DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ US vs. Chinese replenishment ships: The workhorses that keep aircraft carriers operating
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-10 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Yet for all their importance, their missions would be impossible if not for the US Navy's unsung workhorses: replenishment ships. But replenishment ships also form the weakest link in the chain of American and Chinese carrier groups. Chow Chung-yan/South China Morning Post via Getty ImageChina's replenishment shipsThe US Navy has over 100 years of experience building and operating replenishment ships. Ultimately, the Chinese opted to pursue a new design for its next replenishment ships: the Type 903-class oiler. China has the largest shipbuilding industry in the world, however, enabling it to quickly build more oilers and convert some of its merchant ships into replenishment ships.

Persons: —, Jason R, Henry J, Kaiser refuels, Kenan O'Connor, Kaiser, Lewis, Clark, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Cole Keller, John Lewis, Harvey Milk, Earl Warren —, USNS Robert F, Kennedy, Chow Chung, Michael Singley, Chaganhu, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, US, Supply, Military Sealift Command, US Navy, Military Sealift Command's Combat Logistics Force, MSC, FAS, USNS Supply, Navy, General Dynamics, USNS, General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, China Morning, Soviet Navy, NATO, USS Supply, Japanese Ministry of Defense, Sealift Command, Big, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Business, Modern, Institute Locations: China, Red, Getty, Ukraine, Gulf, Aden, Shandong, Taiwan, Guam, South China, Pacific, USNS Pecos, Israel, Iran, West

☆ USS White River: How the US Navy transformed a landing vessel into a legendary rocket artillery ship
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-14 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Rather than building an entirely new vessel, it was decided to modify medium-sized landing ships (classified as LSMs for 'Landing Ship Medium'). Officially renamed USS White River in 1955, the ship was decommissioned again in 1956. A day after that, White River fired on a nearby VC anti-aircraft site, destroying it and killing or wounding 11 guerillas. Winstead/National ArchivesFuture shore bombardment and LSMsDespite its value and firepower, by 1970, White River was showing its age. Now known as the Medium Landing Ship program, the Navy hopes to acquire 18 to 35 of the vessels.

Persons: —, White, Cmdr, Roy E, McCoy, Chris Page, we'd, R.E, Winstead, USS Zumwalt, hasn't, they're, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, US Defense Department, Business, Navy, US Navy, USS, National Archives ', Archives, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Pacific Fleet, Pacific Reserve Fleet, South Vietnamese Army, Archives Future, Naval, AGS, Marine Corps, Operations, Corps, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Ukraine, White, beachheads, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Plaines, California, Japan, LSMR, Ch'o, Korean, San Diego, Vietnam, South, Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, Cambodian, Gulf, Thailand, Delta, Viet, Quảng Ngãi, Phuoc Tuy Province, Missouri, West

☆ America's X-37B vs. China's Shenlong: Top space planes and their shadowy role in orbital war
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Jeremy Webster/US Air ForceX-37BA space plane is a reusable spacefaring craft that can maneuver in space independently and also fly and glide within Earth's atmosphere. The most well-known space planes are the American Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran. The program is surrounded in such extreme secrecy that there are no known images of the space plane in its current form. Though the exact start date is unknown, academic models of a Chinese space plane were reported as far back as 2000. AdvertisementOne of the most impactful possible uses of the space planes is as anti-satellite assets.

Persons: —, Jeremy Webster, NASA's, Timothy Kirchner, NASA foresees, Wang Jiangbo, Paul Hennessy, NurPhoto, Shenlong, spaceplanes, Nick Hague, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Business, Kennedy Space Center, Landing, US Air Force, American Space Shuttle, Soviet, Space Shuttle, NASA, Boeing, US Defense Department, Defense, Research Projects Agency, DARPA, United States Air Force Space Command, Orbital, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Atlas V, U.S . Space Force, . Air Force, Space Force, Force, Getty, Cape Canaveral Air Force, China Aerospace Science, Technology Corporation, US Department of Defense, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: United States, China, U.S, Xinhua, US, India, Russia, West

