Jane's on Saudi, more info

My next Jane's Intelligence Review article is being published/posted to their web this week.  The topic:  Saudi Arabia's ballistic missile force.  Some of you will remember that I covered the topic here a few years ago.  That article has been removed for a while to maintain the exclusivity or whatever you want to call it (my decision, not theirs), but the new one is more than simply a re-write.  For one, there are different facilities examined.

The editors think there is a chance this goes over in a big way with some of the press for various reasons I don't want to spoil, but now that it's in the bag I'll actually get back to working on what I was supposed to be working on around here!

Given that the FSA appears to be committing revolution fail, the Syrian air defense piece is being shelved and will instead take its "normal" place inside an I&A issue.  The first thing to actually finish will be the S-300P history update, and then it's back into I&A and cleaning out the exploding Gmail inbox.

Incidentally, I'm looking for more interesting ways to monetize my existence.  If you know of anyone looking for imagery analysis work or something similar, send a note my way.  I'd also be amused to try my hand at the lecture circuit, for that matter, although how one breaks into such a thing is beyond me at this juncture.

Back to work!

Edit:  here's the online preview

Current Events, Updates

Things have been a bit sporadic for the past few weeks, so I figured I'd explain why.  Basically, my Windows 7 laptop that was the tool for all of my amusing activities decided to develop a consistently recurring Blue Screen of Death problem.  After numerous system restores (and not the Windows kind, the delete and re-install everything kind), the problem has not gone away, so I'm now back on the old laptop.  No real problem, it just means I've had to save files, move stuff around, and re-install programs like Google Earth and GIMP on this thing.  So, things should be a bit more sane for now.  This thing is at least far more stable than the other one, apparently.  I'm told that it may have to do with this one's Intel processor vs. the other one's AMD chip, but that's so far beyond my computer brainpower that it's not even funny.  I was able to mess with this one to get it functioning a lot faster, so it's less irritating to have to go back to it now.  So, I can now work on finishing a lot of things I had thought I'd be finishing on the other one.

Projects still in the pipe include:

-A standalone document representing an updated and expanded I&A piece on the S-300P/400 SAM family

-A look at Syria's IADS, which may or may not be completed in a timely manner if it continues to look like nobody's going to do anything NFZ related.

-The still in progress Falcon missile history update

I also have a massive backlog of e-mail in my Gmail account.  If you've tried corresponding through that address recently, but have not gotten a reply, this is why.  I hope to begin clearing those out this weekend.

One other thing that will likely get posted this weekend is...well, basically a look at some open source data.  Some of you will find it amusing, but I bet a lot of you will think I've lost my mind, due to one of the focuses.  Well, no more hiding.  Time to publish and take my place alongside Those Guys, and try to beat the cold hard facts into the brains of the rest of you.

Now, some current events of amusement from the past week or so:

Arms Control:  the US has come up with an idea to reduce US and Russian nuclear arsenals again.  Russia is not pleased, citing ABM concerns.  China thinks it's a great idea.  Now, a lot of people have come out on both sides of this, and I find myself somewhere in the middle.  I support the presence, continued development, and potential use of nuclear weapons when required.  That being said, I would agree that the stockpile we currently maintain is both 1) old and in need of updating or replacing, and 2) numerically bloated given the actual threat picture.  So if we want to cut down again, I see no reason why not.  Russia's argument, however, holds zero water.  This is the same old "ABM systems nullify our deterrent" argument that's been around since we came up with the idea of European-based ABMs.  Well, sorry Russia, but you get zero credibility points.  Why?  Because they're developing their own upgraded and new-build ABM systems themselves!  Were Russia to stop such development (which in reality would be asinine from various standpoints), they'd then have an accurate argument.  But as long as BOTH SIDES can potentially intercept enemy ICBM RVs, then neither one gets to argue.

Snowden:  put him in jail.  Same with the Army guy and the alleged rapist.  The first two, simply put, violated non-disclosure agreements to which there are clear consequences.  The third guy?  At the very least an accessory to Army guy, and therefore also liable.  Which means he'll probably end up escaping London and get made an Admin at ATS or something equally ridiculous.

