Open Comment Post. 12 June 22

Former Brit Soldier killed in Ukraine

A former British soldier has been shot and killed in #Ukraine his family said.

Dean Gatley said his son, Jordan Gatley, had left the @BritishArmy in March and went to #Ukraine to help "after careful consideration".

👇https://t.co/nqq2dYGg9D

— Forces News (@ForcesNews) June 12, 2022

Whatever It Takes: Edwards AFB Airmen train to survive in the wilderness

Edwards Air Force Base air crew must pass Initial Survival Training with the SERE Training Unit (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape). We take you to the California Sierras to follow our Airmen doing whatever it takes to survive in the wilderness in case of a flight emergency.

NATO and partner nations test surface-to-air defence systems in Poland and in the Baltic States

 

NATO large-scale live-fire air defence exercise Ramstein Legacy 22 takes place across Europe.
Synopsis

NATO and partner nations are taking part in exercise Ramstein Legacy 22, NATO large-scale live-fire air defence exercise. Seventeen Allied and partner countries are exercising in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with aircraft, missile defence systems and electronic warfare systems from 6 to 10 June 2022.
Around 50 aircraft have flown from bases across Europe, and 17 surface-based air and missile defence systems are being integrated and tested in live-fire scenarios.

Footage includes live-fire demonstrations in Ustka, Poland with Czech, French, Polish, Slovak and UK troops demonstrating various weapons systems, including the Starstreak air defence system.

Also included is an interview with Colonel Graham Taylor, Commander of 7 Air Defence Group, 12 Regiment Royal Artillery, British Army.
Transcript

---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) LONG SHOT – POLISH PZR S-125 NEWA ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE SYSTEM FIRING
(00:23) LONG SHOT – SLOW MOTION - POLISH PZR S-125 NEWA ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE SYSTEM FIRING
(00:31) LONG SHOT – UK STORMER FIRING STARSTREAK MISSILE
(00:36) LONG SHOT – SLOW MOTION– UK STORMER FIRING STARSTREAK MISSILE
(00:45) LONG SHOT – SLOW MOTION– UK STORMER FIRING STARSTREAK MISSILE
(00:50) LONG SHOT – UK STORMER FIRING STARSTREAK MISSILE
(00:54) LONG SHOT – UK STORMER FIRING STARSTREAK MISSILE
(01:01) LONG SHOT – SLOVAK PPZR SA-18 MISSILE FIRING
(01:06) LONG SHOT – CZECH PZR KUB MISSILE FIRING
(01:09) VARIOUS LONG SHOTS – STARSTREAK MISSILES ENGAGING AIRBORNE TARGETS
(01:21) LONG SHOT – POLISH PSR-A PILICA FIRING
(01:36) MEDIUM SHOT – FRENCH RADAR DETECTION SYSTEM ANTENNA
(01:41) WIDE SHOT - FRENCH RADAR DETECTION SYSTEM
(01:47) CLOSE UP – FRENCH SOLDIER AIMING MISTRAL MISSILE SYSTEM
(01:55) MEDIUM SHOT - FRENCH SOLDIER AIMING MISTRAL MISSILE SYSTEM
(02:05) CLOSE UP – SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO - FRENCH SOLDIER AIMING MISTRAL MISSILE SYSTEM
(02:12) CLOSE UP - SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – FRENCH ARMY BADGE
(02:18) CLOSE UP – SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO - FRENCH SOLDIER AIMING MISTRAL MISSILE SYSTEM X2
(02:30) CLOSE UP - SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – FRENCH ARMY ARTILLERY BADGE
(02:33) CLOSE UP – SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO- VARIOUS SHOTS – POLISH SOLDIERS AIMING PSR-A PILICA SYSTEM
(02:46) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO – UK STORMER VEHICLE DRIVING THROUGH FOREST X2
(03:07) DRONE SHOT – NO AUDIO - POLISH PSR-A PILICA DRIVING THROUGH THE FOREST
(03:20) DRONE SHOT – NO AUDIO – CZECH RADAR SYSTEMS ON A BEACH
(03:35) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - COLONEL GRAHAM TAYLOR, COMMANDER 7 AIR DEFENCE GROUP, 12 REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY, BRITISH ARMY
‘We've always trained together anyway. And so the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has really just heightened the focus. It's given everybody that additional level of purpose. It's reminded people that there are conventional threats out there, in this case Russia. And therefore, as I mentioned, it's the strength of the Alliance and that coalition, that bond of the willing of those NATO allies to come together and you know that the sum is clearly greater than the number of its parts..’
(04:09) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - COLONEL GRAHAM TAYLOR, COMMANDER 7 AIR DEFENCE GROUP, 12 REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY, BRITISH ARMY
‘Technical matters are often challenging because this is a high-technical capability. You know, air defence is literally rocket science. And it needs it needs some detailed, complicated technical support to make sure it all integrates together. So largely when we come physically together, that's what we mostly focus on. And then the procedures following NATO's standard doctrine and our own standard operating procedures allows us then to conduct our activities together.’

Its kinda crazy.

You do realize that our air defense missiles are actually short ranged don't you.

