Chinese Mobile Landing Platform "floats" the Zubir Landing Ship...via China Defense Blog.

China Defense Blog got this screen capture from a television report showing the Chinese Mobile Landing Platform in action.

One thing stands out to me.

Estimates of this ship being 1/12th the size of our own are so far off that its laughable.  Another thing strikes me.  Seems like we heard about this ship being built and turn around and its in the water being tested.

The evolution of Chinese military capabilities are on a trajectory we haven't seen since we did it in the 1950's.

While our DoD and military services are focused on integrating transexuals into the military, the Chinese are focusing on the next war.

We're fucked.

Rock Squirrel in Texas goes Australian...

A park ranger heard a racket outside the Frijole Ranch and snapped this photo of a squirrel devouring a snake, bones and all. (NPS Photo/W. Leggett)

via ABC13.

PINE SPRINGS, TX (KTRK) --You may want to think twice the next time you want to get up close and personal with the squirrels that hang out in your local park.
The National Park Service sent out this picture of a rock squirrel in West Texas eating a snake. The photo was taken by a park ranger at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Ranger W. Leggett says he heard a commotion outside the Frijole Ranch and was able to document the entire event. The ranger says the squirrel first battled with the snake before catching it in his tiny paws. The squirrel then ate most of the snake, bones and all, only leaving a small part of the snake's tail.
There are more than 200 species of squirrels. They vary in size, but on average squirrels can eat about a pound of food a week.
Squirrels also eat more than just nuts. They are omnivores, meaning they will eat both plants and animals. So while squirrels eat primarily nuts, fruits and seeds, they also munch on insects, eggs, small animals and yes, even small snakes.

Nope.  NOT BUYING IT!

I've seen them eating insects.  I've seen them with a SMALL mouse.  Never have I ever once saw a squirrel eating a snake.  NOT EVER.

This bad boy went full Australian...some Marine from Texas probably brought back a few nuts from his deployment down there...fed the squirrel and now we're about to have a full scale zombie apocalypse.  

This is how the zombie apocalypse comes on.  Slow...... with squirrels eating snakes, rabbits eating coyotes and then it spreads!

All jokes aside.  This doesn't seem strange to anyone?

2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit @ Talisman Saber 2015

All pics via Australian Army 

Lockheed Martin Amphibious Combat Vehicle??? Unethical, Thieving, Backstabbing Bastards...

Via Navy Recognition.

Lockheed Martin Ends Collaboration with Patria on Havoc & Will Present its Own Design for ACV
Contacted by Army Recognition, a Lockheed Martin representative explained:
'"Lockheed Martin is fully committed to the United States Marine Corps. Lockheed Martin looks forward to providing an Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) solution with significant growth margin for all future ACV variants. Prior to Lockheed Martin's ACV proposal submission, Lockheed Martin and Patria mutually agreed to end our exclusive association on the program. For competitive reasons, we are not disclosing information on our proposed solution at this time."

The spokesperson also said that Lockheed Martin is expecting to unveil its new solution during Modern Day Marine, a defense show held in September in Virginia.

Navy Recognition are good guys, but I doubt they contacted LM.

I'm betting LM contacted them so they could get the story out and spin this to their own benefit.

One thing is painfully obvious.

Lockheed Martin is involved in some of the most distasteful activities I've seen in the defense sector.  Additionally it seems that the little birdy that told me so LONG AGO that LM was stealing from Patria was spot on.

Lockheed Martin teamed with Patria, got hold of their specifications on the AMV, stuck around long enough to pilfer information on the next gen model of that vehicle and now they're going to repackage that into their own offering?

SIDENOTE:  A little more inside baseball.  Patria was solid in all this.  A little birdy also told me that Patria was trying to contact LM to get further information on necessary modification that they would need to make to get the AMV to be a better swimmer (some thought it the best performer on land with swimming being a possible weakness).  Patria, provided all schematics/technical specifications to LM and appears to truly have seen this as a REAL partnership.

But this also points to something a bit more confusing.  Why would LM be able to present their solution in Sept at Modern Day Marine?  The ACV contest is suppose to be going on NOW!  Proposals were to have already been submitted.  Are we about to see more bullshit from the Marine Corps on that project?

But back to Lockheed Martin.  If a company decides to team with them in the future then I will question the intelligence/sanity of their leadership or note that they're as corrupt/unethical/thieving/backstabbing as their new partners.

Even worse than all this?

Lockheed Martin is the company that the US and allied forces are depending on to build its next gen airplane.....its like trusting your son or daughter to a pedophile.

WW2 Vehicle/Aircraft Recognition Guides...via Lone Sentry...

Thanks to Retro War Blog for the link!

It occurred to me that the Pentagon better be working on making sure Blue Force Tracker works as advertised.  It was outstanding against the technologically inept Iraqi's.  It works against the primitives in ISIS, but what happens when we run up against a peer opponent that has shown the ability to hack our systems/software and is showing an interest in knocking out our GPS system.

If the future conventional fight that I predict actually happens then its going to be a back to the future moment for all these transformationalist.

The printing presses better be up and running cause old skool vehicle/aircraft ID will be back in vogue.

Does the F-35 short change US Infantry forces (Marine & Army)?

via Marine Corps Times...

