Sunday, August 14, 2022

US Army continues work on Extended Range Cannon...

Our allies are jumping on the K9 Thunder with a quickness. I believe the Brits are either getting it or seriously considering for their next gun. If they were smart they'd wait. This baby is gonna smoke!

Where is Berger on his idea of hunting subs?

 Anyone know where Berger is on his idea of hunting subs? You remember that he talked about using well decks on amphibs for everything except landing craft and amphibious vehicles.

About the same time he talked about how the Ground Combat Element (they really should dump that and call it the Ground Sea Combat Element) can contribute to hunting subs.

Haven't heard much about it.

Is it still a thing they're working on in the background?

Recon Marines assigned to the 22nd MEU & Finnish soldiers with Nyland Brigade and Coastal Jaeger Battalion participated in an island seizure exercise in Russaro, Finland

I guess the BLT was off providing security for the MLRS and M777's. No worries. The new coastal missile force can rely on Recon to do island seizures, while they plink a ship or two and die violently, noisely and fulfill the recon/counterrecon role of letting the Fleet know where the enemy is.

Open Comment Post. 14 Aug 22

 

The above pic is from a Finnish Army dude's Twitter.  I did NOT know clear magazines were a thing for combat units.  Always considered them range toys.  Forget right now the name of the guys in the US that make them but while alot of people I know have them (including me) we never considered them duty capable. Is that wrong?  Have we gotten to a point where a polymer mag is a polymer mag?  I don't think so but I'm open minded enough to hear differing opinions.

MRAP column in Ukraine...

When I first saw this I said wow. That just don't fit. A vehicle built for IEDs in a counterinsurgency being used in a near peer war. But then I hit on the fact that mines have cost many Ukrainians/Russians their lives. Caused vehicle kills too. For better or worse, the Iron Triangle still exists. ISR assets might have been improved. You can enhance your ability to mask your signatures. But eventually you will be found. When found you better have armor to protect you, sped to get out of the kill zone, the over ground mobility to keep from using roads which will put you in a kill box.

VAMTAC LTV SOV ~ Special Operations Vehicle

Story here

TANKS IN THE SURF: MAINTAINING THE JOINT COMBINED ARMS LANDING TEAM (follow the links in the article guys!!!)

 I posted yesterday about an article in AUSA that stated that tanks were an essential part of the amphibious landing force.

Many here read a summary and failed to follow the link so they had MANY questions.

I say again.  FOLLOW THE FREAKING LINKS!  

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Tanks have key role in Amphibious Operations (Association of the US Army)

Nature and the Dept Of Defense abhors a vacuum. I once said that the Army is coming to drink our milkshake.  Berger served it to them on a platter.

Follow this guy. He was part of a Ukrainian Airborne unit and allegedly is now allowed to post videos/pics of his time at war.

NOTE!!!! Take everything with a grain of salt when it comes to this conflict. I'm saying follow him but I'm also saying to be skeptical of EVERYTHING in this fight. The propaganda effort by both sides is impressive. 

US-China Military Scorecard (2017) Rand Corporation

 Thanks to Joe for the link!

Read and weep bro.  This is from 2017 and things aren't looking good for the home team.  

Long story short?

China has achieved at least parity in most areas in 2017. 

Things haven't improved since then either.  

You wonder why the US is so big on coalition warfare in the region? Simple. Head on its a near thing...very near thing.  As a matter of fact its so close that I believe if either side were to engage in peer to peer hostilities it would be VERY difficult for the losing (or perceived to be losing) side to avoid using AT LEAST tactical nukes.

Lets be real.  There's a reason why we haven't waded even deeper into Ukraine (although I see signs of NATO tiptoeing to placing advisors on the battlefield...at least in Command/Control Posts).

via Rand.

Over the past two decades, China's People's Liberation Army has transformed itself from a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military. Although China continues to lag the United States in terms of aggregate military hardware and operational skills, it has improved its relative capabilities in many critical areas. To advance the public debate, RAND used open, unclassified sources to compile The U.S.-China Military Scorecard: Forces, Geography, and the Evolving Balance of Power. This comprehensive report examines U.S. and Chinese military capabilities in ten operational areas, and presents a "scorecard" for each.


Each scorecard assesses the relative advantage or disadvantage of U.S. and Chinese forces in diverse types of conflict, at varying distances from the Chinese mainland, at different points in time from 1996 to 2017. Advantage means that one side is able to achieve its primary objectives in an operationally relevant time period while the other side would have trouble in doing so. The chart below collects the scorecards for each evaluated operational area.

Check it out here and remember.  This is from 2017.  Think about where we're at today and then fast forward to 2030.

Once you've done that little exercise tell me why you believe Taiwan won't fall to a Chinese assault!