Friday, April 21, 2017

USMC HIMARS doing work...pics Cpl. AaronJames B. Vinculado



Modest proposal.  Insert Air Defense Artillery into our Artillery Battalions so that they're fully integrated with the GCE and no longer a stepchild.  It's past time for Marine Air to give up ground based air defense and a changing battlefield now demands it.

Marines conduct FARP operations at WTI ...pics by Cpl. Harley Robinson

Note:  Everyone does this but no one practices security for it.  I wonder why?  During the Cold War almost every book I've ever read talks about the threat of Soviet Spetsnaz, Paratroopers and Naval Infantry operating behind the forward edge of battle.  Is this another forgot lesson of the past?  Regardless it doesn't apply to this training evolution (WTI maintains standards and "trains the trainers").  I was just wondering out loud.





Open Comment Post. April 21, 2017


Jimmy van Drunen...Great Aviation Photographer from The Netherlands....

Check him out here and here....






Thursday, April 20, 2017

Russia's FSB got lucky....

Thanks to Drinas for the link!




Am I seeing things or did this terrorist try and reach for his grenade?  The FSB has the "jump out boys" (that's what they call police street narcotics teams in the "hood") technique down pat....still....they went in light.  Only 3 or 4 guys to take down a suspected terrorist? Plain clothes with only sidearms and bulletproof vests?  Russian FSB got lucky or they trust the FUCK outta their training.  One missed arm control and they would be dead right there...

That's either ballsy, crazy or both!

Massive protests in Venezuela....a failed state in the Southern hemisphere?

via USA Today.
Venezuela’s opposition is looking to keep up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro by taking to the streets again Thursday hours after at least two people were killed and hundreds arrested in the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Billed as "the mother of all protests," tens of thousands of protesters demanding elections and denouncing what they consider increasingly dictatorial government were met by a curtain of tear gas and rubber bullets as they attempted to march to downtown Caracas on Wednesday. Dozens even had to slide down a concrete embankment and into the Guaire River to escape the noxious fumes.

Across the country the clashes were intense. Pro-government militias, some of whose members were armed, were blamed for the two deaths, including that of a teenager in Caracas who was heading to a soccer game with friends. In several cities, protesters described being terrorized by militia members, some of them armed and circling the protesters in motorcycles.
Story here. 

If I didn't know better I'd think this has the flavor of the "color" revolutions that we saw during the Arab Spring.  But surely this isn't being caused by outside forces...God knows the current govt has done absolutely everything wrong when it comes to that country's economy.

But forgetting that nonsense, the reality is stark.  We could be looking at a failed state in the Southern hemisphere and mass migration to all quadrants of the map.


USMC CH-47's...it looks right!




The pics above are from a movie but they look right.  A CH-47 in USMC service makes too much sense on too many levels.

More to the point, the cost of the CH-53K is insane.

Cut the buy of CH-53Ks from 200 to 100 and make up the difference by buying 200 CH-47s!  I have yet to hear the rationale for the CH-53K.  I hear the talking points of it being the most advanced helicopter in service anywhere in the world when it reaches IOC.  I hear the talking point that it can lift x amount of weight, etc... What I haven't heard is why the CH-53K is absolutely essential to Marine Corps operations and why the CH-47 is unsuitable.  Take that a step further and tell me what percentage of CH-53K missions that the CH-47 is incapable of performing.  If it's over 5% I'd be surprised.

As things stand I like the CH-53K but unless we're given the "why" then the buy should be truncated and CH-47's bought instead.

This is why women in combat units will fail...

Check this out via Navy Matters Blog (make sure to read the whole thing).
Well, you knew this would happen.  The scared sheep of Navy/Marine leadership have opted to make the male portion of the nude photo sharing incident a criminal act under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and have done nothing about the female portion, the actual posing for nude photos (1).  This kind of man-hating misandry (meaning, strongly prejudiced against men;  the counterpart word to misogyny) has been demonstrated by shallow minded, timid, PC-cowed Navy/Marine leaders before but this incident has raised the phenomenon to new levels.  The actual posing and generation of nude photos/pornography, no matter how reprehensible, is allowed because it is done by women but the sharing of the photos has been criminalized because it is done by men.
Does this seem like a common sense solution?

