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usafphantom2 · 7 months

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IMAGES: ROKAF performs last Elephant Walk with its F-4 Phantom

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/09/2024 - 18:21in Military

The Air Force of the Republic of Korea (RoKAF) conducted on March 8 an impressive "elephant walk" (Elephant Walk) involving 33 aircraft, including poacher fighters F-35A, KF-16, F-15K and the former F-4E that are scheduled for retirement in June.

The F-4E Phantoms, leading the formation equipped with AGM-142H 'Popeye' and AGM-65D 'Maverick' air-to-ground missiles, and MK-82 air-to-ground pump. A total of 25 newer fighters followed, including the F-15K, KF-16, F-16, FA-50, F-5 and F-35A. Among them, two F-35As flew low over the Elephant Walk formation and then landed and joined the formation.

This demonstration at Suwon Air Base coincided with the annual Freedom Shield exercise, reinforcing the deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

A RoKAF official said that "this is the first time that all types of fighters belonging to the South Korean Air Force have participated".

The term "elephant walk" dates back to World War II, when large fleets of Allied bombers gathered for missions containing up to 1,000 aircraft. It means a coordinated demonstration of power and military preparation.

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The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Lee Young-su, emphasized the need of the South Korean Air Force to inspire confidence in the public and deter potential opponents. The "Elephant Walk" demonstrated RoKAF's readiness to respond decisively to any provocations.

"I give a warm applause to the Phantoms who protected the Republic of Korea for 55 years, and to the 'Ghost Men' who shared the ups and downs with the Phantoms," added Lee Young-soo.

The F-4 was first introduced in Korea in 1969. RoKAF explained that it was able to dominate the North Korean Air Force by introducing the F-4D, the new most powerful aircraft in the world at the time. Until the KF-16 entered service in 1994, the F-4 served as the main fighter representing the Air Force of the Republic of Korea, which even operated up to about 220 Phantoms, including the improved F-4E and the RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.

Most Phantoms are retired and only about 10 F-4Es remain active. All of them will be retired in June of this year.

North Korea's recent calls for mobilization for combat highlight the ongoing tensions in the region, with Pyongyang often seeing negotiations for joint exercises between South Korea and the US as provocations.

Tags: Military AviationElephant WalkMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIROKAF - Republic of Korea Air Force/South Korean Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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tonkibabes · 2 years

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Upper volta with missiles schmidt

The Soviet Union was placing offensive missiles in Cuba, missiles that could only be deployed against targets in the US. They had been lied to and their warnings had been ignored. Thus when a U-2 flying over San Cristobal, in western Cuba, on October 14 spotted three missile sites under construction, and when these sites were identified in Washington as identical to known MRBM launch sites in the Soviet Union, President Kennedy and his advisers drew the obvious conclusion. They were useless as defensive weapons their only possible value was offensive-or as a deterrent to the offensives of others. an IRBM could hit almost any target in the continental US, sparing only the far Pacific Northwest. A Soviet MRBM of that era, launched from Cuba, could hit Washington, D.C. They were designed not to hit incoming aircraft but to land on targets deep inside the US the range of an SS-4 was about 1100 nautical miles, that of an SS-5 nearly twice that. The significance of the MRBMs and IRBMs lay in their reach. The US authorities accepted these reassurances, particularly since, as George Ball notes in his memoirs, the Soviet Union had never hitherto placed offensive missile bases outside its own territory, not even in the neighboring countries of the Warsaw Pact. When Dobrynin in early September asked how he might reply to a private question from Robert Kennedy about the Cuban situation, he was instructed by Moscow that “in talking to the Americans you should confirm that there are only defensive Soviet weapons in Cuba.”ĭobrynin reassured Robert Kennedy accordingly, with all the more conviction in that he, too, knew nothing about the ballistic missile emplacements. (The first nuclear warheads arrived in Mariel aboard a Soviet freighter on October 4 by October 28, when the crisis ended, all the warheads for both sorts of missiles and all the SS-4 missiles themselves were actually in Cuba-only the SS-5s remained to be delivered.) Indeed, the Kennedy administration had been assured, by Khrushchev and by Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador to the US, that no such missiles were or would be placed in Cuba. What Kennedy did not then know was that by September the Soviet build-up also included thirty-six SS-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and twenty-four SS-5 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), together with their nuclear warheads. On September 13, during a press conference, he repeated the warning: “If at any time…Cuba were to…become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies.” 1 But it was only after August 29, 1962, when a U-2 reconnaissance plane spotted the SA-2 missile sites, that Kennedy went public, on September 4, with a warning that whereas such land-to-air defensive missiles were acceptable, the installation of offensive missiles in Cuba would not be. Kennedy and US intelligence analysts were aware of the growing Soviet military presence in Cuba. At his urging the Soviet Presidium duly assented to a military build-up on the island which, in its final form, was to include some 50,000 Soviet military personnel, organized in five nuclear missile regiments, four motorized regiments, two tank battalions, one MIG-21 fighter wing, forty-two IL-28 light bombers, two cruise missile regiments, twelve SA-2 anti- aircraft units with 144 launchers, and a squadron of eleven submarines, seven of them equipped with nuclear missiles. The story of the Cuban missiles begins in April 1962, when the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to increase very substantially the limited military support hitherto provided by the USSR to the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba.

#Upper volta with missiles schmidt

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Sunday, January 24, 2021

Biden Signs Orders to Expand Food Stamps and Raise Wages (NYT) President Biden signed two executive orders on Friday to provide help to struggling families and raise wages for certain workers, turning once again to the power of the executive branch to advance his economic goals as the legislative chances for his broader stimulus package remain uncertain. “The crisis is only deepening,” Mr. Biden said during remarks at the White House, calling the need to help those out of work and unable to afford enough food “an economic imperative.” Mr. Biden’s executive orders are intended to increase the amount of money poor families get for food each month and provide additional meal money for needy students whose schools have been closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. A second executive order will lay the groundwork for the federal government to require a $15 an hour minimum wage for its employees and contract workers.

Biden is only the second Catholic president, but nearly all have been Christians (Pew Research Center) The U.S. Constitution famously prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office. Still, almost all of the nation’s presidents have been Christians. That includes Joe Biden, a Catholic who often speaks of his religious convictions, quotes the Bible and attends Mass regularly. One-in-five U.S. adults say it is “very important” for the president to have strong religious beliefs, and 14% say it is very important to have a president who shares their own religious beliefs, according to a February 2020 Pew Research Center survey. A far higher share (63%) say it is very important to have a president who personally lives a moral and ethical life. Historically, about a quarter of presidents—including some of the nation’s most famous leaders, such as George Washington, James Madison and Franklin Roosevelt—were members of the Episcopal Church, the American successor to the Church of England. Presbyterians are the next largest group, with eight presidents, including Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan. Unitarians and Baptists (the latter including Bill Clinton and Harry Truman) are the groups with the third-largest share of presidents, each with four. There also have been four presidents who identify as Christian without a formal denomination, including Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Senate agrees to start Trump’s impeachment trial Feb. 9 (Washington Post) The impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump will begin Feb. 9 under a deal reached Friday by top Senate leaders—delaying by two weeks the high-stakes proceedings over whether Trump incited the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The House on Jan. 13 passed a sole impeachment article, alleging “incitement of insurrection.” House leaders could have forced the Senate to begin the trial immediately by transmitting the papers across the Capitol. But a delay serves the former and current presidents: Trump has struggled to assemble a legal team and muster a defense, and President Biden needs the Senate to confirm most of his Cabinet appointees. Had no accord been reached, the trial would have started Tuesday and run uninterrupted by other Senate business until the Senate rendered its verdict.

Britain to discuss tighter travel restrictions (Reuters) British ministers are to discuss on Monday further tightening travel restrictions, the BBC reported on Saturday, adding that people arriving in the country could be required to quarantine in hotels. Britain’s current restrictions ban most international travel while new rules introduced earlier in January require a negative coronavirus test before departure for most people arriving, as well as a period of quarantine. The government is considering making it mandatory for travellers to spend that 10-day quarantine period in a hotel for which they would have to pay, as a way to enforce the quarantine rules, the BBC said.

