GBAD - The return of 'FOBS'

[Kirkhill]

Alert is a massive target, with zero support close by. In reality, I suspect Alert will be abandoned and flipped to "auto" as soon as a realistic threat in the arctic shows up.

Have you ever even been to Alert in peace time to see how remote it actually is? It's about as remote as anyone can get in the northern hemisphere... You don't plan to fight from your remote listening posts.

Why wouldn't you if it gained you an extra extra thousand or so kilometers of range?

The Ukrainians were all about artillery raids in 2022. Pushing their guns as far forward as possoble for a shoot and scoot. And the USMC is practising artillery raids with C130s delivering HIMARS trucks to Pacific islands (with no infrastructure) to launch PrSMs and then flying out immediately.

What could be done with C130s and HIMARS at Thule?.

 

[Furniture]

Why wouldn't you if it gained you an extra extra thousand or so kilometers of range?

Because you can do that more effectively with ships, subs, and aircraft.

The Ukrainians were all about artillery raids in 2022. Pushing their guns as far forward as possoble for a shoot and scoot.

That's comparing apples to Mac Books...

And the USMC is practising artillery raids with C130s delivering HIMARS trucks to Pacific islands (with no infrastructure) to launch PrSMs and then flying out immediately.

You know the distances involved are much shorter, and they intend to use locations that aren't clearly marked on Google Maps... There is also the small matter of the climates being entirely different. How many days below zero do those islands see? How many days of fog do they get in a year? How many days of 3-5 hundred foot ceilings with light snow/mist/ice crystals do they get? I highlight days, because those sorts of events can last for several days in a row, meaning your far away help is completely unable to come help.

I can tell you that due to the location of the islands the USMC is concerned with, the ocean currents mean they see little fog, and most severe/limiting weather is convective and relatively predictable. Even Typhoons generally give lots of advanced warning, so you can move your forces to places that they can both fight, and receive help.

 

[Kirkhill]

I'll stop chasing. We disagree.

 

[Kirkhill]

It didn't have to be 100%

2000 m

Ukraine unveils new laser weapon

Ukraine has unveiled a cutting-edge ‘Trident’ laser weapon after the UK said earlier this year it would be sharing its prototypes with Kyiv.

Colonel Vadym Sukharevsky, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said the laser would be capable of downing aircraft at distances of more than 2km.

“It really works; it really exists,” he said at the Europe Defence Industry conference, adding that efforts are underway to scale up its capabilities.

He mentioned Ukraine was only the fifth country to have a high-power laser weapon in its arsenal.

In April, Grant Shapps, former British Defence Minister, said that the UK’s DragonFire laser could be used in Ukraine to counter Russian drones.

He warned the advanced laser technology could have “huge ramifications” on the conflict, adding the military was rushing to get it into service by 2027.

“It didn’t have to be 100% perfect in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it,” Mr Shapps said at the time.

A CIWS-Phalanx supplement for last-ditch defence?

 

[Kirkhill]

Ukraine Becomes Latest Country to Possess Laser Weapon: Report

Ukraine has reportedly acquired a new laser weapon capable of shooting down low-flying aircraft and drones.

thedefensepost.com

The Brits were planning on fielding their laser system in 2027. It appears as if they transferred the technology to the Ukrainians who have decided it was good enough to give it a try.

Much like the British Brimstone, slinging NATO missiles from Soviet aircraft and mucking around with robot Seadoos and Chinese UAVs.

They are doing things and building stuff and figuring out what works on the fly.

 

[Kirkhill]

Hard to Integrate Air Missile Defence under these circumstances....

The situation made clear a stark reality. While the continental U.S. is mostly covered by radar, much of Canada’s vast expanse is outside radar range, even a dead zone for radio communication.

“If anyone thinks you have radar coverage of the inside of Canada, you’ve got another thing coming,” says Scott Clancy, a retired Canadian air force general and Norad’s former director of operations. “If you’re flying around at 10,000 feet over the Northwest Territories, for the most part nobody can even see that you’re there.”

And then is the issue of inter-agency co-operation and inter-departmental communications

Then, on Jan. 27, 2023, the intelligence community was in touch again. Just as VanHerck had predicted, one of those spy balloons was on its way, about to hit the westernmost reaches of the continent — Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands.

