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Intelligence Desk

Tradecraft & Kit

Field technique, kit reviews and practitioner notes.

Tradecraft: don't trust the blue dot in the Gulf
Tradecraft & Kit

Tradecraft: don't trust the blue dot in the Gulf

The electronic-warfare environment around Hormuz has degraded position, navigation and timing for months. Ships have appeared parked over airports and a nuclear plant. If you plan movement in the Gulf, treat GNSS as advisory, not authoritative.

21 Jul3 min
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Going dark in the Gulf: when switching off makes you a target
Tradecraft & Kit

Going dark in the Gulf: when switching off makes you a target

The IRGC says it hit Monday's two tankers because they switched off their navigation systems and slipped south through Omani waters. That inverts the usual advice. In a strait saturated with GPS jamming and spoofing, going dark used to be protection; now one side is treating a dark, off-lane transit as hostile intent.

15 Jul3 min
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Tradecraft: the electronic fog over the Gulf and how to navigate it
Tradecraft & Kit

Tradecraft: the electronic fog over the Gulf and how to navigate it

GNSS spoofing and jamming have scrambled navigation across the Gulf since the war began, throwing more than a thousand ships onto impossible tracks in a single day and corrupting AIS. Assume degraded positioning near Hormuz and fall back on radar, visual and terrestrial cross-checks.

13 Jul3 min
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When the chart lies: running the Gulf with GNSS you can't trust
Tradecraft & Kit

When the chart lies: running the Gulf with GNSS you can't trust

GPS jamming and spoofing across the Gulf has put more than a thousand ships on airports, on land and over a nuclear plant on their own screens. With drifting-mine risk still assessed as live, a false position is not just a navigation error โ€” it can steer you into danger.

12 Jul4 min
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TCCC's 2026 refresh: check your IFAK against the new card
Tradecraft & Kit

TCCC's 2026 refresh: check your IFAK against the new card

The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care's 1 May update is the most operationally significant in years. The field antibiotic, the airway sequence and the tourniquet rules have all moved โ€” and a kit packed last year will be wrong on at least one.

23 Jun2 min
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Kit note: the IFAK rules that get people killed when they are ignored
Tradecraft & Kit

Kit note: the IFAK rules that get people killed when they are ignored

The 2026 practitioner guidance on individual first-aid kits is blunt on two points operators still get wrong: an applied tourniquet stays on, and uncertified tourniquets do not belong in a kit. The current guidance builds timed reassessment and staged conversion into drills, and the failure rates on knock-off hardware are the reason.

19 Jun3 min
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