Shaomin Li, The American Spectator
Biden must not be fooled by Xi this Wednesday.
Amid the clash of fundamental values and national security between the U.S.

Bill Gertz, Washington Times
Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing his military forces for war and directing the rest of the country to prepare for economic hardships that conflict would…

Gia DeHart, RealClearDefense

Fincantieri releases its Q3 financial results, which indicate a “positive progression” despite GlobalData projecting a European slump.
The post Signal: Fincantieri financials demonstrate “positive progression” appeared first on Army Technology.

The UK plans to field a Land GBAD C-sUAS capability starting with 225 SMASH SLS anti-drone fire-control systems for small arms in December.

Russian UAV Lancet has become a constant threat to the Ukrainian army in modern warfare. Recent technological advancements, including a LIDAR system and a self-configuring penetrator (EFP), have further solidified the Lancet’s dominance on the battlefield.
The Evolution of the Lancet
Combat Effectiveness
The Lancet UAV has been targeting various Ukrainian assets since it began combat operations in July 2022. These assets include self-propelled guns, howitzers, air defense complexes, electronic warfare systems, armored vehicles, and high-value assets like MiG-29 fighters.

War on the Rocks is looking for a detail-oriented membership editor who is committed to the clear communication of sophisticated ideas and is excited to work in the field of national security. This is a full-time position (40 hours a week), beginning in Winter 2023. We will only consider candidates who live in the Washington, DC metro area or who are willing to relocate there. Please note this is not a remote work position. We have a hybrid schedule of at least three days in the office a week.

The U.S. Navy confronts a generational challenge: The Chinese Navy now eclipses it in number of ships, with a shipbuilding capacity that outpaces it 200 to 1. While the U.S. Navy’s shifting battle fleet requirement gets the most press, the attendant manpower shortfall gets significantly less attention. The force structure of the Army and Marine Corps expanded to meet the challenges of the Long War.

In August, Meta announced a takedown of the “largest known cross-platform covert influence operation in the world.” Information security officers removed 7700 accounts, 954 pages, and 15 groups linked to individuals employed by Chinese law enforcement. The scope of the operation was stunning. It targeted over 50 platforms and applications including YouTube, Reddit, X, TikTok, Pinterest, and Medium.

The UK Ministry of Defence has placed a £20m order for 5.56mm and 7.62mm small arms ammunition over the next two years.
The post UK places order for £20m small arms ammunition from BAE Systems appeared first on Army Technology.

An artist’s portrayal of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. (Northrop Grumman)
The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is “struggling” with “unknown unknowns”, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall told a crowd at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) on 13 November.
“Sentinel is one of the most large, complex programmes I’ve ever seen,” Kendall said.

In the tumultuous landscape of the Middle East, the United States finds itself navigating a delicate balance in response to a series of attacks orchestrated by pro-Iranian groups. Let’s delve into the intricacies of the situation and why the US has opted for a measured approach.
Escalation in the Middle East
Continuous Attacks on US Military Bases
US military bases in the Middle East have become frequent targets, facing relentless missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assaults since Hamas’s coordinated attack on Israeli territory on October 7.

New defence export rules in Australia will provide licence exemptions for the UK and the US to facilitate the programme to develop and build the SSN-AUKUS submarine, a graphic depiction of which is above. (BAE Systems)
Australia has proposed amended defence export legislation to support its AUKUS partnership with the UK and the US while toughening rules on the transfer of technologies to other foreign countries.

An SM-6 Block I missile arcs skywards following launch from a US Navy DDG-51 guided-missile destroyer. South Korea plans to integrate the missile onto its second batch of KDX-III guided-missile destroyers. (US Navy)
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of SM-6 Block I air-defence missiles to South Korea, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 14 November.
DSCA said Congress was informed of the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) – estimated to cost USD650 million – earlier the same day.

Netanyahu is a controversial leader, mainly due to the left’s inability to accept a successful leader who does not belong to their camp.
However, in reality and objectively, he is a successful leader who successfully managed the complicated ship of the State of Israel for most of his term. He managed to take the country to new heights in the economic sphere, maintained a security reality much better than that of his predecessors, in whose time terrorists blew themselves up in the streets daily, and did not give in (almost) to the external pressures that They threatened our existence.

