Giled Pallaeon
@giledpallaeon.bsky.social
Military & International Affairs nerd. Defense professional. Mostly naval subjects, but all aspects of defense and natsec welcome. Oh, & plastic spaceships, that too. All opinions on all subjects my own #WeAreNAFO
As usual, SecDef Rock not only can’t miss but has broad critiques layered into the razor sharp way the bullshit is sliced apart.
November 5, 2025 at 10:43 PM
As usual, SecDef Rock not only can’t miss but has broad critiques layered into the razor sharp way the bullshit is sliced apart.
Yeah I reread this this morning hoping to find some sense, and it got worse. This launch platform is being towed by a HEMTT, a *ten ton truck*. You can’t drive that over huge fractions of the theater, and it sticks out everywhere it can go. This is insane. www.twz.com/wp-content/u...
October 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Yeah I reread this this morning hoping to find some sense, and it got worse. This launch platform is being towed by a HEMTT, a *ten ton truck*. You can’t drive that over huge fractions of the theater, and it sticks out everywhere it can go. This is insane. www.twz.com/wp-content/u...
I’m not usually a fan of stickers but these do add to the character and aren’t in big groups that have to be aligned.
I don’t know that I fully buy this interpretation of what wing elements will move (ditto weapons bays), but we’ll see what the production version of the jet looks like.
I don’t know that I fully buy this interpretation of what wing elements will move (ditto weapons bays), but we’ll see what the production version of the jet looks like.
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I’m not usually a fan of stickers but these do add to the character and aren’t in big groups that have to be aligned.
I don’t know that I fully buy this interpretation of what wing elements will move (ditto weapons bays), but we’ll see what the production version of the jet looks like.
I don’t know that I fully buy this interpretation of what wing elements will move (ditto weapons bays), but we’ll see what the production version of the jet looks like.
The break is roughly where the nose gear is when down. To its credit, the model can have the gear down and the bay doors closed, but has to come with a special tool for the nose gear because it’s got nearly no margin.
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
The break is roughly where the nose gear is when down. To its credit, the model can have the gear down and the bay doors closed, but has to come with a special tool for the nose gear because it’s got nearly no margin.
Built it in four hours, eight minutes. Could probably cut 45 off that with some parts search luck and a bit more strategy on Sembo’s part.
Very innovative use of negative space to build the main body of the jet, with only moderate pact on structural integrity between sections.
Very innovative use of negative space to build the main body of the jet, with only moderate pact on structural integrity between sections.
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Built it in four hours, eight minutes. Could probably cut 45 off that with some parts search luck and a bit more strategy on Sembo’s part.
Very innovative use of negative space to build the main body of the jet, with only moderate pact on structural integrity between sections.
Very innovative use of negative space to build the main body of the jet, with only moderate pact on structural integrity between sections.
So as a moving out present to myself, I got the Sembo J-50 kit and the Sluban J-36 kit. Banged out the J-50 tonight, the following is my assessment. Short version, solid kit, worthy of consideration if it’s your kind of thing.
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
So as a moving out present to myself, I got the Sembo J-50 kit and the Sluban J-36 kit. Banged out the J-50 tonight, the following is my assessment. Short version, solid kit, worthy of consideration if it’s your kind of thing.
We’ve been over this repeatedly. No. It’s a bad idea. We can’t base close safely, so you’re basically *starting* with the differences on this map. And some IPC transits will be longer.
October 9, 2025 at 11:07 PM
We’ve been over this repeatedly. No. It’s a bad idea. We can’t base close safely, so you’re basically *starting* with the differences on this map. And some IPC transits will be longer.
If I have to know this page exists, with the greatest respect, so do you
October 2, 2025 at 2:11 AM
If I have to know this page exists, with the greatest respect, so do you
That is a Ground-Based Interceptor, and not all that far off from a ballistic missile of its own in performance. Except rather than boosting a warhead bus, it boosts this small* satellite with a giant attitude problem whose whole job in life is to win a game of chicken with the warhead bus.
October 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
That is a Ground-Based Interceptor, and not all that far off from a ballistic missile of its own in performance. Except rather than boosting a warhead bus, it boosts this small* satellite with a giant attitude problem whose whole job in life is to win a game of chicken with the warhead bus.
Now, midcourse intercept is hard. The missile bus is above the atmosphere*, the motor is likely both off and separated, and truly advanced missiles may have started to deploy decoys and confuses. That being said, this is where we’ve dumped (quite a few) billions into building this missile.
October 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Now, midcourse intercept is hard. The missile bus is above the atmosphere*, the motor is likely both off and separated, and truly advanced missiles may have started to deploy decoys and confuses. That being said, this is where we’ve dumped (quite a few) billions into building this missile.
And I’ll be honest, I don’t have the slightest fucking clue how she concluded that the U.S. has a weapon that can hang off of this UAV, in international airspace, and hit a ballistic missile in boost phase.
October 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
And I’ll be honest, I don’t have the slightest fucking clue how she concluded that the U.S. has a weapon that can hang off of this UAV, in international airspace, and hit a ballistic missile in boost phase.