After a briefly awkward exchange in which Cotton appeared to prod Dunford about the origin of his nickname, "Fighting Joe," the senator asked the general whether he worries tomorrow's infantry forces — namely soldiers and Marines — will go under resourced as the country pumps billions of dollars into the development of next-generation weapons systems such as the long-range strike bomber, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and a new ballistic missile submarine.
"I am concerned," Dunford responded, noting also that he doesn't self apply his nickname. "And I think it's broader than just the infantry piece. Experience tells us we need a balanced inventory of capabilities and capacities in joint force to be successful. ... What concerns me are people who actually think they know what the future is going to look like because, our experience tells us, we don't. So having a full range of capabilities that includes having effective Marines and soldiers, from my perspective, is the prudent thing to do."

Policy makers are finally zeroing in on the obvious.

Everything must die in order for the F-35 to live.  The missile sub replacement for the nuclear deterrent Ohio class can be taken out of the conversation.  Its a must have (the only really survivable part of the nuclear triad) ... so the real elephant in the room is the Long Range Strike Bomber and the F-35.

But the F-35 is the project that's taking up all the oxygen in the room.

What you might not know is that the Ground Combat Element...the ground side of the combat team...is finally waking up to the fact that aviation programs are being expedited and prioritized over getting new and needed gear to the Marines and Soldiers on the ground.

Dunford is becoming more of a mystery to me.

I can tell that he knows better but he's locked into this F-35 catastrophe.  Pity.  He stood up for Marines in the past but his legacy will be guiding a divisive president pursuing a failed ISIS policy...the gang that let the Iranians get nuclear weapons...and finally as one of the architects that destroyed US combat capability.

Sidenote:  This F-35 fiasco is such a danger to the Marine Corps reputation that I will post on Sunday meaningful ways that the full allotment of pain can be avoided.  Preview?  It starts by NOT declaring IOC this year.

The sad tale of the female Marine Lt.Col that got fired because she actually gave a shit....

Thanks to Medic09 for the sad but all too common story...

via Weaponsman

A year ago, Marine Lt. Col. Kate Germano, a lean, leathery, intense woman who’d had one key assignment after the next, took charge of the 4th Recruit Training Battalion, the Marines’ East Coast female-recruit training battalion. This unit had, for decades, accepted the idea that women needn’t achieve to men’s standards. She didn’t have any illusions about what women could and couldn’t do, but she also knew that “the soft bigotry of low expectations” was not the way to make Marines out of her young women.
And so she changed things. Boy howdy, did she change things. Things that had been accepted for decades in the unit — like female Marine recruits far underperforming males in rifle qualification. Germano was on solid ground here. Any experienced trainer can tell you women can compete shot-for-shot with their male counterparts on any flat range, and the Marines have made the flat, known-distance range the foundation stone of their world-renowned reputation for riflery.

Story here.

READ THE WHOLE THING.

I knew a female Gunny.  Rock solid Marine.  Hardcore in every way.  Totally professional.  Should have been on the fast track to SgtMajor, but she was sabotaged (the story is remarkably similar to this one) by her female Marines.

The guys under her charge locked on, got with the program and got their sorry asses straightened out.  The females batted eyeliner, wiggled ass and cried to the HQ Battalion Commander.

These little trifling 20 somethings had him wrapped around their fingers and she suffered for it.

Make no mistake about it....good people are already getting hammered for political correctness and for being Marines --- sorta like this LtCol that made the mistake of actually giving a shit.  I fear for the Corps because of it.  Want to know what makes Marine leaders cringe and duck for cover?  Its not enemy gunfire...no its those three words that mean nothing but wreck careers...Hostile Command Climate.

"The Walking Dead" works because it admits that people are the real monsters...

First check out the vid and this short write up by IO9.

They're missing the point and ignoring what I think is both the appeal and the lesson from this fictional story.

Rick Grimes isn't becoming a monster.  Humanity is the monster.

Everyone knows it, but few admit it.  There are cases where people have been so conditioned that they submit even in the face of violence, but that isn't our natural state.

We fight.

If we're defending ourselves, our family or our ideals we can be rabid.

All of which brings me to my point and why I thought it necessary to comment on this fictional story on the blog.  Have you noticed how popular zombie movies are?  In the gun community zombie is a politically correct replacement for people.

The nation is and has been on edge for years.  Those that seek "normalcy" will ignore the obvious, but facts are facts...even when they're unpleasant.

So when you settle down to watch the "Walking Dead" this fall, remember, its only popular because people think that the world is in chaos and as far fetched as zombies are...rampaging humans are a distinct possibility.

Train up, Gear up and Stock up.  Some fiction can become painful reality.

Concept Serbian Tank, the M-20UP-1...

CGI via Mina...

A blast from our armored past...T54E2...World of Tanks is saving our history!

You all know I play World of Tanks.

What you might not have known is that the game is doing more than providing entertainment (and frustration)...its also saving our armor history.

In an upcoming patch they're going to introduce to the game the T54E2.  Its the non-oscillating version of the T54E1 (I am continuously amazed at how rapid tank development once was).

The joy for me is that even though its a clan tank...which means that I'll probably NEVER get it, it does introduce me to a vehicle I never knew existed.

World of Tanks...making games educational.  Who would have thunk it?