Leopards in the Mist

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No, it is not early morning on the Savannah, but “Danske Leoparder et Letland,” i.e., Royal Danish Army KMW Rheinmetall Leopard 2A7DKs of I Panserbataljon, Jydske Dragonregiment (I/JDR) in Latvia on a NATO deployment getting a live fire ex underway recently.

And that Rh-120 L/55 A1 120mm main gun does growl.

Also note the SAAB Barracuda anti-IR camo system installed.

A closer look:

Of note, the “Blue Dragoons” of I/JDR, Denmark’s sole tank unit and home to 44 Leopard 2s, has a long and storied history going back to 1657, but held on to their horses until 1932. They have been operating successive versions of the Kampfpanzer Leopard since the 1970s.

They are somewhat famous in modern times for the “Mouse Ate the Cat” engagement in Bosnia in 1994, where they just went ham on some particularly dreaded and troublesome Serb positions and bagged at least one T-55 in the process.

They have also completed deployments to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq in modern times, and have a reputation for being eager to let their tracks (and guns) run free when needed.

Black beret clad in British Armored Corps fashion, their motto is Virtute Vincitur (“He is overcome by strength”).

Columbus Meta

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Happy Columbus Day, folks.

These images seemed to fit, as they are of the third Navy warship to carry the name, the brand new Baltimore-class heavy cruiser USS Columbus (CA-74), at rest on the Hudson some 80 years ago this month, where she was on hand for New York City’s epic Navy Day festivities.

And as we know, NYC is the heart and soul of Columbus Day.

USS Columbus (CA-74) anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, at the time of the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa late October 1945. A Ford Motor Company facility is in the background. Collection of Warren Beltramini, donated by Beryl Beltramini, 2007. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 105562

USS Columbus (CA-74) hosing down her starboard anchor cable, while in New York Harbor during the post-World War II Navy Day Fleet Review, circa October 1945. Note the harbor oiler at right. Courtesy of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972. NH 81121

Commissioned at Boston on 8 June 1945, Columbus was too late to get any WWII battle stars then served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during Korea. She was later converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser, CG-12, and served until 1975, getting 30 solid years in, somehow, without seeing major combat operations.

Her place on the Navy List was taken by the 688i-class hunter-killer USS Columbus (SSN-762), which has been in service since 1993, having bested the old cruiser’s service by two years.

Romulus and Remus: Coming to a SAG near you?

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HII is pushing hard to get eyes on its new Romulus unmanned/minimally manned surface vessel concept, and for good reason, as it looks like it has potential as a “sea truck” that can act alongside a more conventional battle group to add more missiles, UAVs, and UUVs to the fight. The “high-endurance, 25+ knot” Romulus is 190 feet long and uses a commercial-standard hull “for durability and rapid production.” It has an advertised range of 2,500nm and can rearm/refuel at sea.

A large payload deck behind its superstructure has enough space for six 40-foot ISO shipping containers, which logically allows for six Typhon SMRF (Mk 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System) erector launchers, each of which can hold four Tomahawks or SM-6 missiles.

There is also enough open deck over the stern for a vertical launch drone system– a Shield AI MQ-35A V-BAT is depicted lifting off– as well as twin deployment cradles for HII’s Remus series UUVs. As the Navy is currently running an undisclosed number of Remus 100 (Mk 18 Swordfish) and at least 90 larger Remus 600 (Mk 18 Mod 2 Knifefish) models for UXO/EOD/MCM, this is not a stretch.

While shown as part of a carrier battle group, I think it could be interesting to pair up 2-3 of these with a Flight IIA/III DDG and perhaps a couple of Independence-class LCSs for extra helicopters as a surface action group.

With just 500~ bluejackets, you would have as many as six embarked MH-60s, room for a few vertical-launched drones, some decent UUV capability, a 5-inch gun, two 57s, 144-168 strike length VLS cells, three Sea RAMs, and potentially eight NSMs (on the Indies), as well as smaller weapons. Add to that three VBSS teams if on an interdiction mission.

That’s a lot of sea control at the fingertips of an O-5/O-6.

