In a simply phenominal piece today in the New York Times, James Dao perfectly distills the essence of junior command — the pressures and weight of decisions that have to be made — and the outsized influence those decisions have on national policy (and personal development). I’ve spent at least half of my decade in […]
Infantry Fight
Our man who was just in Farnborough, Glenn Anderson, shot some great footage of BAE’s new ultra-lightweight howitzer that uses titanium on the trails to shave off some serious pounds. The M777 weighs about half what a typical 155mm howitzer weighs. Check out the BAE rep pick up the howitzer’s titanium trail with one hand. […]
We’ve written a number of posts about the debate surrounding the infantry’s standard small arms, the ubiquitous M-4 and M-16 rifles, and whether or not they can effectively engage the enemy in Afghanistan where most firefights occur past 300 meters. For those looking for a great read on the subject check out this paper by […]
Our own Christian Lowe is embedded with 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry in Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan. His account illustrates the very restrictive rules of engagement troops are currently operating under that are intended to minimize civilian casualties. Notice in the story that every single mortar round fired requires higher authorization. Not air strikes, mortar rounds. […]
Furthering our examination of hybrid threats and irregular war, RAND’s Dave Johnson, one of my favorite analysts, has an excellent new paper out, “Military Capabilities for Hybrid War: Insights from the IDF in Lebanon and Gaza.” Prior to summer 2006, the IDF believed its future was fighting Palestinian terrorists, so, big cuts were made in […]
