair during a live ammunition exercise.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Army is working with the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Office to develop more interoperable data and communications architectures to enable the seamless transfer of vital combat information between the U.S. military branches and international partners.

Russia launched the Kinzhal hypersonic missile against Ukraine at the same time that Mr. Putin held a year-end press conference and announced that he would pursue a campaign targeting Kyiv.

“A hypersonic missile, Kinzhal, was launched towards the city of Starokostiantyniv in Khmelnytskyi oblast. The missile crashed into Khmetnitsky province only about 10 minutes after the nationwide air defense alert was issued,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat announced on television on December 14.
Mr.

The Pentagon warns that it will have to choose between ensuring combat capacity and supporting Ukraine if the US Congress does not approve the aid budget.

“We have about $4.4 billion left under the President’s Authorization to Mobilize Military Resources and one billion dollars in the fund to buy replacement equipment, to offset the weapons transferred,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on December 14.
Ryder affirmed that the US military still has the option to spend $4.4 billion to aid Ukraine, but this will be a difficult decision, because funds to support Ukraine are running out.

Welcome to Mid-Afternoon Map, our exclusive members-only newsletter that provides a cartographic perspective on current events, geopolitics, and history from the Caucasus to the Carolinas. Subscribers can look forward to interesting takes on good maps and bad maps, beautiful maps and ugly ones — and bizarre maps whenever possible. *** With Christmas only weeks away, there’s no better time to order some irredentist keychains. Still searching for the perfect gift for that friend who doesn’t think Albania is big enough? Here’s a Greater Albania keychain for under $25.

Wars are fought with tanks and guns, but those weapons need ammunition. Without a large stockpile of bullets and other munitions, troops on the frontline will have nothing to fight with. In response to the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023, the Israeli Air Force began a campaign of airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza. With the goal of rooting out the terrorist organization, the IDF launched a large-scale ground incursion of Gaza on October 27, 2023.

The Defense Digital Service is launching a longer-lasting bug bounty for white-hat hackers that will also include a “rapid response” capability.
The organization, which is part of the Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO), is partnering with Bugcrowd, a crowdsourced security platform, on the vulnerability disclosure effort.
The so-called Continuous Bounty, which kicked off this week, is scheduled to last at least a full year with an option for extension.
“We are beginning with public-facing DDS assets (dds.mil and all associated subdomains, hackthepentagon.mil, and code.

The Department of Defense is gearing up to deliver a minimum viable capability for its warfighting construct known as Combined Joint-All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), with the aim of having it ready by the end of 2023.
An overarching goal for CJADC2 is to connect the various sensors, shooters and data streams of the U.S. armed forces and their international partners, under a more unified network to enable better and faster decision-making.

It was a special moment during the second quarter of the Army-Navy game presented by USAA in Foxborough, Mass, when high school best friends Renee Vozza and Mary Claire Schleck were reunited. Renee went Navy; Claire went Army, but both young women elected to serve their country.
Mary Claire and Renee attended Mount St. Mary Academy in Watchung, New Jersey, where they were fast friends. “The last time I saw Renee was June 25,” Mary Claire said. “It was the day before my R-Day.

The German Armed Forces have contracted Airbus in another order for the versatile, multi-purpose H145M helicopters.

Adam Klein moderated a panel with Jared Abrams, a research associate at Applied Research Laboratories; Ivan Lee, the founder & CEO of Datasaur.ai; Alex Joel, a senior project director and adjunct professor at Washington College of Law, American University; and Ezra Cohen, the former chair of Public Interest Declassification Board and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. The conversation touched on the role of technology in helping to manage classified material and the declassification process, along with how technology has increased the amount of classified material.

The new movie ‘Civil War’ portrays a future United States that has balkanized. (YouTube screenshot).
A new trailer for A24’s film Civil War gives a glimpse of the movie’s bleak prediction of the future, in which the United States has become balkanized by the worst internal conflict since 1865.
Civil War is scheduled to be released in spring, during the middle of what will likely be a contentious presidential election. And as the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot has shown, violence is a real possibility in our hyper-partisan political atmosphere.