Happy 250th, Navy

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Circa 1957 “Join modern mobile mighty Navy ” recruiting poster by Joseph Binder. LC-USZC4-3355

Today marks 25 years from 13 October 1775, the day the Continental Congress authorized the outfitting of two armed vessels to intercept British supply ships, marking the official birth of the Continental Navy (although Washington’s Cruisers predated this by seven weeks) and the precursor to the United States Navy.

For those interested, the official graphics are here, while there are printable coloring pages for the kiddies, here.

A Great Idea, Perhaps Horribly Implemented

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As you may have heard, President Trump and Finnish Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a 45-minute public post-NATO joining hug fest at the White House on Thursday. A big result, of importance to us, is an announcement that a wild consortium of folks who should know how to make icebreakers has been selected for the $9 billion design and construction of six Arctic Security Cutters (ASC) for the USCG to a basically existing design.

Eighty percent of the world’s icebreakers are designed in Finland, and 60 percent of them are built there.

The group is made up of Bollinger Shipyards, in partnership with Finland’s Rauma Marine Constructions (Rauma) and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. (Aker Arctic), along with Canada’s Seaspan Shipyards (Seaspan).

At first glance, this should be a good thing as Bollinger has been aces when it comes to making Dutch Damen-designed patrol boats in their Louisiana yards for the USCG going back to the 1980s, including the 110-foot Islands, the 87-foot Marine Protector, and the 158-foot Sentinel classes. In fact, Bollinger has delivered 186 vessels to the Coast Guard– that work– in the past 40 years. However, their three planned 23,000-ton USCG Polar Security Cutter heavy polar icebreakers, inherited when they bought Halter in Mississippi, have been plagued with issues.

Rauma delivered three well-made and successful 10,000-ton multi-purpose icebreakers in the 1990s to Arctia Oy, the state-owned company responsible for operating the Finnish icebreaker fleet. This was followed by the 24,000 icebreaking passenger ferry Aurora Botnia in 2021. Further, they have four Pohjanmaa-class multi-purpose frigates currently under construction for the Finnish Navy that are to be capable of operating in ice.

Aker is a Finnish firm that has spent the past 20 years designing icebreakers to the most modern standards.

Vancouver-based Seaspan has been around since 1970 and has produced dozens of commercial tugs and ferries, and as of late has pulled down several RCN/CCG contracts, including for the 20,000-ton Protecteur class AOEs (based on a successful design used by the German Navy) and the 26,000-ton icebreaker CCGS Arpatuuq. Both of the latter contracts have suffered from considerable delays. Speaking of delays, Seaspan just started sea trials on the ice-capable oceanographic ship CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk whose budget jumped more than tenfold from CAD$109 million to CAD$1.47 billion (not a misprint), has dragged out way past the expected delivery date, and has been under construction for the past 10 years.

The Seaspan-built CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk was ordered in 2015 and only recently began sea trials, at 10X the original budget.

Seaspan has also pulled down the Canadian Coast Guard contract for up to 16 Aker-designed 8,987-ton, 327-foot multi-purpose icebreakers (MPI), which are intended to revitalize the CCG’s fleet. Capable of icebreaking (polar class 4), SAR, sovereignty patrols, fishery patrol, and ATON, the project is estimated to cost $14.2 billion, but the first vessel isn’t to be delivered until 2030.

The Seaspan MPIs for the CCG have a large forward crane and cargo hold with excess deck capacity, a helicopter hangar, two utility craft, and the capability to operate RHIBs. Capable of 16 knots with a diesel-electric suite that allows for a 12,000nm/60-day endurance, they only need a 50-person crew.

The CCG MPIs:

What the USCG is supposed to be getting…

So, the agreement this week is for six Arctic Security Cutters, based on the Seaspan-Aker MPI design for the CCG. The first three vessels will be built simultaneously by Rauma in Finland and Bollinger in the U.S. (likely at the old Halter yard in Mississippi), with production of the remaining three vessels to be built in the U.S., while Seaspan and Aker will assist.

