I post at The Dignified Rant: Evolved on Substack. Help me out by subscribing and by liking and sharing posts. I also post here on TDR seven days a week, including Weekend Data Dump and Winter War of 2022. I occasionally post short data dump-type items on my Substack "Notes" section.
In case you missed it on Substack: Getting There First ... and Then What?
In case you missed it on Substack: Killing Carriers is Fun and Easy
In case you missed it on Substack: The Real Key to Battlefield Transformation is Information
In case you missed it on Substack: Evolve the Way Tanks Operate
Oh please, of course it will be.
The Army will cut 6,500 aviation jobs reflecting a change from helicopters to drones. How many jobs will be added?
American and Iraqi forces killed an ISIL commander in Syria. Keeping Iraq as an ally to fight jihadis is a reason to remain in Iraq.
The U.S. intends to sell $6 billion in arms to Israel.
Drone counter-measures: "Drones, EW, and patient reconnaissance permit the finding of weaknesses that make [drone] operators 'visible.' Meanwhile, protecting operators relies on digging, masking, EW, and quick communication."
A U.S.-Portugal drill experiments with aerial, surface, and underwater drones for ASW warfare. This included a U.S. submarine launching an aerial drone while submerged.
Israel isn't seeking "revenge"--Israel is seeking victory.
Will Italy's better budget situation compared to France's bring Italy added weight in NATO?
Maneuvering through the Caucasus corridor to and from Central Asia.
CRS report to Congress on the DDG(X) program.
A "good enough now" policy will save the Army money and stop the urge to swing for the fence on every new weapons system pitch.
I'd rather have a comparison of a likely Marine alternative to the Force Design Marine Littoral Regiment rather than a sky's-the-limit alternative. But yes, I don't like the MLR.
Sh*t got real in Germany. Can't say they're wrong.
Resist China's South China Sea subliminal offensive with concrete. Endorsed.
The Taliban rejected the American interest in getting Bagram air base back. The American interest only makes sense if it is being treated as a "Hey, we tried ..." box-checking to ... something.
The idea that members of the military have full free speech is silly. Duty limits freedoms they defend. As a reservist, I was limited while on paid duty. In my career I was forbidden from supporting or opposing any state-level bill. I even refrained from voting in primary elections to maintain my nonpartisan status.
The purpose of West Point is to prepare future officers. This lawsuit should be dismissed. Along with the law professor bringing it who clearly doesn't understand or agree with his role. No more commie cadets.
Israel didn't do it, so the sainted international community won't care.
The Saudi-Pakistan defense pact is not directed against Israel. I think it has Iran as their common focus.
Yes. But hard questions are allowed even when "the enduring U.S.-European transatlantic alliance remains a powerful and important model for promoting peace, freedom, and human rights." Those hard questions lead to a modernized three-part purpose for NATO. The author focuses on Portugal.
Here we go: "The first F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter will be ready to fly by 2028 and the first airframe is already being built[.]"
Peacetime capability: "The U.S. Army’s next-generation landing craft transported a Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS)[.]" It is not an APD.
Remember, FPV suicide drone, thou art but a round of ammo. Small drones have limits that "obsolete" systems provide. A welcome counter to the panty-flinging about useful assets that are not silver bullet wonder weapons.
I don't want to suggest that blowing things up isn't the primary way to destroy enemy forces today, but synchronizing non-kinetic effects is important because eventually doom can be imposed without a boom. And our ground troops in contact shouldn't care who dooms the enemy in front of them.
The shiniest new technology never eliminates the need for bloody war in the mud. Even a REMF like myself has never been confused about that.
Europe's military manpower shortages. But don't think Russia doesn't face the same problems despite scraping for recruits for over 3-1/2 years now. I will note that I went through a pre-boot camp weekend course the Michigan Army National Guard set up. It helped to feel what I'd need to start boot camp.
Can the Russia-India partnership be torpedoed? Why should we? I view it as far more likely that such a partnership will drag Russia away from China than I see it dragging India away from America.
Germany plans to buy anti-torpedo torpedoes. Good luck with that!
A strong typhoon killed 27 in the Philippines and Taiwan before moving on to China.
Germany's defense minister said shooting down a Russian plane in NATO air space would be counter-productive. He's right. I don't worry about general war (yet shit happens). But Putin will use losing a plane to bolster Russian will to "fight NATO in Ukraine". Respond with more weapons for Ukraine.
Sniper at a Dallas ICE facility. The sniper killed himself after shooting others. I worry that the dense police response as shown below would be vulnerable to a terrorist double-tap attack:
Israel's strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar "crosses a line" America can't ignore"? I think Qatar hosting leaders of terrorists who slaughtered, raped, kidnapped Israelis on a large scale on October 7, 2023, and use Gazans as human shields on a massive scale crossed the line.
Either America or Britain without more than a general warning notice fired a Trident missile with an "unusual payload" from a submarine in the Atlantic ocean. I'd think if it was a hypersonic weapon we'd know. Unless it failed. Or was testing something other than its speed, I suppose.
The Army MV-75 tilt-rotor is "smart acquisition at the speed of relevance." Golly! I sure hope the aircraft is as good as its buzz words! I assume this is the V-280, which is supposed to carry troops deep behind enemy lines. Easy, stomach.
