Archive through June 23, 2026
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Non-Game Discussions: Real-World Military:
Archive through June 23, 2026
It is easy enough to say that crime is hard. But, if that were so, why has not crime been eliminated? It is all too easy to claim that people will change when they come to a new country. And, apologies to Mike Grafton's friends, Islam is not generally adept at becoming part of a democratic, or Christian, society. Look at the recent history of Lebanon. Look at the continued murders of Christians world-wide. Islam demands that all Christians must be subservient to the true believers. It says as much in the Koran, not least that the Prophet called for the death of Jews (also in the Koran).
Respectfully, Carl-Magnus, we have international crime syndicates who've come up with little computer things that read electronic transactions that occur nearby and often don't get noticed for a long time.
Going cashless may reduce the stereotypical "Yer money or yer life" at gunpoint type robberies, but truly damaging, organized crime type theft through wire frauds is becoming a bigger and bigger risk.
Most migrants may be nice honest people, but even those (if they arrive without skills to support themselves) are just here to cash welfare checks. Immigration was NEVER about taking anyone who wanted to come get a free check. It ways ALWAYS about those who wanted to EARN and WORK.
Procurement: Poland Manufactures Patriot Missiles
June 22, 2026: The American government recently approved the production of Patriot air defense systems by Polish weapons manufacturers. Before this, Japan was the only foreign nation producing Patriot missiles. Growing demand for Patriot missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East, plus declining American stockpiles, led to this decision. Many PAC-3 MSE anti-missile missiles have been purchased by American allies, and given to Ukraine, and more missiles were used during the Iran War by the US and Persian Gulf Arab countries. Around 700 PAC-3 MSE missiles are currently produced annually. The Americans want to replenish their own stocks of Patriot missiles while also expanding production to about 2,000 PAC-3 MSEs a year by 2030. The production of Patriot missiles locally will require some construction, reorganization, and hiring by Polish defense firms. The Americans are also investigating the possibility of producing PrSM/Precision Strike Missiles for HIMARS in Poland, as well as Hellfire missiles used on Apache Gunships and other helicopters. PrSM was recently used by the Americans in the Iran War
The Polish military already operates two Patriot batteries and is expecting delivery of six more batteries. At the same time, Germany is also seeking to produce Patriot missiles. Patriot has been in service since 1984 and experienced its first sustained combat in 1990, when it was used against Iraqi SCUD ballistic missiles fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia. Its success rate, 40 to 70 percent, was mediocre at best. That was largely due to the improvised modifications Iraqis made to their SCUDs to extend their range. As a result, the SCUDs tended to fall apart during the terminal flight phase which created unintended countermeasures. Some of the larger pieces of these modified SCUDs, like additional fuel tanks, broke away and were seen by Patriot radar as the actual missile warhead section. In some cases, non-warhead portions, like the fuel tanks carrying very toxic fuel, of the SCUD came down on military or civilian personnel on the ground. Subsequent upgrades to Patriot increased accuracy against deliberate or accidental countermeasures. During 2023 Patriot Systems began operating in Ukraine, with the usual spectacular results. This was especially the case with the Ukrainians, who tended to find additional uses for many of the weapons they received from NATO countries.
Since 1970 over 10,000 Patriot missiles and 1,500 launchers have been produced. After decades of service, some were updated while others were scrapped. Patriot missiles can, with regular upgrades and refurbishment, remain in use for over 40 years. A growing number of Patriot missiles are doing just that, but many are still fired each year for training and testing. Most Patriot batteries are equipped with both longer-range GEM-T missiles for aircraft and shorter-range PAC-3 MSE ones for ballistic missiles or, if necessary, aircraft. The PAC 2 is older, cheaper, and designed to intercept manned aircraft at ranges up to 160 kilometers, while the PAC 3 is the newest and about twice as expensive at $4 million. The Patriot system, with continued upgrades, will likely remain in production until the 2040s, though it badly needs a mobile replacement for various reasons such as attack by swarms of cheap drones, plus that the precise location of Patriot radars can be easily determined from orbit. Demand for Patriot missiles in Ukraine means that nearly all the older Patriot missiles are being used and the manufacturer is working overtime to produce more missiles.
Each Patriot battery is manned by about a hundred troops and contains a radar plus four or more launchers. The launcher is designed to use both the smaller PAC 3 missile as well as the original and larger PAC 2 anti-aircraft version. A Patriot launcher can hold sixteen PAC 3 missiles versus four PAC 2s. A PAC 2 missile weighs about a ton while a PAC 3 weighs about a third of that. The PAC 3 has a shorter range that was originally 20 kilometers, but the latest version can do 35 kilometers. The larger PAC-2 can reach 160 kilometers.
FYEO
Surface Forces : Chinese Type 054B Frigate In Action
June 22, 2026: Last month a Chinese aircraft carrier task force formed, led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning /CV-16. Escort vessels included DDG-104, a Type 055 Renhai-class destroyer, a DDG-124, a Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer, and FFG-545 Luohe, a Type 054B Jiangkai III-class frigate. This was the first time a Type 054B ship has been part of a carrier escort group. In support of the carrier task force is the AOR-901 Hulunhu/Type 901 Fuchi-class fast combat support ship
The Type 054B is the Chinese Navy’s newest frigate class and the designated successor to the prolific Type 054A, which China has at least 30 of in service. The 054B is an upgrade of the 054A. The 054s were based on Western, not Russian, designs. The Type 054A was the first Chinese warship equipped with VLS/Vertical Launch System and has 32 VLS cells for HQ-16 anti-aircraft missiles. There are eight anti-ship cruise missiles, a 76mm gun and two 30mm multi barrel autocannon for anti-missile defense. There are six torpedo tubes and twelve launchers for anti-submarine rockets, carrying depth charges. There is also a hangar for a helicopter. All this is handled by a crew of 165. The Type 054A has a top speed of 48 kilometers an hour and endurance of about three weeks on internal fuel. Type 054As have been seen refueling and taking in other supplies at sea.
Two Type 054s were built and put into service by 2005 mainly to test the design at sea under realistic conditions. This led to a lot of changes, including a weight increase of about five percent, and series production of this improved model, the 054As, began in 2007. By 2012 ten of these had been built and by 2016 there were 25. Apparently only about 30-40 Type 054As were be built because similar ships under construction may include one or more of the Type 54B, a 5,000 ton warship that is similar in shape to the 054As but has a new 20 MW all-electric power plant that enables the ship to go a little faster and spend more time at sea without refueling. The 054Bs are apparently designed with long range escort in mind and as part of aircraft carrier or amphibious task forces. The VLS cells in the 054B will be larger, and perhaps more numerous, and able to handle longer range anti-aircraft missiles. The 054Bs will come with upgraded electronics and an ASW helicopter.
Compared to Western shipbuilders, the Chinese have demonstrated an ability to rapidly develop improved versions of ship designs it is comfortable with. This has been the case with frigates and destroyers as well as diesel-electric submarines and support ships. Since the 1980s China has become a major manufacturer of merchant ships and has transferred a lot of that design and manufacturing capabilities to its naval buildup. It is somewhat similar to what the United States went through during World War II, including the design and production improvements that began in the late 1930s. That was a major war and the U.S. was a major shipbuilder. This time around there is no war, but China does have the resources to build a large modern fleet in a short period of time and that is what they are doing. Whether they can adequately man it is a different question.
