Archive for January, 2019
FRIDAY FOTO (February 1, 2019)
Winter Blast.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant James Avery)
How cold was it a week ago at Fort Drum in upstate New York near the Canadian border? This photo says it all.
It shows Army Private Ryan Trumm using a blowtorch to melt the ice off tie-down chains that secure vehicles to flatbed trucks or railroad flatcars during railhead operations at Fort Drum on January 23, 2019.
Fort Drum — about 38 miles (61 kilometers) from Kingston, Ontario, where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario — is home to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, a rapidly deployable light infantry unit.
The temperature Thursday night (January 31) at Fort Drum was 2 degrees above zero. Due to inclement weather on Friday (February 1, 2019) the Garrison Commander issued a DO NOT REPORT ORDER for non-emergency/non-essential uniformed military personnel and civilians. Of course emergency and essential personnel will still be on duty at Fort Drum.
Considering the 10th Mountain was created in World War II as an Alpine unit, fighting the Germans in the mountains of Italy during the winter of 1944-1945, and has served often in the mountains of Afghanistan — among other places including Iraq and Somalia — the commandant’s order says a lot about the extreme weather conditions at Fort Drum lately.
Surprising fact: Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division are considered founders of today’s ski industry in the United States by creating ski resorts, opening ski schools and establishing ski areas when they came home from World War II.
FRIDAY FOTO (January 26, 2019)
Spirit in the Sky.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Russ Scalf)
Like some alien spacecraft from another world, an Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber (center) approaches an air refueling tanker during in a training mission near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on January 15, 2019.
The boomerang-shaped stealth bomber — one of only 20 in the U.S. Air Force inventory — is flanked in this photo by two F-22 Raptor jet fighters assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard.
FRIDAY FOTO Advisory
Due to technical difficulties, the January 25, 2019 FRIDAY FOTO will be delayed until Saturday, January 26, 2019.
Your 4GWAR Editor
FRIDAY FOTO (January 18, 2019)
Sending a “Stinging” Message.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Rachel K. Young)
Here we have “before and after” photos of a Stinger anti-aircraft missile launch. In the first, we see Marine Corps Provate First Class Scout Mohrman testing Stinger during a training exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California on January 14, 2019.
In the photo below, we see the same weapon, same day, same place — same photographer — but a different Marine, Private First Class Joshua English. as the Stinger leaves the launch tube.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Rachel K. Young)
The Stinger, a Cold War weapon that is making a come-back with the U.S. military, is part of a group of anti-aircraft weapons known as Man Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS. After the Soviet Union invadede Afghanistan, the United States supplied anti-Soviet Afghan insurgents with Stingers. Between 1986 and 1989, Afghan forces used the missiles to down an estimated 269 aircraft and helicopters. (See video clip from the 2007 motion picture Charlie Wilson’s War) Many Stingers, however, remained unaccounted for after the conflict despite U.S. efforts to have unused missiles returned to U.S. control. Some of the missiles made it into the international black market and the hands of terrorists.
After the 9/11 attacks, the proliferation of Stingers and other shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons was by the U.S. State Department as a “serious potential threat to global civilian aviation,” 4GWAR reported numerous times. Those concerns sparked both efforts to collect and destroy unsecured stockpiles of portable anti-aircraft missiles as well as industry efforts to equip commercial aircraft with counter MANPADS technologies.
With the rise of unmanned aircraft technology, security concerns have shifted to inadvertent or malicious drone interference with civil aviation.
FRIDAY FOTO (January 11, 2019)
Among the Finest.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Robin W. Peak)
At U.S. Pacific Command they used to say their area of responsibility stretched “from Hollywood to Bollywood” — in other words, from the waters off the U.S. Pacific Coast to the eastern shores of the Arabian Sea. Reflecting changing geopolitical considerations, however, the command’s name was changed to Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018.
In his first visit to Nepal January 10 as commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, participated in an honors ceremony at the Nepali army headquarters in Kathmandu.
If the Nepali uniforms look familiar, they are similar to Britain’s famed Gurkha regiments. Since 1815, when the British Empire extended over much of the Indian subcontinent, Gurkhas — “with a reputation of being amongst the finest and most feared soldiers in the world” — have been recruited in Nepal to serve the British crown.
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: Gatwick Drone Shutdown and other drone news
UK Drone Incursions.
Airport security continues to be a concern after rogue drone incursions shut down Britain’s second-busiest airport during the busy Christmas holiday season.
