StepanS

Another 'wakeup call' Europe will collectively press snooze on in a week or two. Always belatedly reactive, never proactive. Real action is needed now to secure European airspace and deter russia.

The 1st Assault Regiment (@davinci_army) has published a detailed video on the use of a Vector UAV during their reconnaissance missions. These reconnaissance drones are funded in large part by the German government, but are also purchased directly by Ukrainian units, for example. @S1epanS and I finally had enough time to work on a translation so you can view the more than 7 minutes long video with English subtitles.

7 new AFU brigades being raised. A strange decision considering manpower shortages in existing brigades.

@sebastienroblin @militarnyi reported that it was an Akinci shooting down another Akinci.

Does anyone have any thoughts what aircraft this might be? I am preoccupied by the lack of vertical tailer stabilizer(s) which rules out many candidate aircraft unless EO/IR somehow blots fins out. For context, target is presumably a UAE or Ethiopian-operated drone or fighter.

@Canadian_OSINT Why are they flying with transponders on

The Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker's out of Bucharest ARE NOT following their usual flight path for a training sortie as of right now. Screen shot from May 21st at 00:41 UTC attached as a reference.

@John_ForemanCBE Something i've never considered, but how would the rough seas of the North Atlantic impact on small USVs? Also good luck hunting Yasens with the equivalent of speedboats LOL

A man so stupid and superficial it makes my teeth hurt The Black Sea ≠ the North Atlantic as any fool knows. The Russian Black Sea Fleet ≠ the Northern Fleet

@souljagoyteller Disagree on SPQR.

A few come to mind

@Jeanduchemin19 @Militarylandnet Because the "regiment" is in actuality a near corps sized unit. The wonders of Ukrainian force structure.

@Militarylandnet How can you subordinate a brigade to a regiment ?

✍️ France-trained 155th Mechanized Brigade has been subordinated to the 425th Assault Regiment amid emerging online reports of abuse, beatings, and heavy losses. Read all details ⬇️ militaryland.net/article/155th-…

@nicholadrummond Far more pressing gaps that need to be filled before acquisitions of this sort can be considered unfortunately.

One of the most capable artillery systems on the planet. The UK acquisition of 96 HIMARS - enough to equip four regiments would immediately triple British Army lethality. It would make 1st (UK) Division deployable, provide significant operational support for 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade. At $4.5 million each, the cost would be $432 million. (I do not work for and have no commercial relationship with Lockheed Martin.)

@AirPowerNEW1 On a Tuesday no less. TACO.

😂😂

@SoroushRabiei @CENTCOM 6 boats according to Adm. Cooper

@CENTCOM How many? We need numbers dude (:

U.S. Navy MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters are supporting Project Freedom in and near the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier today, Sea Hawk and U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters were used to eliminate Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping.

@trip_to_valkiri How did the irish comw into possesion of them? I dont recall ireland ever operating any at home. Were these vehicles leased in theatre??

One of the very first combat deployment of the M113 APC - used by Irish UN Forces in Congo in the early 1960s.

@FennellJW Were these destroyed on the ground or in the air?

616 moved to Luneburg on 3rd May. From there during the early evening Flt Lt Tony Jennings and Wg Cdr 'Smokey' Schrader flew an armed recce, destroying a Fi 156, a Ju 87, a He 111 and a Bf 109, with another Ju 87 and a Ju 52 damaged. It was the 616’s most successful jet sortie.

In January 1945, four Meteor F 3 jets from 616 Squadron RAF were forward deployed to Melsbroek in Belgium. Forbidden from flying over German territory, it was hoped that they could draw the German Me 262 into combat.

@_Jyggalag_ There was a funny throwaway dialogue in War and Peace where a character was bragging that he as a general had once defeated the Germans in battle, to which his conversation partner replied that literally every power had defeated the Germans at some point.

Quiet, most militarily successful country in history. A nation that hasn't won a peer vs peer war since 1871 is talking.

@DefenceGeek @MATA_osint @JetPhotos @AUX_OSINT Why are they transfering carrier planes? Beefing up Ford/Lincoln's airgroup? Replacing them? Another reason?

