Thursday, September 12, 2019
Army eyes more lethal Stryker force to face near-peer adversaries of future
via Army.mil
The Army is pressing ahead vigorously with efforts to make its Stryker Brigade Combat Teams more deadly and otherwise ready to take on large, modern adversaries on the battlefield, military experts said here Sept. 10 during the 2019 Maneuver Warfighter Conference.
The Stryker force accounts for nearly a third of the Army's Infantry forces, according to several speakers at the day's sessions.
Strykers have seen extensive service in the post-9/11 era, but the Army has seen a need to prepare them for the battlefield challenges they'd face in combat against near-peer military adversaries.
"It's all tied to that mission of meeting that near-peer competitor," said Col. Syd Hills, director of the Stryker Warfighter Forum. Hills was the speaker for a discussion of what's ahead for the Army's Stryker forces.
"Gotta keep up with the speed of war," said Hills.
Accordingly, the Army has undertaken a broad range of initiatives to shape the Stryker force of the future. Some upgrades involve weapons being added to the Stryker, including a 30-mm cannon that can train devastating fire on an enemy. Equipping Strykers with anti-tank missiles is another example of the push to increase Stryker lethality.
Some Strykers are equipped with a turreted 30-mm cannon, others with Javelin anti-tank missiles, and some with mortars, but there are also numerous Stryker variants that have been adapted to a broad variety of roles.
In addition, the Army is focused on adding sophisticated electronics that will enhance the Stryker's existing ability to communicate on the battlefield. Also in view are modifications of the Stryker's key parts, including such basics as tires, steering and engines, according to Col. Bill Venable, who gave the audience a detailed rundown of the Army's Stryker modernization effort.
At what point does modernization become cost INEFFECTIVE and its just better to move on to a more capable platform?
I think the US Army has unfortunately reached that point with the Stryker. Let's be actual and factual. This was suppose to be an interim vehicle. It has served beyond the call but now its time to move on.
The tech has advanced to such a point that as 'vigorous' as these modifications might be, the base vehicle has become unserviceable on the modern battlefield.
To continue this theme the new breed of 8x8s simply outclass the Stryker by a large margin. Check a few out below that I think are best of breed.
 |
| Eitan. This Israeli beast is in my opinion the best non-amphibious 8x8 in production today |
 |
| LAV 700. Not much talk about this vehicle but the specs are impressive and it should allow the Army to have minor disruption of its supply line. |
 |
| VBCI. I consider this the most underrated 8x8 on the market today. |
 |
| Patria AMV-XP. Probably the most balanced 8x8 on the market today. It comes from a proud lineage, is sophisticated and has conquered the Iron Triangle. Another great vehicle. |
My bigger point. Everyone reaches a point where you have to decide whether it makes sense to continue to upgrade/maintain an older vehicle or move forward. When it comes to the battlefield the decision is easier. It's not just about convenience and maintenance, lives are at stake.
UK 3rd Regiment Army Air Corps Apache Attack Helicopters on exercise
Some brilliant shots taken by @SeanMcRandle in the evening light down on Salisbury Plain. @BritishArmy #Apache hunting @12regtra HVM 300km away from where we started. Today we were hunting in the Scottish Borders. Speed, range and lethality in action. pic.twitter.com/MvAAE17bPH— CO 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (@CO_3RegimentAAC) September 11, 2019
Syrian Refugee Camp for Women & Children of ISIS is a ticking time bomb
Look into a massive Syrian refugee camp where the widows and children of ISIS fighters are being housed. @arwaCNN says it's a toxic environment and humanitarian disaster. “To step into this camp is to witness a strange mutation of ISIS," she reports. pic.twitter.com/Hb84ZWEBKW— CNN (@CNN) September 11, 2019
This will end badly.
I'm hip to this game. It's being called a humanitarian crisis and they're getting ready to ramp up the propaganda that the West must do something. Additionally they'll trot out a few nationals from the US, UK, Australia, France etc...and they'll be the face of the entire group.
Next we'll see what we've already seen. Tearful speeches about how they made a mistake, how they and their children shouldn't pay the price for a bad decision and how we should all find it in our hearts to take them back.
My take.
Decisions have consequences. Enjoy your stay at the beach with no water.
Patria at Ft. Benning
You know the Army is saying they're looking at the AMOS mortar but they're really lusting after the Patria AMV. It's cute but obvious.
MBDA SPEAR-EW (Electronic Warfare)
via Press Release.
MBDA has been awarded a contract to demonstrate SPEAR-EW, a new electronic warfare version of the SPEAR weapon system family on order for the Royal Air Force (RAF).
