Cameron Curtis
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Articles by Cameron Curtis
Dispatch from Zakynthos
Zakynthos’ Navagio Beach (also known as Shipwreck Beach), featuring the wreck of MV Panagiotis and crystal clear water, had been populating my feed for weeks. A deeper dive revealed picture-perfect sandy beaches plus delicious food and wine. Those are the images that originally drew me to the island.
My Family Is Obsessed With Protein Pretzels – Here Are the Ones We Can’t Stop Snacking On
Photo courtesy of Crisp Power For my family of four, I’m always on the lookout for more protein-dense options especially when it comes to snacks. Luckily, more and more protein-packed snacks are lining grocery store aisles. Our family cycles through a lot of snacks. My kids must pack one for school every single day, and I often find myself reaching for something salty in the afternoon.
The Illusion That is The Ukraine Minerals Deal
This will be a short article. In it, I will show how a single clause in the US-Ukraine minerals agreement could lose the US taxpayer billions of dollars. The loss will occur in a manner that does not become evident for many years. This is annoying because one does not need a PhD in mathematical finance to see it. And yet… no one has pointed it out. Remember, Zelensky first proposed this deal early in 2024, well before the election. Ukraine was losing and US support was waning.
Coriolis Effect: ELR Sniping as the World Turns
The World Record Sniper Kill For a detailed analysis of the Mosul world record shot, see The Perfect Long-Range Kill and Science of the Long-Range Kill. The first deals with holdover, the second with stability and spin drift. This article continues with the Coriolis adjustment. In 2017, a pair of Canadian JTF2 sniper teams was operating from a firing position on the east bank of the Tigris River on the north side of Mosul.
Learn the Science of the Long-Range Kill
The Abrams’ Smoothbore Sabot The American M1 Abrams is equipped with a 120mm smoothbore cannon. It fires armor-piercing discarding sabots with depleted uranium penetrators. This ammunition kills by penetrating enemy armor with kinetic energy. The penetrator is like a super-hard bolt that drills a hole in the enemy tank purely by the velocity and energy with which it arrives. The depleted uranium has an incendiary effect that sets fire to anything flammable inside the target.
US Withdraws From Rzeszów Airbase Supplying Ukraine
US Hands Over Rzeszów to Poland In January, 2022, Rzeszów, Poland had only one claim to distinction. It was situated within 50 km of the Ukrainian border and it had a runway long enough to land American C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, Rzeszów acquired significance beyond its aspirations. It became the key NATO supply hub, a funnel for shipping billions of dollars worth of military equipment to the Kiev regime. No longer.
Summer Offensive: The Russian Race to the Dnieper
The Puzzle of the Bridges The Russians have not blown the bridges. The bridges over the Dnieper River. For three years, they have been fighting a war of attrition in the east. They have accumulated forces and ground the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) down. They have rocketed, droned, and shelled AFU supply nodes and destroyed power generation facilities. But they have not blown the bridges. The bridges carry supplies from the Polish border in western Ukraine to the contact line in the east.
Selecting a Rifle: The Perfect Long-Range Kill
The Perfect Long-Range Kill A Canadian sniper with Joint Task Force 2 made a world-record kill shot at a range of 3,540 meters (2.2 miles). That range converts to 3,871 yards. Range was determined by a laser rangefinder and an inclinometer. There were two two-man shooter-spotter teams, with shooters and spotters rotating regularly due to the fatigue associated with long periods of concentration.
Selecting a Rifle Cartridge
Introduction In my last article, Selecting A Rifle: An Organized Approach, I discussed an approach to rifle selection. If you’re a soldier, it’s pretty easy – the Army presses a rifle into your hands. The approach I describe is more general, based on a number of different applications. Varmint hunting, midsize game, large game, target shooting, long range shooting, police marksmanship – any number of mission sets. To follow this approach, you need a good understanding of your target and your tools.
Can Ukraine be Saved?
The Mathematics of Viability Can Ukraine be saved? I’m not talking about the war. It is now generally accepted that the Russia-Ukraine war is not winnable if we define the desired end state as the eviction of Russia from all occupied territory. That’s not going to happen. As I’ve discussed, the most likely outcome is a peace agreement along the lines of “Istanbul Plus,” Russia’s peace proposal of June 2024. For reference, see How President Trump Can Obtain a Ceasefire in Ukraine (Istanbul Plus).