Queen Elizabeth
pictured in the South China Sea during its inaugural deployment to the Indo-Pacific region in 2021.
(Royal Navy)
The UK’s planned carrier strike group (CSG) deployment to the Indo-Pacific region in 2025 will include a port call to Japan, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has announced.

A Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft photographed a Chinese Shaanxi Aircraft Industry Group Corporation Y-8G (GX-3) electronic warfare aircraft as it operated with Russian and Chinese strategic bombers over the East China Sea on 14 December 2023. (Japan Ministry of Defense)
Chinese and Russian military forces have conducted their second joint strategic air patrol of 2023 in an effort to improve their air and naval force co-operation.

The army’s new DPET electronic surveillance system consists of four stations, which are transported by Tatra T-815 8×8 vehicles. (Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic/Warrant Officer Jan Králíček)
The Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) has received the first of two new deployable passive electronic surveillance systems following an official handover ceremony to the 532nd Electronic Warfare Battalion on 13 December.

Head’s up, Letter senders! With the Christmas and New Year holidays around the corner, we wanted to inform you of the Holiday base mailroom closures and the shipping deadlines for Sandboxx letters. Below you’ll find the recommended deadlines for each base to ensure that your letter gets to base in time for the holidays.
It’s common for unexpected delays to occur due to staff shortages, higher than normal mailroom volume and other unforeseen complications or errors. It’s important to send your letters sooner rather than later.

Loren Thompson, Forbes
When it comes to innovation, the U.S. economy is a tale of two cities. The biggest U.S.

Carl M. Cannon, RealClearHistory
This is an excerpt from Carl Cannon’s foreword to River City One: A Novel (Simon and Schuster, 2023) by John J. Waters.

John J. Waters, Real Clear Defense
When we met in 2012 on Camp Lejeune, Damon was in his late twenties.

National Defense
The Space Force this fall adopted a new mission statement and released a comprehensive strategy outlining its objectives and how it plans to achieve them as its domain of…

Spending: Congress passes record budget with provisions for 13 Virginia-class Submarines, instruct Navy to investigate 10th Aircraft Carrier.

With the war at a stalemate on the battlefield, 2024 could be a critical year for the Ukraine-Russia war amid Western political uncertainty.

The Hungarian Government and the German land systems manufacturer, Rheinmetall, have agreed to produce the future Panther KF51.

In the technological maelstrom of the early millennium, the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35 engaged in a fierce air battle for supremacy in the Joint Strike Fighter program.
A duel of titans, where history crowned the Lockheed Martin F-35, relegating the X-32 to the shadows of the “almost happened.” This confrontation, more than just a competition, was a catalyst that pushed the frontiers of F-35 Lightning II design and performance.

AOEW (the pod forward of the door) under test at the NAS Patuxent River anechoic facility. (Terri Thomas)
The US Navy (USN), supported by Lockheed Martin, has completed initial government testing of a new helicopter-borne electronic attack (EA) capability developed under the Advanced Off-board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) programme.

Rosalynn Carter’s passing witnessed an outpouring of tributes to an activist first lady who broke boundaries in the realm of foreign policy. Traditionally, the key role of the president’s wife was to act as White House hostess, though there was nothing wrong with her pursuing her own agenda as long as those initiatives did not cross into the realm of policymaking.  Mrs. Carter crossed that line.

The Bluebottle USV will be operated by the RNZN for seven months. (Tim Fish)
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) will experiment with a new variant of the Bluebottle unmanned surface vehicle (USV) that will help inform future capabilities of uncrewed systems in the service.
The USV was delivered to RNZN’s Devonport Naval Base on 8 December on HMNZS Aotearoa, which had completed a five-month international deployment with the frigate HMNZS Te Mana.

Since 2008, Congress has annually declared one Saturday in December as National Wreaths Across America Day. On that Saturday, people participate in wreath-laying ceremonies at over 4,000 locations around the world. These live, balsam veterans’ wreaths are placed on the headstones of deceased service members whose names are said aloud to thank them for their service and keep them in the nation’s collective memory. This Saturday, December 16, 2023, you can participate in this honorable effort, too.
Wreaths Across America is open to anyone interested in participating (U.S.

