China is building its 3rd aircraft carrier.

via SCMP.com

China started building its third aircraft carrier, with a hi-tech launch system, at a Shanghai shipyard last year, according to sources close to the People’s Liberation Army.

One of the sources said Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard Group was given the go-ahead to begin work on the vessel after military leaders met in Beijing following the annual sessions of China’s legislature and top political advisory body in March.

“But the shipyard is still working on the carrier’s hull, which is expected to take about two years,” the source said. “Building the new carrier will be more complicated and challenging than the other two ships.”

China has been trying to build up a blue-water navy that can operate globally and support its maritime security, but it so far has only one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning – a repurposed Soviet ship it bought from Ukraine that went into service in 2012.

Story here. 

Hmm.  Other websites are adding that this ship will be smaller than the other two and have a two island layout like the Queen Elizabeth Class.

Interesting.

Does anyone know the number of carriers China is seeking to field in total?

Could this be a move to not only meet our forces on a quality vs quality basis but by building a number of somewhat smaller carriers, also beat us on numbers?

Is this a weird blend of US Navy offensive operations (in the form of carriers) along with the Russian anti-access doctrine (fast missile boats, subs, and long range anti-ship firing bombers)?

Do you know why I keep screaming that Russia isn't the enemy, that China is the threat?

Because of moves like this.

Look at the force that Russia is building vs. the one that China is!  Russia is building a capable DEFENSE force.  This is seen across the board from their land to naval to air force.

China however is building an offensive capability that is designed to match our strengths and exploit our weaknesses.

The longer we keep letting leadership distract us with the idiotic Russia threat the longer it will be till we can pivot to confront the real evil...the Communist Chinese!

Open Comment Post. Jan 5, 2018

I Have a Rendezvous with Death by Alan Seeger

Read about this brave guy here.

If you just don't have the time to follow the link to his Wikipedia page then here is a quick rundown.  Born and bred American.  Volunteered for the French Foreign Legion.  Participated in the Battle of the Somme.  Killed by machine gun fire while cheering his comrades on.  A monument honoring fallen Americans (WW1) is erected in France with a statue of him located prominently on it.

WW1 deserves more study. 

The more I think of it the more I think we're gonna see that type of fighting in the next peer war.  I can see lines being drawn that can't be crossed and both sides fighting over broken ground to claim yards of terrain.

But even if that doesn't come to pass the industrial scale slaughter of the first modern war is stunning to behold.

Think about it.

It was common for men to rise up out of trenches and cross open terrain KNOWING that they would be facing a fuselage of machine gun, small arms and artillery fire.

That takes a kind of guts I don't have.

I can quite honestly imagine me asking whoever gave that order if they're fucking high.

But these guys did it.  And they did it knowing the likely outcome.

That's sterner stuff than I'm made of.

N. Korea suffered a failed ballistic missile test in 2017

via Sputnik.

An allegedly unsuccessful test of a North Korean ballistic missile that exploded over a densely populated area has raised concerns about the possibility of similar accidents happening over the country’s capital Pyongyang or other populated areas, The Diplomat has reported.

The Hwasong-12/KN17 intermediate-range ballistic missile reportedly failed minutes after it was launched on April 29, 2017 and crashed in the North Korean city of Tokchon with a population of about 240,000, causing “considerable damage to a complex of industrial or agricultural buildings,” the Tokyo-based international news magazine wrote, citing a source in the US government with knowledge of North Korean weapons programs.

Story here. 

Hmm.  Why would this just be coming to light now?  This is another case where information was probably over classified and should have been open source.

If they can tell us when a missile test is probably gonna take place then telling us of a failure shouldn't be a stretch.

Aku from Samurai Jack never looked better!

Open Comment Post. Jan 4, 2018

Nudelman Precision - Russia Sosna-R Autonomous Supersonic ADMS Armoured Vehicle

Our potential foes have fully integrated anti-air complexes that can protect their formations while on the move.

The old chestnut of trying to win air superiority, then knocking back enemy air defenses and finally providing close air support might not be applicable in the future.

Think about it like this.

Even during WW2 the US did not operate against a fully functioning threat from enemy aircraft.  On the Eastern Front, both the Russian and German Air Forces simultaneously fought the air superiority, close air and even strategic air (limited though it was) fight at the same time.

We HAVE NEVER had to.

I wonder how we'll handle having to.

Let me put it another way.  What happens to the US way of war if the enemy is able to so press and harass our air arm that they aren't able to help with the ground fight?  Could our ground forces repel an enemy assault with artillery being the primary means of supporting fires?

CMI Defence - Missile Solutions Simulation

Interesting little sales video.  I see that barrel launched anti-tank missiles are back in style.

What has me scratching my head is why isn't anyone working to make these things faster.  I don't know if tankers were just pulling my leg and deciding to fuck with me but they always talked about how they practiced looking for the smoke signature, flash, whatever and they doing snapshots to throw off the missile-man.

I'm looking for higher speed, all top attack for the next gen anti-tank missiles.

A-29, AT-6 Dirt Runway Landing/Take Off Vid & a modest proposal...

I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

My modest proposal is this.  Since HQMC won't just simply DUMP the idea of SPMAGTF-CR then at least do a few things to fix it.  Problem?  The F-35 costs too damn much to operate, they aren't gonna send it anywhere where support isn't available/exquisite and no one wants to bang around 150 plus million dollar piece of hardware.

The answer?

Buy the freaking A-29, make it the escort and close air support for the SPMAGTF-CR and put an end to the dreams of the tilt-rotor UAV that is a jack of all trades.

Reality time.  Someone is gonna have to be the adult and tell the wing that they can't keep gobbling up every spare cent the Marine Corps has.

Additionally, some knuckle dragging bastard (I volunteer) is gonna have to tell leadership the bad news.  First, their plan to deal with the procurement train wreck is fucked beyond recognition and second, Congress/Trump might want to bail you out of your idiocy but they can't...and won't.

By my way of thinking I'm guessing a grand total of maybe 20-30 should just about do it.  Assign them to the AH-1Z/UH-1Y squadrons, rotate seats so you don't have to train additional pilots and make this happen by the end of summer (the protracted procurement timetable is really starting to grate).

It's the only answer.  If the AH-1Z/UH-1Y doesn't have the legs or speed to keep up with the MV-22, if the F-35 is just too damn special unicorn to even do the mission and if the tilt rotor UAV is just a twinkle in Mad Dogs eye then we've got to make moves now.

That move should be to buy the A-29 right fucking now.

East coast is about to get hit with a bomb cyclone? Better them than me!

via Earther.com

Earther can’t really give you any insights into our big button boy’s mindset on the nuclear front, but we’ve got you covered when it comes to this bomb cyclone thing that’s about to “blast the East Coast.”

Snow is falling in northern Florida thanks to moist air from the Gulf of Mexico intersecting with the frigid cold hanging over the eastern U.S. The impending storm will get really organized and march up toward the Mid-Atlantic this evening, where there are rare blizzard watches already in effect. By late tonight or early tomorrow, snow, storm surge, and powerful winds will smack the Northeast.

Story here. 

DAMN!  Shit is about to get real on the east coast!

Better them than me!

That bomb cyclone sounds like pure dee pain...plus it's cold?  FUCK THAT!