Comments, Current Events

Comments are still OK, don't worry.  Just to reiterate a few old "rules" though:

1.  Say whatever you want.  I'm not a censor.  I'll even usually reply.  I bring this up because sometimes I get comments that do sit in the box for a day or two.  The reason behind that is usually because it's a piece of information that is interesting or relevant and I want to examine it, and the comment inbox is a safe place to store it so I don't forget where it was posted and then lose it.

2.  That being said, comments are still moderated.  This means I have to hit a button that says 'publish" for your comment to show up.  Why?  Because I get way too many spam comments.  Spam I will censor.  Pretty much anything else is fair game.

Here's a good spam comment that showed up right after I posted this:  "I'm impressed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that's both educative and engaging, and let me tell you, you've hit the nail on the head. The problem is an issue that too few people are speaking intelligently about. I'm very happy I came across this during my hunt for something relating to this. Also visit my blog legal amphetamines"

See what I mean?  There has to be some sort of comment generator these idiots are using, because I'll get the same one multiple times with the only difference being the website they want you to visit.  They're smart about it too, they only post on older articles, very rarely the most current feature.

Anyway, I assume nobody really wants legal amphetamines.  Although it'll be interesting to see what the words legal amphetamines do to my incoming traffic for the next few days.  I wonder if anyone monitors websites looking for the words legal amphetamines because I'm relatively certain spam comment websites are not really pointing you to legit legal amphetamines.  There might be a search engine designed to find the phrase legal amphetamines on websites to track people who are after said legal amphetamines.

LEGAL AMPHETAMINES!

Fun over, on to the news.

S-300s not in Syria yet

Well this should be self-explanatory.  The contract doesn't have to be fulfilled until about this time next year, so there's no rush.  You do have to wonder why Russia is still dragging their feet, though.  If you're trying to avoid the West going in and screwing up one of your export markets, why would you present them with what amounts to a "bomb by this date" ultimatum?  

This may be the result of Russia both wanting to finalize the deal, while at the same time giving the West time to think about what blowing up a Syrian S-300P series site would mean.  Because it'd probably be host to Russian advisors and trainers for 6 months or so after delivery, you know.  It could also be that Syrian crews just haven't started training or completed the training course yet.  In which case delivering the systems would make them amount to really expensive bombing targets.

Speaking of which, Israel is still barking about blowing the things up if they're delivered because of the threat.  I.E. the Syrian IADS would be credible for the first time since about, oh, 1986 or so.  What I still want to know is what happened to their countermeasures that they were so sure would defeat an S-300P series system?  If the system represents no real threat (and assuming they haven't drank whatever the Turks did in the 90s), why go to the effort of locating and striking them, especially if you're blatantly risking irritating Russia in the process by potentially killing Russian nationals?  Isn't it better to sit back and laugh as Assad spends himself into a hole?

Wait, I know.  Clearly Russia upgraded to Windows 8, rendering the Israeli electronic countermeasure and intrusion stuff irrelevant.

France:  Assad's guys used sarin gas

France claims that analysis proves that sarin gas, which is a chemical weapon and therefore a WMD, was used somewhere in Syria on more than one occasion.

And of course France isn't telling which side used the stuff...which was what I was going to say when the first report came out and they weren't talking.

Now, however, they're claiming that it was Assad's forces and/or regime supporters (diplomat speak for Hezbollah).  Said claims conveniently being made as I was in the process of typing here.  Stupid media.  If they're not blowing things way out of proportion, they're being inconveniently timely with their reporting.

Well, now we're really going to see what the "proper" interpretation of terms like "game changer" and "red line" is, aren't we?  Not that I do or don't think we should be bothering with the non-Assad guys (like I mentioned in another post, supporting such types has worked out so famously for us in the past...), but if I say there will be bombs if you do X, and you go and do X, then it can be argued that there should be bombs.  Otherwise why should anyone take me seriously?

Not that I'm sure anyone should in the first place.

Probably shouldn't take me seriously either.

Let's try this again...

