I am getting a lot of questions re #Russian underwater sabotage capabilities due to the leak on the #NordStream2 pipeline off Denmark.
I do not have time to respond to media right now (sorry)
So just lay out some background reference.
1. Circumstances
The leak is near the Danish island of Bornholm, at 54.8762°, 15.4099° in ~70 meters of water. This would be divable
2 things do make it suspicious:
a) It is just over 12 nautical miles from the Island in International waters
b) the EEZ here is disputed here (?)
2. History
In the past the USSR based spy submarines with special 'seabed engineering' capabilities in the Baltic. These are implicated in some of the famous 'Swedish incursions' of the late Cold War
Always an interesting topic, we all know about inflatable fake tanks, but it can happen with ships too.
Firstly, fake ships before D-Day:
During WW2 the royal Navy converted some fleet tenders to resemble battleships and a carrier, with the idea being to deceive German Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights.
Before/ after (might be exact same ship, but you get the idea)
The old battleship HMS Centurion was also remodeled to appear as the newer ship HMS
Anson
Snake island had been subject to air strikes but Ukraine had also started using MLRS from barges at sea and it was in range of new 155mm artillery being delivered by West, especially the French Caesar system
In July 2022, faced with threat of Ukraine’s Neptune anti-ship missiles, and western supplies Harpoons (notably Denmark), Russian navy largely withdraw from western side of northern Black Sea. This is a significant change in the balance.
I don't normally post about aircraft, but here are 5 awesome and usual loadouts from the Cold War which really interest me from a design perspective.
In descending order of awesomeness
5. A-5 Vigilante US Navy bomber with nuclear bomb up backside
4. English Electric Lightning. Awesome fighter, could carry ferry tanks in the overwing position. Hard to find photos of this, but it could also carry twin SNEB rocket pods above each with, with fuel tanks behind them (!).
3. Ilyushin Il-102, which lost out to the now-famous Su-25 FROGFOOT. Aside from rad lines and rear-facing aft cockpit, check out the tail gun!
#Ukrainian strike on #Russian Navy base at Sevastopol in Crimea appears to have damaged, possibly seriously (TBC), the submarine support ship Kommuna (ref ) hisutton.com/Russian-Navy-K…
Video
Kommuna gets a degree of sympathy because she is an ancient and beautiful ship, 112 years old(!).
But objectively she is a legitimate target and provides Russian navy with valuable capabilities. She often participates in submarine trials and can conduct seabed warfare
First images of Australia’s new 3D printed extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XLAUV), the Ghost Shark. 🧵
This is the previous graphic shared by manufacturer Andruil, when the deal for 3 vehicles was announced. See hisutton.com/Australian-Nav…
The design has a square cross-section which contrasts with the rounded form of the previous artworks. This maximizes volume for its given outer dimensions
Crucially, it can still likely fit inside a standard shipping container, an advantage over larger types like the Boeing Orca used by U.S. Navy