What you're seeing above is the TOW 2B Aero system, also known as the TOW 2B BGM-71F, being tested against a Russian T-72 tank. The results, as you can see, are devastating to the third-generation piece of heavy armor.

Unlike a RPG-7 (a rocket-propelled grenade), a TOW system is a lot heavier and little bit more complicated to use. With an RPG, you essentially point the tube at a target, pull the trigger, and hope that you've aimed correctly. Think of it as essentially a very large, very destructive bullet—no smarter, and even more difficult to aim (RPGs have trouble with crosswinds, making long-distance shots difficult—anything further than 300 meters is usually a crapshoot, even on a large target like heavy armor).

The TOW 2B Aero, commissioned by the U.S. Army in 2004, is particularly devastating. Not only it is effective out to 4,500 meters (compared to the, at the very, very outside, 500 meters for an RPG-7), the TOW 2B Aero uses "​fly-over, shoot-down" warheads.

In the video above, when watched in slow motion, you can see the missile actually passes a few feet over the tank before detonating, sending two warheads down onto the target. This explains why the explosion is so large (and why the turret gains enough upward velocity to flip completely off the tank).The TOW 2B saw some limited use by U.S. forces during the ground campaign in Iraq, but most recently it's been seen being used by opposition forces in Syria, as you can see this video (which, as a warning, does show actual combat footage). Regardless of where it's used, any piece of heavy armor in its vicinity is not safe.

The problem is that the tool Jamieson is referring to, called automated target detection or ATD, doesn’t really exist in any sort of ready-to-deploy form for individual soldiers. So, in partnership with Defense Research and Development Canada, Jamieson and the other researchers at CEL are tackling the research backwards — instead of testing new tech to see how soldiers respond, they’re testing soldiers to understand what they need out of new tech.

Basically, ATD relies on computer vision to process information about the scene surrounding a soldier and provide live feedback about targets in the area. But while many approaches to this task have been proposed over the years including laser radar, deep learning and infrared imaging, the work has been met with limited success. Getting a computer to parse a busy scene with noisy data is hard, especially when you need enough accuracy to justify pulling the trigger, and in the blink of an eye.

Difficult-to-identify targets fly across the screen as the soldier looks down a modified rifle, with a heads-up-display projected inside the sight. The soldier sees yellow boxes around some of the objects in the scene — but not all — to indicate that the hypothetical ATD system has identified a target. The researchers “bias” the system to detect friendlies more readily than enemies, thus helping the soldier make a decision about whether a friend or foe has been targeted.

The Globemaster's destination was a storage facility in San Antonio, where it will be delivered to the Qatar air force. Breaking down the numbers, Boeing said it has delivered 223 C-17s to to the U.S. Air Force and 48 to international customers Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, India and NATO.

‎Total delivered so far: 271. Four are still in storage and expected to be delivered to Qatar in 2016.

"This is truly the end of an era," said Nan Bouchard, Boeing's top C-17 executive, in a statement. "It's a sad day, but one that all of the Boeing employees and suppliers who have worked over the years building this great aircraft can be proud of."

The end of production comes as Boeing plans to shut its Long Beach factory, which employed 2,200 workers. Not all will be losing their jobs. Many are retiring or transferring to other facilities. It's just the latest blow to California's aviation industry, which has been losing jobs for decades.

US experts are reconstructing and equipping a desolate airport special to carrying agricultural products in the region controlled by the Kurdish forces in Hasaka region, Northeastern Syria, to turn it into a military base.

The Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday that a number of US experts have entered the region since 50 days ago to develop and prepare the runways with 2,500m length and 250m width to be used by fighter jets.

Abu Hajar airport which has not been used since 2010 is located in Tal al-Hajar region in the Eastern countryside of Hasaka which is controlled by the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG).

The UK used the so-called mixed pairs, consisting of a Panavia Tornado and a Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, during the 2011 aerial campaign in Libya.

​The Typhoon, a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter, is a more advanced aircraft but it has limited ground attack capabilities, while the Tornado twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft is outfitted with main attack missiles in the UK's arsenal. The Typhoons are also more agile and better suited for air defense.

From now on the RAF Tornados and Typhoons, based at the British military base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, will "fly within sight of each other," Gilligan wrote for the Telegraph, although the UK's Ministry of Defense did not explicitly confirm this in its latest press release.