So let's try this whole "restarting" thing again, shall we? The past six months or so has been busy, irritating, profitable, and a whole bunch of other adjectives I won't print here! However, life has finally calmed down and organized itself in such a fashion that I can give a lot more time to fun things like this (some of you may have noticed my lack of activity on various websites as well, same reasons apply). So, the current plan is as follows:

1. Figure out some way to re-work and re-launch I&A
2. Post anything I find amusing here
3. Try and locate the long-term consistency that has, so far, avoided me like the plague

A few current projects in various stages of completion:

1. An updated and expanded look at the S-300P/400 series, to be published as a separate PDF file (the old look was in a past I&A issue)
2. An update to my history of the Falcon missile family
3. An I&A special report covering Syria's air defense posture, with an assessment of what the S-300P (PMU-2?) procurement will mean going forward

Also note that the SAM Site Overview has been updated below.  Additionally, the past issues of I&A are still available.  Here are the download links for what I'm referring to as Volumes 1 (2011) and 2 (2012):

Volume 1:  Download
Volume 2:  Download

With all this in mind, I've still got a backlog of communications to get through regarding various things, so if you contacted me at one point and haven't heard back, I'll be getting to it. If you want to re-contact me, that's fine as well, it'll make sure you don't get lost in the shuffle.

So. Who do I want to irritate today?

Red October

I should have the October I&A finished by the end of next week.  The biggest issue has been the Russian air defense overview.  Russia moved to four OSCs rather than the previous military zones, meaning I had to change all of the placemark files (said changes will show up in the next SAM Site Overview update as well).  This is causing some problems with map generation, as the new OSCs are (except for the Southern OSC) a lot bigger than the previous military zones.  I'm trying to find a map style or template that works best to show the entire zone and it's taking a bit longer than I wanted it to.  Everything else was relatively simple to update.

August/September I&A

See what I did there?  The current issue of I&A has begun distribution.  Due to my different workload this semester I didn't get around to 1) doing this on anything close to a normal schedule, and 2) get around to a separate September issue.

 

Also, don't expect to see anything else "new" from I&A until 2013.  The next two issues will be October and December, focusing on Russia and China and primarily consisting of updated articles on air defense, strategic forces, etc.  There won't be anything in November, the idea is to leave a lot of space open to ensure that all of the updating is complete on time (in theory). 

 

Because of the current workload issue, I may go to a bimonthly schedule in 2013.  We'll see.  If I get things under control the rest of the year, I may be able to retain the hypothetical monthly schedule.

 

Finally, anything notable will appear either here or as an I&A special report for the rest of the year for the reasons listed above.  I also have a rather large (over 100 sites) update to the SAM Site Overview to process as well.

August I&A

A brief update:  the August I&A is being finalized, but may require some work on Saturday to complete given my new schedule.  I now teach five days a week instead of my more typical two, but I can't complain.  As such you may see it in your inbox during the first week of September rather than over the weekend.

 

There are two outstanding contributor pieces focusing on China and Pakistan, as well as two pieces of my own covering air defense updates in the Caucasus region and a new method of classifying military locations in Google Earth (or any other GIS program for that matter).

 

Remember that September will be a new issue, but October will not; October will be an updated, consolidated Russia-centric issue.  Then November will be new, and December will be a repeat of October but China-focused.

Also, the next Jane's Intelligence Review contains an article I wrote covering present and future upgrades to Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal.  We got some great satellite imagery in there of some of the new Voronezh BMEW radars, and a few other interesting locations.

Lastly, if you heard someone on Voice of America talking about SAMs in Syria...yeah, that was me.

 

I'll get back to work now.

I&A, the Business Model. Or something.

So I'm trying to wrap my brain around a way to get out there and use my brain to generate additional sources of money.  Which CFO-House usually transforms into apparel, or VP-Destruction demands for whatever the latest toy on the market is, but that's another issue entirely! 

My current line of thinking is some sort of consulting or analytical service, which I mentioned last month. 

First, a few disclaimers.

1.  Everything posted here is and will always remain free of charge.  The same goes for the I&A PDF.  I do those because I find it interesting, and because I'm apparently good at it, or so I'm told.

2.  Also free:  academic-related help.  I've assisted people who've contacted me with various things from finding sources to reviewing theses.  If you've got a question along those lines, or any other general question of amusement, don't hesitate to contact me.  You won't be getting a bill!

