Mil Mi-24

The Hind Heist - The Secret US Operation to Steal the Soviet's Top Helicopter > .

The top secret US mission to steal the latest Mi-24 Hind gunship in 1988, known as Operation Mount Hope III.

During the early 1960s, it became apparent to Soviet designer Mikhail Mil that the trend towards ever-increasing battlefield mobility would result in the creation of flying infantry fighting vehicles, which could be used to perform both fire support and infantry transport missions. The first expression of this concept was a mock-up unveiled in 1966 in the experimental shop of the Ministry of Aircraft's factory number 329, where Mil was head designer. The mock-up designated V-24 was based on another project, the V-22 utility helicopter, which never flew. The V-24 had a central infantry compartment that could hold eight troops sitting back to back, and a set of small wings positioned to the top rear of the passenger cabin, capable of holding up to six missiles or rockets and a twin-barreled GSh-23L cannon fixed to the landing skid.

The Mil Mi-24 (Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force and its successors, along with 48 other nations.

In NATO circles, the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted with a letter suffix as "Hind D" and "Hind E". Soviet pilots called the Mi-24 the "flying tank" (летающий танк; letayushchiy tank), a term used historically with the famous World War II Soviet Il-2 Shturmovik armored ground attack aircraft. More common unofficial nicknames were "Galina" (or "Galya"), "Crocodile" (Крокодил; Krokodil), due to the helicopter's camouflage scheme and "Drinking Glass" (Стакан; Stakan), because of the flat glass plates that surround earlier Mi-24 variants' cockpits.

Phasers against UAVs

22-4-9 Drones, Missiles, Mercenaries in Future of Militaries - CNBC > .

> DEWs - Directed Energy Weapons >>  

24-2-19 Laser 7 Microwave Weapons - DEW Programs, Potential, Issues - Perun > .

> Drones >>

23-12-15 FPV drone use in R-U war - cheap guided missiles - Binkov > .

23-9-24 Combat Drones & Future Air Warfare - Humans + Wingman - Perun > .

23-7-26 Ukraine tech sector goes to war | FT Doc > .

23-6-7 Ukrainian Defense Tech Boom - War Startups - U24 > .

23-6-30 Directed Energy Weapons - Lasers vs Drones, Missiles - T&P > .

23-6-13 Drones and the Dystopian Future of War - Journeyman > .

22-11-11 Economics of Kamikaze Drones - nwyt > . skip > .

22-10-27 Pooti's [Desperate] Iranian Drones | Peter Zeihan, Ben Hodges > .

2013 Rise of the Drones (FULL doc) | NOVA | PBS > .

Companies are now developing and deploying sophisticated new defences, from frying the electronic circuits with powerful beams of microwave radiation (phasers), to precise jamming systems.

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By programming a UAV to fly around numerous points before arriving at its target it can avoid the obvious directions from which an attack is expected. This may explain why existing radars failed to spot the drone formation which attacked Abqaiq.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49984415

Drones (UAVs) ..

Future Air Power ..

Pilot training - declining commercial

Why the World is Running Out of Pilots > .  

Transportation/Travel - Wend > .

Training in ATA > . 

Propulsion - nuclear vs non-nuclear

USS Gerald R Ford Vs HMS Queen Elizabeth - Nuclear vs Non-nuclear - CuDr > .  

SFSG - Special Forces Support Group

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Army’s Ranger Regiment ‘Open to Anybody In The Armed Forces’ - Forces > .

24-2-1 Could National Service fix British forces recruitment crisis? | Sitrep > .

23-9-5 Strategic Autonomy: Will Europe Ever Be Able to Defend Itself? | Waro > .

23-7-19 Cyber & Technologies in Defence Command Paper - Forces > .

23-7-18 Futureproofing for changing threats; Defence Command Paper - Forces > .

23-5-3 International Security: Past Lessons, Projections - HR & Nick Carter > .

