Armata firing tests vid via English Russia. Translation needed.

Can anyone translate the important stuff.  What's being said about the touch screen, how far away was the target etc...

F-35 News. So the USMC doesn't need close air support?

via National Defense.

A combat rehearsal that pits the Air Force version of the F-35 against the A-10 “falls into the meaningless category,” he insisted. “The idea that we are going to go test the F-35 in a close-air support role is a good thing. We want to know how it performs in that environment. But what we really want to know are its deficiencies in doing the missions the services and international partners need, not to see how good it does compared to the A-10.”
It’s not a fair comparison, Bogdan argued, because close-air support missions are diverse and a specialized airplane like the A-10 is too slow and lacks the range to do what more advanced systems like the F-35 can do. “Any comparison to any other airplanes might not be the best use of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “I would much prefer to see the airplane tested in a realistic environment, on the missions it’s supposed to do, not on the mission set of another airplane.”
In situations when air support is needed quickly and combat airplanes are far away, “I wouldn’t pick up the phone and dial A-10,” he said.
“You really have to balance what you look for,” he added. “In today’s budget environments, I’m all for putting the F-35 through its paces. But measure it against what the services need, not some arbitrary measure of what it does compared to another airplanes.”

The highlighted portion should have every Colonel involved in ground combat in the Marine Corps calling up the Assistant Commandant for Aviation (ok, maybe e-mailing him) and asking him WHAT THE FUCK!

The implication is clear.

Bogdan is claiming that the close air support mission isn't what the F-35 is intended to do ... and it isn't what the services WANT it to do.

So if you're a Marine, the next question becomes....If the USMC doesn't want it for close air support then what the does the Corps want it for?

About the ST Kinetics Terrex 2 Advanced...

I was caught by surprise when I checked out my feed and saw the ST Kinetics Terrex 2 Advanced (I'm labeling it "advanced" to differentiate it from the other Terrex 2 which you can see below).

Amazing isn't it.  This was the vehicle that was just tested last year...now they've totally reskinned it!

One thing is readily apparent.  This thing is built to swim and do it well. Check out the parts that I have highlighted.  Starting from the back and moving forward.  Do you see the fairing just ahead of the propeller?  That's been changed to permit better water flow (as has the whole vehicle).  The hydrodynamics engineers must have been working overtime on this vehicle!  Additionally the nose has been redesigned.  Again we see improvements in its hydrodynamic performance.  Last is the trim vane.  That bad boy has been enlarged.  The "original" vehicle traveled low in the water...almost to the point of being partially submerged.  This rig won't have that problem.

I thought that the Terrex would be the most digitally advanced model.  I felt that it would perform well on land but that its swim speed would be its Achilles heel.

I don't know anymore.

I'm still predicting a price shootout but its gonna be hard to criticize any vehicle that is picked.

BAE/IVECO Super AV and ST Kinetics/SAIC Terrex 2 Advanced for the downselect?

It wouldn't surprise me one bit.  Let's just get this program GOING!

Is Turkey on the brink of sectarian violence?

I noted and dismissed news that the USAF wasn't allowing dependents to accompany personnel assigned to our base in Turkey.  I should have digged deeper.  Check this out from Istanbul Blog...

Turkish nationalist mobs attacked the offices of the mainly Kurdish party (HDP) in several cities and set fire to the party’s headquarters in Ankara on the night of September 8, sparking fears that violence, largely contained in Turkey’s southeastern provinces so far, could spin out of control.
Nationalist sentiment is running high on the streets of Turkey as the country heads towards snap elections in November at which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is desperate to regain the parliamentary majority his Justice and Development Party (AKP) party enjoyed for 12 years until losing it at the last polls in June.
What trigged Tuesday night’s violent events are recent Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerilla attacks that killed more than 30 security personnel in the country’s eastern and southeastern provinces. Thousands of supporters of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) took to the streets in protest against the attacks. The government and nationalists regard the HDP as the political wing of the PKK.
This was not the first time that HDP offices and its officials had come under attack but the scale and nature of Tuesday’s assaults was alarming. Not only were HDP buildings attacked by thousands of nationalists but also Kurdish businesses were targeted, pelted with rocks and some were torched. There were also reports that Kurdish workers in Ankara’s Beypazari district were beaten up.

Is this the meltdown that many predicted?  Is this why Turkey has been stepping up attacks against the Kurds?

Another country that bears watching.

Russia declares danger area off Syrian coast via Russian Navy Blog.

Check out Russian Navy Blog Twitter Feed here.

Well ain't this grand.  My first thought?  Russia just gave Kerry the middle finger.  He met with some official (forgot which one) and told them that the US was concerned about Russian activity in Syria.

Now we have this?  Maybe saying that he got the middle finger isn't strong enough.

