The Evolution of the The QuadCopter in Modern Warfare

January 3, 2023 by The Tactical Hermit in Armed Citizen Corner, Armed Citizen Corner Video, Arms and Ammo, Asymmetrical Warfare, Citizen Action Groups, Civilian Operator 101, Drones, EMP Preparedness, Guerilla Warfare, Homemade Weapons, Learning from Terrorist Tactics, Military Defense News, Military News, Military Tech, Modern War, Practical Skill Sets, Practical Solutions to Serious Problems, Real World Threats, Reality Check, Tactics, Tales from the Battlefield, Technology, The Surveillance State, Tradecraft, Ukraine Civil War, Urban Skill Sets, Urban Warfare, Warfare, Warrior Tech, Weapons & Ammo and tagged Asymmetrical Warfare, Drone Warfare, Drones, Future Warfare, Guerilla Warfare, Modern Warfare, Quadcopters, Tactics, Ukraine War

The Evolution of the QuadCopter in Modern Warfare

The pinnacle of this tactic is a Chinese-made DJI Mavic quadcopter – easy to procure, easy to fly/ navigate, it became absolutely indispensable for ISR, target spotting, artillery correction and combat missions like “kamikaze attacks”, dropping small bombs and grenades.

The Minuteman’s Guide to Countering Armored Vehicles (For Educational Purposes Only)

October 27, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in 4GW, Another Reason to Be Armed, Armed Citizen Corner, Asymmetrical Warfare, Cartel Corner, Cartel Corner History, Cartel Tactics, Citizen Action Groups, Civilian Operator 101, Cold War Era Weapons, Cold War History, Counter-Insurgency, Examining GW Tactics, Examining Terrorist Tactics, explosives, Fighting in and Around Vehicles, Fourth Gen Warfare, Future Warfare, Guerilla Warfare, Guerilla Warfare History, History of Weapons, Hybrid Warfare, ISIS, ISIS Corner, Know Your Enemy, Know Your Weapons, Learning from Terrorist Tactics, Military History, Military Tech, Military Weapons from the Past, Military Weapons History, Modern War, Practical Skill Sets, Practical Solutions to Serious Problems, Reality Check, Reference Materials, Russia, Russian Corner, Small Unit Tactics, Soviet History, Soviet Military history, Studies in Warfare, Tactics, Tales from the Battlefield, Tank Warfare, Technology, Tradecraft, Ukraine Civil War, Urban Skill Sets, Urban Warfare, Vehicles as Weapons, War Machines, Warfare, Warrior Tech, WRSA and tagged Armored Vehicles, Asymmetrical Warfare, CO 101, Countering Armored Threats, Guerilla Warfare, Minuteman's Guide, Partisan's Field Guide, Small Unit Tactics, Tanks, Vehicles as Weapons, Von Steuben Training

The Minuteman’s Guide to Countering Armored Vehicles

Since the first tanks and armored cars appeared on the battlefields of WWI Europe, infantrymen have been forced to find ways to deal with them. The modern minuteman is no different, and any prolonged civil conflict in the United States is bound to see armored vehicles used in one form or another. I’m not even talking about fighting a professional military, partisan groups and gangs/cartels have ways of getting or making armored vehicles for use in a prolonged period of conflict/disorder. Some examples are below;

In 2020 alone, there were at least two police MRAPs and one National Guard humvee stolen in California during the rioting. The humvee and one MRAP have since been recovered.

Mexican Cartels such as the CJNG frequently weld makeshift armored plating onto trucks and install turrets onto them. They call these vehicles “monstruos”, meaning “monsters.”

Private ownership of military surplus armored vehicles is perfectly legal as long as the weapons are disabled or removed. For about the same price as a new car you can own an OT-64 SKOT (Polish wheeled amphibious APC). For much less you can buy a surplus humvee. There are many such vehicles in the hands of private citizens for collecting, war re-enacting, etc.

I predict that in a prolonged civil conflict, WROL scenario, etc, it will only take a few weeks before people with access to these vehicles start to roll them out for whatever purpose. For this reason and the hypothetical Chinese invasion, any serious minuteman should be thinking about how to deal with armored vehicles. In this article I will cover the types of armored vehicles, the threat they pose, and how you can fight them or mitigate their effectiveness.

Tactics Flashback: 2002 D.C. Snipers and 2015 Dallas Police Attack

October 9, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Active Shooter, Armed Citizen Corner, Asymmetrical Warfare, Civilian Operator 101, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism 101, Historical Study, History of Crime, Law Enforcement, Learning from Terrorist Tactics, Studies in Warfare, Tactics, Tales from the Battlefield, Terrorism, Urban Skill Sets, Urban Warfare, Vehicles as Weapons, Warfare and tagged 2015 Dallas Police Attack, D.C. Snipers, Insurgent Tactics, Mobile Sniper Hide, Study of Tactics, Tactics, Tactics Flashback, Terrorist Tactics, VBIED, Vehicles as Weapons

Armored Van used in Attack on Dallas PD 6/13. Bought on Ebay for $8K

The attack on Dallas PD June 13, 2015 by a man in an armored van represents a variation on a tactic that has not been seen since the DC Sniper Murders in 2002, where two gay black muslim extremist using a Chevy Caprice sedan and turning the trunk into a “mobile” sniper hide, killed 10 people and critically wounded three others.

