US Navy Fires Hypervelocity Projectiles Through Destroyer’s Guns

 

The US Navy has reportedly fired hypervelocity projectiles intended for electromagnetic railguns out of a 40-year-old deck gun that is standard issue on many cruisers and destroyers in hopes of providing a low-cost defense solution against drones and cruise missiles, a new report says.

Twenty hypervelocity projectiles were fired from the USS Dewey (DDG-105), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, as part of a test conducted by the US Navy and the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), unnamed officials told USNI News Monday.

Russia now world’s No. 2 in arms sales, report shows

 

Russia is now the world’s second-largest arms producer, overtaking Britain and moving behind only the United States, researchers said Monday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a report sales of arms and military services totaled $398.2 billion in 2017. The figure, which excludes China because of a lack of available data, is 2.5 percent higher than it was the previous year and 44 percent higher than it was in 2002.

New report details one of history’s “largest ever” cyber espionage operations

 

A new report authored by a consortium of government and private organizations in Britain has revealed the existence of a computer hacking operation, allegedly based in China, that is said to be “one of the largest ever” such campaigns globally. The operation is believed to have compromised sensitive information from an inestimable number of private companies in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. The report was produced by a consortium of public and private organizations, including BAE systems and the London-based National Cyber Security Centre, an office of the United Kingdom’s signals intelligence agency, the Government Communications Headquarters. It details the outcome of Operation CLOUD HOPPER, which was launched to uncover the cyber espionage activities.

THE FUTURE OF SPYING: Earth’s atmosphere can be turned into massive surveillance system using LASERS, scientists discover

BAE systems has created the laser system

 

British firm unveils research which shows that the atmosphere could be used to spy on ordinary citizens in unprecedented detail

BAE Systems are designing a directed energy laser system that could allow military commanders to spy on enemy activities from space.

BAE believe that within 50 years, one of their aircraft could use an “atmospheric lens” to observe people from very long distances using the Earth’s atmosphere as a tool.

Hillary and Islamic Cleric Linked in New Docs

A newly-released email and lobbying documents filed with Congress reveals new ties between Clintonworld and members of a network operated by a mysterious Islamic cleric from Turkey.

Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, could muddle the complex relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, a key NATO ally, if the former secretary of state wins the White House.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has mounted an aggressive crackdown against Gulen and his followers, known as Gulenists. Erdoğan, who was once allied with Gulen, has even personally asked President Obama to extradite the 74-year-old guru, who has lived in self-exile in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains since 1999.

Russian spy plane spotted over LANCASHIRE: Shock sighting as tensions with Putin boil over

A RUSSIAN spy plane has been spotted flying low over Lancashire as tensions between Vladimir Putin and the West mount to near emergency levels.

The Antonov An-30, armed with five high-resolution cameras, was spotted by photographer Steve Bradley, 41, who was astonished to see it over his garden in Colne, Lancashire.

It comes as British Typhoon jets were forced to intercept a Russian spy plane last week and escort it away from UK airspace.

In the last month, three Russian warships have been monitored sailing through the English Channel.

3D printing could revolutionise war and foreign policy

3D printing will revolutionise war and foreign policy, say experts, not only by making possible incredible new designs but by turning the defence industry — and possibly the entire global economy — on its head.

For many, 3D printing still looks like a gimmick, used for printing useless plastic figurines and not much else.

But with key patents running out this year, new printers that use metal, wood and fabric are set to become much more widely available — putting the engineering world on the cusp of major historical change.

India plans US$1bn mountain strike corps to counter China

India is building a new 62-billion-rupee (US$1.02 billion) mountain strike corps to counter China along the China-India border in the northeastern part of the country, according to a report from the New Delhi-based Hindustan Times.

The report said General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, is set to visit the Kolkata-based Eastern Command before the end of the month to track the progress of the new 17 Corps, which is being set up to counter China’s reconnaissance and intelligence along the 4,057-kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries. The corps is likely to be operational by 2022, the report said, adding that it is expected to reduce China’s combat power advantage over India from the current ratio of 3:1 to 2.1:1.

Warship for sale: Britain seeks buyer for old aircraft carrier

Britain’s cash-strapped military on Tuesday launched a search for buyers for its sole remaining aircraft carrier, saying it would entertain bids from companies, charities and trusts.

The ageing, battle-worn HMS Illustrious – 210 metres long and 22,000 tonnes – is one of the Royal Navy’s best-known symbols. It has ferried equipment during the Gulf War and supported evacuations of British nationals from Sierra Leone over the past 32 years.