Next I'm thinking that I was pretty spot on.  Russia is in Syria to stay and this little show is a "demonstration of power" to inform the entire region.

Pass the popcorn, let me put up my feet and give back my binoculars.  This shit is about to get real.

2nd Tanks firepower exercise...photos by Cpl. Paul S. Martinez

Note:  Is it my imagination or are we seeing a "born again hard" feel in Marine Tanks?  I hope so.  I'm still a fan of the concept of mounting a 105mm gun on a Amphibious Combat Vehicle and putting Marine Tankers in them to provide fire support for MEU's and having the M1A1's setup for MEB/MEF ops but even if we maintain the status quo its good to see this activity.

ST Kinetics Terrex 2 Advanced!

OH SHIT!  That vehicle looks right.  I wonder how it swims?  Pics via Janes and the story is here.

BMP-3 with a 57mm cannon? via Defence Blog

Thanks to Galvars for the link!

Note:  We've been a bit "Russia" heavy lately.  I'm well aware but it just runs in cycles.  We've had "China" heavy coverage, "Turkey", "Iraq" and so on...its just the way things go.  Deal.

No spoilers, read the article here.

I find this interesting and don't know where this will finally go.  A 57mm cannon on an IFV?  You can't make a troop carrier heavy enough to defeat that round unless its over 70 tons (which would take us back to the original Ground Combat Vehicle the Army was pursuing).  Have we reached a point where IFVs are about to become extinct and light tanks (which the above vehicle could easily be classified)/armored personnel carriers come back into vogue?  Does this mean that the dismount points are now a couple or more miles away from the objective due to the direct fire threat to the transports?  Are we seeing the beginning of the end to the anti-tank missile used in the utility role--why pump a 100,000 dollar or more missile at an IFV/bunker/fortification when you can reliably kill it with your cannon?

I'm not sure.

What I do know is that the US Army's proposal to upgrade the Stryker with a 30mm cannon seems like a feeble attempt to catch up.

The armor race is on...and the ground forces of the USA won't be able to ignore it for much longer.

Is Syria how Putin goes from villain to hero of the West?

Consider what we've heard recently.

Russia is moving troops into Syria to support the Assad regime and to fight ISIS.  

Consider what's gone off the radar.  Ukraine.

Is this Putin's game plan?  Is this how he goes from villain to hero of the West?  Think about it.  If Russia doesn't advance.  Keeps the rebels in check and simply helps rebuild the occupied rebel areas then suddenly that conflict's new borders becomes accepted, peace is back in Europe and the Germans can back to fleecing the southern countries.

But think about what else happens with this.  Ukraine is peaceful and suddenly Russia is in the vanguard in the fight against ISIS.  Who would be happy with that?  Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC.  Iraq would smile.  Iran wouldn't be too upset.  Of course Assad would be smiling a bit....and a bit worried....ISIS has been killing the rebels too.  Interestingly enough I even think Israel would breath a sigh of relief.  Russia would be making the neighborhood a bit more predictable.

If this is the plan then its brilliant.

Not only do they become at the very least neutral to Europe, but they're also seen as dependable allies by most in the region AND they gain influence at our expense.

Islamic end days prophecy has its first piece....Russia building base in Syria.

via Free Beacon..

Russia is constructing a military base in the Syrian port city of Latakia, U.S. intelligence officials said last week, raising alarm about the country’s increasing support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The Telegraph reports:
The anonymous officials say Russia has set up an air traffic control tower and transported prefabricated housing units for up to 1,000 personnel to an airfield serving the Syrian port city of Latakia. Russia has also requested the rights to fly over neighboring countries with military cargo aircraft during September, according to the reports.
Such activity is evidence that Russia may be increasing its involvement in the Syrian civil war. Russia has been backing the Assad regime by providing Syria with financial help, intelligence, advisers, and weapons.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has stood on the side of the Syrian rebels fighting the regime. On Friday, President Obama and Saudi Arabian King Salman emphasized that the settling of conflict in Syria will only be possible in the wake of an end to the Assad regime.
Amid the reports of Russian action in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry called his counterpart in Russia, Sergey V. Lavrov, Saturday to warn against bolstering military assistance to Syria.
“The secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL coalition operating in Syria,” the State Department said in a statement.

You can rip up the plan to topple Assad.

It ain't happening.

Additionally you can scrap the idea of destroying ISIS....at least in the near term.  Assad will lead a much smaller Syria, ISIS will have portions of Iraq/Syria, the Kurds will probably be able to carve out a small homeland...and we will see this whole thing die down.

At least until the next war.

The current crop of military leaders (because they've remained silent and did not state the dangers of not responding with a sense of urgency) along with the President/Administration will go down as having failed the nation and the Middle East.

Assad will remain in power and ISIS will live.  The Caliphate is small, but it's here.  The Islamic end days prophecy has the first piece in place.