Saudi Arabia is scared of ISIS.

via The Daily Caller.

Saudi Arabia’s head of state King Abdullah issued a dire warning to the West if they choose to ignore the Muslim extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month,” Abdullah said at a Friday diplomatic ceremony and later quoted by Saudi television.
“Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East,” he continued. “You see how they [jihadists] carry out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street.”
“It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do. I ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: ‘Fight terrorism with force, reason and [necessary] speed’,” he declared, according to an Agence France Press report.

Forgive the tinfoil hat I have on but....

Isn't it funny that as soon as we get out of the Middle East, the American people are fed up with this "freeing masses of people that won't free themselves", and getting our (on certain projects) outrageous defense spending under control....Another threat pops up that we MUST deal with?

I think the lunatics in ISIS need to be killed...the bellies ripped out so they can feed the catfish....but the idea that they will be in Europe in a month?  In the US in two?

Not freaking likely.  Oh and don't give me the "they're already here, just look at the Westerners that have gone to fight with them routine" either.  Unless the NSA, FBI, MI-6 and other agencies are idiots then those people are being tracked and I imagine worse.

I think we're all getting played.  The industrial defense complex needs to be fed and ISIS is the meal ticket. 

Sidenote:  Lets get another thing straight.  The monarchy in Saudi Arabia is under far more threat than we are.  They're scared shitless, and to me this statement proves it.

Blast from the past. WHAT’S WRONG With Uncle Sam’s Navy? (May, 1934)

via Modern Mechanix.

Geez!

I wonder if this guy is related to Cdr Salamander?  Anyway, its a fascinating read and while things aren't as bad today, the similarities are striking.  Read it all here.

MALUS AMPHEX 14....photos by Sgt. Melissa Wenger

New Russia?

Thanks for the link Joe!

via Yahoo News.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday publicly addressed pro-Russian rebels fighting in southeastern Ukraine for the first time , praising their "major success" inside Ukraine.
The Kremlin released a late-night statement from Putin on its website in which he appealed to the militia of "Novorossyia," or "New Russia."
It's a term he has used before to describe the regions in eastern Ukraine where fighting has raged for months — a term that describes the area north of the Black Sea that was conquered by Russia in the late 18th century through peace treaties with the Cossack Hetmanate and the Ottoman Empire. In 1922, the area became part of the Soviet Union. The term is mostly used now by Russian nationalists who wish for Russia to reconquer the area.

" It is clear the militia has achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation, which represents a grave danger to the population of Donbass and which has already led to the loss of many lives among peaceful residents," Putin said in his statement to the militia.

Uh wow.

I really don't know what to say about this one.  Follow the link and read the whole story.  The EU, NATO, the US and Europe in general has just been put on notice.  Forget my earlier posting....SHIT JUST GOT REAL!

Putin is playing for blood. 

Russia is now saber rattling Finland!

Thanks for the link Joe!

photo via Vox

via Vox

This is a photograph of an AN-27 Russian military transport aircraft. Which wouldn't be so extraordinary, except that the air force of Finland says they took the photo while the Russian plane was in Finnish airspace. Even that wouldn't necessarily be so extraordinary, except the Finns say it was "the third event of its kind within a one-week period." And even that you might write off as just one of these things, except that Russia also invaded Ukraine this week so it's kind of hard to see it all as a big coincidence.

I personally don't see this as a big deal, but of course I could easily be wrong.  Stuff is heating up in Europe and the Russians would be a fool to not keep an eye on all of its neighbors---as they're keeping an eye on Russia.

On a sidenote, I wonder exactly how valuable NATO membership really is.  The organization is at best a quasi-political one that masquerades as a military grouping.  Its shelf life has expired long ago and what would impress me more is individual mutual aid pacts between countries.  For example an agreement by the Brits to defend Poland, Estonia and Romania instead of NATO membership would seem to carry more weight, less complications and be more effective than the nonsense we have now. 

F-35 News. Engine deliveries halted.

Thanks William for the link!

via Bloomberg.

Delivery of engines was halted in May after an in-house inspection and testing process “raised questions about the origin” of the titanium, spokesman Matthew Bates said in an e-mailed statement. The company replaced all the suspect engine parts in its inventory for failing to meet specifications, but determined that the metal in 147 F-35 engines already delivered didn’t pose a flight-safety risk, he said.

