Hamas invaded Israel 2023
- Thread starter McG
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 2,479
- Points
- 1,190
Trudeau and Hamas exchange love notes.
I diagaree whole heartedly with this statement from the article:
"... Trudeau’s clueless and feckless Foreign Affairs minister, Melanie Joly, swiftly issued a tweet saying mean things about Hamas. But, like everything else that Joly does, it isn’t even worth quoting here."
What Joly said was on point, and it came in a very timely manner.
Sure, I agree with the article that we should never have gotten to this point, but don't throwout the good with the bad.
- Reaction score
- 1,400
- Points
- 1,160
Joly issued that statement, as ordered, as written, because the PMO finally realized their huge F--K-UP.
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 11,375
- Points
- 1,260
Bingo! Off you go. Go join your comrades.
- Reaction score
- 8,295
- Points
- 1,160
Best news from Kinsella
Recognition that Agitprop is a thing. That the Soviets were real. That the world hasn't changed. And that slamming conservatives for fun and profit is not a game.
As noted previously - McCarthy wasn't wrong and the 1980's foreign policy is still real.
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 11,375
- Points
- 1,260
Is support for Ukraine dropping ?
I certainly don't hear anyone saying they don't support the Ukraine anymore, maybe some extreme left and right wing nuts.
But the world is falling into position for another major war, and I think nations are now realizing they need the bullets and beans for themselves. If anything the Ukraine war is a lesson on why having a large capable military is a core principal of a sovereign nation, you can only rely on others for so long.
- Reaction score
- 21,933
- Points
- 1,260
I think the world is fooling themselves honestly. I think many nations are hoping Russia will just go away, and sticking their head in the sand.
To me giving Ukraine the tools to destroy Russia as a Military threat is a win win, we in the US have a very large arsenal that was built to counter the Russian threat - by giving equipment to Ukraine all of the West is served by a resounding Russian defeat, as it will remove one of the biggest threats to global stability, as well as make other nations think twice about aggressive actions.
Being able to crush Russia without spending American etc lives is a massive win, and worth way more than 5% of our Defense Budget, as it will also serve as a lesson to China, North Korea and Iran.
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 11,375
- Points
- 1,260
Kit is great, but I think the Ukraine's problem is man power. The Russians have the upper hand in the attrition war that this has turned into. And I think unless NATO goes all in there is only one outcome.
The old adage "Quantity has a quality all its own" comes to mind.
- Reaction score
- 21,933
- Points
- 1,260
They will have a 1,650,000 AFU by March 2024. I don’t see that a major manpower shortage.
Quality can eliminate quantity very quickly.
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 11,375
- Points
- 1,260
If you say so.
if they have the tools to use and the freedom to use them
- Reaction score
- 21,933
- Points
- 1,260
Ask the Chinese human waves attacks. Machine guns tended to reduce the number of them fairly effectively.
Now just think about long range precision fires and things like FASCAM and DPICM.
- Reaction score
- 8,295
- Points
- 1,160
I wonder if those FASCAM and DPICM cargo rounds could launch swarms of smart drones instead?
Not mines.
Air | DEFENDTEX
www.defendtex.com
- Reaction score
- 21,933
- Points
- 1,260
Maybe - but in an EW heavy area, where GPS and other signals are being interfered with - I would think that a INS backup is either for the carrier, and dumb submunitions don’t care about that.I wonder if those FASCAM and DPICM cargo rounds could launch swarms of smart drones instead?
Not mines.
Air | DEFENDTEX
- Reaction score
- 8,295
- Points
- 1,160
Back in the stone age there was something known as the DAMASK seeker. (1999)
Effectively the targeter uploaded a picture of the target and the weapon flew itself to the target.
Now $12,700 in 1999 is a bit of swings and roundabouts calculation because military inflation would say that price has gone up but Moore's Law would say that the price has gone down (and the seeker has become more effective).
Dumping a bunch of autonomous rounds with pictures of their targets into the enemy's back yard might get their attention. The concept is similar to the Brimstone engagement with the MMW radar seeker taking the pictures.
www.c4isrnet.com
An ATACMs with a few hundred km reach dispensing hundreds of the little buggers?
Effectively the targeter uploaded a picture of the target and the weapon flew itself to the target.
Now $12,700 in 1999 is a bit of swings and roundabouts calculation because military inflation would say that price has gone up but Moore's Law would say that the price has gone down (and the seeker has become more effective).
Dumping a bunch of autonomous rounds with pictures of their targets into the enemy's back yard might get their attention. The concept is similar to the Brimstone engagement with the MMW radar seeker taking the pictures.
Drone 40 wants to be the future of tactical munitions
By Kelsey D. Atherton
Jun 5, 2019
The Drone 40 Loitering Platform can be fitted with munitions or ISR payloads. It is designed to add range and punch to scenarios where infantry would otherwise be outranged and outmatched. (Image composite, DefendTex / US Army photo by Tia Sokimson):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/K5NIVBFJRRC5ZLFE2S2N5FE77Y.jpg)
A 40mm canister is an unusual form factor for a quadcopter, but not an unproductive one. Like the endless variation on a simple form seen in beetles, quadcopters combine four rotors, internal sensors and remote direction with the adaptability to fit into any ecological niche.
Drone 40, produced by Melbourne-based defense technology firm DefendTex, is a drone whose niche involves a 40mm grenade launcher. It is a range expander for infantry, a new and novel loitering munition, and a testament to the second-order effects of a thriving drone parts ecosystem.
