J-31 arrives at big Chinese Air Show.

Note:  China is soon to put on one of the largest air shows in the world.  The location is the city of Zhuhai and its called the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition 2014 (Airshow China 2014).  Unfortunately I can't find one major publication that is sending journalist to cover the event.  Once again I'll have to rely on Chinese Bloggers to keep us all updated.

Norinco AH-4 155mm Light-weight Howitzer, AKA Chinese M777 via Chinese Defense Blog.

According to Norinco, this AH-4 weighting in about 3,000kg, just a bit lighter than the US M777 counter part and chambered to fire all standard NATO 155mm rounds.

Hmm.  Lighter than the M777?  I wonder how many rounds it can fire before it breaks.  Confidence is not high.

85th Test and Evaluation Squadron. Photos by Samuel King Jr

Libyan Navy Ship sinking...fighting between govt forces and rebels with tanks & aircraft...UPDATE!

via Reuters.

(Reuters) - A Libyan navy ship was hit and 13 people killed during heavy fighting with aircraft and tanks on Monday between the army and Islamist militants near the port of Benghazi, residents of the Mediterranean city said.
The battle was part of a wider conflict in the North African state where former rebels who helped oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 are fighting for power and a share of Libya's large oil revenues.
Army special forces, backed by troops of an ex-general, launched an offensive in the Benghazi area two weeks ago against Islamist militants blamed by Washington for a 2012 assault on the former U.S. consulate which killed the American ambassador.
The Red Crescent evacuated 53 foreign workers and 14 sick people trapped inside a hospital next to the port, medics said, while the army moved more tanks and artillery into the city.
A Reuters reporter could see smoke rising from the port, an important conduit for food, wheat and fuel supplies to eastern Libya. A security source said the unidentified navy ship was sinking but this could not immediately be confirmed.

Its off the front pages but the world continues to burn.  What seemed to be just another run of the mill insurgency is taking on the look of the fighting in Ukraine, with almost conventional style forces engaging in combat.

All this and yet gas prices continue to fall.

How do you explain it?  Where is all this excess capacity coming from? 

UPDATE:  Fox Business is speculating that the Saudi's are trying to kill the shale oil boom in the US.  They fear both the US becoming energy independent AND a competitor on the global market.  It makes sense but that would mean that this shaky ally is actually attempting to hurt our economic interests.  That takes them from shaky ally to outright enemy.

Royal Marines go ashore in Sierra leone.

Note:  The work is worthy but I can't help but think that some of those Royal Marines will catch Ebola.  From these pics it looks like an absolute certainty.

Warrior Morality. What would you do Lt?

A couple of videos are burning up the internet.  The theme?  ISIS is training children to use real weapons to engage their enemies.

My outlandish scenario.

You're on patrol and suddenly you start taking fire from the front.  Your men are well trained and execute a flawless "react to ambush" drill and everyone is good to go.
Firing dies down a bit (meaning you're only taking a sporadic fire at best) and you get eyeballs on the enemy.  Much to your surprise you're dealing with 4 teens that appear to be no more than 16 years old and much to your horror you also spot two young boys around 7 or 8.

What do you do Lt?

Explain why you made the choice that you did.  Lay out the ramifications of that decision (for example, casualties if you decide against a forceful defense, failure to complete your patrol etc...).

This is new so I'll cut you some slack.  You have 30 seconds to decide.  No cheating.

RoK Army 1st Commando Regiment publicity pics.

Pic of the day. English Electric Lightning on afterburner!

IDF increasing production of the Namer Heavy APC.

via Times of Israel.

The military is allocating funds for the construction of a large number of ‘Namer’ (leopard) APCs, introduced in 2008, which sport the durable chassis of the army’s renowned Merkava tanks.
While army officials say Namer APCs performed beautifully during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, resisting bomb blasts and saving many soldiers’ lives, too few of the vehicles were available to infantry units. In one incident early in the conflict, soldiers in an old Vietnam War-era M-113 APC were hit with an anti-tank missile, resulting in the deaths of seven soldiers.
“The only issue is funding,” Brig. Gen. Baruch Mazliach, head of the Defense Ministry’s Namer and Merkava department told Channel 2. “We can construct dozens of vehicles a year.”
The rate of construction could be doubled or tripled in the near future, according to the report. “We are already preparing to pick up our pace and in the coming years to construct a larger number of Namers for the IDF and other infantry forces,” Mazliach said.

The Israeli's suffered a tragic lesson that every land force on the globe would do well to make note of.  Precision fires are no substitute for armored protection.  Also noteworthy is the fact that the Israeli's have chosen to keep the .50 cal instead of increasing the APC's firepower.

Hi-rez pics of the F-35C carrier landing.

