April 1, 2026

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The Freedomist is more than a website with premium content that will inform and inspire you. It is the forefront of much bigger things! It is the official organ of a movement built around the simple proposition that what will make America greater still is to practice the ideals and principles which underlay our Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

What is our vision?

We want to build a movement among Americans that has local groups of people who support one another and who take positive civic action to transform their communities into Freedom Shires, safe havens where the Bill of Rights is respected and protected.

The Freedomist itself, part of the Freedomist MIA family, is meant to provide the intelligence, content, news, information, resources, and inspiration that freedom builders who love America can use to become more effective in every way.

But backers who subscribe are also backing something greater.

A few things we are needing your support to build:

1. UPADARIA- virtual-to-local digital platform (called Upadaria) that will gather more socially conservative people who love freedom and America so that they can connect and collaborate to save money, increase their income, and mutually support one another until all or most are independent of the top-down corrupted institutions ruled by freedom takers

2. RIQUEDAY CITY, USA: local pilot program in the Greater Twin Tiers area that will see the creation of gathering spaces, comnon facilities and clustered living developments for a web-based community of people who will become like a distributed free private city of refuge

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With regards to “Upadaria” we are building the platform with a number of partners, Freedomist LLC is financing it in part but we need a total of $300,000 to get the job done, we have raised over $80,000 so far. Once the platform is built we will have a space welcoming to all Freedomists, people who embrace the original spirit and intent of the US Bill of Rights and our Declaration of Independence.

With regards to “Riqueday” (which means “King David”), we have begun building and have raised over $35,000 in funding but even more than that we have been securing lands and buildings, many under renovation, within the core of the larger envisioned service area for this “distributed city.”

We are striving to have space to help people in need, to have physical spaces where people who connect online can meet in person, and to provide help to people with life-controlling addictions. Every week we make progress and by mid-October one of our first buildings, an old Grange Hall, will be getting a new roof and its external renovation will commence in earnest.

With regards to Freedomist-MIA we have merged Freedomist, an online news site operating since 2007, with the McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, a private intelligence service operating since 1975, to give you the best content available for the freedom builder.

We desire to add more experts, analysts, and researchers and to secure more on the ground reporting from around the US and the world. We also want to create a Citizen’s Free Press Corps that will engage average citizens in news gathering, reporting, and analysis. Our aim is to become more interactive and collaborative with our subscribers.

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First, we have the background and experience as well as the skill to do the things we are saying we will do. Our experience in political and civic activism, news and intelligence, and even in helping people spiritually and physically means we can translate your support into concrete results.

As a backer you are supporting a pro-freedom, pro-America effort based on traditional Judeo-Christian moral and philosophical orthodoxy to reach and inspire millions of your fellow citizens to build freedom in their lives, homes, relationships, and communities. We live in a time when “social conservatives” have no space set aside for themselves to connect and collaborate. As social conservatives we tend to be ignored even by Republicans! We need to inspire, gather, and mobilize to defend this country’s true manifest destiny from the freedom takers.

We understand that freedom is based on virtue, liberty, and independence. It is a balance of being a moral and upright culture that honors God, having respect for our God-given rights, and being as materially independent as possible from the freedom takers’ institutions.

Never mind that we only want to live this freedom and not impose it, the freedom takers want to take this freedom. Many in the Republican Party don’t understand the things, especially moral and ethical foundations, that are necessary for a free society to prosper.

By the inch it’s a cinch.

Today we have sponsors of our network who receive traffic, we engage in many projects to promote freedom causes, and we have a small and growing subscriber base of a few thousand people.

Our desire is to grow our revenue and backing until we have over $6 million per year to finish and expand the platform, to build the first 20-30 distributed facilities for Riqueday City, USA, and to create a Freedomist vanguard with 500 or more activists in every US Congressional District plus many dozens or more in DC and all US territories.

At present we are almost a tenth of the way toward this goal and our more immediate aim is to see the subscription revenue equal all other revenue, whereas at present it is roughly 30% of our total revenue. Basically, we want to grow our support base to reach around $50,000 per month on its own as opposed to around 30% of around $50,000 per month total revenue.