Delivery of the first three vessels is expected within 36 months of the contract award. That means they are expected before the first Canadian-built MPI, which they are based on, will be delivered. Now that is putting a lot of faith in Rauma and Bollinger.

The difference between the CCG MPI and the images of the planned Bollinger-Rauma ASC seems few, with the large crane deleted, an MK 38 Mod 2/3 gun forward, four M2 .50 cals on the bridge wings, and an MH-60T on the helicopter deck.

Keep in mind the forward cargo deck is to be left open to allow for eight 40-foot ISO cargo containers, which could host the Mk 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System– the Typhon SMRF— which holds four strike-length VLS launchers on an internal erector. While the ASC doesn’t have the radars and fire control to push a SM-6 (unlessed linked to a DDG/CG), she could theoretically carry a mix of up to 32 vertical launch ASROC (cued by MH60 LAMPS), TLAMs, or anti-ship Tomahawks in such launchers.

That’s interesting.

Of course, I would like a 57mm Mk 110 (or even a 5-incher) forward, and at least a CIWS or Sea-Ram aft, in addition to the Mk 70 possibilities, but that’s just me.

I hope it all works out.

New: Staccato Compact HD C3.6 Pistol (And it’s G19 Mag Compatible)

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Staccato this week took the features from its well-liked HD line and packed them into a more nimble and concealable package– the new HD C3.6.

The “C” in the Staccato HD C3.6 stands for compact, and they ship with 15-round Mec-Gar G19-pattern mags, much like the P4 HD ships with 18-round G17-pattern mags. The new gun also saves a bit of weight, running an alloy (7075-T6 aluminum) rather than a steel frame.

Other than that, you have the same HD features, such as ambi controls, Staccato’s HD HOST optic mounting system with decent backup sights, a crisp 4.5-pound single-action-only trigger, and a drop-safe active firing-pin block.

the Staccato HD C3.6
With an overall length of just over 7 inches due to its 3.6-inch bull barrel, coupled with its shorter grip, which gives it a 4.8-inch height, the new HD C3.6 is billed as easier to carry and bring into more spaces for more users. (Photos: Staccato)
the Staccato HD C3.6
Weight of the standard base model Staccato HD C3.6 with its alloy frame is 24 ounces unloaded. Compare this to the 32-ounce base weight of the only slightly larger P4 HD, and you realize a half-pound weight savings while offering much the same performance.
the Staccato HD C3.6
Note the 3.6-inch bull barrel and forward-set rear sight, which practically guarantees a lower-third co-witness with optics. Staccato will be offering these in both a more basic Ameriglo blacked-out front sight variant or one with a Trijicon tritium front.

“We built the HD line to deliver the most technologically advanced and thoroughly tested version of the 2011 platform to date,” said Paul Smith, VP of Product for Staccato. “After introducing full-sized models earlier this year, we set out to create a compact option that preserves duty-grade performance while expanding carrying options and user confidence. The HD C3.6 is the result.”

Staccato plans to offer the HD C3.6 series in three different grades, starting at $2,299. Because Staccato.

So long, Mighty U

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Some 80 years ago today, one of the longest-serving yet oft-forgotten vessels in American maritime service was finally retired.

On 10 October 1945, the 190-foot Miami-class cruising cutter Unalga (WPG-53) was decommissioned, capping 33 years of unbroken service that began in 1912 with the old Revenue Cutter Service.

Serving with the Navy directly during the Great War, she went back to walking the beat and rejoined the Navy for WWII, first in conducting antisubmarine patrols under the auspices of the Commandant, 10th Naval District, then as a floating target ship for the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island.

Former crewman Merle L. Harbourt, in a 15 May 1992 letter to the USCG Historian’s Office, wrote about Unalga during the cutter’s second world war:

She never sank a submarine nor shot down a plane, but there is one old ship that I served in that should get some mention simply because she survived. The former Revenue Cutter Unalga, or ‘Mighty U’ as she was not too affectionately referred to by her crew, is a case study in unpreparedness.