Selecting a Rifle: An Organized Approach
Introduction This article is an introduction to a series on how to select a rifle. This will be a fairly extensive series, with topics ranging from ballistics issues to scope selection. I wouldn’t be surprised if most readers already own more than one rifle, but I do think it will be a useful exercise to study this approach.
Look Under the Hood: Different Types of Suppressors
Disclaimer: This article provides no legal advice. Do NOT try this at home without familiarizing yourself with and complying with local and federal ATF laws. Otherwise, you may find yourself taking up a new residence and making new friends. Suppressors In my last article, Check Out the Suppressed Shotgun, I introduced suppressors – how they work, and some of the issues involved in working with them. Suppressors are tubes mounted to the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the sound of a gunshot.
Check Out the Suppressed Shotgun
Suppressors Suppressors (often incorrectly referred to as “silencers”) are like mufflers for your guns. Their purpose is to reduce the sound of a gunshot. Subject to certain limitations of design and physics, this makes the weapon a more effective tool. The gunshot is harder to detect, as is the location of the shooter. Suppressors also make the operation of the weapon easier on the shooter’s ears. The loud report of a gunshot comes from two sources.
Do You Really Need That Compensator?
Compensators and Muzzle Brakes Everybody’s seen pistols and rifles with bulbous objects hanging off their muzzles. The most commonly used are suppressors that reduce the noise of a gunshot. They never work as well as they do in Hollywood. For one thing, when a bullet is supersonic, suppressors don’t eliminate the sonic crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. Even so, they have their uses, in particular saving the shooter’s hearing.
President Trump’s Envoy Speaks About Ukraine Negotiations
The Envoy Everybody’s seen The Godfather. Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola’s how-to manual on organizations, negotiation, and the exercise of power. Everybody’s got a favorite line, a favorite character. I like Tom Hagen, the Godfather’s adopted son. The lawyer he sent to conduct negotiations. “Always be polite, never make a threat.” One way or another, deals got done. Steve Witkoff is President Trump’s Tom Hagen. He got the Gaza Ceasefire done.
Will President Trump Nuke Iran’s Nukes?
Editor’s Note: This piece first ran in SOFREP back in March of this year. I feel it is even more relevant now than it was back then; therefore, I’m bringing it back for you to consider. The views expressed herein are those of the author. – GDM The Letter On March 7, in an interview with Fox News, President Trump said he had written a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Commandos Who Cracked Kurst
Prelude On the night of March 7, 2025, Russia launched a massive missile attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The attack ranged across a number of Ukrainian regions. Targets included natural gas storage facilities in western Ukraine, and gas pipeline facilities in Sumy and Poltava. No information was provided about the damage at Sumy and Poltava. The story was lost amid the noise of the larger attack. Figure 2 shows the locations of Poltava, Sumy, and Sudzha.
How Ukraine's Kursk Offensive Failed
Prelude Following their disastrous summer offensive of June – September 2023, Ukraine was on the back foot. They lost hundreds of tanks supplied by NATO in an effort to break through to the Sea of Azov. They broke their teeth on Russian defensive belts 5 layers deep and didn’t scratch the first. From October 2023 onward, Russia went on the offensive. They were not interested in “big arrow” attacks that cost men and materiel. The Russian leadership was extremely casualty-averse.
The Guns That Killed Bonnie & Clyde
The Movies There are two notable movies that tell the story of Bonnie & Clyde and the ambush that killed them (there are others, but these seem to be the best). The first is the 1967 classic, Bonnie and Clyde, with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the title roles. The second is a well-regarded 2019 Netflix piece called The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson. I have seen the first, but only clips of the second. Because I love 1970’s classics, and I don’t do Netflix.
Suspension of ISR Aid Cripples Ukraine's War Effort
Introduction The US has progressively suspended the provision of different types of aid to Ukraine. The first was financial aid, followed by Biden administration military aid in transit, then various types of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) information. The suspension of ISR is most critical. We will describe the various types of aid that have been suspended and the impact of that suspension on Ukraine’s war effort.
Op-Ed: How President Trump Can Obtain a Ceasefire in Ukraine
Introduction This article will review Russia’s “Istanbul Plus” peace proposal of June 13, 2024. It will discuss how President Trump can achieve his objective of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. What President Trump Wants President Trump is clear about what he wants. He wants a ceasefire in Ukraine, and he wants the killing to stop. He is the only world leader who speaks of the conflict in these terms.
