American vs. American.

Yeah.

This was dicier than I thought.  When the citizenry no longer respect the laws that are passed by their "representatives" then you have one of the ingredients for a civil war.

The bigger problem?

You now have people in the Sovereign Citizen, Prepper Community and Militia Movement all activated and agitating.

When, not if there is a next "Bundy Ranch" and the call goes out, you can expect thousands (as in several) of people to show up armed and ready for a fight.

This is not going to end well.  An incident will occur.  Its inevitable.

Japanese Future Stealth Fighter Force vid (propaganda).

Thanks for the link Andrew!!

Elite Ukrainian Units performing poorly...

Thanks for the link Paralus!

via Yahoo.com

KRAMATORSK/SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Separatists flew the Russian flag on armored vehicles taken from the Ukrainian army on Wednesday, humiliating a Kiev government operation to recapture eastern towns controlled by pro-Moscow partisans.
Six armored personnel carriers were driven into the rebel-held town of Slaviansk to waves and shouts of "Russia! Russia!". It was not immediately clear whether they had been captured by rebels or handed over to them by Ukrainian deserters.
Another 15 armored troop carriers full of paratroops were surrounded and halted by a pro-Russian crowd at a town near an airbase. They were allowed to retreat only after the soldiers handed the firing pins from their rifles to a rebel commander.
The military setback leaves Kiev looking weak on the eve of a peace conference on Thursday, when its foreign minister will meet his Russian, U.S. and European counterparts in Geneva.
Moscow has responded to the overthrow of its ally Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich in February by announcing its right to intervene militarily to protect Russian speakers across the former Soviet Union, a new doctrine that has overturned decades of post-Cold War diplomacy.

During the Cold War, Soviet and Soviet Bloc forces that were Airborne, or Naval Infantry were designated as "Guards" units. This indicated that they were the most politically reliable, elite and given the most dangerous or politically sensitive missions.

To see a Company's worth of APCs stopped by a crowd and then to have themselves DISARMED by a rebel commander tells me everything I need to know.

Eastern Ukraine is gone.

Its the new Western border of Russia.

Motorized Litter? Wasteful and obvious.

Thanks Frank for the link!!!



They're trying real hard to sell this wasteful bit of tech, but the truth is a bit more sinister in my opinion.

They're trying to negate the effects of female's lack of upper body strength when it comes to pushing them into the Infantry.

This thing is a waste of money and its obviously a trinket to push the agenda of the Obama administration onto the Marine Corps.

Pathetic.  Everytime I get to a point of wanting to give this disgraceful cabal at HQMC a break, they give me another reason to want to throat punch the entire lot of them.

The Brits fucked up with regard to defending Camp Bastion/Leatherneck.

via ThinkDefence.

Insufficient attention to external assault
Insufficient attention was given to the fundamental requirement of defending Camp Bastion from external assault. The Committee believes that this was complacent. Given that the attack took place in the British sector of the camp, British commanders must bear a degree of responsibility for these systemic failures and associated reputational damage.

They're late, but I'll take it.

Shit happens in combat, I understand that, but the chest thumping by the Royal Air Force Security Regiment (or whatever they call themselves) had me high and to the right.

This is the danger of coalition warfare and something that the Marine Corps is suppose to be insulated against.  YOU DO NOT DEPEND ON ANOTHER UNIT FOR YOUR SECURITY!  I don't care who they are!

That's TBS week 1 shit. But looking at the bigger picture, blame is irrelevant.  Move on to the next episode and make sure the lessons are learned from this.

Blast from the past. Weserflug P1003/1

An amazing "theoretical" airplane that never got built.  The similarities to aircraft that came much later are obvious though.  I wonder how much of our current tech (or the ideas) come from Hitler's Germany?

Japan's homegrown stealth fighter prototype to fly this year..

via JHS.com

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera has reaffirmed the nation's plan for a 2014 first flight of the Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) fighter: a prototype for a future fighter to replace the Japan Air Self-Defence Force's Mitsubishi F-2.
"In February I myself visited at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Komaki Minami plant where the ATD-X is being built," Onodera told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Upper House on 10 April. "There I was briefed that the first flight will take place this year."

Well this is something.

The Japanese might develop a more formidable air superiority airplane than the F-35 in a much shorter time.   

Russian separatist active in Estonia and Moldova??!!!!

Ok.

This shit is getting real.

Fox News is reporting that Russian separatist are active in Estonia and Moldova.  Shots fired, officials harassed...that kind of thing.

Why does this get my feathers ruffled?

Estonia is part of NATO.

We can't sit on the sidelines if things go south there.  We will be committed.  Europe will be committed.  Even if its just sanctions against Russia then this is turning into a huge shit sandwich for the world.

Why?

Because Russia's economy will tank.  The European economy will tank because they'll have to pay higher prices for fuel from other sources.  The world economy will slow down (if not tank) because speculators will jack up the price even beyond the natural increase that will occur.

