Awesome system but.....we really need a breech loaded system cause watching the munchkins step on crates to reach the muzzle is not only painful to watch but slow. We need Dragon Fire!
Thursday, November 02, 2017
Marines fire mortars as part of Exercise Bold Alligator .... pics by Pfc. Nicholas Guevara
Awesome system but.....we really need a breech loaded system cause watching the munchkins step on crates to reach the muzzle is not only painful to watch but slow. We need Dragon Fire!
Dawn Blitz 17 HIMARS ... video by Sgt. Logan Block (nice exercise but it wasn't as big a deal as we thought)
Caption from the vid...
U.S. Marines with 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, set up and launch a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) aboard the USS Anchorage (LPD 23) during Dawn Blitz 2017, Oct. 22, 2017. Dawn Blitz allows the amphibious force to integrate the HIMARS into the exercise to validate a capability with platforms not traditionally used at the Marine Expeditionary Brigade/Expeditionary Strike Group level.I've been chewing on this awhile and my initial happiness with this move has been tempered.
WTF am I talking about? Remember this pic from Defense Tech that had us all going goofy back in 2010 (article here)?
Yeah. We just experimented with a concept that the Chinese Marine Corps were doing almost a decade ago to "validate" the concept.
I don't recall my reaction at the time but looking at it now I wonder. This is an extremely poor way of delivering fires. You better have calm seas, a totally deconflicted sea space to perform this op in (God forbid if some hot dog pilot pops over the horizon or some missile boat skipper gets a wild hair and your arty/MLRS is lashed to your deck!) and if you're gonna actually put steel on target you better be working some good voodoo with your math unless the ship is at anchor.
The reality is stark...and simple.
We're trying to make it work with the resources we have, and despite spending a fortune on defense we still have a basic capability gap.
We don't have proper naval guns to deliver the weight of fire needed in this day and age if we were to ever cross swords with a peer threat.
What we need is a proper battleship for the 21st century and the Zumwalt while a decent attempt won't get it done.
Luckily for us planners have already crunched the numbers on this. Remember the document outlining future "wishes" for the force? On one of the slides was a requirement for what is essentially a Landing Ship Medium (Rocket), which is what you see above.
Long short?
The demonstration was nice but the action is with the budget and the Navy. Will they give the Marine Corp another toy after getting burned with the Zumwalt, the Mobile Landing Platform, the F-35, being coerced into using the MV-22 for carrier onboard delivery and being begged for space aboard the space constrained LCS to deliver Marines?
I'm not sure. You can push goodwill too far and the Navy has bent over backwards to put into service ships and planes that we have to "figure out what we're gonna do with them, after we get them".
173rd Airborne Brigade via Army Flickr Page, pic by Paolo Bovo
 |
| Paratroopers assigned to 173rd Airborne Brigade, prepares to land after exiting a U.S. Air Force 86th Air Wing C-130 Hercules aircraft, during exercise September Heat at Rivolto Italian Air Force Base, Udine Italy, Sept. 26, 2017. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is the U.S. Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, capable of projecting ready forces anywhere in the U.S. European, Africa or Central Commands' areas of responsibility. |
Hmm. In light of the incident with the Special Forces team just a few weeks ago, is it smart to have your "contingency force" stationed in Italy especially considering the size of Africa?
Let's be honest. Europe is NOT in need of an airborne unit from the US. They can neither deter or prevent a mythical invasion by the Russians. Seems like it would make nothing but sense to station them in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. It would suck for the paratroopers (I saw a Pizza Hut on a map of the base so maybe it wouldn't be so bad!) but it would put them ALOT closer to the action if they're ever needed.
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
Glenna June Bellomy Anderson (1926 - 2008). via SixPence Tumblr Page.
 |
| Glenna June Bellomy Anderson (1926 - 2008). When the cemetery sexton sold Glenna her stone, her request for the inscription on it was “I was… somebody.” He said the reason was that Glenna felt that many years after she died no one would probably remember her anyway. By having this inscription on her stone, people would see & remember it. Park Cemetery, Carthage, Missouri. |
Psalm 144:4 They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow....I'm not religious but it does seem that the good book got this one right and in spades.
Anglo Engineering Concepts via Think Defense Blog!
Thanks to Ogden for the link!
This thing is too good to spoil! Head over to Think Defense for the full story and tons of additional pics!
This thing is too good to spoil! Head over to Think Defense for the full story and tons of additional pics!
Turkmenistan parades ground vehicles
Wow. The MRZR is almost basic military equipment around the world now and the US military might be slow to accept the Polaris Dagor but everyone else is buying it like candy. The other thing that shocks the system is that the Israeli 4x4 is alive and well and in service. Simply amazing. It looks like its straight out of the HALO video game...pics via Bmashina Tumblr Page.
Assault Breacher Vehicle tested aboard a Landing Craft Utility...
via Janes.
