Did Singapore buy extra F-15's?

Thanks to Superrhinoceront for the link!

via Janes.

Singapore appears to have quietly boosted the size of its F-15SG fleet from 24 aircraft to 40, according to Boeing financial statements, aircraft registration filings, and US congressional reports.
Singapore originally bought 12 F-15SGs - with an option for eight more - under a contract signed in December 2005. In October 2007 the city-state modified this option by buying 12 more to give it a total of 24.
These aircraft have all been confirmed as delivered and have US-type serial numbers running from 05-0001 to 05-0024. Several remain in the United States with the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF's) 428th Fighter Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base (AFB) in southwestern Idaho, while the remainder are active in Singapore with 149 Squadron.
Aircraft operating in Singapore use four-digit serial numbers in the 83xx sequence, starting at 8301, although these do not run consecutively.
In January 2014, several aircraft with new serial numbers - 05-0025, 05-0028, 05-0030, 05-0031, and 05-0032 - were seen at Mountain Home AFB. These had not been previously reported and suggest that Singapore has obtained another batch of eight aircraft.

Read the entire story here.

Interesting.  The Singaporeans are known for having a strong defense AND being fiscally conservative.

What does the purchase of additional F-15's tell us?

To me it says that ....1.  They're not sold on the F-35 and promises of "bending the cost curve"...and/or....2.  They're not sold on stealth...and/or....
3.  They're going to continue to wait and see and need a backup in case the F-35 turns out to be the turkey that I believe it to be.

If any or all of the above is correct then this is another quiet blow to the F-35 program that NO ONE is talking about. 

Know your enemy. Watch Hamas drag an executed "accused" traitor through the streets...

I've noticed that liberals, and especially the liberal news media is having a fit over ISIS beheading an American journalist.  But ISIS had been doing that for months before any of these people gave a damn.

I posted video of a man having his head sawed off on these very pages and not one liberal batted an eye.

But lets zoom back to the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

They defended those terrorists but I wonder how many have read the story and seen the above vid?

People that are merely accused of being spies are executed and as the video above shows...dragged through the streets behind motorcycles.

The reality is simple.  Savages must be put down.  Whether they're in ISIS or Hamas or Boko Haram or Tamil Tigers, etc....

IDF wants more Namer APCs and Trophy protection systems

Thanks for the link Jonathan!

via Janes.

Senior army officials hope that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will acquire better-protected armoured vehicles and more active protection systems (APS) such as Rafael's Trophy.
Their comments came after seven members of the elite Golani Brigade were killed by an rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on their M113 armoured personnel carrier (APC) during Operation 'Protective Edge' against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Senior officers say they want far more Namer APCs, which have superior armour, to replace the thousands of M113s they currently have. They also say they want to equip more vehicles with the Trophy APS, which they credit with defending Merkava Mk 4 tanks against more than a dozen anti-tank missile strikes carried out by militants during Operation 'Protective Edge'.
"We want many more Namer APCs for the infantry," a senior army source said. "If we had more Namers and more defences, we would have fewer casualties from missile strikes such as the one that occurred on the M113.
"There were arguments beforehand about why we needed the Namer and Merkava Mk 4. I think after Operation 'Protective Edge', these questions will shrink away," the source added.
"In Lebanon too, these vehicles can bring extraordinary firepower and capabilities. They are very advanced, have excellent armour defences, flexibility, and detection and precision abilities. There are no armoured vehicles like them in the world," he said.
The acquisition of large numbers of new armoured vehicles and the installation of APS would significantly strengthen Israel's ground manoeuvre capability, the source argued. "This creates a ground offensive that cannot be stopped anywhere, and this is what Israel needs.

Amazing.

The IDF is reawakening to the need to have powerful armored forces...armored forces that are NOT neglected in favor of airpower.

A military campaign tends to focus the mind doesn't it?  Theory goes out the window and reality takes center stage. 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs kills immigration reform.

“Those folks can go home at some point,” Dempsey said of Europeans that have joined the ISIS movement. “It’s why I have conversations with my European colleagues about their southern flank of NATO, which I think is actually more threatened in the near term than we are. Nevertheless, because of open borders and immigration issues, it’s… an immediate threat.”

Read the story here.

Stick a fork in immigration reform before the midterms.  If Obama does any "executive actions" he's going to be immediately AND effectively attacked.

I can see all kinds of campaign ads that use his JCS to just slaughter Democrats at the polls.

Immigration reform.  Not this year.

101st Airborne performs large scale air assault.

800 grunts flown in?