Drone 40 was created as a solution to the problem of range; specifically, the problem of a range disparity between the infantry weapons carried by Australian infantry, which are accurate to about 500 meters, and the AK-74s carried by adversaries, which can reach out to 800 meters (though the accuracy at that range is disputed). Even if the fire is just suppressing fire, Australia was looking for a way to let its infantry fight back, but not one that required changing the gun or adding a lot more weight to what soldiers were already carrying.
“The only thing that we had in the infantry kit with any utility was a 40 millimeter grenade launcher,” which led to the design of the Drone 40, said DefendTex CEO Travis Reddy. Rather than overtaxing the launcher with a medium-velocity round that could travel the distance needed, the launcher would instead give a boost to a drone-borne munition that would then fly under its own power the rest of the way to the target.
The overall appearance of the Drone 40 is that of an oversized bullet. Four limbs extend from the cylindrical body, with rotors attached. In flight, it gives the appearance of a rocket traveling at perpendicular angles, the munition suspended below the rotors like a Sword of Damocles. It is a quadcopter, technically.
Drone 40 is a loitering munition, for a very short definition of loiter. When carrying a 110 gram payload, it can fly for about 12 minutes. The person commanding the Drone 40 can remotely disarm the munition, letting the drone land inert for later recovery. When not carrying an anti-personnel or anti-tank munition as payload, it can be outfitted with a sensor. For an infantry unit that wants to scout first, fire later, the sensor module can provide early information, then be swapped out with a deadly payload. Beyond Australia, the company envisions providing the Drone 40 to the Five Eyes militaries.
The drone’s video streaming can transmit 10 km over direct line of sight. Drone 40 can also record video and retransmit it when it comes within range, or it can take still images. With the radio frequency relayed by another aerial system, that range can be expanded. Using GPS, the drone can follow a waypoint plotted course to a target, or it can use its own synthetic aperture radar to identify and track a target. Reddy says it can distinguish the radar profile of, say, a T-72 tank, and then follow it autonomously.
Drone 40 is designed to fly with minimal human involvement. The unit’s development was largely funded in collaboration with Autonomous Systems Collaborative Research by the Australian government, and the drone can work collaboratives, with multiple Drone 40s flying together and operating off the sensor data from a single ISR drone in the swarm. Most of the flying, identifying and tracking of targets is done autonomously; however, human control remains an essential part of the machine’s operation.
“The Department of Defense has very strict rules around any use of autonomy in the battlefield,” says Reddy. “We always have to have either man in the loop or man on the loop. The weapon system will never be autonomous, fully acquire and prosecute target without authorization and confirmation from the human.”
The autonomy is there, in a sense, to pass off the task of flying a drone into position and only task the operator with making a call once the drone is in place.
“If there’s someone flying this thing or looking at the video feed, they’re not in combat and someone else is not in combat because they have to be protected at that point in time,” says Reddy. “Everything we do is trying to ensure that we have almost fire and forget, just a reminder when it’s on station or it requires a decision to be made; the rest of the time, the operator is in the fight.”
To make Drone 40 work at the small size and desired price point, its makers had to lean on the commercial drone market. Existing versions, Reddy says, cost less than a $1,000 apiece, with a goal of getting the cost down to around $500.
“To hit the price point that we are using, we are heavily leveraging the current drone market. We have companies, large companies that sink hundreds of millions of dollars into R&D and we can leverage that investment,” says Reddy. “If we wanted to design a radar on a drone ourselves, it would cost us many millions of dollars to achieve and end up in a price point of $10,000 to $15,000 a unit. Instead we let the automotive industry spend all that money and now they’re producing chips that are in the tens of dollars.”
Drone 40 is also designed to be scaled up. DefendTex is working on Drone 81, a larger round designed to work with mortar tubes, and there are other drone models in the works matched to specific munition sizes. If the iteration is successful, it will create a whole arsenal of possibilities for range-expanding munitions that fit into existing platforms.
“They’re designed to be low cost and disposable; that’s the key,” said Reddy. “If it doesn’t come back, it doesn’t matter.”
A drone with a can-doom attitude
This canister-shaped 40mm loitering munition can be hand-tossed or fired from a grenade launcher, and is built on a highly adaptable platform.
www.c4isrnet.com
An ATACMs with a few hundred km reach dispensing hundreds of the little buggers?
Halifax Tar
Army.ca Fixture
- Reaction score
- 11,375
- Points
- 1,260
I mean Korea wasn't a win for us. It was a stalemate. And its work for Russia in the passed.
And no matter what the UAF can muster the RuAF can muster more. Unless NATO gets involved I don't see this going better than stalemate with Ukraine losing territory.
- Reaction score
- 21,933
- Points
- 1,260
It was a win in the sense that the goal was to keep South Korea free.
NATO doesn’t need to get physically involved - Ukraine just needs equipment, munitions and training.
Right now Russia doesn’t have much more equipment in the tank, they are being degraded in that respect, the issue is they are using personnel like a renewable resource, but while it’s an end sum loss, they may be able to bleed out long enough to outlast the incredibly stupid Western countries who don’t see the potential end game that will be a NATO/Russia war if Ukraine falls.
RangerRay
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 3,874
- Points
- 1,260
I think our government is trying to have its cake and eat it too. I heard it reported that in the cease fire statement they made with ANZ was it was heavily conditioned on Hamas. Then the resolution they voted in favour of in the UN had no conditions on Hamas. Then Joly made a statement after that vote to talk about the conditions on Hamas resolution had, which it did not.
With this government, saying =/= doing. Trump and Joly are perfect examples of people who kept failing up in life. How she advanced to foreign minister after abysmal performances in lower cabinet positions is beyond my comprehension.
As an aside, I know Bob Rae was frustrated by what he had to say at the UN in favour of the resolution. After his speech, a hot mike caught him saying “Well, we’ll see how well that flies”.
Similar threads