23-3-19 Britain's Shrinking Military - Cold War to Cash-Strapped Shadow - mfp > .

23-3-4 British-led Tank Mission in Estonia = Russia’s Border - Battle Order > .

23-2-1 Tier one or tier two force? British Army still amongst the best? - Forces > .

22-7-21 Why Every NATO Member Joined (Why Others Haven't) - Spaniel > .

22-4-1 Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Sparking NATO Defense Spending Spree? > .

22-2-5 US Ranger School - Life is a Special Operation > .

22-2-22 Poland vs. France: Can EU Create Alternative to NATO? - VisPol > .

> Conscription, Recruitment >>

24-4-16 Is Mandatory Military Service Actually a Good Idea? - Context Matters > .

24-2-1 Could National Service fix British forces recruitment crisis? | Sitrep > .

> EuM - European Defense >>  EU Army? 

24-7-27 Future of EU Defense: NATO or the EU? - Simple > .

24-3-6 EU Defense Union: How Far Should We Integrate? - Simple > . skip > .

24-2-28 EU Army Looks Increasingly Likely - TLDR > .

24-2-20 Why Europe is Reinstating Conscription - TLDR > .

23-12-23 Future of EU Defense: NATO or the EU? (ft. UEF) - Simple > .

23-9-5 Strategic Autonomy: Will Europe Ever Be Able to Defend Itself? | Waro > .

22-5-1 EU Army could challenge Xina and Ruscia - Simple > .

> UK Military >>

24-2-20 R-U's Vital Lessons for British Army - Forces > .

Geostrategic Projection

European Geostrategic Projection ..

NATO

Funding NATO ..

The Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) is a unit of the British Armed Forces. The SFSG is the newest addition to the United Kingdom Special Forces. It was formed officially on 3 April 2006 to provide specialist infantry and other support to the Special Air Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Boat Service on operations. A tri-service unit, the major element of the SFSG is 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), reinforced with a company strength group of the Royal Marines. Specialists from the RAF Regiment also form part of the SFSG's strength. The SFSG may provide extra firepower from land or air to fulfil their mission.

The SFSG also act as the hunter force during the SERE phase of the UKSF Selection. The Defence Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract (SERE) Training Organisation, otherwise known as DSTO, is a military training organisation based at RAF St. Mawgan, Cornwall In the United Kingdom. DSTO is a tri-service organisation and trains personnel of the British armed forces in survival techniques, evading capture and resistance from interrogation, prior to overseas deployment. In addition, the SFSG have a rotating company group trained in Counter Terrorism (CT) to support the on-call SAS or SBS squadrons on CT rotation.

Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, trained, and equipped forces, manned with selected personnel, using unconventional tactics, techniques, and modes of employment".

Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the WW2, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare.

United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) Selection is the selection and training process for members of the United Kingdom's three regular Special Forces formations: 22 Special Air Service, Special Air Service Reserve, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the SBS (Reserve). Members of the SAS and SBS undergo common selection up to the award of a sand-coloured beret to SAS Troopers, whereupon SBS candidates undergo further selection to qualify as Swimmer Canoeists and SAS personnel undergo further specialist training. Until the late 1990s candidates for the SAS and SBS underwent selection separately.

Selection takes place in the Brecon Beacons and Elan Valley in Wales, and in the jungle of Belize, taking around six months to complete. Selection is held twice a year regardless of conditions.

In Russian-speaking countries, special forces of any country are typically called spetsnaz, an acronym for "special purpose". In the United States, the term special forces often refers specifically to the U.S. Army's Special Forces, while the term special operations forces (SOF) is used more broadly for these types of units.

Jegertroppen: Hunter Troop: Norway's tough-as-nails female soldiers. 

World's toughest female soldiers? > .

Norway's Special Forces Girls 1/2 > .

Norway's Special Forces Girls 2/2 > .

22-1-10 Why Ukraine is Not a NATO Member - NATO > .

Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, NATO - Compass >> .