☆ Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gets powerful ships to confront adversaries well beyond the Persian Gulf
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Read previewIn the last three years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has commissioned hundreds of new vessels. AdvertisementThe Shahid Hassan Bagheri is one of three new Soleimani-class missile corvettes that are the most heavily armed warships in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's fleet. Despite being lightly armed, it has a record of harassing US vessels and civilian ships in the Persian Gulf. AdvertisementThree Soleimani-class corvettes, Shahid Soleimani, Shahid Hassan Bagheri, and Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, have been commissioned, while a fourth, Shahid Ra'is-Ali Delvari, is under construction. AdvertisementMahdavi will eventually be joined by another converted container ship, the Shahid Bagheri.

Persons: —, Shahid Hassan Bagheri, Morteza Nikoubazl, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Shahid Soleimani, Nazeri, Shahid Nazeri, SAMs, Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, Shahid Ra'is, Ali Delvari, Hassan Bagheri, Abu Mahdi al, Shahid, Alireza Tangsiri, Shahid Mahdavi, 400Y8DYPlr — Mehdi H, Shahid Roudaki, Roudaki, Mahdavi, Lewis B, Puller, Shahid Bagheri, Bagheri, Tangsiri, IRGCN, Ayatollah Khamenei, Nadimi, Saviz, Diego Garcia, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Business, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US, Quds Force, Guard, Southern Hemisphere, American, British, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Persian, Gulf of Oman, Hormuz, China, Russia, Taiwan, Norway, Yemen, Makran, Morteza, Israel, Lebanon, Hamas, Gaza, Syria, Mahdavi, West

☆ US vs. Chinese aircraft carriers: How the world's top flattops stack up
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Liaoning and ShandongAircraft carrier Liaoning set out for sea trials at Dalian shipyard with the help of tugboats. A J-15 fighter takes off from aircraft carrier Shandong during the combat readiness patrol and military exercises around Taiwan. Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford sails in the Adriatic Sea. China has no experience operating carrier catapults on its warships (though it did study carrier catapults when it purchased the decommissioned Australian carrier HMAS Melbourn from Canberra in 1985 under the guise of scrapping). AdvertisementChina's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, docks in Shanghai with a Chinese flag seen in the foreground.

Persons: —, Kuznetsov, Pu, Gerald R, Ford, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Smith, Jackson Adkins, John F, Kennedy, Doris Miller, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Jacob Mattingly, Li Gang, Timothy Heath, Heath, China's, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, US Navy, Business, Shandong Aircraft, Getty, People's Liberation Army Navy, Getty Images Fujian, EA, Jiangnan Shipyard, Getty Images, PLAN, Xinhua News Agency, Nimitz, Ford, Aircraft, Greyhound, Navy, Carrier, USS Enterprise, Pacific Fleet, Shandong, RAND Corporation, US, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Shanghai, Fujian, China, China's, Liaoning, Dalian, Shandong, Soviet, Ukraine, Taiwan, Xinhua, Getty Images China, George H.W ., Adriatic, Melbourn, Canberra, Sanya, Hainan Province, West

☆ The US secretly sent communist-friendly Coca-Cola to a Soviet general in a bid to maintain good ties across the Iron Curtain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewAs World War II ended and the Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe, relations deteriorated between the Soviet Union and its Western allies. Zhukov had developed an intense liking for Coca-Cola, a drink now illegal in the Soviet Union. PH/Sherman Montrose ACMECoca-Cola's steadfast support for the Allied war effort helped make it both distinctly American and recognizable worldwide. CORBIS/Corbis via Getty ImagesAt Zhukov's request, the new beverage wasn't put in the usual Coke bottles but instead in unmarked, straight-edged bottles. Its rival Pepsi eventually gained a virtual monopoly in the Soviet Union, which the Soviets maintained — once trading several warships for $3 billion worth of Pepsi — until 1985.