As memory serves, the Unalga was commissioned in 1912 as a vessel of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. I joined her in June of 1941 when she was home ported in San Juan, P.R. She was powered by a four-cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engine, which Lt. L. M. Thayer (later to be RADM Thayer), our engineering officer, was intent upon her maintenance since she was forever snapping piston rings.

Shortly before the outbreak of WWII, we painted her gray and limbered up our armament, one three-inch twenty-three caliber mount on the fore deck. We were tied up in San Juan, at the still-existing buoy depot, when December 7th became a day of infamy.

We served as Harbor Entrance Control Vessel for San Juan for a period and then were pressed into service to haul aviation gasoline from Puerto Rico (Ponce) to Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands, in 55-gallon drums stacked all over the main deck, to provide fuel for the Marine air station. The small tanker that had formerly provided that service was shelled and sunk by a sub earlier. Later, without the benefit of radar or sonar, we assisted in the escort of ships between Trinidad and Cuba, convoys that sometimes got away from us during darkness or heavy rains.

My humorous tales of life on that old ship are endless. Like the time when we thought we might be facing a German Q boat, or raider, and .30 caliber rifles were issued to a few crewmembers. And us with one snub-nose three-inch cannon! Or the time when, after sonar installation, we thought we had a sub contact, dropped a pattern of depth charges, and the main engine stopped. The vacuum had been lost. If we were in the vicinity of a sub, he probably thought we wouldn’t make it back to port anyway and didn’t waste a fish.”

She wasn’t quite finished, though.

Sold on 19 July 1946 for her value as floating scrap, she was renamed Ulua and then participated in the immigration of Jewish refugees to Palestine, past the British naval blockade.

Blockade-runner Ulua (former Unalga) tied up pier side at Marseille, France, December 1946

Indian Balalaikas

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First acquired in March 1963, the MiG-21 (NATO: Fishbed), a legendary fighter and the first supersonic aircraft in the IAF inventory, has flown its last flight under the green, white, and red Indian roundel.

The final flight came from the Panthers of the 23rd Squadron at Chandigarh Air Force Station on 26 September 2025. Keep in mind, these were not training aircraft and were on airstrip alert up until the past few weeks.

A 62-year run for any combat aircraft isn’t bad.

A hero of the 1971 War, where they engaged Pakistani F-104 Starfighters in supersonic dogfights, securing India’s first jet-on-jet kills (earning a claimed 13:1 kill ratio), the MiG-21 was upgraded over the years to undertake multiple combat roles, including ground attack.

India was the largest non-Soviet operator of MiG-21s and the largest maker outside of the Motherland. Of the 11,496 MiG-21s produced, at least 840 of those (MiG-21FL, MiG-21M, and MiG-21bis variants) were built domestically in India by HAL, while another 400 were purchased directly from the Russians.

With the retirement of the “Balalaika” from IAF service, which ended production in 1986, only about 150 of the type remain in token use by Angola, Cuba, Mali, Mozambique, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and you can bet few of those are airworthy.

About 400 Chinese Chengdu J-7 (NATO: Fishpot) knock-offs, which remained in production until 2013, are in service as well, primarily with the Norks.

Reddit Bans Gun Accessory Groups

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Reddit this week moved to shut down several large and popular buy/sell/trade subreddits revolving around gun accessories like optics and parts.

The publicly traded forum-style social media platform, which has over 100 million users, is set to debut a new and enhanced rule concerning gun accessory listings on Oct. 9. While the direct sale of controlled items such as guns and suppressors has always been banned on the site, the prohibition will be expanded to cover just about everything else gun-related. In short, “communities will not be permitted to allow user-to-user transactions involving any firearm parts or enhancements.”

In the days leading up to the rule announcement, Reddit reached out to moderators on popular accessory subreddits to warn them that the sub would be banned moving forward.

“Thanks to everyone that participated in the sub. We’re pretty bummed about this, too,” noted the mods on the r/PrsAccessoriesForSale sub.

Others like GAFS (r/GunAccessoriesForSale), which has 47,000 weekly visitors and has been around since 2018, said they are taking their community off Reddit, moving to a new website being set up by the mods, and will keep operating on Discord for now.

