Readers have talked about it for a couple of days but this confirms it. The House of Saud is on the brink!

Thanks to AO for the link!

via Gulf Business.

Saudi authorities detained a billionaire global investor and the head of the National Guard as part of an anti-corruption purge that consolidates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s hold on power.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns investment firm Kingdom Holding, was among 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers detained, two senior Saudi officials told Reuters on Sunday.

A top security official, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, was detained and replaced as minister of the powerful National Guard by Prince Khaled bin Ayyaf. This consolidates Prince Mohammed’s bin Salman’s control of security institutions which had previously been headed by separate branches of the ruling family.

Story here. 

Why am I saying my readers were right and I'm becoming alarmed?  Because this guy was in charge of the Saudi National Guard.  Unlike the US and other Western nations, the National Guard in Saudi Arabia is home to the most advanced and well equipped troops in that nation.

If you want to point to an "elite" or a "Praetorian Guard" then you point to the Saudi National Guard.

For this guy to put their commander under arrest means that their is a serious power play going on.  Additionally you have to think that this guy has his own resources and own group of loyalist that are still in the Guard.

That means trouble.

Between the pressures of Yemen, Iran, the huge loss in Syria, Turkey coming to the aid of a GCC country they were trying to bully and an unpredictable US president/ineffectual SecState you have the Saudis in a pressure cooker of their own making.

This might not happen fast but it will happen.  I'm calling it.  The House of Saud falls in less than 5 years.  Turmoil in the Middle East will probably continue long after I'm dead and buried.

Hillbilly mods...Captured M-ATV sporting a BTR-80 turret!

Thanks to Delta Sierra for the pic!

You can call them all the derogatory names in the book...camel jockey, goat fucker, sand nigger (I need to do a serious self check on that one...I've been around guys that I THINK would never call me that but referred to them in that way and I never checked them....have to reflect on that...probably had a bit to do with personal hatred aimed at a group instead of the individuals that committed the acts...self check definitely in order) but you have to give them credit.

They have modified vehicles in such a way that the US Army, Marine Corps and allied forces have begun to pay attention and are putting more polished examples into service (or plan to).

You do realize that this is simply the "technical" concept taken to its logical extreme don't you?

Where this ends up I don't know, but I can imagine a future battlefield where meeting engagements between light infantry riding these steeds is unusually
bloody.  Heavy guns (for the size of the vehicle) and light armor has got to result in terrible casualties.

For better or worse we've come full circle and we're reinventing the 9th Motorized Infantry Division (on a small scale).

China to launch their space plane by 2020..

via Futurism.com

Officials from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) released a statement on Tuesday saying they’ll be ready to launch the next-generation spaceplane by 2020, according to a report by state news service Xinhua. If the statement is any indication, China seems to be have made significant headway on the development of a highly-secretive advance spacecraft.

At first glance, it may not seem to be a remarkable feat: reusable space rockets have been making headlines consistently since SpaceX successfully launched a used Falcon 9 earlier this year. The company has been flying missions aboard reusable Falcon 9 rockets to the International Space Station, as well as to ferry satellites from private corporations and even several nations.

China’s new space plane — note, not space rocket — is expected to be different. CASTC researcher Chen Hongbo said that unlike traditional spacecrafts, this new spacecraft “will fly into the sky like an aircraft,” Xinhua reports. This would, then, differentiate it from rockets, hence the name spaceplane. Supposedly, the spaceplane will take off from a runway, then fire its ramjet propulsion once high in the atmosphere. At that point, the plane will shift to rocket motors in order to reach orbital space, according to reports noted by Ars Technica.

Story here. 

The Chinese have no shame and we have no cyber security.  They constantly make these splashy announcements and then we see them  building a clone of a western vehicle.

I expect the same here (hence the picture above of the Chinese copy of our X-37).

They're a threat because they can match us militarily, but when it comes to influence they will fall flat.  Their culture is unique and in many ways admirable but few will want to duplicate it.  That and their lack of innovation/vision/creativity will doom them in the end.  They'll be tough, they'll be competitive but they'll always be beatable...if we harden the fuck up!

HOT! Defense Intelligence Agency Russia/Chinese (Threat) Military Power Report

Thanks to Joe for the linK!

Reports can be found here!  Must read!  Must see!  Grab it while you can I don't expect it to stay up for long!

New Kaplan Medium Tank (FNSS & PT Pindad) Video!

Thanks to Dwi for the link!



It looks good!  But!  I have to wonder about slapping a tank turret on a tracked vehicle IFV/APC hull.  I know it cuts down on development time but I still wonder why not simply take components and build a fresh, purpose built light/medium tank hull?  Because we're talking about a light/medium tank does it negate the rationale or does it still count?

One other thing has me curious.  If you have APC/IFVs that are tagging in at 30 tons, can you really say a light tank can be any less than 40? Weight is going up and the old classification system that we've used for decades doesn't seem to apply.  We call Heavy Tanks, Main Battle Tanks these days and they range anywhere from 50 tons all the way up to almost 80.  If that's the continued benchmark then our IFVs could all be labeled as being medium weight vehicles.

New Thai Marine Infantry Fighting Vehicle Prototype...in other words the Terrex 2!

Thanks to Ogden for the linK!



Just plain wow.  The Thai military is buying a hodge podge of vehicles!  That ride you see in the background is quite simply the Terrex 2.  What has me spinning (just a little) is his description of it being ship to shore capable.  The same vehicle was offered for the Marine Corps ACV program but was redesigned to enable better swim capability.  Unless they've incorporated improvements into the orginal design then I just don't see it happening...at least not to a "Marine" standard.  Regardless this is gonna be fun to watch. How many vehicles can a relatively small force acquire anyway?