 

 

 

 

Freedomist Intel Daily- Vote Republican or Watch America Die

HERE’S YOUR NEWS ROUNDUP IN BRIEF

Vote Republican or Watch America Die
Wednesday, September 7th, 2022

In today’s edition of Freedomist Intel Daily, we explain why if we don’t VOTE REPUBLICAN we will have to WATCH AMERICA DIE. See HERE:

“When Republicans have a majority it’s not all good, and even if they do win this doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing for the cause of freedom. In fact, Republicans have wilted under pressure and let us down. But one thing they haven’t done is deliberately and with malice waged a relentless war on everything this country was founded by God to become: an empire of freedom, a free and pluralistic society, and the cradle of a new civilization founded upon Christian ideals.”

Also in today’s edition of Freedomist Intel Daily, we go deep on Trump’s big Mar-a-Lago FBI Raid Court win, the political backwar ahead of Xi’s attempt to become Mao, and the wonders of plastic trash if we can convert them to a highly resilient, super strong 3d-Printable resin.  Plus, more deep dives into top stories and 48 headlines from around the world.

For more headlines and links, go here.

TOP STORY 

Judge Gives Special Master to Trump, Halts DOJ Investigation


The Federal Judge overseeing the proceedings against President Donald Trump by the FBI after the Mar-a-Lago raid has awarded the Trump team with the special master they wanted to review the evidence the FBI gathered.

GO DEEPER

FEATURES 

Chairman Xi Gets Mao’s “Great Leader” Title From 20th Party Congress

Chairman Xi Gets Mao’s “Great Leader” Title From 20th Party Congress
It looks like Chairman Xi is no longer shy about the comparisons between himself and Chairman Mao being made.  He has “accepted” the title of “Great Leader” from the 20th Party Congress, where he expects to be confirmed for a third term as the de facto one-man government of China. 

GO DEEPER

Plastic Trash Could Be 3D Printing Resource

New Method Could Turn Plastic Trash to 3D Printing Gold“We found a way to immediately turn this into something that’s stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the incentive to upcycle this stuff instead of just toss it away,” says Yu-Chung Chang, one of the authors in the study in Green Chemistry.

GO DEEPER

 

TOP HEADLINES

2020 CENSUS ERRORS COULD GIVE DNC 2024 ELECTION WIN

According to a report released by the US Census Department, the 2020 Census produced some notable errors that overcounted 8 states, 7 of which are Blue, and undercounted 6 states, 5 of which are Red, including Florida, As a consequence Florida will lose 2 Electoral Votes erroneously in 2024.

GO DEEPER

Biden’s FBI Operative Protects Hunter from Whistleblower

A DNC operative that ran interference to stop the FBI Investigation of the Hunter Biden laptop was assigned to handle the President’s son’s business partner turned whistleblower, Tony Bobulinski.  The operative, Timothy Thibault, kept other agents and Bubulinski from exchanging information with one another.

GO DEEPER

Social Media and Biden Collude to Silence Dissent

Mark Zuckerberg said on the Joe Rogan Podcast that the FBI told them to bury the Hunter Biden Laptop story in 2020.  The collusion between the White House and Social Media is openly obvious as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook all openly confess to censoring dissent to please the White House.

GO DEEPER

Antifa Protect Drag Queens While They Dance For Children

In Roanoke, Virginia, Anderson Distillery and Pub held an event including drag queens dressed in sexually explicit outfits parading in front of an audience that included 20 plus children.

