Global coverage on wars, weapons, intelligence, and diplomats lying about all three. Opinions are mine.
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Comandante🎖️ retweeted
UAV Launch from Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
A UAV was launched from Ghost Shark, an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XL-AUV) developed by Anduril.
Anduril and the Australian Government confirm Ghost Shark can deploy drone swarms, sea mines, air-launched effects for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike, and underwater logistics payloads.
The vehicles are being built in New South Wales, Australia, and payload testing is underway.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Cummings Aerospace has demonstrated the launch of the Hellhound S3 jet-powered drone.
A launch platform capable of carrying up to 8 Hellhound S3 drones was installed on a Polaris RZR buggy.
During the test, 2 drones were launched, and the company plans to install the launch platform and conduct tests with both land-based and maritime drones.
The Hellhound S3 weighs 5.9 kg, has a range of up to 60 km, and a speed of up to 618 km/h. It can be used as an attack drone or as an interceptor drone.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US Navy controlled an MQ-25A Stingray refueling drone from an aircraft carrier more than 2,100 miles away.
Operators aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in the Pacific linked to the aircraft, which was sitting at Boeing's facility in Mascoutah, Illinois.
Using the carrier's Unmanned Air Warfare Center and a low Earth orbit satellite network, the crew made a beyond-line-of-sight connection during sea trials.
The Navy calls it the first successful link between an underway carrier's control station and an MQ-25A, a key test of the systems needed to bring drones onto future carrier decks.
[Archive Footage]
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
An interesting piece released at an opportune time. Given its massive missile capabilities and industrial base, South Korea should pursue collaborative initiatives (similar to those recently emerging for deep-strike missile systems) with partners like Poland and certain Middle Eastern nations.
ELSA serves as a fitting example; the France ArianeGroup, for instance, recently unveiled an intriguing presentation on this subject.
Poland is a key partner for South Korea in the defense industry.
A point underscored by the fact that missile facilities related to the K239 (Homar-K, Chunmoo) system are already being constructed in Poland.
Such facilities are designed not only for the development and production of everything from basic rockets to complex missiles, but also for quality assessment and testing. (rocket motor, sensor tests, flight tests using telemetry and ground based measurement equipment, etc.)
There appears to be significant potential for broad cooperation with Poland, spanning state-led research and development, investment, testing, production, and deployment.
It is highly likely that such collaboration is already taking place quietly under the surface.
Naturally, it would be prudent to begin by focusing on less sensitive strategic assets, such as the L-SAM-I and L-SAM-II high-altitude, long-range interceptor systems, which are better suited for public disclosure.
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While cooperation on ground-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and interception systems will likely take a long time, it is also significant that the FA-50 can be equipped with various air-launched long-range strike missiles (such as KALCM, SASM, L-MCM and much more) to provide a rapid deep-strike capability.
Because the FA-50 is larger than a typical trainer aircraft, it possesses the unique advantage of being able to carry large missiles.
The recently released image of an FA-50 carrying two long-range cruise missiles (KALCM) was quite encouraging.
However, since air-launched weaponry was not their primary focus, as the priority was achieving high performance, the mass production of these air-based missiles is not expected to take place for several years.
Broń hipersoniczna przestaje być domeną wyłącznie największych państw.
Kilka dni temu Korea Południowa przetestowała pierwszy pocisk hipersoniczny własnej produkcji. Zgodnie z oświadczeniem tamtejszych władz, test był udany, osiągnięto pożądaną wysokość, prędkość, tor lotu i cel. Na dalszym etapie lotu pocisk miał przeprowadzić udane manewry, które w razie użycia bojowego znacząco utrudniałyby jego przechwycenie. Co najważniejsze z perspektywy Seulu, po dokończeniu prac rozwojowych, ma on zyskać zdolność do prowadzenia ataków z zaskoczenia "na obszarze Półwyspu Koreańskiego". Mówiąc inaczej: istotnie zwiększyć swój potencjał odstraszania, wobec najważniejszego zagrożenia jakim jest agresywny sąsiad z północy.
