Category Archives: Technology

Cold War to Ukraine Crisis: DANA and the new Zuzana

Video April 3, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

Warsaw Pact Czechoslovak ShKH vz. 77. Photo via Czech Ministry of Defense.

The ShKH vz. 77 DANA began service with Warsaw Pact Czechoslovakia in 1981. New versions are continually being created, and currently is in use by at least six countries.

Polish DANA lets one rip while deployed to Afghanistan, November 2010. Photo by Polish Warrant Officer-2 Adam Roik.

Gunner’s position inside the DANA. Photo by Polish Warrant Officer-2 Adam Roik.

Forward Operating Base Arian, Afghanistan, 11JAN2012. In the background a Polish DANA. California Army National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Adam Carrington.

Cold War era Warsaw Pact Czechoslovak designed/built Soviet 152mm gunned Samo-hybná Kanónová Húfnica vzor 77 (ShKH vz. 77, or self-propelled cannon howitzer model 77), also known as DANA (Dělo Automobilní Nabíjené Automaticky, in English means gun vehicle loaded automatically). In today’s NATO Czech Republic it is called the SPGH-M77 or Type 77.

NATO Czech DANA on the NATO Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, NATO Germany, 25OCT2012. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Kirk Evanoff.

25OCT2012, USA photo by Sergeant Kirk Evanoff.

Near Peer Threats and Russo-Ukraine War, 2014 to present.

NATO Czech DANAs on the NATO Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, NATO Germany, 02SEP2014. USA photo by Sergeant Christina M. Dion.

NATO Czech DANAs on the NATO Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, NATO Germany, 04SEP2014. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Randy Florendo.

04SEP2014, USA photo by Staff Sergeant Randy Florendo.

04SEP2014. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Randy Florendo.

NATO Czech ShKH-77 Danas in a garage on the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, NATO Germany, 08AUG2015. USA photo by Specialist Tyler Kingsbury.

North Carolina Army National Guard examine a Polish 152mm DANA, 05JUN2016. North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan.

Polish 152mm DANA launches rounds during Exercise Anakonda, 13JUN2016. Oklahoma Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Micah D. Campbell.

Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, NATO Poland, 13JUN2016. Oklahoma Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Micah D. Campbell.

NATO’s Battle Group Poland roll towards the border with NATO Lithuania during Saber Strike wargame, 18JUN2017. USA photo by Specialist Stefan English.

Quick U.S. Army video by Sergeant Austin Majors, wet gap (river) crossing showing Polish DANAs crossing pontoon bridge during NATO’s Saber Strike wargame in June 2017:

NATO’s Battle Group Poland roll towards the border with NATO Lithuania during Saber Strike wargame, 18JUN2017. USA photo by Specialist Stefan English.

Polish DANA, 26SEP2018. USA photo by Sergeant Christopher Case.

What do you call a DANA that has been upgraded with a NATO compatible 155mm gun? The Zuzana.

U.S. paratroopers take photos of Slovakia’s Zuzana, 08MAR2019. USA photo by Specialist Rolyn Kropf.

In 2021, NATO Slovakia began using a new version of the Zuzana, called Zuzana-2.

Official acceptance ceremony for Slovakia’s new Zuzana-2, 22JUL2021. Photo via Slovak Ministry of Defense.

Zuzana-2 uses the latest in automation and has a human crew of only three.

Slovak Zuzana-2 launching a projectile on Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 30NOV2021. USA photo by Private First Class Jacob Bradford.

U.S. Army video by Specialist Jameson Harris, NATO Slovakia tries out their new Zuzana-2 in NATO Poland, 30NOV2021:

Puerto Rico Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Eliezer Meléndez, 06MAY2022.

In NATO Latvia, Forward Operating Site Adazi, NATO Slovak personnel showed-off their new Zuzana-2 to artillery men from Fort Riley, Kansas, on 06MAY2022.

Puerto Rico Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Eliezer Meléndez, 06MAY2022.

On 09OCT2022, NATO-Slovakia revealed that it had sent a total of ten of the new Zuzana-2 gun systems to Ukraine.

Photo via Slovak Ministry of Defense.

Poland’s new Krab, updated for Ukraine Crisis: POLAND’S KRAB (HALF BRITISH, HALF KOREAN?)

