Challenger 2 tanks on exercise Prairie Storm in Canada....photos by Corporal Jimmy McAllister

 

Wiesel 1 MK20 shows up at Swift Response 15...photo by Spc. Courtney Hubbard

German soldiers of the 37th Mechanized Infantry Brigade line up Wiesel 1 MK20 vehicles for multiple integrated laser engagement systems (MILES) installation in preparation for exercise Swift Response 15 at the U.S. Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Aug. 25, 2015. The purpose of the exercise is to conduct joint and combined training events in order to evaluate brigade and battalion level execution of strategic out-load in conjunction with allied partner nations through an intermediate staging base.

Interesting.  I'm not sure how I view Germany's armed forces.  They have fabulous kit but I'm just not sure how well they're funded (to illustrate the point, check out the G36 on the hull of the vehicle first vehicle...they're suppose to be switching to HK416's and you would think that the premium units showing up for this big dog and pony would be first in line).

Having said all that, their Airborne forces are interesting.  Much smaller than the US 82nd Airborne, they still outclass them in firepower and mobility.  The Wiesel Tankette is the perfect airborne firepower vehicle.

Russia enters Syria. We've been outfoxed again...

Thanks to MiloMonkey for the link!

via Ynetnews.com

Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.
According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base.
In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel, technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division, and the pilots who will operate the aircraft.

And then this...

The Russians do not harbor offensive intentions towards Israel or other sovereign states in the area, and their main stated goal is battling ISIS and preserving Assad's rule. However, their presence will represent a challenge to the Israeli Air Force's freedom of operation in the skies above the Middle East.

Here.

Do you get the force of connection here?  First this is a Israeli news source and they're basically stating that the Russian move into Syria isn't a worry.  That alone is telling.  No longer is Russia being viewed as an agitator but more as a stabilizing force.

Next we have the US, Europe, Turkey and some Middle Eastern nations all engaged in fighting ISIS with no results.  Meanwhile Russia is parachuting in and will be engaging the bastards while being able to reinvigorate the offensive.

You can be stuck in your normalcy bias but the Russians are acting masterfully.

Our Pentagon and State Dept (not to mention the Administration) is being totally outclassed by the Russians.

We've been outfoxed again.  As much as Trump's rhetoric sometimes annoys it appears he's right.  There guys are smarter than ours.

Showdown between a sea snake and a poisonous stonefish (yeah, its fucking Australia again!)

via Metro

In the red corner: Ew.
In the blue corner: Gross.
Here’s a pretty epic (and slightly disgusting) fight between a sea snake and a stonefish.
The showdown was captured by Australian spear fisherman Rick Trippe, who was diving to explore a World War Two wreck in Darwin Harbour.
Mr Trippe is obviously pretty brave, he picked up the wrestling creatures from the water – apparently drawing on his experience of removing pythons from his chicken coop.

‘I’m silly but not mad. I knew this was dangerous. I knew if I grabbed it I wouldn’t get bitten,’ he told the BBC.
‘I could hear the fish croaking so I let them both go, but the snake made a beeline back to the fish.’
JSYK, the snake won the fight.
But it could have died following the altercation due to the 13 venomous spines on a stonefish’s back.
The poison is potent enough to kill a human if it goes untreated.

How can such a beautiful country have such crazy wildlife?

US Army Rangers at Swift Response 15 (pics)...

Breaking!!! Rioting outside the Ukrainian Parliament!

via Kyiv.

One National Guard serviceman was killed and several police officers badly wounded on Aug. 31 when an explosive device was thrown at them from among a crowd of far-right Svoboda Party and Right Sector organization protesters outside parliament.
Anton Gerashchenko, a lawmaker and adviser to the Interior Ministry, wrote on his Facebook page that 25-year-old Igor Derbin, a National Guard serviceman who had just started his service last spring, died in hospital from a wound to his heart incurred during the attack.
"Apart from grenades, the provocateurs were using firearms, shooting secretly," Gerashchenko wrote.

Story here.

Are we finally beginning to see the end game?  The problem for Europe?  They're dealing with a mass immigration problem from the Middle East.  They have bigger problems than Ukraine to deal with so expect little reaction from them and our President is focused on climate change.

Interesting times indeed.

The US Army says it needs to upgun Strykers in Europe. Why?

