War Is Boring

In this video by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Charles Crail, watch a contractor-flown Caribou supply plane — flying low among the mountains — drop pallets on a remote outpost in Paktika province. At the end, listen to the soldier praise the pilots.

A snapshot of supply efforts at one remote coalition outpost in eastern Afghanistan illustrates the war’s daunting logistical challenges and the potential shortfalls once foreign troops withdraw in 2014.

Lockheed Martin’s Jeff Brown writes in with an update on the K-MAX robot helicopter, recently deployed to Afghanistan.

by CRAIG SCANLAN Writing about the Republic of Korea’s rapid advancement in military prowess generally points towards the positive, the country having accomplished great leaps in a short span of time, but when this topic veers to that of ROK Air superiority, the current South Korean state of affairs can be lumped in with what [...]

It’s been less than a month since the Marines flew their first robotic supply helicopter on its debut combat mission in Afghanistan. Already, the amphibious combat branch is working on the next generation of pilotless cargo copter — one that’s an order of magnitude more sophisticated, and can be controlled by an iPad or other tablet.

The Pentagon will delay acquisition of more than 100 early-model Joint Strike Fighters, a bid to save up-front money and to give more time for testers to work out the finicky F-35 warplane’s many technical kinks. That much was expected: The real surprise is that a newly cash-conscious Defense Department still seems fully committed to buying nearly 2,500 of the stealth jets.

The aerial arsenal of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army shrank by nearly a quarter over the past year, from around 3,400 combat aircraft to just under 2,600. The best assessment of the secretive PLA, a database managed by Flight International magazine and updated annually, showed 800 fewer jet fighters in the PLA inventory compared to a year ago.

Mountainous terrain like that in Afghanistan can block terrestrial radio waves, forcing soldiers to rely on expensive, technically complex satellite radios for their communications. As part of its ongoing next-generation network development, the U.S. Army is turning to a more than century-old technology to boost the reach of ground-based radios.

Another great pictorial from EnglishRussia, this one detailing a defunct military aviation museum littered with rusting MiGs, Sukhois and Mil helicopters. Check it out.

The latest Internet video of the J-20, China’s in-development stealth fighter.

Background here.

I was on NPR’s “On Point” show this morning along with P.W. Singer, talking about drones, drones and drones. Give it a listen.

It was June 12 in the Sangin Valley in southern Afghanistan. U.S. Marines had been fighting the Taliban all day and had suffered heavy casualties, including two killed. Several resupply convoys had been turned back by enemy attack. The Marines were running low on food, water, ammunition and medical supplies.