Coordinating Covert Action: The Case of the Yemen Civil War and the South Arabian Insurgency

Focusing on British involvement in the 1960s Yemen Civil War, this article examines the centralised mechanisms developed in Whitehall to coordinate covert action interdepartmentally. It therefore sheds new light on London's security and intelligence machine and its input into clandestine operations. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews, it uncovers various important but secretive actors, which have been overlooked or misunderstood in the existing literature, and outlines their functions in the most detail yet available. In doing so, it considers how these bodies evolved in relation to competing threat assessments of the local situation and the impact they had on Britain's covert intervention in the theatre. This article assesses the utility of the system and argues that it provided an effective means to ensure that any covert action sanctioned was properly scrutinised so as to reduce risks and best meet national interests.     

国外歼击机的发展趋势

歼击机是空中攻击的一种重要手段 ,国外很重视歼击机的研制和改进。研制新型多动能歼击机 ,改进已服役的第三代歼击机是主要发展方向。文章概述了为提高歼击机作战能力所采用的新技术和新的机载武器     

Clash of counterterrorism-assistance-seeking states and their super power sponsors: Implications on the war against Boko Haram

ABSTRACT

Decade-long security cooperation and counterterrorism engagements in Nigeria have failed to bring down Boko Haram or at least weaken its terrorist structures and transnational spread. I argue that disconnects between counterterrorism-assistance seeking states and their superpower sponsors are implicated in the intractability of Boko Haram's insurgency in Nigeria. Why is the U.S. counterterrorism intervention to individual MNJTF countries (i.e. troop contribution, military funding and intelligence support) ‘lopsided’, ‘fragmented’ and ‘unevenly distributed;’ and how are these implicated in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism? This has impacted negatively on MNJTF countries – lack of cooperation, divisiveness and individualism in coordinating and forging offensives against Boko Haram. These concerns interface several blind spots in the picture of external influences on military’s approach to Boko Haram. I elicit primary data from top military officers. I conclude by predicting the implications and consequences of these counterterrorism complexities, and their potency to defeat or encourage Boko Haram terror.     

Planning for the next Takur Ghar

The USA is currently facing an increasingly diverse range of threats, including non-state actors, particularly violent extremist organizations attempting to do harm. The national leadership has made it clear that for the near future it will employ Special Operations Forces (SOF) as the tool of choice in short-duration, high-intensity operations that have more in common with the battle of Takur Ghar, than those with a larger footprint. It is critical then that the lessons of the past are learnt now and are applied before employing SOF in the future. This becomes especially important given the short lead-time in concert with the short-duration/high-intensity tempo of their operations. In the Battle of Takur Ghar, during Operation Anaconda, rigid adherence to the joint functions, especially clearer and more robust Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) in the planning and execution of Operation Anaconda would have yielded a better operational outcome and saved lives. With the benefit of hindsight, many things could have been done differently, but several key issues stand out. The C2 structure must include all components from the outset to synchronize effects and rapidly re-task ISR. There must be multiple communications redundancies and adequate bandwidth. Finally, all SOF, conventional and interagency capabilities must be synchronized under one task force commander with a sufficiently robust C2 infrastructure to direct the entire effort. As our nation calls on SOF at an ever-increasing rate, we must take those lessons learned and apply them to future operations.     

美军信息体体系架构研究

分析了美军信息体体系架构提出的背景,从信体联合信息环境的总体构想、使命任务、能力视图、作战视图等4个方面介绍了美军信体信息体系架构的主要内容,提出了对未来信息服务体系建设的启示。     

论全资产可视性与通用装备保障创新

提出了多兵种合同作战和联合作战条件下 ,通用装备保障应实现“全谱支持”的新思路。结合对台军事斗争中对通用装备保障的需求 ,提出了必须在器材请领、储存处理、在运资产、战区内装备管理等四个领域达到联合全资产可视性的要求 ,并给出了联合全资产可视性建设的效益分析     

Certainty of Uncertainty: Nuclear Strategy with Chinese Characteristics

China's nuclear deterrent relies on so-called ‘first strike uncertainty’, which means not letting the other side be confident of a completely successful disarming strike. But in order to deter, the uncertainty must be high enough. After reviewing the developmental history of China's nuclear capability and the evolution of Chinese and foreign leaders’ perceptions of China's nuclear retaliatory capability, this article identifies the criteria of nuclear deterrence for China and other countries. This research can contribute to Sino-US strategic dialogue and deepening understanding of the security consequences of nuclear proliferation.     

自由漂浮空间机器人关节故障锁定位置辨识

针对自由漂浮空间机器人在关节故障情况下关节锁定位置的辨识问题,根据其线动量守恒和角动量守恒特性,建立了关节故障锁定位置辨识的误差模型,提出了利用混沌粒子群优化(CPSO)搜索关节故障位置的辨识算法。最后采用虚拟样机技术,建立了空间机器人系统的虚拟样机,对空间机器人系统进行动力学仿真,获取了运动数据,采用此数据对提出的关节故障位置辨识算法进行了有效性验证。     

Stalking the Secure Second Strike: Intelligence,Counterforce, and Nuclear Strategy

Secure second strike nuclear forces are frequently held to be easy to procure. Analysts have long argued that targeting intelligence against relocatable targets like submarine launched and land mobile ballistic missiles is difficult to obtain. However, the scholarly consensus on intelligence for counterforce operations is seriously overdrawn. Both during and after the Cold War, the United States developed substantial intelligence capabilities to track and target submarines and mobile missiles. These efforts achieved important and under-appreciated success. Second strike forces have been far more vulnerable than most analysts are willing to credit.     

JTIDS消息字还原模块的FPGA设计

根据公开的关于Link16数据链的信息标准并结合我军对战术数据链的具体要求,设计了一种JTIDS终端消息字还原模块,该模块包含CCSK码字解密,CCSK译码,解交织,RS译码等一系列基带数据处理过程。首先介绍了Link16数据链消息字还原模块的原理,对其各个子处理模块进行了设计并提出了硬件实现方案,然后在Quartus II环境下选择Cyclone II系列的EP2C8Q208C8 FPGA芯片进行了JTIDS消息字还原模块的系统级综合与仿真,并在该芯片的开发板上进行了验证,硬件成品可用于JTIDS终端功能测试与评估等多种场合。