If you've been following American Mercenary in his latest posting in Europe then you've seen an American Army Officer that seems to be (and this is my opinion, I could be wrong and will gladly accept his correction) impressed with our allies ability to conduct deliberate attacks, seems impressed with the firepower that their vehicles have and is a bit concerned about the lack of punch found in our Stryker Brigades.

Fair enough.

But as he said in a post on mobility today....

I'm serving in my second Stryker unit. The first time I did the Iraq thing. This time I'm doing the "cross train with all our NATO allies across Europe" thing. The experience in Europe has really opened my eyes to why the 2nd Cavalry Regiment really does need 81 Strykers with 30mm cannon upgrades.

Ok.  He wants 30mm cannon upgrades.  Like I said...cool.  But then he says this...

So yeah, Strykers are great to get dismounted Infantrymen across great distances and into the fight, but it's not a preferred platform to go one on one with COMBLOC tanks and fighting vehicles.

Ordinarily I don't like parsing someone's words.  It fails to give the full flavor of the statement or the point being made but this time is different (by the way you can read his whole statement here).  His statement mirrors what the US Army has been saying.

This all leaves me with the one question that was never asked by defense journalist when this news came out.  Why?  Why does the US Army think that it needs to upgun its Strykers in Europe?  Are they going to employ them differently?  Has doctrine changed to account for them moving to a larger caliber main gun?  Will TTPs change because Styker Brigades will operate IFVs instead of APCs?

The why is important and no one has asked that of the US Army with regard to the upgunning to a 30mm cannon.  If this is just a case of the US Army looking at Polish Wolverine's and being envious then that's not good enough.

The F-35/MV-22 just re-imagined concepts from the Zumwalt era?

Many thanks to Robert for the idea!

Note:  Robert provided the below images with an intriguing idea.  He contends that the F-35/MV-22 are re-imagined concepts that were first pushed during Admiral Zumwalt's era and discarded because of cost.  I never put it together that way but it makes sense.  If you look at the performance specs for the Convair/General Dynamics Model 200 (sans stealth) and the General Dynamics model 84 tilt wing then you're seeing basically early versions of the two planes being discussed.

I believe in the advocacy of vertical take off aircraft.  But lets be real.  The USMC should not be held hostage to one part of its combined arms team...in many ways the least valuable or unique part of that team (yeah I'm going there...the USN can if required and would probably have no problem in providing close air for USMC forces).

The President is about to rename Mt. McKinley?

via CNN

....officially renaming the country's tallest mountain from Mt. McKinley to Denali, an historic nod to the region's native population, which the White House says is under threat from the already-present threat of climate change.
"This is all real. This is happening to our fellow Americans right now," Obama said in his weekly address Saturday.

This is the problem.

China's stockmarket is a basket case.  Saudi Arabia/GCC are getting their heads smashed in Yemen.  ISIS is still on the march.  Ukraine is still boiling.  The US military is approaching its smallest size in decades.

And the President thinks that renaming Mt. McKinley is at the top of his to-do list?

Wow.

The MV-22 is when the USMC's budget woes began...

You want the canary in the coal mine of when the USMC's budget problems began?  If you do then I point you to the cost issue with the MV-22.  Check this blurb out from Fool.com....

Consider, too, that while the V-22 Osprey outclasses the helicopters it is replacing in both range and speed, it also costs more than twice as much. According to BGA AeroWeb, each V-22 Textron sells brings in $69.2 million in revenue. That's more than twice the price of a big Boeing Chinook, let alone a smaller CH-46 Sea Knight (no longer being built, or priced). It's twice the cost of Sikorsky's MH-60R Seahawk -- the other helo taking over duties from the Sea Knight.
Yet price seems to be no object. The Marines still can't get enough V-22 Ospreys.

The MV-22 is obscenely expensive...and they're not finished buying them!  If you want to know why HQMC is pushing the current meme that the MV-22 is an aeronautical GOD then look no further than the budget.

The fight I predicted so long ago has finally arrived.

Its the Ground Combat Element versus the Aviation Mafia.  This is an internal battle that the USMC needs to get done and done quickly (hopefully with many of these aviation programs curtailed or canceled).  Ya know the deal about a house divided....but more important is this....  when historians take a look back at how the budget trainwreck almost killed the Corps the 900 pound twins in the corner will be the F-35 and MV-22.