The Loadout Room
Professional Gear Reviews
The war in Ukraine is helping one country achieve its foreign policy and national security objectives, but it’s neither Russia nor Ukraine. It’s Iran. Iran is among Russia’s most vocal supporters in the war. This has little to do with Ukraine and everything to do with Iran’s long-term strategy vis-Ă -vis the United States. As Russia’s […]
Russia’s making mistakes all over, and they’re doing it together with Iran this time. Iranian personnel are now being sent to Russia for more intensive training after failed deployment of their “Kamikaze” drones. Unlike the HIMARS, which has used the war as the best marketing platform, the Shahed-136s were missing their targets. A Senior US […]
Ukraine is now looking into acquiring the Indian co-developed surface-to-air missile (SAM) system to protect and counter the Russian missile rain phase that has been overwhelming the former’s air defense (AD) systems in recent weeks. Since last week, the current Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)-operated AD platforms, including the Soviet-era Buk and S-300, have struggled […]
Belarus has opened its doors to Russian troops as it aims to signal its support for Putin in this war. The Defense Ministry in Minsk announced that there are hosting a joint-force training for 9,000 Russian troops as part of a “regional grouping” of forces to protect its borders. “The first troop trains with Russian […]
Back in July, there was much debate on whether the HIMARS was just overhyped and overpriced, but the Ukraine-Russia war proved to be the best marketing stage for Lockheed Martin to showcase the full potential of this rocket system. So now, they’re introducing a price increase, and countries like Taiwan are trying to catch the […]
As winter draws closer, the Ukrainian military is shifting gears and making sure they can support their troops with the right kind of equipment and weaponry. With this, President Volodomyr Zelensky has updated their weapons wish list. For months, Ukraine continually asked for long-range weapons like HIMARS, and after these missile systems improved their offense […]
In June, Norway donated M109A3GN 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine to be operated by the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. The initial convoy used MAZ-537 trucks to deliver the howitzers to Kyiv. Now, we are seeing more of these in action. The M109A3GN is the latest version of the M109 howitzer, and it’s the current service […]
Putin Skirts Sanctions Historically, Vladimir Putin has always been first-rate about finding ways around sanctions. For example, following his invasion of Ukraine, intense pressure was placed upon western companies not to lease aircraft to Russia. That’s a big deal since, as I reported in an article earlier this month, more or less half of Russian […]
The Ukrainian Ground Forces are using their new Bureviy, also known as Stormy or Hurricane, as one of its attack artillery against Russia. Together with US-donated HIMARS, this multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is paving the way for a highly targeted offensive from Ukraine. The Bureviy MLRS was first introduced in 2020, and it is […]
A week after the successful reclamation of the Kharkiv Oblast region, Ukrainian soldiers are riding on the momentum to push most, if not all, Russian troops out of the border. Ukraine has confirmed another counterattack in Kharkiv has begun, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying this is “not the time to name the towns where […]