JUNE 22: Feast of St. Thomas More, Patron of Politicians & Statesmen
When you discuss politics, be statesmanlike. I want to see "my esteemed colleague" not "you frakking moron".
I also note that June 22 is BARBAROSSA DAY, the start of the biggest and nastiest war in human history
Russia: Russian Military Gets More Political Commissars
YEP, THAT WILL FIX IT.
June 21, 2026: Vladimir Putin does not trust his generals, oligarchs/major corporation leaders and soldiers. Since he sent Russian troops into Ukraine during 2022 and launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he has expanded the number and role of Politruks/Political Commissars. Translated, the term means Political Leader. Earlier in the war Russia had experimented with the reintroduction of the Cold War era Zampolit/Political Officer. Russia got rid of these political officers after 1991 when the Communists lost control of the government. That slowly changed as one-party rule returned a decade later. By 2013 Russia ordered the return of ideological training for troops and increased use of informants and opinion surveys to monitor morale and loyalty in the military. In effect, the Russian government has returned to using the communist-era Zampolit. In Soviet times every unit commander had a Zampolit as his deputy who represented the Communist Party and could veto any of the commanders’ decisions. The Zampolit was responsible for troop loyalty and political correctness. Sort of a communist chaplain. Earlier, in 2010, the Russian Army reintroduced chaplains, something that the communists did away with in the 1920s. The new chaplains were, however, expected to report on the loyalty of the troops, to church and state. Starting in 2018 additional officers were added to handle ideological training and monitoring morale. Not exactly the return of the Zampolit to non-communist Russia but a return of most of the Zampolits’ duties.
The current use of Politruks includes monitoring the attitudes and behavior of officers and enlisted men, a system that Putin began to put back in place in 2018. The revival of the Zampolit/Politruk indicates that Putin is increasingly worried about the loyalty and reliability of his military commanders and men. Putin has decided that the revival and expansion of such a system is the best way to ensure that the army does not become a political threat. As before, the Zampolit/Politruk are despised by many officers and men. After the Communists took power in 1917, they established a system of political commissars to control what they referred to as the highly trained officers serving in the Red Army. These commissars had the same rank as the officers to whom they were attached and could countermand orders those officers gave or even remove them. Over the course of Soviet history, this system evolved, with the political commissars, who in some cases were also known as politruks, gaining power when the government was especially nervous about their loyalty and losing authority when the military was stronger, leading the country’s political leadership to dispense with them. After the Soviet Union collapsed, this system in the Russian army was dismantled only to be revived in the last decade, nominally to improve political education rather than improve the government’s control of the military, and at least so far, not allowing the politruks to have the powers that their Soviet-era predecessors did to overrule or relieve military officers.
Government officials are alarmed at the growing power of politruks. These political officers are now doing what their predecessors did in Soviet times. The total number of these Zampolits/Politruks has more than tripled in recent years, primarily through the introduction of new positions at the battalion, and company unit level, especially in the Russian forces now fighting in Ukraine.
FYEO
Russia: Despite Sanctions Russian Oil Exports Hit Record Highs
June 29, 2026: Ukrainian drones have been devastating refineries and petroleum storage sites in western Russia. That caused intermittent shortages for civilian customers. Despite that Russia is exporting the most crude since its invasion of Ukraine back in 2022 as Ukraine’s persistent attacks on Russian oil refineries force more petroleum into the worldwide market.
Current Russian oil shipments are the highest they have been since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The international efforts to sanction Russian oil exports have largely failed. The reasons are simple. Russia moves oil via hundreds of shadow fleet tankers that do not identify themselves as Russian. The Americans have their navy stopping , checking and seizing tankers carrying Russian oil. This is not enough to stop the flow, If the Americans take stronger measures, like putting warships near Russian oil export ports and seizing shadow tankers, the Russians could declare this an act of war and that sort of thing could escalate to levels no one in Russia or the west wants to see. Russia is taking advantage of the American aversion to war over oil and keep their shadow fleet moving the oil to customers willing to risk American sanctions if caught accepting this oil.
Let us not forget that Russia has persistent problems with lawlessness. Twenty years ago t he extent of lawlessness in Russia, and the power of criminal gangs, could be seen in the sale of gasoline, diesel and fuel oil. Police estimated that about a quarter of these sales were illegal, evading all taxes. Bribing, intimidating, or simply evading, government officials made it possible. This inefficiency extends, as it always did, to the police, security services and military.
Meanwhile China is stockpiling food, oil, coal and essential raw materials to sustain the population and the military in the event of a war with the Americans. One of the problems with stockpiling petroleum is that the Americans have developed increasingly effective methods to sanction Russian petroleum exports. China depends on Persian Gulf oil which was blocked by the war with Israel and the Americans. In the event of a war over Taiwan, the Americans, or the Indonesians by themselves, could easily shut down the Persian Gulf to China oil route. China and Iran have been economic and military allies for decades. In response, the Americans have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against both countries.
The growing Chinese stockpiles are meant to keep the Chinese economy and military operational long enough to negotiate an end to the war. Currently China imports about 75 percent of the oil and nearly half the natural gas it requires. Protecting these stockpiles is difficult and expensive. There have been failures, six years ago Chinese officials were aghast when they discovered that the oil reserve containers were full of water and sewage. Corrupt oil storage officials had sold off the oil and pocketed the proceeds. Some of those officials put the money in overseas banks but were caught and punished. Others were quick to leave China after transferring the oil money in foreign bank accounts
Chinese plans for economic survival during wartime are vague and disjointed and slogging, not walking or running, towards their objectives. This is another reason why China does not want a war with the Americans because the Americas and Europe purchase most Chinese exports. Disrupting that commerce would have long-term implications since most of these Chinese customers would seek other suppliers and many of those suppliers would remain after the war ended.
FYEO
Armor: Once More Tanks Remain Relevant
June 20, 2026: Ukraine’s success against Russian tanks and armored vehicles again revived predictions that tanks are obsolete. Tanks are still relevant and the Russian losses were the result of poor deployment of armored units as well as design differences in Russian tanks that make them much more vulnerable than Western tanks like the American M1, German Leopard or Israeli Merkava. Most Russian armored vehicles were lost while they were on the move, or stationery without adequate infantry support. The first Russian armored units going into Ukraine were told the population would be friendly or neutral. The reality was that the Ukrainians were well armed, hostile and using tactics the Russians were unaware of and unprepared to deal with. Thousands of Russian vehicles were destroyed in the first month, most of them armored, including some of the most modern Russian tanks plus a few that may have been taken from museums.
Most of the Ukrainian anti-tank weapons were portable and carried into combat by teams of soldiers, many of them recent volunteers. Many volunteers had no military experience at all. The few days training they received was also an evaluation of their suitability for combat duty. This usually began carrying ammo, including anti-tank missiles and projectiles. These volunteers demonstrated an ability to follow instructions and take cover or resume movement when ordered. Sometimes volunteers were selected for combat duty because they knew the area where their anti-tank team would be operating. These anti-tank teams suffered far fewer casualties than the Russians, even after the Russians became aware of the ambush risk. Ukrainians were still able to attack. For one thing most of the portable anti-tank weapons could accurately hit moving vehicles 300 or more meters away. The guided missiles, like Javelin and NLAW, were fire and forget. The NLAW had a max range of 600 meters and Javelin 2,500 meters. The Ukrainians were creative with their ambush tactics and the Russians who survived them noted that the Ukrainians were always better prepared and one or more steps ahead of Russian commanders. The Russians were losing six dead for every Ukrainian fighter and that included soldiers killed by rocket and ballistic missile attacks away from the combat zone.