By the next day, the balloon would show up on Norad’s radar over St. Matthew Island, a rocky, uninhabited outpost in the Bering Sea, almost as close to Russia as mainland Alaska. In fact, Jan. 28 has typically been cited as the date when the object was first discovered. But U.S. spy agencies were aware of it earlier, perhaps much earlier. Later news reports, quoting unnamed American government sources, suggest it had been tracked all the way from the balloon’s launch in Hainan Island, China.

All of which makes VanHerck wonder why the balloon was just hours away from entering the continent’s jurisdiction before the man in charge of defending the region learned about it.

“To me, that’s a failure of the entire system — to not have the ability to let everybody know this thing’s out there and potentially going to drift into North American airspace,” he says.

“It’s a failure of multiple intelligence, (Department of Defence) agencies,” says VanHerck. “I should not get surprised by something that’s coming into my area of responsibility … Anybody who knows about it should pass that on. It shouldn’t be less than 24 hour’s notice.”

That communication breakdown raises broader concerns of military commanders and academic experts that Norad’s “domain awareness” — its ability to detect threats before they arrive on our doorstep — is seriously limited.

And the Canadian element

Van Herck may have been miffed at his Defense Intelligence Agencies for not giving him a heads up until the device was less than 24 hours out of NORAD airspace but...

It appears as if his Canadian Deputy was short a briefing or two an lacking in Situational Awareness

Though VanHerck communicated immediately with his direct superior — Milley — and the office of the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, he did not actually talk to Austin until Feb. 1, VanHerck told a U.S. Senate committee last year.

Meanwhile, it seems Canadian Lieut.-Gen. Alain Pelletier, then deputy commander of Norad, was less convinced about the nature of the airship in those initial hours and days after its arrival in North America. He does not recall receiving that August 2022 intelligence about a Chinese program.

“That balloon, unlike commercial aircraft or even military aircraft, didn’t carry any indication of country of origin,” says Pelletier, now retired. “So, we’re trying to figure out where is it coming from … what’s the purpose of that flight and so on and so forth.

“We were not sure until it finally got engaged over the east coast of the U.S., until the recovery activity took place.”

In a sparsely populated region with patchy radar coverage and limited assets at Norad’s disposal, it was impossible even to keep eyes on the balloon 24 hours a day, says Pelletier, a former F-18 pilot from La Pocatière, Que.

 

[Kirkhill]

Australia announces $4.7 billion purchase of US air defense missiles

The deal checks off a top priority in Australia's 2024 defense strategy, published this spring.

www.defensenews.com

Australia announced this week it was buying $4.7 billion in American-made SM-2 and SM-6 missiles — two of the world’s most advanced air defense interceptors — in a colossal foreign military sale.

Missile defense is one of the top priorities listed in Australia’s 2024 defense strategy, published this April, which name drops the SM-6. In the plan, the government pledged to double its number of major warships and build a firmer defense industry of its own — as the country, like America, accepts competition with China as the norm.

Canberra’s defense budget, published a month after in May, committed a record $37 billion, or just over 2% of GDP, toward its military. The government aims to reach 2.3% of GDP, right now around $67 billion, by 2033-2034.

The SM, or Standard Missile, Block IIIC and 6 included in the sale will help Australia defend against advanced missile attacks and, in the case of the latter, can provide an anti-ship weapon. The American missile company Raytheon manufactures both, which have a medium and long range respectively.

“This combination of long range air defense, anti-ship strike capability ... and giving us our first ability to defend against ballistic missiles through terminal ballistic missile defense was a huge step forward for our navy,” Conroy said.

Australia became the first country outside America to fire the SM-6 from a warship this August, when the HMAS Sydney shot one during a military drill near Hawaii. The Pentagon’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget requests 125 of the missiles for its own stocks.

The Army also adopted the SM-6 as part of its mid-range missile launcher that deployed to the Philippines this year, a mission that irked China.

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Aussie Artillery

16 Airland Regiment - equipped with NASAMS (AMRAAM and Sidewinders) from fixed canisters or Hawkei mobile launchers
14 Airland Regiment - equipped with 42 HIMARS launchers with GMRLS and PrSM missiles
Future Airland Regiment (approved) - either addition HIMARS launchers with the anti-ship version of the PrSM or else NSMs mounted on Bushmasters (similar in function to the USMC Rogue-NMESIS) battalions.
20 STA Regiment - AAI RQ-7 Shadow (to be replaced by Insitu Integrator)

https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2023-05-10/missile-launcher-game-changer

Australia Announces Additional $1 Billion HIMARS Purchase

The US State Department has approved the sale of 22 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Australia.