Soviet era Armor used by NATO: POLAND

Soviet era Aircraft used by NATO: POLAND SUKHOI 22

NATO Vehicle I-D: FRENCH CAESAR INVADES GERMANY!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: KOREAN 대한민국 K9 Thunder

Video March 23, 2022 Hutchins AAron

I have seen Republic of Korea (RoK) Ministry of National Defense use both ‘K9’ and ‘K-9’ when talking about the Thunder.

U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Dasol Choi, 01MAY2016.

U.S. Army (USA) video, 10MAY2016:

USA photo by Sergeant Christopher R. Baker, 15MAR2015.

USA video, March 2015:

Apparently U.S. artillery guys like what they see in the K9. USA photo by Specialist Steven Hitchcock, 15MAR2015.

USA photo by Specialist Steven Hitchcock, 15MAR2015.

RoK Ministry of National Defense promotional/explainer video:

RoK Ministry of National Defense video, K9 crews explain their jobs, includes glimpse of K9 based ammo carrier:

RoK Ministry of National Defense video of K-9s blasting away:

Vehicle I-D: TURKISH TEMPEST, NATO Turkey’s modified K9

Vehicle I-D:

Puolustusvoimat / Finnish Defense Forces photo.

Finland’s K9

Vehicle I-D: KOREAN 대한민국 K1

Technology, U.S.

Disaster Warnings: Tornado forecasting, it started with the USAF in 1948!

Image March 23, 2022 Hutchins AAron

According to an April 1998 article written by a former historian with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, James Crowder, tornado forecasting began in 1948, after two tornadoes touched down on Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma.

At one time Tinker AFB was used to store more than 2-thousand World War Two aircraft. The Twin Twister hit several of the P-47 Thunderbolts.

The first tornado struck on 20MAR1948, the second on 25MAR1948. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) weather (wx) forecasters on duty that day were new to the area, and were using an early form of wx radar that was actually a cannibalized bombing/navigation radar (AN-PQ-13) off a B-29 bomber! They had forecasted gusty winds, but 30 minutes after their forecast a storm popped-up on their bombing radar, and it produced a tornado.

This photo is dated 20MAR1948. C-54 transports now fraternizing with B-29 bombers.

Final damage cost estimate of the 20MAR1948 tornado was $10.25-million (in 1948 dollars), six people injured. The based commander, Major General Fred S. ‘Fritz’ Borum, was outraged at the lack of warning. The Major General was an armchair scientist, and known as an innovator and experimenter. Major General Borum ordered the creation of the first official tornado disaster preparedness plan, then he ordered the two top wx officers on base to do something never done before; forecast tornadoes.

Major Ernest J. Fawbush and Captain Robert C. Miller, the first to predict a tornado on 25MAR1948. Photo by April McDonald.

Major Ernest J. Fawbush and Captain Robert C. Miller were literal veteran wx-men, serving in the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. Going by what James Crowder wrote, they seemed obsessed with the idea of formulating a way to determine if a thunderstorm would produce tornadoes. They worked almost non stop gathering as much data as they could, their ‘shop’ became the first severe wx warning research center in the United States. Then on 25MAR1948, while having lunch Fawbush and Miller noticed the wx changing much like it did five days prior, they notified their ‘higher-ups’. They, and the base commander, watched on that former B-29 radar as the storm system grew bigger. The Major General demanded a definite prediction about a possible tornado, “Are we going to have another tornado or not?”, they responded by giving the first ever tornado alert by simply saying “Yes; yes, sir. We are.”

However, almost two hours went by without a tornado, the USAF wx forecasters thought for sure their careers were over, then another hour went by and boom, the second tornado hit. While everybody was sheltering, the base commander stood in the doorway of his living quarters and watch the twister tear through even more aircraft.

Altus AFB, Oklahoma, a tornado shoved two massive C-5A Galaxy into each other. 49 buildings damaged, 27 people injured. USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Philip Schmitter, 11MAY1982.

Major Fawbush and Captain Miller were soon flooded with data from private sector wx-men, the Oklahoma City Weather Bureau, the National Weather Bureau, as well as the USAF’s Air Weather Service, and the U.S. Navy’s weather organizations. In February 1951, they established the USAF’s Severe Weather Warning Center on Tinker AFB. Of the 75 tornado predictions they made, 67 of them actually happened. They both had long careers predicting wx for the U.S. military/government. Major General ‘Fritz’ Borum retired from the USAF in 1954.