Belgium bans leisure travel for a month to combat pandemic (AP) Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Friday that visitors from Britain, South Africa and South America will have to quarantine for ten days to make sure they don’t bring dangerous variants into Belgium. In Belgium only essential business, family and humanitarian travel will still be allowed from next week until March. Over the past year, Belgium has seen a spike in cases after popular holidays because of returning travelers. February is the traditional month for Belgians to go skiing in the Alps or fly down south for warmth. The EU itself is also preparing measures that should make travel more difficult, including an introduction of new trans-border “dark red zones” where infections rates are particularly high and where all non-essential travel should be discouraged. Travelers from these areas could be required to undergo tests before their departure and be placed in isolation upon arrival in another location.

More than 2,300 arrested across Russia in protests for jailed opposition leader Navalny (Washington Post) More than 2,300 people were arrested Saturday in protests spanning nearly 70 cities and towns across Russia calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny — a massive show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin and his widening crackdowns against challenges to his power. Among the detained was Navalny's wife, Yulia, and many heads of Navalny's regional offices. It was the largest number of protesters taken into custody in a day since the Russian rights group OVD-Info began monitoring demonstrations in 2011. The rallies — from Russia’s Far East to central Moscow — came less than a week after Navalny returned from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane. The wide turnout sent a powerful message to the Kremlin on the reach and resolve of Navalny’s network. The swift crackdowns by authorities underscored the pressure facing Russian authorities who must decide whether to keep Navalny behind bars.

Wuhan returns to normal as world still battling pandemic (AP) A year ago, a notice sent to smartphones in Wuhan at 2 a.m. announced the world’s first coronavirus lockdown, bringing the bustling central Chinese industrial and transport center to a virtual standstill almost overnight. It would last 76 days. Early Saturday morning, however, residents of the city where the virus was first detected were jogging and practicing tai chi in a fog-shrouded park beside the mighty Yangtze River. Life has largely returned to normal in the city of 11 million, even as the rest of the world grapples with the spread of the virus’ more contagious variants. Traffic was light in Wuhan but there was no sign of the barriers that a year ago isolated neighborhoods, prevented movement around the city and confined people to their housing compounds and even apartments. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, thousands of residents were locked down Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city. Hong Kong has been grappling to contain a fresh wave of the coronavirus since November. More than 4,300 cases have been recorded in the last two months, making up nearly 40% of the city’s total.

Taiwan reports large incursion by Chinese air force (Reuters) Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion, the island’s Defence Ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months. However they have generally consisted of just one or two reconnaissance aircraft. The presence of so many Chinese combat aircraft on this mission—Taiwan said it was made up of eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and four J-16 fighter jets—is unusual. Beijing has watched with growing concern increasing U.S. support for democratic Taiwan, especially during Donald Trump’s administration which left office on Wednesday.

On ‘Rooftop of Africa,’ Ethiopia’s Troops Hunt Fugitive Former Rulers (NYT) The politicians and generals of Tigray, who ruled Africa’s second-most populous country for much of the past three decades through their political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or T.P.L.F., are now on the run. Since Jan. 7, Ethiopia’s military has killed or captured at least 47 people from a most-wanted list of 167 senior leaders of the T.P.L.F., including four of the party’s nine-member executive committee, according to Ethiopian state media reports. When Mr. Abiy came to power in 2018, his government quickly unseated many of these T.P.L.F. leaders, who over 27 years had overseen impressive economic growth, but ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist. Several were charged with corruption and human rights abuses, and some of them fled or retreated to their home base in Tigray. Fighting has raged across the region in recent weeks, according to U.N. security reports seen by The New York Times.

And now, a reading from an email according to St. Paul (Reuters) If he were alive today, even St. Paul would be texting, Tweeting and firing off emails to get the news out, Pope Francis said on Saturday in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Social Communication. St. Paul, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, spread the new faith into Europe and Asia Minor and is believed to have written a great part of the New Testament. “Every tool has its value, and that great communicator who was Paul of Tarsus would certainly have made use of email and social messaging,” the pope said in the message, titled “Come and See”. Still, Francis said Paul was at his best while preaching in person, saying journalists and other communicators today should do more “hitting the streets ... meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first-hand”. “In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person,” he said.

#headlines #news

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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US blames Iran for Saudi strike; big hit for oil prices

https://apnews.com/3c3ce6a941f5489eaa778ccc5db2437c

US blames Iran for Saudi strike; big hit for oil prices

By ROBERT BURNS | Published September 16, 2019 1:28 PM ET | AP | Posted September 16, 2019 1:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. tried to build its case Monday that Iran was behind the fiery weekend attack on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities that raised new war worries and sent energy prices spiraling worldwide. Iran denied responsibility, while President Donald Trump said the United States was "locked and loaded" to respond if necessary.

American officials released satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom's crucial Abqaiq oil processing plant and a key oil field, and two U.S. officials said the attacker used multiple cruise missiles and drone aircraft.

The Americans alleged the pattern of destruction suggested Saturday's attack did not come from neighboring Yemen, as claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there. A Saudi military spokesman later made a similar accusation, alleging "Iranian weapons" had been used in the assault.

Iran rejected the allegations, and a government spokesman said there now was "absolutely no chance" of a hoped-for meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Trump at the U.N. General Assembly next week.

For his part, Trump sent mixed signals, saying his "locked and loaded" government waited for Saudi confirmation of Iran being behind the attack while later tweeting that the U.S. didn't need Mideast oil "but will help our Allies!"

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the U.S. was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but that no decisions had been made. The U.S. already has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the area, as well as fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and air defenses.

Downplaying any talk of imminent U.S. military action, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters at the White House that the president's language was "a reflection" that his administration was advancing policies that protect the U.S. "from these sorts of oil shocks."

"I think that 'locked and loaded' is a broad term that talks about the realities that" the U.S. is "safer and more secure domestically from energy independence," Short said.

The new violence has led to fears that further action on any side could rapidly escalate a confrontation that's been raging just below the surface in the wider Persian Gulf in recent months. There already have been mysterious attacks on oil tankers that Washington blames on Tehran, at least one suspected Israeli strike on Shiite forces in Iraq, and the downing of a U.S. military surveillance drone by Iran.

Those tensions have increased ever since Trump pulled the U.S. out of Iran's 2015 agreement with world powers that curtailed Iranian nuclear activities and the U.S. re-imposed sanctions that sent Iran's economy into freefall.

Benchmark Brent crude prices gained nearly 20% in the first moments of trading Monday before settling down to over 10% higher as trading continued. A barrel of Brent traded up $6.45 to $66.67.

That spike represented the biggest percentage value jump in Brent crude since the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War that saw a U.S.-led coalition expel Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait.

U.S. benchmark West Texas crude was up around 10%. U.S. gasoline and heating oil similarly were up.

The attack halted production of 5.7 million barrels of crude a day, more than half of Saudi Arabia's global daily exports and more than 5% of the world's daily crude oil production. Most of that output goes to Asia.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have been targeted by a Saudi-led coalition since March 2015 in a vicious war in the Arab world's poorest country, maintain they launched 10 drones that caused the extensive damage. They reiterated that Saudi oil sites remained in their crosshairs, warning foreign workers to stay away.

U.S. officials say that the damage done to the north-facing parts of the facilities suggest the attack instead came across the Persian Gulf from Iraq or Iran. American officials have yet to offer substantial evidence to support their claims, though Iran in the past has relied on hard-to-attribute attacks or proxy forces to launch assaults against its enemies.

At a news conference, Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said, "All the indications and operational evidence, and the weapons that were used in the terrorist attack, whether in Buqayq or Khurais, indicate with initial evidence that these weapons are Iranian weapons."

Al-Maliki offered no immediate evidence to support his allegations, which came after Trump said the U.S. awaited word from Saudi Arabia about who it suspected launched the attacks.

Iraqi Premier Adel Abdel-Mahdi said he received a call Monday from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who confirmed that the attack didn't come from Iraq. The State Department did not immediately acknowledge what was discussed. Iraq is home to Iranian-backed Shiite militias who aided it in its fight against the Islamic State group.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi again denied the U.S. claims Monday, telling journalists the accusation was "condemned, unacceptable and categorically baseless." Government spokesman Ali Rabiei meanwhile said a Trump-Rouhani meeting in New York as of now wouldn't happen.

