Saudi Arabia/GCC send even MORE armored vehicles to the Yemen front...

via Emirates24/7.

Arab coalition forces sent more armored vehicles to the Southwestern Yemeni town of Taiz on Monday as part of ongoing reinforcements in preparations for a final offensive to eject the Iranian-backed coup rebels, a Yemeni news network reported on Tuesday.
Four armored vehicles roared into the city on Monday morning to join other vehicles and military equipment sent by the coalition, which is led by Saudi Arabia and comprised of the UAE and other Gulf and Arab countries.
Masdar Press said the latest dispatch would support positions by the national Yemeni army and resistance as the clock begins ticking for the final battle.
It said the Houthis and their allies continued to shell the besieged city from their positions on hilltops on Monday, adding that the shelling targeted civilian areas.
Yemeni Vice President and Prime Minister Khalid Bahah told a Saudi TV channel on Sunday that the battle for Taiz would not be affected by UN peace moves and that the city would be liberated with days or weeks.
Meanwhile, more Sudanese troops arrived in Yemen to join the coalition forces fighting to end the coup and restore the legitimate government.
Military sources said the new batch, the second sent by Sudan which is a member of the coalition, would be deployed in areas assigned for them. They said the first batch, which arrived on October 22, was deployed in Aden to support operations by the coalition and national army in maintaining security.

Mutated terrorist/rebel groups are now a part of the modern battlefield.  The days of flying in and assaulting lightly armed groups is over.

Now?  Now you could fly in and face the equivalent of a infantry mechanized brigade just waiting to slice and dice your raid before they even touch down.

The world has changed but the concepts haven't.  We need to fix that with a quickness.  Lastly its interesting that the UN is becoming more and more irrelevant.  Both sides are basically ignoring the world body and acting in their own interests.

With another tropical storm hitting Yemen that country is in for a rough ride.  This will not end well for either side.  Whoever wins here still loses. 

Alpha CO. 3D AABN qualifies at Yuma Proving Grounds....Pics by Lance Cpl. Aaron James Vinculado

Congress orders the USAF to study reducing F-35 numbers...

via National Defense...

The challenge is playing a role in the service's decision to potentially reduce the number of F-35s it buys. It had originally planned to procure 1,763 but Congress has since asked the Air Force to reexamine that number. The service is currently working on a report, which it owes to Congress 180 days after the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is enacted, he said.
"We're going to look at wargaming, what kind of capacity we need, what combination of fourth- and fifth-generation capability [we need], what long-range strike bomber does with respect to the ground attack or the precision attack capability — we're looking at all of those things," Carlisle said.
"As we look to the future and what we're going to do, I think there is a decision to be made on how many F-35s we are going to buy." However, "it's way too early to make that decision."

Critical mass is approaching.

The DoD is all but signalling that the number of F-35's bought is going to be reduced. 

OF COURSE THIS MEANS THAT A CLASSIC DEATH SPIRAL WILL RESULT!

The number of planes bought is reduced because they're too expensive, which means that the new number of planes bought is reduced because they're too expensive because they were previously reduced...and so on and so forth....

If we weren't talking about the idiocy of military leadership when it comes to national security and our future airpower I'd be laughing my ass off and raising a shot of JD.

Instead all I can do is marvel.  If a blogger could see the trouble coming (after being a HUGE supporter of the program) then certainly the guys in the Pentagon knew better.  Now we're facing the worst of all possible scenarios.  They have eviscerated US combat power for an airplane that underperforms and costs too much money.  We are seeing the worst military leadership in several generations...all because they were zealots instead of professionals.

The F-35's cost is destroying Western Air Forces...

This is a must read people!  Stephen Bryen  A tidbit...

For Israel, there are other considerable gains in buying the F-15SE. It is an evolution of an aircraft already in inventory, which means all the logistics and support systems are already in place. Pilots are already well trained on the platform and have experience in combat, meaning that the capabilities of the plane are well known. And the F-15SE costs less than half of what the F-35 costs, meaning that Israel can get much more punch for the buck than the F-35 offers. Indeed, the F-35’s main contribution to air forces around the world is that it is so unaffordable it will shrink every air force that buys it. This must cause delight in Moscow as well as Beijing.

Cost is the real achilles heel of this program.

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!  240 years of ass kicking excellence...its been a helluva run!

Don't let political correctness, feminist, reformist, and the other camp followers ruin you!  Stay just the way you are!