One of several Langley AFB, Virginia, F-15 Eagles after getting swiped by a tornado. USAF photo, August 1993.

Disaster 2022: FEMA PREPS LOCAL POLICE FOR SOCIAL COLLAPSE!

Disaster 2021: IDAHO MILITIA & BOISE FD TRAIN FOR SWIFT WATER RESCUES, WITHOUT WATER!

VERMONT & CONNECTICUT VALKYRIE FIGHT FIRES IN KOSOVO!

U.S. MILITARY DEPLOYS TO HAITI, MORE THAN 2000 DEAD!

Hurricane Prep 2021: ‘NEAR SHORE EXPERIMENT’ PROVES SCIENTISTS STILL DON’T HAVE A CLUE!

Hurricane History: AIRBORNE HURRICANE HUNTERS, IT ALL STARTED WITH THE USAF…ON A DARE!

2017: USAF SPEEDS UP WEATHER TRAINING COURSE, BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE?

TEXAS SPECIAL FORCES ‘WEATHERMEN’ PARA-DIVE INTO LAKE WORTH!

Government Incompetence 2012: “FEMA CENTER CLOSED DUE TO WEATHER”

Technology

NACA’s ramjet F-82 Twin Mustang, 1949 crash & burn? Reborn more than 60 years later!

Image March 21, 2022 Hutchins AAron

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) acquired three F-82E (P-82E) Twin Mustangs between 1947 and 1950.

NACA photo, 01APR1949.

The first F-82E (PQ-887) was used to test ramjet missiles over NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (now called NASA Glenn Research Center).

NACA photo, 1948.

With the creation of the U.S. Air Force in September 1947, the ‘P’ for pursuit was dropped for ‘F’ for fighter, and PQ-887 became FQ-887.

NACA photo, 1948.

The info that came with this photo says the ramjet tests took place over Wallops Island (Wallops Flight Facility), Virginia. NACA photo, 1948.

A 28MAY1951 Aviation Week article revealed the once secret Wallops Island operations, but stated that the ramjet craft were scale models of bigger things to come.

U.S. Army Air Force photo, XP-82 44-83887, 1945.

By April 1949, FQ-887 became XFQ-887, and a NACA press release claimed the ‘X’ represented that this F-82E was actually one of the two North American prototype XP-82s (#44-83887)!

Skidded off the paved runway, and down into the mud. NACA photo, 14DEC1949.

XFQ-887 then suffered a ‘runway incident’ in December 1949 and was ‘transferred’ after that.

NACA photo, 14DEC1949.

Jacked-up out of the mud. NACA photo, 14DEC1949.

In 1950 two more F-82E came onboard. By the end of 1951, a new designed F-4 ramjet missile was tried-out.

NACA photo, 01DEC1951.

The new F-4 ramjet missile was mounted in the center of the aircraft, instead of on the outboard wings.

NACA photo, 01DEC1951.

NACA photo, 1951.

NACA photo, 01DEC1951.

NACA photo, 1952.

Compare to wing mounted ramjet missile.

NACA photo, 1953.

Interestingly, these air-launched ramjet missiles look like the successful surface-to-air RIM-8 Talos missile used by the U.S. Navy, but with much fewer fins. The Talos ramjet project began in 1944, with its first flight in February 1945.

What happened to XFQ-887? It was removed from military records in 1950, then ended up in the hands of an aircraft collector in Ohio, from 1965 to 1985. It rotted away in a junkyard until 2008, when Brooks Aviation got a hold of it, restoration work began the same year, airworthiness was certified in 2011 even though the left fuselage still needed restoration. In 2019, XFQ-887 (XP-82) made its debut at the Fun-n-Sun Air Show in Florida.

https://www.facebook.com/169791783063916/videos/1815465248496553/

See and read a whole lot more about the return of XFQ-887 (XP-82) at XP-82 Twin Mustang Project.

Crash Landings:

USAAF photo.

