BMPT-72....Anti-IFV/Anti-Tank Missile Vehicle Concept...

Thanks to MicMac80 for the link!

More info here.

Russia's new 57mm cannon....the IFV arms race is on...

via Sputnik

With a phenomenal rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute, and a guaranteed striking range of up to 12 kilometers, the AU-220M's 57 mm projectile is unlikely to cut through the 1 meter-thick front armor of an Abrams or a Leopard MBT, but even against the heaviest of armor, engineers bet on the hail of high-explosive projectiles knocking out optics, destroying aerials, smashing caterpillar tracks and jamming turrets.
New ammunition under development for the module include armor-piercing, high-explosive and even guided rounds.
Simonov noted that the new weapon is set to dramatically increase the fighting capacity of Russia's infantry fighting vehicles and armored transports. "If we take for example the 30-mm 2A42 or 2A72 guns, their effectiveness as the main gun on the same BMP [IFV] is several times lower than the same module, mounted on the same vehicle, but only with the 57-mm caliber. Here everything depends on fire characteristics –the rate of fire, and the munition."

Here.

The IFV arms race is on.  The 57mm is about to up the ante in a HUGE way.  IFVs are approaching the firepower of MBTs without the need to mount heavy cannons.

Yeah I know.  It can't penetrate a MBT but it can mess up the optics and if the RPG hits we saw against M1's in Iraq are any indication then they can get kills with proper targeting.

Is the 30mm going to be enough with this soon to hit the Russian armored fleet?  I don't think so.  Maybe its time to bring back the 60mm hypervelocity gun to try and balance the scales?

War over a loudspeaker?

via Yahoo.

Seoul (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un put his frontline troops on a war footing Friday to back up an ultimatum for South Korea to halt high-decibel propaganda broadcasts across the border.
The move came as military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula soared following a rare exchange of artillery fire on Thursday that put the South Korean army on maximum alert.
Technically, the two Koreas have been at war for the past 65 years, as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire that was never ratified by a formal peace treaty.
Kim has given similarly bellicose orders in the past, most recently in 2013 when he declared "a state of war" with the South, although no clashes resulted.
Over the decades, South Koreans have become accustomed to the North's provocative and belligerent behaviour, and there was no sense of public panic in Seoul despite the dire threats.
Kim chaired an emergency meeting late Thursday of the North's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) which endorsed the ultimatum for the South to switch off its propaganda unit loudspeakers by Saturday afternoon or face military action.

Here.

This is how shit spirals....especially in Asia.

Let me tell you something that is politically incorrect but a stone cold fact.  In Asia if you want a fight from hell -- embarrass, humiliate, disgrace, show intense disrespect and you're gonna get your head smashed in if you aren't quick/strong and skilled.

This might seem goofy as hell.  Kim might have put his military on war footing and then walked it back at the last minute.

But if.  If this goes sideways don't be surprised.  If nothing else we've seen nothing but the unusual in this new century.  A war over a loudspeaker would be par for this new course.

1st Armoured Regiment - Australian Army

Is China's economy teetering on the brink??? Will they infect other economies?

Thanks to William for the link...

via Bloomberg.

A Chinese manufacturing gauge fell to the lowest in more than six years, suggesting the economy will need further policy support to stem a deepening slowdown.
The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from Caixin Media and Markit Economics was at 47.1 for August. That compared with a median estimate of 48.2 and the final reading of 47.8 the previous month. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction.
The release is the first major indicator for August and follows weaker-than-expected data on investment, industrial output, retail sales and exports in July. Policy makers have stepped up efforts to underpin growth, channeling funds to policy banks, in an effort to keep Premier Li Keqiang’s expansion target of about 7 percent this year within reach.

“Stimulus measures haven’t boosted manufacturing yet,” said Shen Jianguang, chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong. “August and September may be the darkest moments for the economy; a rebound is expected for the fourth quarter when funds channeled to local governments are actually spent.”

That sounds like a classic "command" economy...but Bloomberg buried the lead...check this part out...

China’s economy is grappling with industrial overcapacity, the fallout from a downturn in property investment and a volatile stock market. Producer price deflation deepened last month, while consumer inflation remained at about half the government’s target. Bloomberg’s monthly GDP tracker shows 6.6 percent growth in July, down from 6.9 percent in June.

Here.

What does this mean for the rest of the world?  At this point I have no idea.  It seems that for at least the next 6 months commodity prices will remain low, but the real worry is deflation.

They cut the value of their dollar and you can bet that you're gonna see additional price cutting from manufacturers in order to export their products all on the Chinese govt's tab.

That will have a ripple effect across the world.

In order to re-inflate their economy they're about to tank the rest of the world.  We don't manufacture much of anything because of the games by the investment class so we won't get hit too hard.  But Germany is about to get body slammed.  So will the rest of Asia.

I guess what I'm saying is that the phony recovery will continue, the Fed won't raise interest rates and the economy will become a major issue in the Presidential campaign and neither party has a REAL answer.

Just awesome. S. Korea is lobbing rounds into N. Korea...UPDATED!

Thanks to Galvars for the link!

via Reuters.

South Korea fired tens of artillery rounds towards North Korea on Thursday after the North fired a projectile towards a South Korean loudspeaker that had been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts, the defense ministry in Seoul said.
North Korea did not immediately respond to the South's shots, it said, as tensions rose on the peninsula.
South Korea said its detection equipment had spotted the trajectory of a suspected North Korean projectile launched at around 3:52 pm (0252 EDT), which did not appear to have damaged the loudspeaker or caused any injuries.
"Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements," South Korea's defense ministry said in a statement.
South Korea's military raised its alert status to the highest level.
There was no mention of the firing in North Korean state media, which does not typically make immediate comment on events.

