Israeli Defense Force Battery 402 of the Artillery Corps trained rigorously in the Negev (pics)

SK35C Draken...

Why the Draken pic?

Cause I just think the plane is drop dead gorgeous.  I love the lines.  I wonder what a modern version with a bigger wing, improved intakes and maybe twin engines would look like.

The lines on this beast are just perfect.  Supposedly (if what I'm reading is correct) it was one of the most ADVANCED airplanes of it's era.

This classic shows the intersection of art and engineering.  The slide rule boys were awesome.

Mig-31 with "carrier killer" missile now total 10 examples...

via Alert 5 from TASS.

Ten MiG-31 fighter jets (NATO reporting name: Foxhound) fitted with the air-launched Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile are on test combat duty, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said in an interview published on the Zvezda TV channel website on Saturday.

"It is a cutting-edge weapon, namely a hypersonic long-range missile capable of overcoming air and missile defenses. It is invincible, having serious combat might and potential. The MIG-31 is its carrier as the jet is the most fitted for accelerating this missile to required speeds," he said.

"In support that it is not something exotic, [I’ll say] today ten jets have gone on test combat duty and are ready for use depending on the situation," Borisov said.

The project of the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile platform was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1.

According to the Russian president, the Kinzhal missile flying at more than 10 times the speed of the sound is capable of maneuvering and overcoming existing and future air defense and anti-ballistic missile defense systems. Since December 1, 2017, Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems have been on experimental and combat duty.
Initially, the MiG-31BM was named as the aircraft to carry Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems. Later, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the MiG-31K had been picked as a carrier for Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
Borisov also said that Peresvet laser combat system is likely to be shown at a Victory Day parade in Moscow in a span of two or three years, as now it is being upgraded.
"I think it is possible in two or three years, since the work is underway to upgrade the complex. If today it requires rather many support vehicles, it will be quite compact soon. Perhaps, we will show it to the public, too," Borisov said when asked if the laser system would be presented during the Victory Day parade.

Interesting.

Watch how this one goes folks.

I've already stated that I want one.  Whether we have to steal it, buy it, hack it, whack a couple of people...don't care.  This thing worries me and I want us to get full stats, hopefully testfire a couple so we can get performance data etc...

But many of you said that the threat is overblown and I was overreacting.

I find that humorous.

You know how this will go?

At this point we're getting talking points from everyone that this no big deal.  In a couple of years MAX we'll get new talking points that this is indeed a carrier killer and we need to get full specs or spend a metric ass ton of money to develop counter measures.

We're gonna wait.  We're gonna get a new "red scare".  We're gonna alarm the public.  Then the massive influx of money so that we can catch up will be demanded.

We could approach this in a logical, methodical fashion but we won't.  There is no money in that.

Thank God! They're finally working to preserve our armor history!

Thanks to Snafuperman for the pics!

The above pics are of the Abrams Tank Test Bed.  Consider it the Armata before the Armata was even a pimple on the face of a Russian engineer. 

The concept?

Absolutely awesome.

We could have had this during the early 90's (if memory serves) but didn't pull the trigger on this absolutely wonderful idea (how good is it...I think we should dust off the plans and get it into service!).

That was then and we deal with reality.

So even though we didn't move forward the above pics make my heart sing.

The National Armor and Calvary Museum somehow, someway got the funding to refurbish the old girl.  Now it can be properly displayed.  Now it can be properly documented by historians to preserve our armored past.

I'm beyond thrilled.

Now I gotta find that donation button so they can do the same to tons of other vehicles I've seen in pics being devoured by overgrown grass and rusting to hell.

Chinese Tank landing ships Tianzhushan (Hull 911),during exercises on April 25, 2018

The Chinese Marines are worth watching closely.  If they're following the maxim of "training like you fight" then we can catch glimpses of how they'll go at future opponents.

One notable instance is these new Landing Ship Tanks (in our naming conventions).  From my seat it appears that the Chinese Marines (and Army) aren't going light at all.

They are planning on putting armor on the beach, breaking out (assuming they haven't rolled back enemy defenses) and then moving to the objective at the speed of mechanized formations, not the 3-5 miles per hour of excellent infantry.

These boys are coming hard.  They're gonna come heavy and we've got to get ready.

Open Comment Post. May 6, 2018

Blast from the past. Don't let the horror of war be washed away....

Ashkenazi woman chased by boys with clubs occupied Poland July 1941

Who are the "Ashkenazi"?  They're Jews by another name from what I gather. Why are we talking about this?  Because a Tumblr page that covered military matters and historical events was shut down supposedly because he posted pics like you see above and the owners of the site decided it "incited violence".

Utter bullshit on a cracker but there you have it.

Don't let them wash away the horror of war.  History is to be embraced.  It might not be lovely.  It might be disturbing in ways we don't want to think about but it must be faced.

What you see above is an example of that history.

Young boys in Poland chasing down a jewish woman and it was captured on film. 

Drink in the pic.

She's already been injured.

She's in full panic mode and obviously (justifiably) feels her very existence is threatened.

Now look at the boys.

Almost gleeful.  Determined to get the deed done.

Drink it in and never forget.

Add this to your personal photo collection.  One day it might be the only trace of this despicable part of human history.

It's Official: Top Marine Wants 12 in an Infantry Squad

Thanks to FormerDirtDart for the link!

via Military Times.

The Marine Corps is capping off 18 months of overhauling the way infantry units are trained and equipped by shaking up the structure of the rifle squad.

