Syrian Rebels Take Out Russian Helicopter with Russian Missile

There should be a bit of irony here.  The Syrian rebels (likely to be of the extreme Islamic variety given their use of social media and apparent sophistication) here are using a  relatively modern Russian anti-tank guided missile to shoot down/blow up a Syrian government helicopter of the Russian variety.

The missile appears to be a Kornet which first came into production in the mid 90's and has been used by Iraq against American tanks in the early '00s, damaging a few but not destroying any and also against the Israeli's by Hezbollah (targets have included Isreali tanks and a child laden schoolbus).  Russia has supplied Syria with these anti-tank missiles for years and they appear to have now fallen into the hands of the Syrian rebels/ISIS.

The helicopter here appears to be an MI-2 which is more of a transport helicopter than an attack platform (though it can be outfitted with various short range offensive weaponry).  Supposedly Syria had about 20 of these at one point--make that 19 now...Produced in Poland beginning in the late 60's/70's and designed in Russia these helicopters serve in secondary regimes around the world.  Though the Kornet missile is not specifically designed to take down helicopters, given the static position this one was in during its landing and apparently unpressured position the attackers were located in, made this takedown easy.

Book Review: Gunship Ace--The Wars of Neall Ellis, Helicopter Pilot and Mercenary

I've always been interested in the lesser known conflicts of South Africa and Africa in general which receive little media interest compared to say Europe and the Middle East here in the US.  I also have always found those who choose to participate in war for money or ideals as mercenaries.

This then provided a nice joining of the two interests as Neal Ellis fought on the side of South Africa against Angola and its Cuban proxies during the '70s and '80s and also fought in a number of other conflicts--Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Afghanistan, etc. as a helicopter pilot in a number of roles ever since.

Unfortunately the author, Al Ventor, is not exactly a skilled writer.  More of a newspaper reporter trying his hand at a long form story, the book is a regurgitation of interviews he has done with Neall Ellis added to Ventor's own dry observations from his time in the field as a war correspondent.  There is little story flow or connection between the various parts of the work.  We're here one minute and there the next with no threads between the two places.  Neall Ellis also remains a cardboard cutout and not a fully fleshed character as we get little insight into him as a person and only get a paragraph here and there of his own words to describe his thoughts and feelings.

Ellis' resume is impressive, piloting Mi-8s and Mi-24s across the globe in addition to his earlier flights behind the rudder of a number of South African helicopters.  He comes across as an honorable individual who was not solely driven to fight out of a desire for money but more out of need for employment and few options for a man of his very specific skill sets.  His history includes the participation in missions that saved the lives of a number of UK serviceman who had been taken captive in Sierra Leone where he earned the majority of his fame (and a sizable bounty on his head).
Ellis is currently (or at least most recently) operating in Afghanistan with a number of NGOs supporting US and other operations.

Most interesting within this work is the shear number of conflicts that Ellis was involved in and that one generally forgets are actually taking place at any one time.  That Ellis survived the antiaircraft fire present at every turn in this piece is amazing.  You do get to learn a good deal about the modern mercenary here as well as a fair introduction into a number of lesser known conflicts but its style, structure and disjointed nature of its telling leaves Ellis deserving of a better encapsulation.

Fuck You China!

Well, here's about the biggest middle finger I can think of that anyones given China in a while.

What we have here is the newly commissioned (yesterday 8/6/13) Japanese "destroyer class" Izumo.  It is classified as a "flat top destroyer" but if you're like me (and the rest of the sentient world) this looks much more like a carrier.  And it will be used as a carrier--just as a helicopter carrier only (supposedly) for now.

The 14 helicopters and "destroyer" will be used for anti-submarine, surveillance and disaster relief duties for now.  Correct me if I'm wrong however but typically you want your anti-submarine ships to be fast, small and nimble--not the lumbering, conventionally powered (the Japanese seem to still  be averse to nuclear power within their armed forces) bullseye that this ship represents.  You don't invest the capital required (some $1.2 billion) in a ship and staff it with some 1,000 crew to go hunt submarines.

While China has been busy buying old Russian carriers and trying to refurbish them and put them into service, Japan has just leapfrogged China's capability to project power in the region.  Though satellite shots show China having just begun construction on its first home built aircraft carrier this week (full construction to take about five years).

Though not nuclear powered, Japan doesn't seek here to project power across the globe and a conventional ship such as this can easily ply the waters around Japan and the South China Sea.  With the F-35B on order by Japan being a short/VTOL aircraft, the Izumo instantly becomes a massive thorn in China's side and one which they really have no counter to at the moment.  Oh, and Japan has the build of a second one of these "destroyers" already underway.

For comparison's sake here is the size of the Izumo (the largest Japanese military ship put into service since WWII)

Izumo (commissioned 2013):
Length--820 ft.
Beam--124 ft.
Weight--19,500 tons (empty)
Crew--970
Speed--30 mph
Aircraft--14 Helicopters

Gerald Ford Class American SuperCarrier (to be commissioned 2016)
Length--1,106 ft.
Beam--252 ft.
Weight--100,000 tons
Crew--4,300
Speed--35 mph+
Aircraft--75+

Kuznetsov Class Carrier (China's current carrier bought from Russia, commissioned 1990)
Length--1,001 ft.
Beam--236 ft.
Weight--43,000 tons
Crew--1,500
Speed--30+ mph
Aircraft--35