Jihad or qatal? Examining Al Qaeda's modus operandi

There is widespread acknowledgment that the modus operandi of jihadis affiliated with Al Qaeda and associated movements (AQAM) relies on brutal terror-inducing tactics which, more often than not, target Muslim and non-Muslim non-combatants. This article comparatively analyzes the AQAM modus operandi within the traditional stipulations of Islamic precepts with respect to waging jihad al saghir. The purpose is to glean whether or not such tactics such as suicide bombings, declaring fellow Muslim apostates in order to kill them, use of IEDs and EFPs to target civilians, constitute legitimate rules of engagement in jihad al saghir.     

‘Immediate redress’: USS Potomac and the pirates of Quallah Batoo

Maritime interests in the twenty-first century are not immune to the growing number of irregular challenges and hybrid threats that have come to dominate land warfare. In order to better understand these challenges a study of naval history can help provide a vital foundation. In the early 1830s the United States Navy dispatched the frigate USS Potomac to Sumatra to investigate a pirate attack on the spice trader Friendship. Potomac's crew of sailors and Marines conducted a landing at the village Quallah Batoo and fought a pitched battle. As the navies of the world approach naval irregular warfare in the new century, studying past examples like Potomac's mission can help illuminate the principles of successful naval irregular warfare.     

Book Reviews

Iain McCallum, Blood Brothers Hiram and Hudson Maxim: Pioneers of Modern Warfare. London: Chatham, 1999. Pp. 224, 33 illus., 2 maps, biblio., index. £20. ISBN 1–86176–096–5.

Eric Ash, Sir Frederick Sykes and the Air Revolution, 1912–1918. London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1999. Pp.xviii + 268, 20 illus., 3 maps, biblio., index. £42.50/$59.50 (cloth), £18.50/$27.50 (paper). ISBN 0–7146–4828–0 and ‐4382–3.

Azar Gat, Fascist and Liberal Visions of War: Fuller, Liddell Hart, Douhet, and other Modernists. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Ppviii + 334, biblio., index. £45. ISBN 0–19–820715–8.

David B. Woolner (ed.), The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace: Canada, Great Britain, and the United States in 1944–1945. Basingstoke; London: Macmillan Press, 1998. Pp.xiii + 210, index. £32.50. ISBN 0–333–75970–2.

Jeffrey Grey. Up Top: The Royal Australian Navy and Southeast Asian Conflicts 1955–1972. St Leonards NSW: Allen &; Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1998. Pp.xx + 380, 110 illus., 12 tables, 23 maps &; diagrams, appendices, notes, biblio., index. NP. ISBN 1–86448–290–7.

Susan L Carruthers, The Media at War. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000. Pp.321, biblio., index. £14.99 (paper). ISBN 0–333–69143–1, also available in hardback.

Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr, Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War. Washington DC: Naval Historical Center, 1998. Pp.xxi + 517, 120 illus., 14 maps, biblio., index. NP. ISBN 0–1604–9476–1.

Marvin Pokrant, Desert Shield at Sea: What the Navy Really Did and Desert Storm at Sea: What the Navy Really Did. Both Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Pp.xxiii + 265,9 illus., biblio., index. £44.95. ISBN 0–313–31023–8. Pp.xxiv + 329,12 illus., biblio., index. NP. ISBN 0–313–31024–6.

David Kaularich and Ronald C. Kramer, Crimes of the American Nuclear State: At Home and Abroad. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. Pp.xviii + 195, biblio., index. £42.75. ISBN 1–55553–371‐X.

Stanley Hoffmann, World Disorders: Troubled Peace in the Post‐Cold War Era. Lanham, MD: Rowman &; Littlefield, 1998. Pp.viii+279, notes, index. $29.95. ISBN 0–8476–8574–8.

Lawrence Freedman (ed.), Strategic Coercion: Concepts and Cases. Oxford: Oxford‐University Press, 1998. Pp.400, index. £48. ISBN 0–19–829–349–6.

