Yesterday's launch was rail-mobile. Presumably the KN-23-like missile they tested last September?
Oh, that's interesting. They uncoupled the locomotive prior to launch. So the 2-car set for the missiles is a self-contained unit and (similar to the Soviet RT-23) doesn't need to draw power from the locomotive.
Of the two cars, one obviously carries the missiles (and, based on the September launch, the generator), and the other (let's call it the support systems car) presumably carries electronics, tools, and whatnot.
But where is the launch command post? Where does the launch prep crew go for protection during the missile launch?

Is there a little shed inside the support systems car? Is there another car somewhere off-screen? Or do they just run into the forest with a remote and some cable?

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More from @DuitsyWasHere

29 Sep 21
I see the ghost of the R-27 has returned to haunt us again.

"Ampulization," referring to the fueling & hermetically sealing of a ballistic missile at the factory, was a Soviet innovation, developed by the Makeev bureau & first used in the R-27 SLBM. 1/12
2/12 For the Soviets, ampulization required the development of several technological advances. While no longer on the cutting edge, North Korea's potential use of ampulization has implications for where certain parts of the DPRK program are, technologically speaking.
3/ Makeyev described the technologies necessary for ampulization. Many of these can be seen in videos of R-27 missile production. This video is especially useful; I should do a separate thread later explaining other aspects of the manufacturing process:

net-film.ru/found-page-1/?…
Read 12 tweets
10 Oct 20
Okay. I'm out of bed and have some milk and cereal, so let's start.

Fun fact: because those horses live, someone in North Korea starves.
There is absolutely no reason to mount that scope on a rifle with that short of a barrel.
I'm assuming these are tank crewmen.

(Yes, I'm going to continue with the snark for a while. I'll start a new thread for the actual missile stuff.)
Read 12 tweets
20 Sep 19
1/18 Okay. Now let's talk about what can be done to defend against this type of attack.

This is sort of pushing the limits of my knowledge, so please chime in if I miss something.
2/18 The methods for countering drones and cruise missiles can be broken into two broad categories:
Kinetic (guns, missiles, and lasers)
Electronic (jamming and spoofing)
3/18 The CIWS concept is not new, at least not in the naval realm. Sea-skimming anti-ship missiles have worried naval officers since the 1960's.
Read 39 tweets
19 Sep 19
New thread: Why did Abqaiq's air defenses fail?

First, updated maps of the air defense sites at Abqaiq. First one is April 2019 (the date of the image), the second is how forces were deployed as of this week.

This thread will by much more analysis, much less satellite imagery.
Let's get some misconceptions out of the way:
-The Saudis are not incompetent
-Patriot is not useless
-The attackers were not merely "lucky"
-I am not actually air defense expert
In fact, I don't think the Patriot battery, or any other system south of the facility (had they even been there), ever had a chance to participate.

Two words: ground clutter.

Also, the Patriot radar might not have been turned on.
Read 14 tweets
18 Sep 19
You know who I feel sorry for in Saudi Arabia right now? The Air Defense Forces officer in charge of the short range air defenses at the Abqaiq oil facility. He'll be lucky to get out of this with his life.
1/7
On paper, the point air defenses at the Abqaiq oil processing facility are rather formidable... by 1995 standards, at least.

A battery of Shahine SAMs (French system from the early 1980's)

3 or 4 anti-aircraft gun sections, each with 2 twin 35mm cannons and a fire control unit
Except that none of those systems were designed to intercept cruise missiles, and against aircraft-sized targets, the Shahine and Skyguard radars have a 20km detection range. Against smaller targets, like a drone or cruise missile, the detection range (& warning time) is shorter.
Read 10 tweets
16 Aug 19
1/12 Continuing from the previous thread on Soviet nuclear turbojet research, I will now give a quick overview of Soviet nuclear ramjet research.

This thread is a bit longer, since the story is rather convoluted.

(Previous thread linked below)
2/ Soviet nuclear ramjet research can mostly be traced back to OKB-670, originally led by Mikhail Bondaryuk.

In the 1950's, OKB-670 focused on conventional ramjets for surface-to-air missiles and experimental intercontinental cruise missiles.
3/ Among them was the Lavochkin bureau’s La-350 “Burya” – a massive missile with a 97 ton launch weight. OKB-670 was also tasked to design a nuclear ramjet for an even larger missile, item 375.
In his 1958 book on ramjet design, Bondaryuk devotes a chapter to nuclear ramjets.
Read 14 tweets

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