MiG-31s have been spotted carrying a new, very large type of missile. It is unclear if this is a further development of the Kh-47B Kinzhal, or a new air launched anti-satellite missile. This is an interesting development which dears watching.
Russia claims advancements is both hypersonic missile warhead and a nuclear armed UUV. Given the poor state of Russia’s economy and the low price of oil, frankly Russia is simply wasting precious resources. I predict a crash in Russia, sooner, rather than later.
The USN is equipping its submarines with upgraded anti-ship missiles (ASM). This seems like a sound move, given the expanding Chinese navy and with the Russian navy becoming more active. If full scale naval war breaks out, I suspect that naval combat will be particularly brutal and bloody given the difficulty of defending against submarines and ASMs
China tests a new SLBM. While they don’t have any subs presently that could launch it, those are coming too. I worry about China much more than Russia, and for that matter, Russia ought to as well.
An interesting discussion of the future of stealth technology.
Jeff “Inch High” Groves and Jim “Cranky Canuck” Bates have shamed me with their qualitatively superior posts that aren’t just interesting links, but are actual research and model related information, with photos to boot. I am going to try and change that.
Thanks to Scott “Skippy” King, I’ve been working on the Brengun MXY-7 Ohka. Now that the great migration has finished and I’ve once again put down modeling roots, I’ve finally been able to model a bit. Last night I broke out the airbrush and painted the interior of the Ohka. Since sources are kind of sketchy, I decided to paint the interior floor and seat and instrument panel WEM Nakajima Interior Gray Green. I like the color.
Ohka cockpit
More to follow.
I’ve been interested in this concept ever since I real about it in a Pournelle sci-fi novel. With space lift becoming so much cheaper, I can see this becoming viable in the next decade. The US needs to be the one to do it first.
Are the Chinese going to build new SSBNs? Frankly, it would make sense for them to.
The German-American developed Naval SAM is getting some upgrades. These missiles are used on a lot of different US and German ships.