GO DEEPER

HEADLINES 

Get links and more headlines here

England Has a New PM, Liz Truss

Liz Truss wins Conservative Party leadership race in U.K., will be next Prime Minister – boingboing.net

10 Presumed Dead in Puget Sound Plane Crash

Coast Guard halts search after Puget Sound crash; 1 dead, 9 missing – rssfeeds.usatoday.com

Federal Judge Restores Biden Oil and Gas Lease Freeze

Federal Judge Sides With BLM In 2021 Oil And Gas Lease Pause – Sheridan Media – sheridanmedia.com

 

Afghan Terrorists Kill Russian Embassy Staff

Afghanistan: Russian embassy staff killed in Kabul bombing – www.bbc.co.uk

 

NEWSWATCH REPORT

Get Links Here

US NEWS

‘Human crisis’: Chicago seeks help as Texas buses over migrants | Migration News – www.aljazeera.com

 

US POLITICS

Psychiatrist who called Trump and his supporters mentally ill loses lawsuit to regain Yale gig – www.thecollegefix.com

 

CULTURE

School defends woke teacher exposed attacking her students – www.louderwithcrowder.com

WashPost Crybully Lorenz Targets Libs of TikTok for ‘Attacking Hospitals’ – www.newsbusters.org

California School District Features ‘Progress Pride’ Murals – www.breitbart.com

Professor Will Nearly Nix the Final if Students Wear Surgical Masks All Semester –  redstate.com

 

WORLD

One of the suspects in mass stabbing that killed 10 in Canada has been found dead: police – nypost.com

Chile Rejects Left-Leaning Constitution – www.nytimes.com

Terrorists Overpowered 65 Army Troops, Policemen, Civil Defence Officers To Sack Kuje Prison In Abuja – Nigerian Minister, Aregbesola – saharareporters.com

Kenya’s Supreme Court upholds Ruto’s narrow presidential win – abcnews.go.com

Journalist Ivan Safronov sentenced to 22 years in Russian prison for treason – www.washingtonpost.com

Maguwu raises civil war fears -Newsday Zimbabwe – www.newsday.co.zw

Palestinian Terrorists Open Fire on Israeli Bus, Injuring 7 – www.breitbart.com

Taliban-led Afghan govt condemns explosion near Russian Embassy in Kabul – www.aninews.in

 

CHINA WATCH

Laos’ debt pressure raises specter of a China vassal state  – asia.nikkei.com

India Builds Up Border and Maritime Defenses Amid Rising Chinese Threat – legalinsurrection.com

Chinese designs in the Indian Ocean do not provide comfort – timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Putin’s New Foreign Policy To Boost Ties With India, China – www.ndtv.com

 

ECONOMY

Indian exports to China dip by a third in April-August to $6.8 billion – www.business-standard.com

Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar deepen Russia ties to blunt economic woes – asia.nikkei.com

EU energy ministers to discuss gas price cap, emergency liquidity help – document – www.reuters.com

 

ODDS & ENDS

Cyborg cockroaches with tiny backpacks and solar panels – cosmosmagazine.com

A Swarm of Tiny Robots Could Soon Brush and Floss Your Teeth – bestlifeonline.com

Slovakia on alert as tiger escaped from Ukraine seen in park – abcnews.go.com

Chairman Xi Gets Mao’s “Great Leader” Title From 20th Party Congress

 It looks like Chairman Xi is no longer shy about the comparisons between himself and Chairman Mao being made.  He has “accepted” the title of “Great Leader” from the 20th Party Congress, where he expects to be confirmed for a third term as the de facto one-man government of China. 

The 20th Party Congress will start October 16th of this year at Beijing.  There are conflicting reports of Xi consolidating power, as well as of reports that the Covid lockdown disaster and the property scheme collapse have made Xi vulnerable to rivals.

We don’t predict a Xi cancellation or reduction after the 20th Party congress.  If anything, we expect his power to be even more consolidated than it already is.  The congress seems already to be telegraphing his victory by confering the “Great Leader” title on him.

This is not to say Xi should feel secure going forward.  His problems aren’t going away, from without and from within.  His long-term prognosis is not great.

MORE ON CHINA XI 20TH PARTY CONGRESS

China’s Xi pushes forward to third term despite mounting crises

China’s ruling Communist Party will hold its 20th National Congress, at which Xi is widely expected to extend his hold on power for another five years — a move that would cement his status as the country’s most powerful leader in decades.

