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Sometime in the 2010s, yuppies caught on to air-cooled Porsches and started a subculture centered on expensive wristwatches and Mobil Pegasi. Prices of once-attainable 911 SCs and 3.2 Carreras shot through the roof, and many enthusiasts of average means turned to the water-cooled 996-generation 911. I should know, because I’m one of them. As the first 911 to use a water-cooled engine, the 996 packs 300 horsepower, a 7200-rpm redline, and a frunk full of snobs’ baggage.
Yes, the interior is chintzy and the headlights are from a Boxster.

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Sometime in the 2010s, yuppies caught on to air-cooled Porsches and started a subculture centered on expensive wristwatches and Mobil Pegasi. Prices of once-attainable 911 SCs and 3.2 Carreras shot through the roof, and many enthusiasts of average means turned to the water-cooled 996-generation 911. I should know, because I’m one of them. As the first 911 to use a water-cooled engine, the 996 packs 300 horsepower, a 7200-rpm redline, and a frunk full of snobs’ baggage.
Yes, the interior is chintzy and the headlights are from a Boxster.

Sandboxx is turning nine and celebrating another year of bringing families and service members closer together, and we couldn’t be more excited to share the fun with you. At Sandboxx, it’s our goal to continuously get better with age, and what better reason than a birthday to look back on some of the fantastic moments that have made this journey unforgettable.
Sandboxx Over The Years
Sandboxx started as a small but mighty team with a simple mission: make the lives of military families easier and more connected.

Jerry Perez
The difference between an expensive designer jacket you’d buy at the trendy mall and a mainstream one you’d find at Target isn’t radical. They both have two sleeves and a couple of pockets, and they’ll both do an equally good job covering your body. Similarly, you could buy a mainstream crossover to get you places, or you could buy an expensive designer one. You can probably guess which camp the 2024 Range Rover Evoque belongs to.

The Air Force’s innovation arm has a new platform that aims to streamline how the service searches for and connects with emerging technology solutions being developed by small businesses.
Launched in August by AFWERX, the IGNITE tool serves as a direct line of communication between government users and previous awardees of the Department of the Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Thailand’s DTI and ST Engineering unveiled a 4×4 light utility vehicle fitted with the Singapore company’s GDAMS and Adder Light RWS at the Defense & Security 2023 show in Bangkok. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)
Thailand’s Defence Technology Institute (DTI) and ST Engineering have teamed up to integrate a 4×4 light utility vehicle with the Singapore company’s 120 mm Ground Deployed Advanced Mortar System (GDAMS) and Adder Light remote weapon station (RWS).

The massive supplemental funding request that the White House recently submitted to Congress includes $1.2 billion to support Israel’s development of the Iron Beam high-energy laser. And if the technology works well for the Israelis, the U.S. Army might want to buy the system for itself, according to the service’s acquisition chief.
Directed energy weapons offer advantages over traditional air-and-missile defense systems in that they are relatively inexpensive per shot and possess nearly unlimited magazines for engaging threats.
Under the Biden administration’s funding proposal, $1.

MBDA-D exploits its proximity to Europe’s Patriot missile defence customers as the company ramps up production of PAC-2 missile engines.
The post MBDA Germany exploits proximity to European Patriot missile customers appeared first on Army Technology.

Host L Todd Wood speaks with French intelligence analyst Thierry Laurent on the situation on the front in the Ukraine War.
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Woke Ads Weren’t Filling The Ranks
Readers may recall some of the U.S. Army’s woke ads in recent years, focusing on diversity, such as this one about a lady soldier who was raised by two lesbians. 

💪 Together, we can take on any challenge.
🪂 Jump into the unlimited #ArmyPossibilities to #BeAllYouCanBe at https://t.co/H2pnYPLqaQ #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/N5kUAuyJ3O
— U.S. Army (@USArmy) November 6, 2023

Replies Have Been Brutal Below is a sample of some of the replies the Army got, followed by a brief trading update.

The Royal Thai Army has taken delivery of 60 Norinco VT-4 main battle tanks, a model of which is displayed at the Defense & Security 2023 show in Bangkok. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)
China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) has disclosed that it has completed deliveries of all 60 VT-4 main battle tanks (MBTs) on order for the Royal Thai Army (RTA).

