War with Iran!

 U.S. Power, will be Underminded?

What Iran has is a long arms of International terrorism, that will see the sons of Trump recovered in barrels of oil in Mari Largo, if the one or the other slips up in the next few days!

The U.S. has better manpower and training for their systems to work, but politically Trump has no concern for the deaths of the uprising, but rather he pull of a good deal on nuclear and access to their oil fields!

Iran will strike Israel, since it is obsessed with trying to wipe it out with their missile forces, but it is still unclear if Iran has a atomic weapon of some type and how many, since the U.S. strikes on Ferdow six months ago did not wipe out as Trump and his lies claim?

Much of everything else he claims is also lies and the cost of all this will hurt both Europe and the U.S. long term with reprisals and terror!

Vulnerability at Sea?

 Oil and gas tankers, hijacked and hit by Missiles!

With the current situation developing now between Iran and the U,S, revenge for the overnight attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities is putting the Hormuz strait and others in danger of being blocked and shipping lost, but revenge may come in the loss of aircraft and British interest as much in the region, if not in our own lands?

Shipping is large and hard to protect, this has been seen in the Red and Arabian seas already with the Houthis and earlier by Somali pirates, but now Iran has long range tentacles and they will use them to cause economic disaster on the world markets, if they want too with loss of life and limb!

Security guards will not be able to deal with missile attacks, they can prevent hijacking and maybe take down a few drones, arming ships with anti-aircraft weapons would make them military vessels and not civilian?

U.S. Aircraft Carrier hit in Red Sea!

 Trusted Russian media Reports?

Was this the last straw for Joe Biden, when the Houthis had the nerve to strike a U.S. carrier with two ballistic missiles in the northern part of the red sea and strike several other warships putting them out of temporary action!

The Carrier has returned to a undisclosed place for repairs and it is not clear if it has been replaced by another, it would seem that the U.S. defense systems was not able to cope with multiple forms of attack at the same time, so we now know that the U.S. navy is vulnerable at sea?

Apart from holes in the deck of the carrier we do not know how many aircraft, helicopters were lost of damages and how many crew were killed or injured, since when things go bad for the U.S. they refuse to release any information, but with this lack in basic security it is worrying time for the incoming Trump administration that they are weak on many fronts!

Boeing Demise?

Boeing 737-MAX.

Boeing had started to replace several of its older types of aircraft such as the 757, 767, first generation 777 and the long time workhorse of the manufacturer the 737 generation in the hope that the newer Max series would lead the filed along with the 787-10 and 777X!

But two accidents earlier this year scuppered that plan and even the 747-400/8 is still in demand from the second had market. Technical issues with the new computers keep failing with serious glitches and other problems are coming to the fore with the 777X which was to be the 747 replacement?

But Boeing will pull through since it has a large overtake stake in the Brazilian Embraer company and its new business jet developments and various military exploits involving Israel!

Ordinance. Part-Two.

Robots.

Humans will still be needed for some types of devices as was seen during the Belgium-Brussels aftermarth. But it is the Robots now that can take on without casualties the disable suicide bombers in Israel and the Middel-East, while dealing with unstable improvised devices here in the west from Great-Britain to the United States.

The fact is that most of these machines are similar in purpose and design, based on a four wheel chassis and having several remote arms for opening, cutting and also a variety of cameras, with their battery power pack. 

They can operate are various distances and this with many other things will remain secret in light of ISIL and other deadly International terrorist groupings.

Ordinance. Part-One.

and bomb Disposal.

This is a specialist field within all armed forces, para-military police and even the smallest nations who just have a police force. Many overlook this area and yet it is one half of two sides, the other being demolition or sabotage units.

The quartermaster in those James Bond movies is nothing more than a demolitions expert, all glossed up with his new super toys?

We are hearing much at this time in Europe in connection with the need of the bomb disposal units, but they are active to in all areas of conflict having to deal with pipe-bombs or IED's. many fantastic robotic vehicles that are much more effective in disarming the timing and triggers,

All this experience came at the cost of many men in N-Ireland, Spain and Israel who had to slowly painstakingly work their way up to these at times complex devices. 

Ordnance have been around for some time and this series will look into the different vehicles deployed from the past to the present.

Underwater Transport.

1960's Concepts.

Since these ideas of using civilian submarines in the 1960's no progress has at yet been made to bring anything outside the tourism industry to fruition. Australia and Israel are perhaps only two countries in the world to see the value of using submarines to view coral reefs and low level sea plains.

It is either the financial viability, costs and safety that has blocked the serious alternative to surface shipping. It would seem that the Submarine is to remain for some time yet the preserve of the military and Navies of the globe.

The advantages of not having to cope with rough seas and the probability of better speed to deliver goods has it would seem been placed on the sidelines of conventuality. 

But perhaps with the need to cut down of fossil fuels and carbon emissions the day of submersed travel might in this century be not far away?

The BTR-60 APC.

'Were rocking all over the world.'

Soviet Russia spread its socialist philosphy with trade and military hardware, just as much as the united States and many other countries do so today. One of the biggest exports outside military jets, was the assortment of ground vehicles and the APC's on offer.

