There is a "real world military" topic in which some purely military issues may get slightly into politics, and this is tolerated so long as no other rules (i.e., no insults) are broken. Those who have participated in this topic know that our non-US participants often have very different views than you are used to. It won't hurt you to hear another side of the issue and you may learn something. It should also be noted that some of those who post frequently in that topic simply have no idea what they're talking about; be polite in alerting them to this fact.
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:10 pm: Edit |
Surface Forces : American Naval Drone in Action
September 7, 2026: In early July, the American Navy used three Corsair naval surface drones to attack an Iranian submarine and ship maintenance facility in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. As a result, Iran now has difficulty attacking commercial shipping. The Corsairs were supported by F-18 warplanes and Marine F-35s operating from the USS Abraham Lincoln. Land-based AH-64 helicopter gunships armed with autocannons and Hellfire guided missiles provided additional air cover. The Air Force also has A-10 ground-attack aircraft armed with a 30mm high-speed autocannon, missiles, and guided bombs.
Earlier in July, an American Navy Saronic Corsair naval surface drone rescued two Army gunship pilots who crashed off the coast of Oman near the entry to the Persian Gulf. The AH-64 helicopter had been patrolling near the Strait of Hormuz and was shot down by Iranian forces. The Corsair is an 11-meter vessel that can carry a ton of cargo up to 2,000 kilometers at a top speed of more than 60 kilometers an hour, with a cruising speed of less than half that. Each one costs $1.2 million, about 10 times as much as an equivalent Ukrainian naval drone.
Saronic also has a larger, related 82-meter Marauder naval drone that can carry 150 tons of cargo up to 7,300 kilometers, with a top speed of 45 kilometers an hour and a cruising speed of 22 kilometers an hour. This drone can carry four 40-foot containers, eight 20-foot containers, or any other combination of cargo that fits.
As usual, much of this new naval drone technology traces back to Ukraine's experience two years ago. Its three operational Ukrainian marine drones are Sea Baby (Malyuk in Ukrainian), Mother (Mamai), and MAGURA (Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus). The SBU/Ukrainian Secret Service and the Navy developed Sea Baby and Mother. The 385th Separate Brigade, which specializes in naval warfare, uses them. GUR/Main Intelligence Directorate and SpetsTechnoExport, a state-owned enterprise, developed MAGURA. At the end of 2023, the SBU unveiled an updated Cossack Mamai with a claimed top speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Manufacture of these drones is done in underground production facilities to avoid Russian missile and guided bomb attacks.
Malyuk was used in the mid-2023 Kerch Bridge attack and was carrying 850 kg of explosives to inflict sufficient damage. MAGURA carries 320 kg of explosives while Mamai carries 450 kg. These marine drones are no longer used solely to deliver explosives against a target. They can also be used for reconnaissance when equipped with video cameras that broadcast what they see back to the drone operator. Some marine drones have been armed with small rocket launchers. Malyuk has a range of over 700 kilometers, making it suitable for operations on the high seas. Endurance is about 60 hours, and top speed is over 70 kilometers per hour. MAGURA has similar characteristics. Mamai was used in the long-range attack at the distant naval base at Novorossiysk on Russia’s eastern Black Sea coast, which is a thousand kilometers from Crimea.
Ukraine has been developing subsurface marine drones and, in early 2023, introduced the first one, the Toloka2 TK-150. This Drone was 2.5 meters long and equipped with a sensor mast that remained above the surface for navigation and target identification. Toloka2 can also carry a small explosive warhead. More recently, Ukraine developed the larger Marichka marine drone, which is 6 meters long and 1 meter in diameter. Ukraine has planned for a Western manufacturer to build and weaponize Ukrainian marine drones.
Ukrainian marine drones have been quite successful in attacking and sinking or disabling Russian navy ships. Eventually, the Ukrainian marine drones destroyed most of the Russian Black Sea fleet. The longest-range raids have targeted targets in the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov, as well as the more distant naval base at Novorossiysk. Another recent development has been amphibious landings. A naval drone carrying a ground combat drone landed this drone and withdrew. The land drone was mobile and armed with a machine gun, with the option to carry a rocket launcher or an automatic grenade launcher.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:10 pm: Edit |
Russia: Navy Day Without Ships
September 7, 2026: On July 27th, the Russian Navy celebrated its 330th anniversary. They celebrated only on land, without ships; passing dignitaries assembled on a grandstand due to fear of Ukrainian drone attacks. This was the second year this happened, and as long as the war in Ukraine continues, there will be no traditional Navy Day festivities. A similar celebration was canceled in St Petersburg, southeast of the Northern Fleet base near the Kola Peninsula.