Why this is bad

The reason the arbitrary Reddit change hurts the gun community is twofold.

First, free (ish) online community classified services such as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace have long had blanket bans on “weapons and weapon parts,” including accessories such as grips, sights, scopes, magazines, lasers, and lights. Ebay allows sales of new and used optics, accessories, and some gun parts, even “low-cap” magazines, but it is often seen as difficult for the average person to sell items and holds payment in escrow until the buyer receives the item. Niche sites like Tacswap and Infinite Armory exist but don’t have anywhere near the reach and traffic that Reddit offers, or more correctly, offered.

Second, the move by Reddit to freeze out a vibrant community on the platform with no recourse follows along the narrow and winding path blazed by other mainstream social media providers when it comes to the stigmatizing person-to-person trade in what are legal and arguably constitutionally-protected firearm accessories. At some point, gun collectors and enthusiasts, marginalized and actively turned away by big-name social media, are going to be forced to move off-site and underground to continue to enjoy their passion. That, or get out of the game altogether.

Which may be the larger plan.

Of Black Hulls, Buoys, and Grenades along the Mekong

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While we’ve covered the Vietnam-era deployments of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 26 Point-class patrol boats (CGRON One) and the follow-on rotating mission of 31 blue water cutters with CGRON Three (the latter of which steamed 1.2 million miles, inspected 69,517 vessels and fired 77,036 5-inch shells ashore), there was a third series of unsung USCG deployments that still saw a good bit of action.

Between 1966 and 1972, at least four WWII-era 180-foot seagoing buoy tenders (USCGC Planetree, Ironwood, Basswood, and Blackhaw) were moved to Sangley Point, Philippines, from where they rotated to the waters around South Vietnam in 3-to-7-week stints, establishing a modern aids-to-navigation (ATON) system and training a motley collection of locals to keep tending them moving forward.

The Coast Guard Cutter Basswood works a buoy as busy Vietnamese fishermen travel to the open sea and their fishing grounds from Vung Tau harbor during her 1967 deployment. The cutter battled monsoon weather for a 30-day tour to establish and reservice sea aids-to-navigation dotting the 1,000-mile South Vietnamese coastline. USCG Historian’s Office photo

The 180-foot buoy tender USCGC Blackhaw (W390) in 1960, still with her circa 1943 3-inch mount behind her stack.

Blackhaw tending aids to navigation off Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam in September 1970, with RVN lighthouse service personnel aboard. Blackhaw spent 11 stints in Vietnamese waters while staged from the Philippines: 13 March- 6 May 1968; 24June-18JuIy 1968; 9 September-11 October 1968; 16 January- 4 March 1969; 16 April-3 May 1969; 16 June-3 July 1969; 24 October-7 December 1969; 23 April-18 May 1970; 24 October-10 November 1970; 13 January-7 March 1971; 25 April-17 May 1971.

While they carried a 3″/50 DP mount, Oerlikons, and depth charges when built, most of the 180s landed their topside armament during the 1950s, as it generally wasn’t needed to go that heavy while tending navigational aids stateside at the time.

This changed for the Southeast Asia-bound tenders, who added a pair of topside M2 .50 cal Brownings (later raised to eight!), as many as four M60 machine guns, and a serious small arms locker that included M1 Garands, M16s, M1911s, shotguns, spam cans of 10-gauge Very flares, depth charge markers, and grenades.

Lots of grenades.

Check out this 1970 ordnance draw from Sangley Point by Blackhaw:

The 7,000 rounds of .22LR are likely for recreational use, with the tender probably having a couple of rimfire pistols and rifles aboard for downtime target practice.

Working in the Vietnamese littoral, they came under enemy fire regularly and returned said fire. For example, in one incident in 1970, Blackhaw’s crew expended 132 grenades (!), 3,360 rounds of 5.56/.30 cal for rifles, 2,300 7.62 rounds for light machine guns, and 3,535 rounds .50 cal for heavy machine guns reacting to combat. Heady stuff for navigational aids guys!

Check out this deck log from a rocket encounter on Blackhaw while operating in conjunction with Navy Seawolf helicopters and PCFs.

