Cpl Hassoun found guilty of desertion. Your turn Army.

Cpl Hassoun was found guilty of desertion by Major Nicholas Martz, USMC.  His sentencing will occur later this week and Hassoun faces 7.5 years in the brig, reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge.  Read about it here.

This isn't good news.  Its simply news.  The "system" worked the way that its intended and a substandard Marine has been dealt with.

But that isn't where this ends.

Marine justice has been swift.  Army justice?  Slow as molasses.

I'm talking about Bergdahl.  The Army is caught in the midst of a dilemma. THEIR deserter was traded for prisoners in Gitmo.  It was a controversial move that has political implications all over it.  The problem though isn't political.  Its about order and discipline.

How does the US Army preserve good order and discipline without punishing the guy?  You know the White House is pushing for the most lenient punishment possible so again...it sucks to wear stars and be anywhere near that case.

Especially when the Marine Corps charged ahead and dealt with our problem.

The US is not ready to deal with ISIS/Terrorism.

I was emailing a buddy and the discussion was about ISIS.  One thing she said that made me pause.

She said "we're not ready".

She's right.

I'm doing my early morning run around the internet and what do I find...

A terrorist group targets Mall of America for attack threats.
A new video from Al Shabaab purportedly shows the terror group calling for an attack on Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minn.  According to Fox 9, the mall is one of three similar targets the terror group specifically names, including West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Oxford Street shopping area in London.  The video purportedly shows 6 minutes of graphic images and the terrorists celebrating the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed more than 60 people.  The narrator, his face wrapped in a black-and-white kaffiyeh-type scarf and wearing a camouflage jacket, spoke with a British accent and appeared to be of Somali origin. He accused Kenyan troops in Somalia of committing abuses against Somali Muslims.

Australia PM announces crackdown on terrorism.  
SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia said Monday that the government would seek to revoke the citizenship or curb the rights of Australians involved in terrorism and tighten immigration, visa and hate speech laws in a crackdown on terrorism.  “The terrorist threat is rising at home and abroad, and it is becoming harder to combat,” Mr. Abbott said. “By any measure the threat to Australia is worsening.”

Girl suicide bomber in Nigeria.
POTISKUM, Nigeria (AP) — A girl suicide bomber as young as 10 blew herself up at a busy market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, killing four others and seriously wounding 46 people, a witness and hospital records show.The girl who appeared no more than 10 years old got out of a tricycle taxi in front of the cell phone market and detonated her explosives on Potiskum's main market day, according to survivor Anazumi Saleh, who suffered injuries to his head.

What is the leading headline in most newspapers though?  Who won the Oscars!?! The American public is distracted...of its own volition.  The US govt is deluding itself.

The enemy is focused, dedicated and believe that they're fighting for God.  She nailed.  We're not ready...

Piraña Lance

Spanish Marine Corps Lance/Piranha IIIC.

Photos via Armada Espanola's Flickr Page.

'Best Commercial' in The Netherlands

Investors turning bearish on Lockheed Martin?

We've talked about Motley Fool before.  Its an investment site that dabbles in defense stocks/issues.  The latest on the F-35, Lockheed Martin and the DoD is fun reading....especially the comments.  A few tidbits...

At last report, the U.S. Navy had only nine F-35s (the F-35C variant) in service, with two more ordered for 2015, and four for 2016. (Congress upped the 2015 order to four aircraft, unasked.) That makes the Navy the slowest adopter of the aircraft among the three services using the F-35. As defense analyst Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, told Navy Times earlier this month, the Navy is "just not that into the F-35."
Indeed, Aboulafia said the Navy could cut its buy down to just 200 F-35Cs in total -- 23% fewer than the 260 originally planned. At $154 million per aircraft, that's a potential $9.2 billion loss of revenue to Lockheed.
And even that's not the worst possible scenario.
"There are some officers in the Navy," warned Aboulafia, who would prefer to "shift all funding to the sixth generation" -- to skip further F-35 purchases, make do with present-day fourth-generation aircraft, and save the service's money for investment in the envisioned new F/A-XX aircraft.

And this...

And yet, that remark by Aboulafia echoes: "They're just not that into you." Until Lockheed Martin wins over its detractors, its revenue will be at risk.

Read the whole thing here.