Many countries that could not buy aircraft or ships, went for vehicles instead, apart from Tanks. Today we see the situations of conflicts around the world, from the Middle-East to Afghanistan, to the Uraine to Libya in North-Africa and we see that familiar eight wheel APC, the BTR-60 still active in successfully moving troops about.

The BTR-60 started life in 1961 and was an advanced development and replacement for the BTR-152 APC. It was fully amphibious, carried a crew of two and 14 troops. Today there are so many versions available, that it would be immpossible to account for all of them here. 

Speed is around 48 mph and range around 350 miles, but with improved engines this has probably improved since the fall of the Soviet Union. The vehicle has been built under licence in Romania as the TAB-70, also in India and China. While several adapted vehicles were re-built from it in the middle-east and in Israel.

Modern Trams and Metros. Part-One.

Improved Technology.

Modern trams and the various other light rail systems today are a far cry from say seventy years ago. These newer systems and machines have better design and layout, but that is to be expected. We can only learn to improve by experience, trail and error in anything.

The computer, battery technology and design for capacity layout has been a great advantage. Speed and comfort are also improved considerations, employed in some countries with security measures.

The building of town extensions, new town has forced planners to improve the use of both the metro and tram to go to the best pic up and dropping points for both day and night use.

The RBY Family.

Israeli Combat Vehicles.

This is the week before Easter a Christian affair with its roots in the land of Israel. Israel since its establishment as a state over 65 years-ago has had to defend itself from all of its neighbours and several other further afield hostile Islamic nations.

Initially the Israelis converted captured and world war-II vehicles and tanks to various other vehicles for minelaying, engineering and recovery types. Despite the united States being the largest and main supplier of technology, gaps in the field remained.

In the 1970's Israel developed a multi-task vehicle system known as the RBY Mk.1 Armed Reconnaissance Vehicle.  it was a low height armoured personnel carrier capable of carrying 2+6 and there were several other variants made available Recoilless rifles and anti-aircraft guns.

The vehicles were really designed to cope with the terrain in the region and be a fill in to larger vehicles. They also played their part in the border police role and anti-terrorism. 

Spain has supplied jeep types to Israel to supplement the RBY roles and then in the 1990's many British Land rovers were supplied for this role also and known as the Dav'id.

ROBOTS. Part-One.

For Warfare.

Science fiction and reality is now becoming part of everyday living, or dying in relation to warfare.The drone/UAV has been around for sometime, but since the 1970's and Israel's needs, many nations such as the US and Great Britain have followed with their own versions. Russia was actually the first to develop this type of platform.

But we have robotic aircraft, naval and army systems now controlling a whole host of devices, from artillery fire control and targetting to the bomb disposal robots. 

Remote controlled aircraft perhaps will eventuality lead to both tanks and ships, if they do not already exist in secret.

The Asimo robot and its counterparts may be the robotic soldiers of the future?  What will define robotics, will be the development of self thinking machines and that may be our downfall?

Drones.

Pilot less Aircraft.

The drone was chiefly developed by Israel for reconnaissance missions in hostile territory, such as South-Lebanon. IAI developed a series of drones, the Ranger and Scout which could be launched from a mobile unit using a small air strip. 

Israel also worked on the now abandoned helicopter drone Helistar. but it is the U.S. who have gone one step further and have invented a plethora of types. The Predator is probably the most well known of them, some of this is shared with the cruise missile computerization.

Drones are far cheaper and safer than risking the lives of aircrew in a hostile environment. Civilian casualties will always remain a factor in war of any kind.

UAV...

Unmanned Ariel Vehicle.

The history of this type of aircraft, began in World-War-II (1939-45) when Nazi-Germany under the Dictatorship of Adolf Hitler demanded a series of vengeance weapons to be designed and built in secret if all else failed in his Axis conflict. It was the Von Braun (designer of the U.S. Saturn rocket and the Space shuttle) team who initially came up with the V-1 flying bomb (known in the UK as the doodle bug). 

After the war in 1945 both Russia and the U.S. made a mad race to capture as much German technology, and so work started on the modern family of unmanned aircraft we today see being deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan to take out militant and terrorist strongholds.

Israel over the years has built up its series of unmanned aircraft in it Scout and rangers, which much smaller than the U.S. counterparts but do the same jobs. This technology in combination with satellite guidance, saves troops on the ground, but it also has been adopted into civil aircraft flight systems, the various space programmes, Mar's lander's and the ISS.

Aircraft Carriers. Part-Two.

Many of the worlds developing navies have sought over the years to top off their fleets with an aircraft carrier. They believe that it is an essential part of any advanced navy to have such a vessel in service. The aircraft carrier could then be described as a sea naval air power system, giving that nation an great advantage over the lesser. But is that really true? 

Israel has one of the most sophisticated and advanced navies in the world, yet it has no need of a sitting duck.

Many nations have sought to build dedicated carriers just for V/STOL aircraft and helicopters, even now the U.S. Navy is starting to think on those lines, with its Wasp class. 

The development of the Boeing-Bell OV-22 Osprey has lead to a much improved delivery system?