"Currently we don't see any sign from the Americans which has honesty in it, and if the current state continues there will be absolutely no chance of a meeting between the two presidents," Rabiei said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry, while expressing "grave concern" about the attack, warned against putting the blame on Iran, saying that plans of military retaliation against Iran are unacceptable.

U.S. satellite photos released overnight appeared to show the attack on Abqaiq, the world's largest oil processing facility, may have struck the most sensitive part of the facility, its stabilization area. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies has said the area includes "storage tanks and processing and compressor trains — which greatly increases the likelihood of a strike successfully disrupting or destroying its operations."

At 5.7 million barrels of crude oil a day, the Saudi disruption would be the greatest on record for world markets, according to figures from the Paris-based International Energy Agency. It just edges out the 5.6 million-barrels-a-day disruption around the time of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to the IEA.

Though the world's overall energy demands in the past were smaller, the Saudi outage has sparked concern among analysts of prices pushing to $80 a barrel and beyond. Publicly traded airlines, whose major costs include jet fuel, suffered globally. That could in turn push up prices on everything from travel to a gallon of gas at the pump.

Saudi Arabia has pledged that its stockpiles would keep global markets supplied as it rushes to repair damage at the Abqaiq facility and its Khurais oil field. However, Saudi Aramco has not responded publicly to questions about its facilities.

Stabilization means processing so-called sour crude oil into sweet crude. That allows it to be transported onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, or to refineries for local production.

Fernando Ferreira, the director of geopolitical risk at the Washington-based Rapidan Energy Group, said rebuilding that infrastructure "will take many months."

___

AP Writers Jon Gambrell and Aya Batrawy contributed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington, Tali Arbel from New York, Elaine Kurtenbach from Bangkok, Nasser Karimi from Tehran, Dave Rising from Berlin, Samy Magdy from Cairo and Qassim Abdul-Zahra from Baghdad.

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irarelypostanything · 4 years

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Metaphors for Coding - The Adventure Begins!

Once upon a time there was a land called Fignatia, and Fignatia was involved in a very violent civil war. In the west was a splinter nation called Woke Nation, which had rebelled against its tyrannical leaders and believed in common causes such as opposing fascism, addressing climate change, and helping the poor. To the east were the evil forces of Freedom Nation, a name they insisted on calling themselves until Woke Nation was reclaimed. Freedom Nation, a highly backwards but militarily superior country, valued meaningless traditional relics like the nuclear family, protecting the Bill of Rights, and being allowed to eat a damn burger without being lectured about climate change. Freedom Nation was beyond reason and had to be stopped.

Currently, the two were in a deadlock. Freedom Nation had invented a powerful six zillion dollar aircraft (which they funded by simply printing money) called the “Everything Plane,” which served as an air superiority fighter, a stealth bomber, a reconnaissance drone, a transport vehicle, a pizza delivery service and, when the weather permitted it, a helicopter. Fortunately, Woke Nation had used its vastly superior cyber technology to steal their plans and invent their own plane. This aircraft was called the “J-Everyting Plane,” and it was exactly the same as the Everything Plane in every possible way except that it had a J in front of it.

Freedom Nation had more planes, but Woke Nation had more anti-aircraft missile turrets. These turrets were part of an elaborate defensive campaign called “Asymmetrical Warfare,” and their unit cost was a fraction of the Everything Plane’s. In addition, these missile turrets could detect invisible units, fire projectiles at 370 miles per hour, and do +20 damage at a +2 range if the weapons operator was smart enough to upgrade range within the first 12 minutes of spawning.

What Woke Nation and Freedom Nation did not realize was that their respective leaders were actually unified. The civil war had become necessary to their respective economies, and it provided both nations with steadily increasing S&P500s (they both had different indices), nifty inventions such as microwaves and instant coffee, and lots and lots of jobs building an endless supply of military drones that fought out in the ocean and blew each other up before they could come anywhere close to humans. It was in everyone’s best interest that war continue indefinitely.

*****

Jerry was a brand new recruit in a small squadron called Corginia - they had their own J-Everything Plane, and were on a critical mission to deliver resources to Mewni, an island off the coast of Freedom Nation that served as an offensive outpost. Their plane was rapidly descending and they doubted they would have enough fuel to get out of this alive.

“What happened?” shouted their captain, Roger. Roger was a middle-aged man with two children and a wife whose shady background had nearly cost him his top secret clearance; in spite of this, he didn’t look a day over 40.

“Our payload is too heavy,” said Steven. “Someone at the load balance station must have screwed up!” Steven was another new recruit, and he was an ass.

“What do we do?” Jerry asked.

“We’re way too low right now,” Steven replied. “We’re going to have to find a way to scale up, vertically.”

“Maybe we need more RAM?” asked Jerry. RAM was an airplane term for fuel - it stood for Refueling Airplane Material. The more they had, the faster and higher they could go.

“Great idea, Jerry. Go to the engine, press the button to download more RAM, and report back.”

“On it.”

“Get back here! I was kidding, you can’t download RAM. You’re such an idiot, Jerry!”

“Okay, what do you want me to do?”

“Go to the control station and call for help.”

Jerry walked to the airfone, but couldn’t remember what number he was supposed to call. He checked the directory hung on the board and called the first number it had listed - 127.0.0.1. To his amazement, a connection was established. When he tried to talk, though, all he heard was his own voice playing back.

Jerry ran back to the cockpit. “I couldn’t contact anyone!” he said.

“What number did you try to call?”

“127.0.0.1.”

Steven and the captain exchanged glances. “Jerry, you’re a dumb ass.”

Steven ran to the control station. Jerry remained in the cockpit. One may have expected that these two things were in the same place, but a top-level decision to modify their communication protocol meant it required quite a bit of wiring just to establish connections to their other units.

“Welp,” said the captain, “this is it. We’re going to die.”

“Why don’t we just drop part of the payload?”

“Unacceptable. Better to crash.”

“Is it really better to die than drop part of our payload?”

“Yes.”

“It’s been an honor serving beside you, sir.”

“The feeling is not mutual.”

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therealestatesparkblog · 5 years

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'Attacks' on oil tankers stoke worries about US-Iran conflict

But the Japanese ship operator said sailors on board its ship, the Kokuka Courageous, saw flying objects just before the attack, suggesting the tanker wasnt damaged by mines and contradicting the US milliary. The apparent attacks, a month after four other tankers were damaged in mine explosions that the Trump administration also blamed on Iran - without providing evidence - sharply raised fears in the strategically important region that Washington might use such incidents to punish the Islamic Republic even without ironclad proof of its involvement. Pompeo told reporters in Washington that the assessment was based on US intelligence, the type of weapons used, the level of expertise needed to carry out such attack and that none of Iran's proxy groups, which operate in countries across the region, had the resources to carry out an apparent attack like Thursday's. "These attacks are a threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable escalation of tension by Iran," Pompeo said. He did not elaborate, offer details or take questions in his brief appearance before reporters at the US State Department.

Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, speaks during a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC.Credit:Bloomberg Dozens of crew members were rescued after explosions on the Kokuka Courageous and the Norwegian Front Altair. Iran has denied any connection with the incident. The suspected attack on a Japanese-owned vessel came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a rare conciliatory visit to Tehran seeking dialogue.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, centre, meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Thursday. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is at left.Credit:AP The United States and its Persian Gulf allies, led by Saudi Arabia, have mounted a steady campaign of diplomatic isolation and economic punishment of Iran, which they blame for militancy in the Middle East. After a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council overnight Iran dismissed the US envoy's calls for it to meet the Trump administration with diplomacy - "not with terror, attacks on ships, infrastructure and diplomatic facilities" as"another Iranophobic campaign". The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres said "I strongly condemn any attack against civilian vessels. Facts must be established, and responsibilities clarified. "If there is something the world cannot afford, it is a major confrontation in the Gulf region," Guterres said. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Arab League's secretary-general, warned there were sides seeking to "inflame the region, and practise a kind of dangerous blackmail of the international community." If there is something the world cannot afford, it is a major confrontation in the Gulf region. Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general The Egyptian also called upon the UN Security Council to confront whoever was behind the suspected attack so the perpetrator could face "all legal responsibility". What happened? On Thursday morning, Oman time, the Front Altair and the Kokuka Courageous were sailing in international waters in the Gulf of Oman when they suffered apparent attacks about 40 kilometres off the southern coast of Iran that led to explosions on board. The Front Altair reported three detonations, according to a statement from the Norwegian Maritime Authority. It was not clear what caused the blasts, but they were serious enough to cause a major fire. Images depicted the Front Altair engulfed in a 15-mile plume of smoke that was captured by NASA satellites; later pictures showed more than a third of the deck scorched, and a video showed a raging fire in the ship's centre. The crews - 23 on the Front Altair and 21 on the Kokuka Courageous - were forced to abandon their ships, but had been evacuated and were safe, according to statements by the vessels' owners. The US Navy, according to a statement released by US Central Command, had rescued the 21 mariners from the Japanese vessel. Iran earlier had said that it had rescued all 44 of the ships' crew members.