Like I said earlier the comments are funny as hell!  Lockheed Martin has a two-fer plus problem on its hands.  They've allowed (since bloggers had nothing to do with it) the perception of its flagship project to turn negative.  Despite the bribes, the economic tomfoolery and the games playing that they've engaged in, many people are infuriated by the lack of development, and the poor performance of this airplane.  The fact that many are now pointing to a quasi-recon role as its biggest selling point is not helping the argument.

The next issue is the US budget.  Things are bad, the administration would rather spend money on domestic issues and the SecDef has a different idea of warfare.

20 plus years to develop an airplane has consequences.  Its like starting the P-51 in 1941 and having it enter service during the Vietnam war.  

But the main danger to Lockheed Martin is that an investor page is turning bearish.  That could affect stock price.  A carefully laid plan is unraveling.

Germany cancels armored vehicle purchase by Lithuania.

via Sputniknews.com

A spokesman of the German Ministry of Defense announced that Germany will not supply Lithuania with Boxer armored fighting vehicles as was expected before.
Deliveries of armored transport vehicles from the Bundeswehr or their resale are not expected in the coming years, the spokesman said.
Lithuanian authorities sent a request for military equipment supplies to the German Ministry of Defense of Germany in summer of 2014 when they decided to modernize the armed forces of the country.
The cancellation of the weapons supplies means that the German government respects the agreement between NATO and Russia on non-deployment of large military units in Eastern Europe, according to the German newspaper “Die Welt”. However, spokesman of the CSU political party, Florian Hahn, mentioned that anxiety of the Baltic states with regard to the Ukrainian crisis is justified and that Germany should support its NATO and EU partners in the Baltic region as much as possible.

Just plain wow.

Is this a sign that Germany is prepared to throw Eastern Europe democracies under the bus in a bid to win favor from Russia?

Is this another sign that NATO has outlived its usefulness?

I'm not sure...I do know that this move smacks of weakness, and appears to be a bid for peace at all costs.

Additional Reading.  Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland are creating a joint brigade.  Are we seeing the beginnings of a "NATO" inside of NATO?

Iranian Spider Tailed Horned Viper.

Just plain awesome.

This is the best reason yet to nuke Iran from orbit.

Emirates Defense Technology reveals a new 8x8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle via Warfare Technology Blog.

Read the story here along with more pics!

FNSS PARS 6x6 CBRN Vehicle.

via Military Technology Magazine(article here).

Russia's new heavy IFV T-15 (object 148)

Thanks to DRAGON for the link!

I saw the above images floating around the net a couple of days ago but just dismissed them as more concept art designed to drive people to the guys website...I mean he kinda went crazy with the watermarks!

Dragon however linked to this website and supposedly this is also part of the Armata program!

Confused yet?  I certainly am.  I was under the impression that this was going to be a single family of vehicles that had both wheeled and tracked versions based on the same basic hull.

Now?  I'm not so sure.  They might share components, engines etc..but it looks like we're seeing unique designs for the MBT, IFV, APC and Wheeled APC.

Did Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski admit that the US is losing air superiority?

Question.  What word has disappeared from USAF talking points.

Answer.  Air Dominance.

If you're like me and you wonder why, then wonder no more.  I believe Lt. General Pawlkowski let the cat out of the bag.  Check this out from Military.com.

"We are going to be facing adversaries that are as modern as we are if not more so. This provides us the opportunity to leverage the entire world market of technology development through our collaborative activity with our allies," she said.
The effort, which includes work with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Pentagon's research arm, DARPA, is looking at a wide range of future applications including hypersonics, stealth, advanced sensors, cyber technologies, drones, space systems and directed energy weapons, Pawlikowski said.
"We're taking a more enterprising look at understanding and exploring the capabilities we are going to need in the future," she said. "It is not just looking at a next-generation fighter but looking at these issues in the context of leveraging all of the capabilities that can accomplish that."

We're seeing a slow burn to an obvious truth.

The F-35 isn't close to being good enough and to paraphrase former Commandant of the Marine Corps, James Amos, "they've got one chance to get the next airplane right".

Maybe I'm reading too much into her statement but it also appears that the USAF is slowly "evolving" to the USN position that stealth isn't enough.

But the part that make me wonder is the highlighted portion..."facing adversaries as modern as we are if not more so"?

That should be a chilling statement for an airpower advocate.  Why? Remember the Rand "Clubbing baby seals" report?  I've wondered aloud what another such report would reveal today especially since F-35 advocates say that the plane is "reaching maturity" but we have yet to see it.  Surely the USAF has had one conducted.

