US Weapons Surfacing in Iran-Associated Militias
Jan 08, 2015 16:30 UTC- Vehicles and weapons sent to Iraq’s military are showing up in pictures and videos in the possession of Iran-backed groups. It is not clear if this leakage is a remnant of loose policies of the previous Nouri al-Maliki-led government. , seeing as it has been expensive, and applied only in a narrow patch of border. For its part, Homeland Security would like to spend $443 million for some more airframes to add to the 8-year program.
Europe
- Denmark will create its own cyber warfare unit, which has become de rigueur of late. $75 million is dedicated to it, and its ambition is to have an “offensive” capacity.
- Turkey is ordering four more F-35s to go along with the pair already ordered. The six are still slated to grow to 100.
United States
- SpaceX’s launch of its Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (and perform a victory lap of sorts by landing on a boat, thus allowing vehicle re-use) has been reschedule for Saturday.
Asia
- China’s version of the U.S.’s Reaper got new engines, and they appear to be employing a type of stealth technology new to Chinese aviation.
- Today’s video is actually a grainy slideshow of various images of the new Chinese aircraft carrier, some of which appear to be composites showing intended future use.
- The Chinese aircraft carrier project has come a long way quickly, but – for comparison – here is a video of both day and night operations on the USS Carl Vinson, the night component happening a week ago in support of anti-ISIS operations.