Russian armored vehicles had some unique vulnerabilities not found on their NATO counterparts. The Russian tanks used an auto-loader for the main 125mm gun with a magazine of shells in the crew compartment, the turret and body of the tank beneath it, as well as spare shells for the crew to refill the autoloader magazine. If any anti-tank weapon penetrated into the crew compartments, especially the turret, one or more of the 125mm shells were exposed and likely to explode. If one shell went, all those near the autoloader did as well. This usually meant the turret would literally be blown off the tank and the entire crew killed. Javelin and NLAW were designed to attack the less protected top of the turret or body of the tank, which at the very least destroyed the engine or wounded some of the three-man crew. The primary Russian infantry armored vehicle was the BMP, which was poorly protected against anti-tank weapons, especially the ones the Ukrainians were using. You did need a top-attack ATGM to destroy a BMP. Trucks carrying supplies, especially fuel and ammo, equipment or personnel were even more vulnerable.
Even when the Russians knew they were facing well-armed defenders, their infantry was not well trained in how to scout for and protect their armored vehicles from ambush. NATO tank units train using infantry who know what to look for and are able to call in heavy fire from the armored vehicles they are escorting. NATO forces also have more small UAVs to do some of the scouting. The Russians had few such UAVs and those that were available were poorly used and often shot down by the Ukrainians.
Ukrainian forces have lots of armored vehicles, most of them Ukrainian–improved Russian designs. Ukrainian tank tactics are more practical and more likely to overcome defenders; plus Ukrainian civilians are everywhere and generally eager to let their troops know what’s going on in the area.
After 2022 Ukraine developed full-scale drone warfare. Modern warfare has been radically changed by the introduction of First Person View/FPV. These drones are an omnipresent aerial threat to armored vehicles and infantry on foot. Each FPV drone costs less than a thousand dollars. Operators use the video camera on the drone to see what is below and find targets. Armed FPV operators are several kilometers away to decide when their quadcopter FPV drones will drop explosives on an armored vehicle, which has thinner armor on top, or infantry in the open or in trenches. To do so the drone operators often operate in pairs with one flying behind the other and concentrating on the big picture while seeking a likely target. When such a target is found by the reconnaissance drone, the armed drone is directed to the target. The two FPV drone operators are usually in the same room or tent and can take control of new drones, which are lined up and brought outside for launch when needed. The reconnaissance drones are often unarmed so they can spend more time in the air looking for targets.
The Ukrainians developed the FPV drone in 2022 when only a few FPV drone attacks were recorded. The Ukrainian Army was the first to appreciate the potential of FPV drones. By the summer of 2023 the Russian Army also began to use FPV drones in greater numbers. Since then, the number of FPV drone attacks has grown exponentially on both sides. By early 2024, there were over 4,000 Russian FPV drone attacks monthly and the Russians kept video records of each one. Only twelve percent of those attacks led to the destruction of the target, which could be a vehicle or group of infantry or even a sniper who was firing through a window from inside a building. In this case the armed FPV drone would fly through the window and explode in the room the sniper was in. The only defense from this was having a nearby open door the sniper could run to or dive through as the FPV drone approached. Sometimes that isn’t possible because the armed FPV drone is coming down from above the window and then in. You don’t see those coming until it is too late.
Many FPV drone attacks miss completely or barely and inflict no injuries. All the FPV drone activity does make sounds and troops in the vicinity fear the sounds and feel quite anxious when those are around. While only twelve percent of FPV drone attacks caused fatalities or serious injuries, another fifteen percent did some damage. About twenty percent missed their target, or it was not possible to prove what happened.
Both sides now use the FPV drones but there are substantial differences on how the FPV drones are put to work in combat. The Ukrainians seek out high-value targets like armored vehicles, electronic warfare equipment, anti-aircraft systems and storage sites for munitions or other supplies. Russian trucks carrying supplies are another prime target.
This new threat had led to work on improved defensive measures. First priority goes to Electronic Counter Measures/ECM systems which armored vehicles, trucks and even troops on foot require to survive FPV drone attacks. There is another problem when the attacker changes the control frequencies their drone uses for effective remote control. This is more of a problem for Russian defenders than Ukrainian as the Russians are controlled by slow bureaucratic leaders and production systems while the Ukrainians are much more flexible. Many FPV drones have backup systems for these situations that include returning to the launch site or completing an attack on a target that has been sighted and the FPV drone is already headed for. This means the range of the defensive ECM signal must be more than 100 meters to avoid getting hit by a FPV drone programmed to continue heading for the target if its control signal was jammed or lost because of FPV drone equipment failure.
Another requirement for adequate defense is the presence of metal screens or grills to defeat FPV drone attacks that get past the protective ECM signals. Note that the thinnest armor is over areas on the top side of the tank, particularly the turret and especially behind the turret, where the engine is. Damage the engine so that the tank can no longer move, and the suddenly immobile target becomes easier to destroy. Tank crews will often abandon their immobile vehicle. Then there are additional effective protective measures for vehicles. These include Barbeque and Bubbles structures erected over tanks and other armored vehicles to halt or diminish the impact of drone attacks.
Another way to improve FPV drone defenses is to modify existing Active Protection System/APS equipment to recognize and attack FPV drones. Most NATO nations now have APS on their tanks. Germany successfully completed acceptance tests of the Israeli Trophy APS they were purchasing for their Leopard 2 tanks. The October 2021 tests consisted of firing ATGMs Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, RPGs rocket propelled grenades and shells from tank guns or artillery that often fire such shells equipped with shaped charge warheads at tanks, at a Trophy equipped Leopard 2.
This is not the first Leopard 2 to use an APS. Turkish Leopard 2 and M60 tanks were equipped with the Ukrainian Zaslon APS in 2018 and were successful enough for Turkey to obtain a manufacturing license to build Zaslon. Several other countries have ordered Zaslon because it is one of the few APS systems that proved itself in combat. Moreover, Zaslon is more flexible to install as it uses individual modules and can be used on tanks equipped with ERA Explosive Reactive Armor. On the downside, Zaslon will injure nearby infantry, which is a major problem for many nations. Zaslon has been in service for as long as Trophy and worked against Russian weapons in 2015 but saw little exposure to combat after that until the Turks noticed it.
Trophy is considered the most useful and combat proven APS, and over 2,000 systems have been installed or are on order for Israeli Merkava, American M1 and Leopard 2 tanks as well as other Israeli and American armored vehicles. For example, in mid-2020 American M1 tanks arrived in Europe equipped with Trophy APS. The Israeli manufacturer began delivering 261 M1 APS kits in late 2019. These equip all the M1 tanks in four combat brigades. A few Trophy-equipped M1s are also available for testing and training.
The United States was late in adopting APS, mainly because few American operated M1 tanks seemed to need it and the army procurement budget was shrinking. By 2012 APS came to be seen as a necessity. In 2018 the army finally got the money to upgrade M1 tanks with Trophy. This came after Trophy had been tested on the M1. Trophy was added at the same time 62 Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles/ARAT were installed to cover the running gear and tracks as additional protection against RPGs, which are often fired at this area to cripple tank mobility. The ARAT tiles add another two tons, in addition to about a ton for Trophy.