After years of successfully operating its Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) in overseas conflicts, the US Marine Corps (USMC) has found a way to fit the mine-clearing modified tanks on Landing Craft Utility (LCU) vessels.I assumed that the ABV had been tested for shipboard capability long ago but I guess its better late than never. This has to be the new bastard vehicle of the Marine Corps. YOU NEVER hear anyone with stars even mentioning the thing! Will it stay in the active force, to the Reserves or worse to storage?
The USMC tested the revamped ABVs during the last week of October as it stormed beaches and practised other amphibious operations during its annual Bold Alligator 2017 exercise along the Atlantic Ocean coast of North Carolina.
“Now we can offload [from the LCU], drop the front-end equipment and start plowing,” Lieutenant Oscar Machado told Jane’s during a break in the exercise. “That’s what we’ve been trying out for Bold Alligator, onloads and offloads with the LCU – the first time we’ve used it like this.
A coup in the US in 1934? Have you heard of such a thing?
A little late night viewing had me stumble across the above video. While it has a "History Channel" vibe to it I can't be sure if its legit. I also can't be sure of the subject matter but it's rather compelling. I'll do a Google search to verify if the US avoided a coup attempt in 1934 thanks to General Butler but in the meantime enjoy.
Why do politicians always say "we're not gonna let them win" after each terrorist attack? Is that being brave or batshit stupid?
via Snoopes.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said there’s no evidence of a wider scheme or ongoing threat, and said the incident seemed to fall into the “lone wolf” tactic used in recent attacks:Story here.
We’re not gonna let them win. And if we change our lives, we contort ourselves to them, they win and we lose. … The truth is New York is an international symbol of freedom and democracy … that also makes us a target for people who oppose those concepts.
After each and every terror attack some politician somewhere will utter those words..."we're not gonna let them win".
Considering the fact that those words are stated AFTER a successful terrorist attack is that brave or batshit stupid?
Maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe it's a subtle appeal to the masses to act as if everything is ok. Maybe it's a pitch to maintaining nationwide "normalcy bias" while all evidence points to things being anything but!
Small Rant.
Remember back when the mega terror event in New York/DC occurred? Remember what the President said when the whole nation was ready to make sacrifices to win the war on terror quickly?
Terrorists want to stop us from shopping?
Naw. They have already succeeded in their ultimate goals. We're involved in an endless war in the Middle East, civil liberties at home have been curtailed to such a point that we're being monitored more thoroughly than any citizen of the USSR ever was and to top it off we've adopted a group think that seems to prevent common sense thinking.
If I didn't know better I'd think that terrorism would have been invented if it didn't already exist.
In short let me put this book at the top of your MUST READS! War is a Racket by Smedley Butler.
I've read it before but wasn't mature enough to understand the message. Time to take a second look...this time with a mind that can fully comprehend the message.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
French Army, U.S. Marines conduct tank training....pics by Lance Cpl. Damarko Bones
The Commandant should have flown every Armor Officer in the Marine Corps (tanks, AAVs,and LAVs) down to this event so that they could be better informed on the possibilities of a REAL mobile gun system as employed by our allies.
Even better is that it's the French! The Italians are big into it now, but the French have been the "keepers of the flame" when it comes to wheeled vehicles mounting big guns (with the exception of the Russians...but we're talking within NATO).
Doing exchanges with the US Army and how they employ the MGS Stryker just won't tell us as much.
I'd be real interested in knowing how Marine Tankers felt the French vehicle stacked up...mobility and firepower wise...and if they think a similar vehicle based on the ACV would be useful in future Marine Corps operations.
Politics Talk. You think Manafort indictment is the news? This is the real news that will change Washington DC!
via Politico
Monday’s 12-count indictment filed against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his colleague Rick Gates was stunning for a number of reasons: its breadth; the scope of the alleged criminal activity; and, of course, the fact that underpinning much of the indictment are facts demonstrating willful and knowing violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. The indictment likely means that after many years of lax enforcement, the requirements of this law will finally be taken seriously by the hundreds of law firms, lobbying shops and media relations companies that fall under its purview.Story here. , then check this one out...via Politico too...
Enacted in the 1930s as a means to expose Nazi propagandists working secretly in the United States, FARA requires, broadly, that any individual or organization that undertakes “political activities” for a foreign client must register with the Department of Justice and disclose significant amounts of information about the work done for that foreign client and the money earned and expended. Registration under FARA is triggered by a broad range of activity not thought of as traditional lobbying. Strategic advice, coalition-building, grass-roots lobbying, communications advice and attempts to influence U.S. media and opinion-makers—if aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion—all require registration. Someone who undertakes those activities for a foreign principal that is not a foreign government or political party has the option to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires far less disclosure than FARA. But if, like Manafort and Gates, the U.S. advisers are working for an entity that is, or is controlled by, a foreign government or government-controlled entity, they must register under FARA. Willful and knowing violations of FARA can lead to criminal and civil penalties, including imprisonment.
Washington lobbyists who represent foreign powers have taken comfort for decades in the fact that the Justice Department rarely goes after them for potentially breaking the law. That all changed on Monday.Story here.