 

For China’s Top Leaders — Other Than Xi — Age Is More Than Just a Number

Unspoken rule ages out members of the Chinese Communist Party’s most influential policy-making body at 68; experts say that helps the party leader eliminate opposition
Communist Party of China (CPC) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s internal civil war against his party rivals in the build-up to the XXth CPC National Congress — now likely to occur in November …

CCP Cadres Write Open Letter To Target Xi Jinping’s Personality Cult; Suggest Reforms

Communist Party of China’s leading cadres has shot a letter asking for reforms and greater responsibility in the existing workings of the party.
The countdown to Xi Jinping’s expected coronation has officially started. In 47 days,
New Method Could Turn Plastic Trash to 3D Printing Gold

A new method outlined in a study published in Green Chemistry could lead to plastic bottles becoming raw material capable of creating anything from motorcycle parts to smart phones.

From Futurity.org

“We found a way to immediately turn this into something that’s stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the incentive to upcycle this stuff instead of just toss it away,” says Yu-Chung Chang, one of the authors in the study in Green Chemistry.

If the study can be duplicated in real life, then the ramifications are hopeful across a number of fronts, from cleaning up garbage sites to creating cheap resources for people to create what they want right where they live.

Here is more from Futurity.org

Once the PLA was broken down to its basic building blocks, the researchers rebuilt the plastic and created a type of photo-curable liquid resin that is commonly used as printing “ink” for 3D printers. When it was used in a 3D printer and cured into plastic pieces, the product showed equal or better mechanical and thermal properties than commercially available resins.

Read Full Article

This is a theory waiting to be proven, and more often than not theory leads to failure.  It remains to be seen how this will pan out, but it’s probably not the only effort to solve the same problem and create the same opportunity, clean up the plastic pollution and create cheap resources for local manufacturing, local industry.

MORE ON 3D PRINTING BREAKTHROUGHS

Penn State researchers develop granular hydrogel bioink that could expand possibilities for tissue bioprinting

There are 17 deaths daily in the United States of people waiting for an organ transplant. As well as this, a person is added to the waiting list every nine minutes, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Breakthrough: Volumetric 3D Printed Livers in Regenerative Medicine

3D printing has emerged as a major driver of innovation across industrial fields. In regenerative medicine, the technology has been applied to tissue engineering – potentially paving the way toward the bioprinting of entire organs. This year, a research …

VA cleared to use 3D printing tech to assist veterans’ surgeries

While groundbreaking, this development is not the first time the VA or the military community has dabbled with 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing technology. Last summer …
Pixxy Pocket Drone. When it was released in March 2014, The Pixxy Pocket Drone was the smallest 3D Printed FPV/UAV platform ever available for public use. Weighing in at only 40g, this tiny …
With 3D printing, a camera-carrying drone can be easily customized to be a delivery drone or vice versa. All you need to do is print a new attachment bracket. Such flexibility is only possible due to the 3D printing capabilities. Simple design changes on software can be made quickly to accommodate the user’s requirements.
The Strategic Goal Of Charles Scwab’s Democratic Party

The Strategic Goal of the Democratic Party

The strategic goal of the Democratic Party in America today is to atomize society such that it can be divided and ruled from the top and fulfill the agenda of the World Economic Forum, which says “you will own nothing and like it” and which is stakeholder socialism or “the global corpostate (GC).

While some GC quislings may remain in the GOP, the global corpostate has made its home in and put all its money down on the Democratic Party.

While many conspiracy theories are untenable, the idea there is a sort of truce between to the ruling clans and houses in this divided and organic global corpostate enterprise is tenable. Like never before these clans and houses, some of whose members and orders of battle we may never know, have set aside their conflicts to wage remorseless war on their common foes, which may include everyone from Russia to Republicans in the US.

These shot-callers are certainly against the common person. You can have rainbows shooting out of your ears and carry all the cancel culture wokist virtue signals and yet still you are their foe, or at least their target.