Globalization is about to get shot in the head (if these reports are accurate).

More to come.

Bisping has really cut up....

Kennedy vs. Bisping tomorrow night.  Read the Army Times take on the fight here.

I can't lie.  I hope Kennedy pushes the guys nose back into his brain, but Bisping has really cut up.  I guess he's taking the fight seriously.  My prediction?  Kennedy will out muscle him easily and Bisping will try to take the fight to the mat and hope his endurance can get him a win.

Kennedy wins by KO in the 3rd round.

LCU-F. A second look.

Time to give the LCU-F a second look.

Why?

Quite honestly because Amos seems infatuated with it.  During recent speeches, he almost identifies the LCU-F as the future of ship to shore connectors (or something REMARKABLY like it).

So is this something that might be of benefit?  I'm not sure but its definitely worth a second gander.  The PDF outlining the proposal is here.

Bundy Ranch Lesson...

With the situation in the Ukraine continuing to spiral out of control, its hard to look back at the situation at the Bundy Ranch but a very important lesson was learned.

No, its not that Federal Law Enforcement will not use force against resistance.

Its not that the militias are capable of rapid deployment.

The lesson learned is that law makers are scared shitless.

Non-compliance scares them more than the possibility of dead bodies in the streets.  They're seeing this lesson in Washington from the Bundy Ranch, and gun owners in New York and Connecticut.  The fear is almost palatable.  What happens if you pass laws and/or taxes and people refuse to comply?  How do you arrest an entire class of pissed off citizenry?

A popular saying is that "my silence does not indicate my approval"...  I discounted the thought that some had that a 2nd American Revolution started this weekend.  I was wrong.  People are on edge.  The federal govt and their agencies better tread carefully.  There are many looking for a reason to get things started.

Epic Rap Battles: Special Forces vs MARSOC

Blast from the past---WW2: The L.V.T. (1944)

Critical Mass. The USMC cannot afford its airwing.

I've watched the USMC struggle to come to grips with its armored vehicle issues.  I've watched as programs are delayed or cut, infantry and support battalions cut and Marines with several combat tours forced out of the Marine Corps.

All this could be said to be part of the price of the wars on terror and now that those wars are winding down this is to be expected.

Except that with all the cuts going on the Marine Air Wing continues to grow and despite the Marine Corps becoming smaller...despite the number of battalions being fewer than anticipated, we see the same number of programmed Marine Aircraft being purchased.  Worse.  The aircraft we're buying aren't cheap.  They're high dollar items that are breaking the Corps.

Lets take a look at the cost of Marine Corps aircraft....

CH-53K --- 115.9m
AH-1Z  ---  31m
UH-1Y  ---  26.2m
MV-22  ---  67m
F-35B  ---   196.5m
KC-130J --  62m

This is unaffordable during the best of times.  Obscene during sequestration and is a threat to the Air-Ground Team that is the hallmark of the Marine Corps.

I vacillate between believing that Expeditionary Force 21 is an attempt by Amos to build is legacy and believing that EF21 is designed to justify an air wing that would never be tolerated by Marine Greats.

The Marine Corps should take a procurement holiday and determine whether it is buying too many aircraft for the missions its expected to accomplish.  As I said earlier.  No one has ever adjusted the number of aircraft requested to meet the new reality of a smaller Marine Corps.

That is unsat.

Next, the Marine Corps needs to determine whether its aircraft that are being bought actually fit strategy.

EF21 supposedly pushing the Landing Force up to 100 miles offshore.  If thats the case then the AH-1Z and UH-1Y are no longer viable as air support platforms.  They will be on the very edge of their fully loaded combat range.

Aircraft numbers and mission sets.  That is something else the next Commandant must look at when it comes to fixing Marine Corps aviation specifically and the Marine Corps in general.

F-35 News. "The Hill Blog" takes aim...

via The Hill

Program head Lt. Col. Christopher Bogdan asserted that “the program is making slow and steady progress on all fronts.”
These claims are based more in wishful thinking than reality. Between exorbitant costs and questionable capabilities, the F-35 math just doesn’t add up. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a plane that won’t advance our national security, at the expense of more important defense programs, just doesn’t make sense.
F-35 boosters have routinely cited two key pieces of evidence to back up their upbeat assertions. The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer claims that the project’s astonishing $1 trillion in lifetime operating costs is coming down slightly. And the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently repeated Pentagon claims that the projected procurement cost for buying over 2,400 of the planes will be “only” $332 billion, a reduction of about 3% from prior estimates.