I've obviously started channeling brainwaves into cash deposits via my work with IHS Jane's, and will begin to pursue other similar opportunities as well.

The point of my new idea is to offer a fee-based service to, well, pretty much anyone, providing detailed analysis or imagery interpretation.  I haven't completely thought this through yet, with questions such as "do I need to set up a legitimate business" or "is there red tape to cut" still in the future.

The question right now remains:  is there a market?  Which can be translated as:  do you know of anyone who would benefit from such a service?  Pass my e-mail along to anyone you can think of that might be in the market for this kind of work.  Foreign clients are certainly acceptable, provided they aren't asking me to do something illegal under US law.

The idea is to take on analytical or analysis tasks and do the groundwork, delivering a finished product to a user.  The product can be a document, a KML file, or an annotated image or map.

The one caveat here is that if a user requests imagery-based analysis, they may have to provide externally-sourced imagery.  When we use imagery in Jane's, it's purchased directly from a provider so they have the rights to use it "for profit" (and lets us use imagery that's typically far more current than you can find in Google Earth).  I'll have to look into the guidelines a bit more from Google to see what's what with this issue.  Incidentially this is one of the main reasons I&A will never cost you a dime, because it prevents me from having to purchase rights to the imagery!

As far as a pricing system goes, I haven't thought too far on that either.  But I'm certainly not interested in making this my plan to join the 1 Percent, or throwing myself into an obnoxious tax bracket.  I do intend to use a per-project fee, rather than an hourly rate system, because it makes things a lot easier to deal with and I don't have to justify spending seven hours looking at one single image.

Once I get a better idea of the entire process, the pricing plan, and whatnot, I'll post a PDF file here outlining the way things will work.  I should probably get something together containing my areas of expertise and professional experience as well, that'd probably help.

So, is this a good idea, or have I completely lost my mind?

Which is always a distinct possibility.

July I&A going out tomorrow

UPDATE:  the first set of e-mails just went out.  Expect to see the e-mail within the next day or two.

Here's the link to download the June issue, for everyone else:  CLICK

July's I&A will go out tomorrow afternoon once I finish tweaking the book review bit.  I'd have had it done today but I got sidetracked doing final grades for the semester and taking care of some edits to my next Jane's feature covering Russian strategic force developments.  The KML file will be really amusing this time, there are a ton of palcemarks for Libya.

All for now!

July I&A and other info

July's I&A is coming along and will be distributed on time by the end of the month.  Topics will be as follows:

-A book review

-Analysis of BDA from Libya in 2011

-The ROK's ADD Complexes

-An update to the Chinese radars in Syria business

Expect a KML file for this issue as well.

Moving forward, expect "normal" I&A issues to appear every month except October and December.  Those months are reserved for Russia and China respectively, and will serve as annual volumes focusing specifically on each state.  They'll include both the content in last year's issues, as well as Russia or China focused content from other I&A issues.  Everything will get updates.

Also, my next Jane's article will focus on the updating of Russian strategic forces, to include the ABM and BMEW networks, and should appear in the August issue of Intelligence Review.  Or maybe September.  It depends on what the cover date is versus when it goes to print.  I'll post the link here once it goes on the IHS website, as I did with the previous one.

Lastly, I'm thinking of offering some sort of professional-type consulting service.  More to follow on that early August, probably.

Going "Live"

UPDATE:  No word yet as to the time, so it may be pushed to early next week.  I assume that the BBC might be paying a lot of attention to that Andy Murray guy right about now...

Either tonight or tomorrow I'll be doing a live radio interview with the BBC on 5 Live.  You can listen in online at the link, it'll be sometime between 2000 and 2200 (that's 8PM - 10PM in US Eastern Time).  I should have a bit more info regarding the schedule later today, at which point I'll post an update.

The topic will be the Syrian air defense situation, including the Turkish RF-4E shootdown.

BBC on Syria; July I&A

Here's something from the BBC that you all might find interesting:  CLICK 

In other news, the topics for July's I&A are shaping up as follows:

-A look at BDA of Libyan SAM sites struck in 2011, with an eye to what this represents as far as current SEAD/DEAD tactics go (seems like this might be relevant in the near future)

-A look at the ROK's ADD complexes

-A follow-on to the I&A special report published over the weekend examining the coverage of Chinese-sourced EW assets located in Syria

Those are all well on their way to being done, and I'm still looking at a few other ideas.  One idea is to explain the problems with this article.

