This issue of Red Diamond opens with an article on the DJI-Phantom, a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The popularity of UAVs like the DJI-Phantom
comes from three main factors: relative ease of use, reliability, and accessibility. They can be used for conducting reconnaissance, exercising command and
control, or providing battlefield damage assessments. With a transmission range of up to five kilometers, these UAVs also provide significant standoff from the majority of small arms. The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has renewed interest in Russian techniques and procedures.
The hybrid warfare in this conflict includes the use of irregular militias on both sides with training from special purpose forces. This article, second in a two-part series, focuses on militia battalions supporting Russia. An article explains Blueprint Three of the Threat 2025+ project, an ACE-TI initiative to produce a blueprint series capturing future threat tactics from a threat perspective for training. The blueprints are rooted in Training Circular (TC) 7-100.2, Opposing Force Tactics, and represent projected threat capabilities. The intent of the blueprints is to validate the current hybrid threat (HT) requirements for training and the current HT force structure at training centers Army wide. This article discusses one blueprint in detail, Irregular Force Maneuver Defense in Complex Rural Terrain, and explains the conditions for its use in training. Six June 2016 witnessed the opening ceremony for an event billed as the largest military exercise held in Poland
since 1989, when voters swept the Solidarity Party to power in the country’s parliamentary election. Ten years later Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and, in 2006, began holding Anakonda military maneuvers on a biannual basis. In this year’s exercise, Anakonda ‘16, Poland hosted 30,000
soldiers from more than 20 NATO and partner countries, with the United States providing almost half of the participants. This article provides an overview of the
exercise and highlights some of its more notable aspects. The upcoming Threat Tactics Report (TTR) on Hizballah contains information such as a strategic overview of the group; its alliances, weapons, and funding mechanisms; and common tactics used. The final Red Diamond article this month, derived from this TTR, includes discussion of Hizballah’s history and tactics, and a review of one tactical action.