WOW!  Really?  Seriously?  It gets better, this is another passage from the same article (read it all)...

The Pentagon’s F-35 program office said in a statement that Pratt & Whitney’s “persistent problems stem from the supply chain” because 80 percent of the engine is produced by many different subcontractors.

I've had major issues with the way that the F-35 program is setup.  Too many contractors in too many countries!  How they expect to make a profit with a business model like the one the program office is using is beyond me, yet supporters continue to talk about how the cost curve is coming down.

This article points in the opposite direction.

Where are the Russian Tanks???

Global Research Blog has an interesting take on the "Russian Invasion" of Ukraine.

They seem to think that we're all the victims of a NATO psy-ops campaign.  Why?  Because we have yet to see evidence of Russian armor or artillery INSIDE Ukraine.

Quite honestly all we've seen is a bunch of infantry running around engaged in gunfights....a bit of armor, both conventional and hillbilly, but nothing that proves the fact that the Russians have invaded.  Read the story here.

6th ROK Marine brigade - Mobile Exercise

ISIS Pounds Syrian Airbase With American Howitzer

Note.  We wondered if ISIS had the skill to operate the equipment they captured.  Obviously they do.  I think they just became one of the richest "nations" in the region and certainly are better equipped than a few countries.

Donbass Battalion Surrounded And taking Casualties In Ilovaisk

Thanks Mauricio  for the link!

China's "Peace Mission-2014" is going on now.

via Xinhua

The scale of the ongoing "Peace Mission 2014" joint military drill is the largest to date, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
The exercise is being held from Aug. 24 to 29 at Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in accordance with the 2014-2015 defense ministry cooperation plan among Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members.
Spokesperson Yang Yujun told a regular news briefing the drill is progressing smoothly, with troop exercises beginning Friday.
Yang said the exercise will play an important role in deterring the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, safeguarding regional peace and stability and improving the military's ability to coordinate fights against terrorism.
The exercise is the fifth multinational drill under the SCO framework. Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan sent armed forces by land and air in early August.

Russia in Ukraine is a European problem (in my opinion).

Russia teamed with China in the Pacific is a US problem (in my opinion).

Time for a little straight talk.  We can't have a true NATO type alliance where countries come to each others defense if attacked by China because the region is still suffering the effects of centuries of rivalries and ethnic hatred.

So be it.

But that means that all these glorious plans of a 1000 ship Navy and partnership missions is just bullshit seeking to pacify policy makers when it comes to spending the necessary funds on defense to keep the Dragon in its cage.  One other thing to consider.  Those two Mistrals that were bought (along with the expertise to produce more) has everyone thinking that they're aimed at European operations...maybe some actions in the Middle East.  I say bullshit.  I'm betting that those ships are aimed at the Pacific.

China's new Type 55 Destroyer.

All images via Chinese Military Review.

F-35 IOC in 2015? Not fucking likely!

via Bloomberg (Aug 20, 2014).

The start of rigorous in-flight testing on the initial software for the Marine Corps version of the fighter is already five months late, and may be further delayed by the flight restrictions imposed on the 20 test aircraft and 79 training jets after an engine fire on an Air Force F-35 on June 23.
“Many test points remain blocked or difficult to achieve because” of the flight restrictions, Jennifer Elzea, a spokeswoman for Pentagon director of operational testing Michael Gilmore, said in an e-mailed statement. “This may cause further delays in completing” testing of the software, she said.

Hmm.  5 months late for the testing of the initial software for the USMC.  The daddy of the F-35 Amos heading out the door this Oct (THANK GOD!!!!!!), a grunt getting back in the big chair... Added with the probability that the Republicans will reclaim the Senate and "spending discipline" will be imposed (hopefully)....all adds up to the Marine Corps delaying the IOC for the F-35.  But this is to be expected.  The US DoD has been pursuing exotic weapon systems and has been failing everytime.  Check out what USMC 0802 said on the post about the GVX.