​"The RAF Tornado and Reaper aircraft that have been conducting air strikes against Daesh have now been reinforced by a detachment of Typhoon fighters. … The deployment of the Typhoons plus an extra two Tornados offers a significant increase in strike capacity to both the RAF component and the wider coalition air campaign," the UK defense agency said.

A crack team from the SAS tracked down IS executioner Jihadi John and called in the air strike that killed him in Syria, it can be revealed today.

Until now the top-secret operation to eliminate the masked British extremist – who beheaded UK hostages Alan Henning and David Haines – was thought to have been conducted entirely from the air without any Western troops.

But The Mail on Sunday has learned that the perilous plan depended on a team of eight men from the Special Forces regiment risking their lives to penetrate deep inside the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

Eight SAS soldiers sneaked to within five miles of ISIS's de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria and from there, they flew four 'nano helicopters' fitted with cameras that spied on Jihadi John.

And the secret weapon used to identify Jihadi John was a 1lb helicopter drone launched by the soldiers.

The daring mission began in darkness on November 11 when two US Chinook helicopters skimmed low across the Syrian desert to land at an isolated spot.

Avoiding all roads, the team of soldiers drove in desert buggies 35 miles south towards Raqqa. At about 3am, they 'dug in' five miles outside the city, where they remained undetected.

The following evening, while the rest of the team were on lookout, one man assembled four 3ft nano-helicopters with infrared and night-vision cameras in the nose. They were pre-programmed to fly to Jihadi John's hideout – a six-storey building in Raqqa.

The first drone set off towards its target, then entered 'hover and stare' mode, recording the movements of IS suspects at a building near the Sharksa mosque.

It beamed footage by satellite back to SAS HQ in Hereford and the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar.

Philippine Army nearing goal of becoming 'world-class'

Published December 6, 2015 3:13pm
The Philippine Army may reach its goal of becoming "world-class" by 2016, with the purchase of night fighting system (NFS) and force protection equipment.

Philippine Army spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said that they are expecting additional R4 rifles to be delivered by next year, along with other force protection equipment, including helmets.

Hao added that they are also expecting the acquisition of P1.1 billion worth of night fighting systems (NFS) by next year.

"Ang night system na worth P1.1 billion is part of the Philippine Army’s modernization program. Ito yung first horizon ticket namin... kasama ito dun sa aming vision na maging an armed forces, a respectable armed forces in Southeast Asia," he said.

He added: "With these fighting system iyong capability namin sa night-fighting mag-i-improve na so by next year with these equipment medyo malapit na naming ma-reach iyong mga goals namin."

The Department of National Defense has opened the bidding for the delivery of 4,464 sets of brand new NFS.

Hao said that included in the NFS are night-vision goggles and infrared aiming device.

"Our ability to fight during night time, definitely mag-e-enhance," he added.

Hao said that by the delivery of the new NFS, they will be able to complete the whole Philippine Army with better night fighting equipment.

He said that some units, including the Light Reaction Company, Light Reaction Battalion, the Special Forces and Scout Rangers, are already equipped with NFS. —ALG, GMA News

didnt know the whole army of phil is only about 4k+ pipul 

The data obtained from monitoring the F-22 flying combat missions could be used to "[improve] tracking algorithms, air defense capabilities, and [enhance] the understanding of coalition weapons that are engaging in close air support and precision air strikes," Matisek asserted.

The US, according to the US pilot, should reconsider using advanced weapons in its campaign to eliminate Daesh. Keeping F-22 characteristics a secret should take priority over other considerations.

It's not only about the stealth air superiority fighter, the US should refrain from using any advanced avionics. Otherwise, he maintains, Moscow will not miss a chance to observe, collect and adjust its own weapons and strategies accordingly.

The bomber groups were traveling within China’s extensive Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, which Beijing declared in December of 2013. Aircraft are required to submit flight plans and reply to Chinese identification inquiries within the ADIZ, which does not represent a claim of sovereign airspace. Still, the ADIZ was controversial because of its proximity to disputed islands and natural gas fields, as well as the totally unilateral nature of the ADIZ’s creation.

The eight bombers split into two groups of four bombers each west of the Japanese island of Okinawa, which is home to a large US Marine base. One group of bombers then flew over the Miyako Strait, a body of water near the Japanese island of Miyakojima, before proceeding some some 620 miles (1000 KM) into the Western Pacific.