USAAF P-51 MUSTANGS, ENGLAND, 1944-45

TRIPLE ENGINED F-106B DELTA DART; MORE TAXPAYER FUNDED SUPPORT FOR THE AIRLINER INDUSTRY

SALVAGING F4U CORSAIRS

Technology

Vehicle I-D: U.S. Army gets new versions of Abrams and Bradley

Video March 15, 2022 Hutchins AAron

The U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based on Fort Stewart, Georgia, is playing with new M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams and new M2A4 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Trenton Lowery, 01FEB2022.

On 01FEB2022, the ‘Hound Battalion’ of the ‘Spartan Brigade’ got new upgraded M2A4s.

USA photo by Sergeant Trenton Lowery, 01FEB2022.

U.S. Army video interview, 01FEB2022, Lieutenant Colonel Mario Iglesias explains what is new about the new M2A4 Bradley:

It should be noted that profits made from the sale of Bradleys goes to the British empire, as the Bradley, once made by a U.S. company, is now made by United Kingdom’s BAE Systems. BAE began to aggressively take over U.S. defense companies in 2001, the same year that the undeclared War on Terror began.

USA photo by Sergeant Trenton Lowery, 11MAR2022.

Then on 11MAR2022, the Hound Battalion got new upgraded M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams battle tanks.

USA photo by Sergeant Trenton Lowery, 11MAR2022.

The Spartan Brigade has been chosen to become the most modernized U.S. Army combat unit, by 2023.

This is a ‘dramatic’ U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division video, from July 2020, explaining the new M1A2 SEPv3:

M1 Abrams are currently made at the Lima Army Tank Plant, currently under contract with U.S. based General Dynamics Land Systems.

In January 2022, the AUKUS member Australia revealed plans to upgrade their M1A2 Abrams tanks to SEPv3 condition.

On 17FEB2022, the U.S. Department of State’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency published an update of plans to allow NATO Poland to buy 250 M1A2 SEPv3.

Fiscal Year 2015 PDF explainer of M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP) Version 3 (v3).

Vehicle I-D: U.S. M109A7 PALADIN, ANOTHER ‘TOOL’ OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

Proof the U.S. is the ‘tool’ of the British Empire: BAE M777 Artillery

BIDEN IS A BRITISH EMPIRE RED COAT? NEW A-U-K-U-S (Australia United Kingdom United States) ALLIANCE FOR FUTURE WAR WITH CHINA!

World War 3, False Flag: CHINA WARNS UKRAINE CRISIS IS A DIVERSION, TRUE GOAL OF AUKUS IS WAR WITH CHINA!

Vehicle I-D: M1A2-V2-SEP ABRAMS IDAHO LIVE FIRE, FEBRUARY 2019

In 2021, U.S. Army anti-aircraft units in Germany were the first to be upgraded with the new Stryker Mobile Short Range Air Defense (M-ShoRAD) system.

Technology

Cold War & Beyond: China’s JH-7A

Image March 15, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Cold War, approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union):

JH-7 (aka FBC-1 Flying Leopard, NATO reporting name Flounder) first flew in 1988, but entered service after the Cold War, in 1992.

People’s Liberation Army- Eastern Theater Command photo by Ge Shuwei, 25NOV2021.

The current JH-7A has a lighter and stronger airframe than the JH-7, allowing it to carry heavier weapon loads.

PLA-Eastern Theater Command photo by Ge Shuwei, 25NOV2021.

The Chinese strike aircraft uses engines that are license built version of NATO United Kingdom Rolls-Royce turbofans.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo by Liu Xuhong, 07SEP2021.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo.

PLA-Southern Theater Command photo by Zhuo Lingpeng, 17AUG2021.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo, August 2021.

PLA-Southern Theater Command photo by Nie Haifei, 29JUL2021.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo by Wang Limin, October 2020.

PLA-Southern Theater Command photo by Ou Kaixu, 21JUL2020.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo by Yang Pan, 25APR2019.

PLA-Southern Theater Command photo by Liu Huanhuan, 01NOV2018.

PLA-Northern Theater Command photo, 12JUN2018.

PLA-Western Theater Command photo by Wang Xiaofei, March 2018.

Vehicle I-D: CHINA’S H-6K

Technology

World War 3/Vehicle I-D: China’s new High Altitude Light Tank

Video March 15, 2022 Hutchins AAron

China has developed and deployed a high altitude lightweight Type 15 (aka ZTQ-15, VT5) tank to dominate its Tibetan and Uyghur regions.