Introducing Colt Revolver Frames
Colt Revolver Frame Sizes My last article introduced Smith & Wesson revolver frame sizes. In the world of revolvers, the two big names are Smith & Wesson and Colt. Among revolver fans, there are S&W lovers and Colt lovers. It’s a Ford vs. Chevy kind of thing. I personally like Smiths, but I’m still going to do some writeups on Colts. For example, I couldn’t properly write about S&W magnums without touching on the Colt Python. To compare these, it is useful to appreciate the development of Colt frames.
6 New Thrilling Novels for Fans of Zero Day
in Books to Read if You Like..., eBook, Mystery, News, Thriller 6 New Thrilling Novels for Fans of Zero Day If you couldn’t get enough of Zero Day’s high-stakes action, cyber intrigue, and edge-of-your-seat suspense, these six new thrillers are a must-read. Packed with gripping twists, government conspiracies, and tech-driven tension, these novels will keep you hooked until the final page.
Introducing Smith & Wesson Revolver Frames
Revolvers and Semi-Automatic Pistols When I was growing up, I was introduced to two pistols. My grandfather’s and uncle’s service 1911s, and my dad’s Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver in the unusual Remington .22 Jet Magnum caliber. It fired an odd cartridge that looked more like that of an M-16 rifle. Nothing like the blunt .45 ACP. For some reason, I gravitated to 1911s. They were worn and scuffed, and I can’t explain the attraction. Go figure. However.
American Privateers Could Make War on the Cartels
Private Contractors May Target Cartels Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater private military company (later sold to private investors and renamed Academi), and Senator Mike Lee (R. Utah), have proposed that private contractors be tasked with targeting cartels. This activity would be legitimized by issuing Letters of Marque to PMCs. Issuance of such commissions is a practice dating back hundreds of years.
President Trump’s Stop-Aid Order Squeezes Zelensky
Background: The Stop-Aid Executive Order On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an order that stopped the global flow of US foreign aid for 90 days. The order, available here WH – President Trump’s Stop-Aid Order, affects all countries except those for which the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, signs an explicit waiver. Secretary Rubio issued a follow-up memorandum on January 26.
Learjet Air Ambulance Crashes In Philadelphia
At 6:30 pm EST, January 31st, a Learjet 55 air ambulance took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The plane carried two pilots, a child patient, the child’s mother, and two medical staff. The flight’s final destination was Tijuana, Mexico, with a short stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport, Missouri. Shortly after takeoff, the Learjet crashed three miles southwest of the airport in the residential neighborhood of Rhawnhurst.
Ukraine Fails to Get Free Gas and Causes Higher Prices
The New Year’s Eve Massacre Natural gas stopped flowing through Ukraine at midnight on December 31, 2024. Contracts between Ukraine and the Russian Federation were allowed to lapse without renewal. The result was increased gas and electricity costs for Greater Europe, financial loss for Ukraine and Russia, and a financial windfall for the USA. The media touted this as a brilliant move by plucky Ukraine against the Russian Federation.
Shooting the Remington Rolling Block
Black Powder Redux These days we are deluged with a plethora of .223 AR platforms, 9mm semi-automatic pistols (especially striker-fired models), and all manner of weapons out of gun-foo movies. Frankly, it can be refreshing to go back not one century but two. Find a weapon that doesn’t come out of a video game, but is still easier to carry and more convenient than a blunderbuss or flintlock.
Ukraine Struggles With an Epidemic of Desertion
The Ukrainian army is experiencing an epidemic of desertion. Even the most committed soldiers are breaking after more than three years of continuous combat without relief. Whole units are abandoning positions without orders. This isn’t necessarily because they are bad soldiers. On the contrary, the best Ukrainian soldiers are excellent troops, often with more combat experience than their Western advisers. French trainers have a 1:1 trainer-to-trainee ratio. Why?
Putin's Oreshnik Missile Changes the Game
Game Changer Game Changer: A factor introduced into play such that the game can no longer be played in the same way. On November 21, 2024, the Russian Federation struck the Yuzhmash Machine Building Plant in Dnipropetrovsk with the Oreshnik. The Oreshnik was a never-before-seen intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The Ukrainians initially thought the weapon was an RS-26 Rubezh ICBM. They could be forgiven this mistake, because the Oreshnik appears to use the RS-26 as a booster.
