US military, technology, arms, tactics

[pravula]

Oh, I mean if there is no effective kill-chain from Khan for a SM6 (remember, it’s also an ABM for IRBM range), then their potential adversity with this PL-15 has a snowball’s chance in hell.

[Pratyush]

Exactly. Got it.

With the Growlers of the USN prowling at the edge of the battlefield. The PRC forces are going to face significant challenges.

[Rakesh]

AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship Has Operated From A Highway For The First Time
https://www.twz.com/air/ac-130j-ghostri ... first-time
05 Aug 2024

[Rakesh]

EA-18G Growlers With New Jamming Pods Onboard Carrier Heading To Middle East
https://www.twz.com/air/ea-18g-growlers ... iddle-east
05 Aug 2024

[Rakesh]

E-2D Refueling From HC-130 Over Middle East Highlights The Hawkeye’s Potential
https://www.twz.com/air/e-2d-refueling- ... -potential
06 Aug 2024

[Rakesh]

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan
https://www.twz.com/air/f-a-18e-super-h ... -in-jordan
08 Aug 2024

[Aditya_V]

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan
https://www.twz.com/air/f-a-18e-super-h ... -in-jordan
08 Aug 2024

Wonder if AIM 174 is operational?

[Rakesh]

Minigun-Armed Mojave Drone Now Blasting Targets At 6,000 Rounds Per Minute
https://www.twz.com/air/minigun-armed-m ... per-minute
23 April 2024

The above article talks about the gun in the photo below...

https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1826290883727425753 ---> MQ-9 with …. (Fill in the blank).

[pravula]

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan
https://www.twz.com/air/f-a-18e-super-h ... -in-jordan
08 Aug 2024

Wonder if AIM 174 is operational?

https://www.twz.com/air/aim-174-super-h ... -in-hawaii

It was fielded recently in an multilateral excercise

[Manish_P]

Unqualified Colonel Crashed Apache Helicopter

An Army investigation found an F-35 pilot with no previous experience in the type was at the controls of an Apache attack helicopter when it crashed at a base in Utah last February. According to KUTV, which got a copy of the report, the pilot was a colonel and he had 35 minutes of sim time in the Apache before he took off on an orientation flight with a Master Warrant Officer who was qualified in the type.

The investigation found that on the colonel's fourth attempt to hover and land the Apache at the army facility at West Jordan Airport, the colonel lost control. “In a moment of panic and due to his great unfamiliarity with the helicopter flight controls,” an investigator wrote, “the [colonel] reverted to his fixed-wing training and applied downward movement…. This motion … was not the proper input in a [rotor wing] aircraft.” The investigation also found fault with the Master Warrant Officer saying “overconfidence … led to inadequate aircraft flight control management and inadequate altitude selection with an unqualified person on the helicopter's flight controls.”

I have good amount of SIM time on the Apache (and the Comanche) as well. Am pretty sure the IAF will not let me anywhere within 1 km of their bird

[sanman]

I don't know if this is a trolling video, but I certainly don't think India should ever buy the over-priced breakdown-prone F-35 from unreliable USA

[Manish_P]

<troll mode>how about just the engine then</troll mode>

[Cybaru]

Not sure where to put this. But it has an interesting lesson...

Starlink Security Scare (Shorter video in the twitter link - longer video in YouTube...

https://x.com/SubBrief/status/1833567648581287940

[Rakesh]

F/A-18 Super Hornet Appears With Unprecedented Heavy Air-To-Air Missile Load
https://www.twz.com/air/anduril-introdu ... ile-market
11 Sept 2024

^^^

AIM-174B has an advertised range of 240 km.

https://x.com/FirstDagger/status/1833844426763862110 ---> Another image of F/A-18F BuNo 166673 of VX-9 The Vampires with 4 x AIM-174B training round loadout appeared. BuNo clearly visible. Loadout as before:

* 4x CATM-174B Standard ERAM
* 3x CATM-120C AMRAAM with fins removed
* 2x CAT-9X Sidewinder
* 1x TGP
* 1x AN/ASG-34A(V)1 IRST21 Block 2 Pod



https://x.com/alpha_defense/status/1834110378881794154 --->

[Rakesh]

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles
https://www.twz.com/air/marine-legacy-f ... e-missiles
12 Sept 2024

[sanman]

[sanman]

[ernest]

Palmer Luckey on AI adoption by US armed forces, "A John Deere tractor has better AI that US military".

He talks about how talent and innovation has stayed away from the US MIC in the past couple of decades, and how Ukraine war is changing that because it is the "current thing"

Also talks about how Russia/China see it as an opportunity to gain advantage over US military in one area.