Persons: —, Georgy Zhukov, Zhukov, Truman, Robert Woodruff, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Bong, Henry, Hap, Arnold, Coke, Eisenhower, Getty Images Zhukov, Mark W, Clark, Harry Truman, James Farley, It's Organizations: Service, Soviet Union, Business, Sherman, Sherman Montrose ACME, US, US Army, Army Air Forces, Allied, Keystone, Getty Images, Cola Export Corporation, Getty, Cola, Pepsi Locations: Eastern Europe, Soviet, Soviet Union, Cassino, Italy, Sherman Montrose, North Africa, Coke, Montgomery, Frankfurt, Germany, France, American, Austria, Dehradun, India, Vienna, East

☆ China's latest supersonic spy drone looks a lot like the Lockheed D-21 that crashed there in 1971
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The aircraft, shaped like a dart and painted black, was a D-21 supersonic reconnaissance drone. Ultimately unsuccessful, the drone would be relegated to the annals of aviation history if not for the appearance of a strikingly similar Chinese drone unveiled at a recent military parade. AdvertisementThis is what we know about the high-flying Chinese spy drone and the D-21 upon which it could be based. High altitude, high speedLockheed's solution was to create an unmanned high-altitude high-speed reconnaissance aircraft with similar capabilities as the A-12, but much smaller. A WZ-8 reconnaissance drone is on display at the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition on September 28, 2021 in Zhuhai, China.

Persons: —, Francis Gary Powers, Dwight Eisenhower, Marquardt, Bill, Ray Torrick, Chen Xiao, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Air Force, 4200th Support Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Business, Lockheed Corporation, Soviet, White House, CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, Lockheed's, Works, Redesignated, Navy, US Air Force, Chinese Aviation Museum, Davis, Monthan Air Force Base, 13th China International Aviation, Aerospace, US National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency, 29th Air Regiment, People's Liberation Army Air Force's 10th Bomber, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Guam, China, Soviet Union, Soviet, Yunnan, Beijing, Tucson , Arizona, United States, Zhuhai, People's Republic of China, Liuan, Korean, Taiwan, Pacific, West

☆ Russia's hunted A-50 command planes are its eyes over Ukraine. Here's how it compares to the Boeing E-3 Sentry.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Ukraine's most significant aircraft kills in 2024 are two Russian A-50 command planes. AP PhotoThe MainstayAEW&C aircraft are aerial radar stations meant to detect and track enemy weapon systems — namely aircraft, missiles, and naval ships. An E-3 Sentry takes off at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in January 2024. Last November, the Russians threatened to destroy a French Air Force E-3 that was operating over the Black Sea in what a French military spokesman described as "a particularly aggressive radio exchange." AdvertisementLast year, the US Air Force announced that it had selected the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail as the E-3's intended replacement.

Persons: —, Tupolev, William R, Park Chung, hee, Anwar Sadat, Joseph Barron, hasn't, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Russian Aerospace Forces, Soviet Union, Machulishchy, State TV, Radio Company, AP, Western Allies, Beriev, Ilyushin, NATO, Nellis Air Force Base, US Air Force, System, Boeing, Air, Air Force, North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, Saudi, Royal Air Force, Control Force, NATO Air Base, U.S . Air Force KC, US Air Force Ukraine, Ukrainian Air Force, Allied, French Air Force, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Business, Modern, Institute Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Soviet, Minsk, Belarus, Ukrainian, USSR, China, India, Turkey, Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Syrian, Nevada, American, Latin America, South Korea, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, France, Chile, NATO, Germany, Europe, Azov, Russia, Poland, Romania, Australia, West

☆ Aircraft carriers aren't the Russian navy's only problem. It has also struggled for decades to build jets for them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russia's sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, has been out of action for years for repairs. AdvertisementIn July, Russian state media reported that Russia's sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, could return to active service by the end of 2024. AdvertisementYakovlev Yak-38A Yak-38 on the deck of a Soviet aircraft carrier in October 1985. Even the updated Yak-36M, with a longer range and double the payload, was underpowered compared to NATO carrier aircraft. At least four Yak-38s operated alongside other Soviet jets from a base in the country's southwest in 1980.

