US Government Accountability Office’s Post

Truly The Arsenal of Democracy.

The Key lies in maneuver trainers. The CCTT simulator is all but dead on the vine. The National Guard is keeping it on life support and the UKCATT is the only Foreign Military Option. The US should write mandatory usage in training doctrine as they did for gunnery Simulators. It as simple as “Fight as a Combimed Arms Team.” Russia and Ukraine are nowhere near the required competency.

We should not draw premature conclusions from recent conflicts on the efficacy of tanks and armored formations in future conflicts. Tanks will continue to enable national power projection, provide operational flexibility and tempo to joint commanders, and facilitate tactical combined arms maneuver. Read about it at https://lnkd.in/e6HRBwG4.

A Friend named Lee Tarricone posted this on Facebook: The biggest news you didn't hear (in the US) this week. (See links in the Comments section.) 'Flames broke out at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant Monday afternoon [15 Apr]. Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames shortly after arriving. Officials say no one was injured…there is no word yet on the severity of the damage caused by the fire or the impacts it will have on production' What is produced at the Scranton plant? 'Large-caliber metal projectiles and mortar projectiles', including 155 mm caliber, ie the artillery shells Ukraine is rapidly running out of. It's rationing its stocks by firing at a 1:10 ratio to the incoming Russian artillery blasts. The timing of the fire is curious. Besides disrupting production of an essential input at a critical moment in the war, Joe Biden was scheduled to speak in Scranton two days after Monday's fire (he spoke as scheduled). But wait, there's more. A fire broke out at Moscow's Avangard Machine Building Plant, the sole supplier of missiles for Russia's S-400 air defense system, a day later Tues 16 Apr. (The plant claimed the fire was part of "firefighting training.") The timing of this fire, on the heels of Scranton's fire and in Moscow itself, is also curious. Somehow, all this escaped the notice of major media outlets. There was some local coverage of the Scranton event, but zero reporting on a national level. The Avangard fire was picked up by MSN and Yahoo, a bare ripple of coverage. Why didn't you hear it? Because anyone looking at this series of events would conclude there's a serious national security risk, underscored by an exchange of lethal actions. The story was buried. Why? https://lnkd.in/exEuCWGF

Between #DefenseInnovationDays and our #TechTalks, SENEDIA is at the center of the defense industry's most important issues. Join today to be a part of the conversation. #SENEDIAmembership https://buff.ly/48XeJUg

SOFWERX — a hub focused on solving U.S. Special Operations Command’s toughest problems — is gearing up for a confab to address a major impediment that commandos are expected to face in future wars: contested logistics. The gathering, which will be the next round in SOFWERX’s “innovation foundry” series, is being organized as the Defense Department worries that its supply lines could be interrupted by advanced adversaries armed with precision guided munitions and other weapons capable of taking out ships, aircraft and other logistics platforms. https://lnkd.in/eX9hUgG7

As an historic aside.... Those familiar with the history of US nuclear intelligence operations 1946- 1950 (esp Douglas Mackiernan- CIA- Xinjiang) know about early programs regarding "long range detection of nuclear explosions". In the pre-satellite era. As part of a multi front, global effort, The US fielded detection devices, of different types (sound) at US Embassies in Russia-facing-third countries, like China, Germany etc. as well as radioactive particle filters aboard a fleet of planes flying near the borders. That's the 'long range' history behind what you read here--circa 1980's. Since US technical means 1949 provided first detection of Russia's first nuke test, technicians would have at least aspired, in the 1980's, to go one better and detect the material it self before explosion. Thats what I read in the mention of NPB in this declassified document. See "Spying without Spies" regarding birth of such national technical means. ... and "Into Tibet" about Mackiernan's operation.

There’s nothing more important to a boxer than anticipating and protecting against an incoming punch. 🥊💥And that’s how our Viper Shield all-digital electronic warfare suite protects F-16 warfighters. Learn more about the only next-generation EW suite designed specifically for the global fleet: https://bit.ly/3xmHziI #Eurosatory2024

Mil calibers should be 308 or 30 cal. Better knock down/ stay down power at range.

Matt MacGregor has an awesome DefTech rollup substack, folks should check it out. One thing that occurred to me reading his take on the recent Anduril CCA award: “VCs and other investors were watching these closely to see if the $100B invested in defense tech startups would start to pay dividends. Hopefully this continues a surge of regrowing the industrial base to harness a wide range of technologies from traditional and non-traditional vendors.” I wonder if the threat of VC capital receding from DefTech went into the award calculus. whether it was explicitly considered, I have 0 doubt that it was discussed, I can easily imagine decision makers saying “if we don’t throw Anduril a bone, VC is going to take their ball and go home”. Which, candidly is a pretty pragmatic consideration, DoD has been courting VC coinvestment for quite a while, and VCs are pretty vocal that they want their investments to pay off: https://lnkd.in/eAzJsxHr I’m sure the protests will come and I won’t be surprised if these factors are cited directly or indirectly.