Whether joining the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard recruits going through basic training always look forward to mail call. Mail call is the one connection recruits have with friends, family, loved ones, and the rest of the outside world. Here are some ideas for what to write to someone in basic training.

As they face new challenges on their military journey, we must show our support and gratitude. Sending frequent letters is a powerful way to bring love and laughter to our loved ones that can have a lasting impact.

Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) say they are carrying out a “precise and targeted” operation inside a “specified area” of Al-Shifa Hospital – Gaza’s largest. The raid was ordered “based on intelligence information and operational necessity,” the IDF said, adding that it is calling for Hamas forces inside the hospital to surrender. Israel has for weeks been hammering their claim that Hamas uses hospitals as key command centers, depots, and safe havens for its fighters.

U.S. Air Force
A privately-owned KDC-10 aerial refueling tanker has performed the first contractor mid-air refueling of U.S. Air Force fighters. It also marks the first time a KC-10 derivative has done so. That particular tanker, which is owned by the Virginia-based company Omega Air Refueling, has remained dormant for several years. For some time now, the Air Force has looked to utilize privately-owned aerial tankers to ease the burden on its tanker fleet, freeing them up for combat and other higher-priority missions.
A commercial KDC‐10 tanker aircraft refuels a U.S.

The Department of Defense is aiming to finish an expanded counter-drone strategy “by the new year,” the director of the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO) told DefenseScoop.
The update, which the JCO is working on with U.S. Special Operations Command, will include a greater focus on offensive, “left-of-launch” capabilities to defeat adversary UAS, Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey noted during an event Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Lockheed Martin
The U.S. Navy is looking to add four air-to-surface missiles onto the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, one of which, the AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missile, was not previously known to be planned to be added to the Joint Strike Fighter’s armory.

In his last speech, Hassan Nasrallah stated that “the US administration is leading this battle.” What does this mean? Relations between the White House and Israel are known to be complex and motivated by interests.
Opposition to settlements, led by the two-state solution, promotes the well-being and lives of Palestinians at the expense of Israeli interests.
Suppose we sail through the wings of history.

U.S. Central Command’s leadership is moving deliberately to get end users of new artificial intelligence capabilities involved as early as possible in the development of those emerging tools, according to Centcom’s Chief Technology Officer Schuyler Moore.
“The earlier that you can get the actual human in close to a realistic environment, the better you will be equipped to speak with authenticity and in quantitative terms about how AI is being integrated in a responsible and ethical way,” she said Tuesday at Intel’s public sector summit.

Wondering when your Sandboxx Letters will arrive at the base you’ve sent them to?
Staying connected to your recruit in training should be effortless. Sandboxx makes supporting your recruit easier than ever before and gives you the ability to track your Letter all the way to base.
Below we will cover all you need to know about Sandboxx Tracking and how long it takes for your Sandboxx Letter to arrive.
I just submitted my Letter, what happens next?
Our Sandboxx fulfillment team goes to print at 4:30 PM EST every weekday, Monday through Friday.

The Air Force’s effort to field loyal wingmen drones that can fly alongside its manned aircraft will be a reciprocal one to the Pentagon’s ambitious Replicator initiative, although the two projects have key differences in requirements and mission sets, according to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. 
Unmanned aerial vehicles known as collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), will be part of a family of systems for the Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.

Via Twitter
Ukraine is continuing to grow its bridgehead across the Dnipro River in occupied Kherson Oblast, according to geolocated images published on social media.
The images, published on Nov. 12, “shows that Ukrainian forces made marginal advances further into Krynky,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an assessment. The village is 30 km (about 19 miles) west of Kherson City and 2 km south (about 1.2 miles) of the Dnipro.

@GeoConfirmed
46.742522, 33.105377Krynky, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine pic.twitter.

The NATO Communications and Information Agency is surveying industry for artificial intelligence technology that can enhance service delivery and workflows.
The agency is conducting market research to inform plans to enhance its support capabilities by implementing an “AI cognitive agent platform” within the alliance’s Enterprise Service Operations Centre (ESOC), according to a special notice posted on Sam.gov.