US Central Command released this image ir says shows damage and a suspected mine on the Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman near the coast of Iran. Credit:AP Sailors abroad the Bainbridge, the US Navy destroyer that went to assist the Kokuka Courageous, saw a device that appeared to be an unexploded mine above the waterline on the hull of the tanker and photographed it, a US official said. After the captain of the Kokuka Courageous was alerted to the device, he ordered the crew to abandon the damaged ship, a US official said. Possible use of naval mines to attack the tankers was one piece of information that led US intelligence agencies to reach a preliminary conclusion that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the alleged attacks, one of the officials said. Last month, Trump administration officials blamed Iran for suspected attacks that damaged four oil tankers off the United Arab Emirates, citing undisclosed evidence that the Revolutionary Guard carried out the attacks using "limpet mines," a naval munition attached to a target by magnets.

The damaged Norwegian-flagged oil tanker MT Andrea Victory off the coast of Fujairah, UAE, last month.Credit:UAE/AP US National Security Adviser John Bolton has promised to provide evidence to the Security Council proving Iran's culpability in that incident, but has yet to do so. Regardless of who was behind Thursday's suspected attacks, they triggered a 4.5 per cent increase in world oil prices. The explosions occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a crucial passageway for much of the oil from Gulf states. At its narrowest it measures a mere 21 nautical miles, yet in 2016 it ushered through some 18.5 million barrels of oil per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Those numbers make it an important choke point; any conflict there would have a staggering effect on trade. While details of Thursday's suspected attacks were not clear, said the Norwegian Maritime Authority, it urged Norwegian ships to "exercise extreme caution in the region" and to "keep a safe distance from Iranian waters." It also raised its security level in the area. Also unclear was what Iran would gain from such an assault - coinciding with Abe's high-profile visit to Tehran aimed at salvaging the 2015 international nuclear deal. Both ships, according to the Japanese government, were carrying "Japan-related" cargo, leading Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to question the timing of the apparent attacks. "Reported attacks on Japan-related tankers occurred while PM ShinzoAbe was meeting Ayatollah Khamenei for extensive and friendly talks. "Suspicious," he tweeted, "doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning." Meanwhile, Abe had brought a message from US President Donald Trump to Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. Khamenei rejected the letter, saying Iran had "no trust" in the US and that it would "not repeat the bitter experience" of negotiations, in a reference to the 2015 nuclear deal that was repudiated by Trump. Khamenei also said he considered Trump an unworthy person with whom to strike up a correspondence. "I do not have and will not have any response for him," said Khamenei. Nevertheless, he again emphasisedIran was not seeking the development or use of nuclear weapons. The Trump administration's quick public assertion of blame concerned some senior US officers, who said they feared that the administration was moving too quickly toward retaliating, possibly with military force, without building a public case that Tehran was responsible. Another option for the US short of military action would be to seek to build international support for steps to safeguard shipping traffic, using naval ships from the US and other countries to escort tankers and other vessels through the Persian Gulf and into the Arabian Sea. Pentagon officials said they were worried that Iran and its proxies could conduct its own reprisals against US forces or allies in the region if Washington escalates the confrontation. "We will defend our interests, but a war with Iran is not in our strategic interest, nor in the best interest of the international community," said Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Brown, a spokesman for US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. The Pentagon, nevertheless, has substantially increased its forces in the region recently. Early last month, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of ships arrived in waters near the Persian Gulf in response to what US officials said was intelligence suggesting Iran was preparing attacks. In late May, a fighter squadron, manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, engineering units and additional Patriot anti-missile batteries - comprising 1500 troops altogether - were added. An amphibious assault ship with a Marine expeditionary unit and an Air Force B-52 bomber task force were also sent. Loading Another amphibious assault ship, the Arlington, with Marines aboard, arrived in the Arabian Sea this week. Those forces are in addition to the more than 30,000 troops stationed in the region, along with hundreds of fighters and bombers at air bases in Persian Gulf countries. Critics warned that Trump administration reliance on military pressure, sanctions and other tactics against Iran carried risks. "If Iran is behind these attacks, it clearly shows that a US policy relying solely on coercion can backfire," Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst and Iran project director for the International Crisis Group, said in a statement. "Diplomatic efforts by allies are necessary to dial down the tension, but they can't resolve it as long as Washington relies on an all-or-nothing approach." LA Times Most Viewed in World Loading https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/attacks-on-oil-tankers-stoke-worries-about-us-iran-conflict-20190614-p51xqp.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

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usacnnnewstoday · 5 years

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US to send 1,500 extra troops to Middle East amid tensions

The US is to send 1,500 troops to the Middle East to counter the “ongoing threat posed by Iranian forces”, the acting defence secretary says.

Congress has been notified about the plans, Patrick Shanahan said in a statement. Fighter jets, drones and other weaponry will also be deployed.

President Donald Trump announced the move earlier on Friday. He said the deployment was “relatively small”.

A top US official has accused Iran directly of attacking oil tankers.

US-Iran tensions explained Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words ‘Sabotaged’ tanker in Gulf of Oman leaked oil Tensions rose this month after shipping in the Gulf of Oman was damaged by a series of mystery explosions.

The US has already deployed an aircraft carrier and bomber planes.

But only on Thursday, Mr Trump said that he did not think more troops would be needed.

“I don’t think we’re going to need them,” he told reporters. “I really don’t. I would certainly send troops if we need them.”

What is the latest US move? Mr Shanahan said he had “approved a request from the combatant commander for additional resources” in the region.

He said the move was intended to “safeguard US forces given the ongoing threat posed by Iranian forces, including the IRGC [Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps] and its proxies.”

The IRGC is the most elite military unit in Iran. Last month, the US designated it as a foreign terrorist organisation.

Mr Shanahan said that “additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft” would be deployed as well as a team of engineers. He said a fighter aircraft squadron and a Patriot missile-defence system would also be sent.

It is “a prudent defensive measure… intended to reduce the possibility of future hostilities,” Mr Shanahan said.

Earlier on Friday, President Trump told reporters outside the White House that a “relatively small” deployment had been approved.

“We want to have protection in the Middle East,” he said, adding that the extra troops would be “mostly protective.”

He appeared to downplay the possibility of tensions escalating further. “Right now, I don’t think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don’t think they want to fight with us,” he said.

Trump’s dilemma Gary O’Donoghue, BBC Washington correspondent

This fresh deployment of troops and hardware has been signalled for a number of days, but it is a much more modest move than many expected. Around 1,500 service personnel are likely to be despatched, significantly down on the 5,000-10,000 that some administration sources had floated.

In addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers already announced, extra Patriot missile batteries will give the US significant capabilities to counter any threat from the air, be that missiles or aircraft. And the deployment of surveillance planes, both manned and unmanned, will allow a clearer assessment of Iranian activity such as the alleged attacks on commercial tankers recently (which some have blamed on Tehran) and any troop movements along the coast.

What is still far from clear is whether there is a settled view in Washington about the nature of the increased threat from Iran and what should be done about it. Despite some tough rhetoric, the president has appeared reluctant to become overly entangled in the region, mindful no doubt of his promises to bring troops back from there and not the reverse.

What is behind the tensions? Tensions between the US and Iran began rising this month when Washington ended exemptions from sanctions for countries still buying from Iran. The decision was intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the government its main source of revenue.