How We Execute Long Range Missile Attacks
Who is Shooting Missiles into Russia? “Biden allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia with missiles.” —BBC “Ukraine fires US-supplied longer-range missiles into Russia…” —BBC “Ukraine fires UK-supplied cruise missiles into Russia…” —Reuters “Ukraine fires US-supplied missiles into Russia for first time…” —New York Times Let’s be clear: UKRAINE HASN’T DONE SQUAT. All the news media say the same thing. All the talking heads say the same thing. All the official spokespeople say the same thing.
Digital Stealth Owns the Future
The Limits of Structural Stealth The article, Why World War II Radars Can Detect Modern Stealth Aircraft, discusses the ability of World War II vintage radars, with low frequencies and long wavelengths, to detect modern stealth aircraft, including the B-2, F-22, and F-35. Russia has never stopped developing these radars. The interested reader is left to study that, and other articles about the vulnerability of “traditional” stealth aircraft to detection.
Israeli ALBM Damages a Rezonans Anti-Stealth Radar
Russian Anti-Stealth Radar in Iran In a previous article, Why World War II Radars Can Detect Modern Stealth Aircraft, we pointed out that World War II vintage radars, with low frequencies and long wavelengths, were capable of detecting modern stealth aircraft, including the B-2, F-22, and F-35. Russia never stopped developing these long-wave VHF radars and has built some truly capable systems. In The Anti-Stealth Kill-Chain: Is the F-35 Untouchable?
Iran’s Fattah-2 and Katie Can Nuke Tel Aviv
Spoiler Alert! Back in July, Tony Blinken told us Iran was two weeks away from building an A-Bomb. He’s Secretary of State, so whatever he tells us must be true. Sixteen months ago, an anonymous DOD official told us Iran was 12 days away. This is like forecasting doomsday from climate change. Okay, let’s cut the suspense. In this writer’s opinion, Iran has already assembled functional A-Bombs and mounted them on missiles. Now we can stop wringing our hands and get real.
Israel Fails to Strike Iran's Underground Missile Cities
The Israeli Strike of October 25/26 There are three narratives of the Israeli strike on Iran on October 25/26. Let’s summarize them. “We struck Iran with over a hundred planes, we destroyed all their S-300 air defenses. We struck a former nuclear building (Taleghan 2) at Parchen. We destroyed two buildings at Khojir used to house blenders of solid rocket fuel and set the Iranian missile program back two and a half years. We hit one fuel tank at an oil refinery with three waves of attacks.
F-35 Stealth Defeated by Unknown Russia/Iran Radar
Cameron Curtis has recently posted numerous articles on radar and electronic warfare. They are all on SOFREP and will be linked where appropriate. The interesting thing about current events is that the conflicts in Ukraine, and especially the Middle East, showcase the technology under combat conditions. The recent Israeli attack on Iran on the night of October 25/26 is particularly interesting because Israeli F-35i Adirs encountered particularly sophisticated threat radars.
Israel’s Secret Air Launched Ballistic Missiles Strike Iran
Introduction This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the October 25/26 Israeli air strike on Iran. The first part is here NSA Leak Causes Feeble Israeli Attack on Iran and discusses how an NSA leak may have affected the viability of the strike. This article covers the weapons used and the results of the attack. The Evolution of Strike ALBMs During the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein of Iraq launched SCUD ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv. These were “Extended-Range” Scuds.
NSA Leak Causes Feeble Israeli Attack on Iran
The Perfectly Timed Leak The Israelis struck Iran from the air on the night of October 25. Media and analysts have been studying the strike in isolation and often drawing the wrong conclusions. The strike must be evaluated in conjunction with a leak of classified American intelligence information. On October 17, a top-secret document from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was published on Telegram by an Iran-linked channel.
How to Defeat an Iranian Missile Swarm
How many Standard 3 ABMs does it take to shoot down an Iranian missile? The answer is – at least two, probably three or more. Period. When an Aegis destroyer fires six Standard 3 ABMs at 300 incoming Iranian missiles, it is not going to shoot down six of the threats. It will be lucky to shoot down three. It might shoot down two. On many occasions, it might not shoot down any. The same goes for all our air defense missiles. Patriot PAC-3s, THAAD, Israeli Arrow 3.
