There is HOPE for America!

Back story via Heavy.com

A bully who was attacking a blind classmate was taught a lesson by a fellow teen, who knocked him to the ground in an incident that has gone viral after it was caught on video .
According to posts on Reddit, the video was recorded at a high school in Huntington Beach, California.
In the video, the bully can be seen hitting the blind teen, who is trying to cover his face. Suddenly, another teen comes into the video and knocks the attacker down to the ground with one punch. The other teen, named Cody, then turns around to check on his classmate, Austin, asking him if he is OK.
Cody, the hero of the video, then stands over the bully and yells at him, “you’re trying to jump a f***ing blind kid, bro? What the f*** is your problem?”

Well fucking done!  Extremely well done young man!

There is hope for America after all!

Saudi/GCC armor losses worse than we think?

Thanks to NO for the link!



Good God.  We're seeing at least a Company(+) of armor destroyed in this short vid.  Could Saudi/GCC armor losses be MUCH worse than we think?

I'm convinced.  Saudi/GCC forces are being destroyed at an alarming rate.  I don't know what cover story they formulate to withdraw from this fight but its obvious to me that they're getting their asses kicked.

Sidenote:  I wish we had better info on this fight...like the Saudi/GCC order of battle (and the Houthi's!).  I estimate that all in all they've lost at least a battalion and probably more.  If this was a Marine Expeditionary Brigade doing the assault and IF (no way in hell-- this is a hypothetical) they had lost the same number of vehicles/personnel, you'd be all kinds of combining, creating units from all available personnel AND you'd be seeing either more Marine or Army units landing.  The Saudi's already did that and they don't have our depth.  They have no choice but to quit the fight so they can still have an Army.

F-35 News. AF General begs for waiver from continuing resolution for F-35/KC-46...

via National Defense Magazine...

Lawmakers are expected to pass a CR before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 to keep the government running as the budget impasse in Washington, D.C. drags on. Defense officials and analysts are concerned that Congress will continue to kick the can down the road and use continuing resolutions to fund the Pentagon for the remainder of fiscal year 2016.
Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, warned about the consequences of a year-long CR.
“The way that production goes … we’re limited to what we could do the year before,” he said at an Air Force Association breakfast Sept. 24. “If we start trying to buy more [than we did in fiscal year 2015] we can’t, we’re capped. So that’s the situation that we find ourselves in on those acquisition programs where we’re requiring new assets.”
The Air Force is planning on issuing two low-rate initial production awards for 19 new tankers next year. The Defense Department signed a $4.9 billion contract with Boeing for a fleet of KC-46s. For fiscal year 2016, the Pentagon is planning on purchasing 57 F-35s from Lockheed Martin, up from 38 in fiscal year 2015. Bunch said a CR would hit those programs hard and potentially force the Defense Department to break contracts with industry.
“If we get a year-long continuing resolution it will impact F-35 production, it will impact KC-46 production. And there is a chance that we may have to go in and open up some contracts,” he said. “I don’t think any of us believe we want to go in and do [that] right now.”
To avoid going down that road, the Defense Department might ask lawmakers to waive CR restrictions on the KC-46, Bunch said.
“Right now we haven’t done that because we’re hoping it’s a short-term continuing resolution. But it will probably be one of the ones that we go back in and look for a waiver to” if there is an extended CR, he said.
He also raised the possibility that a waiver will be requested for the F-35.

This isn't going to work.

First the Army and Navy are going to be fighting this because they have programs that need funding too.  Additionally a waiver will mean that the Air Force is cheating on the pain that the rest of the services are feeling.

Lastly it will bust the budget process because the Dems will say that any waiver for the F-35/KC-46 will have to be matched in a welfare program.

The death spiral is here and the Air Force is trying to squirm away from reality.

Sidenote:  Stick a fork in the Next Generation Bomber.  Its delayed at least a year...and probably for much longer.  The AF is ALL IN on the F-35.

No man left behind...no man forgotten...

1st Lt. Alexander "Sandy" Bonnyman, Jr. is ready for the final leg of his long journey home. He is leaving Honolulu today for his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., where he will be laid to rest Sunday next to his parents nearly 72 years after he fell in combat in World War II. We are honored to play a part in sending home this outstanding Marine and Medal of Honor recipient. Semper Fidelis.

Awesome.

I'm hard on the DoD but this is one thing they get right in spades.  No matter the time frame, no matter where, every effort will be made to recover our Marines...whether alive or dead.

This might not mean much to some but to me it's part of keeping faith...even after death.

Take the 'L' out of JLTV, Because it's not light."

via USNI News.

“We’ve had a ten percent loss in in utilization rate on existing amphibious ships and deck space because our equipment is bigger. Its heavier and most importantly, it’s higher.”

Good God!