Mr Trump reinstated the sanctions last year after abandoning the landmark nuclear deal that Iran has signed with six nations – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

Iran has now announced it it will suspend several commitments under the deal.

Iran nuclear deal: Key details Four oil tankers were damaged in what the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said were sabotage attacks while drone attacks on two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthi rebels – who are supported by Iran – forced the temporary closure of a pipeline.

Iran denied it was behind the incidents but Rear Admiral Michael Gilday, director of the US Joint Staff, accused the IRGC of being directly responsible.

Profile: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “The attack against the shipping in Fujairah [part of the UAE], we attribute it to the IRGC,” he said on Friday, explaining that limpet mines used in the attacks had been linked directly to the IRGC.

Read More : Trump reportedly wants to pardon accused or convicted war criminals in time for Memorial Day

.READ FULL NEWS : https://usacnnnews.com/2019/05/24/us-send-1500-extra-troops-middle-east-amid-tensions/

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itsfinancethings · 4 years

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A U.S. P-8A reconnaissance plane was soaring above the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday when a Russian SU-35 fighter jet appeared on its tail. For 42 minutes, U.S. Navy officials say, the Russian pilot flew in an “unsafe” manner—at one-point flying upside down and sweeping within 25 feet of the plane’s nose.

The high-stakes intercept, which U.S. officials say put the American aircrew at risk, was just one in a string of incidents that took place over a 24-hour period in which American military resolve was tested across the globe. No Americans killed or injured during any of these events, but the timing was no coincidence. With novel coronavirus cases among U.S. service members now at 2,486 and climbing, America’s adversaries are emboldened to test U.S. military dominance, current and former Defense Department officials tell TIME.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Space Command reported the Russian military had tested a missile capable of “destroying” U.S. satellites in low Earth orbit. Not long afterward, 11 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) gun boats “conducted dangerous and harassing” actions against six American warships operating in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy said. The motorboats repeatedly ran alongside and crisscrossed in front of the much larger American ships at high speeds and close range – at one point buzzing within 10 yards of a cutter’s bow. All three incidents came after North Korea launched a barrage of short-range missiles from ground batteries and fighter jets off their east coast.

The cluster of adversary action poses no existential threat to the U.S. military. But the crosswinds produced by COVID-19 are strong. As Washington is preoccupied with its fight against the world’s largest number of coronavirus cases, restrictions have been slapped on U.S. military operations and movements out of health concerns in almost every part of the world. Routine troop rotations and military family relocations have been paused due to a “stop movement” order that restricts all military travel. U.S. aircraft carriers, floating symbols of American might, are sidelined. While it remains unclear how long the pandemic will loom over missions abroad, U.S. rivals are seeking to exploit the gaps COVID has created.

“When the world and America are off-balance, it presents opportunities for our adversaries,” said Chuck Hagel, a former U.S. Defense Secretary and Republican Senator from Nebraska. “They will continue to make every effort to assert themselves in this time. I don’t believe we are ever adequately prepared for events like we are living through now, especially a global health pandemic.”

Keep up to date on the growing threat to global health by signing up for our daily coronavirus newsletter.

The U.S. military’s playbook for deterring adversaries since World War II is to project power by promptly deploying thousands of troops, flying in nuclear-capable bombers, or dispatching aircraft carrier battle groups to problematic regions. It’s a practice that’s taken on increased importance under President Donald Trump, who relishes the military hardware paid for by his Administration’s $700 billion Pentagon budget.

Amid today’s COVID pandemic, the options to demonstrate a show of force are severely limited. The Pentagon has thus far responded to the spate of threats rhetorically, repeatedly publicly warning enemies not to confuse the current moment of national crisis as a weakness. “We will continue to carry out our mission assignments around the world in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, et cetera,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon. “Our readiness is still high. Our readiness is still strong. We are able to deter and defeat any challenges that may seek to take advantage of these opportunities at this point of crisis.”

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, the anchor of a deterrent force against China’s advances in the South China Sea, has been docked in Guam indefinitely. A COVID outbreak swept through the ship’s 4,865-person crew last month, and has since infected at least 615 sailors, killed one and sent five others into a Guam hospital. The only other American carrier deployed in the Pacific, the USS Ronald Reagan, is receiving maintenance for four months in Yokosuka, Japan, available only for “Selected Restricted Availability,” and in Bremerton, Washington, the Navy has quarantined the crew of the next carrier strike group scheduled for duty in the Pacific, led by the USS Nimitz.

With these ships sidelined, China now has the sole carrier operating in the region. Over the weekend, China sent a Liaoning-class aircraft carrier and a five-ship battle group near the territorial waters of U.S. allies Japan and Taiwan. It was China’s latest attempt to flex its muscles in the region after sinking a Vietnamese fishing boat in the contested waters of the South China Sea; announcing new “research stations” at military bases in the area; and landing “special military aircraft” on one them, Fiery Cross Reef, according to an April 6 statement by State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

Ortagus warned China “to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.” The Air Force, for its part, attempted to project power this week by parading 14 aircraft on a runway in Guam. The military publicized the so-called “elephant walk,” which included B-52 bombers and KC-135 refueling tankers more than a half-century old.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, China’s ally, has been carrying out his own military exercises. After voluntarily pausing missile launches last year, Pyongyang has blasted off a wide range of missiles in recent weeks. The launches are seen as “an attempt to demonstrate strength and deterrence, both internally and externally,” amid the COVID pandemic, according to analysts with the United States Institute of Peace.

In many ways, that’s nothing new. The Chinese and North Korean actions are “business as usual” by America’s two adversaries in the region, says Zack Cooper, an Asia expert at the American Enterprise Institute. The sentiment is shared by Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons analyst with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, who says North Korea is pursuing a backlog of tests now that diplomacy with the U.S. has floundered. “We’re in the post-diplomacy period now,” he said. “We’re just waiting for them to test what’s next. The big stuff is yet to come.”

Iran, another longtime adversary, has also been ramping up its efforts to strengthen its influence in the region and attempt to drive U.S. troops out. Despite fighting a widespread COVID outbreak at home, Iran has not relented on backing armed attacks on American forces on Iraqi bases through its proxy militias. “The Iranians are keen on demonstrating to the U.S. that the COVID crisis has neither debilitated them nor has altered their strategic calculus,” says Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group. “In fact, the less the Iranians have to lose, the less risk-averse they are likely to become.”

Russia, America’s longest running adversary, has pursued bold military moves that have crept beyond the continent of Europe. The aerobatic intercept over the Mediterranean and satellite-killing missile follows a flight off the Alaskan coast. On April 8, the U.S. Air Force scrambled F-22 fighter jets to intercept two Russian IL-38 submarine-hunting above the Bering Sea just 50 miles off Alaska. North American Aerospace Defense Command General Terrence O’Shaughnessy said: “COVID-19 or not, NORAD continues actively watching for threats and defending the homelands 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”

The Pentagon also has its own personnel health to worry about. To guard against outbreaks, the Pentagon is developing “safety bubbles” by ramping up its internal COVID testing and isolating healthy troops. After a negative test, service members have to do a 14-day quarantine before going back to the business of being a soldier, sailor or Marine. Military laboratories are now processing about 9,000 tests a day. “Our desire, our aspiration, is to expand testing, especially for groups that are going to be in tighter quarters, such as sub crews, bomber crews, basic trainees and things like that,” Milley said. “We’ve got an objective here of ramping that up to about 60,000 tests here in about 45 days or so.”

Even when the military’s battle against COVID is physically over, there will be a lingering battle ahead, says AEI’s Cooper. “COVID will have a short-term impact on the U.S. military’s readiness, but the longer-term impact will be greater: defense cuts,” he says. “Having just spent $2 trillion to address the economic damage done by COVID, U.S. officials and taxpayers will be looking for cost savings. And they will look to the Defense Department, particularly after November.”

Please send tips, leads, and stories from the frontlines to [email protected].

#IFTTT #Blogger

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viralnewstime · 4 years

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Keep up to date on the growing threat to global health by signing up for our daily coronavirus newsletter.

Please send tips, leads, and stories from the frontlines to [email protected].