The aim is to divide you from everyone: no community, no extended family, no immediate family, not even a sacred lifetime bond meant to emulate the relationship of Christ to the church. They want to end gender to atomize every human being and deny that there is any order to anything, let alone divine or natural, that cannot be made to bow before their desires.

Even the alt-gendered, when they emerge, and numbers are skyrocketing because of the ceaseless propaganda, will be no more favored than anyone else. When the birth rate falls the GC shot-callers need more people, the alt-gendered will join the Christians who were removed before.

Or at least that’s the plan.

It is a doomed plan because it only represents the inevitable process of civilizational collapse and the emergence of the new which come in the same certain patterns as the planets revolve around the sun.

These GC clowns are in way over their head and their fantastical desires for monopoly power and to own everything and everyone come from a late stages hubris akin to collective dementia.

Thus, the strategic aims of the Democratic Party’s true masters, the GC shot-callers, are fed by cash and utopian promises and the pure carnal lust for total control that has poisoned the Democrats since the 1860’s and that only just takes new forms to make new excuses and justifications.

Everyone who bets on or supports any Democratic Party candidate or incumbent in any election is really voting for that madman Charles Schwab and his World Economic Forum. They are voting to ultimately own nothing and like it or face severe consequences.

Europe’s Green Hope Shattered By Reality

Western Europe has long existed in a bubble of safety devoid of any real connection to the past outside of a few major events that rarely go further back than Hitler. For Europe, America mostly defended her lands, so the cost of defending one’s home from all enemies foreign and domestic was lost on a people that have been protected by America since the end of World War Two.

Russia has delivered to Europe a lesson in forgetting what that cost really is. Europe must now come to terms with the fact that they have no real military deterrence without the United States. Their green virtue signalling policies of relying on dirty energy from foreign powers have produced disastrous dependencies on energy from the very threat that has popped the bubble of safety they’ve long been living inside.

The invasion of Ukraine has increased Europe’s desire for alliances and security. Finland and Sweden are on a fast track to become new members of NATO. The German center-left coalition government have announced the intention to build a new robust military that many predict can quickly become the most powerful military in Europe. Additionally, the German Prime Minister, Klaus Sholz, told NATO that the Germans would increase their contribution to NATO.

Meanwhile the EU is making plans to also increase their military strength. With Ukraine seeking membership to the EU, Britain agreeing to a military partnership, and Ireland expanding its military involvement, the once diminishing European Union is looking attractive once again.

Almost every European nation has a green party within it, a party that primarily identifies as being committed to taking radical steps to save the planet from man-made climate change. But yet, the cost of Green Puritanism is increasing, as Europe comes to terms with what we like to call, the “blood and bone cost of the reality of power.”

Many wealthy nations virtue signal green by preventing non-green energy development at home while making their nation-states dependent on foreign-purchased non-green energy to meet their actual daily energy needs.

While much of Europe is now confronting the cost of going green, thanks to Russia, both for the Ukraine invasion and the natural gas pipeline shut-down threat, The Netherlands is coming to terms with another hard reality, when policy confronts real human action. The consequences have been ongoing protests, freedom convoys, police shootings, disruptions, and refusals to even meet with the government under the unrealistic terms given to the farmers now fighting for their very lives.

When you enact policies that destroy your internal food production at a time when food shortages are spreading throughout the globe, your government is about to face the cost of ignoring the facts. This is the blood and bone cost of the reality of power that the “experts” of the Netherlands hardly ever took into consideration.

There are protests now forming across Europe, including everything from resisting censorship, to taxes, to academic policy making with no regard for the people it harms. There are new parties forming and radical parties rising.

Europe is set to become a cauldron of competing radical powers, some doubling down even more on leftist suicide, and others promising to restore order, security, and common-sense morality.

We have great hope for our nation here in America to survive this liminal time, a time between what was and what will next be, but Europe seems set for a generation of turmoil and upheaval, terrorism and continued diminishment of quality of life. They won’t be alone, but their geographical and historical context leads us to believe they will be one of the hardest hit by the continued upheavals to come.