Trophy has been around since 2009 and has spent a lot of time exposed to ATGMS and RPGs. Between testing and actual combat, Trophy has been fired on over 6,000 times and successfully defeated all attacks. Trophy has accumulated over a million operating hours so far and no vehicle equipped with Trophy has had a crew member injured. Like earlier active defense systems such as the naval Phalanx, you cannot leave the system on if there is no threat. That wears out the electronics and there is always a small risk of the system being accidentally triggered by something other than a threat.
The U.S. eventually noted that Western tanks, like the M1 and Leopard 2 are increasingly vulnerable to ATGMs and improved RPGs. This was demonstrated in northwest Syria from 2016 to 2018 as Turkey lost over a dozen Leopard 2 and older American M60 tanks to Kornet and other ATGMs. Turkey tried several different defensive solutions but finally selected the Ukrainian Zaslon APS for their tanks. Israel was not considered because since 2000 Turkey has been ruled by an anti-Israel government.
Most tanks in Ukraine have APS because there is still a threat from ATGMs and RPGs. It makes sense to modify existing APS equipment to help deal with the FPV drone threat.
FYEO
Air Weapons: New European Cruise Missiles
June 20, 2026: For decades European nations have been depending on cruise missiles from America. Early efforts to develop their own cruise missiles were mixed. The French Apache runway destruction missile entered service in 2001 but was soon withdrawn from service as soon as it was realized that several Apaches were required to disable a single runway at an enemy airbase and that the range of Apache was not sufficient to avoid enemy air defenses. The French ASMP-A cruise missile entered service in 2010 to replace earlier and similar ASMP. ASMP-A has a range of 500 kilometers, but all 54 missiles built are armed with nuclear warheads. A more successful cruise missile was the German Taurus KEPD 350, which entered service in 2006 as a 1.4 ton air-launched land-attack and anti-ship missile. With a range of 500 kilometers, the 480 kg Taurus warhead can penetrate earth and concrete to explode inside bunkers or underground storage sites. The guidance and terminal targeting system cannot be jammed. The missile finds its way to the target with a terrain-following sensor that follows ground features. In the terminal attack, the warhead is equipped with a sensor that can recognize targets and attack the most important ones. So far 1,200 of these missiles have been built. Taurus has been exported to Spain and South Korea.
One of the more popular and European missiles is the 1.3 ton air-launched Anglo-French Storm Shadow/Scalp. Entering service in 2022 and expected to be replaced by 2032. With a range of 550 kilometers and a 450 kg warhead, it uses terrain following to reach its target. So far over 4,000 have been built and the final total is expected to be more than 5,000. Nine other countries use this missile, including Ukraine. France also developed a cruise missile version of Scalp called Missile de Croisière Navale or naval cruise missile. This 1.4 t0n missile has been in service since 2017 in a 1,400 kilometer range version for frigates and since 2022 and a 1,000 kilometers range version for submarines.
Since 2021 Norway has been producing the air launched JSM/Joint Strike Missile. This is a 416 kg missile with a 120 kg warhead and a range of 555 kilometers. This is a version of the 2012 400 kg Naval Strike Missile with a range of 300 kilometers and a 120 kg warhead. Both missiles are used by America and at least five other export customers.
Some European countries have been using American air/ship/submarine launched cruise missiles. These include a 1.5 ton Tomahawk air launched version with a range of 2,500 kilometers and a 450 kg warhead. Tomahawk has been around since 1983 and gone through several upgrades, especially to its terrain following navigation system. Nearly 10,000 missiles have been built so far. Current export operators are the Netherlands, Britain and Japan.
Other American cruise missiles include the air-launched 370 AGM-148 JASSM and JASSM ER with ranges of 370 kilometers and 1,000 kilometers respectively. A ground penetrating warhead is available. With a stealthy design, these missiles fly low to avoid radar and use jam proof INS plus GPS for navigation. Terminal guidance includes a seeker that can detect and home in on specific targets or types of targets. Introduced in 2003, 7,500 basic and ER missiles have been produced so far. The AGM-84 SLAM-ER is a 674 kg air launched cruise missile with a range of 270 kilometers and a 350 kg warhead. Targets include ships and land facilities. While navigation can be automatic, a human operator can monitor and change the course. In service since 2000, this missile will be replaced sooner rather than later. Export customers include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan and South Korea.
The new European missiles include the Netherlands Ruta Block 3 air launched cruise missile with a 2,000 kilometer range and a 250 kg warhead. For the last two years Ukraine has been receiving hundreds of the Ruta 1 that has a range of 300 kilometers and a 240 kg warhead. Earlier this year, the Ruta 2, appeared with a range of over 800 kilometers and a 250 kg warhead. Ruta 3 is in development and has a longer range and larger warhead.
European defense firm MBDA is developing a cruise missile similar to the American Tomahawk that is expected to enter service before the end of the decade.
FYEO
China: The Limits On the Russia-China Alliance
June 19, 2026: China and Russia are among the top three military spenders. Both are surpassed by America, which is currently spending over a trillion dollars a year on defense. China is allegedly spending nearly $340 billion and Russia, which is still at war in Ukraine, is spending more than $200 billion. China and Russia are also allies and trading partners. The reality is somewhat different. Both countries are constantly and quietly spying on each other. China has become the second-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of nearly $19 trillion compared to Russia’s about two trillion dollars. Because of this disparity, Russia is constantly trying to steal Chinese technology and reproduce it in a way that enables them to claim they also developed similar tech. During most of the 1945–91 Cold War, the Russian economy was larger, especially on a per-capita basis, and the Chinese grew increasingly bold in stealing Russian technology. While the Russians complained, they were restrained about it because they valued China as a diplomatic and military ally.
The Chinese economy didn’t begin to grow until the 1980s, when China finally underwent the industrial revolution. This was something of a shock to the Russians, who thought it would take the Chinese much longer to industrialize and create an economy second only to the Americans’. This is what caused the Russian envy and rampant theft of Chinese technology. By the 21st century, it also became obvious that the Chinese military had modernized to the point that China was a potential military threat to Russia. For example, China never renounced its claims on Russian territory in the Far East, where the Russian city of Vladivostok was, until 1860, the Chinese city of Yongmingcheng. The Russian Far East is already dominated economically by the Chinese, and the Russians know the Chinese want these territories back. Russia would probably comply because they need China as an ally and are too weak economically and militarily to resist such Chinese demands.
Meanwhile, China is already overshadowing Russia in diplomatic terms. Three years ago, China got credit for arranging a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which involved these two long-time antagonists resuming diplomatic relations and halting military operations against each other. This was a major achievement for China, which has long been neutral, or pro-Iranian, in the sometimes violent conflict between Iran and the Arab oil states as well as most Western nations. While this preliminary agreement made for great headlines and indicated a decline in American influence in Saudi Arabia, it was not a done deal. The announcement was about intentions, not actual accomplishments. Iran has a long history of violating agreements. Iran was still subject to economic sanctions by Western nations because of continued Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Earlier this year the Israelis and Americans went to war with Iran in an effort to end the Islamic religious dictatorship that had been, for over forty years, a homicidal threat to America, and Israel, as well as the Persian Gulf states and most countries in the region.