Armenia vs Azerbaijan. Is the most unnoticed dispute about to turn into a full fledged war?

via Azernews.az

The Azerbaijani army will soon prove its superiority over Armenia, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said on November 9.
Hasanov attended a National Flag Day celebration in one of the military units on the frontline, the ministry reported.
Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov met with members of the Armed Forces serving in the trenches on the frontline and highlighted orders from President Ilham Aliyev.
"The army is being rapidly developed, thanks to President Aliyev’s attention and care,” he said. “Some achievements were made in this area. As a result of measures conducted on the frontline, a large number of the enemy was killed, and they were destroyed psychologically. The enthusiasm of our servicemen frightens Armenia. Azerbaijani servicemen are ready to expel Armenian forces from our territories. We have prepared all possibilities for this."
The minister also stressed the necessity to do everything possible "to hasten the day when the occupied territories will be released and the flag of Azerbaijan will fly there."

Here.

I've been watching this thing simmer between these two countries for years.  There have been occasional clashes but I thought it more a case of rivalry run amok rather than the possibility of them actual going full bore.

I might have been wrong.

This sounds like a speech to prep the people for coming war.  This just moved up on my ranking of possible hotspots.

Syrian Army T-55 Tank Crew survive TOW Anti-Tank Missile hit...

Thanks to InfoInfantrie for the link!



Good hit.  Secondary explosion.  Crew survives?  What happened here? 

Saudi Arabia/GCC shift forces from the ISIS fight over to Yemen?

via Sputnik.

Heralded by the Obama administration for their role, "flying side by side with American fighter jets in the campaign's early days as an important show of solidarity against the Islamic State," these allies, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan, have since "shifted most of their aircraft" to fight the fledgling Houthi government which took power in Yemen last September.

Ok.  You know my stance on getting information from a variety of sources and then SIFTING through it to sort the truth from the propaganda....but if this is true....if Saudi Arabia/GCC are shifting their airpower from the fight against ISIS to the conflict in Yemen then we need to ask some very serious questions.

Why do they view the Yemen fight as more important?  Why do they consider the threat from ISIS to be "lesser" considering all the geo-political implications of them being successful?  Or to boil this all down...WHAT THE FUCK!

Yeah.  We need independent confirmation of this.  Then we need an explanation (if its true) from the Western Govts (from the US, UK, France, German, Poland...the entire EU since they're being affected by the refugees flooding into their nations).

P-8I Anti-Submarine Aircraft Combat Simulation Vid

Swedish Special Operations Group conducts ops on the Gotland Islands...

Many thanks to Petter for the link (all pics via forsvarsmakten.se)!

Is it just me or does Special Ops worldwide look exactly the same.  I wonder what will happen when these groups clash, using the same tactics, same equipment etc...

STORM SHADOW Successfully Released from a Eurofighter TYPHOON via Military Technology Magazine.

Story here.

There are two pieces of tech that the US should immediately buy from Europe.  The Meteor and Storm Shadow missiles. That is if we're serious about the possibility of warfare against an advanced, competent nation state.

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work admits the filthy truth about the F-35...

via DoD press release...

“We believe and we say it over and over,” he added, “this fifth-gen fighter, [even though] it can't out-turn an F-16 or … go as fast, we are absolutely confident that F-35 will be a war winner … because it is using the machine to help the human make better decisions.”

Now.  Only now do we get the filthy truth about the F-35.  It will not equal legacy airplanes in performance.  It will be at a SEVERE disadvantage to threat aircraft across its flight spectrum.

IT WILL DEPEND ON SENSORS TO SURVIVE IN COMBAT!

Think about that.  Our enemies are certainly aware of this.  They are undoubtedly working on systems to negate this (extremely negligible) so called trump card. 

I can't wait for the fanboys to try and defend this!  Sensors can be degraded. For our entire air superiority doctrine to rest on a slow, non-turning, low flying pig of an airplane that only has sensors as its reason for being seems extremely foolish.

Sidenote:  Does this have shades of airpower theory from the 50's and 60's?  Guns are irrelevant because we'll have missiles that can do all the work?  Flash forward to 2015 and suddenly a fighters speed, maneuverability and flying height is irrelevant because we have sensor fusion!  Simply amazing.

Slow motion video of Stryker Mobile Gun Systems & T-72 Main Battle Tanks on exercise.

I keep failing to remember how compact the T-72 is.  Ditto with how huge the Stryker MGS is in comparison.

This is another of those back of the brain, hope leadership has it right, thoughts about how our armored vehicles are designed and optimized to be IED resistant instead of biased toward conventional combat.

