Strategy Page

choi

Counting The Squishy Bits. Mar 20, 2014.
strategypage.com/htmw/htworld/articles/20140320.aspx

My comment: Come to think about it, China can not have better air force than Taiwan, which has maintained air superiority uninterruptedly since 1949 over Taiwan Strait. The main worry in Taiwan is China’s missiles, which in theory could have rained on Taiwan, destroying airbases, radars, command and control. Yet China’s missiles are unproven in a war, any war. Further, no war has been won with missiles alone--US air campaign above Belgrade still needed bombers.

choi

The Origins Of Modern War. Mar 18, 2014.
strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20140318.aspx

Note:
(a) “These innovations [in warfare] are most commonly known today as wargaming and the general staff system.”
(i) wargaming
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wargaming
(The modern wargaming hobby has its origins at the beginning of the 19th century, with von Reiswitz's Kriegsspiel rules; section 2 History)
(ii) German English dictionary
(A) kriegsspiel (noun neuter): “war game”
(B) krieg (noun masculine; plural: kriege): “war”
(C) spiel (noun neuter): “play, game”
(iii) staff (military)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_(military)
(section 2 History: An exception to this is the US military)

* About the Joint Chiefs of Staff
www.jcs.mil/About.aspx

Take notice that Secretaries of Military Department--such as Secretaries of Army, of Navy (composed of both the Navy and the Marine Corps), of Air Force (heads of Department of the Army, of the Navy, and of the Air Force) in US. see United States Department of Defense
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense
(section 2 Organizational structure; chart headlined "Organization of the Department of Defense (DOD)")
--are all civilians, nominated by president and confirmed by senate.

(b) Hans Delbrück
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Delbrück
(1848-1929; section 1 Biography)
(c) Operations research
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research
(As a formal discipline, operational research originated in the efforts of military planners during World War II)

(d) “All these changes indicated some fundamental shifts in how wars were found but without a war between anyone using these modern weapons it was hard to understand what had really changed.”
(i) There is a typo: “found” should be “fought.”
(ii) It would be easier to read, if a comma were placed just prior to “but.”
(iii) The “without a war between anyone” might be better if written as “without a war between two nations.”

(e) “John Boyd, a US Air Force officer”
(i) John Boyd (military strategist)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist)
(1927-1997; section 3.1 The OODA Loop)
(ii) The Scottish surname Boyd refers to “the island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, the Gaelic name of which is Bód (genitive 所有格 [denoting the person is of, from Bód] Bóid).”

choi

Armor: T-90s Recover From Heat Stroke. Mar 17, 2014.
strategypage.com/htmw/htarm/articles/20140317.aspx

"The main reason for air conditioning in the tanks is not the crew, but the electronics. Russia was asked to develop and install air conditioning but were unable to create a system that could handle the Indian climate. That failure caused a lot of damage to the Russian and foreign made electronics in the Indian T-90s," particularly (tank's) thermal imaging systems

"the [infrared] thermal sight * * * makes the US M-1 tank so effective on the battlefield

"Much of the border between India and Pakistan is desert, and most of India's armored units are stationed there. The problem is that while the T-90 had Russian developed air conditioning (something new in Russian tanks), it cannot handle the 100+ degree heat in tropical India. The Russians were unable to develop a suitable upgrade because there was no room inside the tank to install a more powerful, but larger, cooling system. The American M-1 air conditioning has been able to handle extreme heat, so the Indians knew it could be done and eventually found a supplier who could build a system that worked and fit into the space available.

"The T-90 went into low level production in 1993, but was too expensive for the Russian army to buy more than a few of them. India eventually became the biggest user. The T-90 is based on the T-72, but has composite armor (plus reactive armor) and better electronics. The 50 ton tank uses a 125mm smooth bore gun, and can also fire the 9M119M Refleks-M missile (to 4,000 meters) at ground or air (helicopter) targets. * * * [First delivered in 2001 but gradually making its own under license, India] ha[s] over 1,600 of them

"One big reason India bought the T-90 is the 9M119 (AT-11) anti-tank missile, which weighs 23.6 kg (52 pounds), has a range of 100-4,000 meters and uses semi-automatic laser beam guidance system (the gunner keeps his sight on the target and the missile homes in on that.) Maximum time of flight is about 12 seconds. While the missile has a tandem warhead, making it useful against tanks with reactive armor, it can also be used against helicopters. The missile warhead can penetrate about 700mm of armor.

"When they work, the T-90s are more than a match for anything the Pakistanis or Chinese have.


Note: 9M119 Svir
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M119_Svir
( The two missiles--9M119 Svir and 9M119M Refleks--are similar, but vary in range and launch platform; The name Svir comes from the River Svir, while Refleks means reflex; Their NATO reporting name is AT-11 Sniper; In service 1980s- present. developed by Soviet Union; “The Refleks * * * has also been produced by the People's Republic of China for use with its Type 99 tank 99式)