Iran, China, and Russia have long been allies, diplomatically if not economically and militarily. During the Iran War, Iranian oil exports to China were disrupted. This was bad news for China, who recently discovered that their national petroleum reserve was empty, with corrupt officials secretly selling the oil and pocketing the proceeds. These officials never expected the oil reserve to be needed and now it was and China could only depend on the smaller supplies of oil Russia supplied via a pipeline. At the same time, China was quick to send air defense systems to Iran during a pause in the Iran War. The Americans are aware of the Chinese dependence on Iranian oil and don’t want to block that trade any longer than necessary. After all, it was the Japanese fears of losing access to European controlled oil in 1941 that led to Pearl Harbor and a war with America. China would be similarly upset if their Iranian oil supply was threatened.
Despite that, there are still suspicions. For example, Russia has sent troops stationed on border areas to Ukraine but still keeps somewhat more than token forces on portions of its 4,200-kilometer Chinese border. There, Russia faces, for the first time, a larger, better-armed, trained, and led Chinese army. China has unresolved claims on most of the Russian Pacific coast territories. Russia also has a 17-kilometer border with North Korea, and Russian troops are sometimes seen there as well. Since the Ukraine War began, fewer Russian troops have been seen on other foreign borders. That’s because the crisis in Ukraine demanded more troops to replace losses.
The scale and scope of Russian army losses in Ukraine is unprecedented. While air force and navy losses were relatively minor, the SRF/Strategic Rocket Forces and their thousands of nuclear warheads still have the same number of troops, so the Russian state is still secure. Neighboring China also has lots of nukes, with more of them aimed at Russia than ever before. That is not the major Chinese threat to Russia. Rather, it is Russian dependence on Chinese economic and military cooperation. China remains on good terms with Russia economically and militarily. China warned Russia to back off on nuclear threats over the Ukraine War and made it clear that China considered the Ukraine War a major mistake. Before 2022, Russia and China were seen as a powerful military and economic alliance. Now the Russian military is revealed to be much less capable than previously thought. Western sanctions have devastated the Russian economy, and China will benefit from that at the expense of Russia. What happened to Russia in Ukraine was their own fault.
China insists it will continue to maintain pressure against its opponents in territorial disputes. Chief among these is the Chinese effort to gain control of Taiwan, plus Indian territory that China claims is illegally occupied by India. Then there is the most blatant claim of all: ownership of the South China Sea. All these claims are vigorously opposed by growing coalitions of powerful countries. Russia supports these Chinese claims, which costs Russia nothing diplomatically or monetarily. This is an example of how far Russia will go to placate the Chinese, and not much farther.
FYEO
Russia: Decades of Russian Secret War Against Europe
June 19, 2026: Three years ago a Russian espionage operation in Britain ran afoul of local incompetence and mixed signals from the FSB/Federal Security Service. It all began in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Russia ordered the revival of its espionage network in Britain. The effort was organized by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian businessman living in Russia to avoid prosecution for economic crimes. Marsalek still had a large number of contacts in Europe and was able to hire six Bulgarian men to carry out pro-Russian and anti-American operations in Europe. This was meant to reduce support for the war in Ukraine. Marsalek’s plan failed and his six Bulgarians were arrested in Britain before they could start their campaign.
Some success was achieved via online efforts, but these were redundant because pro-Russian propaganda was already being spread on the internet by Russian citizens and their western fans. This was not the first Russian propaganda effort in Europe and was only the latest one to fail. Since 2022 Russia has spent over half a million dollars trying to establish espionage and propaganda operations in Europe. Not much success, mainly because the European counterespionage organizations were able to detect and disable Russian operations.
One part of Europe, according to the Europeans, was Ukraine, which Russia considered part of Russia. Since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Ukraine has been subject to an ominously large amount of Russian network reconnaissance of Ukrainian networks and growing Russian Cyber War attacks. None of this was a major news story and that was typical for the massive Cyber War campaign Russia has carried out against Ukraine in 2022.
Russia has always been considered a major Cyber War threat. Since the 1990s Russian Internet based espionage has been very active and effective. That led to fears of a Cyber Pearl Harbor. Russia had hoped for such a daring and damaging attack on Ukraine but was disappointed because Ukraine had looked for and noticed the Russian preparations. Before and after the first Russian attack in 2014, Ukraine had been receiving more military aid and assistance from NATO countries. Ukraine and NATO Cyber War experts agreed that an international effort, including the major American providers of Internet infrastructure and services had to be involved. This meant Amazon, Cloudflare, Google, Microsoft and several smaller but essential Internet services or security firms had to be involved.
It is not known for sure if Russia was aware that this international coalition of Internet infrastructure and services was involved with defending Ukraine. This organization came to be known as Cyber NATO because most of the major resources came from NATO nations.
Microsoft was the oldest of these Internet giants and the one that pioneered large scale, organized and highly responsive efforts to deal with hackers operating at the consumer level or against national Cyber infrastructure. These Internet giants increasingly cooperated in Cyber defense. When Ukraine and NATO governments went looking for Internet industry help and cooperation, they found that their inquiries and requests were welcomed. Ukraine took advantage of this in 2016 when they established their Ukrainian National Cybersecurity Coordination Center. This operation played a key role in coordination and synchronizing the Western efforts or forming a large-scale effort to detect and block Russian Cyber War activities against Ukraine, or any NATO nation.
Before 2022 Russia had a reputation for being a formidable threat as a practitioner of Cyber War. So far in 2022 the Russian reputation as a military power has been much diminished along with their standing as a Cyber War threat. While Russian military activities were widely reported on by the media, much less attention was paid to the similar defeats Russia suffered as they sought to carry major Cyber War campaigns against Ukraine even before Russian troops crossed the border. The Cyber War defeats continued throughout 2022. Russia had a formidable arsenal of Cyber War weapons and pre-planned attacks, especially against Ukraine.
Like many other capabilities, that reputation was tarnished and diminished during the recent war in Ukraine. For Russia the defeats were frequent and victories few in this network battle space. Russian defeats began the day before Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border and continued during the first months of the war as Russian unleashed most of their pre-planned attacks designed to do maximum damage to Ukrainian networks and Internet-based capabilities. Ukraine knew what its key Internet vulnerabilities were and, with the assistance of Cyber NATO and the major American Internet services and security providers, the Russian efforts were blocked. China, the other Cyber War threat to NATO and the West, took note.
This sort of large-scale coordinated Internet defense was always theoretically possible and now the main Cyber War threats, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, saw it in action. That changed the Cyber War strategies of all these aggressor nations. At the moment, the best the Internet threat nations can hope for is that the defense coalition grows less effective over time because the defenders might believe they have the problem solved and major investments of time and effort in defense are no longer necessary. That would be a mistake because the benefits of effective Cyber War weapons expand as more of the world becomes dependent on Internet based services.
By the end of 2021 Ukraine had created a network of half a million software engineers, information specialists and other experienced Internet users to deal with Russian Cyber War attacks as well as carry out information campaigns worldwide to let the world know what was really happening in Ukraine. The Ukrainian efforts were successful and this resulted in Ukrainian attacks against Russian networks and propaganda. The existence of these formidable Ukrainian Information and Cyber War capabilities is another reason NATO is eager to have Ukraine join the EU/European Union and after that NATO. Ukraine is already a founding member of Cyber NATO.
FYEO
Attrition: American Air Losses During The Iran War
June 18, 2026: The recent Iran War saw the destruction of 42 American combat or combat support aircraft lost or seriously damaged while flying some 1,200 sorties. These losses included, in early March, three F-15Es shot down and destroyed by friendly fire over Kuwait. None of the flight personnel were injured. In early April an F-15E two-seat fighter bomber was shot down over Iran. The pilot and the WSO/Weapons system Officer were rescued as a result of two search-and-rescue operations. On the same day, an F-35A fighter bomber was also lost.