The flight path put the aircraft within Japan’s own ADIZ, after which the four bombers flew into the general area of what’s known in Chinese strategic parlance as the “Second Island Chain:” the string of Pacific islands, including the US territories of the Mariana Islands and Guam, lying beyond the so-called “First Island Chain,” which consists of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and Japan:

A Complex Solution To A Complex Problem

America’s unique electronic warfare and radar suppression abilities includes the Growler, but also many other platforms and ancillary capabilities as well. This complex ecosystem of weaponry and sensors includes various surveillance aircraft, hacking and cyber warfare abilities, active suppression of enemy air defenses tactics and weaponry, along with low-observable aircraft and long-range “standoff” munitions. The last two are especially potent when combined together and electronic warfare support is added.
Firing long-range low observable (stealthy) weaponry from even a non-stealthy aircraft gives enough stand-off distance to begin taking out an enemy’s known air defenses at a safe distance today, the S-400 included in most cases. When a stealthy launch platform is used instead, you can use more plentiful weapons with less range as that stealth aircraft can get closer to the air defenses being targeted than their non-stealthy brethren can.
For instance, an F-16 may be able to get well within JASSM missile range of an advanced SAM site while an F-35 could get within the outer-edge of Small Diameter Bomb range. When you add jamming support, these ranges decrease by a noticeable margin, depending on what tactics are used and what the capacity available is to employ those tactics. The problem is that against an advanced foe, you’re not going up against a single SAM site or radar, but a full constellation of systems that includes aerial assets, just like the advanced integrated air defense system we discussed before.

That is why “brochure comparisons” of systems is nearly useless for such complex military topics. In real life, the Growler does not take on the S-400 alone, and visa-versa.
An advanced IADS including the S-400 in it will likely feature increased detection ranges against stealthy and non-stealthy aircraft alike. It will also make jamming more problematic, and could mean blinding even a portion of that network is much tougher due to multiple layers of redundant air defenses tied together. This is where cyber warfare and pinpoint strikes based on multiple sources of intelligence can be more effective than jamming or going after the surface-to-air missiles and sensors themselves. For instance, taking out the IADS’ “brains,” locations where the sensor fusion occurs, or striking the system’s communications channels.

As IADS sensor and fusion capabilities advances and as surface-to-air missile ranges increase, it may be necessary to use stealthy long-range networked weapons, long-range stealthy aircraft and all the other tactics we mentioned, including standoff jamming, in order to begin to degrade and eventually destroy an advanced air defense system. Additionally, this may be necessary due to other area-denial and anti-access capabilities the enemy possesses.

For instance, if a carrier cannot get within 1,500 miles of an enemy’s shores, its aircraft will be incapable of striking targets. Bases within range of ballisitc missile barrages may also be destroyed.
As the cumulative effects of these “first days of war” standoff strikes take hold, the IADS should begin to buckle, and parts of this deadly air defense killing cocktail can be omitted. For instance, instead of using long-range stealthy aircraft to launch long-range stealthy missiles, stealthy fighters can be used to launch medium-range weaponry as their tankers can operate close enough to enemy airspace in order for them to be effective.
Meanwhile, long-range non-stealthy aircraft can begin launching long-range weapons, which frees up stealthy long-range aircraft to begin pushing over or near the enemy’s shores for direct attacks. Systems like Miniaturee Air Launched Decoys can be used along with strike assets to push deeper into an enemy’s territory, wiping out its air defenses along the way.

As time goes on, a “sanitized” corridor should emerge over enemy airspace, where less complex tactics can be applied and at higher sortie rates. For instance, fighter strikes can be flown with electronic warfare and wild weasel support, without the need for standoff weaponry, or in some cases, without stealthy aircraft at all.
In other words, it takes a complex cocktail of jamming, surveillance and attack assets, both kinetic and non-kinetic, to take on any advanced integrated air defense system, of which the S-400 could be a part. And even then, you degrade and eventually destroy the enemy’s air defense in a very throughout and methodical manner.
So although it is an incredibly capable and critical weapon system, those who say the EA-18G Growler—or any other single weapon system for that matter—is some panacea for modern air defense systems are greatly simplifying a complex solution to a very complex problem.