Russia is losing its war with Ukraine, and that can be seen in the number of sailors and naval infantrymen who have died in Ukraine or as a result of drone attacks on the naval bases. Nearly 20,000 sailors and naval infantrymen have been sent to Ukraine, with a third of them killed or wounded. At least a thousand have died so far, and the continuing drone attacks will increase the losses.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the Ukrainians, who lack any warships at all, have destroyed twenty Russian Navy ships. These include warships and support vessels like landing ships. Ukraine has used long-range missiles and USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessels) to attack Russian ships, forcing the survivors to distant ports in the far northeastern portions of the Black Sea. Even though these ports are a thousand kilometers from Crimea, the Ukrainians can still reach them with USVs, despite the risks of some USVs being lost due to equipment failure on the long journey or attacks by Russian weapons when they reach the distant Russian ports.
Ukraine wants to control who has warships in the Black Sea so they can protect the vital grain exports from Ukrainian ports. The main port is Odesa, Ukraine's largest port. The only problem Odesa has is Russian naval mines that are still floating around the Western Black Sea. These mines were deployed in early 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russians expected the Ukrainian resistance to be brief and ineffective. The Ukrainians put up a more effective defense than Russia expected, and now Russian forces are being forced out of Ukraine and are unable to do anything about the mines they put into the Black Sea. Not only are the mines still out there, but many, if not most, of them are not tethered to a weight on the seabed and are floating free and are a danger to all ships. Russia has also declared that they will continue to put naval mines into the Black Sea. They can do this by bringing mines by truck to small ports along the Crimean coast and using small boats to take them out to sea, where they plant them with tethers.
Eventually, some of those mines either broke loose or were cut loose and drifted into shipping lanes used by Ukrainian and NATO ships. By early 2023, over 40 of these mines had been found and destroyed. It is unknown how many mines are still out there, but the NATO countries that border the Black Sea continue to look for them. Some of these mines were bottom mines, which, unlike floating mines, are kept in place by a chain attached to a weight on the seabed, but sometimes the chain breaks. There are also bottom mines that are placed on the seabed and don’t drift around. Russia does not appear to have used bottom mines in the Black Sea.
In mid-2023, the number of free-floating mines between Crimea and the narrow straits Turkey controls that lead to the Mediterranean and the world’s oceans increased suddenly. Turkey and other NATO nations control most of the Black Sea coastline, especially the southern and western Black Sea coasts. At that time, the Russian navy still controlled most of the eastern Black Sea and was believed responsible for more than 400 free-floating naval mines showing up west of Crimea since mid-2023.
Few of these mines appear to be tethered mines that broke loose from their chains. That is an old problem with Russian-made floating mines. Tethered mines are designed to have their weighted base sink to the bottom of shallow water, less than 20 meters deep. Most of the mines currently in the Black Sea were apparently released into the water without any tether. The use of naval mines is diminished because they are not much of a threat to warships, which are constantly on the lookout for them, and most commercial ships are too big to sink after encountering one of these mines. They may cause hull damage and flooding, but not enough to sink a ship. The damage is sufficient to require repairs because hull damage can worsen in rough weather and strong seas.
The mines posed an immediate danger to smaller commercial ships, especially fishing trawlers, as well as some large private vessels, such as yachts. Some NATO countries with Black Sea coastlines have organized a mine-clearing operation. Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria contributed mine-clearing vessels and equipment. NATO members that do not border the Black Sea, but have a lot of commercial shipping operating in the Black Sea, tried to contribute mine-clearing ships and equipment, but the Turks, who control the only entrance to the Black Sea, refused to let them in.
The situation worsened because of a massive storm that ravaged the Black Sea coastline on November 26th and 27th, 2023. Such a storm has not occurred in the Black Sea for over a century, and the damage was extensive. Military facilities and coastal fortifications were damaged or destroyed. Ships at sea, especially smaller ones, were damaged or sunk. Some ships at sea ran ashore. The ten-meter-high waves were particularly damaging to Crimea's ports and coastal military facilities.
A less visible form of damage was the number of moored, by a chain to a weight on the sea bottom, naval mines. The powerful storm broke the chains and set many of these mines free. This added another hazard for commercial shipping in the Black Sea. Eventually, all these mines were eliminated as a threat to navigation.
While Ukraine has destroyed all the Russian warships in the Black Sea, there are still Russian naval mines in the water, and Russia is quietly putting more mines into the Black Sea to threaten Ukraine’s vital grain exports. The Russian attitude is, if we can’t have any ships in the Black Sea, we will do what we can to ensure that no one else does either. This is primarily aimed at Ukrainian grain exports. There was a problem in that the Russian mines are threatening shipping moving to ports of NATO members Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. These three nations agreed in 2014 to establish a joint mine-clearing force. Only mine-clearing ships from these three countries would be involved, and Turkey would not allow any additional mine-clearing ships into the Black Sea. Eventually, mine-clearing vessels focused on maintaining a mine-free corridor along the west shore of the Black Sea, allowing ships to travel safely to and from Odesa via ports in Romania and Bulgaria. This corridor extends from Odesa in Ukraine south along the 245-kilometer Romanian coastline, then the 278-kilometer Bulgarian coastline to the Turkish Straits and the exit to the Mediterranean.