In mid-March ground fire damaged one F-35A during combat operations over Iran.
In early March, ground fire hit an A-10 ground attack aircraft that subsequently crashed and was later destroyed from the air during search-and-rescue operations. The pilot parachuted to the ground where he was later picked up by USAF pararescue operators.
During March two KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft collided. One aircraft crashed in Iraq, with all six flight personnel killed. The other aircraft was able to land.
In mid-March five KC-135s were damaged by an Iranian missile and drone attack while on the ground at a Saudi Arabian air base.
In late March, an E-3 AWACS/Airborne early Warning-and Control System aircraft was struck and damaged while on the ground at a Saudi Arabian air base by an Iranian missile and drone attack.
In early April two MC-130J special operations aircraft supporting search-and-rescue operations for a downed F-15E were intentionally destroyed on the ground in Iran after becoming mired in soft ground and unable to take off. All air crew were rescued.
In early April an HH-60W combat search-and-rescue helicopter was damaged by ground fire while in support of search-and-rescue operations for the downed F-15E in Iran.
The USAF also lost 24 MQ-9 Reaper surveillance/attack drones throughout the 2026 operations against Iran. In addition the USN lost a larger MQ-4C maritime reconnaissance and surveillance drone due to a crash during landing.
During the entire Iran War campaign American and Israeli warplanes hit some 13,000 targets, with about 30 percent of the targets identified and attacked by warplanes operating over Iran. During this campaign some 50,000 American personnel in America, Europe and the Middle East were needed to make these sorties possible. The attacks destroyed over 80 percent of Iranian air defense systems, nearly 500 ballistic missile storage sites, and 800 drone storage sites. In addition American and Israeli air defense forces intercepted 1,700 Iranian drones and missiles aimed at Israel and the UAE/United Arab Emirates.
FYEO
The Esteemed and Right Honourable SPP
Wow - where to start. 
Crime - America is hardly a shinning example of 'low levels of crime' and for Professional/White Collar Crime - Fraud (Enron for example) or Epstein (and in the UK, we had Jimmy Savill and Rolf Harris - so the UK isn't any better) - take your pick on which is the bigger crime.
Relgiion. Secterian Violence in Northern Ireland (Christian v Christian). Balkans in the 90's (Serbs/Croats - both Christan v Bosnians (mainly Muslim).
All wonderful examples of 'Chrisrtianity at Peace'.
I do agree Christianity has moved on massively from say 1000 to 1700 AD (other than WW2) - but what does the Bible say about killig non-believers (the good old Testamont)?
On some specifics though - Lebanon actually was very peaceful - why was Beruit called the Paris of the Middle East in the 1960's and 1970's?
I don't know why it fell apart.
The easy answer is there is good and bad in every nation - from natives to recent immigrants (as we are in effect all "Africans") or from X Relgion to Z Non-Religion.
Some people can get on and happy to work for the greater good - others can't.
Like Mike - I have worked with alot of 'different people' (currently work with a Swede - who is married to a Serbian - and also worked with a Serb at the end of the Balkans War - a stack of Australians (and wierdly several clients now who have been in Australia or are over there now) - so most peole move around this Wonderful World - for the benefit of us all.
I think that skirts the main Gator concerns - but accept we probably all will lose a toe or two.
Information Warfare: Chinese Salt Typhoon CyberWar Effort
June 18, 2026: Years ago American CyberWar specialists reminded everyone what Internet security experts have been saying for a long time; China is using the Internet for espionage and more aggressive actions to silence those who criticize or embarrass the Chinese government. Those fears have come to pass with discovery of the Chinese Salt Typhoon long-term CyberWar efforts to infiltrate, map and insert viruses into American telecommunications networks and essential transportation systems.
China’s Salt Typhoon effort integrates the enormous quantities of data produced since the internet emerged in the late 1990s into an espionage system. All that data enables analysts to use AI/Artificial Intelligence powered tools to extract vital, and sometimes top secret, information about what other nations are up to. This system is also useful for stealing, or reinventing, trade secrets and new technologies created outside China.
Salt Typhoon is the name Microsoft applies to an APT/Advanced Persistent Threat based in or working for China. cyber threat group believed to be to be aligned with the People’s Republic of China. Salt Typhoon is known and suspected of hacking into infrastructure like electrical distribution, sewage, operational telemetry and metadata. Salt Typhoon has also compromised internet and commercial communications for the distribution of goods within several countries, including America.
This approach is different in scale and scope because China can lessen friction between state demand and data supply. In China the government forces civilians to support intelligence work. China's use of industrial espionage managed to turn their country into the mightiest industrial and military power on the planet. Since the 1980s, China has been attempting to do what the Soviet Union never accomplished; steal Western technology, then use it to move ahead of the West. The Soviets lacked the many essential supporting industries created and run by entrepreneurs found in the West, and was never able to get all the many pieces needed to match Western technical accomplishments. Soviet copies of American computers, for example, were crude, less reliable and less powerful. Same with their jet fighters, tanks and warships.
China got around this by making it profitable for Western firms to set up factories in China, where Chinese managers and workers can be taught how to make things right. At the same time, China allowed hundreds of thousands of their best students to go to the United States to study. While most of these students will stay in America, where there are better jobs and more opportunities, some will come back to China, and bring American business and technical skills with them. Finally, China energetically uses the thousand grains of sand approach to espionage. This involves China trying to get all Chinese going overseas, and those of Chinese ancestry living outside the motherland, to spy for China, if only a tiny bit.
This approach to espionage is nothing new. Other nations have used similar systems for centuries. What is unusual is the scale of the Chinese effort. Backing it all up is a Chinese intelligence bureaucracy back home that is huge, with nearly 100,000 people working just to keep track of the many Chinese overseas, and what they could, or should, be trying to grab for the motherland. It begins when Chinese intelligence officials examine who is going overseas, and for what purpose. Chinese citizens cannot leave the country, legally, without the state security organizations being notified. The intel people are not being asked to give permission. They are being alerted in case they want to have a talk with students, tourists or business people before they leave the country. Interviews are often held when these people come back as well.
Those who might be coming in contact with useful information are asked to remember what they saw, or bring back souvenirs. Over 100,000 Chinese students go off to foreign universities each year. Even more go abroad as tourists or on business. Most of these people were not asked to actually act as spies, but simply to share, with Chinese government officials, who are not always identified as intelligence personnel, whatever information obtained. The more ambitious of these people are getting caught and prosecuted. But the majority, who are quite casual, and, individually, bring back relatively little, are almost impossible to catch.
Like the Russians, the Chinese are also employing the traditional methods, using people with diplomatic immunity to recruit spies, and offering cash, or whatever, to get people to sell them information. This is still effective, and when combined with the thousand grains of sand methods, brings in lots of secrets.
Salt Typhoon is a major advance in data collection, analysis and production of useful information. By using powerful computing systems and AI enabled analysis China can detect espionage networks inside China and other nations. What these espionage teams are after is also revealed. Salt Typhoon is a sign that the future of espionage depends more on AI enabled calculation. For America the task isn’t just procedural but theoretical.
