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Today's Topics:
1. Sounds good .. locate stolen thief with AirTag (Stephen Loosley)
2. O/t: F-16s are now officially in Ukraine and flying combat
operations (Stephen Loosley)
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2024 15:53:57 +0930
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Sounds good .. locate stolen thief with AirTag
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
California woman fed up with stolen mail sends Apple AirTag to herself to catch
thief
Catches thief with AirTag
The Associated Press - Aug 27, 2024
https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/503429/California-woman-fed-up-with-stolen-mail-sends-Apple-AirTag-to-herself-to-catch-thief
A Southern California woman fed up with her packages getting stolen out of her
post office box sent an Apple AirTag to the address and cleverly tracked down
the suspected thief, police said.
The woman had had several items stolen from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post
Office already when she thought of the idea, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff?s
Office said Tuesday. Apple $29 AirTags have become popular items since their
2021 release, helping users keep tabs on the location of anything from their
lost keys to wallets and luggage.
On Monday morning, sheriff's deputies were called to the post office where the
woman told officials her mail had been stolen again, including the package with
the AirTag.
Law enforcement tracked the AirTag to a block in Santa Maria, about 16 miles
(26 kilometers) from the post office and arrested two suspects, a 27-year-old
woman from Santa Maria and a 37-year-old man from Riverside.
They located the package with the AirTag among the victim's mail, as well as
items believed to have been stolen from more than a dozen other people. The
woman declined to be identified, the sheriff's department said.
The two suspects were booked in jail on charges of possession of checks with
intent to commit fraud, conspiracy, and identity and credit card theft. The
37-year-old was also booked on a burglary charge and several other theft
warrants from Riverside County.
The sheriff department commended the mail theft victim for contacting law
enforcement so they could apprehend the suspects rather than attempting to
contact them on her own.
[Photo: The Canadian Press? This photo provided by the Santa Barbara County
Sheriff Office shows an AirTag, used by a Santa Barbara resident to track down
thieves stealing their packages on an unspecified date in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Office]
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2024 16:50:58 +0930
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] O/t: F-16s are now officially in Ukraine and flying
combat operations
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
`
After years of work, F-16s have officially entered service with the Ukraine Air
Force, and they are already sporting some interesting features.
By Tyler Rogoway Aug 4, 2024
https://www.twz.com/air/f-16-officially-in-ukrainian-service-self-protection-pods-included
F-16s for Ukraine arrive with weapons
Ukraine F-16s are now officially in the country and flying combat operations.
President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in front of a pair of donated F-16AMs to
mark the historic development for the Ukrainian Air Force and his country
overall. We are also seeing our first glimpse of some of the stores the jets
are equipped with. We first reported on the arrival of F-16s in Western Ukraine
earlier this week.
In his speech, Zelensky thanked Ukraine?s allies ? especially Denmark, The
Netherlands, and the United States ? that helped make this moment possible
after years of negotiations and diplomatic and logistical hurdles.
The road to receiving F-16s was indeed a long and winding one. From shortly
after Russia?s all-out invasion began ? and Ukraine showed it could hold much
of it at bay, including retaining control of its skies over much of the country
? the need for a Western 4th generation fighter and the employment of Western
munitions and tactics was clear.
The fact that this day has finally come is no doubt monumental for Ukraine,
but, as we have stressed heavily in the past, it will be some time ? likely a
number of years ? before the F-16s? expansive capabilities can be fully
unlocked.
It takes years for an F-16 pilot to mature into a fully capable mission leader,
and the flow of new pilots will need to remain solid during this time, which
has already become a major issue. The army of support personnel it will take to
operate these jets somewhat independently will also take time to grow and
foster. There is no shortcut here, this is just the way it is ? experience is
the key to fulfilling the F-16?s full potential.
As such, the F-16s were never a silver bullet. What they are is a revolutionary
upgrade in Ukraine?s air combat capabilities that will increasingly bring more
potent weapons and tactics to the forefront of the conflict and for Ukraine?s
general defense.
[Photo caption: A Ukrainian F-16 shown equipped with 4 AIM-9s and a Terma
self-protection pod. (Ukrainian MOD screencap)]
That does not mean the F-16s are useless in the meantime. That is hardly the
case. As they expand their mission breadth, they can provide vital air defense
across the territory Ukraine holds, hunting down drones and cruise missiles
that threaten critical infrastructure and military capabilities located at
every point within Ukraine borders.
The fact that the F-16AMs were equipped with AIM-9Ms and AIM-120 AMRAAMs in the
videos today underscores their initial air defense role. While they lack the
capability provided by active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars that
equip the most new-production modern fighters and are being back-fitted to many
older F-16s, the jets can still be very valuable in this role.
Even Ukraine MiG-29s served this purpose with a radar and avionics suite far
inferior to what the F-16AMs have with their upgraded AN/APG-66 radars. You can
read all about Ukrainian MiG-29s being used to counter drones in this past
feature of ours.
