Tag: Technology

IRGC and the “Death” of CIA’s “Ayatollah Mike”

On 3 January 2020, Trump assassinated Haji Qasem Soleimani. On 27 January 2020, the chief of CIA’s “Iran Mission,” Michael D’Andrea, “died” when his USAF Bombardier E-11A jet was downed in Afghanistan. Did he die? CIA claims he was “forced” to retire. Was the jet destroyed by IRGC?

The OSINT Epidemic: Ignorance, Misinformation, Propaganda

Everyone is an OSINT expert these days. Twitter is swarming with OSINT accounts purporting expertise on Russia-Ukraine War and/or Israel-Palestine conflict. Businesses are seeking applicants with expertise in “OSINT tools, techniques and methodologies” and “HUMINT tradecraft” for sundry “threat intelligence” positions. Most OSINT experts have no intelligence or military background. They often supply propaganda, misinformation, or “confirmation bias” through ignorance, or, to satisfy the demands of their followers and/or paymasters.

Paean to an Alligator

I am not a combat helicopter man, being from the “boom, boom, boom, artillery” school; hence my focus on artillery and missile systems. However, I have fallen in love with Russia’s Ka-52 “Alligator.” It is clearly the finest attack helicopter in the business; far superior to the Cobra and Apache attack helicopters that witnessed action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S./NATO Wunderwaffen: Failures in the Ukraine-Russia Conflict

Another U.S./NATO Wunderwaffe bites the dust. HIMARS (“High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems”) batteries were shipped by the U.S. to Ukraine with much fanfare in June 2022. By May 2024, it was clear even to the propagandists at the Washington Post and Daily Telegraph that HIMARS was “completely ineffective.” What makes HIMARS utterly useless?

Inherent Weaknesses of Air Defense Systems

Physicists have demonstrated scientifically that anti-ballistic missile (ABM) umbrellas have inherent weaknesses that render them largely ineffective. Critics have proffered scientific evidence, including documented failures of Patriot missile defenses in the First Persian Gulf War, to support findings. Rather than address critics, Washington officialdom has persecuted them. Vast profits are available to manufacturers of ABM systems; hence the silencing of scientists. Iran and Russia are aware of ABM weaknesses, which is why they have invested extensively in penetrating ABM through electronic warfare, drones, cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles. An overview of why ABM systems, and anti-rocket systems like Iron Dome, usually fail.

Iran: Crossing the Nuclear Rubicon

Signals from Tehran indicate either that a shift in its nuclear weapons policy has taken place, or policy review is ongoing within power circles. A Senior IRGC commander, Ahmad Haghtalab, said: Israel’s provocations may lead Tehran ‘to revise and deviate from the previously declared nuclear policies and considerations.’ My view is that Iran has already ‘crossed the Rubicon.’