Against a capable foe they will be aimed at incoming arrows, not the archer.

The next war will be one of industrial might vs industrial might...or MAYBE stockpiles of weapons.  The modern battlefield will eat up munitions at a horrific rate and we're not setup to win that type of fight.

China is.

We aren't.

It just takes too long and modern conflicts against a capable - peer foe will be over in months, not years.  There will be no time to ramp up production.

The same applies to armored vehicles, helicopters, even trucks. We could very easily see ourselves pressing civilian vehicles into military roles. 

V32 Alert Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force Exercise b-roll + a rant about who the Marine Corps is now.

U.S. Marines with 3d Battalion, 2d Marines conduct Alert Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force Exercise at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, June 9, 2022. III Marine Expeditionary Force executed these actions as part of a series of integrated no-notice drills to maintain a high state of readiness and demonstrate U.S. resolve to maintain regional security. 3/2 is forward-deployed under 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division as a part of the Unit Deployment Program.

Remember a while back when some POS Marine Officer penned a letter asking "who are we"?

In retrospect it was the opening salvo in the FD2030 fiasco.  A preliminary strike using the buzzword (that came out of nowhere except from Marine Corps critics) that the USMC was a second land army.

Cool.  You won the fight.  Congrats.

But who the fuck are you now?  You've thrown away your legacy and basically declared every action from Belleau Woods to the Chosin Reservoir to Khe Sanh and Fallujah as nothing but aberrations.  Actions that have nothing to do with what the Marine Corps actually is about.

So my question to all those bubbas is this.

Who are you now?

A coastal defense force that has no application outside the Pacific?  Instead of a Medium Weight Scalable Force that is applicable across the spectrum of combat, you're now a one trick pony that can easily be replaced once the Navy convinces Congress to fully fund it?

You beg for more amphibs when sea denial really needs more Corvettes, Frigates and Destroyers...manned and unmanned aircraft?

You demand to be known as an enabling force...acting as the eyes and ears of the joint force when that can be better accomplished with unmanned systems - whether air, sea or underwater?

Who are you now?

A force that has in essence doomed itself because you fell in line with a zealot that came up with an idea and has convinced his sycophants that he's right and any critique is heresy?

I saw a series of military fiction that pushed the idea that FD2030 would save the Marine Corps from irrelevancy.  It will do anything but. The Krulak Center along with Combat Development produced a steaming pile of dogshit and the masses (especially the Think Tanks/Transformationalist) are eating it up.

V32 Alert Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force Exercise

U.S. Marines with 3d Battalion, 2d Marines, conduct a long-range insertion of more than 800 miles during Alert Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force Exercise from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa to mainland Japan, June 9, 2022. III Marine Expeditionary Force executed these actions as part of a series of integrated no-notice drills to maintain a high state of readiness and demonstrate U.S. resolve to maintain regional security. 3/2 is forward-deployed under 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division as a part of the Unit Deployment Program.

ASELSAN is developing a new Active Protection System called KAMA.

#ASELSAN is developing a new Active Protection System called KAMA.
Outwardly very similar to the STRIKESHELD from Rheinmetall.
In the photo you can see IFV KORHAN with fitted KAMA #APS. pic.twitter.com/b3jtg63rQR

— Junsupreme (@RyszardJonski) May 27, 2022

Defund the Police, Failure of DA's to prosecute criminals...now? Soaring gas prices are affecting how Police will respond to calls in Michigan...

Calls to the #IsabellaCounty #Sheriff's Office for low-level incidents that have happened will likely get phone responses instead of in-person visits in order to save on growing fuel costs. #police #OfficerMagazine https://t.co/cIuymIJhQf

— Officer.com (@OfficerCom) June 9, 2022

Funding choices by local politicians has already affected public safety. That trend will continue. More than ever its apparent that your safety depends on YOU, not government!

Make no mistake about it.  While I haven't seen this in my area, you can bet that it will spread like wildfire on the East and West coasts.

Gas prices affecting patrol?  You bet your ass.  What will that lead to?  Less officers on the street.  More reports being taken over the phone.  Less officers on the street plus more reports taken over the phone mean that you'll see MORE crime...so called low level crime but crime none-the-less.

Welcome to the world that YOU voted for!

French Armed Forces In Estonia

The Mirage fighters took part in the NATO's largest ever exercise, Ramstein Legacy: thousands of troops from about 50 military aircrafts, 17 ground-to-air Surface Based Air & Missile Defense units and also air defense personnel at Ämari in Estonia were acting in concert.

Bonus! Additional aircraft participating in the exercise

Jaguar armed with ASRAAM missiles

Damn! 😳
.
Jaguar armed with ASRAAM missiles 😉
.
Clicked by @Praneethfrank pic.twitter.com/bvUUWNO8Dc

— LCA Tejas Fan🇮🇳 (@lca_tejas_) May 1, 2022

I've always wondered why this didn't catch on with other aircraft. It would seem like an awesome way to clear up space below the wing to carry heavier (and bigger) ordnance. Regardless, the Jaguar is a classic that I love. It was a TRUE rough field performer!