Global Conflict Reporting

Tag: News

  • Daily Briefing

    February 5th,2025

    By Scott Jackson

    Arleigh Burke-Class Guided-Missile Destroyer, USS Preble (DDG-88) utilizing its High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-Dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) Weapons System. 

    USS Preble (DDG-88) firing its HELIOS system.

    Helios is apart of a larger program aimed at the development of Solid State Lasers (SSL). Some of the other lasers being developed include the 

    -Ruggedized High Energy Laser (RHEL);

    -Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN); -Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM) 

    -High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program (HELCA), for shooting down anti-ship cruise missiles. 

    All of these I’ve listed are in varying states of development and wont be fielded until a future date however HELIOS has been in a testing phase since 2021 and now has been fully integrated into the combat systems of at least the USS Preble (DDG-88) where it will be used to counter drones, small boat threats and missiles. 

    The main advantage of the direct energy weapons is the price. Lasers cost about $1 to fire compared to some missiles getting into the tens of millions of dollars. 

    Russias losses in Ukraine for the month of January reached almost 50,000, the second highest since the early days of the war.

    According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the month of January 2025, the Russian armed forces lost 48,240 soldiers and 573 Russian armored vehicles and 230 tanks. In the Russian order of battle this is roughly equivalent to 3 motorized rifle divisions. In that time the Russian army has managed to take roughly 500 sq. kilometers (193 sq miles) in the Kursk Region as well as Ukraine. These numbers are almost identically to December of 2024 numbers except they took 100km more territory.

    The situation in Ukraine remains much as it has the past couple months. Ukrainian forces continues to reinforce defensive points while Russia has kept its army’s pushing into enemy territory. Ukrainian forces have stepped up the intensity of attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure, with the Ukrainian security services (USB) targeting the regions of Volgograd and Astrakhan.

    Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant

    Future daily briefs will have more Ukraine reporting as I reconnect with my sources and find new ones.

    Iraqi airstrike kills 5 ISIS operatives in Iraq.

    On January 31, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), supported by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted an airstrike near Kirkuk, Iraq. The attack killed 5 ISIS fighters according to CENTCOM.

    “An initial post-strike clearance found multiple explosive suicide belts and other materials,”

    CENTCOM confirmed in a statement, underscoring the strike’s role in weakening the group’s operational capabilities.

    “ISIS remains a threat to the region and beyond, and CENTCOM, along with partners and allies, will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists to protect the homeland,” 

    This operation was backed by Coalition Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CTF-OIR), which provided intelligence and technical support for the strike.

    U.S. forces have recently stepped up strikes against ISIS targets since the fall of the Assad Regime in Syria. With the state being weakened it was a possibility that Daesh could attempt a comeback.

    On the same note….

    US Africa Command carries out airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia.

    On February 1st, 2025, US president Donald Trump, in his first major U.S. Strike overseas since he took office, ordered US forces to carry out airstrikes on ISIS targets in Northern Somalia in the Golis Mountains. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “multiple operatives” were killed in the strike.

    F/A-18 Super Hornet

    The strikes were carried out by planes from the navy and Air Force. FA-18 Super Hornets took part from the USS Harry S. Truman currently stationed in the Red Sea.

    While the main threat in the area has been Al-Shabab, ISIL has been involved in attacks in Southern and Central Somalia. Even while facing the threat of US bombings as well as the policing actions of the Somolian Security Forces, and a fierce rivalry with Al-Shabob ISIS (ISIL) continues to grow and gain a strong foundation in the country.

  • Daily Briefing

    By. Scott Jackson

    February 1st, 2025

    US Forces kill senior operative of Terror Group Hurras al-Din in Syria.

    The aftermath of the airstrike that killed Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir in Northwestern Syria.

    On January 30th US CENTCOM (Central Command) forces conducted an airstrike in northwestern Syria targeting a senior operative of the US classified Terror group Huertas Al-Din (HaD) an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. The target was Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir a former ISIS member who later went on to become a member of the Syrian At-Qaeda branch. Not much else is known about him besides that CENTCOM describes him as a “Senior member” in the group. 

    A statement from CENTCOM on the strike:

    “The airstrike is part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond”

    It ends with a warning from commander of CENTCOM, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla.