The two concepts, an Armored Wagon or Van and the Mobile Sniper Hide, have at their core, basically the same principle: To Use a vehicle as a platform for a shooter or shooters to engage civilians and law enforcement, attempting to kill as many as possible.

The differences lay in HOW these methods are applied.

The Mobile Sniper Hide (MSH) is a covert weapon, meaning it’s strength lies in NOT being detected, as the shooter engages targets both quietly and quickly as possible, keeping the location of the shooter (and shot) both hid (in the DC Sniper Case, by shooting from the car’s trunk through a small hole). The Armored Wagon on the other hand, OVERTLY engages targets (through gun ports), purposely drawing fire as it rolls on, ie like the Dallas PD attack recently.

The critical keys to remember if the AV (Armored Van) concept is to work effectively, is that the engine block must be further bullet proofed (a .50 Caliber round took out the engine block) the tires must be run flats and reserve fuel bladders added. If the engine or tires get disabled, or you run out of gas at a critical juncture, you are no longer mobile and have no egress options available; you are dead in the water and a bullet magnet.

As far as the two concepts go, the Mobile Sniper Hide is a much more effective tool for the lone or small unit of of Guerilla fighters who live in a civilian population that is not controlled by military forces. Less attention is drawn to the vehicle as a whole, making it easier to hit and run (in reference to the One Shot Sniper Method discussed in the book Fry the Brain by John West.)

If history is studied, armored vans (or improvised fighting vehicles) work well in WAR zones, where both the VOLUME of fire coming OUT of the vehicle and the expectation of SUPPORT (from other vehicles and infantry) can be expected to be large.

The downside of course is ANTI-Tank and Vehicle weapons such as Mines, IED’s, RPG’s, Javelins and Grenade Launchers. The evolution of the IFV is an interesting study for the CO. Although I typically steer away from Wiki-Pedia, their entry on this subject is quite extensive and for the most part, correct. Read it HERE.

Another element of the insurgents use of vehicles to achieve a desired aim can be seen currently with the situation in Iraq where a large number of American Humvees that had been given to the Iraqi Security Forces were stolen by ISIS and turned into VBIED’s (Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Devices). Read that story HERE.

VBIED’s (or car bombs) have been a technique that has seen widespread use by insurgents and terrorist alike. Some of the worst attacks (as far a total number killed) have occurred on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. However, if you ask any American with a sense of history, they will tell you by far, the two attacks that are seared into their memory are The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, both car bomb attacks.

In 2010, a car bomb was detected and diffused in New York’s Times Square, thanks to some savvy street vendors who were paying attention. Just another example of why AWARENESS is always our primary weapon in self-defense.

Bibliography and Suggested Reading

Fry the Brain by John West
Buda’s Wagon by Mike Davis
Bandit Country by Toby Harnden
Days of Rage by Bryan Burrough

Prepare Accordingly.

Combined Arms for the Minuteman

September 24, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Another Reason to Be Armed, Armed Citizen Corner, Asymmetrical Warfare, Guerilla Warfare, Guerilla Warfare History, Hybrid Warfare, Know your History, Learning from Terrorist Tactics, Military History, Small Unit Tactics, Strategy, Studies in Warfare, Tactics, Tales from the Battlefield, Tradecraft, Training, Training Tips, Urban Skill Sets, Urban Warfare, Warfare, Warrior Tech, Weapons Training Issues and tagged Combined Armed for the Minuteman, Guerilla Warfare, Hybrid Warfare, Lessons from the Battlefield, Small Unit Tactics, Strategy, Tactics

Read up on Hunter Killer Teams.

Von Steuben Training & Consulting

The term “combined arms” conjures up images of tanks advancing with aircraft screaming overhead and infantry charging in front. While this is one modern, conventional form of a combined arms technique, it is far from the only one. And just because the modern Minuteman has limited types of arms available does not mean that he cannot still adopt a combined arms approach to combat. All that is required is a little creativity, knowledge, and the proper training.

Let’s start with the definition of “combined arms” as defined by the US Army publication ADRP 3-0 Unified Land Operations.

“Combined arms is the synchronized and simultaneous application of arms to achieve an effect greater than if each arm was used separately or sequentially.”

In this sense, the term “arms” means any form of weapon, combat vehicle, or unit. On a large scale your “arms” could be an infantry regiment and a fighter…

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