Israel’s Rafael wins $30 million maintenance support contract from an Asian Navy

Israel’s Rafael wins $30 million maintenance support contract from an Asian Navy

Rafael wins maintenance contract from Asian Navy: Israeli defence company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. is announcing that it has won a new contract with an Asian nation to provide comprehensive maintenance support services for operational systems employed by its navy, the company announced on Wednesday (August 9). The multi-year agreement is estimated at 100 million Shekels (30 million…

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Finished reading “The Crippled God”, the tenth and final book in the Malazan:Book of the Fallen series, by Steven Erikson.

WARNING: WHOLE SERIES SPOILERS. 

This was a really cool finale! So much action, so many characters, interesting twists and turns and satisfying conclusions to most plotlines. It’s the book I have enjoyed the most, as a whole, since Bonehunters, although I think the finale in TtH almost surpasses this one. There are some stories I didn’t enjoy as much/saw no point in, but as a whole, I liked it.

Mappo’s story was soul-crushing, enough said. I’m not going to say I was disappointed, because I think it was very well done, it was just both very sad and very surprising. We’ve been set up to see Mappo’s character in a certain way and this is very cruel towards him.

Surprisingly enough, I liked Torrent and the kids. It wasn’t my favorite story in all of this, but it was ok.

Faint and Precious Thimble and Amby I didn’t really see the point of. What they did at the end was cool, but I just don’t see why we needed them.

I LOVED the Shake. I know, I’ve spent half my time calling them the worst storyline in these books, but this one payed off in the end. Their fight scenes were incredible, everything involving the Tiste Andii was out of this world and painful as ever. Sandalath was one of my favorite stories altogether. The only complaint I have here is that it didn’t really tie into the finale much. It tied into TtH a lot more than into TCG. But still, it’s almost like its own finale.

Didn’t see the need to bring back Draconus only to have him do...pretty much nothing. Kilmandaros and Sechul Lath could just as easily have been killed by Korabas. It was diasppointing only because it was set up so much.

I really liked Silchas Ruin and Tulas Shorn. Loved their relationship. Didn’t see the point of Rudd Elayd, though, why was he in this?

I was a little disappointed we didn’t see more of Udinaas and Onrack. I really like those characters and I was a little let down that they barely showed up.

Tool’s story I found pretty dull, up until the end.

Ganoes, Quick Ben and Kalam were worth every page they were in. They’re still among my overall favorite characters for the series.

I hated the Perish storyline. Just nothing I found interesting in it at all.

Felash/her mom(forget the name) and the Bolkando were a little more interesting this time, but still felt very secondary to me. Still not sure they were necessary either.

I also REALLY hated Ublala Pung’s story. It added nothing, it achieved nothing, it just felt really gross and ran mostly on sex(and sexist) jokes. Why was this here? Especially after the ordeal with Hetan in the last book, this felt crass, childish and VERY out of place.

The trek through the desert felt as exhausting as it should have and the Malazans’ meeting with the Snake almost made me cry (and I’d mostly spent DoD ignoring the Snake). I have some doubts about the eventual resolution of the whole desert situation, but it worked the way it needed to while I was reading, at least. And it got the emotion it wanted out of me too.

I love how Erikson handled the final battles in this one. I loved the “allies’” battle, seeing so many different groups we’ve been setting up for so long come together in that fight was incredible. Gesler and Stormy and our favorite dinos were out of this world, Brys and Tool were really cool, the fourteen were both slightly surprising (at least to me), but still amazing. I loved the whole “the past isn’t really dead” angle, with all of the “extinct” races showing up to take a bite out of the Forkrul Assail. 

The battle with the Malazan regulars and them finally getting the spotlight, if only for a little while, was great and I’m glad the text did highlight that, despite the fact that we’ve been following a ton of “smaller stories” with the marines, there are tons more of even smaller parts that we don’t know, but still matter. And then Ganoes shows up and is so unfalingly awesome(running out of adjectives here), gah, I love that character. And Tavore’s anguish! What a scene! 

Then there was the marines battle - gruelling, heartbreaking, but still full of moments of incredible courage on the part of individual characters, great character relationships and, of course, being at the crux of the main issue being fought over.

The FA themselves were kind of flat as villains, but with so many stories going on, I’m honestly glad we didn’t have to spend 400 pages getting to know them. They’re overconfident fanatic assholes who want to kill everyone and that’s good enough for me.