Nieprzypadkowo @RozwojPlus postuluje rozwój polskiej rodziny pocisków manewrujących i balistycznych. Suwerenne możliwości rażenia na dalekich zasięgach to jedna z osiągalnych przez nas metod realnego wzmocnienia odstraszania wobec przeciwnika. Czerpiąc z doświadczeń takich państw jak Korea Płd. czy Izrael, warto wyciągnąć dwie zasadnicze lekcje. Po pierwsze, ten program wymaga wieloletniego, konsekwentnego zaangażowania państwa, np. w formie strategicznego programu rządowego - pewnych zdolności po prostu nie kupimy z półki. Po drugie, choć współpraca z partnerami zagranicznymi przy wybranych elementach programu rozwojowego jest wskazana, a czasem niezbędna, na końcu dnia to my musimy podjąć wysiłek integracji, testowania i doskonalenia finalnego produktu.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Lockheed Martin has revealed more details about the PAC-3 ACE interceptor for Patriot.
— It will cost less than half as much as the PAC-3 MSE (roughly $2-2.5M vs $4-5M), with trade-offs in range and capability.
— It fits the same canister as the MSE, so one M903 launcher holds 12. It targets aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
— Lockheed's lineup, in order of increasing range: PAC-3 ACE → PAC-3 MSE → PAC-3 Edge.
The MSE is in production, the ACE is a cheaper complement, and the Edge (testing 2027, deployment 2031) will have longer range.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Ukraine's Air Force says no US intelligence warning arrived on time during Russia's evening ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, so Ukrainian forces had to detect the missiles with their own radars.
A US warning did arrive around 3 a.m., but too late for a full response, and in some parts of Kyiv the air raid sirens may have sounded only after the explosions.
This is the second time this month that Kyiv has been hit without warning.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US will continue lifting sanctions on Russia and is preparing new relief covering tankers and gas, and possibly some companies and individuals, while also considering how to take control of frozen assets, according to a source cited by RBC-Ukraine.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US is delaying delivery of Patriot interceptors already paid for through NATO's PURL initiative, Zelensky told Bloomberg on Oct. 18, saying Washington approved only some of the missiles and that this “is not a technical issue.”
He said the US is currently supplying just 12 Patriot missiles a month, about a quarter of the number under the Biden administration, as Ukraine faces renewed Russian ballistic attacks and severe interceptor shortages.
He added that he had offered to halt strikes on Russian diesel infrastructure in exchange for more Patriot missiles, but the US “just want us to stop attacking diesel.”
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Ukraine has carried out what it calls the world's first battlefield medical evacuation of a human by drone, saving a wounded soldier of the 30th Mechanized Brigade from a minefield.
Enemy drones and mined terrain made a conventional evacuation impossible, so troops from the 92nd Assault Brigade worked with the manufacturer to modify a Ukrainian-made heavy hexacopter bomber drone to stay stable while carrying him out.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The US military has drawn up strike plans that could include the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB), its largest non-nuclear weapon, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain.
The plans would take effect if President Trump orders combat to resume.
Sources told CNN the strikes would come before a US pullback from the CENTCOM AOR, which could let the administration declare victory and withdraw.
Its effectiveness is doubtful, since the GPS-guided bomb likely cannot penetrate the granite-fortified, deeply buried sites.
Its blast would mainly hit the surface and raise civilian casualty concerns near populated areas.
The MOAB weighs 21,600 lbs and is over 30 feet long. Its size means it can only be delivered from the cargo hold of an MC-130 special operations aircraft, where a parachute drags it out on a pallet.
It then falls toward its target, guided by GPS. Its blast yield is about 11 tons of TNT, and it has been used in combat only once, in Afghanistan in 2017, as seen in the footage.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Yemen's Ansarallah (the Houthis) released footage it says shows a Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon hit by a Houthi surface-to-air missile over Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.
The video shows the missile detonating above and ahead of the jet, damaging its starboard wing.
