Las Vegas shooting just turned ominous.

I'm getting some disturbing info on the shooting in Las Vegas.  Suffice it to say that I won't go into detail but this guy had firepower that was beyond what is normally had by civilians.

Let me just say this.

If this guy had an AR and 20 MagPul-60 round magazines and was shit hot in his magazine changes then he might have equaled what we saw in Las Vegas.

This thing just turned ominous in my mind.

That's alot of firepower sitting in port getting ready for Exercise Brilliant Mariner.

Thanks to Caesar for the link!

Mistral class LHD next to a Juan Carlos class with various destroyers and frigates in the background?  None of them appear to be US either.

I didn't have this exercise on my radar but I do now.  It'll be worth watching. The more I see the Mistral, the more I'm warming to it.  Imagine an amphibious fleet that had 3 America class LHAs and the rest of it being composed of Mistrals. I think we gain flexibility.  Especially since the move to distributed operations at sea is here to stay (or so it seems), these ships would seem more capable of carrying out the concept than the bastardized LPD/LSD that are being geared for aviation instead of surface assault.

Germany now wants classified info from Boeing?

Thanks to Gerard for the link!

via Defense Aerospace.

Germany has asked the U.S. military for classified data on two Boeing fighter jets as it looks to replace its ageing Tornado warplanes from 2025, giving a boost to the U.S. company locked in a trade dispute with Canada and Britain.

A letter sent by the German defence ministry’s planning division, reviewed by Reuters, said it had identified Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18E/F fighters as potential candidates to replace the Tornado jets, which entered service in 1981.

A classified briefing is expected to take place in mid-November, following a similar briefing provided by U.S. officials about the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet in July.

The ministry has said it is also seeking information from European aerospace giant Airbus, which builds the Eurofighter Typhoon along with Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo. 

Story here. 

They're asking about US jets when we know in the end they're gonna default to the Eurofighter simply because the politics demand it.  Why the games?

Houthis shoot down a MQ-9 Reaper?

Thanks to John for the link!

via Military Times.com

A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down in western Yemen on Sunday, officials at U.S. Central Command confirmed to Military Times.

Multiple outlets reported on Sunday that Houthi rebels had claimed they shot down a drone. Images of the wreckage were posted by the rebel faction’s news agency SABA.

Houthi air defense systems brought down the drone in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, SABA claimed.

“We assess that an MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was shot down in western Yemen on Oct. 1, 2017. This incident is under investigation,” said Maj. Earl Brown, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.

The MQ-9 is predominately an armed hunter-killer drone but the unmanned aircraft is also capable of surveillance and intelligence collection.

Story here. 

This is a stunning development.  Remember the black hawk that crashed off the coast of Yemen?  Everyone bought the line that it was mechanical damage.  Now we see this.

The obvious question.

How were the Houthis able to track, engage and bring down a high flying MQ-9?

That indicates a level of sophistication that I didn't think they had.  It's obvious that they not only have fighting spirit but they're also acquiring sophisticated weaponry.

This is the main issue with prolonged operations against any foe.  You give them time to adapt, to improve and finally to become a threat.  Originally this applied only to nation state vs nation state warfare.  Now?  Now we're seeing insurgent groups gain the capability of fighting nation state armies to a standstill and I predict we'll soon see them able to defeat those nations in the field (and that's ignoring what ISIS did to the Iraq Army).

The fight just got much more complicated in Yemen.  Air centric operations are now endangered.  Fast movers might still be able to operate freely but helicopter assaults that are a favorite of SOCOM are now MUCH more difficult.

Ok this just got surreal. ISIS claims Las Vegas shooting...

This is breaking and I don't have details but ISIS has claimed the Las Vegas shooting.

The only reason why I don't discount it outright is because of the female that the shooter was shacked up with.  Was she a honey pot?  Did she influence him?

I definitely need to hear more on that aspect of this thing.  The weird thing is that I discounted her role in this thing.  What if (and its a huge IF) she played a bigger role than we all realize?

2350 terrorists killed by Russian airstrikes in Syria over 11 days

via Press TV

Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed around 2,350 terrorists and injured some 2,700 more over 11 days, says Russia’s Defense Ministry.