There are two problems with these optimistic projections. First, they aren’t believable. As long-time defense budget analyst Winslow Wheeler of the Project on Government Oversight has noted, the GAO figures on alleged reductions in the price of the F-35 are based on “rejiggering inflation numbers” and “lesser hardware requirements” accompanied by claims of cost reductions at the subcontractor level that have not been verified.
Second, and most importantly, even if the new claims of a “cheaper” F-35 were true, it would still be the most expensive weapons program ever undertaken by the Pentagon. That would include spending an average of $12.6 billion per year between now and 2037, a pace that the GAO notes will require the Air Force to “increase funds steeply over the next few years” while posing “long-term affordability risks.” This is particularly true because the Air Force also wants to develop a new long-range bomber, buy substantial quantities of new refueling tankers, and purchase a next generation of unmanned aerial systems. The money just isn’t there to do all of these things at once. Something will have to give.

Critical mass has arrived.

Congress critters live on every word of this blog.

Cuts have to be made and those closed door briefings by the Navy are having an impact.

The F-35 doesn't deliver on the promises made and cheaper more effective alternatives are available.  Stick a fork in it.  This turkey is done.

The Navy's "Better" J-Stars?

via FA

The AAS's ultra fast scanning active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna system, tied to advanced computer processors, would theoretically allow the P-8 to detect a moving target in a cluttered bay or inlet, and then shoot a powerful and tight beam of radar energy at that target to take a "SAR picture" of it and thus judge its identity. If the contact is deemed hostile, the radar can continue to track the target as it moves while still scanning for and tracking others as well. This data, which can be collected by a P-8 well over a hundred miles away, can then be transmitted via data link off the aircraft for exploitation by other weapons platforms.
For instance, once a P-8, orbiting over a hundred miles off an enemy's coast, has identified a hostile patrol boat guarding its homeport, it can send that "target track" to a Super Hornet, flying about fifty miles closer to the enemy's shore, and request an attack. The P-8 has done this via using its Advanced Airborne Sensor to detect that ship's motion amongst the port's clutter, and then by instantly employing a beam of radar energy to survey and classify the target. The Super Hornet crew can then fire a standoff missile at the target, such as a SLAM-ER.
The Super Hornet would be receiving the P-8's radar data on the target in question continuously via data link, and would be forwarding this information in real time to the missile as it makes its way toward the hapless patrol boat. Once the missile reaches the point at which its own terminal guidance sensors can lock onto the patrol ship, the data link is no longer needed and the targeted ship will either be destroyed by the missile or would have to be re-attacked.

Read the entire article here.

Question.

Can this same technology be used against aerial targets?

If it can then stealth is dead.

Russians deploy their Supersonic Anti-Tank Missile, the Chrysanthemum-S

Read the story here, via Defense Aerospace.

Major hat tip to Jonathan for the link.

Ukraine. The beginning of the end & the US Army applauds...

I wake up to reports that Russian separatist have taken control of a number of cities and that the Ukrainian government is so far powerless to stop them.

This is the beginning of the end for Ukraine.

Ukraine will never be the same and more than likely we're about to see the country partitioned, if not conquered by Russia.

Make no mistake about it.

The Russians outsmarted the EU and US.

Also understand that the biggest loser here (besides the Ukrainian people) is the EU.  Smaller European countries are not seeking closer ties with the EU...they're shouting for closer ties to the US.  Meanwhile, the EU remains silent because they desperately need Russian gas supplies.

Meanwhile, the US Army silently sits in a corner and applauds quietly. 

As far as budget wars are concerned the US Army should be golden.   Contain N. Korea and Russia while keeping an eye on US interests in the Middle East and Northern Africa and they're set to make an argument for a bigger slice of the budget pie.  Army modernization might get back on track.

The scoreboard has changed.

Winners?

Russia.

Losers?

US and EU.

Inadvertent winners?

US Army.  Europe is back as an area of concern..."the best laid plans of mice and men" and all that bullshit ya know!

China's Type 99A2 Light Tank

Thanks for the heads up Tony!

The above pics are from the Chinese Military News Blog.  They state that the tank mounts a 105mm gun and weighs less than 50 tons.  Couple this vehicle with the new Chinese heavy air lifter and you have the capability to put armor anywhere in the region with quickness.

Above you see the Type 63A Light Tank.  Its a modified BMP-3 chassis sporting a new turret with a 105mm cannon.

Its fully amphibious and if used with new Chinese LHD and LPD ships coming online by the Chinese Marine Corps then you have tremendous shock power that can applied against any enemy forces in the region.

Everyone forgets that combined arms in mechanized formations is truly impressive.  Anti-tank teams will be hunted and killed by Chinese Marines or Airborne Troops while these new light tanks rampage through destroying support vehicles and troops.

As much as I label China our greatest near term foe, I can't but be impressed by how they're approaching modernization.

All the pieces are now in place....they just need to replace outdated equipment with new.

They're very close to being ready to make territorial dreams a reality.

Navy Matters: F-22 Lessons

Navy Matters: F-22 Lessons: As we attempt to understand the JSF (F-35) program and assess the F-35’s role in Navy and Marine operations, it is instructive to look at i...