Agree w/ @jensstoltenberg. If the aim is to disrupt and deter RU use of Ukraine airspace, Stinger is your option. Lots of them, closely monitored by SF. Benefits?

1. Air Crews are shit scared of Stinger which has superior counter counter measures. 2/
2. #Ukraine #NFZ

When I flew in Iraq and Afghanistan, even the idea of MANPADs being part of our threat, created all sorts of additional protocols. And Stinger, that’s a nightmare. As soon as a RU ac is taken out by Stinger, RU aircrews’ morale will head south. 3/
3. #Ukraine #NFZ

The logistical tail of creating a 24/7 NFZ is huge. Where will the NATO ac be located? Baltic Air Policing is based out of Lithuania and Estonia. If based out of there, tanking will be required, and you risk Putin striking the bases. Escalation. 4/
4. #Ukraine #NFZ

We shouldn’t underestimate the risk of escalation. Consider this scenario: an IL-76 flies into UKR airspace w/ 50+ RU paratroopers on it. You can a) take it out w/ a Stinger fired by UKR forces. Or b) if an NFZ, a NATO pilot has to make the call. I’d take a).
5. #Ukraine #NFZ Update:

Waking up to footage circulating on Twitter of what looks like 2x RU air MANPADs shoot downs. The first here, what looks a Mi-24 Hind w/ gear up.

Note: some saying it’s a Mi-35. Same fuselage as Mi-24, updated avionics/systems Mi-35 is export version 6/
6. #Ukraine #NFZ

Firstly the video looks legit (not DCS - Digital Combat Sim). Would like to geo-locate and verify w/ footage of wreckage.

Some questioning why there would be a camera? When I flew helis in high threat areas, low, fast and trying not to pattern set was key.

7/
7. #Update #NFZ

Mi-24 is tracking lowest part of terrain here. If you’re a FIM-92 Stinger team & you see pattern setting, you set up the ambush to throw the missile down the throat of the heli. If there’s an IR Jammer it’ll be to the rear. Max vulnerability from front sector 8/
8. #Ukraine #NFZ

MANPADs shot is on the nose, and close range. Giving the pilot no chance of evasion or decoy w/ flares. Looks like a good ambush set up. And not an opportunity shot. 9/
9. #Ukraine #NFZ

Hard to say type of MANPADs? We know UKR is being sent thousands of FIM-92 Stingers which (if serviceable) have superior counter, counter measures (flare rejection). No flares ejected here. Shot-to-impact was less than 1sec. A nightmare for the crew 10/
10. #Ukraine #NFZ

Why do I know this? I was a Tactics/Weapons Instructor teaching all UK mil heli pilots how to evade ground and air threats in combat zones. From IR to Radar guided air-to- air and ground-to air-threats. 11/
11. #Ukraine #NFZ

This next shoot down you can’t see the MANPADs, but the trajectory of the ac indicates a shoot down (in my experience).
12. #Ukraine #NFZ

From these wreckage photos, this ac can be identified as an Su-34. Again. Would be useful to get-locate. 13/
13. #Ukraine #NFZ

Pilots ejected. Condition of pilots I’m unaware of. 14/
14. #Ukraine #NFZ

I initially thought these were flares ejected by the Su-34 pilot. But they burn for too long. So my best suggestion is fragments from engine of the ac. 15/
#Ukraine #NFZ

Summary: as more MANPADs flood into UKR from the West, especially FIM-92 Stinger, these occurrences will become more frequent. As a former assault heli pilot/instructor, this threat is a nightmare for RU aircrews. History tells us morale/efficacy will plummet.
16. #Ukraine #NFZ

Seeing videos purportedly of the Su-34 crew (2) that were shot down (see thread above). One pilot survived, one killed (footage of dead pilot I won’t post). While the pilots were out to kill, I’m encouraged to see UKR forces seemingly applying PoW status.

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More from @MikeyKayFilms

Aug 2, 2022
The targeting & killing of AQ #1 in a Kabul safe-house raises a number of questions for me.

1. This type of targeted strike by the CIA needs needs massive amounts of intel. SIGINT & IMINT (usually from drones), and HUMINT (informants). Talibs? 2/

theguardian.com/world/2022/aug…
2. #Zawahiri Strike.