The Russian Navy has long faced problems. Twenty years ago, Russia studied its navy and found that, because of the age of its ships and the lack of maintenance since the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, the fleet would be reduced to sixty seaworthy warships and submarines in ten years. Because of its geography, the Russian navy is divided into four widely separated fleets (North, Pacific, Baltic and Black Sea). Assuming the fleet is divided equally into four parts, the Baltic Sea Fleet would be inferior to the nearby Swedish and Finnish fleets in a decade. The Black Sea fleet would be inferior to the nearby Turkish navy.
The study backs what the admirals have been saying since the late 1990s. Without a lot more money spent on ship construction, the mighty Russian fleet will soon disappear. Russian legislators were unwilling to buy the large submarines and warships the Soviet Union built. However, cheaper and smaller coastal defense ships are under construction. These include corvettes and patrol boats. Fortunately, this is a worldwide trend, and even the United States is moving in that direction. But some support still exists for nuclear submarines, which the Soviet Union spent hundreds of billions of dollars developing over the last half century. But building new nuclear boats is going to cost the Russians at least a billion dollars each. Russia has never had a great need for a powerful high-seas fleet, and has never done very well with the warships it did have. So getting the money to rebuild a large fleet will be a tough sell, and unlikely to succeed.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:11 pm: Edit |
Strategic Weapons: European Ballistic Missile Defense
September 6, 2026: Ten European nations recently formed a future Freyja BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense) to deter Russian ballistic missile attacks. Ukraine and nine European allies established an anti-ballistic missile coalition consisting of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and Britain. While American PAC-3 ABM missiles will be used initially, by this time next year Ukrainians will be mass-producing their FP-7.x BMD missiles. Other European manufacturers are expected to produce FP-7.x missiles. These missiles, plus whatever PAC-3’s the Americans can spare, will make the European BMD Coalition effective once a supporting radar, fire control, and launchers are developed and in production. The FP-7.x missile alone costs about a third of what PAC-3s go for. No news yet on whether FP-7.x support systems will be cheaper.
Because of the Ukraine War, NATO military planners reexamined the state of their own missile arsenal, including BMD systems. What is going on in Ukraine is a demonstration of what World War 3 would be like if Russia tried to attack nations of the NATO alliance. That is unlikely because NATO's population, excluding the United States and Canada, is still over 600 million people, and its military forces are larger than what Russia can deploy. Ukraine, a nation with a population of 40 million, stopped the invading Russian force. Russia has a population of 140 million but was unable to muster sufficient forces to defeat Ukraine, and now Ukrainian troops have invaded Russia.
NATO military planners realize that the Ukrainians outfought the Russians and defeated the invasion. Military planners always examine the worst-case scenario, just to be on the safe side. NATO planners assume a competent Russian could do a lot of damage to unprepared NATO countries. NATO exists to protect all its members and, if NATO members cannot muster a sufficient defense, it means some NATO nations are going to suffer lots of casualties and damage, as well as civilian casualties to people caught in the crossfire.
What’s worse, the situation in Ukraine could have happened even if Ukraine were a NATO member. Some NATO officials have pointed out that the alliance does not require member nations to send troops. They could just send weapons and other supplies. This is what NATO has done for Ukraine, in addition to the United States, the largest NATO member, placing restrictions on how Ukraine can use NATO-supplied weapons. The U.S. government doesn’t want Ukraine firing American or NATO long-range weapons deep into Russia. The U.S. government feared that might trigger a nuclear war. This is nonsense because no one wants an actual nuclear war because it would mean the destruction of Russia, and possibly some NATO nations that supplied the long-range weapons. Two European NATO members, France and Britain, have built and deployed strategic nuclear weapons on effectively invulnerable ballistic missile submarines. For the Russians, that means the threat of nuclear retaliation does not have to come from the Americans. Angry European nuclear powers are scarier to the Russians than threats from the United States.
Faced with all these threats, NATO nations assume there won’t be a nuclear war because it will be one of mutually assured destruction. Instead, Russia might use its growing arsenal of missiles armed with non-nuclear warheads. NATO nations can obtain weapons like Patriot missiles to defend themselves against Russian missile attacks. Currently, obtaining Patriot missiles has been difficult because Ukraine has used hundreds of them to deal with incessant Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian military and civilian targets. By mid-2026, no PAC-3 missiles were available for Ukraine, and any that came off the production line were going to the Persian Gulf to defend against Iranian attacks.
NATO nations fear future threats from Russia and seek to upgrade their air defenses, especially their supply of Patriot missiles. The American manufacturer of these missiles is increasing production, and those increases will continue after the Ukraine war is over in order to replace depleted NATO country stockpiles.
There is also demand from Middle Eastern Patriot users to increase their Patriot stockpiles to deal with the growing Iranian threat. Persian Gulf Patriot users have their oil extraction and shipping operations near the coast and are vulnerable to an Iranian attack. Iran has to smuggle its oil out because of long-standing economic sanctions. Patriot's success in Ukraine has attracted new customers seeking to buy Patriot batteries and missiles.