Stephen J. Cimbala, Coercive Military Strategy. College Station, TX: Texas A&;M University Press, 1998. Pp.229, biblio, index; $39.95. ISBN 0–89096–836–5     

基于EKF算法的弹道导弹助推段跟踪建模与仿真

围绕弹道导弹助推段跟踪问题,分析了助推段反弹道导弹的基本作战过程,建立了弹道导弹助推段动力学模型,分别就单传感器/单弹道导弹和多传感器/多弹道导弹两种情况建立了基于EKF算法的弹道导弹助推段跟踪模型,并通过算例验证了模型和算法的有效性,可为助推段反弹道导弹建模与仿真提供一定的参考。     

军民融合框架下非战争军事行动应急防疫保障体系建设的思考

2020年初发生的"新冠肺炎"疫情是新中国成立以来防控难度最大的重大突发公共卫生事件,也是对军队应急防疫保障体系的实际检验。军队应立足于军民融合战略思想的大背景,着眼非战争军事行动应急防疫保障体系建设的实际,完善重大疫情防控体制机制,进一步健全公共卫生体系,以全面提升防控和救治能力。本文结合当前新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情和以往非战争军事行动应急防疫保障的实践经验,分析了非战争军事行动卫生防疫保障的特点,阐述了其经验做法和存在的不足,从防疫指挥救治、应急物资保障、卫勤保障法律、心理危机干预以及防疫研发攻关等五个方面给出了对策措施,希翼随着军民融合不断深入推进,军地救治经验的相互交流和科研技术的协助攻关,本研究能够为非战争军事行动应急防疫保障体系建设提供一些参考。     

谈现代反潜作战平台对我军潜艇作战的影响及对策

反潜作战是现代战争中一种重要的作战样式,是决定战争胜负的重要因素之一.通过详细讨论现代反潜作战中主要的武器平台及对我潜艇作战的影响,提出了我军在未来可能的反"台独"作战中潜艇作战的3种主要战法.     

初相未知信号联合检测与估计的序贯实现

在未知参数的充分统计量和再生概率密度函数的基础上,引入了联合检测与估计的序贯算法,给出了算法的实现框图,并将该算法应用于高斯噪声中初相位未知信号的联合检测与估计当中.仿真实验表明,新算法较传统算法有一定的性能改善.     

登陆作战海军水雷破障建模与应用

扫除抗登陆方水雷障碍,既是登陆作战的重要环节,也是保障三军联合破除敌抗登陆水际障碍的前提条件.根据抗登陆方水雷情况想定,研究三军联合破障中海军扫雷兵力的运用,创新性地提出了将水雷分为3种类型分别进行分析量化处理的方法,并以此建立了切合实际的海军扫雷模型.根据该模型研制的海军水雷破障辅助决策系统,可以完成已知扫雷时间、扫雷兵力和扫雷率这3个最主要扫雷参数之间的互相求解问题,为指挥员决策提供了定量的客观依据.     

一种波束内目标与诱饵 DOA联合估计新方法

拖曳式诱饵干扰下目标和诱饵DOA参数的准确估计是导引头实现目标分选的前提条件。波束内目标和诱饵的存在引起雷达回波混叠和观测耦合,导致常规观测提取与参数测量方法失效。通过挖掘雷达接收回波和、差通道信号条件概率分布协方差所包含的未知参数信息,获得了目标和诱饵DOA估计的解析表达式,针对估计求解中所需相对功率比未知的情况,提出了基于干扰检测、雷达测量与目标跟踪信息辅助循环估计相对功率比的DOA二次联合估计方法。不同干扰条件的仿真实验验证了估计方法的有效性。     

2A12铝合金焊接接头超声冲击处理前后拉伸性能分析

为克服铝合金薄板焊接接头强度偏低、韧性不足的缺点,用ER5356焊丝对不同厚度的2A12铝合金板材进行了手工氩弧焊接,并采用超声冲击处理对焊接接头进行全覆盖强化处理。采用金相显微镜观察了处理和未处理焊接接头的显微组织结构,对接头的力学性能进行了测试分析,分析了超声冲击处理改善2A12铝合金焊接接头力学性能的机理。结果表明：铝合金焊接接头经超声冲击强化处理后,6 mm和4 mm厚板材对接接头的抗拉强度分别提高了17.4%和23.7%,延伸率分别提高了28%和44%,焊缝表层组织得到明显细化。分析认为：晶粒大幅细化、组织致密化和缺陷减少,是超声冲击处理改善铝合金焊接接头抗拉伸性能的主要原因。