Persons: Admiral Kuznetsov, —, Kuznetsov, Yakovlev, Hawker, Su, Andrei Luzik, Gorhskov, ARUN SANKAR Organizations: Soviet, Service, Kuznetsov, US, Soviets, Hawker Siddeley, —, Minsk, US Navy, NATO, Getty, Indian Navy, Mikoyan, Russian, Vikrant, Getty Images, India's Locations: Moscow, Russia, Soviet, Kiev, Soviet Kiev, Afghanistan, India, Delhi, Syria

☆ An embarrassing Russian defeat a century ago is a warning about the risks of losing a war to China now, top US Air Force official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In May 1905, Russia's navy suffered a resounding defeat by the Japanese at the Battle of Tsushima. The battle is a lesson about complacency in the face of new threats, a top US Air Force official says. AdvertisementAdvertisementGreat-power competitionJapanese soldiers relieve Russian troops in an outer fort at Port Arthur after the Russian surrender in 1905. Proctor via Wikimedia Commons"The Battle of Tsushima Straits did not go well for Russia," Kendall, a self-proclaimed history buff, said at the conference. If our power-projection capability and capacity are not adequate to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan or elsewhere, war could occur," Kendall said.

Persons: —, Frank Kendall, Kendall, aren't, George Rinhart, Port Arthur —, Korea's, Shigetada Seki, Port Arthur, Oriol, Tsushima, Oleg, Proctor, Theodore Roosevelt Organizations: Russia's, Russo, US Air Force, Service, Air Force, Air and Space Forces Association, Getty, Imperial, Siberian Railway, Asahi, Wikimedia, Imperial Japanese Navy, Russian, Baltic Fleet, 2nd Pacific Squadron, Wikimedia Commons, Mukden, Japanese Defense Ministry, US Defense Department Russia's Locations: Tsushima, Japanese, Asia, European, Imperial Japan, Imperial Russia, Pacific, Japan, Russia, China, Port, Europe, Korea, Dalian, Liaodong, Port Arthur, Tokyo, Russian Pacific, Chemulpo, Ulsan, Baltic, Russian, Vladivostok, Philippines, Madagascar, Manila Bay, Shandong, Okinawa, US, Britain, Germany, Imperial Germany, South, Soviet Union, Manchuria, Taiwan

☆ A desperate Russia may be just what North Korea needs to finally update its ancient Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September on his first overseas trip since 2019. The visit was seen as Russia's attempt to secure North Korean support for Moscow's war in Ukraine. For North Korea, Russia's desperation may be a chance to get help upgrading its aging air force. Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air ForceSouth Korean troops guard a MiG-19 that a North Korean pilot used to defect in May 1996. KCNA via REUTERSGiven the North Korean air force's needs, it's easy to see Kim's visit as something of a prospective shopping trip.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, —, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Kim, Putin, CHOO YOUN, Antonov, Mikhail Japaridze, Kim's, Kim strode, Shoigu, Sergey Kobylash, Denis Manturov, Kim Jong Organizations: North, Service, Russian Defense, Vostochny, Amur Aircraft, Knevichi, Korean People's Army Air, Air Force South, MiG, Getty, Air Force, North Korean, Defense Intelligence Agency, DIA, KCNA, REUTERS, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, Korean, Russian, Moscow, Pyongyang, KONG, AFP, Soviet Union, China, Komsomolsk, Vladivostok, Japan, Korea

☆ Tank battles in Ukraine are putting several generations of 'crappy Russian armored vehicles' and their flaws on display
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementT-72s, T-80s, and T-90sUkrainians load a Russian T-72 onto a truck outside Izyum in September 2022. It also has a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun mounted in the hull and a 12.7mm heavy machine gun on the turret. AdvertisementAdvertisementUS soldiers examine a Ukrainian T-80 tank during an exercise in September 2014. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Danish instructor leads a Ukrainian tank crew and translators through training on a Leopard 1A5 in Germany in May. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Ukrainian Leopard 1 tank crew at a test site in Ukraine in September.