All of this points back to the same basic problem in all weapon procurement which is that we only green light leap ahead systems.
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, Future Combat System, and all of the other systems that were supposed to be leap ahead technologies that failed.
Joint Strike Fighter, Lightweight Small Arms Technology, DDG1000, Littoral Combat Ship. All of these systems are behind schedule and massively over budget. All were supposed to be ground breaking technologies that have instead taken forever to make it out of development and massively under delivered on the original promise.
Instead that has left us with yet another upgrade on the AAV7, plummeting readiness rates on F/A-18s and AV-8Bs, and a assault rifle that continues to come in near last place in every competition to name just a couple of the legacy systems that we continue to use. This leaves our warfighters using weapons systems that were designed before they were born because the replacement is always just another couple of years away and is always just a couple of years away.

Sidenote.  Has anyone noticed that we still don't have a reported cause of the fire...only speculation?  Has it escaped your attention that the F-35 is still operating under flight restrictions?  Amos was going to pencil whip the plane into service.  I don't see Dunford taking those kinds of unnecessary risks with the lives of Marines flying an airplane that hasn't completed flight testing.

This should be on the wall of every General Officer in the Pentagon that deals with procurement....

“Putting the F-35 into production years before the first test flight was acquisition malpractice,” said acting Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall

The above statement is the closest thing we've seen to a government official admitting wrong doing when it comes to this project...but it won't be the last.

People will go to jail over this boondoggle.

I'd bet bodyparts!

NATO releases sat imagery proving Russian troops in Ukraine.

All images via Washington Post.

Read the story by clicking on the above link.  This is getting interesting beyond description.  The NATO meeting is next week.  Sanctions aren't working and can be said to have provoked the latest Russian actions...additionally further sanctions will probably put Europe into recession with the rest of the world soon to follow.  Add to it the problem known as ISIS, the coup in Thailand, China acting an ass when it comes to US flights in international airspace, the Philippines paying the rebel groups on their islands, and the political chaos soon to engulf the US when the President gives 6 million illegal aliens amnesty and you can see why I'm preparing for the worst.

The world is on fire and leadership everywhere is grabbing gasoline instead of fire extinguishers.

Twister High Mobility Test Vehicle.

In the early 1960s, Lockheed looked at expanding beyond designing and building aircraft and spacecraft. The Missiles and Space Company’s Ground Vehicles Systems line of business was started in 1964 to respond to the US Army’s interest in a highly mobile, off-road, wheeled vehicle. The basic design was a fully articulated, two bodied vehicle that could be driven at high speed over rough terrain. This eight-wheel test vehicle, called Twister, was built in 1965. A military-specific variant was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 1970. Ultimately, the Army opted for a tracked vehicle and the design of a significantly upgraded twisting vehicle called Dragon Wagon was sold to Oshkosh Truck Corporation in 1979.

US Army vs. the USAF. A quick overview.

Click here to be taken to a nice, quick overview of the US Army vs. USAF fight over control of air assets.  This is topical because the future points toward the US Army getting into the tilt rotor/tilt wing or some type of vertical take off and one day that will lead to high performance aircraft that begins to approach airliner speed (at least).

This battle will happen again and with the USAF constantly shrinking because its heading toward an all stealth force, its creating an opening for dirty war fighters to fill the gap....Fighters flown by Army Aviators.

IDF attacks Syria.

via Jerusalem Online.

In response to an Israeli officer getting wounded by a stray Syrian bullet, the IDF implemented an artillery attack aimed at Syrian military positions. The targets were precisely identified. The IDF noted that they see the Syrian military as responsible for the rocket fire on Israel.

I need more info on this.

The world is spinning out of control.  Kerry is nowhere to be found.  Obama has checked out.  Europeans are providing no leadership...and it looks like modern maps are being redrawn everyday.

We definitely live in interesting times.  I wonder what historians will say about this madness. 

How to Make a Kydex Sheath

Check out this article at the Knife Blog.

State Dept confirms Russian counter offensive underway.

This seals the deal.

I've been wondering who is right or wrong when it comes to news from Russia and Kiev when it relates to fighting in Ukraine and now you have it straight from the US State Dept's spokeswoman's mouth.

Russia is counterattacking and Kiev is about to get kidney punched.

Many readers have pointed to this having to be done by winter and it looks like they were right.  Kiev's attack stalled, the Russians are counterattacking and they're probably looking to consolidate their "new territory" before the first snow fall.

This is classic military art.  Allow your enemies to advance until they're over extended and then punch them in the throat.

Wonder where SecState Kerry is on this world shaking development?  The Russian Bear is ascendant!

Hillbilly 120mm mortar.