Author Archives: N.R. Jenzen-Jones
A Handful of Mosins in Vietnam
I want to apologise for the pretty poor photography in this piece – all the weapons were behind dusty glass, in an unlit room, and the firearms themselves had (criminally, in my opinion!) been painted in cheap flat black and gloss brown paints on both the metal and wooden parts. These eight Mosin Nagant Model […]
US State Department views on PSCs operating off the Horn of Africa
This is an excerpt from the remarks given by the Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Andrew J. Shapiro to the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. on the 27th of March. The full text is available here. The underlined emphasis is mine. Private Sector Another integral part of the response to […]
Madness? THIS. IS. TWITTAAAAAAAH!
Twitter Fight Club, that is. Team Security Scholar is heavily involved in this year’s TFC event, with Nat being a part of the steering committee and a competitor, and yours truly as one of the judges for the competition. You can read about my part in the event (and my judging criteria) at my personal […]
The First Rule of Twitter Fight Club…
It’s time for #TFC12, baby! I’ve been invited to be one of several judges for this year’s Twitter Fight Club tournament, so I felt it only fitting to outline what I see as my judging criteria for contestants in my bracket quadrant. 1. Quality of arguments – First and foremost, the quality of arguments will […]
Cluster Bomb Submunitions in Vietnam
I was recently in Vietnam on business, and took the opportunity to visit both the tunnel complex and small arms display at Củ Chi, and the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City proper. With only a half-day to spare, I focused on SALW, ammunition, and ordnance. Vietnam still features an astonishing range of […]
Optics of the Libyan Conflict – Part III
Whilst work continues on the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) database that I am currently compiling, I continue to come across a few interesting optics here and there. You can see my first two posts on these here, and here. I’ve added a handful more below. This Barrett M82A1M is fitted with a Leupold […]
MINDEF addresses National Security & Strategy Workshop 2011
Midway through last November I had the opportunity to attend the 3rd Annual Curtin University National Security & Strategy Workshop. The keynote speaker was the Minister for Defence, the Hon. Stephen Smith MP. He spoke at length on a number of upcoming challenges to the Australian security environment during his presentation, including the AUS-US alliance, and the ADF’s […]
An Industry-Based Approach to Maritime Security in West Africa
by N.R. Jenzen-Jones This piece was written in October 2011. It first appeared in the Journal of International Peace Operations (JIPO) volume 7, number 4. You can find it here. The sharp rise in piracy in West Africa, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea, has featured prominently in recent news. Piracy as a whole is costing global […]
A Libyan Conflict Oddity – Romanian Model 80 30mm AA Gun
A post on the Defence Talk forums by Abbas Ahmed, from Zenad Magazine in Misrata, featured a few curious photos of an unidentified AA system. At first glance, it appears to look quite similar to a Russian ZU-23-2 (or a foreign copy), built around the 2A14 autocannon so commonly seen throughout the world, and in Libya. […]
Optics of the Libyan Conflict – Part II
I’ve been trawling through thousands of Libyan conflict photos over the last few days and I’ve found a number of interesting small arms to add to the database. I’ve also come across a few more weapon sights to add to the list that I started here. Stills from this video show what appears to be […]
The Rogue Adventurer 