Persons: —, ANATOLII STEPANOV, ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO, Sean Gallup, Uralvagonzavod, Russia hasn't, Sven Creutzmann, Barry Posen, John Moore, Posen Organizations: Service, Getty, REUTERS, NATO, Soviet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, LB, Leopard 2A5, Royal United Services Institute, 47th Mechanized Brigade Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Soviet, Russian, Izyum, AFP, Moscow, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Syria, Poland, Soviet Union, Germany, Posen, Spain, Norway, Canada, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, British

☆ South Korea is working on an 'arsenal ship' in case it has to shower North Korea with missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

If completed, they would be the first arsenal ships ever built and would mark another accomplishment for South Korea's burgeoning defense industry. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe arsenal shipAn illustration of a possible arsenal ship published in the US Navy's All Hands magazine in May 1995. South Korean interestA North Korean Hwasong ICBM in March 2022. Given the number and types of missiles South Korea's arsenal ships would carry, they could be involved in all three axes — all while staying mobile. AdvertisementAdvertisementHanwha Ocean's arsenal shipFew details about South Korea's arsenal ship program have been released.

Persons: Shoup, Neil Mabini, Haeseong Organizations: South, North, Service, International Maritime Defense Industry, South Korean, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, US Navy, US, Russian Navy, Navy, RIM, MGM, Tactical Missile System, Air Force, Getty, Korea Air and Missile Defense, Korean, Daewoo Shipbuilding, Marine Engineering, Naval News, South Korea Defense Ministry, NUR Locations: North Korean, Wall, Silicon, South Korean, Busan, Soviet Union, Korean, Korea, Seoul, South Korea

☆ The British navy is teaming up with the US to build a new 'Dreadnought' for a totally different battle at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The British Royal Navy is building a new class of nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines. The British subs will have the same missile compartment as the US Navy's new missile subs. At-sea deterrentThe Royal Navy submarine HMS Dreadnought in April 1963. The Royal Navy plans to commission HMS Dreadnought sometime in the early 2030s. In addition to being the largest British subs ever, the Dreadnought class will be one of the most expensive defense projects in British history.

Persons: SSPL, Royce, Christopher Furlong, King George VI ., Valiant, Warspite Organizations: British Royal Navy, British, Service, HMS, Dreadnought, Royal, Royal Navy, Ministry of Defense, Submarine, Agency, BAE Systems, Royce, Vanguard, UK, US, Trident, Columbia, CMC, US Navy's Trident, BAE, MoD Locations: Wall, Silicon, Britain, Faslane, US Navy Ohio, British, Barrow, Furness

☆ Russia has been scrambling to find missiles to fire at Ukraine, but it's not going to run out of them
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russia has had to dig deep into its arsenal to find missiles to fire at targets in Ukraine. ReutersBy far, most missiles fired by Russia into Ukraine have been launched from aircraft — mainly Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160 bombers and Su-24 and Su-35 fighter-bombers. Other air-to-surface missiles used by Russia include the Kh-25, Kh-29, Kh-31, Kh-58, and Kh-59. Russia has also fired interceptor missiles from S-300 and S-400 air-defense batteries at targets in Ukraine. Remnants of Russian missiles and shells at a collection site in Kharkiv in December.

Persons: Ian Williams, Kinzhal, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Oleksii, Valentyna, Williams, Yan Dobronosov, Russia's Organizations: Service, Russian, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Army, Reuters, CSIS, Russia, AP, Getty, Kharkiv Regional, reallocating, Ukraine Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarus, Kyiv, Alexandra, Alexander Zemlianichenko Russian, Kharkiv, United States

☆ India and China are buying new tanks designed to fight on one of the world's highest battlefields
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Both countries are also investing in new light tanks designed for high altitudes and rough terrain. Consequently, India is planning to developing its own light tank to level the playing field. The Type 15A Type 15 tank on display at the Beijing Exhibition Center in October. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty ImagesChina has coped with these issues by deploying its Type 15 light tank, one of the few modern light tanks produced in the 21st century. India has tried on and off since 1983 to develop a new light tank but has never settled on a model.