Should it come as a surprise that the AQ #1 is found in Kabul? Just one year after the chaotic and tragic withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan (Biden), and a complete capitulation of power to the Taliban (generated by Trump at Doha) 3/
3. #Zawahiri strike.

Reminder, the reason for the U.S commencing kinetic activity in Afghanistan was post 9/11 and to eradicate AQ training camps from Afghan. The efficacy of the strategy was poor as most senior AQ operatives fled across the porous PAK border (Bin Laden). 4/
Read 7 tweets
Mar 15, 2022
Thread #Ukraine|

Gut wrenching. Key point: a #NFZ wouldn’t prevent this. There are 2 main air operations: Defensive Counter Air (DCA) & Offensive Counter Air, Surface Attack (SA). An NFZ comes under DCA. 2/
2. #Ukraine #NFZ|

What @ZelenskyyUa should be asking @POTUS for is this:

To target RU rockets/artillery *inside Ukraine* you need Close Air Support (CAS), a subset of Offensive Counter Air Surface Attack (OCA SA) missions. 3/
3. #Ukraine|

Weapon of choice (for UK Typhoons) would be Brimstone anti-armour missile. 6 per jet. More on Brimstone here:

thinkdefence.co.uk/brimstone-guid…

U.S weapon of choice would be Hellfire (platforms MQ-9 Reaper, MQ-1B Predator, AH-64).

Watch: U.K Brimstone strikes in Libya

4/
Read 7 tweets
Mar 14, 2022
Thread

#Ukraine| thread here by @aldin_ww showing RU Su-25 Frogfoot ac ultra-low level over Donetsk. The Frogfoot is a RU Close Air Support platform [CAS], and an old one - 1975. And from what I can see, the pair are manoeuvring over Donetsk in what looks like a show of force 2/
2. #Ukraine

Cont’d: the pair have no precision guided munitions (PGMs). Just rocket pods and dumb bomb pylons. This recent video below is one of the Su-25s that took a MANPADs to its rear. There’s a number of takeaways from these videos. 3/
3. #Ukraine| the U.S, U.K and other NATO partners are well versed in CAS using multiple modern platforms and PGM weaponry to degrade the enemy. The U.K have been using Typhoon w/ Paveway 500lb PGMs, and Storm Shadow (inertial nav missiles) in N.Iraq. F-35 now in the mix. 4/5.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 4, 2022
War is brutal. It shows you sadness and despair that stays with you forever, no matter how good life might get in the future. If they are extremely lucky, they’ll walk away with their limbs in tact. But mentally, they are likely to be haunted. #Ukraine 2/
2. #Ukraine| I do admire them. It’s an unnecessary fight for national survival. The alternative isn’t any better - living under Putin. But the following days, weeks, and months will rely on a lot of luck and organic judgement. 3 days training gives them next to nothing. 3/
3. #Ukraine| while just a few hours away from Kyiv, in London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and other major European capitals, we in the West go about our days pretty much as normal, these young lads will be embarking on a journey with low odds of survival. 4/
Read 4 tweets
Feb 28, 2022
Just look at city’s like Aleppo in Syria to learn no one wins from this. But the civilian population loses desperately. It will take decades to reconstruct. Kharkiv’s citizens will be displaced, forced to find a new life. Then vilified for hoping to find a better life 😞#Ukraine
2. #Ukraine| evidence suggesting Putin is using cluster munitions in #Kharkiv.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CMs) was established in 2010. It bans the munition & requires member countries to clear areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants within 10 years 3/
3. #Ukraine| destroy their cluster munition stocks w/in 8 years, and provide assistance for victims.

CMs spread multiple bomblets or submunitions indiscriminately over a wide area, which can be devastating for civilians caught in a strike. 3/
Read 10 tweets
Feb 17, 2021
Abbott is pushing a lie to protect incompetence. There is no Federal oversight of the Texas Grid, ergo fewer regulations (sound familiar) - so point one: state legislature needs reform. 2/
2. Point 2: there were clear signs the grid would get overloaded under extreme cold conditions. Why? Due to a vacuum of regulations mandating winterization of turbines and power generators. This from sources, in Texas!
3. Point 3: Of the power shortfall that hit Texas, over 80% was due to problems at coal and gas fired plants. Power generators were just not winterized. Decisions to do so have been ignored since the 1990s.
Read 22 tweets

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