Making Soup – and other topics

Bullet Points:

** ISW assesses the Russian Summer Offensive campaign in Ukraine.

** The Maghreb is not simply a post-colonial region—it is a strategic system whose present borders, alliances and rivalries are the accumulated result of centuries of dynastic power, European intervention, decolonization and unfinished territorial questions.

** We are in a bear market in bonds, as the necessary decoupling from cheap Chinese goods creates even greater inflationary pressure down the road. But despite the short-term economic pain, maintaining the status quo would expose the West to an unacceptable level of strategic risk.

** Entitled King of England then – not that different from now. Elite people are going to be elite.

** (h/t Claudio) The AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) is a conversion of the Hydra 70 unguided rockets which adds a laser guidance kit to the baseline weapon, turning it into a precision-guided munition (PGM). By adding a guidance section to a cheap rocket (inserted in the middle of the rocket, between the 10-pound high-explosive warhead at the front and the Mk66 Mod 4 rocket motor at the rear), BAE Systems created a low-cost smart munition that can be used in the air-to-ground role.

The guidance section of the APKWS includes four foldable wings and wing-mounted laser seeker collection optics with a wide field of view, enabling it to engage both moving and stationary targets. BAE Systems says that “no modifications are required to the rocket, firing platform or fire control system,” with the only known modification being a longer variant of the LAU-131/A 7-round rocket launcher normally employed by the U.S. Air Force, called the LAU-131 A/A.

Further developing an air-to-air capability from these older rockets was an impressive feat for the U.S. Air Force, which was the first to test and deploy the new capability, opening the possibility of engaging targets at a fraction of the cost of other missiles. The high cost of the interceptors against these cheap targets and the magazine size of the launching platforms have been two of the main concerns highlighted by forces countering these attacks.

** “School Truancy” by Marcus Absent

** What type of Asian are you?

** In China – A humanoid robot named Tiangong Ultra ran the 100-meter dash in 9.39 seconds Saturday at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, beating Usain Bolt’s human world record of 9.58 seconds, set in 2009. The robot, built by Beijing-based X-Humanoid, couldn’t stop like a human sprinter and slammed into a cushioned wall past the finish line. A rival robot that had also beaten Bolt’s time collapsed and was taken off the track on a stretcher. Watch scenes from the games here. Another X-Humanoid machine cleared 2.88 meters in the high jump, well above the 2.45-meter human record. More than 2,000 robots from 16 countries are competing in 51 events, including soccer, boxing, and tug-of-war, through Wednesday.

** Firemen – Drop your cocks and grab your socks.

** Lioness back story – Jill Wagner didn’t just land a role in Taylor Sheridan’s “Lioness” — she pitched him the entire show. The idea came from her husband, Army Reserve Major David Lemanowicz, who first told her about the real-life lioness program. Wagner spent five years getting it made, never giving up until Sheridan built the character of Bobby specifically for her. Wagner and Lemanowicz’s story is straight out of a movie itself. They first met as teenagers in North Carolina, lost touch for 17 years, then reconnected in Afghanistan — she was on a USO tour, he was serving on active duty. A year later, they ran into each other at a restaurant in LA, both single this time. They married in 2017 and now raise two daughters on a Tennessee farm Wagner restored from what she says “looked like a scary haunted house.”

** Fun with crossbows.

** Name one thing.

** (h/t Claudio) Sweden will need a market for the new aircraft if they can perform to standard. In coordination with the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) and the Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), Saab is targeting a first flight in “a year and a half.” This would translate to a first flight happening by the end of 2027 or early 2028. Claudio suggests Taiwan. Maybe if they’ll license them for manufacture in East China? The question is how they’ll perform against an autonomous aircraft using AI – 3 years from now when they’re ‘ready for prime time.’ Based on the info I’m aware of, that might be a challenge in 5 years. The Sixth Generation USAF system is a blend of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, not a single platform. Some of the new (secret) AI is currently good enough to be reliably predictive in combat scenarios without outside input (jam-proof drone), and while that’s still being developed, in 5 years – brave new world.

** Historical look back on Canadian actresses who died from interactions with horses and dogs (attack and accidental). What is going on in Canada?

** Malice – (h/t Claudio) The U.S. Navy’s newest air-to-air missile, the AIM-424 Malice, was developed for both Air Force and Navy current- and next-generation fighters as the Pentagon looks to press additional capabilities into service for a high-end war in the Pacific, drawing from program efforts dating to the mid-2010s that sought long-range air-to-air missiles for competition with China. Aviation Week was first to report on the missile’s existence when it was unveiled at the Tailhook Convention in Reno, Nevada — an event focused on naval aviation. Built by Raytheon, the AIM-424 is capable of hitting targets over 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) away, leveraging a 13.5″-diameter aerodynamic profile that appears to have been designed for range. That range would exceed estimates of all currently known Chinese air-to-air missiles that have widely been recognized as major threats to U.S. airpower in the Pacific. The new 6th Generation Aircraft System will extend the range of the AIM-424 by mounting it on a drone capable of entering the enemy’s defense envelope (without a living crew member on board), increasing the range from 250 nautical miles to 700+ nautical miles. CDRSAL weighs in with a wish list.

** What can a GBU-57 do?

** The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Trump to move ahead with his executive order restricting mail-in voting before November’s midterms. The three liberal justices dissented from the unsigned order. The March order, which Trump casts as a safeguard against fraud and noncitizen voting, directs the government to build lists of eligible voters and bars the U.S. Postal Service from delivering mail ballots to anyone not on them. The agency published its rule for carrying that out last week.

The Saudis and Lloyds of London

Saudi Arabia is considering establishing a new state-backed insurance program for ships in the region as it seeks to keep trade flowing. The plan would aim to provide cheaper cover for vessels transiting the Gulf or the Red Sea, with up to 700 million riyals ($186 million) in commercial cover, and additional coverage provided by the Saudi Export-Import Bank, the Financial Times reported.

Other Saudi insurers and international firms could also be included. The talks are still in their early stages and may not result in an agreement, the FT said. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea remains severely disrupted as the Iran conflict nears the end of its sixth month. While more oil may be exiting the region than previously thought, higher insurance costs and restricted coverage are impacting trade flows. That’s hitting Gulf economies, which rely on the waterways to export hydrocarbons and import everything from cars and machinery to food and agricultural products.

Saudi Arabia has already been forced to reroute oil tankers thousands of miles around Africa to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported.

The impact on this will fall squarely on Lloyd’s of London, already strained. The City of London and finance-insurance (as opposed to Greater London) are England’s last economic programs that could be considered exports. Once the City of London falls, the UK falls, and London Bridge is falling down. 

Making Soup

Identify the Aircraft

1

2

480 built

3

726 built

End