Science and Technology
History rhymes
The old saw says that “History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” Popularly attributed to Mark Twain, the primary source of most American wisdom, it didn’t appear until long after his death and is not in any of his writings. But it makes sense, sort of like Harry Truman’s “the only new thing […]
More on the Midnight Hammer raid
I mentioned reading an article on Iranian concrete technology in the comments on the BDA column – here is some more on that subject. On Saturday, June 21, 2025, following a spate of unprecedented aerial attacks that Israel carried out against Iran just days before, the United States joined the war and used bunker-busting bombs […]
Kennedy’s MAHA release a bit embarrassing
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, JR released his much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report on May 22. The Secretary, who is on record against many immunizations, flouridated water, and quite a few other positions considered controversial, had promised a sort of roadmap to help the country’s children get healthier. Unfortunately, there were a few problems […]
Busy week for nomenclatureists?
Originally wanted to call this “Xes and Os” (no resemblance to the pudgy Schneider offspring*) but it turns out the Army doesn’t call all their prototypes by an X prefix. Ah well – I learned something. The Army has given its Future Long Range Assault Aircraft Bell V-280 (their equivalent to a CV-22 Osprey) the […]
Cheap missiles
We touched on this the other day – the Navy is doing yeoman’s work protecting the ships off Yemen from Houthi-launched Iranian (oh, that’s right, they deny any complicity) Houthi missiles. Damn fine work, but it is expensive. The missiles and drones they fire cost $50 grand, the missiles we fire back – well, […]
How do you kill a Drone? more
Well we talked about a few swat ’em systems yesterday – there are others, such as Emirates’ Halcon small missiles which claim to be able to take down drones, choppers, UAVs, etc. by integrating existing small rocket, and canister systems. There are even hunter-killer drones, such as the net-armed hunter-killers developed at Robins Air base […]
How do you kill a drone?
Yesterday we talked about how drones are become so effective they are forcing some armor, like tanks, back into a fire support role. So given that the now-ubiquitous drone is so effective – how do you fight them? We’re gonna look at that. Basically, as with any flying electronic device, if you can disrupt the […]
Drones and Motorcycles
Who knew the humble drone would transform the battlefield? We knew they were unmatched for surveys, photos, etc. but recent conflicts, especially the ongoing kerfluffle between Russia and Ukraine, have transformed their battlefield role from cute reconnaissance vehicle to – what? Seems like damn near anything they want to be. Just as a for-instance – […]
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