Navy ships must learn how to hide from enemy sensors and space assets must be integrated to break the kill chain.
Can Europeans replace American space power? Europeans over-react to Trump. History, eh? America has a vital interest in a friendly Europe. As long as duplicating American capabilities doesn't hurt rearmament, I like more Western space power. But don't let "European" mean the EU. Brussels wants panic.
Good: "The Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) arrived in Koror, Palau Sept. 22, 2025. "
The Air Force wants a new transport plane able to replace the C-5 and C-17 aircraft.
The Germans will build slaved "external magazine" ships for their surface combatants. Can control be shifted quickly or does knocking out the crewed ship take out the wingman ship? Too obvious not to be addressed, right?
That's premature: "Europe, the continent that gave the world democracy, Pax Romana, the Renaissance, the Great Explorers, the libertarian ideals of the Scottish enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the emancipation of slavery, is now the world’s laughing stock." But its appeal is more selective.
I suspect normalizing defense relations with Erdogan's Turkey is premature.
The Trident missile test was actually four missiles fired from an American boat. No word of exotic warheads. Just reliability launches, apparently.
Terrorists earn state recognition for Palestine. But an existing prosperous, peaceful, and democratic Taiwan shouldn't be recognized? That, ladies and gentlemen, is a damning indictment of our sainted international community.
Is the West losing a new "scramble" for Africa to China?
Will South Korea count on America's nuclear umbrella and the sainted international community to protect it from North Korean nukes? Or will Seoul develop its own nukes? South Korea is still pondering that choice? Maybe a preemptive precision attack with conventional weapons could disarm North Korea.
Oh? The Ford carrier strike group operating in the high north helps deter Russia. Back in the late Cold War, a surge of carriers to smash up the Kola Peninsula base infrastructure was planned. But now NATO can do that from land bases.
A retired American general highlights the importance of friendly armies in INDOPACOM for deterrence--with anti-ship weapons. And he notes the value of China's army for taking Taiwan. Yet absent is using the United States Army in INDOPACOM or on Taiwan for its core competency.
Mystery drones (coughrussiacough) showed up at a Danish base for F-35s. The F-35s were in hardened aircraft shelters, right? Right?
Huh: "Discussions about the eventual phaseout of Link 16 tactical data links are ongoing as the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency works to build out a network for optical communications[.]"
CENTCOM's Avenger-class mine counter-measures ships: OUT. LCS mine warfare ships: IN. Welp. Good luck.
Britain is seeking port services in Vietnam for Royal Navy use.
Trump opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
Could Tony Blair successfully de-Hamassify Gaza before turning it over to local control?
Interesting: " Germany will invest €35 billion ($41 billion) in space-related defense projects by 2030, stepping up the country’s technological independence and ability to protect its assets in orbit amid an increasing militarization of outer space[.]" A national and not EU effort.
I'd take this Army-Air Force Key West roles argument more seriously if the Army could trust the Air Force to embrace close air support.
Victory through air power. Small drones haven't ended that attitude--just put in smaller packages.
Russia's short and glorious war against Ukraine. Oopsky.
Countering China: "the US and the Cook Islands released a joint statement pledging bilateral cooperation on scientific research and seabed mining."
Are the former Soviet states middle powers able to assert themselves rather than just be buffeted by Russian and Chinese ambitions? Russia's violation of the "1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, in which all post-Soviet states pledged to respect one another’s territorial integrity", was a wake-up call.
Russians converted a turret-less T-72 to carry a small number of infantry. This has been done for decades. Hence my call for an Abrams IFV or a tank support vehicle. Now I'd say the latter could include anti-drone capabilities.
Before China was worrying America with their penetration of Latin America, Japan was doing similar things prior to World War II.
Will Russia call NATO's bluff? If it is a bluff, of course Russia will. I believe the question is whether Russia will cross the line in the air that NATO has drawn.
Is the gathering of brass intended to be laying down the law on roles and missions for each service? I've been concerned about the blurring of missions. I think synergy comes from each service dominating its own domain. I used the Guadalcanal campaign as an example in this 2017 Land Warfare Paper.
This article confirms what I suspected about Russia's drone attack on Poland: "they were not bombardment drones, just plastic decoys without explosive warheads."
Oh? "The MBCT [Mobile Brigade Combat Team] is designed to dodge and weave." The Army is so effed.
America is unable to mass produce small drones. I don't know what role they will ultimately play as counter-measures and new tactics are introduced. But as rounds of ammunition (or disposable battlefield surveillance assets), we'll probably need a lot of small drones.
Iran has escalated the scale of executions. Not many can be actual Israeli spies. Will the mullahs frighten opposition into passivity or anger them into higher levels of resistance?
Subliminal war: "In view of increasing attacks on data networks and infrastructure, it is no longer possible to describe the situation in Germany as peacetime, the country's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Friday." But a war. Admitting it is a big deal.
Ukraine's counter-air campaign without Big Air Force.
Israel will deal with the Ship Flotilla of Fools.
Typhoon Ragasa "leaves mass destruction in its wake".
Strategy: "U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of ‘buying’ Greenland is not a whimsical provocation, but the latest in a centuries-old struggle over control of the world’s largest island." It's important real estate.
The Battle for Gaza City continues.
The strange scraping of TDR by Hong Kong searches continues. I sure hope I'm not training a CCP AI.