Ukraine’s Zelensky Demands NATO or Nukes
Zelensky’s Gamble For weeks, Volodymyr Zelensky has been trying to convince the leaders of the US, UK, France, and Germany to support long-range missile strikes into Pre-2014 Russian territory. He has not received approval because such attacks would constitute a dangerous escalation. Last Thursday, in a desperate effort to stave off defeat, Zelensky presented his “Victory Plan” to the European Council Summit in Brussels. The plan has shocked the world and left western leaders shaking.
US Deploys Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to Counter Iran Missile Threat
THAAD – Terminal High Altitude Area Defense THAAD is one of America’s three premiere air defense missile systems. The other two are the Patriot PAC-3 and the Aegis Standard 3 (SM-3). These systems all share a type of warhead referred to as a kinetic kill vehicle (KKV). This is a non-explosive warhead that destroys an incoming ballistic missile by means of a high-speed collision. This is a method that demands the utmost precision.
Will Iran Strike Israel’s A-Bomb Factory?
Dimona: Israel’s A-Bomb Factory Officially, Israel does not have nuclear weapons. Unofficially, we know they do. This is the result of their policy of strategic ambiguity. Israel’s formal position is that “Israel will never be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the region.” That’s nice and ambiguous. Just like Iran’s formal position is that “Nuclear weapons are contrary to the teachings of Islam.” But both sides will use them if existentially threatened.
Iran Has Probably Already Built The Bomb
Yes, Iran Has Probably Already Built The Bomb I bet that got your attention. A more accurate statement is, “I think Iran has already built the bomb.” I do not say that lightly. The purpose of this article is to show you why I think that, why it is logical to think that, and why responsible leaders should be considering that probability when formulating policy (they are not). There are two types of nuclear fission bomb design: gun type and implosion type. In 1945, the Manhattan Project produced both.
Iran Missile Attack Overwhelms Israeli Air Defenses
The Attack On the night of October 1, Iran launched an attack of some 200 to 400 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) on Israel. This was retaliation for two Israeli attacks: 1) Israel’s assassination of Hamas’s political chairman, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on the day of the new Iranian president’s inauguration, and 2) the attack by Israel on South Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Iran’s Brigadier General Abbas Nilforushan.
BLOWBACK: The Latest Cameron Curtis Breed Military Thriller (Excerpt)
BLOWBACK By Cameron Curtis Available on Amazon—Pre-order for only $0.99 BLOWBACK Thirty stories below the streets of New York, in tunnels 150 years old, BLOWBACK has come home. Only Breed can stop it. Excerpt from Chapter 7—Club Marennya, Kiev Stein wrinkles her nose. “Why would Datsyuk want to meet here?” BLOWBACK By Cameron Curtis Available on Amazon—Pre-order for only $0.99 BLOWBACK Thirty stories below the streets of New York, in tunnels 150 years old, BLOWBACK has come home.
Excerpt From 'Blood Sport': The Newest Cameron Curtis Breed Thriller
BLOOD SPORT By Cameron Curtis Terrorism 101—Don’t make war on Breed. — Wambesa, a small country in Africa, is rich in cobalt. That mineral is essential for the production of batteries that power electric vehicles. Coup d’etats are driving the French from the continent. France’s COBRA—Cobalt Resources Africa—is concerned about the security of its cobalt mine. The company hires Breed to evaluate the stability of the country. Breed arrives in Wambesa and finds the country anything but stable.
The Iskander Missile: Changing the Dynamics of Modern Warfare in Ukraine
The Iskander The Ukraine War (let’s call it what it is – it’s not a “Special Military Operation”, it’s a war) has been a proving ground for game changing weapon systems. Russian glide bombs weren’t really new. They were a logical implementation of the JDAM concept. Indeed, Germany used glide bombs in World War 2. Frequently, they were launched from bombers based in Norway. Against the Atlantic convoys. Russia has introduced hypersonic missiles to the battle.
Why Accuracy Metrics Matter in Modern Warfare
The First in a Series This will be the first in a series of posts about strike systems. In modern warfare, with ubiquitous ISR—Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance—no assets can move freely on the surface. All manner of strike systems with sophisticated guidance can attack them with great precision. Examples include artillery (e.g., GPS-guided Excalibur shells), JDAMs and other glide bombs covered in earlier posts, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
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