Tool and Hetan’s resolution felt a little...cheap. I liked it, it gave me fuzzy feelings, but I think it was a little too much. Would have been fine with him just finding the children again.

The solution to the Crippled God issue was interesting. It wasn’t a surprise for me, because I’d seen spoilers (I don’t care), but it still felt well earned. I also like that (according to series-wide themes) it’s a decision that stems as much from praticality as from compassion. 

I liked what Steven did with Tavore a lot. I’m not sure I would have followed her if I’d been in that situation (might have, but more out of inertia and nowhere-to-go-ness than faith), and I don’t think he’s entirely convincing in telling us why everyone is willing to go to these lengths for her. In fact he puts a lot of effort into showing that everyone is super confused about this whole thing too. Still, I liked her character. I like that she’s cold, but not in that “bitchy” cold way that female characters are often cast into, I like that Steven makes it obvious that she cares a lot, she’s just holding back the pain. I loved the subtle revelation that she might have been with the Talon all along, it adds so much nuance. What still confuses me a bit is her supposed strategic genius, that we never actually see. She shows no such brilliant military abilities in any of the battles she fights (and there’s very few of those to begin with), so I don’t really see the point in stressing that.  It would ahve been find if other characters were’nt pointing it out.

The Epilogues felt a little underwhelming to me. I’d have liked to have seen more of Tavore and Ganoes, of Fiddler’s squad, Brys’ reunion with Tehol, Kilava and Onrack, etc. But I get it that it’s already a very long book in a very long series. It would have meant too many endings. I was very happy that we got some closure to Crokus and Apsalar, though! I always liked those two, even when Crokus was being annoying.

Shadowthrone and Cotillion are amazing. Shadowthrone is probably the funniest character in the whole series, while still being the mastermind behind everything and actually not that bad of a guy, so really, what’s not to like? And Cotillion! His ability to show mercy and kindness and compassion and caring, his struggles with that, after all this time, after becoming a god, after having done tons of terrible shit, his scene with Lostara! All of Cotillion and Shadowthrone, all of it. I don’t think there’s been a single scene with those two in this series I haven’t enjoyed. 

Favorite characters: Shadowthrone, Sandalath, Ganoes Paran, Fiddler, Tavore, Gesler, Brys, Hellian

Least favorite characters: Olar Ethil, Tanakalian, most of the FA(a mix of flat and eevuhl), UBLALA

Favorite POV: Fiddler, Ganoes,Tulas Shorn, Withal, Mappo

Least favorite POV: Tanakalian, Setoc, Felash, Ublala

Favorite scene: Lostara and Cotillion, Mappo’s memory of Icarium’s shards, Mappo in Icarias, The army meeting up with the Snake, Sandalath’s visions, Shadowthrone’s renewed attempt to unleash teh Hounds on Itko Kan, Tavore’s scream, Stormy and Gesler’s deaths, Hellian and Urb, Mael and K’rul with the CG, Aranict and co saving Brys, Tavore’s speech to the regulars, Corabb’s last stand, Ganoes portalling out of an argument with the FA, all of the final battles, toys, so much more...

Least favorite scene: Everything with Ublala in it, most Setoc scenes, all Tanakalian scenes, the Liosan backstory (oddly placed and too much of it) 

Final book rankings: 1.MoI, 2.BH, 3.TCG, 4.TtH, 5.MT, 6.DG , 7.DoD, 8.HoC, 9.GotM, 10.RG

In terms of volumes in the series: 3>6>10>8>5>2>9>4>1>7

Pretty up and down, I suppose, But I guess I was lucky that books I dind’t like so much were nearly always compensated by the next book being much better.