One reason Patriot is so popular with new users is that the manufacturer has extended missile shelf life to over 22 years. That means missiles in storage can remain useful for decades through periodic upgrades and replacement of expendable parts like batteries. Until the Ukraine War, the U.S. Army, the initial and still primary owner of Patriot systems, sought designs for a Patriot replacement. Patriot's success in Ukraine put the replacement program on hold. That means Patriot will remain the air defense missile of choice for at least another decade.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:11 pm: Edit |
Weapons: Rifle Ammunition
September 6, 2026: Rifle bullets come in many different sizes, ranging from 5.56mm to 12.7mm. Some of these are for specialist weapons, like 20-35mm autocannons or military shotguns. The autocannons are usually carried on tracked or wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers. Autocannons are also carried on helicopter gunships and ground-attack aircraft like the American A-10, which recently helped during the Iran war. The A-10, equipped with a 30mm autocannon and pylons for carrying bombs and missiles, proved invaluable in eventually opening up the Strait of Hormuz. This ten-kilometer-wide body of water is the only way in and out of the Persian Gulf. Several A-10 aircraft foiled Iranian efforts to block the strait. The A-10s and AH-60 helicopter gunships hunted down and destroyed Iranian attack boats and mine-laying vessels. This eventually led to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz to tankers and other ships that normally passed through these waters.
Since 2004, the A-10 has been the most requested ground-support aircraft in Afghanistan. Iraq saw similar A-10 use. Troops from all nations quickly came to appreciate the unique abilities of this 1970s-era aircraft that the U.S. Air Force had wanted to eliminate. The Air Force sought to do this gradually, when there was less work for A-10s. In 2011, the Air Force announced it would retire 102 A-10s, leaving 243 in service. Opposition from the Army and Congress halted that. That was not the first, nor the last retirement effort. Until 2020, the Air Force kept at it, and many feared it would revive its efforts to eliminate the A-10. That does not appear to be the case this time.
The basic A-10 is a 1960s design, so the new additions are quite spectacular in comparison. New communications gear has also been added, allowing A-10 pilots to share pictures and videos with troops on the ground. The A-10 pilot also has access to the Blue Force Tracker system, so that the nearest friendly ground forces show up on the HUD Head-Up Display when coming in low to use the 30mm cannon. The A-10C could now use smart bombs, making it a do-it-all aircraft for ground support.
The A-10 is a 23-ton, twin-engine, single-seat aircraft whose primary weapon is a multi-barrel 30mm cannon originally designed to fire armor-piercing shells at Russian tanks. These days, most of its 1,174 30mm rounds are high-explosive. The 30mm cannon fires 363-gram 12.7-ounce rounds at the rate of about 65 per second. The cannon usually fires in one- or two-second bursts. In addition, the A-10 can carry up to 7 tons of bombs and missiles. These days, the A-10 goes out with smart bombs, GPS-guided and laser-guided, and 306 kg Maverick missiles. It can also carry a targeting pod, enabling the pilot to use high-magnification day/night cameras to scour the area for enemy activity. Cruising speed is 560 kilometers per hour, and the A-10 can slow down to about 230 kilometers per hour. In Afghanistan, two drop tanks were often carried to extend the aircraft's fuel capacity and maximize airtime over the battlefield.
New types of ammunition have emerged to equip 21st-century Western armies, creating a new, larger, better-trained, and better-armed army of snipers. This is partly due to the many new weapons, bullets, and accessories driving this sniper renaissance, and new records keep getting set. Some of these new records were more a matter of chance than intent. The most recent November 2016 example of that was a 1,800-meter shot by a British SAS commando sniper in northern Iraq. An SAS team was conducting a reconnaissance and surveillance mission for Iraqi troops to obtain an accurate view of what the Iraqis would be advancing into as they made their way towards Mosul. The SAS spotter saw a group of ISIL Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant gunmen in a village some 1,800 meters away and noted that the ISIL men seemed to be shouting at a group of women and children. It will never be known what exactly was going on out there, but it was probably ISIL rounding up civilians to be human shields against air attack. The civilians had learned to avoid this sort of thing, especially since if the target was deemed important enough, air strikes would ignore human shields and bomb anyway. The ISIL men were not only shouting at the fleeing civilians but had raised their assault rifles and were apparently preparing to kill the women and children. The SAS sniper quickly sorted it out and decided it was, literally, worth a shot. The SAS man was using an L115A rifle and the new, since 2003, favorite among snipers, the 8.6mm .338 Lapua Magnum round. The Lapua had already proved it could do very accurate shots at very long distances, but 1,800 meters was a few hundred meters beyond what the rifle was certain to hit. But this was a case where it was taking a shot or watching the women and kids get slaughtered. So, the SAS man took the shot, which not only hit the target, the guy who seemed to be in charge, but the bullet passed through that man, hit another ISIL gunman, then ricocheted off a wall and hit a third gunman. A later investigation ascertained that all three ISIL men died; at least one of them lingered a while. The remaining ISIL gunmen scattered, and the civilians got away safely.
