Military Subjects & War Stories (Incldg the Cold War)

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Ex-SAS On IRA Threat, Going Undercover, And Being Captured Behind Enemy Lines | Minutes With​

May 4, 2025 #ladbiblestories #northernireland #bosnia
In this episode of Minutes With, we hear from Mick Hawkes about his incredible experiences going undercover for the SAS.
Mick began his career in the Royal Artillery but soon found his calling with the SAS. Posted to Northern Ireland during 'The Troubles', Mick operated surveillance as part of 14 Intelligence Company, also known as 'The Det'. Posing as a carpenter, Mick secured vital intelligence to disrupt enemy operations. During the 90s, Mick was posted to Bosnia, where he and SAS legend Billy Billingham found themselves in hot water behind enemy lines!
Thanks to Mick for taking part. Mick now works as an independent security consultant specialising in Rural security, personal safety and situational awareness, and physical penetration testing. Mick is also a Tier One training specialist.
www.hawkesandco.uk


19:45
 

Japanese Jungle Holdouts - The Soldiers That Ignored VJ Day​

Aug 12, 2025
This week is the 80th anniversary of VJ-Day, Victory Over Japan. However, although the majority of Japan's armed forces surrendered on 15th August 1945, many small groups and individuals did not. Incredibly, the last recorded Japanese holdout only surrendered in 1974, an astounding 29 years after the end of WWII! Here are the most notorious examples.


16:57
 

Report to Congress on Hypersonic Weapons​

The following is the August 12, 2025, Congressional Research Service report, Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the Report​

The United States has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons as a part of its conventional prompt global strike program since the early 2000s. In recent years, it has focused such efforts on hypersonic glide vehicles and hypersonic cruise missiles with shorter and intermediate ranges for use in regional conflicts. Although funding for these programs has been relatively restrained in the past, both the Pentagon and Congress have shown a growing interest in pursuing the development and near-term deployment of hypersonic systems. This is due, in part, to advances in these technologies in Russia and China, leading to a heightened focus in the United States on the strategic threat posed by hypersonic flight. Open-source reporting indicates that both China and Russia have conducted numerous successful tests of hypersonic glide vehicles and fielded an operational capability.

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Catching an Iranian-American missile broker | SpyCast​

Aug 14, 2025 SpyCast
What happens when a dual US-Iranian citizen abandons his comfortable life in tech to become a weapons procurer for Tehran?
In this gripping episode, former DEA Special Agent Jeffrey James Higgins reveals how he uncovered one of the most audacious Iranian spy operations on American soil. By 2011, Reza Olangian wasn't just passing secrets; he was attempting to acquire hundreds of surface-to-air missiles for Iran.


30:22
 

Shadow Fleets and Sea Denial​

Shadow fleets have become a significant tool of Russian statecraft. These covert maritime networks, operating under ambiguous ownership and registration, conduct deniable operations in contested littoral zones. Their ships are used to evade economic sanctions, but they are capable of far more. Hostile actors increasingly use shadow fleets to target critical national infrastructure under the guise of incompetent seamanship and bad luck. The veiled attacks are more than just a nuisance with effects consigned to the desks of insurance brokers and internet providers. The weaponization of merchant fleets that operate on the permissive open seas may threaten the U.S Navy’s ability to exercise sea control during a future war—even in and near domestic waters.

Sea denial would not require an adversary to assert control over the U.S. littorals, but merely to contest it and deny U.S. vessels freedom of maneuver. Naval blockades and mine warfare are the traditional methods of sea denial, but shadow fleets offer new tools. These vessels enable states and non-state actors to approach their rivals under neutral flags, influence strategic maritime zones without open hostilities, and carry out covert maritime operations. This capacity to close undetected with an enemy’s coast, loiter near critical infrastructure and strategic sea lanes, and operate swiftly and at scale, may soon present a compelling option for adversaries wishing to commence expeditionary mining in U.S. territorial waters. Shadow fleets, so often used for deniable attacks, may soon be used for sea denial itself.

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