thedefensepost.com

Second-Long-Range Fires Regiment approved - Australian Defence Magazine

The Government has approved Project Land 8113 Phase 2 - Second Long Range Fires Regiment - which will choose between HIMARS and StrikeMaster to provide Army with a land-based maritime strike capabilit...

www.australiandefence.com.au

https://www.defence.gov.au/taxonomy/term/90?page=1

Integrator - Insitu

The Integrator is the most versatile UAS in its class, with a modular design to fit every mission. No nets or runways required.

www.insitu.com

To complete the USMC type MLR capability for the Australians the Aussies are buying 8 LST (Landing Ship Tank)

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In addition to 72 F35As (delivery complete), 24 F18Fs, 12 EA18Gs, 8 Ghost Bat UAVs with 13 more on order.
Also flying 12 Poseidons and 6 Wedgetails as well as having 4 MC-55A Peregrine ISREW aircraft on order.

Australia still interested in MQ-28A Ghost Bat strike capability, says Conroy

Australia is interested in acquiring strike capability for the MQ-28A Ghost Bat drone, according to new comments from Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.

www.defenceconnect.com.au

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In addition to 3 Hobarts and 7 ANZACs.

 

[FJAG]

16 Airland Regiment - equipped with NASAMS (AMRAAM and Sidewinders) from fixed canisters or Hawkei mobile launchers
14 Airland Regiment - equipped with 42 HIMARS launchers with GMRLS and PrSM missiles
Future Airland Regiment (approved) - either addition HIMARS launchers with the anti-ship version of the PrSM or else NSMs mounted on

Just a minor point or two. Air Land is the description for AD systems, the regiment involved is 16 Regiment, RAA as the air defence regiment. The newly forming 14 Regiment, RAA is a field unit which is designated to receive HIMARS. Australia initially bought 20 launchers. There has been an additional order for up to 22 more launchers and the building of another regiment and the local manufacture of rockets/missiles for the systems.

Another side point. 6 Combat Support Bde has been disestablished as of 13 Dec 2024 and 16 Regt RAA (AD) and 20 Regt RAA (STA) have been transferred to 1 (Australian Division). It appears that the Army is raising a 10 Bde as a fires brigade headquartered in Adelaide and that 16 Regt RAA and the to be raised 14 Regt RAA (and presumably the second HIMARS Regt) will be part of it as will 1st Int Bn and 7th Sigs Regt. There is no mention of 20 Regt RAA being assigned to 10 Bde but 9 Regt RAA will be. ( Regt RAA is a reserve regiment armed with mortars and assigned OP tasks in support of 2 (AU) Div - which doesn't really make sense, IMHO).

 

[Kirkhill]

Just a minor point or two. Air Land is the description for AD systems, the regiment involved is 16 Regiment, RAA as the air defence regiment. The newly forming 14 Regiment, RAA is a field unit which is designated to receive HIMARS. Australia initially bought 20 launchers. There has been an additional order for up to 22 more launchers and the building of another regiment and the local manufacture of rockets/missiles for the systems.

Another side point. 6 Combat Support Bde has been disestablished as of 13 Dec 2024 and 16 Regt RAA (AD) and 20 Regt RAA (STA) have been transferred to 1 (Australian Division). It appears that the Army is raising a 10 Bde as a fires brigade headquartered in Adelaide and that 16 Regt RAA and the to be raised 14 Regt RAA (and presumably the second HIMARS Regt) will be part of it as will 1st Int Bn and 7th Sigs Regt. There is no mention of 20 Regt RAA being assigned to 10 Bde but 9 Regt RAA will be. ( Regt RAA is a reserve regiment armed with mortars and assigned OP tasks in support of 2 (AU) Div - which doesn't really make sense, IMHO).

Thanks for ordering the bits and pieces @FJAG.

I was just blown away by the amount of kit the Aussies are taking on board. And their timelines. They had a chance to make up their mind, take delivery, decide to do the other thing and order new kit, which is currently on delivery, while we are still figuring out what we want to be.

 

[FJAG]

Thanks for ordering the bits and pieces @FJAG.

I was just blown away by the amount of kit the Aussies are taking on board. And their timelines. They had a chance to make up their mind, take delivery, decide to do the other thing and order new kit, which is currently on delivery, while we are still figuring out what we want to be.

I didn't get into other stuff they are doing because this is a GBAD thread, but it's some good stuff.