People’s Liberation Army-Nanjiang Military Command photo by Gao Yang, 09FEB2022.

The Type 15 is equipped with an oxygen generator to prevent crews from developing altitude sickness.

PLA-Nanjiang Military Command photo by Gao Yang, 09FEB2022.

PLA-Nanjiang Military Command photo, October 2021.

It uses an upgraded version of the 105mm L7 gun, originally designed in NATO United Kingdom during the Cold War.

Reportedly, this new 105mm gun is much better than the 105mm gun used on the Type 59 and Type 88 tanks.

Notice the U.S. style antenna/antenna mounts. PLA-Nanjiang Military Command photo by Chen Ming, 27SEP2021.

PLA-Nanjiang Military Command photo by Chen Ming, 27SEP2021.

PLA-Xinjiang Military Command photo by Tang Yayun, 26JUL2021.

PLA-Xinjiang Military Command photo by Tang Yayun, 24MAY2021.

This PLA-Xinjiang Military Command video is about the first deployment of the Type 15 to areas above 4-thousand-3-hundred meters, sometime between 2018 and 2021:

The ZTQ-15/VT5/Type 15 was publicly unveiled during a parade in Tiananmen Square on 01OCT2019.

Vehicle I-D: CHINA STILL USES THE NATO GUNNED TYPE 88 WARSAW PACT BASED TANK

Zombie Tank: CHINA’S TYPE 59D, UPDATED COLD WAR T-54/55, TO LIVE-ON AS A ROBOT TANK?

World War 3: CHINA DEVELOPS/DEPLOYS MILITARY SYSTEMS SPECIFICALLY FOR UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: How does the National Guard go hunting for recruits in Alaska?

Image March 14, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Photo by Benjamin Wilson, 13MAR2022.

The U.S. Army/Marine Corps calls it the Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV), an all-terrain Arctic vehicle. It is a NATO Norway made Bandvagn (Bv) 206. Here in the U.S. any tracked vehicle designed for snow is commonly referred to as a Snow Cat (there is even a brand called Sno-Cat).

U.S. Army photo by Major Jason Welch, 13MAR2022.

In March 2022, the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, borrowed an Alaskan Army National Guard recruiter’s SUSV.

USA photo by Major Jason Welch, 13MAR2022.

Fort Greeley, Alaska, is conducting a multi-national combat readiness wargame called Joint Pacific Readiness Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) rotation 22-02.

USA photo by Major Jason Welch, 13MAR2022.

Another Alaskan Army National Guard Bv 206, I mean SUSV, this time in normal colors.

Vehicle I-D: USMC SNO-CATS FLEE California’s SLINK FIRE

Technology

Vehicle I-D: M109, Cold War and beyond

Video March 13, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) M109 with short M126 155mm gun, Viet Nam, July 1966. Photo by Captain Edwin W. Besch.

A USMC Major General has the ‘honor’ of launching the 30-thousandth round from a 4th Battalion, 11th Marines, M126 155mm gunned M109, in Viet Nam. USMC photo by Sergeant Upton, 25JUN1967.

Video I edited from the late 1960s U.S. Army’s The Big Picture film to focus on the M109, and a sneak peak at what was then the experimental M109A1 (complete with fake artillery sound effects):

Another video I edited from The Big Picture about the USA 3rd Armored Division in NATO Germany, late 1960s, showing the short barreled M109 (there was no nat-sound, and the narration is terrible so I edited it out):

Silent USA film by ‘Jensen’, M109 action Khe Sanh area, Viet Nam, August 1970:

With the M109A1, the short M126 barrel was replaced with the long M185 cannon. From A1 through A4 series there is no visual difference, the upgrades being internal. If you’ll notice, some photos show a protruding panoramic periscope, while others do not, and it does not matter if it is an A1, A2, A3 or A4. The A5 variant got a more powerful motor, and a new M284 gun of apparently the same length as the M185, visually similar to its predecessors.

A U.S. Army (USA) M109A1 is loaded onto the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) YC-15, on Yuma Army Proving Grounds, Arizona. The experimental YC-15 helped develop the C-17. Photo by Charles P. Connally, 17DEC1975.