A passenger jet departs Gatwick Airport. (Photo copyright Gatwick Airport Limited)
Drone sightings caused chaos last month at London’s Gatwick Airport, disrupting the travel plans for tens of thousands of people. The incident led to about 1,000 flight cancellations and affected the travel of 140,000 passengers. It also revealed a vulnerability that is being scrutinized by security forces and airport operators worldwide, according to Reuters.
Both Gatwick and Heathrow airports have ordered military-grade anti-drone defenses, worth “several million pounds,” Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, another drone sighting just after 5pm on January 8 caused managers at Heathrow Airport to order an emergency one-hour halt of take-off flights.
The unmanned aircraft was larger than that seen at Gatwick just before Christmas. After the drone disappeared, airport officials activated measures and equipment stationed at Heathrow aimed at neutralizing any threat to passenger planes, according to The Guardian.
The British government said all major UK airports now have or will soon have military grade anti-drone equipment, the BBC reported. That announcement came after the military were called in to help when drone sightings caused delays for around at Heathrow on Tuesday.
There were concerns after the Gatwick incident — when two drones were spotted inside the runway perimeter fence — that it terrorism might be involved, although a final determination has not been made. So far, the operators of the rogue drones have not been identified.
Like the United States, Britain has strict rules for the operation of small drones in the vicinity of an airport. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bars private drone flight within five miles of an airport. The UK limit — at least until now — has only been one kilometer of an airport. Both countries require hobbyist drone operators to keep their unmanned aircraft within their line of sight, fly no higher than 400 feet above the ground and away from people and buildings.
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Marines Track Base Wildlife.
Marines at Camp Pendleton, California are working with the California Air National Guard to develop tactics, techniques and procedures for using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) during emergency operations at the installation.
Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Echevarria, an intelligence analyst with the 4th Marines’ 2nd Battalion launches an RQ-20B Puma drone during Operation Wild Buck (OWB) at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, December 18, 2018. ((U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Emmanuel Necoechea)
The project, named Operation Wild Buck (OWB), used two types of drones to monitor deer populations in and around the Marine Corps base. The first was a low-flying, hand launched and battery operated RQ-20B Puma, which was controlled on the ground at Camp Pendleton. The second UAS was a high-flying, RQ-9 Reaper, launched from Las Vegas and controlled via satellite link from March Joint Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. Both drones sent back video feeds to Camp Pendleton’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
During the operation, scouts on the ground from the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Marine Regiment passed information on wildlife back to Camp Pendleton’s EOC, where it was relayed to Puma operators from 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment and Reaper operators from the 196th Reconnaissance Squadron, California Air National Guard. (Read more here). (Video here).
LOOKING AHEAD: Upcoming Defense and Homeland Security events
JANUARY 2019
CYBER
John P. Carlin, Former Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division; and John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division discuss responses to national security threats in cyberspace.
January 15, 2019, 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Center for Strategic & International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington
LATIN AMERICA
How to Deal with Venezuela’s Mafia State-post January 10
An armchair discussion about the international community’s policy options in responding to Venezuela’s mafia state. Nicolas Maduro is set to be sworn in as president although the 2018 elections were widely considered to be unfree and unfair. Speakers – including former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Nicholas Brownfield and former National Security Council director for South America, Fernando Kutz — will discuss the political, diplomatic and legal implications post-January 10th and how the international community should respond.
January 11, 2019, 10:30 am to noon
Center for Strategic & International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington
FEBRUARY 2019
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
Information warfare, weapons of mass destruction, artificial intelligence, robotics and rapid acquisition will be among the tactics at the National Defense Industry Association’s (NDIA) 30th annual Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict Symposium.
February 5-7, 2019
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport, Arlington, Va.
MILITARY AVIATION
International Military Helicopter
IQPC’s conference will bring government and private sector interests together to define future threats, including the need to develop capabilities to counter the growing electronic warfare threat, increasing survivability and assessing the operational requirements of platforms.
February 5-7, 2019
Park Plaza London Victoria, London, United Kingdom
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
The FAA is bringing stakeholders together from all sectors to help define the rules and concepts — including safety issues — that will govern the future of drone (unmanned aircraft systems) operations.
February 12-14, 2019
Baltimore Convention Center
FRIDAY FOTO (January 4, 2019)
Combat Light Show.
(U.S. Army photo by Army Captain Johnathan Leigh)
Like some modernistic painting, this December 20, 2018 photo shows soldiers conducting a night fire mission while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan.
As Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman reportedly said: “A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets.”
4GWAR 