I'm also re-working the layout for the imagery template I use in I&A.  The big one, like the one I posted here for the captured Syrian Type 120 EW site.  I currently have two issues to resolve, and one idea to incorporate.  First, I need to shrink the upper border a bit, to give more space to the image.  And maybe add a surrounding border as well.  Secondly, I need to figure out how to save the finished images properly so that they don't screw up the color.  Look at any of the big images in I&A, including the maps.  Any time I use red (which is a lot), the red parts look ugly in the saved image.  Nice and bright on-screen during creation, not so much after the save.  This is an image issue, not an issue converting to PDF, as it does this to the saved image before I do anything else with it.  The idea I'll be including at some point is to generate a system of identifiers for each location I show.  This can then be cross-referenced with the SAM Site Overview placemarks. 

And now I have a nice six-day weekend for the holiday, to spend working on my next IHS Jane's feature and some of July's I&A.

June I&A and other info

The June I&A is being finalized right now and will go out this afternoon.  As before, it takes about three days to get all of the e-mails out (stupid Gmail, I am not spam!).  Also, here's the download link for the May issue for everyone else out there to check out:  CLICK

I ended up going with only two topics:  Syria's SAM Network (hey, I figured it might be relevant...), and a contributor piece by Daniel Videre on the sources of water at the Tabriz S Silo Complex in Iran.  The other two potential topics have been shuffled around. 

The Russian radar information will now be present in a new feature I'm penning for IHS Jane's covering the modernization of Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal.  As part of that I'll be covering the ABM network, as there have been a lot of new BMEW changes, and I believe the new radars may play into that.  Did I say radars?  That's right, I found another one, a wholly different system.  At any rate, if you can get ahold of the Intelligence Review issue with the article, pick it up.  There will be a large quantity of previously unpublished (i.e. you can't find this stuff in Google Earth) overhead imagery from Digital Globe and GeoEye.  There are definitely benefits to working with a professional organization willing to find any available imagery to play with!

The Korean ADD Facility Analysis will also be in next month's I&A; I'm searching for more information on some of the recent weapon systems tested at the various complexes to include in the report.

I know, I know, June's I&A will be a little bit short, but this should give Daniel's article a bit more attention, which it definitely deserves.  I've mentioned it before, but it deserves mentioning again:  for a bunch of guys doing this for free, the contributors I have collected so far are doing first-rate work.  I've also got another new one lined up, who I hope to get involved in either July or August.  Also to combat the shortness, I've been prepping a number of articles for the next few issues, so expect an increase in content again.

Also, I've pretty much finished with rearranging the SAM Site Overview file, with the exception of the chore of identifying all of the damn Chinese arrays, so those files will go up once I&A is done with for June.

Lastly, I'm contemplating various ways to alter the format of I&A to clean up the presentation a little bit.  Maybe a smaller font, maybe a revised layout for a few things.  Don't expect to see anything different until next year though; I have no desire to completely reformat the entire "Red October" issue's contents at this point!

All for now.  And who decided to let it be so hot outside here this week?  Of this I do not approve.

SAM Update...update, plus I&A

Just about done with the updating.  For now all that has been accomplished is a sanity check of individual locations (which took a lot of time given that there are well over 7,000 sites), with some updates and deletions.  I have yet to go through China's EW sites to reattack the radar ID issue, that'll be next. 

One thing I have decided to do is go through Russia and China and break everything down by military region.  In these two cases, you'll be able to open the country folder, and see a series of subfolders for each MR.  These folders will be organized the same way the country folders are now, with subfolders for active sites, facilities, etc.  Also, the MR subfolders will also be "clickable" the same way country folders are now.  When you click on Russia, for example, a window will appear giving you the overall totals for Russia.  Then when you click on the Western Region folder, for example, you'll get the totals for that individual region.  This will make things like updating the Russia and China air defense articles for I&A that much easier as well, as I will no longer have to spend time separating everything out.