“Terrorist organizations Daesh and al-Nusra have sustained their most serious losses for the last several months. Due to the effective operations of the Russian forces, they have been seriously weakened,” said a statement released by the ministry on Saturday.

It added that during the 11 days of operations between September 19 and 29, at least 16 terrorist commanders, 67 outposts, 51 weapons depots, 27 tanks, 21 missile launchers, and 200 armored vehicles were also targeted.

“With help from the Russian Air Force, the Syrian army is currently completing the encirclement and destruction of a large Daesh force, numbering about 1,500 fighters, which invaded from Iraq, in the eastern part of Dayr al-Zawr,” added the statement.

That's the equivalent of a US Army Brigade Combat Team.  Impressive if true. This thing is winding down.  We're headed toward the endgame and that's been made painfully obvious by Turk moves to annex territory, Kurdish moves to declare an independent state and the reaction by Iraq to both developments.

What will be interesting is the race to the oilfields.  Not for the sake of US energy needs but to serve as points to prop up certain states in the region.

By accident the war against ISIS could easily be wrapped up by the end of this year.  This comes after predictions by military analysts and US generals that it would take decades.

The US and Russia working for opposing goals have somehow arrived at a wonderful conclusion.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if we reached an agreement on what was mutually acceptable and worked together to achieve that.  How much bloodshed, displaced persons and economic turmoil could have been prevented if cooler heads and Russia-phobia didn't rule the day. 

You can't even find the time to workout???

You can't even find the time to work out?  You walk around totally oblivious to your surroundings?  You push the meme that the police are there "to protect you"?

I hate common terminology, but sheeple really do exist.

I am constantly amazed at how easy it is for people to become victims. I'm not anti-social (don't think I am) but I don't like crowds.  After the nonsense in the UK at a concert why would attending any concert seem like a good idea?  Same applies to other events that draw people like moths to a flame.

Yeah its a rant but for some reason people have lost their survival instinct. They're lost in illusion while the reality of the world escapes them.

To follow the terminology established earlier.  Wolves walk the land looking to gobble up sheeple.

Don't be a sheeple.

FNSS & PT Pindad Medium Tank (Kaplan MT)

Thanks to Dwi for the link!

Hand built armored vehicles? Is labor that cheap there?

What is with the patting on the back with tragedies?

Small rant.

I'm watching coverage of this terror attack in Las Vegas and I'm hearing nothing but how proud the govt is of the response.

During the disaster in Houston we heard the same.

Ditto for Florida and Puerto Rico.

Why?

You have dead an injured in all three incidents.  In the hurricanes you have homeowners that have been wiped out.

And in the middle of that the govt decides to pat itself on the back for their response?

It rubs me as being misguided and if I was an affected individual it would piss me off.

How did this become a thing?  When did it happen that we evolved to a point where we suddenly need our govt to praise itself after horrific acts?

Heavy.com has the preliminary info on Stephen Paddock.

Story here.

Quick read reveals nothing extraordinary about this guy.  Just another bastard that wanted into the history books and succeeded.

Police killed him in his hotel room.  That's one police shooting that is without a doubt not only justified, but necessary for not only the good of the victims but society as a whole.

Good riddance to human filth.

Side note.  How can this not be labeled terrorism?  This dude was a maniac that killed 50 people.  So what if he didn't fly the flag of ISIS, he's a terrorist non-the-less and this should be labeled the same.

Open Comment Post. Oct 2, 2017

Plunging fire from an elevated position? Terrorist hits country concert.

This is gonna be interesting.  I can't wait for this incident to be peeled back to give us a look at this shooter.

One thing surprises me though.  1700 feet away?  Firing an AR type rifle? 50 killed?  I never believed plunging fire from a weapon system as light weight as the AR could be effective.  Every instructor, every book, everyone that I've ever talked to stated that it was, but I always believed that you needed direct fire with an AR in order for it to be deadly.

Obviously I was wrong.

They haven't released any pics of this guy, aren't telling us anything about his political affiliation or leanings, in short they aren't telling us a thing while they sort this out.  That's too bad.  The usual suspects will be yelling "What's his race"..."Why won't they let us see who did this"..."Why won't they let us know what he looks like".  It would be kinda nice to short circuit those idiots and put them back in a cage.

Overall I don't know what to think.  Sounds more like domestic terrorism and a member of the unknown generation striking back.