The F-16s can also work to bring new standoff attack munitions into the
fighter. New Ukraine fighters use NATO standard bus architecture that already
accepts most air-launched weapons available in the NATO inventory. Ukraine
JDAM-ERs, GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, and ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched
Decoys (MALD) are already integrated with the F-16, for instance.
More types of weapons, such as the French Hammer, can be added with relative
ease compared to rigging them to work with Soviet-era aircraft. This means we
should see new weapons appear, especially those that can reach deep into
Russian-held territory. You can read all about the munitions options that exist
and are likely to equip the Ukraine F-16s in our deep dive on this subject here.
As seen in the screen capture below, the Ukrainian pilots in the video are also
wearing Joint Helmet Mounting Cueing Systems (JHMCS).
While expected, this not only provides high off-boresight targeting of the
AIM-9X, should the jets end up carrying that missile, but it also provides a
major increase in situational awareness for pilots.
Just the use of AIM-9 and AIM-120 in the air-to-air realm ? they are already in
service with the country on the ground ? means that Ukraine has access to large
NATO stocks for air-to-air missiles, instead of depending solely on a dwindling
stockpile of Soviet-designed types.
Finally, and as TWZ expected, the F-16s now in Ukrainian hands are equipped
with the Pylon Integrated Dispensing System Plus (PIDS+) systems, which may
include the advanced Electronic Combat Integrated Pylon System Plus (ECIPS+)
types, both of which are made by Terma in Denmark.
These pylons are bolt-on self-defense systems that include missile approach
warning sensors (MAWS) that provide near-spherical coverage for spotting
incoming missile threats, as well as additional expendables (flares and chaff)
dispensers. They can also provide radar warning and homing receiver
capabilities, giving crews high-situational awareness of radar-based threats.
The ECIPS+ doesn?t have the dispensers but does have North Grumman?s capable
electronic warfare suite. These systems can integrate together with the F-16?s
internal self-protection suite and it can leverage more advanced electronic
warfare capabilities synergistically.
The Terma various self-protection pylon offerings and their respective
features. Terma ..
>From our previous story on the system:
?Each PIDS+ pylon can only accept a maximum of two flare and chaff dispensers.
They also feature variants of the AN/AAR-60 Missile Warning System, which has
three separate warning sensors on each pylon.
The ECIPS pylons carry the three AN/AAR-60 sensors, but do not have the flare
and chaff dispensers. Instead, they also have an AN/ALQ-162(V)6 high-band radio
frequency countermeasures system from Northrop Grumman installed.
Typically, a Viper would carry one PIDS+ and one ECIPS+ to provide a mix of
countermeasures capabilities. An aircraft with one of each would be carrying a
complete array of six AN/AAR-60 warning sensors, an AN/ALQ-162(V)6 jammer, and
three dispensers for expandable flares or chaff cartridges, just in those
pylons.
Both types of pylons are also designed work with the AN/ALQ-213 Electronic
Warfare Management System, another Terma product, found on various types of
F-16 Vipers. The Danish company also offers systems to provide alerts to
incoming threats. This includes options for visual alerts through a fixed
display in the cockpit or the feed in the helmet-mounted Joint Helmet Mounted
Cueing System (JHMCS), as well as various types of audio warnings, including
through the Danish company?s own 3D in-cockpit surround-sound system.?
[Photo caption: Rear shot of Ukraine?s F-16s with the Terma self-protection
pylon, live AIM-9L/M, and a captive carry (inert) AIM-120B AMRAAM. (Ukraine MOD
screen cap)]
Altogether these enhanced pylons can greatly improve the situational awareness
and survivability of the jets carrying it. They are so capable that the U.S. is
obtaining similar pods for its F-16s.
Danish and Dutch F-16s are equipped with this system, so it makes sense that
they are now ported over to Ukraine. Based on the airborne intercept light on
the left side of the cockpit, the jet shown with the Terma self-defense pod in
the video is an ex-Danish example. Overall, this is a critical upgrade that is
very well suited for F-16s operating anywhere near the highly complex air
defense overlay Russia has deployed that reaches far across the front lines.
So there you have it. Nearly two and a half years after Russia began its blitz,
Ukraine has now officially joined the F-16 club.
The way forward will not be easy. Building up a skilled cadre of pilots and
maintainers will be a major hurdle.
But maybe above all else, keeping the F-16s intact while on the ground could be
a real challenge as they are now Russia?s top targets.
You can read more about some of the tactics that could be used to help in this
regard in our recent report here.
https://www.twz.com/air/f-16s-arrive-in-ukraine-report
Still, challenges aside, the arrival of F-16s wearing Ukrainian colors equates
to a whole new level of weapons capability for the battle-weary Ukrainian Air
Force.
Contact the author: [email protected]
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