#Blogger

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theroamingshadow · 5 years

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Grand Tour

Azzy had convinced Chara to let me give him the grand tour. I wanted to show him his new Royal Guard detail since as a Chara he gets entitled to his own unit. He had always given me his unamused look since Ichi doesn't particularly like me. Oh well! At least the others do. Anyways I decided to show him all his cool new toys myself since I figured Azzy and Frisk probably wouldn't like what he gets too much.

When we arrived at one of the hangars, I led Ichi to one of the helicopters we had. "Now I know what you're thinking, "I don't need Royal Guards. I can take care of myself and them if I have to." I'm not doubting that, despite your adorable appearance, you're actually a force to be reckoned with." "Don't call me adorable." Ichi snapped "I describe what I see!" I nervously chuckled before he rolled his eyes at me and flipped me off. "You're lucky Asriel talked me into going with you." I do want to be friends with him, that's for sure. But right now I had to focus on business.

"Anyways, the reason why I'm giving you a Royal Guard detail is because as a prince, I feel as though you should treat yourself like one. Including staying safe. Frisk has a lot to deal with as ambassador. However, we can't dismiss the possibility of dickheaded politicians decided to try something stupid or potential anti monster terrorist organizations. You might be overwhelmed with large numbers during an attack of any kind which is why you'll be getting the extra help.

I gestured to the helicopter "This old girl is a UH-1S Huey helicopter. Manufactured by Bell helicopter with stealth modifications by the Black Mesa Research Facility, the Huey can provide a wide variety of functions from troop transport, MEDEVAC, and even air support with an M60A6 light machine gun, M134 Minigun or any other light machine gun of your choice on either side for a door gunner. This one is configured to Shadow Guard specifications with no markings and the notorious black paint."

He wasn't impressed yet, I was cool with that. The fun part would come later hehe. "This next one is a UH-60 Black Hawk manufactured by Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin which makes some other fun toys we'll get to later. The Black Hawk is for more rugged and intense combat operations which can serve most of the functions of a Huey."

As we left the hangar, I showed Chara a few other aircraft such as the Chinook. I didn't want it to be too long since we still had much more to look at. Finally we got to the planes "Alright now we're on to the bigger toys! This right here is a B-52 Stratofortress bomber. She can carry all sorts of payloads from carpet bombing loads to even tactical nuclear weapons! Yes, you're authorized to use those but only in extremely desperate situations."

"Speaking of bombs!" I pointed to one next to the bomber "This is the X-473 crowd control bomb. It contains sleeping gas which... I'll be honest, we actually developed it as a countermeasure against Princess Rubbertits. It should knock her out cold within a few seconds of inhaling the gas. The bombs used can either be unguided "dumb bombs" which rely solely on gravity or more advanced bombs that can be more precise with a few technological enhancements. They can range from incendiary napalm, high explosive and of course, the previously mentioned nuclear option.

"Up next, the B-2 stealth bomber. I feel as though this one you might like since you seem to be the type that values stealth missions over brute force. Also nuclear capable."

I finally got to my favorite plane in the hangar. "Finally, we have the AC-130X Gunship! This bad girl can serve also as a bomber exclusively for the GBU-43 or most commonly known as the Massive Ordinance Air Blast or MOAB for short. You might know it better as the Mother Of All Bombs. One of the most powerful non nuclear weapons ever built. But that's just the beginning!"

"The AC-130X is the most powerful iteration of the AC-130 yet with an unstoppable powerhouse of weapons. Featuring an M61 25mm rotary cannon, a Bofors L/60 40mm auto cannon and the final cherry on top, an M102 Howitzer with a powerful 105mm shell to provide a devistating blow for anything that gets in your way!"

As I led Ichi into the next hanger I could tell he was losing his patience "We're almost done here. After this you'll get to either fly in one or command some for yourself." We entered the next hangar. "I've saved the best for last! This is my personal favorite part of the tour. Fighter jets!" I pointed to 2 in the hangar, one of them was being worked on by the pilot.

"Yo!" I called out. He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "Ah, heya Mark! I see you're giving another Chara the grand tour?" He answered. "Yup!" I responded. "Think you can head down to the Sim Chambers for me? I'm giving Ichi here a chance to learn how to blow shit up with style." The pilot responded with. "Sure thing! Once I'm done with this I'll head down there."

"Alright, thanks! What he's working on is Lockheed Martin's world renouned F-35 fighter jet! This one here is with stealth configurations but if stealth is your thing, the F-22 Raptor's got you covered. That one has 2 afterburners while the F-35 only has 1. Both can carry bombs such as Mark 77 incendiary bombs and of course, sidewinder missiles alongside JDAMs and other Air to Ground Missiles. We also have a few predator drones and reconnaissance planes such as the U-2S but I'm guessing you don't care to know about those."

I checked the time. "Well! I think that's everything, if you'll follow me to one of the command rooms I'll get everything ready. I know you'll love this. Most Charas do." Ichi sighed "I can barely hold my excitement..." He said sarcastically.

This is where the fun begins!

--------------

Part 2 will be out soon!

Ichi by @channydraws (I can't help but write about my favorites ÙwÚ )

Shadow by @xm115

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courtneytincher · 5 years

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How Many Millions Would Die if America and North Korea Went to War?

Also on Okinawa is the sprawling Kadena Air Base, home of the 44th and 67th fighter squadrons, both of which fly the F-15C/D Eagle fighter. Kadena is also home to a squadron of K-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, a squadron of E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft, and two rescue squadrons. Farther from a potential Korean battlefield (but still in missile range) Kadena would act as a regional support hub for American airpower, with AWACS aircraft monitoring the skies and controlling aircraft missions while tankers refueled bombers, transports, and aircraft on long-range missions.(This first appeared several years ago.)The United States has substantial air, land, and sea forces stationed in South Korea, as well as several units based in Japan and the western Pacific earmarked for a Korean contingency. Together, these forces far exceed the firepower of North Korea’s armed forces and represent a powerful deterrent not just against Pyongyang but any potential adversary in the region.Recommended: Who Swallows North Korea after it Collapses? The first U.S. forces that would be involved in a North-South Korean conflict are those currently based in South Korea. On the ground, the U.S. Army rotates a new armored brigade into South Korea every nine months—currently the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Each brigade is manned by 3,500 soldiers and consists of three combined arms battalions, one cavalry (reconnaissance) battalion, one artillery battalion, one engineer and one brigade support battalion. Armored brigade combat teams typically consist of approximately 100 M1A2 Abrams tanks, 100 M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and eighteen M109-series self-propelled howitzers.Recommended: US Army's 5 Most Lethal Weapons of WarThe army in South Korea also maintains the 2nd Infantry Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade, equipped with approximately sixty Apache attack helicopters, Blackhawk and Chinook transports. The 210th Artillery Brigade, equipped with M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems provides long range artillery fire, while the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade provide Patriot missile coverage of Osan and Suwon Air Force Bases. The 35th Brigade also operates the AN/TPY-2 missile defense radar and six Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launch vehicles recently sent to the country to beef up anti-missile defenses.Recommended: Russia's Armata Tank vs. America's M-1 Abrams - Who Wins?The other major component of American power in Korea is U.S. tactical aviation. The U.S. Air Force maintains the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base, consisting of the 25th Fighter Squadron at equipped with A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack jets and the 36th Fighter Squadron with F-16C/D Fighting Falcon fighters (about forty-eight aircraft in all). The 8th (“Wolfpack”) Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base consists of the 35th and 80th Fighter Squadrons, which fly a total of forty-five F-16C/Ds. The A-10Cs have the mission of close air support, while the F-16C/Ds are responsible for air interdiction, close air support and counter-air.Beyond the Korean Peninsula the United States maintains an array of forces ready to intervene. U.S. military forces in Japan include the forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, two guided missile cruisers and seven guided missile destroyers. Many of the cruisers and destroyers have ballistic missile defense capability although two of the destroyers, Fitzgerald and McCain, are out of action due to collisions with civilian merchantmen. The Reagan and surface warships are all based at Yokosuka, Japan.Further south, Sasebo, Japan is the home of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and the ships of its amphibious task force. Together, this amphibious force can lift a marine infantry battalion reinforced with armor, artillery and aviation assets collectively known known as Marine Expeditionary Unit. Sasebo is also the home of the 7th Fleet’s four minesweepers. The result is a well-balanced force that can execute a wide variety of missions, from ballistic missile defense to an amphibious assault.Farther north in Japan, the U.S. Air Force’s 35th Fighter Wing is located at Misawa, Japan. The 35th Wing specializes in suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), and is trained to destroy enemy radars, missile systems and guns to allow other friendly aircraft a freer hand in flying over the battlefield. The wing flies approximately forty-eight F-16C/Ds split among the 13th and 14th Fight Squadrons. Near Tokyo, the USAF’s 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base flies C-130 Hercules, C-130J Super Hercules, UH-1N Huey and C-12J Huron aircraft.Marine Corps units are spread out across Japan, with marine fixed wing aviation, including a squadron of F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, tankers and logistics aircraft stationed at MCAS Iwakuni, the only Marine Corps air station on mainland Japan. Three squadrons of Marine helicopter units are stationed at MCAS Futenma on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Marine ground forces include the 4th Marines, a marine infantry regiment with three battalions, and the 12th Marines, an artillery regiment with two battalions of artillery.Also on Okinawa is the sprawling Kadena Air Base, home of the 44th and 67th fighter squadrons, both of which fly the F-15C/D Eagle fighter. Kadena is also home to a squadron of K-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, a squadron of E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft, and two rescue squadrons. Farther from a potential Korean battlefield (but still in missile range) Kadena would act as a regional support hub for American airpower, with AWACS aircraft monitoring the skies and controlling aircraft missions while tankers refueled bombers, transports, and aircraft on long-range missions.The next major American outpost in the Pacific, Guam, is home to Submarine Squadron 15, four forward-deployed nuclear attack submarines supported by the permanently moored submarine tender USS Frank Cable. Naval special warfare units are also based on the island. An army THAAD unit was deployed to the island in 2013 to protect against North Korean intermediate range ballistic missiles.Guam is also home to Andersen Air Force Base. Andersen typically hosts a variety of heavy aircraft, including B-1B Lancer strategic bombers from Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence Mission, KC-135 tankers and RQ-4 Global Hawk drones. Andersen served as a jumping off point for bomber raids against North Vietnam and today would see a surge of B-1B, B-2A and B-52H bombers from the continental United States in the event of a flare up in Korea.U.S. forces in the northwest Pacific are considerable, amounting to two ground combat brigades, approximately seven wings of fighters and attack aircraft, a handful of strategic bombers, an aircraft carrier, submarines, hundreds of cruise missiles and an amphibious assault task force. That already formidable force can be swiftly augmented by even more combat forces from Hawaii, Alaska, and the continental United States, including F-22A Raptors, airborne troops, and more aircraft carriers, submarines and bombers. It is a robust, formidable, adaptable force capable of taking on a variety of tasks, from disaster relief to war.Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009, he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami.Image: Reuters.