[sanman]

[Rakesh]

VIDEO: https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1840802623332442364 ---> LMAO: “Holy F**k” says the U.S. pilot. A Russian Su-35 pilot scares a US F-16 pilot somewhere near Alaska!

[sanman]

How The Navy's New Very Long-Range AIM-174 Will Pierce China’s Anti-Access Bubble

[Rakesh]

AH-64 Apaches Practice Shooting Down Drones With Hellfire Missiles In Saudi Arabia
https://www.twz.com/air/u-s-army-ah-64- ... udi-arabia
03 Oct 2024

[Rakesh]

First Plutonium Pit For Nuclear Warhead Produced In The U.S. In 35 Years Is Now “Weapon-Ready”
https://www.twz.com/nuclear/first-pluto ... apon-ready
04 Oct 2024

[Rakesh]

Navy Making Final Selection For F/A-XX Stealth Fighter, Plans For 2030s Service Entry
https://www.twz.com/air/navy-making-fin ... vice-entry
03 Oct 2024

[Rakesh]

U.S. Navy Holds First TRAM At-Sea VLS Loading Test
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... ding-test/
12 Oct 2024

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/USN_Submariner/status/1844762141804646870 ---> A year ago today, the US Navy accepted delivery of the 22nd Virginia Class submarine, Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 795), from Electric Boat. This week it we found out that HHI Newport News Shipyard made faulty welds on her.

Important Note: "The welds were not on components or systems that affect ship safety or operations."

[Rakesh]

Beyond Deterrence: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s Strategic Shift
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/be ... ift-213249
18 Oct 2024

[Rakesh]

U.S. Navy EA-18G Mid-Band IOC Target Slips Again
https://aviationweek.com/defense/sensor ... lips-again
15 Oct 2024

[sanman]

Will US B-21 bomber also take over the fighter role?

Apparently this may be possible.

[Rakesh]

The B-21’s Price Is Decreasing With Over $5 Billion Saved for the First Five Lots
https://theaviationist.com/2024/11/12/t ... ecreasing/
21 Nov 2024

The insanely costly B-21 Raider program is apparently becoming less expensive, with the projected cost for the first five production lots dropping from $19.1 billion to $13.1 billion, a 28% reduction, amounting to $5.1 billion in savings.

[Cyrano]

High on Tech, low on Trust!

[Rakesh]

A wonderful article. A great read.

Nukes, Nubs And Coners: The Unique Social Hierarchy Aboard A Nuclear Submarine
https://www.twz.com/34104/nukes-nubs-an ... -submarine
16 June 2020

Getting assigned to your first sub doesn't make you a submariner and once you become one you'll find yourself in a social structure unlike any other.

[Manish_P]

^ the writer of the above article has a very instructive youtube channel.

No way anyone can pay me enough to go down a submarine hatch though.

[Rakesh]

I went inside a Kilo Class. Not for the claustrophobic.

[Rakesh]

‘Not a warfighter’: Air Force secretary hits back at Musk comments on canceling manned fighters
http://breakingdefense.com/2024/12/not- ... -fighters/
19 Dec 2024

[Cyrano]

A wonderful article. A great read.

Nukes, Nubs And Coners: The Unique Social Hierarchy Aboard A Nuclear Submarine
https://www.twz.com/34104/nukes-nubs-an ... -submarine
16 June 2020

Getting assigned to your first sub doesn't make you a submariner and once you become one you'll find yourself in a social structure unlike any other.

What?!! Looks like a no DEI , boys will be boys Jurassic zoo. Should be banished immediately

[Shameek]

2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says
https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars ... 6c66e1b6fe
22 Dec 2024

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Both aviators were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken two-seat F/A-18 aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.

[pravula]

‘Not a warfighter’: Air Force secretary hits back at Musk comments on canceling manned fighters
http://breakingdefense.com/2024/12/not- ... -fighters/
19 Dec 2024

He is not an astronaut either. Look at him bending NASA over without KY jelly...

[Rakesh]

Lockheed Martin Has Delivered The 100th F-35C
https://theaviationist.com/2024/12/20/l ... 0th-f-35c/
20 Dec 2024

Lockheed Martin announced the recent delivery of the 100th F-35C Lightning II fifth-generation fighter jet, marking a new milestone for the program after the delivery of the 1000th F-35 earlier this year.

[Rakesh]

2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says
https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars ... 6c66e1b6fe
22 Dec 2024

Second US Navy fighter jet narrowly avoided being shot down in 'friendly fire' incident
https://www.foxnews.com/us/second-us-na ... ent-source
24 Dec 2024