So some dude who clearly knows nothing about the military in the comment section claims i am dancing to the drum of my paymaster. The Nigerian army uses T-34 tanks made during World war two he claims. I wont bother replying comments like of this natur, but after seeing nearly

We all thought the 1980s was the Golden Age of the NAF. It had an active duty force of : 7,000.

Makurdi was the home to the Nigerian Air Force's MiG 21 and SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft squadrons. The NAF operated a fleet of 18 Sepecat Jaguar fighter jets and 22 MiG-21 Fishbeds.

This fleet was augmented by 24 Aero L-39 Albatros armed jet trainers and a similar number of Alpha jets. This was by far the largest and most modern AF in Sub Saharan Africa excluding the South African Air Force. Apparently the West concluded the NAF was getting too powerfull

..for comfort. The NAF tried to obtain 27 more Aero L-39s but the IMF vetoed the purchase. Nigeria tried to aquire more A-jet but was stone walled. Nigeria tried to aquire smart munitions with standoff capability to maximize the deep strike capability of the Jaguars. DENIED.

When Nigeria requested for in flight refuelling tankers. Paris prevailed on BAE Systems to deny such request, stating Nigeria was seeking deep strike and aerial refuelling capabilities because it was planning an invasion of its neighbours.

So NAF spends millions aquiring advanced fighter jets but have yo make do with dumb free-fall iron bombs. How evil is that? This period

I have for the past one week been forced to put off tweets about weapons systems and focus instead on the international conspiracy. I thought today would be different. Apparently not. Media outlets are saying its time for Peace Talks with Boko Haram. Are these people for real?

If this is coming from some mediocre outlet one can easily disregarded. But when mainstream media is saying things like

''With options limited for fighting terrorists negotiations may be the best remaining alternative. How stupid of an idea is that? First of all Boko Haram

is not winning. Their goal of Islamizing Nigeria or set up a caliphate has clearly failed. The more cowardly attacks they mount against civilians the more obvious their desperation. They know they cannot hope to win. The number of jihadi groups fighting to overthrow

national governments and setup a state has grown steadily over the past decade. Sitting down with a murderous jihadi group that does not recognize or abide by the Geneva Convention is as good as recognizing and legitimizing them. Its that simple. I sincerely hope the Nigerian

government do not yield to these carefully planted ideas. Yesterday Amnesty received a $750,000 warchest. Today Nigerian media is talking about negotiating peace talks with a non state entity. Lemme try and explain the dynamic implications of sitting down with terrorist groups.

Once again the nighmarish scenario of the Nigerian military not only decimating Boko Haram, but going after ISWAP in the Lake Chad basin has triggered the same sort of activities that preceded the March/April 2020 false flag Maskirovska.

In the early months of 2020 the Nigerian Army recorded unexpectedly significant gains against Boko Haram insurgents. Remember this was the period Boko Haram insurgents were surrendering to the Nigerian army by the hundreds. Who remembers the audio tape of Abubakar Shekau

...weeping to Allah/God for intervention. This was the first time Field artillery troops coordinated with the NAF for round the clock air and artillery bombardment. This affected the morale of BHTs who have never experienced this level of firepower and began surrendering en mass

Things got so bad Shekau sent assassination squads to go after BHT commanders surrendering. This did nothing to deter the exodus of frightened fighters. The army was having a hard time processing the hundreds surrendering. A BHT commander surrendered with his wife and children.

What happened next? Boko Haram supposedly attacked a Chadian Army base, a few kilometres from U.S and French military bases for NINE straight hours. Killed 100 Chadian troops and escaped on canoes with caches of weapon. Think about it. For nine hours the vaunted Chadian army

So just saw a clip with CNN pundits claiming Nigeria investing in rail transport with Chinese funding is nothing but a white elephant project. It would have been better spent to build schools. Since when did the media decide what Nigeria should and shouldn't do with its money?

Ive seen a Focus on Kenya Exclusive on CNN. They spent 4 minutes talking about Kenya's mobile banking system, which is the most sophisticated in the world, and spent an hour on Kenya's Kibera slums. When terrorist struck Nairobi mall CNN was unabash in showing images of blood

and gore of dead victims repeatedly all through the day. This will never happen in a similar style terror attack anywhere in the West. It’s time to take a hard look at the role of the liberal media in perpetuating a horribly simplistic and stereotypical portrayal of Africa

At what point do we stop being dormant?. At what point do we fight back to salvage our self esteem and integrity as Africans? They did not condemn the U.S invasion of Iraq that has forever changed the middle east.

Could Turkish drones be the silver bullet in Nigeria's decade long war against insurgency. Turkey has in recent years become a major player when it comes to the world of drones. Weve seen what Turkish drones did in Syria.

