Sunday, March 19, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
ST Kinetics tosses its hat in the ring for the US Army's Mobile Protected Firepower Vehicle
via Monch.com
At 2017 AUSA Global Force, ST Kinetics is offering its Next Gen Armored Fighting Vehicle (NGAFV) to the US Army for the service's Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF). In concept, the MPF is seen as a highly mobile vehicle that is able to accompany and support Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, and aid reconnaissance-in-force missions. The MPF will be a fully tracked armored vehicle light and small enough to negotiate urban areas, and traverse poor roads and bridges in underdeveloped regions of the globe.
Although still in the early stages, the US Army hopes to field an MPF vehicle by the mid-2020s.
The NGAFV has been developed by ST Kinetics and its demonstrator includes the company's HMX3000 fully automatic transmission and CMI's COCKERILL 3000 series turret.
Fully digitised and with the option of drive by wire, the NGAFV is to replace the Singapore Armed Forces' M113A ULTRAs.
Next Generation Fighter gets massive budget boost. What does Trump know that our allies don't?
Thanks to Anthony 256 for the link!
via Popular Mechanics
With the F-35 barely out the front door, the U.S. military is already trying to figure out what America's next-generation fighter jet will look like. The U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program is conducting research and development work that will ultimately lead to an air superiority fighter to take the place of the F-22. The program is due for a large increase in funding, as the Trump administration suggested an eight-fold increase for the NGAD program, up to $168 million from just $21 million.Interesting.
The request comes in the form of the White House's supplemental budget plan for 2017. As Aviation Week points out, the full increase is highly unlikely to be approved as it would require lifting Budget Control Act (BCA) caps, something that takes 60 votes in the Senate. Still, the request for such a sharp increase indicates that the White House will be pumping more resources into the NGAD program, and the Air Force will likely move forward with the program more quickly than anticipated.
This is one of two things...or even both.
1. The F-35 has been in development for almost 20 years. It is the natural course of events for the next generation fighter to be under development now...IF THE F-35 HAD ENTERED SERVICE AS SCHEDULED! Under a normal growth plan we should already be on F-35E, F-35F, F-35G etc...but we're still stuck at take off.
2. The F-35 could be the Turkey that I believe it to be and the President/Pentagon is acting to try and get the next gen model into service asap so that we MIGHT have a chance to maintain air superiority.
3. It could also be both!
Regardless, this is telling. The funny thing is that the allies will be paying attention. What does Trump know that the allies don't? Trump has an attitude of America first (which I agree with 100%), so would he sell the allies planes knowing that the US needs something better?
Friday, March 17, 2017
US Army shows Laser equipped Stryker ICV!
via UPI
U.S. Army personnel demonstrated combat capabilities using a Stryker armored vehicle integrated with a MEHEL laser weapon.
The weapon tested was the MEHEL 2.0, an upgraded version of the original 2kW device. The newer variant is able to produce 5kW beams.
The demonstration was conducted by a team of members from the Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Forces Strategic Command. During the event, the laser-equipped Stryker showcased its ability to defend against unmanned aircraft systems.
"The purpose of the JIDO UAS Hard-Kill Challenge was to assess and look at technology... to do a 'hard-kill' shoot down of Group 1 [unmanned aircraft systems] and inform decision-makers on the current state of technology and how it can deal with single and multiple targets," demonstration lead Adam Aberle explained in a press release.
Aberle went on to praise the platform's successful performance in repelling UAV threats, and discussed how the test revealed system limitations as a result of the MEHEL's upgrade from a 2kW to a 5kW capability.
"We learned from the event, and we have plans to correct those deficiencies for future activities," he added. "We learned the 5kW laser was able to defeat the targets. We were able to verify and show that we could put a radar and a laser on a platform so it could self-cue to targets and that was very successful."
Boxer CRV undergoing testing in Australian outback...(pics)
Forgive the gaudy watermark on these pics. I'm searching for some that don't have it so you can add them to your files.
Build your own Royal Air Force via Hush Kit Blog...
Hush Kit Blog had a think tank bubba "build" the Royal Air Force (pre-BREXIT) and the choices seem a bit odd to me. Check it out here and let me know what you think.
Preview? Dude wants to re-engine Rafale M's and build the Queen Elizabeth class with cats/traps. According to the blog the Sea Typhoon was a non-starter and would result in a sluggish and slow airplane. Who knew! Anyway check it out.
Houthi Rebels shoot down a Saudi Attack Helicopter...
Thanks to Overwatch DVA for the link!
via SouthFront
Houthi forces have shot down an Apache helicopter belonging to Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni province of Hudaydah, the pro-Houthi al-Masirah television network reported.Not surprising. Quite honestly I'm surprised we haven't seen more of this. Which makes me spin back to the Marine Corps' aviation centric concept. Remember the helo raid by Army AH-64s at the start of the 2nd Gulf War? Those birds got chewed up and if I recall that unit was basically rendered combat ineffective till they could get replacement helicopters in.