Product Review: The “Israeli Bandage”

One of the oft overlooked aspects of the military in general are the small items that form part of a soldier’s kit. While the vast majority of these items are very mundane, indeed, occasionally an item appears which offers a sea-change in its sphere.

The Emergency Bandage, invented by former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) medic Bernard Bar-Natan in 1994, was first combat-proven during peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and is now widely deployed and manufactured by many companies, such as PerSlys Medical, is one such product.

While mass produced, purpose-designed combat first aid dressings date back to the early 1920’s with the advent of the “Carlisle Dressing“, developed at the US Army’s Carlisle Barracks, in the aftermath of World War One, surprisingly little further development occurred until PerSys Medical’s design came along. The Carlisle Bandage was a simple affair, simply a sterile dressing on one side, backed by a gauze, later cotton, cloth backing used to secure it in place. (Indeed, Bar-Natan attributes his drive to invent the bandage with being issued Carlisle bandages manufactured in 1938, during his time as an IDF medic.)

While the Carlisle and its successors were useful, and certainly saved lives on the battlefield, they were far from perfect solutions. The dressings frequently came loose, and the design allowed for a great deal of contamination to enter the wound area, even if tightly secured in place. The only way to effectively protect the wound from post-trauma infection was to apply an ace-type elastic wrap after applying the battle wound dressing. Obviously, this was rarely done, as medics tended to use the space and weight of the ace wrap to carry extra bandages, instead.

Variants of the Carlisle were used all the way into the 1990’s, two being included in the first-aid kit of the day, until the deployment of the modern IFAK, which includes the “Emergency Dressing”, as it is termed by the US Military.

Bar-Natan’s design abandoned the simplicity of the Carlisle, in favor of a significantly improved version which, although somewhat more complex to use, provides far better care for an injury victim. The Emergency Bandage comes already attached to an ace-type wrap, which is integral to the dressing’s function. After removal, the sterile side of the dressing is applied as direct pressure to the wound area, and the elastic wrap is wound one turn around the extremity (or the torso or head), until it meets the second essential part of the design.

U.S. Military First Aid Kit. US Department of Defense photo.

The Emergency Bandage’s patented “pressure bar” is a stirrup-shaped device mounted directly with the elastic wrap. Slipping the wrap through the stirrup of the pressure bar, then reversing the direction of the wrap, causes the pressure bar to exert a mild tourniquet-type force against the wound. This results in the creation of an additional barrier to external media contaminating the injury. The wrap is then secured in place by the bandage’s closure bar, which hooks into the bandage in much the same way as a ballpoint pen clipping to a shirt pocket.

US Military-issue IFAK, 2012. US Army photo.

Additionally, the Emergency Bandage can in many instances be self-applied one-handed, something extremely difficult, if not impossible, with the Carlisle-model dressing family.

Mated to QuikClot-impregnated gauze, this provides a very powerful field dressing that is practical, easy to use and easy to train on. Indeed, the Emergency Bandage has been credited with saving many of the victims of the notorious 2011 shooting in Tucson, AZ, in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was critically wounded.

The Emergency Bandage – the “Israeli Bandage” to many US troops – has saved, and continues to save, lives in combat theaters and disaster emergencies, around the world.

The Freedomist — Keeping Watch, So You Don’t Have To
Product Review: The X-18 ATC ‘Tank Boat’

When the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) Commandant, General David H. Berger, announced his radical vision in 2019 of “reinventing” the Marine Corps to perform duties on a basis more in line with the guidance from then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, his program proved to be highly controversial, not least, in light of recent events in Ukraine and Russia. This vision radically restructures the Marine Corps, removing main battle tanks entirely, and significantly reducing both “bayonet strength” in infantry battalions, as well as heavily cutting back on conventional artillery and tactical air transport, all in an attempt to fight the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

It is bewildering – to say the least – as to how these ideas could work verses a major-war opponent may be an open question. Primarily, the controversy revolves around the significantly reduced capacity in fire support.