FYEO
I truly hope that Sweden has become the peaceful accepting multi-cultural society that Carl-Magnus Carlsson represents it as, but from what I had read in the local paper (times past as I no longer get it and the news I regularly consume does not cover Sweden, or indeed Europe in general. However, when I did read such news coverage it was striking how parts of Sweden, not large parts but parts, had become unsafe for native born Swedes to walk the streets at night. Sweden was hardly a "crime capital," but it was not free of crime by a long shot. Again, as I alluded to in the beginning of this missive, things may have changed in the recent past when I was no longer reading the news.
Okay, y'all. I have been out dealing with Al's health after he got hurt on Wednesday, ending up in the ER on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Fortunately, nothing is broken, but he is in a world of pain.
However, his pain will be as nothing compared to the pain that you all shall feel if the discussion of migration, peace prizes, and other political topics does not cease Right Now. The gators are hungry, I am behind (and unhappy about that), and that does not lead to good outcomes for lower appendages.
Jean
WebMom
This is the "unofficial summary" of the MOU which was circulated. It is not exactly the story put out by either Iran or the US. My own comments are APPENDED to each item. This is NOT FOR DISCUSSION only for reference.
1. Both sides agree the war is over, including in Lebanon. SVC: The US says that Israel is free to defend itself. Iran says any Israeli attack on Lebanon violates the entire agreement. US intelligence has tracked signals from Iran to Hezbollah to launch attacks so those are no longer considered to be Hezbolliots who just could not control their emotions.
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2. Each country respects the other one and will not interfere in the other's internal affairs. SVC: The US says this included ending Iranian support for proxies. Iran isn't confirming that.
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3. The two countries have 60 days to reach a final agreement, but they can extend the time. SVC Negotiating with Iran is like negotiating with a cranky housecat who has a God complex. The Iranians have never negotiated in good faith as their religion allows/requires them to lie to infidels to forward the overall goal.
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4. The U.S. will end its naval blockade and remove its military forces from the area. SVC: As a trade for ending the blockage by Iran, so far so good, but "removing military forces" is a very vague statement and the US has zero plans to exit the entire region while Iran wants all US forces in the entire middle east removed.
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5. Iran will work to remove mines and other obstacles to marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. SVC: "work toward" yeah, sure, right.
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5A: 60 days of fee-free transit are guaranteed, with arrangements beyond that point to be worked out between Iran and Oman. SVC: The US has made clear there will be no deal with Iranian charging blackmail tolls like the Suez or Panama Canal. Iran says it has every right to do so over the entire Strait.
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6. The U.S. and its regional partners will create a privately-funded $300 billion rebuilding fund for Iran. SVC: The US says no US money and that there will be no money from Arabs if Iran doesn't end support for proxies. Iran has not confirmed that.
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7. The U.S. will end its sanctions on Iran and work to remove international sanctions. SVC: The US says this will happen gradually as Iran proves it's good faith and will "snap back" if Iran breaks faith.
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8. Iran promises not to build or buy any nuclear weapons. Some plan will be discussed to down-blend the existing stocks of enriched uranium. SVC: The US insists on US and IAEA inspectors. Iran said something in Farsi that Google could not translate.
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9. Until the final agreement, Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program. SVC; Iran thinks this means back to work, the US think it means we destroyed your program and you can never restart it. Whatever Iran agrees to, IT WILL LIE.
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10. The U.S. Treasury will immediately issue waivers to Iran to export its oil and related products. SVC: This is supposedly to get humanitarian supplies into Iran. We all know what Iran will use the money for, but Iran would get this in a final deal anyway.
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11. The U.S. will release all of Iran's frozen assets ($24 billion). SVC: The US says this will be at the end of the negotiations. Iran thinks it will be immediate.
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12. Some implementation mechanism will be devised later.
13. After the signing of the MOU, real negotiations will begin.
14. The final agreement will be approved by the U.N. security council. SVC comments "that crap could mean anything" but you were not going to get a deal without this and 11 and 10 and 7. "housecat by the tail" my friends. I have to negotiate breakfast with two bengal wildcats every morning and have the blood loss to show for it.
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Air Defense: Israeli Defenses Against Hezbollah Drones
June 23, 2026: Iran backed terrorist group Hezbollah continues to attack northern Israel and now does so with the help of Russian drone technology. The fighting in northern Israel has been going on for decades and now Hezbollah has increased the threat by using quadcopter drones controlled by terrorists a kilometer or more away using First Person Viewing/FPV goggles to see what the video camera on the drone can see. Adding night vision is common and cheap. Each of these drones carries half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn the drone into a flying bomb that can fly into a target and detonate. This is an awesome and debilitating weapon when used in large numbers over northern Israel.
Israel responded to this latest threat by issuing drones to all units and patrols. That means all Israeli regular or reserve troops who serve in the north receive training based on the Ukrainian experience with drones. Ukraine invented drone warfare and is now selling their own drones, as well as training on tactics. Ukraine advised Israeli forces to use netting to protect vehicles or fighting positions from drone attack. Camouflage is also useful, especially if it involves the use of material that nullifies drones using heat sensing cameras.
These anti-drone efforts are nothing new. Over a decade ago an Israeli firm developed the Iron Dome system to effectively and economically destroy rockets and shells from mortar and artillery. That led to the Drone Dome that can detect and shoot down drones. Called Drone Dome, that was a lot cheaper because it did not use $90,000 Tamir guided missiles to intercept rockets or shells headed for residential areas or military targets. Instead Drone Dome used a high powered laser that destroys or disables most drones more than 2,000 meters away. Drone Dome’s radar can detect most small drones at ranges of up to 30 kilometers at altitudes of 10 to 10,000 meters.
Drone Dome is not a radical development but part of a trend. Since 2010 Israeli firms have developed a growing number of AUD/Anti drone Defense systems largely because Israel is a nation that is most often threatened by hostile use of drones, particularly small commercial ones increasingly used by Islamic terrorists and criminal gangs.
Iron Dome entered service in 2005 and continues to be the main defense against rocket and mortar attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The manufacturer developed Iron Beam that used a laser but, because the laser was only effective out to about 2,000 meters, it was not useful against longer range rockets and actually more expensive than Iron Dome because the Tamir missile can knock down rockets fired from over 50 kilometers away and thus one Iron Dome battery can cover a much larger area than the Iron Beam system.
What makes Drone Dome different is its heavy use of electronic sensors to detect and jam the control signals used by drones, leaving the laser as a last resort. Several AUD systems are already in service and effective because they are good at detecting drones electronically and either jamming those control signals or taking over the control signals and capturing, by making it land, the drone. Troops in Iraq and Syria were asking for AUD systems that used lasers and better drone detection systems as well those with jammers to disable drones. There is a need for AUDs that can detect and destroy drones that do not use control signals and basically go on pre-programmed missions. This can be to take photos or deliver a small explosive. Usually it is to take photos and return. Drone Dome is one of several AUD systems equipped to detect and locate drones operating in pre-programmed mode and destroy or disable them quietly with a vehicle mounted laser.
AUDs like Drone Dome use one radar system and one or more sensor systems for detecting drone control signals or visual images that pattern recognition software can quickly identify what it is. In addition they have two or more truck mounted lasers which, because short range, usually about 2,000 meters for a 5 KW laser, means you have to deploy multiple lasers to cover an area.
FYEO
Leadership: The Ukrainian Drone Alliance
June 23, 2026: Ukraine invented modern drone technology and has since been the leading developer of new technologies and techniques. In exchange for drone technologies, Ukraine wants to create a customer base of nations willing to invest in Ukraine as well as continuing to build drones and other military hardware for Ukraine.