Me and few others guys have been predicting this problem for a couple of years!  The major problem its not gonna get ANY better in the near future.  Think the ground vehicles are at issue?  Consider what the wing brings to the ship!  From the same article...

“The LHDs were designed for the CH-46 on the flight deck, [now] they’re carrying the V-22. They’re designed for Harriers, they’re going to carry the [Joint Strike Fighter], huge differences in weight in the top of the ship,” he said.

Even more bad news?  Let's talk about the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (same article)...

“The JLTV — factory curb weight of 16,000 pounds, fully dressed out 21,000 pounds,” Strock said.
“The first thing we do is take the ‘L’ out of JLTV, because it’s not [light].”
Strock did recognize the need for the JLTV capability but “the challenge to industry is how to mitigate that. The enemy now has a vote, we get that,” he said.
“It’s not who came first, the ship or the equipment, the issue is making sure those capabilities into the future are mutually supporting warfighting from the sea.”

I said before, I'll say it again.  We should have bought Textron's HUMMWV upgrade and been done with it.  The USMC buying JLTVs was simply a nod to the US Army and had nothing to do with Marine Corps operating requirements.

Another politically driven procurement that's going to shoot the Corps in the budget ass.

Excuse me.  Time to find a wall to punch.

Egypt buying Mistrals and Ka-52s...What is the plan? Why the need?

Thanks to everyone for sending me links on this!

Story here and here.

I've been watching this development for the past few days but didn't comment on it.

No one is asking simple questions with regard to this sale.  What is the plan?  Why the need?  What is the requirement?

Egypt and the rest of the Arab nations are going on a MASSIVE spending spree that I believe is one of the under reported effects of the Iranian nuke deal.  Unfortunately the mainstream press is either too in the tank for the Dem party (at least in the US) or too stupid to put the pieces together.

A peace treaty that sees the entire region arming to the teeth and its still being touted as a good thing?

This sale is taking things to a new level in my opinion.  Egypt has no reason to develop expeditionary forces.  This is obviously aimed at Iran and with Saudi Arabia helping them with funding, its seems to me that we're looking at them becoming the new leader of the Arab military coalition.

If I'm right (and I could easily be wrong) then this is more bad news for the US. Egypt has steadily been distancing itself from the US and this move certainly doesn't help.

A major regional war is in the planning stages. 

The $12 McDonald's Burger

These guys are goofy as hell but the vid gives me hope for US business.  Design it yourself is the way to win back customers.  People want choice.  This is a good start....

Royal Regiment of Scotland does Helo Assault Exercise...is the AW-101 the best medium helicopter in Europe?

Scottish Reserve soldiers from 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (6 SCOTS) have been honing their military skills on annual camp in Norfolk this week. 

Around 75 soldiers, drawn from 6 SCOTS Headquarters in Glasgow and sub-units in Ayr, Bathgate, Dumfries, Edinburgh and Galashiels, took part in the two week camp which was held at Stanford Training Area. 

The soldiers carry out various training exercises which are designed to test core military skills such as marksmanship, leadership, teamwork and fitness. The camp culminates in a final exercise where the soldiers put their training into practise through simulated scenarios. The final exercise will include urban operations and a helicopter assault. 

Major Rob Muir, Executive Officer of 6 SCOTS said: “This exercise is a great foundation for training deployments abroad next year with our Regular counterparts. The urban operations facilities at Stanford are superb and provide a very testing environment for us.”

Its good to see that the Brits are still working out hard, but I wonder how long they can maintain their ops tempo with such a small force.

On another subject is the AW-101 the best medium lift helicopter in Europe?  I think so.  The NH90 is a flying disgrace.  The Cougar is old and the MI-8 just isn't competitive anymore.

Commandant change of command is broadcasting live.

Commandant change of command is broadcasting live.  Check it out here....lets hope the new guy stays a bit longer...

Why anyone would accept a demotion to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is beyond me!

BMP 3 57mm...it's changed the game...

Thanks to Olgert for the link!



That's an extremely short vid but it shows that the BMP-3 Derivative maintains its amphibious capabilities.  Quite honestly I wasn't going to post it but then it dawned on me.

This model, designed only for export, is about to change the game.

What do I mean?  Think about what we're seeing here.  A 57mm gun? With the turret alone (ignoring the better internal arrangement) we're seeing the ability of light vehicles now being able to reliably kill anything short of an MBT without aiming for weak spots, or the use of expensive missiles.  The caliber of the gun also means that it will be able to provide infantry support by being able to kill enemy fortifications and even provide airburst capability against troops.

Instead of the 35 or 40mm cannons in the West being leap ahead, we're still playing catch up.

Bringing this closer to home, does that 50 caliber mount being proposed for the USMC's Amphibious Combat Vehicle seem good enough now?

Below are a couple of screen captures from the above vid.