Marsun and TKMS are pitching the MEKO A-100 design to meet the Royal Thai Navy’s long-term requirements for a new light frigate. (Janes/Jon Grevatt)
Thai shipbuilder Marsun has teamed with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) to offer the German company’s MEKO A-100 light frigate to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
Under the partnership, TKMS will supply A-100 design and technical support while Marsun will act as the lead local firm, supporting ship construction and supply chain requirements.

Alex Hollings, Sandboxx News
When Americans talk about air-to-air missiles launched at targets like drones or balloons, they tend to think in terms of cost – often calculated as the cost of…

Navy T.
As the Navy continues to experiment with and expand upon its burgeoning drone fleet in the Middle Eastern patrolled by U.S.

WR
Introduction
Amidst the advancements in artificial intelligence, hypersonic missiles, quantum computing, cyberattacks, and lethal autonomous weapons, there is one aspect that has…

The Defense Post
The US Navy has conducted the

The Bundeswehr is forming Panzerbrigade 42, composed of Panzerbataillon 203 equipped with the Leopard 2 tank (pictured) and Panzergrenadierbataillon 122 with the Puma IFV. (Bundeswehr/Mario Bähr)
The Bundeswehr is forming a panzer (armoured) brigade to be permanently stationed in Lithuania, the German Federal Ministry of Defence announced in a press release on 6 November. The decision was made by Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius on the recommendation of Bundeswehr Generalinspekteur (chief of defence) General Carsten Breuer.

The post Germany funds Rheinmetall production of 100,000 mortars for Ukraine appeared first on Army Technology.

AUKUS industry players, Babcock and HII, have formed a trilateral workforce alliance with Australian academic institutions.
The post Signal: AUKUS industry and Australian academia form workforce alliance appeared first on Army Technology.

The Kestrel rockets are free-flight and fin-stabilised. In the above picture, a Kestrel rocket launcher is shown with the HEAT (on the left) and HESH (on the right) munitions. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
Taiwan’s Republic of China Army (RoCA) has ordered an additional 5,962 Kestrel individual shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon systems (ATWSs) from state-owned National Chung‐Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), a RoCA officer told Janes on 7 November.

A model of the Gripen E combat aircraft at Saab’s headquarters in Stockholm. Sweden has embarked on a national study to determine and develop its successor. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
Sweden is considering its future next-generation combat aircraft requirements, having now launched Phase 1 of a concept exploration phase of a national study.

The grinding Ukrainian military offensive during the summer of 2023 has been a frightful sight for undersized nations fashioning their own defensive strategies against Russia or China. Small nations invaded by numerically superior foes simply do not have the combat power to win a combined arms fight. To nullify this overmatch, out-gunned states require asymmetric options to deter and defend. If deterrence falters and the defense cracks, there are few options to prevent enemy consolidation of control.

The new rocket pods for Chinese CHAIG Z-10 are intended to provide the PLA Ground Force (PLAGF) with a means to conduct saturation attacks against adversarial land- or maritime-based targets. (Janes/Getty Images)
China is arming its new AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industries (Group) Company (CHAIG) Z-10 attack helicopter with at least two new types of rocket pods.
This includes a seven-tube rocket pod equipped with a new guided variant of China’s North Industries Group Corporation’s (Norinco’s) 70 mm air-launched rocket.

The executive order highlights the US sentiment towards AI regulation, but presents a fragmented approach with possibility of discord.
The post What does Biden’s executive order mean for worldwide AI regulation? appeared first on Army Technology.

Since last year’s COP27 summit, what events and government acts, if any, have made a positive impression on the climate?
The post What in the world has happened since COP27? appeared first on Army Technology.

The first-of-class Type 125 frigate,
Baden-Württemberg
, which will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024.
(TKMS)

The German Navy will deploy its first-of-class
Baden-Württemberg
(Type 125) frigate and its second Berlin (Type 702)-class combat support ship,
Frankfurt Am Main
, to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024.

Janes
was able to confirm this with the Chief of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, while he was in Singapore on 6 November.

In Douglas Adams’ book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, as calculated by a supercomputer for 7.5 million years is 42. While no one knows for sure what the question is, one possibility is, “How old can I be to join the Air Force or Space Force?”
Airmen attend Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB, Texas (U.S. Air Force)
All branches of the military require enlistees to be at least 17 years old (with parental permission if under 18).