Strategic ties with UAE likely to result in billion-pound defence contracts for UK

UK defence companies would benefit from a more energetic UK-UAE bilateral relationship, especially since the UAE is keen to replace its ageing Mirage fighter jets with the BAE Systems Typhoon in a deal worth $10 billion (c. £8bn), according to a new paper from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

As the UK appears to strategically orientate its defence and security posture towards the Gulf region from 2014, with the Minhad airbase in Dubai undoubtedly forming a major focal point of the future British presence, new research suggests that the UAE government is also committed to reinvigorating its relationship with the British; possibly at the expense of other potential strategic alliances.

Britain to Give Up the Crown Jewel of Its Defense Industry

Britain is planning to hand over the single most important company in its history to a European conglomerate. British defense giant bae Systems is in talks about merging with European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (eads), the Franco-German company that owns Airbus, it announced September 12.

BAE is literally the stuff of legends. The names of the planes manufactured by the companies that eventually merged to form the conglomerate have been stamped on the minds of generations of young boys: the Sopwith Camel, the De Havilland Mosquito, the Hawker Hurricane, the Harrier jump jet, and the most legendary of Britain’s airplanes, the Supermarine Spitfire.

Just over 60 years ago, the Spitfire and Hurricane were used to save Britain. These two planes denied Germany the air superiority it needed to launch an invasion. Now Britain is planning to hand over the company that saved its life to a foreign conglomerate.

The deal would give away control over Britain’s most important defense contractor, and make the new conglomerate the top arms seller in the world.

For plans to have progressed this far, the deal must have already received preliminary approval from the British government.

Under the proposed merger, bae systems would make up 40 percent of the new company and eads 60 percent.

Without bae, Britain will have little left of an independent defense industry. It is overwhelmingly Britain’s most important defense company. Nearly one in every five pounds spent by the Ministry of Defense went to bae or one of its subsidiaries in the financial year 2009-2010. It received around £4 billion. The next biggest recipient of defense spending, Babcock, received £1.1 billion.

And it’s not just an aerospace company. Its subsidiaries built the Navy’s first operational submarine and Britain’s main battle tank.

…

Today, it’s considered foolish or bigoted to be concerned about Britain surrendering its defense industry. But even France and Germany aren’t doing anything as foolish as Britain. They haven’t given up control of their key defense companies.

French defense giants Dassualt Aviation and Thales Group retain their independence. eads owns 46.32 percent of Dassault, but 50.55 is independent. It didn’t sign control over to eads. Germany, too, retains control of key companies like ThyssenKrupp, Rheinmetall man Military Vehicles and many others.

eads is important for the Germany and French industries. But they could get by without it—they have other companies they could turn to.

But for Britain, bae is essential. If this deal goes ahead, Britain would have to rely on companies beyond its control for its nuclear submarines, many of its ships and planes, its tanks and much of the other equipment for its army.

Britain would be doing what even France and Germany haven’t dared. It put almost all of its key defense industry eggs in one basket, and now it wants to hand the basket to someone else to look after.

It should be obvious that this is extreme foolishness. But even Britain’s conservative newspapers have supported the scheme.

One of Winston Churchill’s many prescient quotes, from his book on World War i titled The World Crisis, attacks the attitude that surfaces time and time again in peace time—that war is “too foolish, too fantastic to be thought of” in our modern times. “Civilization has climbed above such perils,” people say. They give their multitude of excuses for why this time it is different. “Are you quite sure?” asks Churchill. “It would be a pity to be wrong. Such a mistake could only be made once—once for all.”

He warned of Germany’s history of striking like a “bolt from the blue.”

The government may not believe a bolt from the blue is coming. But surely defense planning is all about planning for the worst. Britain is betting its long-term defense on the friendliness of France and Germany.

The merger isn’t definitely set to go ahead. And the prime minister hasn’t given his final consent. But the fact that such a foolish idea has been entertained so seriously, and even been tacitly approved by the government, is deeply worrying. It shows a surprising level of foolishness for Britain.

But this is exactly what the Bible said would happen.

Hosea 7:11 calls Britain “a silly dove, without sense” (for more information on Britain’s identity in Bible prophecy, write for our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy). It says that “they go to Assyria,” which, as we’ve pointed out, is Germany.

Full article: Britain to Give Up the Crown Jewel of Its Defense Industry (The Trumpet)