    “CENTCOM will continue to hunt and kill or capture terrorists and defend our homeland against groups that plot to attack U.S. and allied personnel,”

    (more…)

    Pages: 1 2

  • Airplane crash in Pennsylvania leaves 6 dead and questions to be answered.

    January 31st, 2025

    By. Scott Jackson

    A ring camera catches the Learjet as it falls from the sky.

    An airplane operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, in Pennsylvania crashed earlier today leaving 6 dead. 

    The plane was a medical transport plane carrying two pilots, two doctors, the patient and a family member and crashed shortly after takeoff. As the crash happened in the middle of the city the horrific explosion was recorded by several different cameras showing multiple angles, including one bystander who was a couple dozen feet away when the plane hit the ground. 

    The flight departed Philadelphia Airport (PNE) for Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri at 23:06 UTC(7:06PMEST), reaching a maximum altitude of 1,650 ft at 23:06:54. Its last recorded ADB-S reading showed the plane losing altitude at a vertical rate of -11,008 ft per minute. 

    Some data on the flight from Flightradar 24.
    A visualization from ADS-B Exchange.

    Not much is known about why the plane crashed. Possible icing conditions have been given as an explanation but we can’t yet confirm anything. 

    Several houses in the area of the crash were set on fire and fire fighters are currently fighting those fires. 

    A video from a bystander who witnessed the ground impact from several dozen ft. away.

  • M23 militia attack on DRC causes a wave of refugees to flee Goma. Write up on the forming of M23.

    By. Scott Jackson

    01/28/2025

    Hundreds of thousands are currently fleeing the city of Goma and the surrounding area as M23 militia have reportedly commenced a large-scale assault on the area. The United Nations has said that M23 control the airport but that some pro-government militia and the Congolese army are still holding out.

    Rwanda backed M23 Rebels take over a UN post in Goma.

    Learning the past to better understand the present.

    M23 or the March 23rd Movement and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a Congolese majority Tutsi rebel army backed by Rwanda. They mainly operate out of North Kivu province which borders Rwanda and Uganda in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. A United Nations report in 2013 found that M23 was essentially created and led by the Rwandan government, headed by President and former revolutionary leader Paul Kagame since after the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

    To understand this current conflict we have to go all the way back to the genocide which was kicked off in ‘94 when the plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu, was mysteriously shot down on its approach to the capital, of which the plane was Kigali. This sparked the 100 day murder spree that became known as the Rwandan genocide. An estimated 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority, were killed in that time frame by the instigation of Hutu extremists. At the end of the hundred days Kagame’s army had control of the country, and hundreds of thousands of Hutu extremists as well as normal people fled to the neighboring country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (called Zaire until it was changed during the first Congo war in 1997).

    (more…)

  • American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. army helicopter in Washington DC.

    January 30th, 2025

    By. Scott Jackson

    Wreckage of Flight 5342
    Search and rescue efforts underway.
    Images from a rescue helicopter show the debris in the river.

    PSA Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700 passenger jet ,registered N530EA, was on a Wichita, Kansas -to-D.C path when on final approach for runway 33 at Ronald Regan Airport (DCA) when a Blackhawk helicopter, carrying 3 people collided with the plane sending it into the Potomac river with its 60 passengers and 4 crew aboard.  One person on the ground was also killed as both aircraft fell into the river. 

    ADS-B exchange shows the flight of the CRJ at the time of impact.
    ADS-B shows the path of the Blackhawk before impact.

    A search a rescue effort involving over 300 people has failed to turn up any survivors. 18 body’s have been pulled from the river at the time of writing. 

    Initially, there was some confusion on the identity of the helicopter as it was first mistakenly reported as apart of the DC metro police fleet and then again misidentified as UH-60 used for VIP transport. Heather Chairez, a spokesperson for the joint task force-National Capital Region confirmed the aircraft was a UH-60 Blackhawk on a training mission. 

    Airports have altitude restrictions for helicopters, usually keeping them around 200ft above ground level at the point of impact the plane would have been around 400-500 ft. Audio released after the accident confirms that the plane was pointed out to the helicopter crew. It’s likely that when asked to confirm they could see the plane, they might have looked at another plane that was coming in at the same time to land on a different runway. The plane was in a blind spot that would have been difficult to see.

    More information will come out in the following days. This is all based on information I’ve gathered from statements given by officials as well as open sources and could possibly be flawed.