Also, when anchored overnight within distance of shore, rifle-armed topside sentries typically dropped a grenade over the side every 20 minutes or so and/or fired off a Very signal to discourage enemy sappers from swimming out with limpet mines. Hence, the need for a pallet of hand grenades on a buoy tender.

More details on Blackhaw’s work, via a 1970 Proceedings article by LCDR Robert C. Powers, U. S. Navy, Former Logistics Plans and Requirements Officer, Staff, U. S. Naval Forces, Vietnam:

The basic plan was for the United States to provide material, technical advice, and funds to the Directorate of Navigation, who would provide buoy tender services. A staff study by Commander Coast Guard Activities Vietnam in April 1967 concluded that greater U. S. assistance was necessary in completing the desired improvements, and recommended full time use of a large buoy tender in Vietnam. USAID was to continue upgrading the Directorate of Navigation so that they could completely take over the aids to navigation mission by January 1969.

Coast Guard buoy tenders in the Pacific were reassigned, and the USCGC Blackhaw, (WLB-390) a 180-foot buoy tender, was employed full time for this task in January 1968. Her homeport was changed from Honolulu to Sangley Point in the Philippines. One officer and 14 enlisted men were added to the normal ship’s complement of six officers and 43 men. Six additional .50-caliber machine guns were installed, giving her a total of eight. Two 7.62-mm. machine guns were also added. The Blackhaw’s schedule was planned to provide about 40 days in-country per quarter, with no duties except for the job of Vietnam aids to navigation. In July 1968, the Joint Chiefs of Staff formalized this employment.

The Coast Guard has now installed and is operating 55 lighted buoys, 50 unlighted buoys, and 33 lighted structures in Vietnam. A small Coast Guard buoy depot has been established at Cam Ranh Bay, for in-country storage and maintenance of NavAid equipment. The Directorate of Navigation continues to operate those aids which were in place before Coast Guard involvement, but is not yet capable of relieving the Coast Guard in the maintenance of U. S. installed aids.

The aids to navigation detail remains in Saigon, attached to the Coast Guard Southeast Asia section. They schedule work for the Blackhaw and also repair light outages when the Blackhaw is not in the area.

Operation of a system of maritime aids to navigation in Vietnam is not the same as operating systems in the United States. Charts, for example, are poor, and accurately charted landmarks that may be used for buoy positioning are scarce. The channels, whether natural or dredged, are notoriously unstable. An example of this is the Cua Viet Entrance Channel Buoy 6. Established in 30 feet of water in October 1968, six months later the buoy became a shore light—high and dry. Enemy sappers have also been discovered and shot in the areas of moored buoy tenders. Viet Cong have stolen batteries from range lights. In Tan My, for instance, 50 batteries were lost in two months.

Several buoys are run down each month, usually resulting in a loss of lighting equipment. Within a representative four-month period, 40% of all unlighted buoys received damage as a result of collision, gunfire, and weather, and 70% of all lighted aids required extensive repair, recharge, and re-positioning. Before working on any buoy, a diver thoroughly inspects each buoy mooring for explosive charges.

Since active Coast Guard involvement in this task began, the maritime aids to navigation system in Vietnam has continued to improve. Harbormasters and pilots in all ports are happy with these improvements. Vietnamese personnel are on board the Blackhaw, while she is in-country, to become familiar with the system and maintenance methods.

The USCG turned over the ATON duties in South Vietnam to the locals on 31 December 1972, capping a forgotten footnote in the service’s history. As far as I can tell, none of the four tenders suffered any official combat casualties during their Vietnam service (with Agent Orange exposure being another matter).

Blackhaw earned a U.S. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation as well as more Combat Ribbons than any other cutter.

She served in California waters until decommissioning in February 1993. Ship breakers stripped the former cutter of her valuable equipment, and the hulk was sunk as a target vessel. Nonetheless, she endures on the silver screen as she appears in the 1990 movie The Hunt for Red October as a Soviet icebreaker trailing the titular Typhoon-class SSBN during the opening sequence.

 

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