Kurdish armored vehicle column suffers vehicle borne IED attack...

via Kentucky.com

The newest U.S.-backed offensive against the Islamic State in northern Syria suffered a devastating setback when the extremist group detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near a Kurdish-led column of armored vehicles, an Arab militia commander said Monday.
The Islamic State said the suicide bomber, with five tons of explosives, attacked a convoy of 70 vehicles Sunday, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, killed dozens of Arabs and members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
Bandar al Humaydi, commander of the al Sanadid Arab militia, confirmed the incident in a phone conversation Monday. He said that his militia rescued some 70 YPG fighters, many of them seriously wounded, after the attack.

Here.

I'll make the call.  ISIS has a mole inside the coalition that is feeding them information on ongoing operations.

Whether its Turkey acting in what it sees as its own interests, the Assad govt activating a long time mole or just signals intel that the Russians are feeding info to certain parties to muddy the waters....its obvious that we're seeing something beyond even hybrid warfare.

ISIS is fighting Assad and the Kurds/Arabs.

The Kurds are fighting Turkey, Assad and allied with some Arabs.

The Arabs are fighting everyone...and Russia is fighting anyone that seeks to topple Assad.

This is a nasty, confusing war.  I don't even know if this is war anymore.  Its starting to look like simple anarchy.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/11/02/4118899/kurds-arab-allies-hit-hard-by.html#storylink=cpy

F-15 Silent Eagle...Israel wants it!

via FlightGlobal.

An additional squadron of advanced Boeing F-15s has been revealed as one of the elements of a so-called "compensation package" requested by Israel in exchange for the US government backing a lifting of sanctions against Iran.
Israeli sources confirm that details of the request were agreed during arecent meeting between the defence ministers of the USA and Israel in Washington DC. This included the Israeli air force expressing its operational need for another squadron of F-15s, to ensure that the type can remain the "backbone" of its capabilities.

Here.

Wow.  F-35 proponents stated that the Israeli's buying the plane meant that they believed the hype about it being superior to enemy threat aircraft.

Seems like the Israeli's are lifting the skirt on the program, have done a proper analysis and decided that they didn't buy what the F-35 program office was selling...at least as far as the planes capabilities/cost to operate.

This is a setback.  This is telling.  One of the most vaunted air forces in the world is telling us that the plane is trash.  Will anyone listen?

It's past time to have a come to Jesus moment with the Marine Air Wing....

Thanks to Julian for the link!

Check out the above graphic and focus in on two items that currently are or will be in the USMC's inventory.  For the unaware I'm talking about the MV-22 and the F-35 (the infographic is from an "Atlantic" article).

The USMC Air Wing has become a monster that can no longer be contained...a pig that needs to be put on a diet...

Marines.  We instinctively defend not only our institutions, but also the decisions made by leadership.  Its part of the ethos...its carefully instilled into every member...its part of being a member of the tribe.

Unfortunately reality has arrived and its time to have a come to Jesus moment with the Marine Air Wing.

Flashback to the 1980's.  Marine Corps planners tried to look into the future and figure out the threats that we would be facing.  The answers were the Marine Corps holy triad.  The EFV, the F-35 and the V-22.  Now, its 2015 and the Marine Corps futurist mostly got it right, but budget reality has struck.  The EFV was killed, the V-22 limped into service and on the horizon is the F-35.

But look at that chart again.  Even if you ignore the CRAZY procurement cost of the V-22 and the F-35, the flight hour cost is back breaking.  We can swallow the cost of operating those aircraft but we're putting a solid cap on the cost of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle and shedding Battalions from the Ground Combat Element like its cool?

I've reflexively defended the Air Wing, but we can't avoid the truth any longer. The Air Wing is becoming a luxury that we can't afford.  The reality is stark.  The USMC is not an air force.  Its a combined arms team...a COMPLETE combined arms team.  Tilting it toward becoming a sea going 101st Airborne is not only unwise...its unaffordable.

Monday Speculation. ISIS claims to have shot down a Russian airliner...what will the response be?

By now you've heard the claims by ISIS of having shot down a Russian airliner.  The response by US intel community is interesting.  They state that at this time there is no evidence that they plane was shot down.

Clearly we or one of our allies (looking at you Israel) have full visibility on what happened but everyone is remaining silent.

That leads me to believe that the airliner PROBABLY was shot down and the pronouncement by our intel community is possibly a gambit to freeze the Russians.  Which is worse?  Admitting that the ISIS savages shot down an airliner or remaining quiet and allow it to be assumed that the plane suffered a mid-air catastrophe?

I don't see the Russians taking the laid out "off ramp" which means its might be time to think about their response.  I only see a couple of likely possibilities...

*  The Russians provide evidence that the plane was shot down and then launch a series of devastating air strikes against ISIS and other rebel groups...

*  The Russians go the US route and employ their large special forces against those responsible....

*  They do nothing and let events unfold...

Personally I'm betting on more aircraft being deployed to the region and stepped up air strikes.

Next threat to the F-35? The Long Range Strike Bomber & Air Force arrogance...

via DefenseNews.

Unless Congress stands up a separate fund solely to bankroll the new plane, the Air Force is stuck paying for the LRS-B out of its own shallow pockets. If the bomber is forced to compete with other service priorities for funding, smaller programs may fall through the cracks.
Winning contractor Northrop Grumman has already launched a campaign to pressure lawmakers to back the program, and experts are urging the Air Force to publicly push for an LRS-B slush fund. But for now, it is unclear how the Pentagon will pay for the bomber.

But wait!  THERE IS MORE!