30 artillery pieces?

Even a freaking grader to setup a runway for C-130's?

If the 101st was just a bit better when it comes to strategic mobility they'd be hell on "rotors".

Also note that the capability they demonstrated gives it the combat punch of an MEU...or maybe better.  Much less ground mobility but definitely quite a bit of combat punch!

Budget wars.

Marines better keep an eye on the Army.  They're coming at us sideways but they're definitely making a bid to become expeditionary.  And that makes them direct competitors whether anyone says it openly or not.

St. Louis Police Release Graphic Video of Shooting

The job is hard.

Quite honestly, in this video these guys violated officer safety because they waited TOO long to fire.

21 feet.

A suspect can close the distance between in a micro second (not literally but before you can unholster).

What is the difference between the Ferguson riot response and this one?

The way the dept handled information to the public.  The PD's need to get the info out as soon as possible.  Release as much info as possible as fast as possible.

In other words they need to be above board.  If PD's are honest and explain that they're dealing with the insane, evil and stupid then the public will understand.

St Louis PD understood this.  Ferguson PD did not.

SIDENOTE:  The idiots that are talking about using a Taser against a knife are smoking crack, know nothing about the application of force and need to stay in their lanes.  NEVER bring less than lethal to a deadly encounter.  Intentions were made clear before he said a word.  He clutched a knife.  I'm calling it.  This is a JUSTIFIED shooting.  No one can say otherwise.

Canada taking police militarization to another level...

via O.Canada.com

Growing numbers of Canadian police agencies in recent years have added armoured vehicles to their crime-fighting arsenals — beasts on wheels that go by such names as Thunder 1, BearCat and Grizzly.
Several are retired military combat vehicles that have been modified and donated by the Canadian Forces. Other police agencies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase custom-built armoured trucks from private specialty builders.
Scenes of heavily armed and armoured police clashing with protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of an unarmed black man, have sparked discussions on both sides of the border about the “creeping militarization” of police and accusations that they are wasting money on “toys for boys.”
But police officials from Vancouver to New Glasgow, N.S., this week defended their acquisitions. Even if these heavy-duty vehicles are sitting in a garage most days of the week — some have not been deployed even once — they are necessary for dealing with hostile and potentially life-threatening situations such as hostage-takings, incidents involving barricaded gunmen or active shooters and the execution of high-risk search warrants, officials said.

Read it here.

The real militarization of police comes in joint exercises, not in gear.

We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
President Barack Obama.

Check this out from TheState.com

COLUMBIA, SC — Richland County sheriff’s deputies on Monday and Tuesday will conduct a secretive joint exercise around the county with unidentified units from Ft. Bragg, according to the sheriff’s department.
The exercises will run up to midnight both days and be primarily in Lower Richland, around Eastover and Hopkins.
Exercises will also conducted around the Screaming Eagle Road near Elgin and North Richland County near outbound Monticello Road.
Ft. Bragg is home to some of the U.S. Army’s elite fighting groups, including Special Forces, aviation support and airborne units. The Army’s Delta Force is also at Ft. Bragg.
A sheriff’s department spokesman Sunday declined to say which Ft. Bragg units will be involved. Reporters will not be allowed to “view or participate” in the exercise.
It will be noisy at times.
“Citizens may see military and departmental vehicles traveling in and around rural and metropolitan areas and may hear ordnance being set off or fired which will be simulated/ blanks and controlled by trained personnel,” a sheriff’s department press release said. .
The release said that, “Due to Sheriff Leon Lott's longstanding commitment to making sure that deputies are trained and prepared for every event and potential threat and his desire to assist the military to ensure their preparations;” the joint exercise is being held.

And these types of exercises just don't happen near military bases but all over the country.  These law enforcement officials just aren't working with conventional units...most of the time they're exercising with SOCOM.

You want to know the real cause of militarization of police in the US?  Point your finger at SOCOM, the Pentagon and the White House.

An anti-terrorism exercise would be easily explained away and understood by the population....but instead they refuse to disclose the reasoning behind them.

Equipment means squat.  Training gives attitude, mindset and if conducted properly can even alter or "shape" beliefs.

You want to know why PDs are acting as if they're at war with citizens?  Its because that's what they're learning while sitting at the feet of Special Operations.

Note:  The following links are just a few from the first page when Google-ing "military exercises in US cities 2013"....there are many more examples...