The incident allegedly took place in the Hudaydah’s Bayt al-Faqih district on March 16.
On January 25, Houthi forces downed another Apache helicopter belonging to the Saudi-led coalition in the Dhubab district of the province of Ta’izz.
The crash of the MV-22 during the raid in Yemen and the turn back of the SEAL reinforcement in Central Africa also come to mind.
Even terrorists are taking not of our reliance on helicopters/tilt rotors. Switching from landing 2/3rds of the landing force by air instead of sea will bring a whole new set of issues that I don't think anyone is realistically looking at. If they have anti-ship missiles that will keep us 100 miles out to sea then they will have anti-air missiles that will shred our helicopters/tilt rotors almost as soon as they leave deck!
You want to combat "the female perception" problem in the military? Make sure it's earned!
via Navy Matters Blog.
You disrespect people you have no respect for.Go here to read the whole thing.
Take a moment and absorb the utter simplicity and truth in that. In fact, say it again. You disrespect people you have no respect for.
Why don’t service personnel - Marine, Navy, or whoever - respect women? Again, the answer is blindingly obvious. It’s because they aren’t held to the same standard of performance. No one respects another who is accorded preferential treatment. No one respects another who is given benefits without earning them. I’m not even going to bother to recite the entire litany of reduced standards that women are accorded but the men see it on a daily basis. Whether it’s reduced physical training standards, preferential selection for assignments or promotions, retries at training that are not generally accorded men (Kara Hultgreen, for example, or ranger training), unofficial quotas that allow women preferential assignments, benefits that men can’t enjoy (pregnancy reduced duties and leave), or any of the hundreds of other daily biases that favor women, the net result of all that preferential treatment is what grows the resentment that leads to the disrespect the men display towards the women.
Navy Matters is onto something that no one wants to talk about. A common perception is that women in the military and particularly the Marine Corps slide by. The feeling has intensified since the push to integrate women into combat arms. Remember the tests that Corps ran? Do you remember the outcome?
via LA Times 2015
Lengthy experiment studying women during combat skills tests found that all-male units performed better than mixed-gender ones in most tactical areas and that women suffered more injuries than men, the Marine Corps reported this week.This study signaled to Marines that it wasn't about combat performance but was about a social experiment.
One measure showed that the musculoskeletal injury rate for women was 40.5%, compared with 18.8% for men.
So what did the Marine Corps/Pentagon leadership do? They took the study and threw it in the trash and pushed on with the plan!
There is now talk from leadership about not lowering standards but the idea is that women are going to be pushed into combat roles. The dirty secret? Ask any cop or firefighter. Women don't have the physical strength to handle the more intense roles that those jobs entail.
I know this post will be controversial and many will hate me for it but its the truth. If you're a cop and you and your partner are hookin and jabbin with some idiot hopped up on crack or meth and your partner can't handle the physical confrontation then someone could get killed. The same applies to combat on spades.
So with its own study the Marine Corps is saying that women are more vulnerable to skeletal injuries and perform poorly on combat skills tests but that they will be integrated into these units anyway.
What did the Marine Corps say about this truth? via San Diego Tribune.
The assessment states that integrating female troops into the ground combat arms will add some risk of reduced performance in combat, as well as cost (Editor's note..that's code for lost lives and/or permanent injury). “While this risk can be mitigated by various methods to address failure rates, injuries, and ability to perform the mission, the bottom line is that the physiological differences between males and females will likely always be evident to some extent,” it says.So what does this have to do with the "picture scandal" and the issue of military culture with regard to females in uniform?
Make sure they earn it. Make sure they face the same shit details, shit work, shit life. No protection or favoritism by Officers/SNCOs. Have someone that can verify that "female problems" are real and not a reason to skate. Make sure that men and women are treated fairly in every way.That will allow women to get the respect that they want.
General "Chappie" James set the blueprint that we need to get back to. Check it out below.
The solution to the pic scandal and the culture women face in the military? In the Marine Corps its simple.
We need a back to basics movement Corps wide. Treat everyone the same. No one skates. No one gets by. No one gets any slack. Every swinging dick and ovary gets treated the same.
Open Comment Post. March 17, 2017
Housekeeping.
The comments section is getting out of hand. I understand and respect strong opinions. That's a good thing. When good information is being lost in the mix because of silliness then that's not so good.
Clean up the comments. I issued a warning and deleted a whole slew of them but that doesn't seem to have done the trick. Ban hammer is next so knock it off.
Last but not least stay on topic. Unless I delve into politics then keep it military, fitness, guns etc but keep it between those lines. If you do need to wander off that's cool but limit that discussion to these "open comment posts".
That is all.
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