As an example from the book, basically everything on this page about missile defense is wrong. Boost phase is where the missile is slowest-moving, but being still functionally over its launch point means access for interceptors is limited at best. Also worth considering is the physics of the shot.
October 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
As an example from the book, basically everything on this page about missile defense is wrong. Boost phase is where the missile is slowest-moving, but being still functionally over its launch point means access for interceptors is limited at best. Also worth considering is the physics of the shot.
I mean, this is going to be insultingly bad. In what fucking universe *based in reality and real capabilities* does this make a lick of sense? (This reviewer gave it a B+) awardswatch.com/a-house-of-d...
September 26, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I mean, this is going to be insultingly bad. In what fucking universe *based in reality and real capabilities* does this make a lick of sense? (This reviewer gave it a B+) awardswatch.com/a-house-of-d...
Future me, I’m going to kick your ass for not telling me, but that spite may well get me there, so honestly good call.
September 15, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Future me, I’m going to kick your ass for not telling me, but that spite may well get me there, so honestly good call.
The only acknowledgment of the military situation is here, explicitly noting that the operational picture is at best neutral or marginally positive. The rest of the article repeatedly cited Ukraine as continuing to exist and continuing to be a threat to Russia.
September 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The only acknowledgment of the military situation is here, explicitly noting that the operational picture is at best neutral or marginally positive. The rest of the article repeatedly cited Ukraine as continuing to exist and continuing to be a threat to Russia.
Even basic fact-checking doesn’t seem to have occurred. Setting aside that the F-22’s datalink is a long known (and bemoaned) issue, if you’re going to complain that the Air Force can’t talk between its planes, maybe don’t use the F*/A*-18, A NAVY PLANE, as your example.
July 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Even basic fact-checking doesn’t seem to have occurred. Setting aside that the F-22’s datalink is a long known (and bemoaned) issue, if you’re going to complain that the Air Force can’t talk between its planes, maybe don’t use the F*/A*-18, A NAVY PLANE, as your example.
CSIS doesn’t come out looking great either. The fact you’re surprised an attempt to run a PLAN blockade turns into a theater war says nothing complimentary about your understanding of the problem, and other details here suggest *slow* escalation and incompetent Blue players.
July 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
CSIS doesn’t come out looking great either. The fact you’re surprised an attempt to run a PLAN blockade turns into a theater war says nothing complimentary about your understanding of the problem, and other details here suggest *slow* escalation and incompetent Blue players.
Palmer Luckey comes across as a dilettante frankly. There are three types of Luyang DDGs, and two of the three use phased array radars. Taking out a single face of the four face arrays isn’t a mission kill, and neither is the bridge (you need to hit the CIC)
July 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Palmer Luckey comes across as a dilettante frankly. There are three types of Luyang DDGs, and two of the three use phased array radars. Taking out a single face of the four face arrays isn’t a mission kill, and neither is the bridge (you need to hit the CIC)
There are tons of tiny indicators to anyone who actually knows this world that scream at you that the author doesn’t know jack from shit. For example, early on they refer to F-35’s and the FORD as “munitions”. Alternatively “the kill chain”
July 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
There are tons of tiny indicators to anyone who actually knows this world that scream at you that the author doesn’t know jack from shit. For example, early on they refer to F-35’s and the FORD as “munitions”. Alternatively “the kill chain”
November 1915, tensions remain high between Kyiv and the alliance of Vienna and Paris. In the meantime, our excellence in light forces has resulted in one of the largest, most heavily armed destroyers in the world to date.
July 12, 2025 at 4:43 PM
November 1915, tensions remain high between Kyiv and the alliance of Vienna and Paris. In the meantime, our excellence in light forces has resulted in one of the largest, most heavily armed destroyers in the world to date.
July 1914, the Admiralty finally approves a design for a fairly conventional all-or-nothing armored super-dreadnought /45
July 12, 2025 at 4:29 PM
July 1914, the Admiralty finally approves a design for a fairly conventional all-or-nothing armored super-dreadnought /45
Congress and the White House that they’re the problem.
Two, this upper paragraph is complete bullshit. I don’t know what history of Korea or Vietnam this references, but it isn’t the one I know.
The military spent the bulk of the Cold War *terrified* of the Soviets, a terror that created the…
Two, this upper paragraph is complete bullshit. I don’t know what history of Korea or Vietnam this references, but it isn’t the one I know.
The military spent the bulk of the Cold War *terrified* of the Soviets, a terror that created the…
July 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Congress and the White House that they’re the problem.
Two, this upper paragraph is complete bullshit. I don’t know what history of Korea or Vietnam this references, but it isn’t the one I know.
The military spent the bulk of the Cold War *terrified* of the Soviets, a terror that created the…
Two, this upper paragraph is complete bullshit. I don’t know what history of Korea or Vietnam this references, but it isn’t the one I know.
The military spent the bulk of the Cold War *terrified* of the Soviets, a terror that created the…