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/27/tinl-a27.html

http://www.nola.com/military/index.ssf/2013/05/us_special_forces_behind_last.html

http://www.infowars.com/phoenix-residents-freak-out-over-dod-military-exercises/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/28/military-conducts-another-massive-training-drill-involving-helicopters-this-time-in-texas/

http://www.examiner.com/article/domestic-military-exercises-meant-to-desensitize-americans-to-military

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/01/19/3216402_richland-deputies-us-military.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Blast from the past. The Banshee [McDonnell F2H carrier-based jet fighter]

Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

A bugout bag is not enough...

If you're into preparedness then continue reading.

If not then this is not the post for you and you can come back for the next post.

I contend that a bugout bag is not enough.  I contend that for most it will not provide for a persons REAL needs and will cause people to put themselves in worse conditions than if they stuck it out at home.  If staying home is not possible, you don't have a destination point, and you absolutely must leave then at the bare minimum you're going to need the cargo capacity of a bugout trailer (even better would be some type of camping trailer or mobile home...but that's best case scenario).

Sidenote.  Your best bet in my opinion is to stay at home.  The minute you leave your home, unless you have friends or family in a safe area of the country then you're a refugee.

Having said all that, what is your opinion?

Is a bugout bag worth the effort to put together or are we mixing up get home, everyday carry and bugout bags into a strange concoction where they're used interchangeably?

https://trustyjoe.com/best-vacuum-for-high-pile-carpet/

Is Singapore, pound for pound, the most powerful military in the Pacific?

The above video is a massive dog and pony show, but it does beg the question.

Is Singapore, pound for pound, the most powerful in the Pacific?

I think a good argument can be made that they are!  They have world class law enforcement (to include border controls that are spooky good...you will not over stay a visa in that country!), ultra modern military equipment with the best kit bought globally or produced locally AND they have national service which doesn't appear to have had a negative affect on their professionalism.

Consider this.

It can be argued that they operate the most heavily protected, most modern tank in the region.  Their fleet of F-16's and F-15E's are likewise of the most modern versions available.  They have a modern fleet, and their Special Ops troops train hard and regularly.

The Japanese, Australians and S. Koreans are good.

The Singaporeans might be better.

Asymmetric Solutions (Private Military Contractors -PMC's) are on the ground in Ferguson...

We’ve been to Baghdad, Kabul, KL, Manilla, Peshwar, Bogata. Never guessed we would deploy a high threat team in our own city.#furgeson— Asymmetric Solutions (@AsymmetricUSA) August 19, 2014

The above is a tweet from Asymmetric Solutions, a PMC that is apparently on the ground in Ferguson.

via SHTF Plan Blog.

Their mission is not clear and no one in any official government capacity is saying anything. But according to a tweet from Asymmetric Solutions on Tuesday, private contractors have been requested in the Feguson/St. Louis area. The company is a division of Applied Defense Technologies, which employs ex-special operations members like Navy Seals, Army Rangers, and Delta Force operatives, often to high-risk theaters of war in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

I've heard of these guys but I got the impression they were mostly trainers.  I didn't know they were sending guys out on jobs.

The bigger question is obvious.

When the government wants a heavier hand and if they can spell it out in a contract with the no-disclosure clauses in tact/ironclad (with the additional protections from prosecution) then these types are the ones to send. Additionally we have seen no evidence that the vast Intel network that's been setup has been used in Ferguson.

So what did they get a whiff of that got them spooked? 

Army quits tests after competing rifle outperforms M4A1 carbine

Thanks for the link Joe!

NOTE! Follow the link below to see the vid and the story.
Read the story here...and if you know what the weapon was that outperformed the M4 hit me up!

F-35 delayed/late again...can the USMC get its armored vehicles now?

Thanks to Eric for the link!

via Investors Business Daily

The radar-evading plane was supposed to be combat-ready by next July, according to Bloomberg News, but the F-35 still needs to pass in-flight software testing. Currently, the software testing for the Marine Corps edition of the plane, the most technologically complex of the models, is five months behind schedule.
"Many test points remain blocked or difficult to achieve because" of the flight restrictions, Jennifer Elzea, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon director of operational testing, told Bloomberg. "This may cause further delays in completing" testing of the software.

They were trying to rush this plane into service for one reason.  To ramp up production in the vain hope of "driving down the cost curve"....they've failed.

Good.

Now that this turkey is doing as predicted and strangling itself like its strangled USMC procurement, can we slow it the fuck down and buy some armored vehicles before we find our Marines fighting ISIS, or Boko Haram or some other group of degenerate animals that seem to be all over the planet?

Officer points AR at live streamer and threatens to kill him...

