Ukrainian Heavy Wheeled APC based on T-64 chassis.

Thanks for the link Mr. T!

Interesting concept.  It makes sense but I wonder what the engineering challenges were...we saw the reverse when General Dynamics attempted to take the wheeled Stryker and make it into a tracked vehicle.  That effort was abandoned so I imagine its much more difficult than I imagine.  More info here.

Blast from the past. CH-37, the first USMC heavy lift helicopter.

X-47B Drone & Manned F-18 Takeoff & Land Together In Historic Test

"Lavi" M-346 Jet Trainer night flight ops.

I can't wait to see these weaponized.  With modern precision attack munitions & air-air missiles I wonder why more countries aren't buying pocket fighters for homeland defense?  With the enormous cost of the F-35, we probably will in the near future.

X-47 operating with Super Hornets aboard carrier (pics)! Beats F-35C to sea!

All pics via xinhuanet.com

Did you hear about the hoax that had Louisville Police and the community on edge?

A little background.  This from the Inquistr.com

Residents in Louisville, Kentucky are being warned that a real life “Purge” could be planned for this weekend, and police say they are ready.
As reported by WLKY, Louisville Metropolitan Police report that posters and fliers have sprung up advertising that a ‘Purge’ crime spree would be in effect on Friday from 8:30 pm to Saturday at 6:30 am for residents in Kentucky’s largest city. Louisville MPD released a statement on the posters and fliers assuring residents that the department will be ready if there are any sort of mass disturbances.

Then this from E! online.

Yikes!
The horror franchise The Purge, in which people are legally permitted to commit crimes, including murder, for 12 hours, appeared to have inspired a hoax threat on Twitter promoting a "Louisville Purge," which even gave a time frame (that has passed). The message spooked scores of people and spurred copycat tweets and Facebook posts, some of which spoofed the original 2013 movie poster, as well as police action.
Officers recently located and spoke to the person they believe posted it, who is a teenager and has not been arrested or charged. The person told reporters on Friday that the message was meant to be a joke and has apologized for it.
"I didn't think it would really get that serious until it actually did," the teen was quoted as telling reporters, according to Louisville's NBC TV affiliate, WAVE 3. "Then I started feeling really bad about it because people's mamma's talkin' bout movin' to Indiana for the night and stuff. It was wrong for me to do that. I apologize to everybody in Louisville. I love my city. It's where I was born and raised. I love my city and don't really wanna harm my city. I just thought it would be funny."

We live in interesting times. 

Venezuelan Marines acquire the BTR VN-1 (Chinese Wheeled Amphibious Combat Vehicle).

Many thanks to Majtaz for the link!

via AFV Club.

The amphibious armored personnel carrier vehicle 8 × 8 Norinco VN-1 is one of the models acquired weapons systems to China as part of a process of re-equipping Marine Bolivariana de Venezuela and will be delivered soon.
Its development Began in the 1990s, being first seen in 2006, to enter service Shortly after the Chinese Army with ZBL-09 designation as a replacement of the armored personnel carrier 6 × 6 Type 92 For export designation is VN-1.
The VN-1 has-been Influenced by Russian and Western vehicles, Especially by American Stryker. Modular in design, construction consisted of six modules, treats including module engine, transmission, control, suspension, helmet and weapons station module.

Read the entire article but now is it becoming clear?

The F-35 has wrecked US Marine Corps procurement plans to such a degree that while 3rd world Marine forces are acquiring new APC/IFVs, we're still operating...and will continue to operate a vehicle that was first conceived more than 50 years ago.

The failure of Amos' is complete... remember this via Defense Tech...

“There are two answers to that, one is as Commandant of the Marine Corps’s answer which is Before I leave leave office four years from now … we’ll have a program of record, we’ll have steel, there will be a vehicle and I’ll be able to drive it,” Amos said responding to lawmakers questions during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “I’m trying to pressurize industry, I’m trying to pressurize the acquisition folks, I want the word to get out. If we followed the standard acquisition timeline, which in some cases got us to where we are today, it’ll be 2024.”

And then this from the same article...

“Something probably that resembles the sense of urgency that we had for the MRAP but probably a little bit more scheduled, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

He lied, equivocated and was indecisive for one reason.  To save the F-35.   The F-35 will have to stack up an impressive kill record to equal how many Marines will have died in an antiquated vehicles because funding was diverted to it instead of this more pressing issue.

ISIS slaughters 700 Syrians. Before this is done Syrians will beg for Bashar to lead them

via Jerusalem Online.