UPDATE: Coronet East 052 - The Marines Try Again! #FreeIran‌ --- Operation EPIC FURY --- Looking to be slightly more successful today, a total of 12x F/A-18C "Hornet" jets reportedly from VMFA-312 "Checkerboards" are en-route across the Atlantic towards CENTCOM. They are: Cell 1 KC-46A "ADOBE31" 21-46091 #AE63C7 (from KWRI) KC-46A "ADOBE32" 17-46027 #AE5E08 (from LPLA) F/A-18C "TABOR21" ? F/A-18C "TABOR22" ? F/A-18C "TABOR23" ? F/A-18C "TABOR24" ? Cell 2 KC-46A "ADOBE41" 20-46079 #AE63BB (from KWRI) KC-46A "ADOBE42" 19-46108 #AF8444 (from LPLA) F/A-18C "TABOR31" ? F/A-18C "TABOR32" ? F/A-18C "TABOR33" ? F/A-18C "TABOR34" ? Cell 3 KC-46A "ADOBE51" 21-46092 #AE63C8 (from KWRI) KC-46A "ADOBE52" 20-46075 #AE63B7 (from LPLA) F/A-18C "TABOR41" ? F/A-18C "TABOR42" ? F/A-18C "TABOR43" ? F/A-18C "TABOR44" ? Photo via @JetPhotos @MATA_osint

@AlexAlmeida2020 How do you rate Barbara Tuchman?

Once upon a time there were serious historians of the first rank who were also superb prose stylists. There are some of my favorites. The gulf with anything published in the last twenty years is immense. How far we've fallen.

@TallGlenn85 @TBrit90 Someone has to watch russia while everyone else is in hormuz.

@TBrit90 Should they not be looking at deploying to the Strait of Hormuz if Starmer was so serious about making it safe for shipping ?

Duncan due to deploy next month with HMS Prince of Wales to the US/Atlantic & Arctic.

@TomSharpe134 @SimonMDLord @BO3673 What if they are placed on top of the mountains on the iranian side? Is it a range or fidelity issue?

@SimonMDLord @S1epanS @BO3673 Not if you’re hard up against the islands. Many radars, especially cheaper ones and especially there where radar conditions are often poor, don’t fare well in that zone (and not at all over land).

Thoughts on the not strait Strait overnight Numbers now straight back to single figures with both blockades/control mechanisms now back in force. Looks like c.6 made it out last night under Irans control. A few more tried but turned around under US warning - not clear how many. Yesterday afternoon, four cruise liners escaped using deceptive AIS, heading for Oman’s inshore traffic zone (ITZ) and then hugging the Musandam Peninsula (Oman’s northern tip). UKMTO reports that one of them saw splashes nearby - possible strike attempt. This is absolutely not a commercial solution, in fact it’s madness really, but it does raise some interesting points: ➡️Iran’s SA in the strait is not watertight (it used to be) ➡️Hugging the coast like that makes missile targeting harder as their targeting radars and missile seeker heads (if relevant) get back-scatter from the rocks ➡️Having said that, Iran’s targeting and missile accuracy clearly v poor in this case. ➡️It would not be difficult to pre-position a few armed & disguised fast skiffs down there to prevent this from happening again ➡️The channel there is quite deep ➡️No mines (in the ITZ) ➡️Under normal conditions, Oman would spot you and call you up if you tried this. They were either aware (which will rile Iran) or worked it out and kept quiet. Overall, with IRGC leadership seemingly consolidating their leadership position, the likelihood of Iran releasing control of the Strait just now seems slim. It’s not yet clear if the US blockade is causing sufficient pain to become a decent negotiating lever. However…there are some major US ship movements to note: ➡️USS Ford strike group has transited Suez and now operating in the Red Sea again ➡️The USS George HW Bush strike group is heading to the GOO having routed round the Cape (not via Suez) ➡️The USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (with the 11th MEU embarked) continues to close the GOO. Potentially all three of these groups could arrive at the end of this month to join the Lincoln Strike Group and Tripoli ARG that are already there. This number of ships, destroyers, aircraft, marines and submarines all in the GOO would give CENTCOM significant escalation options come 22 Apr and the end of the ceasefire.

@TomSharpe134 @BO3673 I stand corrected.

@S1epanS @BO3673 Nah it’s deep there

@BO3673 @TomSharpe134 Draft is too shallow to stick close to the coast to my understanding

@TomSharpe134 Was wondering if you could hug Oman to protect. Assume this would dramatically reduce traffic but might be something rather than nothing. But I guess nobody is going to do it consistently until it’s safer than now