Why Israel's Military Might Have Better F-15s Than the U.S. Air Force

Israel was one of the first customers for the American F-15 fighter. It has served admirably as the backbone of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) throughout the late 1970s to the present day. In addition to its superb performance in the air-to-air role during the 1982 Lebanon War, the F-15 was also used in Operation Opera and Operation Wooden Leg, both long-range-strike missionsThe Israel Defense Forces field a wide variety of American military equipment, due to significant amounts of American military aid to Israel. However, American equipment has not always been the best suited to the tough desert and urban conditions encountered by the IDF. As a result, American equipment in Israeli service is often extensively modified to fit the IDF’s unique mission. Here are some unique derivatives of American equipment that the IDF fields.(This first appeared several years ago.)1\. MAPATS Antitank MissileThe IDF has had a long relationship with the antitank guided missile. In the long desert approaches that surround Israel, antitank missiles can direct the flow of combat and are very effective weapons. While the first ATGMs fielded by Israel were the French SS.10 and SS.11, it was replaced in the late 1970s by the American TOW (Orev in IDF service) missile. However, due to its wire-guided nature, the TOW has range limitations and cannot be used in all circumstances. Bodies of water, trees and power lines can disrupt the TOW’s guidance or endanger the TOW’s operator. As a result, the Israelis developed a version of the TOW that used laser guidance to avoid these issues. A new engine and improved warhead also gave it superior penetration and speed to the original TOW. The MAPATS has seen export success, although it is being replaced by other, newer Israeli ATGMs of wholly indigenous design.Recommended: Stealth vs. North Korea’s Air Defenses: Who Wins?Recommended: America’s Battleships Went to War Against North KoreaRecommended: 5 Places World War III Could Start in 20182\. Israeli M16 and CAR-15 VariantsWhile nominally most of the IDF has switched over to the Tavor, variants of the M16 continue to serve in the IDF. However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, these rifles were the frontline rifles of the IDF, replacing the heavier FN FAL and the Israeli Galil (although Galil carbines remained in service in the Armored corps, due to their shorter lengths with stocks folded). In the aughts, Israel set about modernizing these rifles. Due to the largely urban nature of combat the IDF Infantry engaged in, the long twenty-inch and 14.5-inch barrels of the M16s and Colt 653s were deemed too long. The barrels were sawn off to around 12.5 inch length, and the resulting carbines were called “mekut’zrar.” Furniture on these varied, but always had an eye towards the practical. Fabric bands could be wrapped around the plastic handguards to make them more rigid and stop them from creaking, red dots were added straight onto the carry handles and stocks were often replaced with modern six-position M4 stocks. The results were relatively modern, lightweight carbines on the cheap. Mekut’zrar carbines are still seen in service today, although they’ve been supplanted by new stocks of M4s and the Tavor series.3\. Machbet Self-Propelled Antiaircraft GunWhile the M163 VADS was always considered to be kind of a “stopgap” solution for the short-range antiair defense solution for the U.S. military, the VADS saw significant Israeli service in the 1982 Lebanon War. In addition to scoring a kill on a Syrian MiG-21, they provided valuable ground support, suppressing infantry in urban and mountainous areas with their rapid-fire twenty-millimeter cannons. While they were phased out of American service in the 1990s and replaced with the better-armored but slower-firing M6 Bradley Linebacker, Israel opted to upgrade its VADS to the new “Machbet” standard instead, fitting an optoelectronic tracking system, better radar, a quad-Stinger pod and an ADA network datalink to the VADS to make it effective against a wider variety of targets and faster reacting.4\. The F15 Baz MeshoparIsrael was one of the first customers for the American F-15 fighter. It has served admirably as the backbone of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) throughout the late 1970s to the present day. In addition to its superb performance in the air-to-air role during the 1982 Lebanon War, the F-15 was also used in Operation Opera and Operation Wooden Leg, both long-range-strike missions. These were done with the addition of some indigenous guidance and sensor pods. While Israel later acquired variants of the ground-attack F-15E Strike Eagle under the name F15I Ra’am, they also updated their first- and second-gen F-15s to a new standard with indigenous electronics and parts, under the name F-15 Baz Meshopar, or Baz 2000. The upgrade included a new radar with AIM-120 and Israeli Python missile compatibility, redone cockpits with a new throttle and stick and glass cockpit, and improved electronic-warfare capability. This upgrade program ran from 1995 to 2001, and these upgraded F-15s are expected to continue to serve far into the future.Charlie Gao studied political and computer science at Grinnell College and is a frequent commentator on defense and national-security issues.