Persons: —, NOEL CELIS, Arjuna, Ajay Aggarwal, hasn't, Danish Ismail, Narendra Modi's, Toubro, Zorawar Singh Organizations: Service, US Army, Bilderwelt, Beijing Exhibition Center, Getty Images, Abrams, Getty, Hindustan Times, Indian Ministry of Defense, REUTERS, Danish, India's Ministry of Defense, Larsen, Rolls Royce Locations: India, Bologna, China, Japan, Ladakh, AFP, Getty Images China, Russia, Western, People's Republic of China, New Delhi, Pakistan, Indian, Belgian

☆ British bombers pulled off a raid on the other side of the planet in the UK's first major conflict since World War II
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

So the British air force devised an ambitious but complex plan for long-range bomber raids. A daring planBritish troops surrender to Argentine forces in Port Stanley in April 1982. Logistical issuesAn RAF Vulcan bomber at Wideawake airfield on Ascension Island. The military airstrip at Port Stanley after a British air raid in May 1982. AftermathRoyal Marines with the Falkland Islands flag in Port Stanley after the Argentine surrender in June 1982.

Persons: —, Rafael WOLLMANN, Sir Michael Beetham, Beetham, Black Buck, Port Stanley, Victor, Martel, Buck, Vulcan, Eduardo Farre, Buck Six, Black Buck Seven, Steve Buckley, Japan's Organizations: Falklands, British, Service, British Royal Air Force, South Atlantic, Getty, RAF, Argentine, Port Stanley, Avro Vulcans, Handley, Avro Vulcan, Royal Air Force, Vulcans, Atlantic, US, Port, Ascension, Argentina's TPS, Vulcan, Harriers, TPS, REUTERS, Royal, Royal Navy Locations: Argentina, South, Falkland, Buenos Aires, British, Argentine, Port Stanley, Port, Ascension, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Iraq, Balkans, Afghanistan

☆ A failed US Navy experiment during World War II hinted at how exploding drones would change the battlefield 80 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Loitering munitions have become a staple on modern battlefields, especially in Ukraine. The technology is not new, and a US Navy experiment during World War II hinted at its utility. Loitering munitions and armed UAVs in general are often regarded as a 21st-century development, but they have a long history. During World War II, the US Navy was behind some of the first such drone strikes during an experiment that was ultimately scrapped but hinted at what was to come. Russian forces have used domestically made Lancet loitering munitions against Ukraine's military and employed Iranian-made Shahed-136 and 131 loitering munitions in attacks on military and civilian targets.

Persons: —, it's, Oleksii Organizations: US Navy, Service, Heritage Command, US, Interstate Aircraft, Company, Schwinn Bicycle Company, Navy, Interstate, Task Air, US Naval Heritage, Command, Getty Locations: Ukraine, Solomon Islands, Banika, Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal, Marcus, South Pacific, Bougainville, Solomons, Russian, Kyiv, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Soviet

☆ At the height of the Cold War, the US Navy used a historic round-the-world operation to show off its new nuclear force
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

On July 31, 1964, three US Navy ships set off on a mission to sail around the world. Construction began on USS Long Beach in 1957 and it entered service in 1961, becoming the world's first nuclear-powered surface warship. USS Bainbridge, front, and USS Long Beach sail behind USS Enterprise in 1964. USS Bainbridge sails behind USS Enterprise during Operation Sea Orbit in August 1964. Nuclear navyNuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers USS California, USS South Carolina, USS Virginia, USS Texas, USS Mississippi, and USS Arkansas in February 1981.