Normally, details of commando operations are kept secret for a long time, usually to protect tactics and methods. But exceptional incidents like this are especially demoralizing to the enemy. Before details of this incident were released, various distorted descriptions of what happened were circulating among ISIL members and local civilians; few people knew who actually did it and how. Publicizing who carried out a particular mission has proven useful because it sets the record straight and scares the enemy more than distorted, gossipy versions. There have been a growing number of these spectacular sniper shots, and publicizing the details has caused the enemy, even homicidal Islamic terrorists, to adjust their tactics and to operate more slowly and with less confidence. Fear is an effective weapon, and skilled snipers bring a lot of it to the battlefield.
Then there is the anger factor, as during an incident earlier in 2016, another SAS sniper used a new Israeli 8.6mm sniper rifle to kill an ISIL instructor who was about to demonstrate to his students how to behead prisoners by using a live victim. The British sniper was 1,200 meters away and managed to hit the ISIL instructor in the head at that range. The head shot caused the skull to sort of explode, which apparently made an impression on the ISIL recruits, especially after it was revealed that the SAS sniper was using a new Israeli-designed rifle equipped with a suppressor. This is not a silencer, but it greatly reduces the rifle's flash and sound. For long-range shots, this means those on the receiving end have a very difficult time telling where the shooter is, and that often causes panic. The SAS sniper in Iraq also used a suppressor for the same reason. If a sniper shot kills someone near you and there is never any apparent sound of firing, the incident is scarier still. For Islamic terrorists in general and ISIL in particular, letting it be known that some new Israeli tech was involved makes the enemy become particularly agitated, enraged, and dismayed.
The Israeli rifle involved during the Syrian incident was the Dan .338, which was introduced in 2014 and was designed by an Israeli firm for the Israeli military. The manufacturer expected to sell many to foreign police and military organizations, and the British, who have been using .338 rifles for nearly a decade, were apparently giving the Dan .338 some field testing. The Dan .338 weighs 6.9 kg and, with a scope and a loaded ten-round magazine, about 9 kg. This bolt-action, adjustable-stock weapon has a 737 mm barrel. The design is well thought out, reflecting the influence of many Israeli snipers who contributed ideas and opinions to the designers.
The British were already fans of the 8.6mm cartridge. Starting in 2007, the British Army began replacing most of its 3,000 7.62mm L96A1 sniper rifles with a modified version that used the 8.6mm Lapua Magnum round. Snipers in Iraq, and especially Afghanistan, had been calling for a smaller long-range round because they found the 12.7mm rifles too heavy. The Lapua Magnum round has an effective range of about 1,500 meters, about 50 percent greater than the 7.62mm standard NATO round. Like most long-range rounds, if the weather is clear and the winds are calm, you can hit targets farther away.
The 8.6mm round entered use in the early 1990s and became increasingly popular with police and military snipers. Dutch snipers have also used this round in Afghanistan with much success and had over a decade of experience with these larger-caliber rifles at that point. Recognizing the popularity of the 8.6mm round, Barrett, the pioneer of 12.7mm sniper rifles, released a 7 kg version of its rifle chambered for the 8.6mm.
The 8.6mm also began setting records. Between 2009 and 2015, the distance record for sniper kills was held by a .338 rifle. In 2015, that record was broken by two Australian snipers in Afghanistan using M82A1 12.7mm rifles. In a coordinated shot at a Taliban leader 2,800 meters away, the two snipers fired simultaneously, and six seconds later the Taliban chieftain fell dead. It will never be known which of the two shots got him. The victim would not have heard the shot; the rifles were so far away, and the bullet was traveling faster than the speed of sound. About two seconds later, anyone with the dead Taliban man would have heard the two shots, but faintly, as the shooters were so far away, nearly three kilometers.
The previous record shot was made in November 2009 by a British sniper, Corporal Craig Harrison, who killed two Taliban in Afghanistan, at a range of 2,620 meters. He did this with an L115A3 rifle firing the 8.6mm Lapua Magnum round. Before that, the record was held by a Canadian soldier, Corporal Rob Furlong, who dropped an al-Qaeda gunman at 2,573 meters in 2002, also in Afghanistan, with a 12.7mm rifle. These weapons perform well at 2,000 meters or more but weigh twice as much as the 6.8 kg 8.6mm rifles.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:12 pm: Edit |
Russia: The 10k Missile Mystery
September 5, 2026: Russia recently brought some 10,000 missiles out of storage to deal with the current missile shortage. Some of these missiles have components that have exceeded their shelf life and are no longer reliable. Russia discovered this when it tried to use these older missiles and found many did not work at all or exploded on launch. This is not a new phenomenon.
The American military spends over $30 million a year disposing of aging munitions. The shelf life of most munitions varies from 5-20 years, depending on the component, whether it's the shell, fuze, electronics, batteries, or propellant. Many munitions are nearing their expiration date. When that happens, you can either refurbish the munition (preferably with expensive missiles), disassemble and recycle it, or keep it and play the percentages.