This one is for all you unabashed police supporters.

You call the protesters animals?  I call the police savages.  Fearful, scary, pussy ass savages.  This is uncalled for.  Unprofessional.  Dangerous.

If you believe that this type police activity will calm the situation then you're being naive.  This is totally unsat and if a US Marine was caught doing the same he'd be underneath the brig...and that's if he was dealing with a foreign national in a far off land.

Foley not so innocent?

Thanks to thebronze for the link!

via FrontPageMag.com

James Foley was one of a new breed of activists calling themselves journalists. He didn’t travel to report on a story, but to promote an agenda. And the agendawas obvious from his Twitter feed.
Any human life lost is tragic, but a moral individual would have much more empathy for the Syrian Christians who suffered at the hands of Foley’s favorite Jihadists than one of their pet propagandists.
Foley came to Syria to support the Sunni Islamist rebels against the Syrian government.
He cheered on the Sunni Muslim terrorists fighting to ethnically cleanse the Christians of Aleppo. In the conflict between Israel and Hamas, his tweets and retweets were chock full of pro-terrorist propaganda.
But Foley ran afoul of at least some of the Sunni Jihadists in Syria. His twitter feed was filled with references to the FSA. And the FSA was going to be eclipsed by the Al Qaeda affiliates. And that was where he ended up.
When Austin Tice, an actual freelance journalist was kidnapped by Jihadists, Foley ridiculed the idea that Jihadists had kidnapped him. Surely Syrian Jihadists wouldn’t do that sort of thing.

Read the entire article.

If the article was slamming the memory of a dead man then I wouldn't link to it...but instead it does something very important...It explains why a rational person would embark on an irrational course of action...like covering terrorists in Syria.

Its a shame that Foley was murdered, but he violated the first rule of survival. Use common sense.

BTRZ Heavy APC.

Thanks for the link Mr. T!

Another Ukrainian project.  It really appears that when you run out of money you really do begin to think.  Tons of tank chassis lying around, what do you do?  You turn them into heavy APC's!

Canada having second thoughts about the F-35.

via Washington Post.

Many thought that by now Canada would have decided whether to buy the planes — a move that would help drive down costs in the nearly $400 billion program — or instead force the plane’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, to compete for its business. But it’s now unclear when that will happen.
Some fear that if nations such as Canada balk, there could be questions about the long-term affordability of the program.Meanwhile, Boeing, one of Lockheed Martin’s fiercest competitors, has pounced on what it sees as an opportunity in Canada and other countries to tout its F/A-18 Super Hornetas a proven, affordable alternative.
Facing budget constraints, Italy and the Netherlands have already curtailed the number of F-35s they said they plan to buy. Denmark is holding a competition that would pit the F-35 against other fighters. Meanwhile, the production line at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant has been limited to a little over 30 the past two years, as tightened U.S. budgets and technical problems have forced the Pentagon to significantly slow its procurement as well.

The unreported story that is the cutbacks that the F-35 has already suffered...and will continue to suffer.

This plane is already in a death spiral.  Italy and the Netherlands proves that...the only question is how many in the US order will get cut.  The Navy is already signalling that and so will the USAF once they see the performance of the X-47 aboard carriers.

This turkey is already stuffed.  It just needs to be stuck in the oven. 

Expect more Ferguson's.... I'm calling it!

"We are jobless men, and this is our job now -- getting justice," he said. "If that means violence, that's OK by me.  Anonymous Ferguson Protester

Operative words in the above quote...jobless...

I'm calling it as far as an economic collapse approaching ... and fast.  The Arab Spring?  The US State Dept would say that it was a call for freedom.  The reality was that it was all based on poor economic conditions in those nations.  You don't see the same thing in Europe and the US because we have a much criticized safety net.  But thats a misnomer.  It isn't a safety net for individuals but a safety net for governments.

How do you keep people from rebelling?  You keep them fed and somewhat comfortable.

People are hot about the issues in Ferguson but for the first time we're finally hearing the truth. Its about the economy.  Racial strife might be a part but its mostly about the economy and the police shooting is serving as a nice, pleasant substitute for the real issue.

I'm calling it now.

We're going to see alot more of this...and soon.  No one wants to protest in the winter time, especially in the Northeast corridor where they're extremely vulnerable to this type of thing.

And watch out for this Oct.  I don't know why that is the crazy month for bad things with the stock market but it is and things are slowing down.

This will get more interesting before its all over.

Expect more Ferguson's, more unrest, and much more drama before the winter snows calm everything down.

You heard it here first.