This effort involves Drone Diplomacy as well as trade deals involving the evolving Ukrainian drone technology. Middle Eastern and NATO nations, especially those that border Russia, are aware that Russia is already repositioning its forces towards NATO nations and building bases to support that effort. With all of this in place, Russia could quickly unleash drone swarm attacks that NATO states are unprepared to deal with. Middle Eastern nations need the Drone Deal to defend themselves against Iranian drones and missiles.
The Ukrainian drone export program is known as the Drone Deal and, so far, Ukraine has found at least twenty countries that are interested. Each nation will be offered a different mix of drone exports and imports and/or investments in Ukraine. Last year Ukraine worded out a Drone deal with America involving $10 billion a year for five years. This included American firms building up to ten million drones a year for Ukraine in addition to investments into Ukrainian industries. The Americans expect to obtain rights to Ukrainian drone technology and help with training American military personnel on how best to use drones in combat. The instructors are English-speaking Ukrainian soldiers. Some are retired, usually because of disabling wounds, but all are eager to impart their knowledge to NATO allies.
NATO nations are especially keen to have their troops learn all about interceptor and FPV/First Person View drones. The latter employ goggles so the user can see what the drone camera sees and use a game controller to maneuver the drone. Since this is similar to what video gamers use, most young men and women are already experienced with this sort of thing.
Another aspect of this is that Ukrainian-developed drones changed the nature, and cost, of warfare. Drones are cheap and the drone operators are rarely casualties. Ukrainian civilians and soldiers often modify their drones and share those innovations with other Ukrainians. Those concepts spread to Europe and the United States, where entrepreneurs began developing new weapons and military equipment. One entrepreneur, Elon Musk, created SpaceX, a company that put thousands of communications satellites into orbit. Musk allowed Ukrainian forces to use this satellite network for battlefield communications and it gave the Ukrainians an edge over the Russians. This was especially true when Musk later disabled Russian use of smuggled SpaceX equipment and fatally disrupted Russian battlefield communications.
Entrepreneurs have developed even more autonomous weapons and military equipment. Ukraine has also been using ground based combat drones, and in at least two cases Russian soldiers surrendered to the drones. Russia has also encouraged its entrepreneurs, but there are 500 million Europeans, 310 million Americans and only 140 million Russians.
NATO nations are facing major military, economic and security problems because of the war in Ukraine. What it comes down to is that military leaders back all possible military aid for Ukraine while political leaders face problems with paying for it. Not just the financial cost, but the impact on voters who find themselves facing higher taxes and as well as inflation and shortages of essential goods. Supporting the Ukrainian war with Russia is expensive and exposes the true costs of cutting defense expenditures in the past by not maintaining sufficient stockpiles of weapons and munitions.
The basic problem is that it is a historical fact, reinforced by the current situation, that you must maintain adequate stockpiles of ammunition, equipment and supplies for use against a large, well-equipped enemy in a war. These stockpiles are also referred to as the War Reserve, as in large quantities of everything required to keep the troops supplied during the initial 30-60 days of fighting until production can be increased to sustain the fighting. These stockpiles must contain the most useful munitions and other supplies and be positioned so they can be moved to the combat zones as quickly as possible. Without adequate logistics, as in the right supplies delivered in time, wars or at least battles, are often lost early and often. The Russians had such enormous stockpiles but ran out of those in mid-2024. That would have happened to the Ukrainians in late 2022 but for financial and military support from NATO, particularly the United States.
The original reason for NATO was, as the British put it, about keeping the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down. NATO was formed after World War II ended in 1945. That also ended over 70 years of major wars instigated by Germany. Now Germany was partitioned and the Western half faced another Russian invasion. The German occupation was short and the Germans were eager to join NATO and help keep the Russians out. That attitude persisted through the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and reunification of Germany. The Germans had lost all interest in wars of aggression, but the Russians had not.
The Soviet Union prospered for a while after Nikita Khrushchev, who took over when Josef Stalin died in 1953, concentrated on the economy and well-being of Russians rather than the world conquest and generally murderous attitudes of Stalin. This was a welcome change for most Russians if only because Stalin’s policies had resulted in 20 percent of the Russian population dying of starvation, in wars or domestic terror against Russians by Stalin to protect his power.
Khrushchev was gone within a decade, the first Russian leader in a long time to retire alive from office rather than die or be killed while in power. Khrushchev was replaced by less altruistic politicians who had aligned with Russian military leaders who wanted to start an arms race with the West and prepare for an eventual attack on Western Europe and that new NATO alliance. Then as now, Russia described this as necessary to defend Russia from more prosperous NATO countries who might think and act like Russians. This is a bad habit that Russia is having a difficult time overcoming even though the old Soviet Union collapsed from, among other things, doing the same thing.
After the Soviet Union dissolved, Russia tried democracy to do another Khrushchev for a decade. There was some success but not enough because Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, took power and returned to the police state and military buildup that Stalin and Khrushchev’s successors tried with such disastrous results. Putin won the support of the military by spending a lot of money Russian could not afford to update the Cold War era weapons. Those updates, as well as new tactics and unit organizations, turned out to be failures and this was made clear when the overconfident Russian military invaded Ukraine.
Despite the initial failures, Russia persists and is still seeking to intimidate NATO into submission. For Russia it is a three-front war. First there is the very obvious combat in Ukraine as well as an Information War against politicians and journalists in NATO countries. Then there is an economic struggle to deal with the economic sanctions. After four years of war, Russia is broke and its economy crippled by the transformation into a war economy. In Ukraine, Russia is losing more troops than it can replace. The Ukrainians are on the offensive, taking back territory long occupied by the Russians. Ukrainian use of long-range drones to destroy Russian military and economic infrastructure throughout Russia has weakened the Russian war effort in Ukraine. It has reached the point where Ukraine has a chance of reclaiming the Crimean Peninsula this year.
FYEO
Respectfully to Paul Howard: You have, sir, chosen to refute my own words by according me the false claim that I in essence said that my own land was free of the crime in other lands. Far be it from me to make such a claim. The news media of out land is full of reports of crime, of murders of commission and of irresponsibility, of teenagers recently robbing a child's lemonade stand at gunpoint and reportedly absconding with the princely sum of $50 (yes, fifty dollars). Crime is indeed a pox upon the land. My previous response to Carl-Magnus Carlsson was in essence that Sweden is hardly free of this pox.
The Esteemed and Right Honourable SPP
I apologise if I mis-read your post.
Alas crime and anti-religous anger certainly in the UK is not on a downward spiral - and from what the various Meidia Sources report, Europe (including the UK and the UK) have similar issues on it?
Jean - I aplogise for uspetting the Gators and hopefully the above is an acceptable response (please delete if it is not).
On RWM - with the UK having a new PM in the next few weeks (depending on if there is a Challanger or not) - it is likekly the new PM will do a cabinet reshiffle - so the new 'Minister of Defence', might not in the role for long.
For the UK and it's military - the rapid changes in Leadership will not help 
Steve, Paul, leave it there, the gator's are restless and Jean is throwing her collection of rubber stress balls down the hall into my office.
Steve,
Throw the balls back.
They are not yours to keep, and it might distract Jean from other concerns (such as worrying about Al…)
Plus, the exercise might help you…
I am required by office protocol to gather the balls into a small bag and return them to her on my hands and knees, holding the bag in my mouth.