After some polling and asking of lots of people, I’ve decided to launch this newsletter as an entirely free service for the time being, before possibly shifting to including paid elements in the future.

Want to just sign up? Go to: calibreobscura.substack.com/subscribe

If you’ve got this far, I’d assume you know what Calibre Obscura is about; but if not then here’s what to expect from this newsletter.

• In depth information on arms and materiel identification

• Aiming for the most complete coverage of arms in non-state groups’ hands across the Middle East and further afield, such as Ukraine. There will also be some coverage of state-affiliated Militas and irregular forces. (Remember, my website at calibreobscura.com will remain online and I will still post long form content there)

• News and analysis of current events relevent to the field- If a new Wilayah forms somewhere (We’ll presume they are armed), you’ll be the first to know what their equipment is.

So what’s the difference between this newsletter and your website, or your Twitter feed?

Simple- this newsletter will be designed to be easy to digest over a coffee, at the end of the day, etc. That means that it will be shorter than the articles on my website, and come more frequently. The articles on my website won’t stop, and I have a huge amount of information that I am working on there.

Essentially, this will fill the gap between content on twitter.com/CalibreObscura and the website.

Something else important: I am exploring the possibility of guest writers on this newletter too; rest assured any topics covered with both be directly relevent, and covered only by those who really bring useful content.