Major nations must maintain millions of tons of munitions as War Reserve Stocks to provide a 30-60 day supply of ammo for the opening stages of a major war. It would take over a month for fresh supplies to begin arriving from factories. Replacing elderly weapons from the War Reserve leaves you with a constant supply of old munitions that have to be disposed of. Not long ago, they dumped the old munitions at sea, usually in very deep water. But that is no longer considered ecologically acceptable. Thus, they must pay to take apart and recycle the components.
The Department of War spends far more on refurbishing old munitions, usually missiles. Billions are spent to upgrade ballistic missiles and anti-aircraft missiles (both air-to-air and ground-to-air). Torpedoes, which have been around for over a century, have long been given this kind of attention. Artillery shells and large-caliber machine-gun (20mm and up) ammo are usually taken apart and recycled. That's because the propellant (a slow-burning explosive), detonators (to start the bang), and high-speed (or "high explosives") explosives are chemicals that degrade over time. The degradation makes the explosives less powerful and/or unstable. This makes the munitions less effective and more dangerous to their users.
To prevent these problems, most countries try to use up munitions before they expire. This is not always possible. Firing all the old artillery ammo in stock will wear out the artillery because the barrels are worn each time a shell is fired. Aircraft are expensive to fly, as they must be used to fire live missiles and bombs. So, they always have a lot of old munitions to dispose of.
The Russian solution to their current missile shortage is to produce a lot more ballistic missiles and long-range drones. Some of these missiles can be launched from heavy bombers. Russia may not want to risk losing more of these bombers because Ukraine has already destroyed a third of its heavy bomber force with drone strikes at airbases thousands of kilometers from Ukraine. Currently, Russia appears unable to build more than 40-50 missiles a month. Most of these are used within days, or a few weeks, of being manufactured. Ukraine is taking no chances and is regularly scouring reconnaissance drone photos of Russian weapons factories in addition to satellite photos and videos supplied by the Americans.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 03:12 pm: Edit |
Air Weapons: Britain Embraces Drone Warfare
September 5, 2026: Britain is investing more than $5 billion to develop and produce drones. These include autonomous aircraft, one-way attack drones, ground combat and supply drones, surface and submarine naval drones, and sensors, AI, communications, propulsion, and interceptor drones. For the Navy, technology will enable surface and submarine drones to operate under the supervision of a manned warship. The Army and Royal Marines are being equipped with all types of drones being used in Ukraine and are training with this drone technology now.
Britain is one of many NATO countries cooperating on drone components development and production. Drone warfare includes a crucial electronic warfare component. The Ukrainians, Europeans and the United States are all in on achieving and maintaining world dominance in drone technology.
Other European nations are doing the same. Last year, Latvia, one of the three Baltic states, pledged to deliver 15,000 drones to Ukraine by mid-2025. The international drone coalition, led by Lithuania and Britain, was formed in early 2024 to organize drone shipments to Ukraine from countries willing and able to do so. Meanwhile, Ukraine is currently producing 400,000 drones a month and expects to deliver about four million drones in 2026. Latvia borders Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, and Estonia and sees itself on the list of future Russian conquests if Ukraine is defeated. Russia has already announced that it is prepared to take on NATO countries like Lithuania once Ukraine is defeated.
Ukraine considers drones a decisive weapon in its war with Russia. Ukraine basically invented modern drone technology and tactics. There have been problems. Chinese component producers are struggling to keep up. At least 90 percent of Ukrainian drones are built entirely in Ukraine, and the rest use imported parts or whole assemblies. Some Ukrainian firms have improvised by using plywood and similar materials for their drones. For FPV (first-Person View) drones, cheaper is better if the drone can hit its first and only target. Most Ukrainian drones are FPV models, which are considered a form of ammunition.
The soldier operating the FPV is a kilometer or more away and uses FPV goggles to see what the drone's day/night video camera sees. Adding night vision doubles the cost for each drone, so not all of them have that capability. Each of these drones carries half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn into a flying bomb that flies into a target and detonates. This is an awesome, debilitating weapon that has been used constantly over the last year. Some of the video is captured and posted on social media. These videos show Russian soldiers in large numbers being terrified of drone sounds over the combat zone.
Ukraine also developed an interceptor drone that can destroy other drones. It uses FPV drones to detect enemy drones and destroy them through collision. This is made possible by using drones controlled by FPV operators. While the first FPV drones were quadcopters, the interceptor drones are faster fixed-wing models that look like remotely controlled model aircraft.
Interceptor drones are used to take down Russian reconnaissance and surveillance drones that locate targets for Russian artillery, and for air strikes by manned aircraft or explosives-equipped FPV drones that can pursue a moving target. Unlike manned aircraft, drones are smaller and slower, with top speeds of 100 to 150 kilometers an hour and only operate at low altitudes under 1,600 meters. These drones still can't catch helicopters, which they could damage. Fixed-wing aircraft, like jet fighters, are another matter, as they rarely fly low enough for the drones to reach, much less hit, such a fast-moving aircraft. The Ukrainians have incorporated this new killer-drone capability into their air defense systems, meaning the air defense radars and fire control systems recognize drones large enough, or metallic enough, to show up on radar. Modern aircraft tracking radars are not designed to detect, let alone track, small, slow, low-flying drones.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 08:44 pm: Edit |
Iran attacked another US ship.