OVERVIEW

Fire support for landing operations has long consisted of frigate– to destroyer-class vessels deploying various types of stand-off land attack missiles, as well as cannons in the 5-inch/125mm range. Not since the Landing Ship, Medium (Rocket) (LSM(R)) of World War 2 has there been a truly dedicated close-inshore bombardment-capable vessel. Since the end of the Vietnam War (1964-1975), “inshore fire support” has consisted primarily of craft armed with .50/12.7mm heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, mortars or flamethrowers.

However, times change, and technology changes apace.

Okinawa, April – June 1945: An American rocket ship fires a salvo of rockets during the bombardment of Okinawa. US Navy photo.

Case in point: As technology and high-tech industry has expanded throughout the world, more and more nations are developing energetic and dynamic design firms. Recently unveiled by Indonesian shipbuilder PT Ludin, the Atasena-class X-18 ATC (Armored Troop Carrier) – originally called, for obvious reasons, the “Tank Boat” – may look like something out of a “GI Joe” movie, but it is definitely an innovative development of preexisting concepts.

Name of Indonesia islands greater than 1000 km2 in area.

Comprised of over 18,000 separate islands, and being on the front lines of both insurgency, piracy and general world unrest, Indonesia has a definite need for an inshore fire support vessel with a heavy punch. In this, the X-18 “Tank Boat” certainly delivers.

Designed by PT Ludin, the X-18 ATC is to be built by the veteran small craft yards of North Sea Boats. The current production unit that has undergoing testing by the Indonesian Army is armed with the Cockerill C1030 MK44S 30mm cannon unmanned turret. A mock-up vessel, shown at international arms shows when the details of the X-18 were released mounted a mock-up of a planned Cockerill 105mm cannon with an automatic loading system in a small, 2-person turret, with a 360° traverse and a pair of .50cal/12.7x99mm heavy machine guns as secondary weapons, with other secondary weapons possible. In either configuration, the X-18 can also carry up to 60 troops, up to 5 tons of cargo, or a variety of small, rigid-hulled inflatables. This would allow the deployment of conventional boarding or landing parties, as well as special operations teams — who could potentially have 105mm artillery support within a 10km arc from the craft. Another planned version would mount some form of dedicated anti-ship, and possibly anti-submarine, missiles.

CONCLUSION

With a reported draft of only 0.8 meters and a reported 600nm range (the distance from Washington, D.C. to Miami, FL) at 9 knots (but able to cruise at 40 knots, with a 50 knot maximum speed), the twin-hulled catamaran design would certainly have long legs. The design is impressive enough – in theory – to have reportedly garnered an early order from the United Arab Emirates, with India, Greece and the Philippines expressing serious interest.

A U.S. riverboat (Zippo monitor) deploying napalm during the Vietnam War. US Navy photo.

While its armor (NATO Stanag 4569) may be rather unimpressive, proof only against small arms and shell fragments at a distance, in the inshore environment, the ability to swiftly bring large numbers of troops, backed up by significant firepower, to bear on an enemy’s rear areas is a major advancement in firepower.

This is something that the USMC, struggling with shrinking procurement budgets and a general drop-off in enlistments, should seriously consider adding to its arsenal, not least because of a projected purchase price of under US$20million each.

Not every bright idea comes out of the US defense establishment.

The Freedomist — Keeping Watch, So You Don’t Have To
Global Wars, Proxy Wars, And The Race To World Government

Structured Conflict is rooted in the nature of man separate from His Creator. The quest for power, the love of money, the race for resources, economic competition, and the contest between ideas, ideologies, and religions all contribute to this conflict, one that did not begin in the modern era, but traces its roots back to the Garden of Eden, the desire to be like God, and the first murder (one brother killing another).

Modern tools (like finance, statecraft, communication, transportation, and military technology) and the cult-like ideologies of Communism and globalism have only made modern wars more destructive and deadly, and provide the same capabilities for a now-emerging World War III.

(more…)
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