James Gilboy
Update: The car has been recovered and is now in storage at a friend’s house to throw thieves off the trail. The only damage was to the underside of the dashboard, which was forcibly pried back to hotwire the car.
My 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo has disappeared from outside my house without a trace. I’m trying to get the word out in the hope that my first car can be recovered safely.
It was stolen from its (legal) street parking spot outside of my house in Portland, Oregon some time within the last 36 hours.

James Gilboy
Update: The car has been recovered and is now in storage at a friend’s house to throw thieves off the trail. The only damage was to the underside of the dashboard, which was forcibly pried back to hotwire the car.
My 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo has disappeared from outside my house without a trace. I’m trying to get the word out in the hope that my first car can be recovered safely.
It was stolen from its (legal) street parking spot outside of my house in Portland, Oregon some time within the last 36 hours.

A recent setback means it’s unlikely that the Army will achieve its goal for fielding its first set of Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles by the end of the calendar year, according to the service’s top weapons buyer.
A critical flight test for the system was slated for Oct. 26 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, but it didn’t go forward as planned.
“I can’t go into details, but it was before launch when a problem was detected.

Israel recently submitted a request to the U.S. government that’s now under review for 200 Switchblade 600 attack drones, DefenseScoop has learned.
The high-tech loitering munitions were included among multiple other capabilities Israeli leadership explicitly asked their American counterparts for on or before Oct. 30, according to a Pentagon document obtained by DefenseScoop and multiple officials who confirmed this request on the condition of anonymity.
It’s unclear how long it will take U.S.

Video still from the Army’s new “Jump” recruitment commercial released Nov. 4.
A new Army commercial launched last weekend evokes a familiar feeling for new soldiers and even most young people – anticipation, or even fear, of what’s to come.
On Nov. 4, the Army released  “Jump,” the fourth commercial in its “First Steps” campaign, which features the moments before a soldier’s first parachute jump from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

(Composite image/Task & Purpose).
The Senate Rules Committee will vote next Tuesday on a resolution that may allow most of the military promotions being blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to advance to a floor vote.
Under Senate rules, it would take 60 votes to advance the measure to a final vote, so Democrats would need help from Senate Republicans and Independents to override Tuberville’s holds. If the resolution passes, the Senate could approve hundreds of military promotions with a simple majority vote, bypassing the hold Tuberville has put on the process for most of the year.

Dutch Ministry of Defense
The first five F-16s that will be used to train Ukrainian pilots as part of a European initiative touched down in Romania today. The arrival of the Dutch jets at the new training center is an important milestone toward the Ukrainian Air Force introducing F-16s itself, something that Kyiv long pushed for, and which is now also being assisted by a parallel training effort being run in the United States.

USAF
The Air Force’s AC-130J Ghostrider gunships might lose their iconic 105mm howitzers, starting within the next two years or so. The deliberations center heavily on a desire for more stand-off strike capacity, especially ahead of any potential future high-conflict, such as one against China. The service has already been testing special operations C-130s, along with other cargo aircraft, as possible cruise missile carriers using palletized launch systems.

(Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
A historic World War II-era airship hangar in California caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Despite attempts to extinguish the flames, firefighters have been forced to abandon their efforts — allowing the fire to run its course. The exact cause of the fire has yet to be identified by law enforcement, and no injuries have been reported.
Hangar 1, also known as the North Hangar or ‘Building 28,’ is part of the former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin in Orange County.

MANDY CHENG/AFP via Getty Images
Another classic Cold War-era fighter is fast approaching its retirement, this time in Taiwan, which is preparing to bid farewell to its F-5E/F Tiger II jets. Taiwan has operated the type for nearly half a century. While the veteran F-5E/F fighters will stand down from operational use by the end of this year, the unique RF-5E Tigergazer reconnaissance aircraft will remain in use.
Pilots salute from a ROCAF F-5F during an annual drill at Chihhang Air Base, southeast Taiwan on January 30, 2018.

IDF/Screencap via Twitter
With Israel having surrounded Gaza City and staging forces for a deeper incursion there, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) gave civilians another window of opportunity to flee.
“Oh residents of Gaza, join the many who are heading to the south of Wadi Gaza at this hour!,” Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic spokesman, said in a message posted on Twitter Tuesday morning eastern time.