The Air Force alone plans to be at, or ramping up to, full-rate production for its top three priorities at the same time: the F-35 joint strike fighter, KC-46 tanker and LRS-B.

Hold on...it gets better.

“LRS-B is going to be in more of a head-to-head fight with F-35 for funding because they fall under the same account for Air Force procurement,” Harrison said, adding that LRS-B also will compete with programs like JSTARS and the Combat Rescue Helicopter for funding.
Several key members of Congress, including Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also predicted the bomber would compete for funding with JSF.
“Everybody competes, and the F-35 has sucked so much funding out of the room that it makes it hard for other weapons systems,” the vocal JSF critic told Defense News.
SASC member Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., agreed the bomber will likely fight for funding with F-35, “because everything is underfunded.”

Here.

Do you see the absolute arrogance of the USAF on display here?  The USMC and US Army are slashing Battalions and Brigades, the US Army is having trouble doing a simple upgrade to its Strykers and the USMC is still dicking around with the ACV on an extended (much extended) procurement path....yet the USAF is ramping up to full rate production on THREE (3) PROGRAMS!

I thought the Chinese were about to drink our milkshake (and they are) but the bigger threat is the US Air Force.

Just plain wow.

USMC, Army & Navy rated marginal by the Heritage Foundation...only the USAF is rated strong...

Thanks to SPUTNIK MAGAZINE for the link!

via Heritage Foundation...

Our analysis concluded with these assessments:

• Army as “Marginal.” The Army was at the low end of the middle grade (“marginal”) in capac­ity and capability and scored quite low in readi­ness (as reported by the Army), the three scores combining to place it in the low end of the mid­dle category.

• Navy as “Marginal.” The Navy scored quite strong in readiness but at a cost to future capa­bility. Deferred maintenance has kept ships at sea, but at some point in the near future, this will affect the Navy’s ability to deploy. Combined with a weak score in capability (due largely to old plat­forms and troubled modernization programs) and a “marginal” score in capacity, the Navy is currently just able to meet requirements.

• Air Force as “Strong.” The Air Force flies a lot and has significantly more aircraft than required for a two-MRC force, but it is an old Air Force, and its modernization programs are problematic. Still, its high scores in capacity and readiness placed it in the best position of all of the services.

• Marine Corps as “Marginal.” The Corps’ strongest suit was in readiness, but even here there are problems as stated by the Corps itself. While the fighting competence of the service is superb, it is hampered by old equipment, troubled replacement programs for its key ground vehicles, and a shrinking force. The progress it has made in replacing its rotary-wing aircraft is a notable bright spot in its modernization portfolio.

• Nuclear Capabilities as “Marginal.” Modern­ization, testing, and investment in the intellec­tual/talent underpinnings of this sector are the chief elements plaguing the United States’ nucle­ar enterprise. Its delivery platforms are good, but the force depends on a very limited set of weap­ons (in number of designs) and models that are quite old, in stark contrast to the aggressive pro­grams of competitor states.

Read it all here. 

I've seen this coming for awhile now.  Between the desire of the current occupant of the White House to de-emphasize military power, to the USMC brass being all in on the F-35 and MV-22, to the US Army accepting massive personnel cuts without complaints and to a Navy that was focused on "littoral combat" fantasy instead of real blue water threats....this was predictable.

What I didn't see was how skillfully the USAF played its cards with the F-35.  Somehow they bastardized the Air-Sea Battle, assumed a larger role than called for (one they won't deliver on), plugged the F-35 into it thereby making Carrier Battle Groups and Aegis Destroyers secondary to it....and they used the China threat to get a LRSB that we know will come in over budget.

The USAF made ASSES  out of the rest of the DoD and I bet they still don't realize how much they've been played.

Bus driver assaults special needs student...

This Johnston bus driver hit and yelled at a special ed kid this made me cry😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/0LKpZdpVKC

— Mikayla Gibson (@mikaylagibsonn) October 29, 2015

Drink it in.  

Some of you say that in another incident that mistakes happen.  Quite a few of you say that the girl in the other incident "hit the officer" in the chest (I bet he didn't even feel it) so the use of force was appropriate.

I wonder.  Do you feel the same about this vid?  Do you think that the bus driver did no wrong and simply made a mistake?

If not then where is your line between allowable and unallowable mistakes?

M1A2 Abrams SEP V3 Main Battle Tank

The armor race is here....thanks Russia!

Soldier wearing "suicide bomber" Halloween costume causes drama at Ft Bragg...

via Ft Bragg Facebook page..

Last evening a Soldier attemped to gain access to Fort Bragg through one of our access control points. The Soldier was dressed as a suicide bomber with simulated explosive vest. The incident resulted in an emergency response, EOD clearing the entire scene and an extended closure of a gate. Although the incident remains under investigation, initial reports indicate it was a Halloween costume.
The Fort Bragg Garrison Commander wants the community to have a safe and fun Halloween; however, costumes of this sort are not allowed on Fort Bragg. All costumes should be appropriate in dress and tasteful. The Senior Commander of Fort Bragg further directs that Soldiers not wear costumes of this sort off post and strongly encourages Soldiers, DA Civilians, and Family members to follow the same guidance to prevent similar issues within our neighboring communities.

Wow.

This guy was an idiot!  He's lucky he wasn't shot and killed on the spot!  Of all the places to wear a costume like this he chose an Army Base!

Absolutely amazing! 

Finnish Naval Special Forces @ Trident Juncture 2015

Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum is pumping out pics on their Flickr page so fast that I give up.  Follow them here to get the latest and greatest on the biggest exercise held in Europe since Reforger back during the Cold War.  Bonus coverage.  Also included in this pic roll are a few of the naval armada assembled off the coast.