When the Russia and China breakdowns are done, I'll update the files.  Doing China's EW sites will be a bit more time consuming so it'll likely appear in the next update.  I also may go back and heavily alter the Historical Sites idea, using it only to store sites that have actually disappeared.  Given that some countries re-use old SAM sites for newer systems (like Russia) I can't justify moving, say, their SA-2 sites into the Historical section en masse.  If it can't be done there, it shouldn't be done anywhere in order to maintain consistency.

Working a few new projects for IHS Jane's as well, more details on those to follow when it gets closer to publication.  For now, pick up the next issue of Defence Weekly, I just might be quoted in there.

The June I&A is coming along, with a few interesting topics.  There will be a Syrian air defense network piece, an examination of what might be a new radar in Russia, an overview of Korea's ADD complexes, and a contributor piece on Iran.  And anything else I can think up in the next few days!  It'll be out by the end of the month.

All for now, except that if you haven't 1) seen Prometheus, 2) heard The Industrialist, or 3) acknowledged the superiority of the Heat, then, well:  summer, you're doing it wrong.

SAM Site Overview Improvements

I'm thinking of ways to upgrade the SAM Site Overview file.  There are a few things that need to be done:

1.  Re-analyzing Chinese EW sites to accurately reflect deployed radar systems

2.  Going over everything and moving some locations to the historical section, such as sites no longer in existance due to razing and reuse of the location for something else

Beyond that, there are some things I'd like to do if and when I get the time:

1.  Locating the damn Azeri S-300PMU-2 components

2.  Incorporating more of the active and inactive EW sites in the US and Canada

3.  Changing the SA-2 range rings to a width of 2.0 rather than the current 3.0 (this brings them in line with everything else and will shrink the size of the Range Rings file)

4.  Trying to indicate the actual SA-2, SA-3, etc. variant used by each nation

5.  Putting some more detail into the site placemark windows

6.  Expanding the SHORAD section

Beyond that, are there any ideas out there for ways to further improve the file?  If you've got suggestions, throw 'em into the comments.  I'll try and reply to each suggestion and tell you if I like the idea and will do it, or why I might not like the idea and won't. 

Either way, the current system has now been in use for a while now, so it's time for a facelift and some general tweaking. 

May 2012 I&A

The May 2012 I&A is being distributed.  And there was much rejoicing.  As is usual, this will take a few days.  The first people on the list will get the e-mail today, everyone else either tomorrow or Thursday.

Here's the link to download the January 2012 issue.  Whenever a new one is released to subscribers, I'll make the previous issue available here.

One thing I forgot:  I'll be deleting people from the subscription list as I get messages from various servers saying that the e-mail couldn't be delivered.  The most common occurrences are 1) your inbox is full, or 2) the e-mail address is no longer valid.  So if you think you should be getting the message but haven't seen one by Friday, then 1) check your spam box, I get booted there sometimes, or 2) send me a new subscription request with an e-mail that's actually valid!

The Return

Well. Guess who's back.

Sorry for the protracted absence, I got submerged by various projects and they pretty much demanded all of my focus for the past few months. That being said, all of those projects are now over and done with. I've also cleaned out my schedule for the remainder of the year. Bottom line: from now until at least January 2013, I get to concentrate exclusively on the website, I&A, and a few other things. Well, I'll still be teaching, but that's never been a huge encroachment into my other areas of focus anyway.

So. What's the plan for the rest of the year, then? I'm going to be focusing on three areas. We'll call them three tiers to make it sound formal and organized.

Tier 1 will be the website. I want to get back to putting content here on the web. It won't be as in depth as it used to be, ebcause I&A will still be the primary monthly source of information, but there are some things I'll be doing here. Anything opinionated will go here for obvious reasons. In addition, I'm going to start posting anything of interest that pops up in Google Earth's imagery updates. The only caveat there is that I've got to wait until they push out the KML for a given update, so I can fully investigate all of the new areas to see if there's anything interesting that is now visible. They can sometimes take a while to get the KML out, so don't expect to see something here the minute you see new imagery. The SAM Site Overview will continue to be updated as well. And, like I did during the Libyan bombings, current events topics, or pretty much anything else I find amusing, will go here as well.