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newsnigeria · 6 years

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/new-revolutionary-russian-weapons/

The Other New Revolutionary Russian Weapons Systems: ASATs

[This analysis was written for the Unz Review]

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the March 1st, 2018, speech of President Putin to the Federal Assembly, had a tectonic effect on the world public opinion. Initially, some tried to dismiss it as “Russian propaganda” and “bad CGI”, but pretty soon the reality hit hard, very hard: the Russians either had already deployed or were about to deploy weapon systems which were decades ahead of anything similar in the West and against which the West had no defensive measures.

For those interested in a good summary about these weapons, please check this rather well done RT video:

youtube

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, bluntly speaking of hypersonic weapons declared under oath that:

“Our defense is our deterrent capability. We don’t have any defense that could deny the employment of such a weapon against us, so our response would be our deterrent force, which would be the triad and the nuclear capabilities that we have to respond to such a threat.”

In plain English this means the following: there are only two ways to deter an attack – denial or punishment. Denial is when you prevent your adversary from striking you; punishment is when you make him pay dearly for the price of this attack. Punishment is a very tricky and undesirable situation, not only because it gives “escalation dominance” to the other side, but also because using nuclear capabilities against a peer or even higher than peer nuclear superpower like Russia basically entails collective suicide. Think of this in simple, practical terms. Say Russia disables or even sinks a US Navy carrier with a couple of hypersonic missiles. What would you do as a US President? The Russian Navy simply does not have as lucrative (and highly symbolic) target as a US aircraft carrier anyway, but even if you decided to strike at the Admiral Kuznetsov or the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Petr Velikii, would you risk using nukes even though the Russians might reply in kind? There is currently no US cruise missile capable of hitting, nevermind sinking, either the Kuznetsov or the Petr Velikii (who both have advanced air defenses which can easily defeat even a swarm of subsonic US anti-ship missiles, especially if they are escorted, which they will be).

The bottom line is this: the recent Russian advances in missile technology have basically made the US surface fleet pretty much useless in a conflict against Russia (and probably against China too). At the same time, Russian advances in air defenses have not only made the entire US ABM system basically useless, it also denies the USA the cornerstone of all its tactics: air superiority. This reality is slowly but surely sinking in. This means that many billions of US tax dollars have gone to waste. Not only that, but the entire US military strategy is now obsolete.

But there is more bad news for the AngloZionist Empire: in a recent interview by General Iurii Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Space Industry named six weapons systems which, in his opinion, have no counterpart in western arsenals. These include two almost never (or very rarely) mentioned before:

The “Sarmat” heavy MIRVed ICBM

The Sukhoi Su-57 aka “PAKFA”, the 5th generation jet fighter being developed for air superiority and attack operations

The revolutionary T-14 “Armata” main battle tank

The long-range S-500 air defense system

The mobile anti-satellite system “Nudol“

The ground-based mobile jamming system for satellite communications “Triada-2S“

While the first four systems listed have been known for a while, very little is known about the Nudol ASAT or the Triada-2S jamming systems. A couple of years ago, in 2015, The Washington Free Beacon wrote one article about the Nudol system entitled “Russia Flight Tests Anti-Satellite Missile Moscow joins China in space warfare buildup” but I did not find anything at all in English about the Triada-2S. There are a few articles published about these two systems in Russian however, and I will summarize them here beginning with the Nudol system

The Nudol weapons system

Artists’ representation of the Nudol weapons system

One Russian blogger posted what he says was a drawing of the Nudol system taken from an internal calendar of the Almaz-Antey Corporation. This is what Nudol is supposed to look like (see image). While still interesting, this image really reveals very little about Nudol. A transporter erector launcher (TEL) and two missile containers, just like in the S-300V, not much to go on. A Russian source identifies Nudol as part of a much larger system code-named “A-235/RTTs-181M/OKR Samolet-M” which is formed by integrating three separate systems, a long-range, intermediate range, and a short range. If true, this would indicate that while the Nudol missile launcher is mobile, it would probably have a targeting datalink from both mobile and fixed Russian air defense radars. In fact, the same source confirms that these systems will be fully integrated into the massive Don-2M (and, probably, the Voronezh and Darial) early warning radars. It appears that the Russians had been working on initial concepts for such a weapon system since the 1990s and that 30 years later, this system is still in development. However, some parts of it, such as the Nudol itself, seems to be near completion. It is also interesting to note here that the S-500 “Prometheus” system also mentioned by General Borisov, which is supposed to replace both the S-300s and the S-400s in the Russian armed forces also reportedly has (low-orbit) anti-satellite capabilities (along with anti-ballistic and anti-aircraft missile capabilities). While the specifics are still unclear, what appears to be happening is that the Russians have decided to build a multi-layered but fully integrated air defense, anti-ballistic and anti-satellite system and now that the USA has fully withdrawn from the ABM Treaty, they are preparing to deploy it in the ABM and ASAT segments in the next couple of years.

The Triada-2S system

It appears that, again, we are not dealing with one system here, but two: the mobile anti-satellite complex Rudolf and the mobile complex of radio electronic destruction of communication satellites Triada-2S. Russian sources refer to Rudolf as a mobile “strike” system implying the physical destruction of the targeted satellite while the Triada-2s appears to be destroying the satellite’s electronic communications (called “electronic suppression” in Russian terminology). Just as in the case of the Nudol, these systems appear to still be in the development phase and have not been accepted for deployment yet. It is worth mentioning here that the late Soviet Union had already developed some anti-satellite capabilities, including the ASAT rocket 79М6 (fired from a MiG-21D interceptor) and the Rokot/Nariad-V land-based rocket/missile system. This is all highly classified stuff and the specifics remain unclear, but the fact that work is continuing on these systems and that General Borisov has decided to publicly mention these systems indicate that the Russians are making a determined effort to develop a robust anti-satellite capability.