The pilot is seen releasing flares and making evasive manoeuvres, and reportedly flew the damaged aircraft back to friendly territory.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
A clip from a newly released Russian MoD video showing a VKS Su-34 series strike fighter releasing five UMPK-equipped FAB-500T bombs during a combat sortie. The release sequence is: midboard wing stations (first port side then starboard side), inboard wing stations (first port side then starboard side), and forward centerline fuselage station.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Iran's IRGC Aerospace Force has entered the fifth straight day of large-scale drills, and today looks like the most intense so far.
Video shows ballistic missiles of several types being test-launched from multiple cities across Iran.
Launches from several cities suggest the exercise is meant to show dispersed, survivable launch sites rather than a single test range.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
To put this into perspective, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) typically delivers new production Su-34 series strike fighters to the VKS in batches of 2-4 aircraft. In other words, four destroyed and two damaged(?) Su-34s is equivalent to 1-2 production batches. Last year, UAC delivered seven batches of Su-34s to the VKS. This year it has so far handed over two batches (and will likely deliver two more).
In other words, while an impressive achievement, to significantly hurt the Su-34 fleet through strikes on parked aircraft, Ukraine needs to achieve such results more regularly.
Last night, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck an airfield in the Voronezh region. Four Su-34 aircraft were destroyed and two more Su-34s were hit. The Russians used them to terrorize our people. These very warplanes were ready to launch new attacks on Ukraine and were loaded with aerial bombs.
Our Long Neptune missile was used to strike the target. I thank the warriors of the Ukrainian Navy for their precision!
Our long-range sanctions also reached a site in the Oryol region used to store and launch attack drones. A target was also hit in the Black Sea.
These are our justified responses to all of Russia’s terror against Ukraine. Russia is dragging out the war, so our long-range operations will continue.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
A US Navy F-35C Lightning II from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-23, the “Salty Dogs,” was launched off the deck of USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) on October 14.
It was the first time an F-35C had taken off from a Ford-class carrier.
The day before, October 13, the jet had completed its first-ever arrested landing aboard Kennedy.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Satellite images reveal the damage left at Russia's Borisoglebsk airbase in the Voronezh region after a strike by Ukraine's Navy.
📸 AviVector
Ukraine's Navy says a Neptune coastal missile strike overnight on October 15 hit the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia's Voronezh region, destroying six Su-34M fighter-bombers along with ground support equipment.
The airfield, about 350 km from the Ukrainian border, is a key hub for the aircraft Russia relies on heavily to drop guided bombs on frontline positions.
If confirmed it would mark one of the heaviest single-strike losses of this aircraft type Russia has suffered in the war.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
The future of Army fires is centered on accelerating both long-range precision and massive volume, providing the joint force with deep-strike capabilities to penetrate anti-access networks.
By fielding capabilities from the Mobile Tactical Cannon to hypersonic missiles, we ensure every echelon has the right platform and payload tied to a specific operational purpose.
We are integrating advanced sensors and automated command and control to synchronize these fires rapidly, allowing us to strike enemy vulnerabilities with unrelenting speed and dictate the terms of the fight.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Ukraine's MoD reports that Starshield service has returned to normal for moving units, and military units have confirmed their connections are back.
Officials are working out what triggered the Oct 14 restrictions, and they are consulting the US and SpaceX to find the cause.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
Trump weighs Ukraine intel cutoff.
Publicly, Trump says the US is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
Privately, officials tell Semafor the idea of cutting it off is actively being discussed, with no consensus yet.
CIA Director Ratcliffe reportedly opposes it, while Trump could target intel used for strikes inside Russia specifically.
This gap between Trump's public reassurance and the internal debate rattles allies because it suggests US commitments hinge on presidential mood rather than policy.
Using intelligence as leverage against a wartime partner, not just an adversary, signals that support is conditional, pushing allies to hedge rather than rely on Washington.
Comandante🎖️ retweeted
So just to be clear, by intentionally withholding early warning of Russian attacks on Ukraine's cities... the US may have aided Russia in committing war crimes...
The U.S. may have intentionally withheld early warnings this week of Russian strikes on Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. cbsn.ws/4yNtwNv
