Page 6 - War Fix News Today

The Su-57 program remains under-funded and under-developed. Heres What You Need to Remember: In light of the difficulties the Su-57 program faces, the purported second Syria deployment likely achieved as much as the 2018 deployment did. Nothing much. The Russian air force deployed Su-57 stealth fighters to Syria a second time since first deploying them to the war-torn country in February 2018. But that doesn’t mean the twin-engine Su-57 is any closer to being ready for mass production, to sa...

The Marines call it their “Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations” concept. Heres What You Need to Remember: Observers long have expected the Marines to cut back on heavy combat forces in order to free up money and manpower for new anti-ship units. Sure enough, the 2021 budget proposal also asks to reduce the services ranks from 186,200 active-duty personnel to 184,100. The U.S. Marine Corps a few years ago started saying it needed to get serious about sinking enemy warships. Now the amphi...

Long-Range Russian Aircraft are Traveling the World Tracking NATO Submarines The Russian patrol surge isn’t limited to Europe. Heres What You Need to Remember: The Russian exercise seemed to highlight Moscow’s new approach to undersea warfare. While the war game reportedly was defensive in nature, the same submarines with their long-range cruise missiles could conduct offensive operations from the same waters. A pair of Russian navy Tu-142 patrol planes flew one of the longest-ever flights...

A new landing helicopter dock has been designed. Heres What You Need to Remember: The Japanese navy does not have a formal requirement for an LHD, but there’s an obvious gap in the fleet’s structure that an assault ship could fill. Tokyo is building up a force of 17 MV-22 tiltrotors, 52 AAV7s and six LCACs to carry marines into combat. But the landing craft, vehicles and rotorcraft require ships to transport them close to shore. A Japanese shipbuilder is pitching a new amphibious assault s...

Taiwan Will Come to Regret Its New F-16 Purchases Nearly a decade after first requesting them, the Taiwanese air force finally could get 66 new F-16 fighters to begin replacing some of its older fighter aircraft. Heres What You Need to Remember: Fighters arguably are the least important system for this new strategy, although they could play an important role firing anti-ship missiles at Chinese invasion ships, according to Thompson. It’s likely, however, that few planes will survive China’...

The Army during the 2000s lagged behind its major rivals in artillery development. Heres What You Need to Remember: Targeting could pose a problem for these far-away targets. According to Breaking Defense, the Army is working on artificial intelligence and wireless networks so its howitzers and rocket-launchers can receive target coordinates from the service’s own drones as well as from drones, spy planes and satellites belonging to the other armed services. The U.S. Army just fired two 155-m...

In fact, Iran even managed to sink an aircraft carrier. Key point: The war game should have been a wake up call, but it was too embarrassing. Instead, the rules were changed during the game to ensure American victory. As tensions escalate in the Persian Gulf region, it’s worth recalling a 2002 Pentagon war game in which a U.S. Marine Corps played the part of an enemy commander waging a bloody defensive campaign against a much more powerful U.S. force. Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper’s own hodgepod...

These helicopters were bought from the cash-strapped Russians after the fall of the Soviet Union. Key point: Practice makes perfect. But even better is practicing against the actual hardware your opponent might use. A U.S. Air Force rescue-helicopter squadron in November 2019 flew mock battles against a fearsome enemy. Soviet-designed Mil Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters. The war game over Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona helped to prepare the base’s resident 55th Rescue Squadron for int...

These ships cannot hold their own in battle and have many problems. Key point: These warships are too easy to kill and do not carry enough fire power. Is it worth trying to buy more and upgrade them? After spending $30 billion over a period of around two decades, the U.S. Navy has managed to acquire just 35 of the 3,000-ton-displacement vessels. Sixteen were in service as of late 2018. Of those 16, four are test ships. Six are training ships. In 2019 just six LCSs, in theory, are deployable. W...

The F-35 lacks both active jammers and a compatible radar-homing missile. Heres What You Need to Remember:  Two U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter had a close encounter with a mobile air-defense system during combat operations over the Middle East. The encounter underscores the stealth fighter’s potential as a platform for suppressing enemy air-defenses, a service official said. A dozen F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings in April 2019 traveled from their home station at Hill A...