Northrop Grumman
Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Frank Kendall says that the development of the future LGM-35A Sentinel nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is “struggling” and that additional costs are emerging. Kendall also said that he viewed the Sentinel program, which is set to include massive infrastructure improvements and other work beyond the LGM-35As themselves, as one of the biggest and most complex efforts his service has ever undertaken and one where failure is not an option.

If you’ve ever been to a military base, then chances are good, you’ve been to a Chili’s. And just because we love you and we know you were looking for something to replace TayTay’s viral, “Karma is a guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me,” that’s been stuck in your head all week, we present you: Chili’s updated jingle by Boyz II Men.

Why do we care about a Chili’s jingle? First of all, it’s damn catchy. Second, Chili’s was the first restaurant to participate in SkillBridge, so we’re always happy to show them some love. Offered in partnership with the U.S.

An Afghan security team filmed itself on a rollerblading patrol through Kabul. Video still from YouTube.
Your guess is as good as ours on why, but video circulating on YouTube and other social channels appears to show AK-47-armed Taliban security forces patrolling busy streets in Kabul on rollerblades.

As we’re inching closer to a government shutdown, more and more military families are starting to get nervous that Congress will not pass a budget by the deadline of 12:01 am ET, Saturday, November 18. It feels like we were just here, doesn’t it? Didn’t we just have a government shutdown? The last government shutdown was from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, and lasted 35 days — the longest in four decades. Personally, I was furloughed, and while I loved the extra time at home with my kids, the overwhelming sense of dread was exhausting.

In July 2023, the United States destroyed its last chemical weapon, an M-55 rocket containing a Sarin gas payload. It was the culmination of decades of hard, careful work to end an era of devastating, deadly and inhumane warfare. Before the implementation of the 193-country Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) began, however, countries began a frightening arms race with the goal of creating the deadliest chemical weapons ever conceived.
Only three countries – North Korea, Egypt, and South Sudan – have yet to sign or ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Do you want to know my favorite weird fact of Benedict Arnold’s life? Besides that British kindergartners now learn colors near his tomb? Well, too bad. You’re gonna learn it. And it’s your fault for clicking on a Logan Nye original. It’s that he started a trading company after the war and then was confused when few Americans wanted to trade with him. Which is weird, since he literally spent months between his betrayal and the end of the war raiding around Connecticut and Virginia.

The Germans on the beaches of Normandy had a not-so-secret goal for when the invasion came. They wanted to throw the Allies back into the sea. All the troops, static defenses, limited shore artillery, and multiple panzer divisions had this purpose. They sought to limit who made it ashore, kill those who did, and shove all the dead, the dying, and the equipment into the English Channel. So where were the panzers in Normandy on D-Day?
They were ill-led, lacked timely orders, and most never saw the sands of France again. But one panzer unit did make it to the coast.

Adam Driver enlisted in the Marine Corps after Sept. 11, 2001. He was medically discharged in 2004 as a lance corporal. (Task & Purpose photo composite.).
Adam Driver, a famous actor and a member of the lance corporal underground, gave the most Marine response possible when an audience member criticized his latest movie, Ferrari.
“F—k you, I don’t know,” the former mortarman responded, perfectly summing up the unofficial motto of lance corporals everywhere.

Via Twitter
On the first day of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, February 24, 2022, we looked in detail at the different types of standoff missiles used by the Russian military in what was, at that point, the opening onslaught of the so-called “Special Military Operation.” Since then, the war has taken many turns, but Russia’s long-range missile strikes launched against Ukraine have continued.

Leopard 1A5 tanks are being restored for service in Ukraine by Rheinmetall as part of military assistsnce being donated by Germany.
The post Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks come out of storage for Ukraine appeared first on Army Technology.

The Israeli military’s strategic response to the persistent threat posed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip includes a specialized unit known as the Yahalom commando team. In recent days, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have escalated their ground campaign against Hamas, targeting hundreds of fighters and demolishing key enemy infrastructure.
Central to this effort is the IDF’s focus on countering Hamas’s intricate network of underground tunnels, a formidable challenge given the group’s adept use of covert tactics.