A human rights organization active in Syria reported today that the terrorist organization ISIS massacred 700 Syrians in Deir Al Zor in the northern part of the country.
According to Reuters, the terrorists murdered members of the Al Sheitat tribe by beheading them, after two weeks of fighting in the area.
Despite the extension of the terrorist organization’s activities in Syria, most of the brutal actions committed by ISIS are concentrated in Iraq. Tonight, ISIS terrorists went to a Yazidi village in northern Iraq and massacred the people. From the reports, it is indicated that at least 80 people were slaughtered. “They came to the village in the afternoon and they simply started to slaughter,” a Kurdish official stated.

I marvel at how quickly reality has destroyed the fantasy coming out of the White House and State Dept.

Once we worked to unseat Bashar.  Now we're all but fighting to keep him in power...as a matter of fact I bet we're secretly doing our best to keep him in charge.  Its a good thing that he doesn't want to see the region burn...or at least his benefactors don't because all he would have to do is announce that he was leaving office and the country and it would be all over.

Things are gonna get worse.  At this point its inevitable.

My prediction?  I expect Lebanon to be targeted soon.  That will be the game changer.  They are NOT strong enough to stop ISIS, and ISIS will continue with this slaughter.  That will be the trigger for US, European and UN troops to be back in the middle of this madness.

A corrected blast from the past....

Many thanks to Ordika for the link.

via Popular Science.

Seventy-four years ago, Russia accomplished what no country had before, or has since—it sent armed ground robots into battle. These remote-controlled Teletanks took the field during one of WWII’s earliest and most obscure clashes, as Soviet forces pushed into Eastern Finland for roughly three and a half months, from 1939 to 1940. The Finns, by all accounts, were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, with exponentially fewer aircraft and tanks. But the Winter War, as it was later called (it began in late November, and ended in mid-March), wasn’t a swift, one-sided victory. As the more experienced Finnish troops dug in their heels, Russian advancement was proving slow and costly. So the Red Army sent in the robots.
Specifically, the Soviets deployed two battalions of Teletanks, most of them existing T-26 light tanks stuffed with hydraulics and wired for radio control. Operators could pilot the unmanned vehicle from more than a kilometer away, punching at rows of dedicated buttons (no thumbsticks or D-pads to be found) to steer the tank or fire on targets with a machine gun or flame thrower. And the Teletank had the barest minimum of autonomous functionality: if it wandered out of radio range, the tank would come to a stop after a half-minute, and sit, engine idling, until contact was reestablished.
Notably missing, though, was any sort of remote sensing capability—the Teletank couldn’t relay sound or audio back to its human driver, most often located in a fully-crewed T-26 trailing behind the mechanized one. This was robotic teleoperation at its most crude, and made for halting, imprecise maneuvering across uneven terrain.

Robotic ground vehicles.

One of the fantasy future technologies that DARPA and the Pentagon are pursuing.

The IDF made the claim that they had accomplished a first by using an unmanned M113 to deliver supplies to troops in Gaza.  That may be true, but the first to use unmanned armored vehicles as a combat and not logistical vehicle appears to be the Russians during WW2.

Is this the end of the debate?  Probably not.  Parallel development happened during this time and I'm sure the Brits or Germans will also make claims...but I need to see the historical evidence to not declare that this was the first combat use of unmanned armored vehicles in combat. 

Sidenote:  Ordika also provided this blog source for more information on Russian Security Forces, White Russian Underground Movement and of course WW2 developments.  A MUST READ!

Need Russian speakers to help please!

Thanks for the link Robert!



Ok two things.

First according to Robert the above vid shows that the Russians are now directly supporting the rebels with equipment.  He identifies the above vehicle as a BTR-82A.  Its obviously one of the upgraded models as you can easily see due to the improved turret and cannon.

Second.  Robert says that the "Allah Akbar" is simply a joke among separatists because they're being called terrorist by Kiev.

Thats where my need for Russian speakers comes in.  I love getting links and info from readers but this is a huge development.  What exactly are they saying on the vid here?

Strike 2 for law enforcement. What happens when cooler heads don't prevail?

This is the second high profile standoff between police and law enforcement.

No matter what your feelings on either case, one thing is obvious.  Law enforcement backed off in both of them.

The question must be asked.

What happens when they don't and keep pushing?  What happens when cooler heads don't prevail in the headshed of the cop shop?  What happens when events spiral so fast that the on scene commander in the middle of the drama decides to "teach the public a lesson"?

Unless things change we're heading toward a major incident.  I don't know if LE will adjust procedures quickly enough to prevent it, but if they don't then blood will be spilled.

Ukraine has just dialed up the drama...

Thanks Matthew for the link...

via Bloomberg.