Tier 2 will be I&A. If the website is the personal outlet, I&A is the semi-professional outlet. I am now armed with Microsoft Publisher, so I may even be able to finally get around to tweaking the layout. Beginning with the May issue at the end of the month, I&A will now return to its regular monthly distribution schedule. I'm going to put a bit more effort into getting things lined up in advance as well, particularly from contributors, so the turnaround time for each issue should lessen. That in turn should further increase the chances that I stop with all of the irritating delays in getting things distributed. Also, the fun things that I get into for places like Air Power Australia also fall into this category.

Tier 3...this is the professional-grade material. I don't expect there to be much of a difference in scope or quality from the aforementioned material, the difference here is that this material will not be available on the web or in I&A. That's right, I have invaded the publishing world. One of those projects taking up my time the last few months was my first professionally published article. The May issue of Jane's Intelligence Review features an article penned by...me! I'll be doing more with IHS Jane's in the future, and looking for other media outlets to invade as well. And yes, I am now referring to myself as a professional author.

So that's the plan. I'm now going to be focusing pretty much exclusively on all of these areas, at least until the rest of the year. After that...who knows? And I do have to thank IHS Jane's for allowing this to happen. Being able to convert my brainwaves into cash money is the driving factor behind my ability to ignore everything that doesn't involve my teaching job, which I like too much to get rid of anyway.

The first three things on my agenda, therefore, are:

-May's issue of I&A. Expect good stuff here. I've got something in the works on Russia's CVLO radar network, and am rewriting and updating the Blackbird reading list featured here a good long time ago.

-Imagery Update Highlights from the two May updates in Google Earth, the second of which happened a day or so ago. Right now I'm waiting for the KML to update displaying the new imagery and everything will be good.

-Updating the SAM Site Overview files. I've got new files ready for upload, they'll probably wait until the weekend just to allow this post to sit at the top for a couple of days. The current total is just over 7200 sites.

And of course, as I log in to post this, I see that Blogger has changed its layout and format. Bear with me for the next couple of days as I get used to the new system.

Jan/Feb I&A

Just sent out the first e-mail with the download links to the first I&A for 2012. Apologies for the delays, there were numerous factors involved including a bit more work to deal with, as in the kind that actually results in me getting paid.

If you didn't get the e-mail today, you'll get it tomorrow or Thursday. I have to break it up over three days now due to Gmail's daily limits to prove I'm not a spambot. One change: the link to download the previous month's issue will appear here when the next month goes out. Also, you can download the entire 2011 back catalog here: click

So, we're back now for 2012. Normal operations will resume from this point forward. Now I suppose I need to update the SAM Site Overview file, right?

January I&A

Here are the topics in the works for the upcoming January issue of I&A:

-The importance of IMINT
-The DPRK's SAM Network
-An overview of DF-31 bases (notice that there wasn't too much attention to the details of relevant facilities in the December 2nd Artillery Corps piece-that was done to allow me to do longer, more in-depth overviews like this in the future...plus it kept the PDF from being 500 pages)
-Something odd about HQ-9 SAM sites (as in sites designed for the HQ-9, not hybrid or other sites simply hosting an HQ-9 battery)
-A contributor piece by Christopher Biggers on Bandar-e-Abbas

Newsflash: there have been many issues with and complaints about the Google Documents format. Some people can't always get the links to work. Sometimes the system itself does weird things, like giving me the link to the wrong issue, or only allowing Google account holders to view the documents. To address these problems, beginning with the January issue I&A will be distributed via Mediafire. That's the same hosting site that I used to distribute the 2011 collection of back issues, as well as the PDF I wrote on the Falcon missile family. As far as I know, there aren't any issues using Mediafire at the present time. If there are any, let me know now! As a warning, being that it's a file hosting site, it remains to be seen if some e-mail providers will filter out the download link. If that happens I'll re-attack the problem.

I&A December

I&A's December issue will start to go out tomorrow. If you got an e-mail tonight, Google Documents did something weird and I managed to re-send everyone the November issue.

Oops. Sorry about that!

I did at least manage to send everyone the right KML file.

Update:

The correct download link just went out to the first set of subscribers. Everyone else will get the download link and the KML file tomorrow.