The ideal IFV/APC for conventional combat looks totally different from one that's aimed at peacekeeping/insurgency/nation building.

I hope this doesn't come back to bite.

Australia getting additional M1 Abrams? via Defense Technology Review (Nov Edition)

I was thumbing thru my copy of Defense Technology Review and did a double take.  I like to think that I keep a pretty good ear to the ground and news of Australia getting additional M1 Abrams and Recovery Vehicles struck like a thunder bolt.  The story is on page 4.  Check it out here.

Houthi raid on Saudi forces...

Thanks to John and many others for the vid...late getting around to this...



This video supposedly show a Houthi raid into Saudi Arabia with the end result being the killing of several SA/GCC troops and the capture of tanks, armored vehicles and weapons.

It seems that the conventional wisdom of my readers is that the SA/GCC forces will claim victory.  I wonder though.  Are they setting themselves up for a long term insurgency?  Could they handle that possibility?  Relatively small military forces that are saddled with maintaining a favorable govt in a hostile land....sounds like a recipe for disaster.

UAE forces return from Yemen...via Defense Blog.

Note: Interesting.  They've got the Neo-Con playbook down pat.  Celebratory parade for a military mission that has accomplished questionable goals.  I wonder if they realize that for the troops involved its just another formation, more spit and polish for a dog and pony that's taking away valuable time that can be better spent with family, friends etc...

I wonder if she'll make it to 40...

via Daily Mail...

Curvy Aleira Avendano achieved an eye-watering 20 inch waist - by wearing a corset 23 hours a day.
The busty model has been wearing the waist-shrinking garment for the last six years and even refers to it as her second skin.
And despite doctors’ warnings that the corset poses serious health risks, Aleira continues to turn heads with her extreme shape.
Aleira, from Caracas, Venezuela, said: "I am completely obsessed with belts and corsets - I even sleep with them on.
"I love the feeling of pressure and only take it off for an hour a day to rest and to wash myself."

FitSportStream has a pictorial on her and this bit of commentary...

Aleira Avendano is the definition of physical beauty...so she thinks. After 20 plastic surgery operations, she now says she is very close to the PERFECT body..

How did we get here?  I mean seriously!  20 surgeries?  You see women with so many enhancements that they make Jessica Rabbit look normal!  Why would doctors not send her for mental help?  They can't be so money hungry that they'd let this woman kill herself with elective, unnecessary surgeries would they?  If she makes it to 40 and I have my doubts, I'd love to see what she looks like.

USN building the case for more Super Hornets...

via Navy Times...

Plans have been in the works to retire the F/A-18C Hornets in the mid-2020s, followed by the F/A-18E and F Super Hornets around 2035, but the consistently delayed development of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter has compelled the service to push the Hornets past their planned service lives. The dilemma raises the possibility that Super Hornets new to the fleet may still be flying in three decades.
"We might even fly these airplanes close to 2040," air warfare director Rear Adm. Mike Manazir told members of the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower on Monday.

And then this...

"It's a complex formula of keeping our current inventory flying, getting them out of the [life extension] depots, buying enough Super Hornets to replace what we've been using every year in the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, previously, and then buying capability through JSF," Manazir said.

But this is the eye opener...

"Those guys are not getting the assets they need, so I have to get them up on the step later on in the cycle, and that's a steeper learning curve," Manazir said.
They are still getting the required hours to deploy, he added, but adding two or three squadrons' worth of Super Hornets in the next three years will help fill that gap.

Here.

There you have it boys and girls.  The US Navy is off the JSF bandwagon and is no longer playing nice.  Notice that this isn't a talk with a reporter but a question and answer with the House Armed Services Subcommittee.

The USN wants Super Hornets and with the current budget situation (despite games being played in the dark of night by Boehner) is a zero sum game.

The United States Navy is being forced, due to budget constraints, to make a choice.

They chose the Super Hornet!

NATO Exercise ends in show of force

1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at the Arctic Circle...Photos by Sgt. 1st Class Joel Gibson & Capt. Richard Packer

Note:  I wonder if the USMC shouldn't be fighting for this mission.  Airlifting Strykers to counter "threat nation" moves in this region will not cut it.  The combat power brought by a Marine Expeditionary Unit would seem to be the minimum force needed.  I don't know if a Stryker Brigade can do the job solo.  Regardless we need a British import if we're gonna fight right.  No, not another news reader but a Royal Marine Mountain Leader to "teach our leaders" and establish a real deal Arctic Warfare School.