Photo attributed to Bernd Hartmann, Germany 1978.

In the mid-1970s, the U.S. Army (USA) turned a M108/109 into a fake-news ZSU-23-4 for use in the testing of a U.S. Air Force (USAF) ground vehicle identification/targeting program. It was seen again, very briefly, in a ReForGer (Return of Forces to Germany) wargame, where European tank-o-philes speculated that the USA had created a new anti-aircraft tank.

USMC M109s displayed for U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, 27JUL1981. USMC photo by Corporal Jarman.

USMC M109, Twentynine Palms, California, November 1981. USMC photo by Sergeant D.D. Smith.

USMC M109 on Twentynine Palms, California, 28APR1982. USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Parker.

A little confused about the location of this photo, the info says it is a ReForGer exercise yet also says it is Fort Riley, Kansas, 1982. USA photo by Sergeant First Class Mcbride.

USMC 2nd Tank Battalion M109 self-propelled artillery in NATO Norway, March 1983. USMC photo by Corporal M.H. Coffey.

NATO Canada M109A1. USA photo by Specialist-5 (aka Spec-5 or Specialist Second Class) Vince E. Warner, 14MAY1983.

In 1984, the U.S. Army (USA) announced it was considering an ‘A5’ upgrade to its M109s, and the creation of a specialized ammo carrier based on the M109’s chassis. There is very little visual difference between the earlier long barreled M109s and the ‘A5’ M109.

Pulling the powerpack from a M109A1, Egypt, 1985. Photo by Dan Mock.

NATO Norway M109 with M126 155mm gun, February 1987. USMC photo by Corporal J.D. Gonzales.

Two M109A1s on a U.S. Navy (USN) landing craft, May 1987. USN photo by Photographer’s Mate Ed Bailey.

The information that came with this photo says it is a USA M109A1, Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, March 1988.

A USA M109 155mm self-propelled artillery gun is offloaded for Operation Desert Shield, sometime in the last quarter of 1990. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Ruark.

Egyptian M109s taking part in Operation Desert Shield, moving through NBC decontamination training lanes, December 1990. U.S. Air Force photo credited to Technical Sergeant H. H. Deffner.

USA M109A2, Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The odd shaped thing on the bow of the M109A2 is an experimental anti-tank-mine device. Photo by Lynn S. Beltran, January 1991.

Post Cold War, 1992 to present:

USA M109 of C Battery, 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery, in Somalia as part of a UN peacekeeping mission. USA photo by Specialist Gary A. Bryant, 27DEC1993.

USA M109A3 (according to the info that came with the photo) live-fire training in Kuwait, 25OCT1994. USA photo by Specialist Moses M. Mlasko.

M109 based in Butzbach, Germany, loaded onto rail flat-cars (railhead operation), 28DEC1995. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Arthur Mitchum.

Supposedly the first A6 Paladin upgrades entered service with the USA starting in 1994. The Paladin has noticeable visual differences regarding the turret, gun mantlet and gun travel-lock.

USA M992 ammo carrier reloads a M109, Bosnia and Herzegovina. USA photo by Sergeant Alejandro Francisco, 06APR1996.

A muddy USA M109A2 (according to the info that came with the photo), Bosnia and Herzegovina, 22APR1996. USA photo by Specialist Glenn W. Suggs.

NATO Italy’s M109L in Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 1996. Notice the rear view mirrors for the driver. USA photo by Sergeant Brian Gavin.

The M109L also has a barrel sleeve between the bore evacuator and the mantlet. The M109L gun is designed and built in Italy, with different shaped muzzle brake and bore evacuator. USA photo by Sergeant Brian Gavin, June 1996.

The M109L also has NATO European smoke grenade launchers. USA photo by Sergeant Brian Gavin, June 1996.

USA’s Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), change track on their M109, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. USA photo by Private First Class Michelle Labriel, 31JUL1997.

Checking out the 1-148 FA’s boom-boom, Summer 1997. Photo by Sergeant AAron B. Hutchins.

My children checking out the 1-148 Field Artillery’s M109, Pocatello, Idaho.

In the late 1990s, I was a 13F for Idaho Army National Guard’s 1-148 FA.