In an address to an audience of Marines at a Marine Corps Association awards dinner near Washington, D.C., on Thursday night, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said future squads will have 12 Marines, down from the current 13.

But while the squads are losing a body, they will gain capability, with two new leadership positions, he said.

The new squad will have three fire teams of three Marines each, an adjustment from the standard four-Marine fire teams of today, Neller said.

"That 4th Marine that we're used to having is not going to be cut," he said. "We're not going to fill that billet, but it's not going to degrade your readiness. Because if this doesn't work, and you need to go somewhere where you need four Marines in a fire team, we'll bring that Marine back."

Story here. 

You do get the force of connection here.

Leadership is totally disconnected from what EVEN they see as the future battlefield much less what I predict.

They see fighting in mega cities.  I don't.  But what if they're right.

Ya know what?

City fighting is manpower intensive.  Weight of fire at the lowest level means something.

Additionally if I'm right and we're simultaneously involved in bug hunts around the world stomping on terrorist cockroaches while gearing up for a peer fight then we're still gonna need REINFORCED Infantry Squads.

Ya know why?

Because we're seeing terrorists operate like nation state forces.  They're heavier, have more armor and more mobility as well as MUCH greater firepower than ever before in our history.

Last but not least this idea is batshit crazy because they're pushing the Expeditionary Rifle Squad.

Yep.  Independent Squads acting far from support and probably at the edge of supporting fires.

So the answer is to reduce the size instead of reinforcing them?

I'm just not buying it.  This is batshit stupid.  It will cost lives.  We will see lost infantry squads in the future that will never been found for burial because the enemy will microfragment the entire group AND/OR we'll see them captured in mass only to be tortured on YouTube.

What should everyone research to understand my thinking?  Google the ambush of the Marine Sniper Squad in Iraq.  Good guys lost their lives and were overrun before they even made it to their hide site.

God save us all...especially the Marines that will be part of this new future.

May the Fourth be with you, Canadian Army style.

China behaving badly. Missiles on islands and dazzling our pilots in N. Africa...

via The Hill.

The United States has issued a formal warning to China after personnel at the Chinese military base in Djibouti used lasers to interfere with U.S. military aircraft, giving two pilots minor injuries, according to the Pentagon.

Top Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White told reporters Thursday that the U.S. is confident the Chinese are behind the “very serious incidents,” which have increased in the past few weeks. 

“There have been two minor injuries. This activity poses a true threat to our airmen. We have formally demarched the Chinese government. And we’ve requested that the Chinese investigate these incidents,” White said during a Pentagon briefing.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, has warned airmen to be cautious when flying in certain areas in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, due to the recent incidents.

“During one incident, there were two minor eye injuries of aircrew flying in a C-130 that resulted from exposure to military-grade laser beams, which were reported to have originated from the nearby Chinese base,” according to a notice reported by CNN.

Story here. 

Lasers blinding pilots..dazzling them...is serious shit.  If I recall correctly that is the basis for some anti-air systems.  To blind the optics systems of attack aircraft, even their missiles and definitely the pilots.  The Pentagon called them military grade too.  That's telling.  I'm not sure about the scope of the injuries either.  I wonder if those guys are still on flight duty or if they had to rotate over to a ground job.  Even worse for them I'm wondering if they're gonna see halo's or spots or whatever for the rest of their lives.

The main takeaway (and yeah we touched on this when the news broke yesterday) is this.  China needs to be curb stomped so that its baked into their national DNA that the USA will fuck them up when they push too hard.

Pick a spot and hit them now.  I'm not calling for full scale warfare but we need to give them an INTENSE pushback while we can before they really get froggy.

Next story.

via Asia Times.

Beijing has installed cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles on man-made islands throughout the South China Sea, according to a report on Wednesday, a move one US security analyst described as “a clear offensive threat.”

CNBC first broke the story, citing sources with direct knowledge of US intelligence reports who said the missile platforms were deployed on the outposts within the past 30 days.

The news comes less than a month after The Wall Street Journal reported that “military jamming equipment” had been installed on the Spratly Islands, one of the locations also identified in the report this week.

“This should be seen as China crossing an important threshold. Missile platforms present a clear offensive threat,” Gregory Poling, a fellow at the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies told CNBC. “[The missile deployment] is a pretty clear threat to the other claimants and furthers China’s goal of establishing complete control over the water and airspace of the South China Sea,” added Poling, who is director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

Story here. 

On this one we have to fight against regional desires to placate the Chinese.  Cross a threshold?  They crossed it by building the islands.  Those freedom of navigation events are seen for what they are.  Bluster without meaning.  Like two guys braying at each other instead of just getting to it.

Action is needed but the Japanese, S. Koreans, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and others are too accommodating to assist.

Our defense officials are so focused on offensive warfare that they don't realize the reality.

There is no A2/AD to penetrate.

We're already in their backyard.

They're trying to PUSH US OUT!  But we're there and we can be a pain in the ass.

Want a credible show of force?

Assemble a multi-wing strike package to include Air Force, Navy, Allied forces that are willing, subs, carriers, and even attack helicopters rigged with anti-ship missiles and do a time on target flyby of an island.

Do a couple of flash alerts putting the entire region on "go status" for 24 hours.

Make them think we've lost our minds.

Once we do that a couple of times China will understand that we're more than willing to punch them in the mouth and make them bleed.

Until we do something China WILL CONTINUE to act badly.  They are an aggressive force and WILL NOT rise peacefully.

War is coming and we MUST get ready.