Trigger press can mean the difference between a hit and a miss. In combat, this can mean the difference between life and death. To that end, a good trigger can help to ensure a smooth trigger press with minimal disturbance before a round is fired. However, a military trigger must be strong and heavy enough to ignite the hard primers of MIL-SPEC ammunition in adverse conditions. Striking a balance between these two characteristics is difficult, but one company built a trigger so good that it received approval by Special Operations.

GE Aerospace
GE Aerospace says it successfully demonstrated an advanced jet propulsion concept that involves a dual-mode ramjet design utilizing rotating detonation combustion. This could offer a pathway to the development of new aircraft and missiles capable of flying efficiently at high supersonic and even hypersonic speeds across long distances.
A press release that GE Aerospace put out today offers new details about what it says “is believed to be a world-first hypersonic dual-mode ramjet (DMRJ) rig test with rotating detonation combustion (RDC) in a supersonic flow stream.

The Croatian government is procuring 89 Bradley combat vehicles donated by the US. (Croatian MoD/F Klen)
The first batch of 22 M2A2 Bradley ODS (Operation Desert Storm) infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for the Croatian Army arrived in the port of Rijeka on 6 December, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced later the same day.
The vehicles will be overhauled by Đuro Đaković Special Vehicles in Slavonski Brod so that they are ready for operational service by 2026.

Insitu
The Boeing Insitu Integrator drone, also known as the RQ-21 Blackjack within the U.S. military, recently demonstrated its ability to drop a pair of small, precision-guided Shryke munitions. The demonstration comes as part of a larger effort to give the relatively small Integrator drone kinetic capabilities, which has taken important strides in recent months.
Insitu announced the successful demonstration, and released video footage of an Intergrator with the registratopm N76NT performing said tests, on December 12. Where and when it took place exactly remains unclear.

Dassault Aviation/G. Gosset
Saudi Arabia is in talks to buy 54 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters, the French company has confirmed. If these negotiations lead to a firm order, that will see Saudi Arabia field a highly impressive multinational fleet of advanced fourth-generation fighters: Rafale, Boeing F-15SA, and Eurofighter Typhoon. It would also represent a serious break for the United Kingdom — represented in the Eurofighter consortium via BAE Systems — from one of its traditional customers.

Soldiers practice the Army Combat Fitness Test, Aug. 21, 2021, at the Milwaukee Army Reserve Center. US Army photo.
Congress has tasked the Army with implementing “increased” fitness standards for soldiers most likely to see combat, but it’s unclear whether different fitness standards will soon apply to men and women.
A measure in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and directs funding for the Pentagon, calls for the Army Secretary to implement “increased minimum fitness standards” as part of the Army Combat Fitness Test.

Image by Wikideas1

Reprinted with permission Mises Institute Mihai Macovei
So far, the White House has justified its unwavering support for Ukraine on lofty grounds such as defending democracy and freedom—both in Ukraine and in the West. However, with the American public—who bears the cost of the war in Ukraine—turning against it, several Republican lawmakers questioning its purpose and affordability, and elections approaching, the Biden administration has changed the messaging on the war.

Royal Marines conduct jungle training in Ghana in 2013 (Picture courtesy of the British Ministry of Defense).
An American Marine officer graduated as the stop student from a rigorous 13-week All-Arms Commando Course run by the Royal Marines, according to a news story from Forces, which falls under the British Ministry of Defence.
U.S. Marine Capt. Joseph Z. Brown, an infantry officer, not only earned the right to wear the Royal Marines’ green beret, but his fellow students voted to award him the Commando Medal, the news story says.

Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa (Photo by Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images
Russian drones targeting Ukraine entered NATO airspace over Romania during the night, leading to the scramble of NATO fighters deployed in that country. The Romanian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that at least one of those drones exploded in its territory, although it was not shot down. Meanwhile, Romania has summoned Russia’s envoy over what is the latest in a series of drone violations of its airspace.