F-35C lands on a carrier. So did a C-130...that's not the real test.

via Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first of two Lockheed Martin Corp F-35C fighter jets landed successfully on the USS Nimitz off the coast of San Diego on Monday, marking the new warplane's first landing on an aircraft carrier using its tailhook system, the Pentagon said.
Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon's F-35 joint program office, said the landing was part of a two-week sea-based test that runs through Nov. 17.
It marks another milestone for the Pentagon's biggest weapons project, a $399 billion program designed to replace over a dozen different types of warplanes being used by the U.S. military and its allies.
After years of delays and cost overruns, the F-35 program has generally met its schedule and cost targets since a major restructuring in 2010, although a temporary fleetwide grounding ordered after an engine failure in June has set back testing by 45 to 50 days.
The sea-based testing of the plane will give officials key data about the ship's performance on a carrier, and allow any adjustments needed to keep the program on track for initial use by the fleet in 2018.
Navy test pilot Commander Tony Wilson, who landed the CF-03 aircraft on the Nimitz flight deck just after noon, called it a "landmark event."

The F-35C landing on a carrier is a landmark event?  Sorry.  Not even close.  I'm not even an aviation guy and I know better.

Its not about landing.  A combat UAV did that earlier this year and did it in a precision approach.  Back in the 60's a C-130 did it.  I'm not sure but I think they even played with U-2's on deck.

No.  The real issue will be on the dull and boring work that takes place below deck.

No one is talking about maintaining stealth at sea anymore.  That's dropped off everyone's view screens but that's gonna be the deal breaker.  That along with the price that they're moving heaven and earth to lower.  That along with a maintenance bill that looks to swallow the Marine Corps and Navy alive.

Congrats on the landing, but don't be fooled.

This turkey is not yet finished screwing with the Naval Services.  The spiral is here, they're fighting to prevent it but I just don't see a way out for them.  Oh and remember.  You heard it here first.

Sidenote:  The Naval Services in general and the US Navy in particular are facing a huge problem.  Unlike the USAF, their airplanes are useless unless they have ships to operate from.  Additionally the US Navy sees future air combat in a fundamentally different way than the USAF does.  This is built in friction.  The USMC no longer has the main booster in chief in the Commandant's chair and adult leadership will see cuts made.  The only piece left to fall in place for that eventuality is Republican control of the Senate.

Marine Expeditionary Brigade: Partnered, Capable, Ready.

Marine Aviation Plan...otherwise known as Ground Combat Element, you're screwed.

Note:  USNI News had this first.

  245372920 2015 Marine Aviation Plan

Read the plan and weep for the ground side.

They call it the Marine Aviation Plan?  It should be called Ground Combat Element, you're screwed letter.

If this goes forward we won't be able to buy an AAV replacement until 2050.  Everyone likes to believe the lies that the F-35 isn't responsible for the procurement trainwreck.  This document proves otherwise.  The Marine Corps is getting butt fucked by that abomination of an airplane.

Everything must die so that the F-35 can live.

US Army getting 18 M109A7 self propelled howitzers...

The M109A7 program is a significant upgrade over the vehicle’s predecessor, the M109A6 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer, restoring space, weight, and power-cooling, while providing growth potential for emerging technologies. The design includes a Bradley-common chassis, engine, transmission, suspension, steering system, and improved survivability, while leveraging technologies developed during the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon program such as a 600 volt on-board power system. The state-of-the-art “digital-backbone” and power generation capability provides significant growth potential for future payloads as well as accommodating existing battlefield network requirements.

Did you notice what the Army is doing here?  Slowly but surely they're settling on the Bradley chassis as the base platform for their tracked family of vehicles.

Its subtle and could point to where armor is going.  If a future medium tank is built using the Bradley chassis then its a huge win for the Army.

What the FUCK! Call of Duty!!! Updated.

Thanks Dima for pointing this out to me!

This shit has me high and to the right.

I don't know what the game developers over at Call of Duty are smoking but they need be throat punched, followed by a steel toed boot to the 'nads and then taken out back and having the living shit beat out of them.

You don't play with this.

You don't have the fucking right.

The CoD bastards need to get a clue.  Yeah.  Its a game, but this shit is fucking disrespectful....they crossed the line big time.

Update:  As usual, my readers say it better than I ever could...

Movies are storytelling. Games are interaction. Having a movie or a game cutscene with military funeral is one thing. "Press F to pay respects" is basically treating a military funeral like a minigame. Like "Press F to enter the vehicle", "Press F to use the machinegun turret". You dont turn a funeral into some minigame. I myself am just an ex-IDF MP, and this just feels...wrong...
 Dima, a frequent commenter on this blog 

It just doesn't feel wrong.  It is wrong.  The whole world can disagree but I don't care.  This time the world needs to move, not me.

SEAL community finally tones down its act.

via Daily Beast.

