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The Emperor Has No Clothes: Stealth Technology is Sexy and Useless

by | Aug 20, 2024 |

On 27 March 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a Yugoslav Army unit (3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade, which was under the leadership of Colonel Zoltán Dani) shot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft of the United States Air Force by firing a S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile. It was the first ever shootdown of a stealth technology airplane. The F-117, which entered service with the U.S. Air Force in 1983 was the first operational aircraft to be designed using stealth technology; by comparison, the Yugoslav air defenses were considered relatively...

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Sig P320/M17/18: MILSPEC is Overrated

by | Aug 19, 2024 |

A negligent discharge (ND) in a weapon is when the operator strokes the trigger that results in the firing of the weapon. In my time, the lion's share of these are NDs but actual mechanical (unintentional, accidental or "uncommanded") discharges were rare and then the SIG-Sauer P320 arrives and now it becomes the Accidental Discharge (AD) king in the SIG pistol. NDs are a training issue and AD is a mechanical issue that causes it to fire. SIG settled two cases out of court but Robert Zimmerman just prevailed in winning a court case that may start the train on finally resolving this. I...

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Bang for Your Buck: Breaking the Bank to Upgrade the Nuclear Arsenal (Part II)

by | Aug 16, 2024 |

In Part I, I discussed and critiqued an overview of the new efforts to update the US nuclear arsenal. Here, we'll chat (again) about the Sentinel which is the improved replacement for the aging Minuteman III ICBM and it is already in trouble with the schedule sliding to the right and the costs increasing (surprise). The first test flight has slipped from 2025 to 2026. It will continue to slip if history is a judge. The complexity of the Sentinel program has been emphasized by the Secretary of the Air Force, who characterized it as “struggling” with “unknown unknowns.” Acknowledged as one of...

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Bang for Your Buck: Breaking the Bank to Upgrade the Nuclear Arsenal (Part I)

by | Aug 15, 2024 |

The United States is on track to spend the equivalent of more than two Manhattan projects per year in one of the most expensive nuclear arms races in history. The US has not done a recorded air breathing nuclear detonation since 1992 (the last US test, Julin-Divider, was on September 23, 1992). Almost 50 years and over 1000 tests in the USA alone and its nuclear warhead inventory and the energetics needed to loft them via rocket-borne means for the submarine and ground-launched missile programs is ancient and sclerotic. Although nuclear explosions have not been conducted in the USA since...

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The Spirit Dissolves: Imminent B2 Retirement

by | Aug 14, 2024 |

Stealth is a buzzword, please keep in mind that long wave radars detects the minuscule radar cross sections of "stealth" platforms. It can still be detected by a sufficiently powerful radar or at sufficiently close ranges. Dual-band radars are more effective against stealth than disjointed sensors, being able to focus the high-frequency beam to track the blips spotted by the low-frequency one. Pardon me while I geek out: At a low enough frequency, one cannot use angled surfaces to deflect the re-radiated radio frequency (RF); even a very thin wire one half wavelength long is optimally sized...

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Icebreaker Follies: The US Continues to Drive to Zero

by | Aug 13, 2024 |

The Navy did have 1.5 icebreakers and now they have half of one. Well, actually, the US has no operational icebreakers now. The Coast Guard’s other icebreaker, the ancient heavy Polar Star, is undergoing a service life extension program at the Mare Island Dry Dock in California [H/T to Q Captain]. The fire reportedly damaged a starboard transformer as a result of which the starboard engine remains inoperable.  The Coast Guard’s other icebreaker, the 50-year old Polar Star, is not available during summer as it is undergoing a service life extension program at the Mare Island Dry Dock in...

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Boeing Incompetence Continues: The Space Launch System Debacle

by | Aug 12, 2024 |

We all know what is happening now with the Boeing disaster in space where two astronauts are marooned and the billion dollar taxicab is not only malfunctioning but can't be undocked without a human inside piloting the capsule away. Boeing was contracted by Never Ascend to Space Again (NASA) to develop a new upper stage for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and it's seven years behind schedule and significantly over budget. The new Exploration Upper Stage, a more powerful second stage for the SLS rocket that made its debut in late 2022, is viewed by NASA as a key piece of its Artemis...

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Ep 049 “Storming America: TTP to Make you Free”

Ep 049 “Storming America: TTP to Make you Free”

by | Aug 12, 2024 |

My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what the spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland. I cover it in Episodes 37, 41-43 and 49-50 of my Chasing Ghosts podcast. This is an episode to examine what you can do about the coming civil unrest in America. I discuss some of the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) the free range humans can employ to prepare and protect themselves for the coming unpleasantness. I wanted to add a great note from one of my listeners [H/T to MG] that is a great addition to the...

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ZeroGov: Limited Government, Unicorns and Other Mythological Creatures Kindle Edition

ZeroGov: A Vision for an Unshackled Humanity: Volume II

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