The RCCTO delivered four DE M-SHORAD prototypes to the 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at Fort Sill, Kentucky, on 7 September.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a stern warning to Hezbollah, asserting that the militant group is “playing with fire” with its recent attacks on northern Israel. The tensions in the region have escalated, prompting a strong response from Israel, and the situation remains highly volatile.
Netanyahu delivered his message during a visit to the Sa Reconnaissance Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on November 13. He expressed concern over what he perceives as an expansion of attacks by Hezbollah on both the Israeli army and civilians.

This fighter stands out for its characteristics: maximum speed of 2 Mach, flight range of 3,000 kilometers and a combat load of 7,400 kg.
The  Rostec company announces the next phase of production of the advanced  Su-75 Checkmate fighter, with the  UAC  leading the preparations.
Preparations advance for the new  Su-75 Checkmate fighter
The  United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)  is leading efforts to begin manufacturing the  Su-75 Checkmate. Adjustments have been made to the original design following requests from potential buyers, impacting the first flight schedule.

A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron takes off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, for a deployment to an undisclosed Middle East location on 16 October 2023. (48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs)
The US conducted two rounds of strikes against what the Department of Defense (DoD) described as sites used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates in response to attacks on US bases in Syria and Iraq.

The title says it all! If you missed episodes of our show “Net Assessment” over the summer and fall, you aren’t alone. Zack Cooper, Melanie Marlow, and Christopher Preble join Ryan for a discussion about the show, about what’s happening in the world, and what we can expect from Net when it comes back next month.
The post The Net Assessment Crew Sits Down with Ryan appeared first on War on the Rocks.

Boeing’s facility expansion, spanning over 35,000 square feet, will fulfil the surging worldwide need for Patriot missile seekers.
The post Boeing boosts missile defence arsenal with expansion in Huntsville appeared first on Army Technology.

A tragic crash of a   US military helicopter has resulted in the deaths of five service members in the Mediterranean Sea, coinciding with an increase in US military commitment in the Middle East due to recent tension between Hamas and Israel.
Details of the helicopter accident and training mission
Preliminary reports indicate that the helicopter crashed during a routine training exercise.

Recent images released show a notable mobilization of Russian military machinery from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Analysis of Military Vehicles in Motion
A video shared on social media shows the transfer of  Russian military equipment from a base in  Nagorno-Karabakh to Russia. The presence of two  BMP-1/2 vehicles, presumably of Armenian origin, suggests a Russian acquisition after Azerbaijani dominance in the region.
In addition to the  BMP-1/2, BTR-82A  and other truck-mounted infantry fighting vehicles are seen.

This story is developing…
Russian media in Moscow is reporting a 5 day ceasefire will be soon announced in the Gaza conflict, in order to allow for humanitarian aid to be delivered. This will happen concurrently with a prisoner exchange for Hamas prisoners in Israel and Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
A permanent ceasefire will be then possibly be negotiated as well.

A file image of the Apache production line in Mesa, Arizona. Boeing has commenced its build of the first of 24 helicopters for Morocco. (Boeing)
Boeing has commenced production of 24 Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters for Morocco, the manufacturer announced on 13 November.
Work was launched at the Mesa facility in Arizona some three-and-a-half years after the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract was signed for an undisclosed value in June 2020. Deliveries are to begin in 2024.

Seen in Portuguese markings, the C-390 is to be pitched to Sweden by Embraer and Saab. (Embraer)
Embraer and Saab have agreed to jointly pitch the C-390 Millennium for Sweden’s future medium-lift aircraft requirement.
Announced on 14 November, the arrangement will see the companies collaborate on offering the Brazilian-made airlifter to replace the Swedish Air Force’s (SwAF’s) ageing Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules fleet.

During a visit the MBDA Germany’s Schrobenhausen site, officials revealed the Enforcer missile system is due for full-scale production.
The post MBDA Germany plans full-scale production of Enforcer before end of 2023 appeared first on Army Technology.

MTimes
The Marine Corps had the highest rate of suicide among all the U.S.