In Libya, in what can be described as the largest drone war in the world we saw how the LNA's goal of seizing the capital Tripoli abruptly ended after Turkeys intervention with its Bayraktar drones. There is no doubt these drones will be of immense value to the Nigerian military

The relatively flat featureless terrain of the northeast means that ground units are easily spotted, with few natural barriers to hide. The Alpha jets and L-30ZA are valuable yet limited by numbers. Besides they antiquated platforms.

While manned fighter aircraft have been used for most part of the war the NAF needs to start considering the employment of unmanned aerial vehicles on a strategic level. UAVs are useful for several reasons. Not only do they provide valuable information about the enemy

..that can be spotted from standoff distances, they are able to attack targets immediately with a far higher rate of success. In the event a drone is shot down...BIG DEAL !..the pilot is safe, back at base and able to pilot the next drone that takes off.

1917 - Fully embroiled in the First World War #Halifax was quickly evolving into a world class port and major base of naval operations. #HalifaxExplosion

December 6, 1917, Railway Dispatcher Vincent Coleman goes to work from his home on Russell St in Halifax's North End. He left his wife Frances & their 2 year old daughter Eileen, dressed in a cheerful blue dress handmade by Frances.

#Halifax was a hub of activity. Troops bound for battle swept in & out of the city. The First World War brought activity & prosperity to the port

7:30 am Dec. 6, 1917 the French ship Mont-Blanc, loaded with a highly explosive cargo, moves to join a convoy in Bedford Basin #HalifaxExplosion

At the same time the Norwegian vessel Imo, in ballast, set off from the Basin bound for New York #HalifaxExplosion

The Churchill Tank in Normandy: Part One 40-44

Ratty Relic or Bocage Buster?

How did it go from a hated, atrocious POS tank worthy only of the scrapheap to a reliable, trustworthy, survivable and popular gun tank in action?

Another pertinent tale. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History

At 38 tons the Churchill was clearly a beast but a manageable one, given concerns about railway loading gauge had informed development (even then you still had to remove the side air louvres for rail tpt).

As always, compromise & industrial limitations underpinned design. /2

Early Mk I and Mk II were respectively armed with a 2 Pounder with coaxial Besa in the turret but with differing hull armament, I - 3" howitzer, II - Besa machine gun.

88.9mm of front armour provided excellent protection for the five man crew, and WS No. 19 provided comms. /3

Other than being undergunned another problem was, they didn't work very well.

But why?

It call comes back to, you guessed it, June 1940 - at the height of that invasion-scare summer.

AFV cupboards were bare so the initial models were raced into production in June 1940... /4

there wasn't time for proper prototyping or accompanying development as the imperative to have ANY gun tank pushed Vauxhall to the limit in the race to get SOMETHING, ANYTHING into the field.

9 RTR probably enjoyed the dubious honour of the first Churchill deliveries. /5

So how easy was it for British & Canadian soldiers to keep clean and healthy in Normandy?

Couldn't be too hard, right? /1
#WW2 #SWW #History

You're an front line infantryman in a two man covered slit trench. Maybe 100m from the enemy

From dawn to dusk you're hunched underground, making the best of things in a covered trench 6' long, 3' deep and 2 1/2' wide or so.

With your mate crammed in there with you. /2

You know you're under constant observation by enemy observers and marksmen, who scan the ground looking to punish any foolish or unlucky opportunity target.

They may not get you, but their rounds may well kill or maim your friends. /3

Night offers a modicum of respite.

In darkness fresh, hot grub is bought up in large thermos flasks from the cooks in B Echelon. It's good hearty stuff.

The problem is the closer you are to the enemy, the more likely it'll be delayed or obliterated by an errant 155mm shell. /4

You can always tuck into food from your compo crates, which is fine, or 24 hour ration pack... or the famed emergency ration in a sticky spot.

The latter is really nice.

Chocolate laced with amphetamine or high dose of caffeine.

Yum. /5

A thread on S.L.A. Marshall & the Ratio of Fire.

Marshall is controversial.

His central claim is that only 25% of soldiers in the line fired their weapons.

Several military historians have disputed this.

My own views on Marshall are framed by my work on Small Arms.

1/

If you've ever had anything to do with Knowledge Management then you'll know that Marshall gave us the After Action Review.

This method facilitated group discussion with a view to identifying what happened and how to do better.

It has shaped business & military practices.

2/

In Marshall's case this created a feedback loop between inputs and outputs in which the soldier's (& not just the commander's) experience was also put at the centre of winning the battle [more on tech & OODA loops later].

Source: Army of None @paul_scharre

3/

But the extent to which he systematically applied this new method has been repeatedly criticised.

By Roger Spiller

By Harold P. “Bud” Leinbaugh