The US attacked five Iranian tankers.
| By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 - 10:17 pm: Edit |
The U.S. Navy announced an updated repair schedule for the U.S. Gerald Ford CVN-78.
Among other things, the main points appear to be:
1. Specific Repairs and UpgradesLaundry Room Rebuilding: Crews must completely rebuild the ship's laundry space after an internal fire broke out in March 2026 while operating in the Red Sea.
2. Sewage System Overhaul: Workers are performing a costly acid flush on the vacuum collection, holding, and transfer (VCHT) system and installing a permanent fix modeled after the USS George H.W. Bush to prevent chronic plumbing clogs.
3. Fire Damage and Infrastructure Restoration: Technicians are executing permanent structural and space repairs in areas impacted by the March fire alongside general habitability restoration.
4. Standard Depot Maintenance: The availability includes routine depot-level inspections, machinery repairs, electrical work, aviation system upkeep, and modernization of first-of-class systems.
Not going to comment on #2 other than point out that the navy has been successfully dealing with sanitary issues (a.k.a. The head) since before there was an organization called the United States Navy.
| By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 01:51 pm: Edit |
"2003 by establishing a Mobile Parts Hospital"
I was Safety manager & acting construction manager at AMC Afghanistan from June 2005 though 2006 and supervised the installation & commissioning of what we were told was the first MPH OCONUS. This was in Bagram in the AMC compound between Sprung 2 and 3 about 20 feet from my office connex.
1) This thing did NOT 3 d print. It was basically a fully computer controlled multi axis mill lathe thing. You fed in bar stock and it did "subtractive machining."
2) They had a "library" of stuff they could make. If you wanted something not in the library you submitted drawings to (wherever) and they program it for you. This was not apparently not a "user friendly" bid of coding. Not my lane so I can't really tell you more in detail.
3) IN PRACTICE, what really happened was SF (whoever, but usually army SF) would wander by and go to the "Allied trades" guys at Sprung 1 and speak to (retired US Army MSG Mike Price super machinist guy and Allied trade supervisor & Ret US Army CW3 Billy Legans super vehicle mechanic guy vehicle repair manger) our experts on staff. The SF would describe their issue and Mike & Billy would sketch out something. THEN Mike & his merry team of machinists/ welders would fab one up from raw stock they had laying around & random scrap stuff. Prototype goes out for use. SF guys would come back with comments. V2 would be made, etc. until we had what they wanted. THEN it would be measured and spec'ed ON PAPER and submitted to the stateside guys usually via fax or as digital photos on NIPR. A few days later it would be in the library.
4) For example. SF wanted a mount for a PKM that would attach to a certain place on a certain kind of vehicle. Like 4 iterations before it was what they wanted. NOTE that specifically we were never allowed to fabricate suppressors. Not even next door at the SASC (Small Arms Service Center) I built with LTC Flack (love her).
5) Also SF drove some funky unique vehicles. From stripped Pinzguers to GWagons. As you can imagine, BIG ARMY didn't have NSNs for their parts. Google "Delta Pinzgauer" to see what these things looked like.
6) Mike Price used to say "Allied Trades can build any F***ing thing." They built "Choppers" in their spare time from scrapped motorbikes which the grumpy Provost Marshal would have a conniption over.
7) s an aside, the Bagram Provist Marshal was a very unhppy National Guard Captain who wa s EXACTLY 2 days past her maternity leave date when mobilized. So missing her baby badly. I say her face down a USMC SGM after her guys towed his Colonel's HiLux. "I don't care Sergeant Major who he is; if he has a problem you tell him to man up and come here see me. I don't even want to be in this F***ing place..." I also saw her KNOCK OUT a brawling soldier with a maglight to the head. "NO ONE puts hands on my soldiers..." I treaded lightly around her. Even when I had to go "Bail out" guys from her brig after they assumed the Kyrgyz massage ladies were prostitutes and got "hansy." or bought alcohol or hsh outside the gate and got drunk. Basically anything like that got you rrested and sent home.
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 03:12 pm: Edit |
Artillery: A Thousand Typhon Missiles and Why
September 9, 2026: The U.S. Typhon SMRF Strategic Mid-range Fires System launches SM-6 air defense missiles and Tomahawk land-attack missiles. The system is mounted on a HEMTT tractor-trailer hauling four containers, each containing four VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells that can be hydraulically elevated to a vertical firing position to launch Tomahawk Cruise missiles, Navy SM-6 anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles, or low-flying satellite missiles.
The first live-fire tests were conducted in 2023, and in 2025 a Typhon missile sank a target vessel. An SMRF battery consists of four launcher vehicles and a battery operations center vehicle that controls over a dozen supply and support vehicles.
In 2024, the first SMRF battery was flown to the Philippines for field testing. The Filipinos were impressed and wanted fifty batteries of various missile types. These will protect Filipino land bases and operations against Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea. Because of this activity, Germany and Ukraine have expressed interest in Typhon.
