WOW! Canada just withdrew from anti-ISIS ops...

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!

via Huffington Post.

Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday US President Barack Obama that his government would end its air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State Group (EI), without giving schedule.
The US president "includes commitments" made during the election campaign "to end the combat mission," said the Liberal leader during a press conference.
During their telephone conversation, the two men discussed "the pursuit of Canada's commitment in the coalition against EI" Trudeau has said, ensuring that Ottawa continue to be a "leading member" of This alliance led by the United States.

Uh if he can do this then killing the F-35 will be easy.

Death spiral.

Just in! Vid of Russian pilot shadowing a US/Allied UAV!

Thanks to Gregory for the link!



Pure propaganda but newsworthy.

Interesting.  Sooner or later we're going to a collision.  Not with the big, high flying drones but between the lower flying UAVs and a helicopter.

F-35. The plane that toppled a govt!

By now you've heard that the Liberals won big in Canada.

I can't wait to hear from the JSF program office and the Pentagon on the ramifications of this.  One thing is certain.  The Liberals can't break the promise to kill the F-35 purchase or the people will go mad!

What does this mean from my chair?

It means that the death spiral has arrived.  Add that to a Continuing Resolution which is all but guaranteed in the US and you have a plane that won't reach production "take off" anytime soon.

My prediction is that the US Navy will finally be given permission to bail on the airplane (they've already given their pound of flesh by going with the V-22 for the COD mission).  The USMC will not buy the programmed number of F-35s and will revert to using F-18s for the carrier mission.

The wild card is the USAF.  I have no idea what this means for them.  They're all in but with a plane that is increasing in costs AND with them facing the issue of being smaller than is conscionable along with needing (or at least saying) to buy the Long Range Strike Bomber AND KC-46.....they're just in a pain locker from hell.

This is the part of the story that the news media, govt and business hasn't wrapped its head around.

People are still pissed and hurting from the great recession.  Corporate welfare in the form of foolish defense spending is frowned upon.  Moves have been made with regard to the military that has its traditional supporters no longer giving a fuck.

Canada is just the start.  Expect more "fiscal" discipline from other countries soon.  The F-35 MIGHT have been a great success if they had understood the importance of staying on schedule.  They didn't and now they will pay.

SIDENOTE:  I didn't see this coming but I should have.  The BUTTHURT!  The equivocation!  The outright spinning and lying!  The normalcy bias!  The failure to look at the world as it is...instead looking at the world as they want it to be!

You F-35 supporters are in FUCKING DENIAL!  This is a huge FUCKING DEAL and you can't weasel away from that fact!  

IDF's 188 Battalion of the Armored Corps trained in the Golan Heights (pics)

F-35 News. Liberals projected to win in Canada.

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!

via GlobalNews.ca

Global News has declared a Liberal government.
The Liberals swept nearly all of Atlantic Canada by the time polls closed in Ontario, Quebec, the Prairies and Alberta.
But the whether it will be a majority or minority is still unclear. Polls have closed everywhere but British Columbia.
If the Liberals win more seats than anyone else, but fewer than the 170 they’d need for a majority government, they’d need the support of other parties – probably the NDP.

 Story here.  This basically puts a fork in the F-35 for Canada.  The liberals made the issue of the JSF a central part of their plank.

The Death Spiral is here!  

Hassan Mustafas Blog has the list of rebel groups being armed with TOW anti-tank missiles.

Thanks to MicMac80 for the link!

I found this interesting and I wonder if anyone is looking at what the next step will be.

Hasan Mustafas blog has an OUTSTANDING list of the "moderate" groups that are/have received TOW anti-tank missiles. Check it out here.

As a sidenote, this is the best order of battle that I've seen of the opposition groups in Syria yet.

Adm Hendrix, USN (Ret) body slams the F-35!

via AOL Defense.

The high-cost, high-controversy centerpieces for the future Navy fleet — theFord-class aircraft carrier and the F-35C fighter — not only take it in the wrong direction, says a report out today. They double down on a strategic mistake made 20 years ago, when the Navy shortchanged range, argues Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain now with the Center for a New American Security in a new study.
Only investing in new, unmanned aircraft with longer range — ideally launched off smaller, cheaper carriers — can restore the carrier’s relevance in the face of Russian and Chineseship-killing missiles, Hendrix argues. Like a recent study from the Hudson Institute, Hendrix sharply criticizes the modern carrier air wing for being too short-ranged and argues the Navy’s UCLASS drone (Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance & Strike) should be optimized for long-range raids.

Here. 

This is a huge issue.

The USN is finally crawling out from underneath the Generational War/Small War/SOCOM mafia rock and looking around to see nothing but loooong range Russian and Chinese (and Indian) anti-ship missiles that can launched far outside the fleet air defense cap.

The strike issue is also at question.  Not only do you have to sail too close to potential targets but anti-air missiles can reach out much further too.

And despite all the talk of US cruise missiles they're still short ranged in comparison as are our anti-air missiles.

Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon are trying to push lasers out as fast as possible because they see the problem.

But is it already too little, too late?

Aftermath of an ambush on Saudi Special Ops in Yemen (graphic video...warning...graphic)

Thanks to NO for the link!



I'm not sure what I'm seeing here.

There is no solid indication that this is a Saudi Special Ops unit except MAYBE the M40A5 clone they showed in this rather obscene kill vid.

Any ideas?  Anyone have solid info on the Saudi/GCC order of battle?  Many readers are saying that Sudanese soldiers have entered the fray but nothing solid.

NOTE:(I'm posting this under personal protest .... I despise the filming of the dead, dying and gravely injured, it doesn't sit well with me ... but the story of the fight in Yemen is being ignored so I swallow my distaste and post it anyway.

Conflict & Changing alliances will guarantee an oil shock within 2 years.

Monitoring CNBC and Oil is down again.  Analysts are saying that we're nowhere near the bottom.

Enjoy the low prices while you can.

I predict that we will see an oil shock within 2 years that will almost stall the economy and result in a home drilling boom that will make what has come before look small in comparison.

I'm talking about 70's gas lines people!

Why?  Because Iran is already violating the nuke deal.  Because Iraq is drifting into the Russian sphere of influence.  Because Saudi Arabia is hurting and they need money.

Oil will soon rise dramatically.  You have extra money lying around?  Forget the climate change hawks and the solar power zealots.  Invest in oil companies while the prices are low.

USMC Archives..Vietnam 1968...Johnathan Abel Collection (MUST SEE!)