This article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. A US Navy warship operating in the Gulf of Aden successfully fired on a floating target with a high-energy laser weapon system this week, the sea service revealed Wednesday. The test, which the Navy carried out Tuesday, was a demonstration of the Solid State Laser […]
How US Special Operations Forces helped win the Gulf War
Special OpsThis article by Stavros Atlamazogou was originally published by Business Insider. Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the US military shifted its focus from Russia to the Middle East. In August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait, starting an international crisis that would end with […]
UK recovers F-35 that crashed in Mediterranean last month
Military AffairsThis article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. The F-35 stealth fighter that a British carrier pilot was forced to ditch in the Mediterranean last month has been recovered, the British Defense Ministry said Wednesday. “Operations to recover the UK F-35 jet in the Mediterranean Sea have successfully concluded,” the ministry said. “We extend […]
Massing Russian troops on Ukraine border stoke fear of invasion
NewsThis article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. Russia is massing troops and military equipment near the border of Ukraine, stirring fears that it may move to launch an invasion. The US has shared concerns about the possibility of an invasion, as well as intelligence indicating that Russia is positioning forces for […]
Australia offers hints at how nuclear submarines will factor in
Military AffairsThis article by Christopher Woody was originally published by Business Insider. The submarines at the center of the recent Australia-UK-US security pact are still decades from delivery, but Australia already has an idea of where they will be operating. The AUKUS pact announced in September is meant to deepen cooperation on defense technologies, the highest-profile of which […]
Woman graduates Army sniper course for first time
CareerThis article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. A Montana National Guard soldier just became the first woman to graduate from the US Army’s sniper course at Fort Benning in Georgia, the Montana National Guard said in a statement Monday. A Guard spokesperson told Insider that it is not clear whether the soldier, […]
Weapons and gear of the US military’s top special operators
GearThis article by Stavros Atlamazoglou was originally published by Business Insider. “People are more important than hardware.” This is one of the five special-operations truths. It’s not the gear that makes an operator special — it’s their mentality, training, and personality traits. That being said, special operators field some state-of-the-art weapons that allow them to dominate any […]
The messy way the Marines joined US Special Operations
Special OpsThis article by Stavros Atlamazoglou was originally published by Business Insider. This year marks the 15th anniversary of Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Created on February 24, 2006, MARSOC is the Marine Corps’ component of US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and is composed of the Marine Raider Regiment, Marine Raider Support Group, and Marine Raider Training Center. Marine […]
TOPGUN fines aviators $5 each time they quote the movie
LifestyleThis article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. If you feel “the need for speed” at the US Navy’s elite fighter pilot school, you’d best not say it, or be prepared to pay the price. At the Navy’s decades-old tactical air combat training center commonly known as TOPGUN, there are fines for […]
Why do some A-10s rock that fearsome shark teeth war paint?
AirpowerThis article by Ryan Pickrell was originally published by Business Insider. There are the ordinary A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, and then there are what one US Air Force squadron commander called “the coolest looking A-10s.” Those planes are the ones rocking the ferocious shark teeth war paint, he said. “It’s not just any A-10s […]