Just awesome (here).

We really need to pull our forces out of S. Korea.  First they have the capability to defend themselves and second they constantly do this bone head 1910 bullshit!

Why the need to broadcast anti-N. Korean broadcasts across the border?  The people there are already in misery.

Its almost like a S. Korean general wants to kick something off.

If so then fine.

Just leave us out of it.

UPDATE:  Patrick is telling me that the S. Koreans started broadcasting because of "mines" injuring their soldiers?  Regardless.  I stand by my statement.  We don't need any parts of this and need to pull out to let the S. Koreans fend for themselves.  As a sidenote, I heard nothing about the mine incident which I find...interesting.

MUST READ from the Daily Caller....WHAT NOW GENERAL????

via DC

The SEAL’s opening of their ranks amounts, in essence, to a politically advantageous gesture of good faith, unlikely to ever effect the SEAL community in practice—or if it does, only with great infrequency. The Marines, on the other hand, run a light infantry organization. It is elite, but it is entirely different in character from the special operations community.
Based on the Corps experiments over the last few years—some women were able to graduate from the enlisted School of Infantry at a significantly lower rate than men, but no women have been able to graduate from Infantry Officers Course—the consequence of opening the Marine infantry to women would be that a small number of 18- and 19-year-old enlisted women would make it into each infantry battalion, where they would be vastly outnumbered by male infantrymen of the same age. There would be effectively no female infantry officers. Because rates of injury in combat training are typically much higher for women than for men, attrition would result in proportionately fewer female non-commissioned officers in the infantry.
If you don’t think that mixing in handfuls of young women into infantry battalions, with effectively no female officers and, in the long run, very few female non-commissioned officers, poses serious problems—well, fine. Feel free to move on so that the adults can continue the conversation. Now there is, of course, an obvious solution to the lack of a critical mass of females who meet the standards: lower those standards, especially for officers. But this will have all sorts of negative effects that the Marine Corps would like to avoid, like getting Marines killed on the battlefield. The formation of all female units, as in Israel, is an interesting possibility—but where are the officers going to come from, if you don’t lower the current standards?
These are legitimate concerns. No one, to my knowledge, has provided a solution for them. They apply to the Army as well, though, to be frank, the Army’s physical standards for the infantry are lower than in the Marines, and so the problem doesn’t manifest in exactly the same way.
The political pressure that is going to be brought to bear on the Marine Corps’ leadership will be—likely, already is—intense. The DOD will not be happy if the Marines make an honest case for themselves and ask for an exemption. But Marine officers are taught to do the right thing, even under intense pressure, and even when everybody else disapproves.
What now, General?

Here.

Indeed.  What now General?  You get paid big bucks, has the President of the United States calling you by your first name, get to attend the best dinners in DC, have seen combat but now you face a make or break decision.

Do you yield to political correctness or do you do what you know is best for the Marine Corps?

Here's a panel from one of my favorite comic books to help you out....

Burn that shit into your brain housing group General, Sir!  Man the fuck up and tell the Haynie (of USNI Blog fame) and her acolytes to pound sand.

US Army gets in troll fight over female "Rangers"...

via Daily Caller..story here.

Not surprising.

The US military is so misunderstanding the trauma they're about to create for themselves when it comes to recruiting and retention with this move that I almost feel sorry for them.  Almost.  They're so disconnected from middle America that it boggles the senses.  They recruit from the fly-over states yet express the views of the Northeast corridor and the West Coast.

This is a social experiment and I can't wait for them to have it blow up in their faces.  I for one will NEVER RECOMMEND MILITARY SERVICE to a young man ever again.  The kick in the pants for leadership?  I won't be the only one.  They just told one of their biggest recruiting sources "FUCK YOU".  Well fuck them too.

More from Large Scale Exercise-15...pics by Pfc. Levi Schultz & Cpl. Charles Santamaria

Pics via The Combat Center FaceBook Page....

Fucking really Navy! An honor grad ribbon?

via Navy Times...

Boot camp's top graduates are about to get a new ribbon.
Every sailor graduating from Navy Recruit Training receives the National Defense Service Ribbon. As many as three percent of each weekly graduating class will now earn an additional uniform ribbon: the new Navy Basic Military Training Honor Graduate ribbon.
"RTC recognizes multiple top performing recruits at graduation, but now the recognition is outwardly visible on an honoree's uniform," said Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans in a statement. Evans commands Navy Service Training Command, which oversees all Navy officer and enlisted accession training except for the Naval Academy. "Wearing of the Honor Grad Ribbon will be a visible sign to peers and superiors at the recipient's future duty stations that the member demonstrated extraordinary excellence and leadership potential during Basic Military Training and is capable of accelerated and increased leadership positions within the Fleet."
The award is effective immediately. The first 15 honor grads will be awarded their ribbons Aug. 20 and can wear them when they graduate on Aug 21.
If you were a past honor graduate, don’t go out and buy one — there are no retroactive awards.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus approved the award Aug. 18, details of which were released in ALNAV message 063/15.

Wow.

Participation awards have arrived in the military.

Modest proposal.  Marines should wear only their 4 highest awards.  The Navy can keep being the Navy.  But its time to for the Marine dress uniforms to stop looking like a bad caricature of a 3rd world dictator.