In my opinion, armed UAVs have pretty much took over the light strike/reconnaissance airplane role. UAVs have tons more advantages in that role than a piloted plane. Any country that could afford UAVs has really no reason to go back to manned planes in that role.



This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 10 2015, 08:54 AM

Azerbaijan army tanks launch artillery strike at disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh



Azerbaijani tanks on Wednesday shelled positions in the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region for the first time in more than 20 years, the rebel defence ministry said, as Armenia arrested a former army officer accused of spying for its archfoe.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh territory in the 1990s before reaching a tenuous ceasefire in 1994 but they have not signed a peace deal and clashes erupt regularly.

The ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan enjoys the backing of the Armenian authorities.

"For the first time since the ceasefire, Azerbaijan has used tanks on the Karabakh frontline," killing one soldier, the rebel defence ministry said in a statement.

"Some 1,500 shots were fired from tanks and grenade-launchers," the statement added.

Azerbaijan offered a different version of events, saying Armenia had fired mortar rounds at settlements in Azerbaijan.

The defence ministry in Baku warned it would launch retaliatory strikes on "enemy" army positions in Nagorny Karabakh, close to the frontier.

"The regime in Armenia bears responsibility for all of this," Azerbaijan's defence ministry said in a statement.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 10 2015, 10:57 AM

Why would you want to buy military rations? They generally taste bad and not very appetizing. If you want to build some kind of emergency rations or go on a hike, it's better to mix and match your own custom rations from commercial food items. There's a lot of cheap canned or packed foods that are better tasting in Tesco or Giant and you can choose what kind and how much food you want to pack. Just put them in plastic bags and use a heat sealer to make them waterproof.

Personally I hate military rations. If in some emergency situation I guess it's ok, but I'd normally stay away from the stuff.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 10 2015, 03:38 PM

I find hardtack more edible when they are put into hot drinks like Milo or coffee and they turn into a kind of porridge. If not you can literally pop a tooth eating them in biscuit form.

You could simply make them yourself. The ingredients are pretty basic and it's not that hard to prepare if you have an oven.

4-5 cups of flour

2 cups of water

2 tablespoon of margarine

3 tsp. of salt

Mix the ingredients together, and make sure the mixture is fairly dry. Then roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness, and shape it into a rectangle. Cut it into 3×3 inch squares, and poke holes in both sides. Place on an un-greased cookie or baking sheet, and cook for 30 minutes per side at 375˚ (or 350˚ if you have a convection oven).

When they're done, just put them out in the sun & let them dry and harden for a few days. When it has the consistency of a brick, then they're ready. Then simply store in an airtight container or bucket. Should last about a year, plus no added preservatives!



This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 10 2015, 04:49 PM

US dumping old APCs at the Philippines. These M113 APCs are so old and outdated their aluminium armor can't even resist 7.62mm rounds.

If going on day hiking trips or weekend camping I think you can get away bring something more tasty and filling than dried food. Bring some fresh food like fruits or something you can cook. Armies intentionally have their rations long-lasting so that can be stored in warehouse for a long time, not for them to last on the field. A soldier can only bring so many ration packs.

Also downside of food that last a long time is most of them taste real bad or over-preserved.

You can outfit UAVs with whatever you want, as long as the pylon fits and the ordnance weight is within limits. I have seen UAVs fitted with everything from 20mm cannon pods, unguided rockets and up to 2,000 laser-guided bombs. They are usually armed with guided missiles because they are on a precision strike missions.

There's also nothing wrong with a UAV's visual system. The UAVs cameras fitted are very powerful electro-optical equipment (popularly cited as able to zoom onto a beer crate from 60,000 feet in the air). They cameras also have IR and thermal seekers, far better than than trying to spot ground targets with pilot eyes alone. The cameras are also able to pivot over the entire 180 degree coverage underneath the UAV, which in the main duty of seeking ground targets.

There's also the phenomenal loiter time of UAVs, especially the larger ones like MQ-9 Reaper which can remain on patrol for a maximum of 14 hours. Even if the pilots are exhausted, a relief crew can replace them at the control module at base. UAVs can also be set on autopilot on a series of rally points to patrol a given geographical area.

The main problem of UAVs nowadays are the doctrine in which they are used, not the capabilities of the UAVs themselves.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 15 2015, 12:18 PM

I don't understand what you mean by this 'benefit of doubt'?

I wonder if CH-4 has operating module bases in Iraq itself or are there a few Iraqi UAV pilots operating them via satellite from some PLA military base outside Beijing?

Because I believe even RAF MQ-9 Reaper UAV pilots operate out of Indian springs AFB near Las Vegas, not in the UK.

Haha played too much video games I see.
You probably also believed soldiers went to battle with hundreds of bullets like in CoD or Battlefield. In reality soldiers only brought around 100-150 bullets whenever they go on an operation. Bullets weigh a lot when you carry hundreds of them. A fully loaded 30-round STANAG M16/M4 magazine already weights around 1/2 kg and usually soldiers carry 5-6 of them, max. (Although most soldiers carry only load 25 rounds per magazine to prevent jamming the mag)

Anyway, most UAVs have very low ordnance loads due to their light weight and low-powered engines. They are also have more fragile wings than normal attack aircraft due to their need to do low power/high altitude loitering, so hardpoints to hang ordnance like missiles and bombs are limited in the first place.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Dec 16 2015, 10:25 PM

You can produce crude home-made firearms of varying accuracy and quality by yourself with basic tools and supplies. The hard part is finding bullets.

I don't get why these aggressor squadrons still use 50-year old fighters. Some very popular aggressor planes like F-5, A-4 Skyhawk and Dassault Mirage are way too old to emulate enemy fighters in these 'top gun' schools.

Bizarrely for a country that is 70% desert, I have never seen the SAA or NDF wear any sort of Desert camouflage uniform.

Most likely a T-55 with its gun removed. A command tank will usually be completely festooned with antennae for its communications gear and will have a dummy gun barrel in place of the real gun, so outwardly it will look somewhat like a normal tank, not a gunless tank.

So it is an Israeli Tiran APC. Probably captured by Hezbollah from the South Lebanese Army (SLA), a Lebanese Christian militia allied with Israel. They received a lot of support and gear from the IDF during their existence, but was disbanded in early 2000.

Hahaha what do you expect? It is a tank designed in 1947.

I'm still convinced its written somewhere on some convention that military weapons need to be marked as such and are prohibited to be disguised as civilian stuff.

It is probably still illegal, but Hamas is a borderline-illegal armed formation that use any means at their disposal to hurt Israelis. They don't care if it they break any international conventions.

National armies are another thing though. I don't think any national army would want to be caught using illegal weapons this day and age. Won't want to get a US-led coalition assembled against them.

Gah! what's with everyone wearing black in the middle of the desert? I'm feeling hot just looking at them.