One could argue that Israel is aligned with Israel, and no-one else.

John McCain surely made a few friends, and a few enemies, in the Navy. (I do not recall his name being raised as a collaborator, so I am not sure how solid your sources were on that, but my memory of that goes back over 30 years ago and I didn't write much of that briefing down, ,so I'll leave it to those who really know).

Some years back I had the chance to review a whole load of old mishaps and found a folder that had his loss in the Gulf of Mexico. (One of a whole bunch of files we pored through that week).

Just out of curiosity: how well did you get to know Jack Fellows or Red McDaniel?
From your post, it would appear that you were not a guest at the same hotel where they stayed.

As a point of comparison: I got to meet General Wesley Clark back in the 90's before he became SACEUR. I have two close friends who worked on his staff when he was at SHAPE/SACEUR.
He's a very smart man who did a fine job of making a lousy impression (in re his integrity) to people whose job it was to make him look good. His foray into politics met with less than brilliant success, but he's done a decent job as a talking head for various news shows/networks. (And I don't think he'd have made any worse of a pres than any of the ones since he threw his hat in the ring ... )

Some years before that, James Stockdale got into politics with Ross Perot. A very good man whose brief career in politics was not scintillating.

My point: excellence in one field of endeavor may or may not map well onto excellence in another field of endeavor. McCain was successful in politics. (And Duke Cunningham ended up in jail)

When I was flying, the F-8s had been assigned to VFP/photo recon squadrons. (Looks like you got to fly them while they were still F'ing).
They made quite the racket coming aboard.

Interesting that not a peep in the tv media about this ( so far ) . Focus still on Saudi refineries that have already had half the lost capacity restored (allegedly...) ; and you wonder why the folks over there get kind of cheesed off .

https://t.co/vwolCGnRlr

"The US forces in Afghanistan have admitted that a drone attack that killed at least 30 pine nut farmers in Nangarhar province on Thursday was conducted by them.

At least 40 others were injured in the attack in Wazir Tangi area of Khogyani district that was previously attributed to the West-backed Afghan government.

A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan confirmed on Thursday that the drone attack was conducted by the US with the intention of destroying a hideout used by the fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group."

Pretty much guarantees that every family member and relations will now look the other way or openly support Taliban. You don't win hearts and minds by killing people's relatives, you win lots of new enemies.

Good article with facts and research.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/m...-drone-swarms/

But and it is a big but. The assumption is that yup we can defeat a drone swarm because we have missiles, aa guns etc. However a drone swarm may be the first of 10-15 swarms where by the time the 10 has arrived guns are out because of heat / lack of ammo, missiles all used up etc.

The belief is that it would be a lack of a big enough impact but it is not trying to make a big enough impact it is ensuring the defenders are aware they are not invulnerable and that everywhere is a target. Missile swarms could be a day 1-2 strategy before using a bigger offense after that.

The nightmare scenario for a naval captain is yes we can defend the ship at close quarters BUT a Gatlin overheats and they do not carry enough ammo to keep going 24/7.

Ultimately as per space movies a force field shield is the next defence step to combat this but technology is not there yet.

And that's where directed energy systems could be useful.

US Army is already on the DE case. For use future against Russian drones, which have been very useful, to say the least, in the Eastern Ukraine insurgency..

Surprising that al Jazeera would run this Reuters article exposing Iran's planning behind their Saudi oil installation attack.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fea...l-attacks.html

These new, unconventional tactics have certainly got western strategists scratching their heads. So much for investing in radar and missiles to detect and defeat ballistic missiles etc - the threat has gone low-tech and low-altitude.

Interesting comments about the relative costs & availability of defensive missiles vs the inbound threats, be it drones or whatever. Even the Israelis only use Iron Dome on projectiles which are heading towards populated areas - anything heading towards open country is left alone.

Only two thirds the size? That’s still massive.......

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i...tice-hr5f7xkb8

Iran builds a fake US aircraft carrier for target practice

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has built a fake American aircraft carrier and moored it at the entrance to the Gulf, according to satellite pictures. The presence and purpose of the carrier, which also has 16 fake fighter jets parked on its landing deck, have not been confirmed by officials.

It may be used as part of military exercises to shore up domestic morale that has been hit hard by sanctions, poverty and the Middle East’s worst outbreak of coronavirus. Five years ago a previous mocked-up carrier was attacked and sunk for the cameras by missiles after being used as a test target.......

The new “aircraft carrier” is in dock at Bandar Abbas, the large Iranian port by the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf. It is built to resemble a Nimitz-class US carrier, several of which patrol the Gulf region on rotation, although it is only about two thirds the size of the real thing.

The satellite pictures were taken by Maxar Technologies, a space technology company, and passed to a news agency.

Months after the similar carrier was sunk in live-fire drills in February 2015 the deal between Iran, the US and other major states was signed, limiting Iranian nuclear development in return for sanctions relief, and leading to a lessening of military tensions. Since President Trump pulled out of the deal two years ago the Gulf has once again become a playground for a US-Iranian test of wills, with Revolutionary Guard ships harassing American naval vessels.......


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fe51084d2.jpeg

Training is something people spend money on. They are training someone.
Honestly, no big deal. If they think it is important enough, they spend money on it.

Is that connected by a tunnel?

I wonder if their F-35's fly?

https://www.snafu-solomon.com/2020/0...is-waging.html

Royal Saudi Air Force is waging an unnoticed war against Iranian made IED drones...

Self-inflicted or with 'outside help'?

Second explosion in a week at Iran’s key weapon facilities

Article intro -

Now let’s see, who has the nearest F-35s?

just as likely to be rogue software like the attack a few years ago on the centrifuges

Or it could be incompetence - didn't they hit their own ship with a missile not long ago?

From an article in The Times today.

Iran fears sabotage plot after new ‘attack’