He speaks with wistful bitterness of how in the aftermath of No Easy Day’s publication, he reached out to that SEAL Team 6 commander who fashioned the fake headstone to explain that he’d never intended to put out anything that would endanger his teammates.
The Navy captain responded to the text from Bissonnette with the words, “Delete me.”
Ahead of the publication of his latest book, the current head of all Navy SEALs, Rear Adm. Brian Losey, repeated that sentiment in a letter to the community that seemed timed for Bissonnette’s 60 Minutes appearance this weekend—and the advertised appearance of a SEAL who calls himself “The Shooter” who is slated to appear talking about the raid on Fox News later this month.
“A critical tenant of our ethos is ‘I do not advertise the nature of my work nor seek recognition for my actions,’” says the letter obtained by The Daily Beast, signed by both Losey and the SEAL Force Master Chief M.L. Magaraci.
“Violators of our ethos are neither teammates in good standing, nor teammates who represent Naval Special Warfare. We do not abide willful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain, which only diminishes otherwise honorable service.”
The letter goes on to say “All members exposed to classified information have a duty to protect this information, regardless of what may be reflected in the media, accurately or otherwise,” and finishes by saying the command will seek judicial consequences against those who “willfully violate the law and place our teammates, our families and potential future operations at risk.”

I find this fascinating.

Early on I was slamming the way that the SEALs all seemed to be attention seekers.  I compared how working with Green Berets was a painless, enjoyable experience (well as enjoyable as an op can be) ... How Rangers were just confused Marines and how Navy SEALs always came off as too cool for school.

When the former Top SEAL and SOCOM Commander McRaven was doing his "around the world tour" and then was confronted by a retired US Army Green Beret General, who admonished him for being in the public eye so much...while a room full of reporters laughed at the weathered old snake eater, my stomach turned.

Now we have this.

The SEAL Community has turned on one of their own because he published a book on the Bin Laden raid.

I wonder what made this one book too many?  I wonder why it suddenly became an organization that works in the shadows?  I wonder what happened to have them finally get the message that an old, retired, two star snake eater was trying to get across to them.

I don't know what happened or why, but it really looks like the SEAL community is toning down its act.

Should service be required for citizenship?

The issue is debated in the movie cut above but the book is a far better and deeper dive into the issue.

Should service be required for citizenship?

I'm calling it. Africa is going to be a battlefield...the rush for resources has started.

via Shepherd of the Gurneys...

Now, a representative of MSF/DWB is saying there are more dead just in Sierra Leone, than the current reported total of Ebola deaths worldwide.
(For reference, Sierra Leone currently reports 1500 deaths, and the world total is 13,703.)
Barcelona (AFP) - Ebola has wiped out whole villages in Sierra Leone and may have caused many more deaths than the nearly 5,000 official global toll, a senior coordinator of the medical aid group MSF said Friday.
Rony Zachariah of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, said after visiting Sierra Leone that the Ebola figures were "under-reported", in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of a medical conference in Barcelona.
"The situation is catastrophic. There are several villages and communities that have been basically wiped out. In one of the villages I went to, there were 40 inhabitants and 39 died," he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published revised figures on Friday showing 4,951 people have died of Ebola and there was a total of 13,567 reported cases.
"The WHO says there is a correction factor of 2.5, so maybe it is 2.5 times higher and maybe that is not far from the truth. It could be 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000," said Zachariah.
He stressed that "whole communities have disappeared but many of them are not in the statistics. The situation on the ground is actually much worse.""Whole communities have disappeared..."
We're not going to stop Ebola over there. The possibility is long past. That option is toast. And very shortly, the afflicted countries will be too.

Do you get the force of connection here?

Consider.  The UK sent a force to Sierra Leone.  We have heard jack squat from them since their arrival.

Consider.  The US has sent the 101st to Liberia.  We have heard jack squat from them.

If we're seeing this type of stuff from open source materials then those in charge have much better visibility.  Remember.  Our UN Representative just left that region and is now back.

I'm calling it.  Africa is going to be a battlefield.  A disease has removed the thorny issue of what to do with the indigenous people and now the race for resources is on.

The only question is whether China feels confident enough to stop a power play by the US and Western European powers.

One Marine for 11 million illegals?

via AP

A Mexican judge ordered the immediate release of a jailed U.S. Marine veteran who spent eight months behind bars for crossing the border with loaded guns.
The judge on Friday called for retired Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi (Tah-mor-EE-si) to be freed because of his mental state and did not make a determination on the illegal arms charges against the Afghanistan veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a Mexican official who had knowledge of the ruling but was not authorized to give his name.

This is hard.

A Marine is freed and while I'm happy about that I can't cheer.  Why?  Because I get the sense...and no I can't prove it...but I get the sense that this was a move that was made purely for political expediency.

How would it look to grant 11 million (or more) illegal aliens amnesty while one of our own was being held on trumped up charges?

Just like the Bergdahl trade, I think we might have paid too high a price.

Lockheed Martin Havoc. Did they uparmor the thing?

I was re-watching some of the vids put out by the vehicle manufacturers competing for the MPC/ACV/ACV 1.1 (or whatever HQMC is calling the thing these days) and I noticed that extra armor has been applied to the Havoc.

In the swim portion of the vid I caught onto the changes in the swim vane and I guess I was so focused on that portion of the vid that I missed the obvious.

Interesting.

Sidenote.  Real nice how they put an AAV turret on this beast.  The Yat-Yas boys must be happy as hell.  They get easier cross training and almost a plug and play option for crew members if its adopted.  Very nicely done LM MFC.