‘My’ M981A3 FiSTV (artillery forward observer M113), on Idaho’s Orchard Training Area (now called Orchard Combat Training Center), Summer 1997.

M109A6 Paladin, Fort Stewart, Georgia, November 1997. Photo by Don Teft.

M109 of Bravo Battery, 2d Battalion, 3d Field Artillery Regiment, USA, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. USA photo by Private First Class Joel C. Miller, 27MAR1998.

Amazingly, this obvious M109A6 Paladin was listed by ‘officials’ as an M109A2!!! In fact, a whole series of photos showing Fort Carson, Colorado, M109A6 Paladins are listed as M109A2s! Also, notice this Paladin has a Mark-19 40mm grenade launcher in place of the usual M2 HB .50-cal machine gun. The A6 has a new turret, gun mantlet and even new style gun travel lock. Photo by Michael Knapik, 22JUN1999.

M109A6 Paladin, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, April 2001. Photo by Anita Johnson.

NATO Spain M109A5, El Omayed, Egypt. USAF photo by Senior Airman D. Myles Cullen, 20OCT2001.

Global War on Terror, approximately September 2001 (based on speeches by U.S. President Bush) to 23MAY2013 (based on speech by U.S. President Obama).

USA M109A6 Paladin heading towards the Euphrates River, Iraq. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Andrew P. Roufs, 23MAR2003.

Utah Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 222nd Field Artillery M109A6 Paladin, Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Michael Rice, 12JUN2004.

USA M109A6 Paladin, launches rounds with its turret facing to the rear, in Balad, Iraq. An M992 is standing by with more food. USA photo by Matt Acosta, 28AUG2005.

Egyptian M109. USMC photo by Corporal Chad H. Leddy, 13SEP2005.

Egyptian M109 Self Propelled Howitzer, September 2005, photo by U.S. Army Sergeant Alejandro Licea.

Near Peer Threats and Russo-Ukraine War, 2014 to present.

Idaho Army National Guard 1-148 Field Artillery’s M109A6 Paladin, Pocatello Airport air show. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, 2014.

POKEY AIRPORT, IDAHO ARMY NATIONAL GUARD M109A6

New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley, 02MAR2017.

In 2017, the New Jersey Air National Guard used the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Reutilization Transfer Donation program to get this M109 for its Warren Grove Bombing Range.

NATO video of NATO Norway M109A6 Paladins conducting fire mission training, video posted 26OCT2018 (no audio with the drone video, but audio with the cool close-up/crew compartment video):

Latvian National Armed Forces M109A5. Canadian Armed Forces photo by Aviator Jérôme Lessard, 15NOV2018.

NATO Vehicle I-D: LATVISKI M109A5Ö (THE Ö IS FOR ÖSTERREICH)

By 2019, a new, so called, M109 began arriving for duty with the U.S. Army (USA). In 2021, Army National Guard units began getting their new ‘M109s’. Many military armchair ‘experts’ who get paid to write articles for military themed journals call the ‘A7’ an “upgrade” of the A6. I do not consider the new M109A7 Paladin to be an ‘upgrade’, nor do I consider it to be a true M109 as it uses a completely new hull/chassis that is based on the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, as well as a completely new gun system.

Even in 2021, U.S. Department of Defense media personnel still get it wrong! This video, posted on 09JUN2021, shows Royal Moroccan M109s, obviously the A1 through A5 type, yet it was labeled as “Royal Moroccan Armed Forces Paladin” (the A6 is the true Paladin). U.S. Army video by Second Lieutenant Catherine Framstad:

USA’s 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, launching rounds with their M109A6 Paladin in NATO Poland, 20MAY2021. Video by Master Sergeant Ryan Matson:

Pennsylvania Army National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Zane Craig, 10MAY2022.

Pennsylvania Army National Guard drive away from a Army Prepositioned Stock (APS) in Europe, heading to Lithuania in M109A6 Paladins, M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicles, and M572 Armored Mortar Carriers, 10MAY2022.

Biden’s War 2021: IDAHO’s 1-148 FA GETS ‘SMART’ ARTILLERY ROUNDS, REVEALS “UPCOMING MOBILIZATIONS”

A 1-148th FA M109A6 Paladin self propelled artillery system freezing to death in Pocatello, Idaho.