SPEAR-EW is being developed by MBDA in partnership with Leonardo to complete a wide range of Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) missions, under a Technical Demonstration Programme (TDP) contract awarded by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S). SPEAR-EW will integrate a cutting-edge miniaturised EW payload from Leonardo, which will act as a stand-in jammer to greatly increase the survivability of RAF aircraft and suppress enemy air defences, acting as a significant force multiplier.
Defence Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “These state-of-the-art electronic jammers will confuse our adversaries and keep our pilots safer than ever in the air. Paired with the devastating power of precision Brimstone and Meteor missiles, our world-class F-35 and Typhoon jets will continue to rule the skies in the years to come.”
Mike Mew, MBDA UK Director of Sales and Business Development, said: “SPEAR-EW is a revolutionary new capability that, alongside the existing SPEAR3 weapon, marks a fundamental change in the ability of friendly air forces to conduct their missions despite the presence of enemy air defences. Our vision for SPEAR is to create a swarm of networked weapons able to saturate and neutralise the most sophisticated air defences. Adding SPEAR-EW to the family alongside our existing SPEAR strike missile demonstrates the principle of introducing complementary variants to the SPEAR family that will add significant capability and force multiplication without the need to repeat the platform integration. We have an exciting roadmap of variants, spirals and technology insertions in the pipeline to further enhance the family as we move forward.”
The core of SPEAR-EW’s payload is Leonardo’s advanced, miniaturised Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, which offers the most advanced and future-proof electronic jamming and deception available on the market today.
The new SPEAR-EW will complement the SPEAR network enabled miniature cruise missile, which is designed to precisely engage long range, mobile, fleeting and re-locatable targets in all weathers, day or night, in the presence of countermeasures, obscurants and camouflage, while ensuring a safe stand-off range between the aircraft and enemy air defences. Powered by a turbojet engine the SPEAR missile offers over double the range, and a far more flexible operating envelope, when compared to a conventional glide weapon. SPEAR-EW utilises this long endurance through its capacity to be launched at enhanced stand-off ranges and loiter while carrying out its jamming mission.
The compact size of the SPEAR family allows four weapons to be carried internally in each of the two internal weapons bay of the F-35, or three per station on the Eurofighter Typhoon. SPEAR-EW will keep the same form and fit as the baseline SPEAR to enable a single integration pathway and launcher solution.
SPEAR family complements MBDA’s wider portfolio of strike weapons, filling the gap between the large and very-long range Storm Shadow deep strike missile and the highly accurate Brimstone close-air-support missile.
The SPEAR weapons system also recently completed a set of ground trials and fit-checks of a loaded three-pack SPEAR launcher onto a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft. The work was undertaken by a joint engineering team from MBDA, BAE Systems, and the Ministry of Defence's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), and took place at BAE Systems' flight test site in Warton, Lancashire.
Team Tempest weapon concepts by MBDA
Note. The trumpet sound you hear from MBDA? They're saying that they're being integrated into the Tempest program from the very start and that will make a huge difference in the package they're able to build for internal carriage. Clearly a shot at the F-35. I go from doubting this program to actually wondering if it can be pulled off and how long it will take.
Finnish Army does big city urban exercise...and does tunnel work too
Taistelutilana rakennettu alue on kolmiulotteinen. #helsinki erityispiirre on laaja tunneliverkosto, jossa harjoitellaan säännöllisesti. #vyks harjoitteli #kehä19 -#paikallispuolustusharjoituksessa Hakaniemen metroasemalla ja -tunneleissa.#valmius #kaartjr #comcamfi #maavoimat pic.twitter.com/hx19A0iXOM— Kaartin jääkärirykm. (@KaartinJR) September 12, 2019
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
9/11 Day Of Remembrance...mixed feelings...
 |
| From First Tactical Advertisement |
Sept 11 is without a doubt a day of remembrance. It's a day that we should not forget.
I honor those that died. I grieve for the families in their suffering.
In that I have clear feelings.
What gives me pause and should be inseparable from that disgusting act is what came next.
The foray into Afghanistan which still has us there 19 years later. The invasion of Iraq and our participation in that ongoing cesspool.
I can't shake the idea that 19 lunatics were allowed to affect the entire world. One mad man basically turned our nation upside down, got us to enact laws that are at best questionable and at worst Orwellian. One idiot (along with the decisions of leaders here) basically set the entire Middle East and North Africa on fire because this one incident led to a domino effect that is still being felt today.
We shouldn't forget 9/11 but we also shouldn't forget what we allowed to come after.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)