    Info will be added here as it come out.

    Updates.

    • Helicopter was with Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was conducting a training flight at the time of the crash.
    • Several aviation enthusiasts around the DC area have said that a crash like this around Ronald Reagan was a case of “when not if” Helicopters regularly fly that route down the river coming within a couple hundred feet of airplanes on final.

    Hi, this is Scott. I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to those affected by this accident. Tragedies like this are the hardest for me to write about but I know that doesn’t compare to the pain felt by those affected.

  • Daily Briefing

    By Scott Jackson

    Statement from new U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

    The U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was sworn in the day before yesterday. This is some of what he had to say today in a messages to the forces. 

    “…The President gave us a clear mission: achieve Peace through Strength. We will do this in three ways – by restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence.

    -We will revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military. We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear. The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.

    -We will rebuild our military by matching threats to capabilities. This means reviving our defense industrial base, reforming our acquisition process, passing a financial audit, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies. We will remain the strongest and most lethal force in the world.

    —We will reestablish deterrence by defending our homeland — on the ground and in the sky. We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China, as well as supporting the President’s priority to end wars responsibly and reorient to key threats.

    We will stand by our allies – and our enemies are on notice.

    All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.

    I have committed my life to warfighters and their families.

    Just as my fellow soldiers had my back on the battlefield, know that I will always have your back. We serve together at a dangerous time. Our enemies will neither rest nor relent.

    And neither will we. We will stand shoulder to shoulder to meet the urgency of this moment.

    Like each of you, I love my country and swore an oath to defend the Constitution. We will do that each and every day,” 

    -End statement 

    Pete Hegseth during his confirmation hearing.

    Hegseth, a veteran and former Fox News personality only narrowly won his confirmation for SecDef with a Vice President tie breaker after the 3 republicans in the Senate joined with every democrats to vote no. His confirmation hearing was filled with allegations of past misconduct( that he denies) and claims that he is too inexperienced in leading a large organization like the U.S. military. 

    Russian oil refinery struck by a wave of Ukrainian drones.

    Ukraines most effective strategy throughout the war has been the destruction of Russian logistics on the frontlines and behind the lines using missiles and drones. This constant picking away at the Russian war machines supplies has kept Russia pulling for stockpiles nobody thought would ever be needed. Supplies that went untouched for decades are now being pulled from occasionally (especially with regard to armored vehicles). This strategy worked so well that Ukraine decided to expand on it with unrelenting attacks on Russian oil production. The thought is simple: try to make fighting the war too costly to continue to fight.Russia is supposed to be an oligarchy and no matter how many of their rich and powerful Putin has thrown out of windows they do still hold some power in the country and can cause him problems.

    Overview of the Ryazan Oil Refinery
    Loading and storage area, both of which sustained damage in the attack.

    The refinery targeted was the Ryazan oil refinery almost 300 miles from Ukraine. It has been targeted by drones multiple times in the past 72 hours and has suspended all operations. The most recent attack took place on January 26th at 1:00AM (Russia time) Video discovered of one of the attacks shows a massive fireball as a result.

    The full extent of the damage is yet unknown but we do know that among the damaged equipment that the oil storage was set ablaze as well as equipment used to load the product into rail cars.Russian media claims that the plants AVT-4 unit, which processes the crude oil into fuel distillates, was heavily damaged.

    The Ryazan oil refinery is one of Russia largest with the capacity to process 17 million metric tons of oil a year.The profit from this oil is used to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine which is growing costlier as the years go by. Neither side can keep this up forever but with these attacks on important and valuable Russian targets Ukraine hopes to tip the scales in their favor.

    Andriy Kovalenko, a reporter in Ukraine said on his Telegram channel ” The refinery plays an important role in providing fuel for both the civilian and military-industrial complex of Russia,”.

  • Two Iranian Cargo ships set to leave China filled with propellant used for ballistic missile production.

    By. Scott Jackson

    January 24,2025

    M/V Golbon and M/V Jairan, Two Iranian flagged containerships have reportedly been loaded with over 1000 tonnes of sodium perchlorate at a Chinese port over the past several days. 

    M/V Jairan
    M/V Golbon

    Sodium perchlorate is used to make ammonium perchlorate which can be used as a solid propellant in ballistic missiles and is controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime, an international Anti- Proliferation group. 

    (more…)