Cold War era M109A5 SP-gun. 1-148th FA, Pocatello, Idaho.

TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

NATO Vehicle I-D:

Turkey’s T-155 Firtina (Tempest)

Vehicle I-D: FINLAND’S SP GUNS 155 PSH K9 & 122 PSH 74

2S1, FROM COLD WAR TO UKRAINIAN BORDER CRISIS!

2S3 AKATSIYA (2C3 АКАЦИЯ), COLD WAR TO UKRAINE BORDER CRISIS!

Idaho, International, Technology

Cyber-Dome: Idaho joins Israel in new global cyber dominance operation?

March 11, 2022 Hutchins AAron

11 March 2022 (16:05-UTC-07 Tango 06) 20 Esfand 1400/07 Sha’ban 1443/09 Gui Mao 4720

“The cybersecurity market has evolved rapidly since the beginning of the pandemic, especially when it comes to identifying and developing talented cybersecurity personnel, and providing them an environment where they can make an impact, be challenged and feel successful.”-Edward Vasko, Boise State University’s Institute for Pervasive Cybersecurity

On 02MAR2022, Idaho’s Boise State University (BSU) announced their Cyberdome program was up and running. BSU’s Institute for Pervasive Cybersecurity is using the Open XDR Platform created by a company called Stellar Cyber (interview with co-founder of Steller Cyber, who blames Pandemic fearmongering mandates for the sudden skyrocketing use of Cyber Domes). The official reason for this Cyberdome program is to provide rural areas with cyber security, but the program will also offer ‘free’ (state taxpayer funded) cyber security to more than 750 state taxpayer funded agencies (Idaho instituted a federal taxpayer funded Department of Defense cybersecurity operation through its National Guard several years ago and it does not have a good track record of halting cyber crimes).

(Boise State welcomes local governments to the ‘Cyberdome’)

BSU’s Cyberdome operation will be staffed by students, and supposedly is funded by grant money, at least until 2024 or 2025. In July 2021, the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission’s Higher Education Research Council granted BSU $700-thousand per year for at least three years, to create and operate a Cyberdome program. Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission is part of the Higher Education Research Council, which in turn is part of the state taxpayer funded Idaho Board of Education. The ‘grant money’ comes from taxpayers.

Israeli Maj. Gen. Lior Carmeli, (left) chief Joint Cyber Defense Directorate (JCDD), Israel Defense Forces, shakes hands with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William J. Hartman (right), commander, Cyber National Mission Force. U.S. Cyber Command photo by Chief Petty Officer Jon Dasbach, 16DEC2021.

Maybe it is a coincidence, but in December 2021 the U.S. Cyber Command, and Israel’s Joint Cyber Defense Division, conducted joint CyberDome operations within the U.S., for the sixth time! According to The Times of Israel, just weeks before the 2021 joint operation with the U.S., Israel’s Joint Cyber Defense Division also conducted a CyberDome operation that involved ‘simulated’ cyber attacks against the financial institutions of ten countries!

It turns out there are Cyberdome operations everywhere, some presented as government operations, some as private sector operations, there’s even a non-profit Cyberdome led by former U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials that helps ‘protect’ politicians in the United States (it’s called US CyberDome)!

United Arab Emirates based ISnSC claims to have an autonomous Cyber Dome, which can integrate with XDR.

Finland based Nokia has an 5G XDR they call NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome.

There is a CyberDome operation in the African country of Nigeria, and it turns out it is the same CyberDome operation based in Israel!

Bynet Communications in Israel, claims it designed CyberDome. But as you’ll see below, another Israeli company also makes that claim.

In the country of India, the Kerala Police have their own ‘joint’ private/public funded Cyberdome operation.

Israeli Cyber-Dome is the developer of the security add-on Magen. Magen is a security layer that claims to lower the risk of being spied on or having personal data stolen.

Jewish Press 2019: Israel and US Prepare to Combat Hackers

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems 2017: Israeli defense company Rafael is directly involved with helping create CyberDome.

Financial Martial Law: BIDEN ISSUES ORDER TO SHUTDOWN ‘FOREIGN’ CRYPTOCURRENCIES, PROTECT TOP CURRENCY STATUS FOR UNITED STATES!