My bet.  The news was horrible and they classified it.

The more we hear  from the USAF, USN and the less we hear from the USMC convinces me of one thing.

A bad bet was placed, the alcohol is wearing off and people are just now beginning to tally up the financial losses.

The more we hear about a 6th gen jet the worse that sim must have been.

SIDNOTE:  This is for my buddies over at F-16.net. The death spiral is here.  I found this from a Rebecca Grant report on "maintaining air dominance in a fiscally constrained environment".  The chart tells the tale.

Procurement plans for fifth-generation fighters declined by nearly 19 percent over the fifteen-year period....note that the decline has continued as it does not take into account the latest USN decision on F-35C purchases.

US airpower doctrine confused, rudderless and lacking direction? Op-Ed via Defense Aerospace.

Defense Aerospace (read the entire article here) has a blistering critique of the F-35, US airpower doctrine and contradictory statements by the leaders of our Air Forces...The entire article is a must read but a few tidbits that stood out to me....

This is the first time a US service has cut its F-35 buy of its own volition, and so is of major significance, yet it was largely ignored by news media.

Then this....

“We’re paying billions of dollars to buy the F-35, and now they tell us that low observability isn’t of much use,” one Italian defense official said.

And then this....

“Another weapons system program may be something we need to consider as we look at the gaps and seams for the future” of the CAS mission, it quoted Carlisle as saying. “What provides that close air support in the future is something we’ll continue to look at. It could be a follow-on,” so a single-mission aircraft for CAS is not the financial perversion the Air Force says.

I note the above passage for one reason.  It is such a lie that I once again marvel at who we call defense journalists!  How is the USAF going to afford a follow on Close Air Support airplane when it is having to fund a large fleet of F-35's (I still doubt that they will get the full programmed buy), the KC-46 and the next generation bomber?   They can't, he's knows it and instead of getting laughed out of the room those in attendance simply took notes, nodded and obeyed like good little boys!

Drink the article in, share it with others and if you disagree I'd love to hear why. 

Ukraine set to increase production of the BM Oplot MBT (Ukrainian T-84)

Thanks for the link Jonathan!

via ukraine.setimes

Roman Romanov, the CEO of Ukroboronprom, the government-controlled group of 150 defence production companies, said there are plans to increase the production of Ukrainian BM Oplot tanks by almost 25 percent.
According to a report on Ukroboronprom's website, 40 units will be produced this year, with plans to increase to 100-120 per year starting in 2016.
"The BM Oplot is an advanced tank," Vadym Grechaninov, a military expert and president of the Atlantic Council of Ukraine, told SETimes. "It has advanced armour, a proper gun, speed. It is a modern tank with night vision equipment, and so on. It is a very expensive piece of equipment."

Read the entire article here.

General Dynamics European Land Systems to display their Desert Piranha.

via Military Technology

General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) Desert PIRANHA 8x8 will be exhibited at this year’s International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi. The Desert PIRANHA is a variant of the latest PIRANHA 5 specifically designed and built for the demanding climate and challenging terrain of the Middle East. It has been extensively tested under extreme conditions in the desert and rocky mountain ranges and participated successfully in summer trials in the Middle East.

Read it here.


Sidenote:  I remember this vehicle being pushed hard just a few years ago.  As a matter of fact General Dynamics has moved onto a Piranha 6 and a High Tech Demonstrator.  Why?  Because of the below vid. This vehicle has been snake bit from inception...Kuwait was set to buy several dozen and lets just say that the demonstration was unsuccessful.  Which brings me to the ACV.  The vehicles that we're looking at will be outdated before we even buy them due to the delays brought on by the F-35 induced procurement train wreck.  USMC procurement is broken....

Setback for Canada's Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicle (TAPV)

Thanks for the link Jonathan!

via Ottawa Citizen.

The deliveries of the Canadian Army’s Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle (TAPV) has been delayed, Department of National Defence officials tellDefence Watch.
Deliveries of TAPVs were expected to begin in September 2014, and be completed by mid-2016.
But those deliveries have been pushed back and the first TAPVs are now expected to begin early 2016, DND noted in an earlier email to Defence Watch. (DND spokeswoman Ashley Lemire confirmed Thursday that early 2016 is still the timing for the first delivery)
The reason for the late delivery?
Issues with steering and other “design” aspects which were discovered last year.
“A first round of testing successfully identified design challenges,” DND noted. “This additional time will allow for a further testing and refining of the complex and inter-related designs of the vehicle’s structure, suspension, and steering.”