We asked and you provided. The top ten informal, retired, and formal unit patches from the U.S. Army. (Task & Purpose composite image).
Every unit patch — officially the “shoulder sleeve insignia” — has a storied history behind it. It’s the hallmark of your newfound home in the Army and defines the mission you’re been trained to do. Retire that big Army star patch from basic with a badboy of a patch. You won’t regret it. 
To be sure, Army unit patches vary greatly. Some patches are dull, while others are badass.

17 members of Congress sent a scathing letter to Pentagon officials over reports of “reprehsible” conditions in military barracks. Photo from GAO report.
Six senators have told the Pentagon they want to see the U.S. military implement specific plans to fix its long-standing problem of unacceptable living conditions in barracks.
The Government Accountability Office issued a blistering report in September about how thousands of service members are faced with appalling living conditions. The report found numerous problems at barracks on 10 U.S.

Poland expects to sign a production contract with General Atomics for the MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAVs within weeks, according to a senior Polish military official, as part of a broad air force modernization effort that has been boosted by the Russian invasion. from Ukraine.
The Polish Ministry of National Defense announced in October 2022 a plan to acquire the new aircraft in order to replace the MQ-9A platforms leased to the US. However, Major General Cezary Wisniewski has revealed that it is just a few days away from the signing of the contract.

As America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels through the Middle East trying to avoid a regional war. He has been joined in the region by one of the military’s main deterrents, a nuclear submarine.
An Ohio-class submarine – one of the most formidable warships ever built and the largest built by the US Navy – is now patrolling the waters surrounding the Middle East, the US military announced on November 5.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is preparing to modernize how forensic evidence is processed.
NCIS told DefenseScoop that it plans to implement a new Evidence Management Portal (EMP) in the first quarter of 2024. The tracking technology is already used by both the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The Army is credited for developing the system and currently serves as the program manager.

MBDA and PGZ will deliver Narew air defences for £4bn, making it the largest ever commercial contract between UK and Poland.
The post MBDA and PGZ sign £4bn air defence contract, largest UK-Poland deal ever appeared first on Army Technology.

The military is always looking toward tomorrow, the future, and the big picture. The routine of deployment lets you focus on one thing only, the task at hand: Mission first, no distractions. The days are counted by today and tomorrow—just get through today, and you are going home tomorrow.
Eventually, that statement becomes true, but for your family back home the chaos of everyday life continues, thousands of miles away. The focus for them is always today.

Al Seer Marine 11 m USV that was unveiled at NAVDEX 2021. (NAVDEX)
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Coast Guard Group contributed an unmanned surface vessel (USV) to the ‘Union Fortress 9′ demonstration that was held on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on 5 November.
‘Union Fortress’ is held every year in different locations to show the public the capabilities of the UAE Armed Forces and security organisations.

When Craig Morgan reenlisted on the Grand Ole Opry stage in the summer of 2023, he made history. Now he’s about to do it again with a brand new, recently released duets album while managing his role back in uniform.
“It all started with my managers hammering about re-recording Redneck Yacht Club and I kept saying no, for basically an entire year. Then I wrote a song with Billy Dean called Raise the Bar,” he laughed. 
Though he initially thought of superstar country singer Luke Combs for the song, Morgan recorded the song for him and got ready to pitch it.

As of March 28, 2023, the Federation of American Scientists reports that the United States possesses a stockpile of 5,244 nuclear warheads, and 1,670 of these are deployed on ballistic missiles and gravity bombs. That’s right, America’s nuclear arsenal still includes traditional gravity bombs. The primary model in the stockpile is the B61 nuclear bomb. Designed in 1963 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, production engineering of the B61 began two years later. Thirteen versions of the bomb, Mod 0 through Mod 12, have been designed; nine of these entered production.

The slow-moving L-4 Grasshopper was the ideal plane for spotting hidden German armor during World War II. With a top speed of around 75 miles per hour, it wasn’t the ideal fighter-bomber or ground attack aircraft. That role was best left to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, which could blaze across a field strafing enemy targets at well over 425 miles per hour. Or was it?
If you asked Major Charles Carpenter, also known as “Bazooka Charlie,” he would tell you that it all depends on what the little L-4 Grasshopper is shooting at those targets.

Certain battles in naval history mark significant evolutions in technology and doctrine. On March 9, 1862, the Battle of Hampton Roads saw the first engagement between ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. In May 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea validated the importance of naval air power as neither the American nor Japanese fleets sighted or fired on each other, instead conducting battle from over the horizon with their respective carrier aircraft.