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Israel was one of the first customers for the American F-15 fighter. It has served admirably as the backbone of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) throughout the late 1970s to the present day. In addition to its superb performance in the air-to-air role during the 1982 Lebanon War, the F-15 was also used in Operation Opera and Operation Wooden Leg, both long-range-strike missionsThe Israel Defense Forces field a wide variety of American military equipment, due to significant amounts of American military aid to Israel. However, American equipment has not always been the best suited to the tough desert and urban conditions encountered by the IDF. As a result, American equipment in Israeli service is often extensively modified to fit the IDF’s unique mission. Here are some unique derivatives of American equipment that the IDF fields.(This first appeared several years ago.)1\. MAPATS Antitank MissileThe IDF has had a long relationship with the antitank guided missile. In the long desert approaches that surround Israel, antitank missiles can direct the flow of combat and are very effective weapons. While the first ATGMs fielded by Israel were the French SS.10 and SS.11, it was replaced in the late 1970s by the American TOW (Orev in IDF service) missile. However, due to its wire-guided nature, the TOW has range limitations and cannot be used in all circumstances. Bodies of water, trees and power lines can disrupt the TOW’s guidance or endanger the TOW’s operator. As a result, the Israelis developed a version of the TOW that used laser guidance to avoid these issues. A new engine and improved warhead also gave it superior penetration and speed to the original TOW. The MAPATS has seen export success, although it is being replaced by other, newer Israeli ATGMs of wholly indigenous design.Recommended: Stealth vs. North Korea’s Air Defenses: Who Wins?Recommended: America’s Battleships Went to War Against North KoreaRecommended: 5 Places World War III Could Start in 20182\. Israeli M16 and CAR-15 VariantsWhile nominally most of the IDF has switched over to the Tavor, variants of the M16 continue to serve in the IDF. However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, these rifles were the frontline rifles of the IDF, replacing the heavier FN FAL and the Israeli Galil (although Galil carbines remained in service in the Armored corps, due to their shorter lengths with stocks folded). In the aughts, Israel set about modernizing these rifles. Due to the largely urban nature of combat the IDF Infantry engaged in, the long twenty-inch and 14.5-inch barrels of the M16s and Colt 653s were deemed too long. The barrels were sawn off to around 12.5 inch length, and the resulting carbines were called “mekut’zrar.” Furniture on these varied, but always had an eye towards the practical. Fabric bands could be wrapped around the plastic handguards to make them more rigid and stop them from creaking, red dots were added straight onto the carry handles and stocks were often replaced with modern six-position M4 stocks. The results were relatively modern, lightweight carbines on the cheap. Mekut’zrar carbines are still seen in service today, although they’ve been supplanted by new stocks of M4s and the Tavor series.3\. Machbet Self-Propelled Antiaircraft GunWhile the M163 VADS was always considered to be kind of a “stopgap” solution for the short-range antiair defense solution for the U.S. military, the VADS saw significant Israeli service in the 1982 Lebanon War. In addition to scoring a kill on a Syrian MiG-21, they provided valuable ground support, suppressing infantry in urban and mountainous areas with their rapid-fire twenty-millimeter cannons. While they were phased out of American service in the 1990s and replaced with the better-armored but slower-firing M6 Bradley Linebacker, Israel opted to upgrade its VADS to the new “Machbet” standard instead, fitting an optoelectronic tracking system, better radar, a quad-Stinger pod and an ADA network datalink to the VADS to make it effective against a wider variety of targets and faster reacting.4\. The F15 Baz MeshoparIsrael was one of the first customers for the American F-15 fighter. It has served admirably as the backbone of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) throughout the late 1970s to the present day. In addition to its superb performance in the air-to-air role during the 1982 Lebanon War, the F-15 was also used in Operation Opera and Operation Wooden Leg, both long-range-strike missions. These were done with the addition of some indigenous guidance and sensor pods. While Israel later acquired variants of the ground-attack F-15E Strike Eagle under the name F15I Ra’am, they also updated their first- and second-gen F-15s to a new standard with indigenous electronics and parts, under the name F-15 Baz Meshopar, or Baz 2000. The upgrade included a new radar with AIM-120 and Israeli Python missile compatibility, redone cockpits with a new throttle and stick and glass cockpit, and improved electronic-warfare capability. This upgrade program ran from 1995 to 2001, and these upgraded F-15s are expected to continue to serve far into the future.Charlie Gao studied political and computer science at Grinnell College and is a frequent commentator on defense and national-security issues.

August 16, 2019 at 08:45AM via IFTTT

Got BullPups??? 4 of us ran the Rifleman 1 Class at Valor Ridge this week with 2 Tavors and 2 X-95's from @iwi.us #bullpup #iwiusa #tavor #x95 #valorridge #hankstrangesituation (at Valor Ridge)

Drillin' and killin'. Doing some desert drills. Basically setup three targets calling first, second, and rooftop. Shooter puts three rounds in each after taking a knee.. one of many drills I ran today with my veteran friend #fun #shooter #511 #desert #memorialday #veteran #ar15 #gunday #sunsoutgunsout #tavor #556 #drill #operator