Perhaps I've been jaded by my experience with the ACV.  With that program its obvious to a monkey that the Marine Corps has delayed that program to the point where it should be canceled because of budget issues brought on by the F-35 (also known as the procurement trainwreck).

Having said all that, while Textron is on my "bad list" I still don't see something as simple as steering issues affecting a vehicle that is 99% off the shelf.  Armor protection?  I could see that.  Weapon integration issues?  Makes sense.  But an issue with steering?  Naw.  It just doesn't sound right.  Canada has been active in the fight against ISIS.  I'm betting that budget woes are the real culprit here.

Sidenote:  Speaking of the USMC and the ACV.  I wonder if corporations still have their original design teams working on the vehicle?  Remember when a "hot project" is being fought for corporations bring on their best people in all departments to get it done.  The longer that program languishes the sooner the company decides to move all those hotshots onto other projects.  Do we still have A teams working the ACV/MPC program or the JV team?

Chinese Type O55 Cruiser Update.

Type 055 Cruiser mockup via Sino-Defense

I got a note from a reader about the concept art of the Type 055 Cruiser that I posted.  Needless to say, it was WRONG!  Check out what he had to say....

In any case, the wikipedia page for the 055 has a fairly accurate summary of what the 055 is probably going to be, with a reasonably accurate drawing of what 055 may look like. It'll be a 12,000 ton standard displacement (so likely over 13,000 ton full) "la rge destroyer" aka cruiser. We're expecting three sets of phased array radars in the S band, X band and possibly L or UHF band, along with up to 128 VLS.
In role it is probably best compared to a modernized CGBL or Ticonderoga, and in displacement it sits between Tico and Zumwalt.
It is expected that there will be initial production of a baseline 055, followed by a more larger scale production of a modified 055A that may feature IEPS and similarly to DDG1000 class, have the capacity to field railguns and DEW aboard.

128 vertical launch cells...oh and remember, the Chinese are quad packing just like everyone else.  S band, X band and possibly L or UHF band.  Sounds like a stealth killer to me.

The Chinese are building a predator.

A real deal heavy cruiser by the definition of days past...a battleship today.  If you haven't already, I recommend you head over to the SinoDefenseForum and monitor the conversation being had by the China watchers.  I've already added it to my daily sweep of the internet.  Below is a "more accurate" concept drawing of the Type 055.

Ukrainian News. Rumors of a new war.

via Defense 24

Another series of Russian provocations involving the Baltic states, related to the Ukraine war, makes so called hybrid war scenario more and more realistic within the region of the Baltic Sea. The incidents that took place so far, such as the Internet existence of “People’s Republic of Vilnius” or the hooligan attacks on the Polish Embassy in Vilnius, seem to suggest that the Kremlin is going to use the Polish minority of Lithuania, along with the tough history of the Polish-Lithuanian relations, as the basis for its activities, aim of which would be to destabilize the region.

Read the whole thing here.

Before you go to Defense24, I recommend you check out this Wikipedia entry for the "Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania"...you're going to need the background primer if you're not familiar with the local issues.

I honestly hope this isn't true.

The attack on the Polish Embassy showed up in my alert feed but I dismissed it.  IF the Russians are planning to destabilize Lithuania then Europe is in for serious trouble.

This bears watching.

Public Service Announcement. Check your computer for Super Fish Malware.

via Lifehacker.

What Superfish Is
Superfish is basically your run-of-the-mill adware software, but with some big security holes. Lenovo pre-installed it on some computers sold between October 2014 and December 2014, but any Windows computer can be infected. At its core, Superfish is meant to place advertisements in your web browser. The problem is that the software also intercepts encrypted traffic, which opens up your computer to man-in-the-middle attacks (which work similar to the Heartbleed security bug from last year)

Read the entire article here.

The quick and dirty?  Click here and here to check your computer for Super Fish!

57-mm module's concept from UVZ

Thanks to Info-Infantrie for the link!

57-mm module's concept from UVZ

The Russians are going big in their next generation IFV when it comes to weaponry.  We're really looking at a hybrid vehicle...almost an infantry carrying light tank.  This is going to be something that the USMC should consider when selecting the weapons fit for the upcoming ACV.  They're sold on the .50 cal right now.  Should we go bigger?  The Russians WILL be selling retro-fit kit and new vehicles on the international markets.  We can expect to run into these vehicles sooner or later.