Vehicle Transportability
To view it in simplistic terms, you can't apply any effect unless you are physically there, stand fast all you information operations and air power folks, we get it, no need to constantly bloody well go on about it.
Jan 21 โข 8 tweets โข 3 min read
The more I think about the Universal Battle Trench (UBT) from @martynlmfao the more I think it is sublime in its brilliance
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It meets the required strength and performance characteristics, a given perhaps, but still important to note. It is slighter larger to accommodate the bulkier soldier of the modern era (body armour and load carriage etc)
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Dec 29, 2024 โข 20 tweets โข 5 min read
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SPEAR
history
Selected Precision Effects at Range ( SPEAR) Capability 3 is the name given to a Category A project (>ยฃ400m) to deliver a weapon described as
Dec 15, 2024 โข 16 tweets โข 4 min read
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Pallets
Uses and Construction
One of the main influencing factors behind the introduction of the pallet was the desire to replace wooden packing boxes with corrugated cardboard boxes, starting in the 1870's or so
Dec 8, 2024 โข 12 tweets โข 4 min read
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Next Generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon (NLAW)
origin story
The history of NLAW starts with the weapon it was intended to replace, the LAW 80. LAW-80 was designed with a 94 mm diameter warhead and included a spotting rifle and a five-round magazine that fired ammunition ballistically matched to the main round.
Nov 10, 2024 โข 25 tweets โข 7 min read
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Storm Shadow
Back-story
The RAF describe Storm Shadow as;
This long-range air-launched and conventionally-armed missile equips RAF Tornado GR4 squadrons and saw operational service in 2003 with 617 Squadron during combat in Iraq, prior to entering full service in 2004.
Oct 27, 2024 โข 16 tweets โข 5 min read
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Harry Black, Gaffer Tape, Duct Tape, Black Nasty, and loads of other names
history
There are competing theories for who invented the familiar cloth-backed adhesive tape. The generally accepted version is that in the twenties, a Detroit surgical supplier was providing Johnson and Johnson surgical tape to car dealers for use as masking tape.
Oct 13, 2024 โข 26 tweets โข 8 min read
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Brimstone Anti Armour Missile
Building on last week's thread on it back-story, this one looks at capabilities
Brimstone started out as a fire and forget autonomous killer of Russian tanks. It was designed during the Cold War for a Cold War mission, defending Europe from the massed waves of Warsaw Pact armour. This is now more often referred to as Legacy or Baseline Brimstone
Oct 6, 2024 โข 26 tweets โข 7 min read
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Brimstone
Its back-story
Brimstone is an advanced, rocket-propelled, radar-guided weapon and can seek and destroy armoured targets at long range.
Sep 8, 2024 โข 25 tweets โข 7 min read
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The Military Load Classification system, or MLC, a British Invention that is now a NATO standard
Its history and current use
One of the most obvious questions about any bridge in any context is, 'can my vehicle (or other load) traverse it without damage or collapse'?
Aug 18, 2024 โข 24 tweets โข 7 min read
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Gabions
Their history and current use
The term gabion comes from the Italian word gabbione meaning โbig cageโ, it is a cage filled with rocks or soil to provide protection against enemy fire or in civil engineering
Aug 11, 2024 โข 19 tweets โข 6 min read
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Sandbags
Their interesting history and uses today
Sandbags are not a new invention, their use as a weapon or training aid goes back to medieval times, but arguably, as a field defence they were not widely used until the early 18th century
Aug 4, 2024 โข 24 tweets โข 8 min read
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Subsea Cables
Their origin story and critical importance
Without submarine cables, the Internet, and therefore the world, would look very different than it does today. They are the (nearly) invisible veins and arteries of the modern global economy
Barbed wire has evolved significantly since its widespread use during the First World War, is either side using it widely in Ukraine?
THREAD
There are many variations of concertina tape readily available, and in different coil sizes, including some that are designed to avoid injury (often called tangle tape).
All are very difficult to manually cut (although explosives help)
Apr 12, 2024 โข 12 tweets โข 4 min read
A good non UK example of this challenge in defining 80% is the US Landing Ship Mediums, they actually use the term affordable in a lot of the materials. Not a million miles off the old RFA Knights class. They have been subject to rigorous requirements setting exercise
But here is the kicker, recent news indicates they will cost $340 to $430 million per ship. And, as we all know that costs only rise, does anyone have confidence in the final outturn being at the low end of that estimate? They have tested ideas out on a civilian vessel (below)
Feb 19, 2024 โข 12 tweets โข 2 min read
Have been looking at some consistent writing themes of mine since I started Think Defence in February 2009
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The MoDs corporate memory is appalling, records are not kept, the Army spends more time learning about Waterloo than it does about failed programmes like FRES
TWO
Standardisation, commonality, resilience, hedging against risk and avoiding niche fleets of anything are a Good Thing TM
Feb 1, 2024 โข 8 tweets โข 1 min read
How to become well informed on UK defence matters...
Six steps, very simple, if you have the time
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Get on Twitter, subscribe to manufacturers, trade punlications, unit accounts, MoD accounts etc. Do the same on LinkedIn and Facebook
Jul 27, 2023 โข 21 tweets โข 7 min read
A fascine is the simplest of gap-crossing methods, nothing more than a bundle of pipes or sticks. They are as old as my favourite pulling pants but much more effective
A thread
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They have been used since the early days of warfare, in the published work, a Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons by Francis Grose, published in 1786, he mentions their use a number of times.
Am quite smitten at the minute with the Flyer 60 and Flyer 72 for Merlin and Chinook internal carriage, and at least 6 per A400M. A common vehicle family for Paras, Marines, and Rangers.
Heresy I know
But with, you know
Jul 21, 2023 โข 22 tweets โข 8 min read
Let's have a chat about helicopter transportable ultralight transport
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Why bother?
It is better than walking is as simple as it gets. Of course, there are loads of other reasons, mostly about allowing the area of influence to be much larger than foot (or ski) borne and allowing the helicopter to stand off at a reasonable distance
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Jun 2, 2023 โข 9 tweets โข 2 min read
A quick history lesson on RN aircraft carriers (recent)
For some reason, the RN and MoD were tempted by the illusion that they could afford the conventional variant F-35C.
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They threw away years of operational and financial analysis to provide the incoming secretary of state with a bat to beat the previous government with
Look up the parliamentary exchanges if you don't believe me, ministers positively gloated about the change
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