Do you think that criminalizing the sharing of photos of women (some of them stripping in uniform) is the only crime and to punish the women who took the pictures is punishing the victim?

If you believe the above then you're part of the problem.

If you believe the above then you're why women in combat units will utterly fail.

The issue is that for better or worse, men believe that women get special shakes in the military.  For better or worse men believe that women use their sexuality as weapons for special treatment.  Am I saying that they're sleeping around?  No.  I am saying that the perception is real.

The best thing that leadership can do is to do everything possible to ensure that everyone is getting hammered in this deal.  This isn't just about revenge porn.  Much of this has to do with a culture of sending "selfies" in all types of undress.

As things stand now this issue will simply go underground.  The rules will be circumvented and the perpetrators will find ways to degrade fellow female service members in new ways.

YOU MUST TREAT EVERYONE THE SAME OR THIS WILL BE A PROBLEM FOR GENERATIONS!

Coalition Forces (including US & Australian troops) come under chemical attack in Mosul?

Thanks to Overwatch DVA for the link!

via Southfront.org
An Iraqi army unit with US and Australian advisers came u nder an ISIS chemica attack in the western part of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday.
According to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin, the alleged mustard agent attack resulted in injuring 25 Iraqi soldiers. No American or Australian troops were injured by the toxic agent.
However, no official identification of the agent used in the attack has been released.
The ISIS chemical attack in western Mosul was the second in a row. Earlier, reports appeared that ISIS used a toxic gas against Iraqi troops in the al-Abar neighborhood in western Mosul.
It’s important to note that the ISIS reportedly uses self-made chemical weapons in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Washington denies that any militant group could make chemical weapons in Syria and de-facto argues that the only Syrian government could be responsible for any chemical attacks.
Damn.

How do you respond to this?  As far as making home made chemicals?  I've done it by accident and almost killed myself breathing in fumes from common household cleaners.

The response to this incident will be interesting.

Open Comment Post. April 20, 2017.






S. Korean Defense Industry Overview via 21st Century Arms Race Blog.


Story here.

Interesting.  I didn't notice it but it appears that S. Korea is basically self sufficient when it comes to providing arms to their military.

That's something I can applaud.

A strong Korea means a strong alliance.  I'm sure Japan is keeping a wary eye on them but from a US perspective this is nothing but good news.

China’s ‘Heavenly Ship’ prepares for inaugural flight

Pics via Fuck Yeah Space Ships Tumblr Page.







Caption...
China’s ‘Heavenly Ship’ prepares for inaugural flight, paving way for larger orbital station.

China’s space program is about to reach a new milestone Thursday (April 20) as the country prepares to launch the Tianzhou-1 spacecraft. Tianzhou-1 is China’s first space station cargo freighter and will be used to resupply the upcoming Chinese Space Station. Weighing over 13 tons, the mission will also be the heaviest payload China has ever sent into orbit.

Set for a five-month mission, Tianzhou-1 will perform the country’s first orbital logistics mission with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory. The space station testbed last saw occupants in September 2016 with the Shenzhou-11 crew.

The spacecraft will conduct three autonomous rendezvous with Tiangong-2 as well as the demonstration of the necessary logistics required to maintain an orbital outpost such as propellant transfer, orbit raising, and an expedited rendezvous to and from Earth.

Tianzhou vessels will be able to carry up to 14,330 pounds (6,500 kilograms) of cargo into orbit; for comparison, Russian Progress vehicles that resupply the International Space Station can carry up to 5,180 pounds (2,350 kilograms) of cargo, though it is a smaller vessel.
Bonus material from the same page...

Artist’s rendering of the Chinese Space Station which is scheduled to be fully assembled by the early 2020s.

Yeah.

China is drinking our milkshake.

Are we even keeping pace in the "new" space race or are they as far ahead of us as it appears?