Ukraine said its troops attacked and partially destroyed a column of armed vehicles that had crossed the border from Russian territory, while Russia said it was concerned about an attack on another convoy carrying aid.
Ukrainian government troops engaged the vehicles that had arrived overnight through a rebel-held section of the border, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the country’s military, told reporters in Kiev today. Ukrainian soldiers continue to come under shelling, including rounds fired from Russia, he said.

Read it all.

This can't be good.  The excuses that Russia is getting to cross over to conduct a HA/DR mission seem to be piling up. 

The People vs The State.

I've been talking about the Gestapo bitched up cops in Ferguson.  Last night was calm and Cdr. Salamander breaks it all down.

Suffice it to say that we're seeing a reaction or rather a confrontation...call it The People vs. The State.

Cdr. Salamader's article is a must read.  Check it out here.

Business Insider breaks down military equipment used in Ferguson...

NOTE:  I was looking at this and had an epiphany.  With a few exceptions I have the same gear and of a better quality than some of these cops.  Makes me wonder.  The argument that they're trying to play catchup with guys like me can be made (although I'm definitely not planning on robbing a store, taking someone hostage or rioting). I'm definitely gonna have to chew on this some more.  Not as cut and dry as I was making it I guess.

The difference between riot police and armed thugs in Ferguson.

Pics are from the Business Insider...

Missouri State Police

St. Louis County Police

The above pics show you everything you need to see.  State Police showed up in standard riot control gear.  County Police showed up with their SWAT team acting as if they were about to conduct a raid.

Question.  At Bundy Ranch you had militias showing up armed for combat.  Federal Law Enforcement backed off.  In Ferguson you had rioters throwing rocks and bricks (reports of gunfire, molotov cocktails and shooting at helicopters has been stated by the Police Chief but unconfirmed by ANY of the news media on the scene) yet the police acted and were equipped as if they were going to war.  I wonder why?

This is how liberty dies

I'm a fierce critic of the news media. I think they've failed at their jobs to inform the American people....but when we see the above happen, then you know that we're in trouble. We just witnessed Gestapo tactics being used against the media.... AND THE PRESIDENT MADE A MILK TOAST STATEMENT ABOUT THIS!  If you're wondering.  This is how freedom dies...one right at a time....

 NOTE:  via Wikipedia...

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding thefree exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights

Ferguson police are full of shit!

Watching the Chief of Police of Ferguson, Missouri.

He's full of shit!

First we got word of airspace restrictions.  The reason?  Supposedly police helicopters were getting shot at.  News media did not report any such thing.  Additionally he just said that Molotov cocktails were thrown at police last night.  Again, news media reported no such thing.

We're seeing a common playbook emerge for how police deals with things.

1.  Cut off airspace so new helicopters can't record events.
2.  Make outlandish claims about what they're facing.
3.  Restrict news media to certain locations so that the story can't get out of police over reach.

We're living in a chilling time.

ISIS is bad, but one on one or even a group of them wouldn't stand a chance against armed citizens.  The bigger threat is out of control police forces.

1st Cav going Estonia....

via Rianovosti

TALLINN, August 14 (RIA Novosti) – Estonia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed that a US Army armored infantry company equipped with M1 Abrams tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers will be stationed in the country, Postimees newspaper reported Thursday.
Peeter Kuimet, the representative of Estonian Defense Ministry’s press service, confirmed to this to the newspaper, adding that details regarding the exact number of personnel, the date of arrival, home station and the number of tanks and other hardware are being worked out.
Earlier, US Stars and Stripes newspaper reported that in October four companies with a total of 600 troops from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry US Army Division, will be moved to Poland and the Baltic states to replace units from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, currently stationed in the region.
In April, Washington sent four paratrooper companies to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to support its NATO allies amid the crisis in Ukraine. More than 150 troops are stationed in Estonia without heavy armament, conducting military training for local troops.

This is interesting.  Replacing an Airborne unit with a heavy mech?  Shit is getting real!  This bears watching. 

Chevrolet Reaper. Ass ugly Raptor wannabe!

I'm a Ford guy but I can still appreciate well done Chevy's.  The K-5 series was a masterpiece of a truck and the 1998 Silverado's were solid too.  But this new Chevy Reaper is just an ass ugly wannabe.  Rumor is they want about 70K for this pile of dung!  Read about it being spotted here.

RAF Chinooks Arrive in Cyprus to Help With Iraq Aid

Gotta love the Brits.  They're always available to provide an international cover for whatever action we decide to take (sarcasm).  Seriously though, I wonder how this is going over in the UK.