Over the past months, air defense has received significant attention. In case you'd like to understand more about radar, jamming, decoys, surface-to-air missiles, and the like, here some sources I found very useful.
I'd start from this article from 1999 that puts things in perspective and explains why air defenses posed a problem also for the US Air Force in the War in Kosovo.
Then, I would look at this book. It is very accessible, has some jokes, and some interesting anecdotes. Moreover, it will help you understand not only radar but also sonar. There is barely any math or physics, only some very introductory statistics.
(If you liked the first few chapters of Denny's book, you will like these two books, which provide an historical overview of the relevance of the electro-magnetic spectrum (mostly) through US experience).
To understand radar, this is a great source to start with, if you do not have the basics - all you need is some physics and familiarity with math & stats. Older versions (co-authored by the late Toomay) are good too, but the 4th ed includes a discussions on countermeasures.
This is a great complement to the book by Hannes. Very accessible, it will explain some aspects much more in depth. And even though it is now more than 20 years old, it's probably my favorite "intro" book on radar.
Speaking about introductory books, Skolnik's Introduction to Radar Systems is considered the Bible. Some find Skolnik's book more demanding than the other two, but I guess it is a matter of preferences.
This relatively unknown report will connect for you radar engineering and air defense. it is more than 30 years old now, but the key principles are still valid, and are presented in a simple way (you will find also a general introduction of radar).
Speaking about air defense, this is a more recent report published by the US Army, which summarizes in a very accessible combined arms for air defense. Strongly recommended.
This is, by far, one of my most favorite works on air defense. It has some technical discussions, but it puts them together with air defense more in general. I consider it one of those works for which there is a "before and after".
This is another great source, an article by JHUAPL: it discusses air defense at sea, but the principles underlying it apply broadly. Look closely at the pictures, because some are extremely informative.
This short report by the Mitchell Institute provides an accessible summary of what integrated air defense systems are.
This report by Justin Bronk is also very useful. It does much more than the title suggests. Whereas it is focused on Russian and Chinese capabilities, it still provides a general summary and it has some really clear figures.
Speaking about air defense, this book will put in historical perspective the attempt to defeat them through suppression of enemy air defense systems.
Here we get more technical, so you might find it a bit demanding. But this book has so much it's difficult to summarize it. Written by a former Lockheed employee, it includes also detailed discussions about electronic order of battles.
This guy. As far as I know, it is the only book specifically on airborne radar out there. And it is one of those books for which I would recommend that you read both the 2nd & the 3rd version to appreciate how technological change has enhanced radar systems over the past decades.
This is a demanding book. I have read it some 6 or 7 times, and there are still parts that I do not fully understand. But it is the one that really helped me understand scattering and signal processing. Among "pros" it is considered the to-go book.
And if you do not have time to read all these works, with my co-authors, we have tried to summarized them in a recent article about the "Enduring Hider-Finder Competition in Air Warfare."
La seconda guerra mondiale in Europa è stata vinta in particolare in mare e nei cieli, domini in cui l'Unione Sovietica ha giocato un ruolo pressoché nullo. Possiamo riconoscere il sacrificio umano dell'Armata Rosa (alleata dei Nazisti fino al 1941), ma non cambia i fatti.
In Europa, la WWII è stata vinta grazie a:
- il radar "centimetrico" che hanno vinto la Battaglia dell'Atlantico (insieme alla capacità di decifrare Enigma e ad al sonar attivo ASDIC);
Orsini ha scritto un articolo delirante contro di me e @aa_gilli. L'articolo invece di rispondere a critiche fattuali che io e Andrea, in due thread diversi, abbiamo avanzato verso sue affermazioni prive di fondamento, si lancia in una invettiva verso di noi.
Orsini cerca poi, maldestramente, di riproporre nuovamente la sua speculazione per cui i sistemi di difesa iraniani riuscirebbero ad abbattere un F-35 a 300-400km di distanza.
Per Orsini, evidentemente, quando si solcano i confini iraniani, le leggi della fisica smettono di essere valide. Un po' come la pastella (grits) nella cucina del testimone di Mio Cugino Vincenzo.
Mi è stato girato questo video del professor Orsini, secondo il quale la limitata risposta Iraniana all’attacco Iraniano è spiegata dal fatto che l’Iran ha sistemi di difesa antiaerea che possono “colpire gli aerei Israeliani a 300-400km di distanza, cioè è in grado di colpire...
... sia missili balistici di lunga gittata, sia i droni, sia i caccia di quinta generazione, cioè fondamentalmente gli F-35 americani, che sono i caccia più avanzati di cui Israele disponga.”
Non so neanche da dove iniziare. Se non fosse tutto deprimente, sarebbe divertente.
Il professor Orsini parla chiaramente di cose che non conosce, ma con tono sicuro e frasi ad effetto (invocando “la logica”) cerca di impressionare gli ascoltatori, e chi è in studio. Poiché c’è un limite a tutto, qui riporto un po’ di fatti e di “logica”.
First, the paradox about the debate about missile defense and the F-35 (regardless of which side you take) is that the unconventional thinkers soon created a new orthodoxy.
Somehow hinting that missile defense could intercept ballistic missiles was considered heresy in some circles until just a couple of years ago. To say nothing about acknowledging some strengths of the F-35.
Italy squandered 135 billion (yes, with a b) with its measures to promote growth during the pandemic. corriere.it/economia/finan…
In particular through the "Bonus 110" which literally covered 100% of costs for refurbishing houses and left some chips for banks. One of the most regressive fiscal measures to date. And one which is likely going to restrict any fiscal leeway for the next years.
Keep it mind next time Italian politicians complain about European fiscal rules and austerity, and they ask for more freedom in spending. They could have invested in infrastructure, education, kindergartens, hospitals, research. They decided to give free money to well-off people.
Last night I read the Seymour Hersch's piece. I am probably late to the party and I am sure much more competent people than me have already take a stab at it, but here I wrote down a couple of points about the part on the activation of underwater mines.
Spoiler: it doesn't makes much sense.
If you haven't read Hersch's essay, here you can find it. To me it reads as a great Hollywood script, more than an accurate account of events. Below I explain why. seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-…
I will not focus on the detailed account of the meetings & similar. Despite being rather implausible (to start from the fact that one only source has all these details), this is not where the biggest problems are. Rather, with how the sabotage operation was carried out.