FYEO
| By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 03:13 pm: Edit |
Submarines: A26 Submarines for Poland
September 9, 2026: Poland, along with other NATO nations bordering the Baltic Sea, is upgrading their naval forces to block Russian access to the Baltic in wartime or other emergencies. Currently, the Baltic has become a NATO sea, with Germany, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden against Russia. A branch of the Baltic, the Gulf of Finland, provides access to Russia and the port city of St Petersburg.
Germany and Poland are the Baltic's major military powers, and both have been adding warships and submarines to their fleets. Earlier this century, Poland acquired five 435-ton Kobben-class diesel submarines from Norway, paying only a few million for their transfer. Norway delivered all four boats by 2004 after they completed their scheduled overhauls. The fifth boat, decommissioned several years earlier, was cannibalized for spare parts. Norway took the Kobben's out of service due to budget cuts and couldn't find anyone to buy them, so they donated them to Poland. The Poles eventually replaced the Kobben's with the new 1,800-ton Viking-class boats developed jointly by Norway and Sweden
The latest addition to the Polish navy is the 2,000-ton A26, the first of five Blekinge-class submarines. The first will enter service in the 2030s. The first Blekinge was supposed to enter service in 2022, but that date kept changing. First to 2034, then 2027, then the early 2030s. The last of these submarines will be delivered in 2038. Poland will receive three of these boats, while Sweden gets the other two. Greece is also a potential buyer.
These boats are 66 meters long and 6.75 meters wide, with two decks. They have two diesel-electric engines and four AIP (air-independent propulsion) units that let the submarines stay submerged for weeks. This is more than enough time for one of these subs to carry out operations in the Baltic. While these boats are quieter than most nuclear submarines and nearly as capable, it is no surprise that each Bleking costs $1.3 billion. Top speed on AIP is six kilometers per hour, while it reaches 20 kilometers per hour using diesel-electric engines. Endurance is 45 days: 18 days with AIP and the rest using diesel propulsion. Crew size is 26, but the boat can be operated with as few as 17. It also has accommodations for nine commandos.
Onboard electronics include bow and conformal sonar and high-frequency intercept sonar arrays. The ship has a mine-avoidance sonar, along with devices that can detect and map the seabed. There are several periscope devices. The most powerful one is the Optronic Surveillance Mast, which contains a thermal imager and a full-color HDTV camera that can record when necessary. There is also a laser rangefinder. Underwater drones equipped with sensors are also available, along with a larger submarine drone for commandos or other special operations. There are four 533mm and two 400mm torpedo tubes, along with only six torpedoes. There is no space for reloads.
FYEO
| By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 04:21 pm: Edit |
The president today promised that the Iran War will end "right after" the midterm elections, and that gasoline prices will fall below $2.00 per gallon.
Sources: ranging from Alternet on the far left to World Net Daily on the far right, and hitting everything from Reuters to Jerusalem Post in-between.
| By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 05:09 pm: Edit |
I apparently was lied to. MPH were in Kuwait and Balad first...
"The Mobile Parts Hospital (MPH) was a rapid manufacturing system deployed by the U.S. Army to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, beginning in July 2005. It acted as an on-site fabrication facility to bypass traditional supply chains by "resuscitating" broken gear and manufacturing critical replacement parts on demand.
Overview of the Bagram Mobile Parts Hospital
Purpose: The MPH was designed to produce parts and tools that units lacked, couldn't quickly get through supply lines, or that did not exist in standard inventory. It allowed forces to manufacture standard parts or reverse-engineer custom components from broken pieces, blueprints, or concept sketches.
Capabilities: The self-contained manufacturing module included a five-axis lathe, manual mill, band saw, drill press, and portable hardness tester. It could engineer metal parts up to 6 inches in diameter and 25 inches in length.
Scope of Production: The Bagram unit manufactured vital replacement pieces for everything from small arms (like M16 and M249 weapons) to humvees, street sweepers, and Apache AH-64D helicopters.
Impact: Collectively, the early MPH modules deployed to Bagram (Afghanistan), Balad Air Base (Iraq), and Camp Arifjan (Kuwait) produced over 77,000 critical parts for U.S. and coalition forces, significantly reducing down-time for damaged equipment. "
AI quoting army.mil
| By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, September 10, 2026 - 09:12 am: Edit |
Multiple U.S. aircraft suffered damage in strikes overnight on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs said on Wednesday on X.
One A-10 was struck and left with a missing wing, while roughly eight F-15s sustained light damage and were placed back into service, she added.
| By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Thursday, September 10, 2026 - 11:52 am: Edit |
I figure Iran would use missiles with cluster warheads. So could the Russians. Good thing we still stick to the Road Base system. Probably because it was too cheap to gain anything by a budget cut.
| By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Thursday, September 10, 2026 - 05:54 pm: Edit |
The A-10 says it's mearly a flesh wound and it can fly just fine.
| By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Thursday, September 10, 2026 - 07:42 pm: Edit |
Tis but a scratch…
Monty Python lives!
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