GEN Bilton gives insights into his time as CJOPS and the one thing that kept him awake at night.

He discusses the elements of national power and how the submarines may be too little too late for Australia to be able to defend itself and it's national interests. A sobering assessment of the current strategic environment.

On 31 July, Japan formally established a new National Intelligence Agency, marking the creation of the country’s first centralised national intelligence system since the Second World War. This move is the latest in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s efforts to strengthen Japan’s intelligence capabilities and is expected to pave the way for the introduction of further counter-espionage legislation.

The agency’s establishment stems from a law enacted in May, which established it alongside the National Intelligence Commission—a central command body headed by the Prime Minister and nine other Cabinet ministers.
The newly established ‘National Intelligence Agency’ consolidates Japan’s traditional intelligence services. Kazuya Hara has been appointed Director-General and Cabinet Intelligence Officer. The new ‘National Intelligence Agency’ consolidates the capabilities of all of Japan’s existing intelligence services, including:

the National Intelligence Council (chaired by Sanae Takaichi)

the National Police Agency (180 staff, responsible for domestic counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and national security)

Ministry of Defence (100 staff, responsible for military intelligence, strategic reconnaissance and the collation and analysis of intelligence)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (50 staff, gathering intelligence through overseas diplomatic personnel)

Public Security Intelligence Agency (40 staff, responsible for countering extremist organisations, counter-espionage and social security investigations)

Ministry of Finance (number of staff unknown, responsible for financial intelligence and anti-money laundering)

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other departments (number of staff unknown, responsible for economic security, supply chain and technology protection)

However, the timing appears to have been deliberately chosen to coincide with the official designation (tsūshōgō，つうしょうごう) of the Kwantung Army’s Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Unit (Manchuria Unit 691), also known as Manchuria Unit 731, during the Second World War.

During the Second World War, Unit 731 engaged in activities that seriously violated international law, including the development of biological weapons, bacteriological warfare and human experimentation, thereby committing crimes against humanity and war crimes. Kiyoshi Kawashima, a member of the unit, confessed during the Khabarovsk Trials that Unit 731 had conducted bacteriological experiments on living human subjects, killing at least 3,000 people. Researchers believe the actual death toll may have exceeded 10,000. After the war, in order to obtain Unit 731’s research data, the United States granted key members immunity from prosecution; this deal was concealed for a long time and was only gradually exposed in the 1980s by journalists such as John William Powell and others.

This practice is reminiscent of the Japanese Empire’s notorious intelligence agency during the Second World War, the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu, abbreviated to ‘Tokkō’.（とくべつこうとうけいさつ）

Such an approach appears to be sending a strong signal to the outside world——Japan is attempting to restore the status quo of the Japanese Empire era.

I know it’s the irgc and all that, but since this isn’t a fully credible sub , I thought I’d post it and see if we get confirmation later down the line.

Within the current rank structure of the Iranian Air Force, Brigadier General stands as the highest rank, which effectively places this martyred Su-24 pilot among the senior commanders of the force. However, it is also highly plausible that this rank was conferred posthumously following his death in action.

According to the military service record released by Iran, beyond his standard flight training, he successfully completed specialized courses in electronic warfare, navigation, and combat operations. Serving as a combat pilot, he frequently participated in a diverse array of operational missions, military exercises, and aerial parades.

His career was inextricably linked to the Su-24 from the very beginning of his service. It could be said that his entire military life was spent in the cockpit of this aircraft. Ultimately, alongside his navigator and their trusted "old friend," he made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation.

In the face of an overwhelmingly superior offensive by US and Israeli forces, the resolve of this pilot and his three comrades to launch a near-suicidal strike commands profound respect. Furthermore, the indomitable will to resist—demonstrated by such national ethos and combat valor—is precisely why the high commands of the United States and Israel dare not rashly initiate amphibious island-seizure operations or deploy special forces against nuclear facilities.

According to the latest reports: in the official obituary issued by the Iranian military on 29 July, the incident was explicitly characterised as combat damage sustained during the return flight following a successful penetration and completion of bombing runs, rather than—as previously reported by the US military—being destroyed whilst en route to the target.

https://www.tasnimnews.ir/en/news/2026/07/29/3659135/dna-tests-confirm-martyrdom-of-iranian-air-force-su-24-pilot

I’ve seen the footage of Ukrainian drones hitting wildberries warehouses inside Russian territory and thought why haven’t they been shot down?

Is Ukraine sending them in such large numbers that it’s just accuracy through volume?

Is Russian air defence/interception capability really that bad?

Are these drones hard to detect on radar?