The news of Tony Podesta’s resignation from his namesake firm and indictment of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates sent K Street scrambling, as lobbyists rushed to make sure they’re in compliance with the rules. The developments also renewed calls for Congress to pass legislation beefing up the Justice Department’s enforcement of the law, which lawmakers in both parties have derided for lacking teeth.
“Firms are going to be even more careful than they have been in the past in the foreign lobbying arena,” said Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader who’s now a lobbyist at Squire Patton Boggs, where his foreign clients have included Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Yeah. If you took the time to read both stories then you now know what the real story is when it comes to the Manafort indictment.
It's not the fact that he was working for Ukrainians and supposedly thru them the Russians.
NO!
The real story is that EVERYONE in Washington DC, after they leave the govt, is in the pocket of one entity or another....lobbying for one country, one interest group, one something or another to gain influence over our representatives.
This will affect EVERY NATION on the planet.
This will affect EVERY TRADE DEAL, AGREEMENT etc...that we have made with you name it!
For better or worse those that took out the long knives to kill the Trump agenda have instead cut their own throats in the process. In essence we're seeing the possibility of the swamp actually being cleaned out!
They want Manafort on a plate to get to Trump? They might have served up Hillary, Bill and Chelsea, along with Podesta and company on that same plate!
This is too funny and deserves watching!
82nd Airborne is after PennyWise now!
via 82nd Airborne Instagram Page.
As the 82nd Airborne Division descends upon the earth, Pennywise will not find the fear he needs. But instead, he will learn to fear them. Happy Halloween!Wow. The Airborne puppies are winning the social media war. They're the only people that are integrating their combat themes (more than that...their cultural identity) with the "hot" thing going on in society.
Well Done!
Hate to say it but...Airborne All The Way!
PS. Excuse me while I wash my mouth out, do about 100 hail Mary's and cleanse my body with antibacterial soap.
45 Commando is on deck! Which coast though?
via Royal Marines Instagram Page.
45 Commando Group have deployed to the USA over the last week.I really should take the time to learn their Commando Groups. Regardless I'm assuming they're participating in Bold Alligator. Pretty awesome. I'll be interested in hearing the lessons learned from this years exercise. I know they're pushing MEF level command and control now vs MEB that was all the hotness a couple of years ago, but what other innovations are they after (oops...didn't post on it but they're also trialing Forward Amphibious Bases or something like that).
650 personnel will spend the next six weeks practicing high intensity amphibious operations and urban warfare alongside the US Marine Corps, Norwegian, French, Canadian, Brazilian and Mexican Forces.
Either way I consider this a steadying move. Corps leadership was in a bad place and seemed to be off course. Looks like they've regained their bearings and are moving forward.
Another terror attack, and no clear answers.
You've heard about it but to be honest I have no rage, no anger and no answers.
We can try and mitigate the threat but it seems like we're at a new normal. Mass attacks we seem able to prevent. These lone wolf, low casualty (don't take that wrong...for every victim's family this is a high casualty event) attacks just appear to be something we have to live with.
Your thoughts.
We can try and mitigate the threat but it seems like we're at a new normal. Mass attacks we seem able to prevent. These lone wolf, low casualty (don't take that wrong...for every victim's family this is a high casualty event) attacks just appear to be something we have to live with.
Your thoughts.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Sierra-Nevada Corporation's Force Hawk for USAF Huey Replacement...
via Janes.
Sierra-Nevada Corporation (SNC) has joined Boeing and Lockheed Martin in pitching a solution for the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) UH-1N Huey Replacement Program, the company confirmed to Jane’s on 28 October.Story here.
The Nevada-based is to pitch upgraded surplus UH-60 Black Hawks for the competition to replace the USAF’s current 62 UH-1N Huey's helicopters with up to 84 new platforms. Boeing has already revealed its MH-139 offering with Leonardo, while Lockheed Martin is pitching new-build UH-60s built by its subsidiary company Sikorsky
This is a rather boring program for what should be a simple replacement. The USAF needs a helicopter for its Security Force to conduct missions safeguarding our nuclear missiles.
It's turned into a dogfight because everyone is scrambling for defense dollars.
But that's not why I'm watching it.
What has me a bit confused is that this is so simple that I don't understand why the USAF didn't simply do a sourcing deal with the Army and buy the latest BlackHawk under their acquisition program.
So what we're left with is the USAF doing a program to replace the Huey and a service that says its short of money and has three big ticket aircraft (F-35, B-21, KC-46) coming down the pike while also having to throw money at maintainers and pilots to remain in the service.
That's why SNC can offer their helicopter.
The USAF is facing a money crunch.
The days after the Trump election of the DoD and certain Congressman thinking that they would be able to dramatically plus up defense spending is over.
How the Air Force goes with this will be telling.
Either they see an "event" that will bolster defense spending or they'll go into a hole trying to save as much money as possible. I can't wait to see which way they go, but it'll be telling.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)