Persons: —, Bainbridge —, Bob Haswell, US Navy Long, SCANFAR, Bainbridge, Theodore Roosevelt's Great, Bernard Strean, USS Bainbridge, PH1 Anthony A, Alleyne Afterward, Strean, Nimitz, Admiral Nakhimov, Pyotr Velikiy Organizations: US Navy, Service, USS Enterprise, US, Daily, Nautilus, Navy, RIM, Long, Westinghouse, Enterprise, Fleet, Nuclear, USS Locations: Mallorca, Long, —, Bainbridge, Karachi, India, Indonesia, Australia, Fremantle, Long Beach, Melbourne, Sydney, USS, Wellington, Cape Horn, Rio de Janeiro, Charleston, Norfolk, Perth, San Juan, California, USS South Carolina, USS Virginia, USS Texas, USS Mississippi, USS Arkansas, Soviet, Kirov

☆ The Russian navy's biggest warships are becoming its biggest headaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ongoing problems with the Russian navy's biggest warships illustrate that trend. This seems most evident with Russia's largest surface warships: its Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers, Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy, and the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's sole aircraft carrier. Admiral Kuznetsov in a floating dry dock in a shipyard in Murmansk in August 2010. Other Russian navy sources quickly denied the report to another state media outlet. Izvestia has also reported that the Russian navy is reforming the Kuznetsov's crew, which was mostly disbanded when the ship began its refit.

☆ After a 35-year break, the US Navy is building frigates again, and it has a lot of catching up to do
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Fincantieri plans to lay the keel of that ship, USS Constellation, this August. It will be the US Navy's first frigate since the retirement of its last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in 2015. FrigatesUS Navy first-in-class frigate USS Oliver Hazard Perry in late 1977. Though not intended to operate alone against enemy capital ships, frigates are now primarily used to support destroyer squadrons and carrier battle groups by performing escort, anti-submarine, anti-air, and limited anti-surface missions. US Navy guided-missile frigate USS Curts in a dry dock at a shipyard in California in January 1982.

☆ The US Air Force has big plans for the next-generation drones that will fight alongside its fighters and bombers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's now developing collaborative combat aircraft, which can fight alongside piloted jets or on their own. A need for 'affordable mass'MQ-9s on a runway at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in April. Worse, the Air Force faces a pilot shortage and its overall number of flight hours has been decreasing. The Air Force also continues to develop top-tier assets like the F-35, the B-21 stealth bomber, and the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD. "Without it, it's very difficult to envision how we could keep the Air Force at the size it currently is."

☆ A 1960s-era cannon is 'kicking ass' against Russia's drones, but the country that makes ammo for it won't send more to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But Switzerland, where Gepard ammo is made, is not allowing more of that ammo to be sent to Ukraine. The Gepard SPAAGA German Gepard anti-aircraft tank during an exercise near Munster in June 2007. German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann built 570 Gepards between 1963 and 1980 — 420 for the German Bundeswehr, 95 for the Dutch army, and 55 for the Belgian army. Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty ImagesAfter being criticized for its reluctance to send heavy weaponry to Ukraine, the German government promised some 50 Gepards to Ukraine in April 2022. In February, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that German firm Rheinmetall would restart ammo production for the Gepard.

☆ A fighter plane designed for the US Navy during World War II was still taking down jet fighters over Vietnam 20 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was designed for the US Navy in the final years of World War II. The US Air Force and its South Vietnamese counterpart also began operating the plane that year. Navy Skyraider pilots even managed to down MiG-17 fighter jets on two occasions. By the end of the war, Air Force Skyraiders conducted more than 90,000 combat sorties, including more than 1,000 a month during the peak of the fighting. The last Air Force Skyraider mission was on November 7, 1972, and all of the service's remaining Skyraiders were transferred to the South Vietnamese air force in 1973.

☆ After 55 years in flight, the US Air Force is planning to keep its biggest plane in action for a few more decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Air Force said the material used to make the parts showed "promising results" and appeared "to be impervious to natural elements." The use of 3D parts could result in faster turnaround times and reduced costs for maintenance on the C-5, the largest aircraft in Air Force's inventory and the workhorse of US Air Force Air Mobility Command. The GalaxyThe C-5A Galaxy lifts off from the Dobbins Air Force Base for its maiden flight on June 30, 1968. The Air Force needed a single plane capable of carrying loads of over 150,000 pounds to distances over 3,000 miles. Development, upgrades, and futureA C-5 and other US Air Force aircraft during an air show at at Andrews Air Force Base in May 2007.

Search resuls for: "Benjamin Brimelow"

25 mentions found