Continue reading after the page break

Porubshchik-2 – the newly revealed ASAT

In a recent article by RIA Novosti news agency yet another ASAT system is described: the Porubshchik-2. RT picked up on this article and posted this article in English. While the RT article focuses mostly on the new electronic warfare capabilities of this aircraft, the Russian text puts more emphasis on the fact that this EW aircraft will have ASAT capabilities. This system is still in development, but at the very least these show that the Russians are now developing a full array of anti-satellite systems.

Let’s add this all up

The Russian plan to counter the US military threat is becoming clearer and clearer with each passing day. I would summarize as follows:

US Capability Russian Response ABM system maneuverable hypersonic ballistic and very long-range cruise missiles US aircraft carriers and surface fleet maneuverable hypersonic ballistic and very long-range cruise missiles US airpower and cruise missiles advanced and integrated air defenses + 5th generation multirole fighters US attack submarines advanced diesel-electric/AIP submarines in littoral and coastal waters US command, control, communications, networks, and satellites electronic warfare and anti-satellite systems US/NATO deployments near Russia Tank Armies with T-14s, doubling of the size of the Airborne Forces, Iskander missiles (see here) US nuclear forces Deployment of a next-generation SSBNs, road-mobile and rail-mobile ICBMs, PAK-DA (next generation bomber) and ABM systems

By targeting US space-based capabilities Russia is aiming at an exceedingly important and currently extremely fragile segment of the US armed forces and the impact of that cannot be overstated. It is already well known that the US military has almost no practice operating in a highly contested electronic warfare environment and that, in fact, US EW capabilities have stagnated over the years. In the age of advanced communication and network-centric warfare, the disruption or elimination of any meaningful segment of the US space-based capabilities would have a dramatic impact on US warfighting capabilities. Just like US tactical air is practically completely dependent on AWACs support, all the branches of the US military have grown accustomed to enjoying advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities (C4ISR) and this is what the Russians want to deny them (and you can bet that the Chinese are working along the exact same lines).

This is not to say that Russia has achieved anywhere near full-spectrum dominance over the United States but it does mean that the United States has totally failed in its efforts to achieve anything near full-spectrum dominance over Russia and, therefore, over the rest of the planet. It is important to understand that while, for the USA, it is crucial to achieving superiority, for Russia it is enough to deny that superiority to the USA. Russia, therefore, has no need to achieve anything even remotely resembling full-spectrum dominance over the USA/NATO – all she needs to achieve is to make it impossible for the Empire to make her submit by force or threat of force.

The big problem of internal competition

Just as I had predicted in my article “Making Sense of the Russian 5th Generation Fighters in Syria” there is now high-level official statements indicating that Russia might only produce a limited amount of Su-57s. The reason? That the 4++ generation Su-35S is already very good good and much cheaper than the Su-57 and that Russian money should go towards developing a 6th generation multirole fighter. In other words, the main threat to the Su-57 program is not foreign competition (the Russians want to offer the Su-57 for export!), but internal competition. The same thing happened to the MiG-35 program (and before that to the MiG 1.44 project): they were beaten by Sukhoi. The MiG-35 appears to finally have been selected as a frontal aviation fighter, but the overall pattern is clear: unlike the USSR, Russia cannot afford to develop many similar or overlapping weapons systems at the same time. Some weapons systems will be produced in limited quantities while others might be canceled altogether.

Something similar will probably happen inside the Russian ASAT programs: projects will compete and not all will be deployed. Still, what is clear is that the Russians are working with a great deal of intensity on a number of different technologies whose purpose will be to take out US space capabilities in the early phases of any conflict. In contrast, the USA has spent so much money on very lucrative but useless weapons systems, that to restart a full-scaled ASAT program will take a lot of time (even if Trump has already declared that he wants to build “space forces” – check out this excellent commentary by Philip Giraldi on this topic), probably decades.

Modern weapon system developments have a huge “inertia”: they are hard to start, hard to develop and hard to stop once started. This is especially true for a profoundly corrupt and delusional Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) like the US one (see my review of Andrei Martyanov’s excellent book on this topic here). Considering the current crisis of the AngloZionist Empire and the trade/sanctions war Trump is currently waging on most of the planet, the chances of the US force planners correcting their past mistakes and adequately reacting to the new reality is probably very close to zero. Trump’s attempt to develop space forces is therefore yet another case of too little, too late. The gap between the advertised and the actual US military capabilities will only get bigger in the foreseeable future.

The Saker

#russia

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vietkieumy75 · 7 years

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Đại Chiến Sắp Bùng Nổ

2 U.S. Presidents Considered Attacking North Korea with Nuclear Weapons

Nga, Tầu vẫn kề vai với Bình Nhưỡng kià!

Chú Ủn có yểm trợ hùng hồn thì chú đâu có sợ gì nhỉ!

Mấy tên cowboy morons ngang hàng với những tay đứng bến xe đò mà giở trò lếu láo thì chỉ chết thiên hạ mà thôi!

Any idea who?

2 U.S. Presidents Considered Attacking North Korea with Nuclear Weapons

While tensions with North Korea are especially high following Pyongyang’s repeated ballistic missile and nuclear tests, Donald Trump is not the first U.S. president to consider launching a nuclear strike against the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Both Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon considered launching nuclear strikes against the Kim regime during earlier provocations during the Cold War.

President Johnson considered a nuclear strike—among several other options—in retaliation for North Korea’s seizure of USS Pueblo on January 23, 1968. The North Koreans seized the surveillance vessel—killing one sailor and capturing 83 others. The servicemen were held hostage for the better part of a year.

“Recently declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive describe tense U.S. internal reactions to the Pueblo seizure, and include previously withheld high-level political and military deliberations over how to respond to the episode in an atmosphere fraught with the dangers of a superpower conflict,” John Prados and Jack Cheevers at the George Washington University National Security Archives wrote in 2014.“Military contingency plans, which President Lyndon Johnson eventually rejected, included a naval blockade, major air strikes and even use of nuclear weapons against North Korea.”

Indeed, documents gathered by the archives show that while the U.S. State Department was negotiating, the Pentagon was preparing for a preemptive strike—potentially withnuclear weapons.

“While the State Department conducted secret talks with the North Koreans aimed at settling the crisis peacefully, the Pentagon laid plans for dealing with contingencies that included a possible pre-emptive strike by the north against South Korea,” the two researchers wrote. “This partially redacted document outlines a plan by Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, in which American and South Korean warplanes would try to destroy the entire North Korean air force. Waves of American tactical fighters and B-52 bombers, joined by South Korean jets, would attack the ‘most lucrative’ communist bases around the clock until the skies were free enough of northern jets to permit allied ground combat operations.”

During a later North Korean provocation, on April 15, 1969, when Pyongyang’s fighters shot down a U.S. Navy Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star reconnaissance aircraft killing all 31 crewmembers onboard, President Nixon also considered a retaliatory nuclear strike against the Kim regime.

“The military produced the options, ratcheting up the level of military force all the way to all-out war and to using nuclear weapons,” Robert Wampler, a historian at the National Security Archive told NPR. “But constantly you find the military saying, 'But the risks probably still outweigh the potential gains.'"

Indeed, NPR talked to a former U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II pilot named Bruce Charles who recalls sitting on alert waiting for the order to strike a North Korean airbase with a 330KT B61 thermonuclear bomb.

"When I got to see the colonel, it was very simple. He described the shooting down of the EC-121 about a hundred miles at sea. And that he had a message, which he showed me at that time, saying to prepare to strike my target," Charles told NPR. "The order to stand down was just about dusk, and it was not a certainty. The colonel said, 'It looks like from the messages I'm getting, we will not do this today. I do not know about tomorrow.'”

Ultimately, Nixon thought better of launching a retaliatory strike—choosing instead to exercise restraint. Nixon knew that starting a war might be easy, but events can quickly spiral out of control. Thus, Nixon wisely backed off knowing that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

One can only hope that Trump will follow the example set by Johnson and Nixon and not make a bad situation even worse.

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