Leonardo - M60A3 Main Battle Tank Upgrade

Open Comment Post. Nov 5, 2017

Sorry for the late and spotty posting lately.  Going thru a slight health thing and trying to pursue fleeting opportunities as well.  Things should smooth out shortly.  Appreciate your patience.

A Type 16 Prototype involved simply adding a turret to a wheeled APC....

pic via Bmashina Tumblr Page.

Bmashina jumbled the caption on this one but its a great find none-the-less.  That's a Type 96 wheeled apc hull with what really looks like a Type 10 turret but I have a hard time believing that!

Doesn't matter.  When you find a guys that's good at scouring the net in Asia you have to ride with the dude till he dies in a ditch!  Never even knew this existed.  I love this guy (No homo...but who you want to fuck is your business...just talking about me...)!

So this is that new Chinese Amphibious APC...

pic via Sputnik...story here...

I'm looking forward to a few more pics of this beast.  Don't where to look on the Chinese forums but the search continues.

From what I can see it looks like the evolution continues.  It seems like we're getting a mix of Russian, Western and Chinese design aesthetic.  Yeah, I definitely need to see more pics.

Blast from the past. Mussolini knew it wasn't gonna work!

pic and caption via Tanks-a-lot Tumblr Page.

when you just signed the munich agreement but know shits gonna go down anyway

I love reading some of these kid's take on history.  It's all filled with humor, irony and modernism to the extreme in their wording.

In other words it's cool as hell.  Tumblr isn't all porn.  Much to my amazement some of the web that is mostly known for vile or pornographic material has much to be desired...if you know where to look.

Japanese Type 16 MCV on static display with 14th Tank Co in Naga via Bmashina Tumblr Page!

UK's Defence Ministerial Crisis hits at a terrible moment for the island nation...

via Business Insider.

Theresa May is facing a major backlash after appointing her chief whip Gavin Williamson as the new defence secretary, with some Conservative MPs "livid" at the promotion.

Williamson was appointed on Thursday morning following Sir Michael Fallon's shock resignation as defence secretary on Wednesday evening after he was implicated in the Westminster sexual harassment scandal.

One senior Conservative backbench MP described the surprise promotion of Williamson as "Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Astonishing."

Former Chief of the General Staff Lord Richard Dannatt said the appointment was "quite surprising" and not the best option "from a defence point of view."

Story here.

I've been looking at my blogroll and NO ONE is talking about this brewing controversy.

Theresa May is having a HORRIBLE month.  First the economic impact of BREXIT which is considered a state secret is being pushed for release to the public.  Next she lost her majority because of a terrible miscalculation on her part. Then we had her loyal Defence Minister swept up in the Weinstein mess and forced to resign...and now we have her appointing another loyalist to replace him and having her own party going ape shit over the person chosen.

This couldn't happen at a worst time for the UK.

They are in the midst of another reshuffling of their armed forces so that they can afford many of the big ticket items that are on their shopping list, the Carriers are being completed on time but the cost is outrageous so they're looking at retiring capable amphibious ships to make the difference, the F-35 continues to be the hole at the bottom of the bucket sucking up huge amounts of money and they still have to do something with nuclear modernization.

No one is noticing but we could see the rapid de-evolution of British combat power.  This might seem an unfortunate personnel matter but it's indicative of much bigger problems.

The UK is facing a defense crisis.

Open Comment Post. Nov 3, 2017

Indian Air Force AH-64E Guardian

Denmark's National Audit Office says F-35 will not perform as promised...

via Sputnik.

To the dismay of Denmark's Air Force, which had been betting on F-35s replacingthe country's aging fleet, the National Audit Office has decided that the pricey war toy is overrated, arguing that the Defense Ministry has been far too optimistic in its evaluation.
For Denmark, where the acquisition of the US F-35 fighter jets is set to become the largest-ever state purchase, the new report highlighting the shortcomings of its prized possession, is hardly good news.

The new fighter jets, which are expected to set Danish state coffers back DKK 66 billion ($10 billion), could actually yield much more modest performance than that stated by the Defense Ministry, the National Audit Office (NAO) found in a report.

According to the NAO, the Defense Ministry has overestimated the amount of tasks the 27 new F-35 aircraft can handle. Another blunder regards how many hours the aircraft can spend in the air. While the Defense Ministry proceeded from a solid 250 hours a year, the same fighter jets only are airborne 168 and 210 hours in Norway and Holland respectively, Danish Radio reported.

Story here. 

Wow.  This thing is far from over.  The Program Office can do their best to manage the message and keep support up via F-16.net, other fanboys, retired and active military officers and the uninformed but reality is coming....AND FAST!

At some point the program will run out of time and excuses.

That's what we've been warning about.  Prior performance is NOT indicative of future outcomes, but it does give you an idea of what to expect.

We can expect the F-35 to continue to limp along, underperform, cost an outrageous sum of money and fail to deliver as promised.

When the patience of the zealots has run out and it's obvious even to them that they've been duped is when WE (the critics of the program) need to have solid alternatives mapped out.  That's what we'll chew on in a blog post tomorrow.  

It's time to chart a plan B for the Marine Corps, Navy and USAF (God help our allies...I have no idea what they'll need to do!).

Test team deploys to expand UH-1Y's wind envelope...Why wasn't this done at introduction of the helicopter?

via DCMilitary.com

“It all got started when a deployed fleet pilot, Maj. “Rudy” Neagle, reached out directly to the HX-21 pilots asking if they could help expand the UH-1Y wind envelope,” said Kristen Finnegan, the test team’s lead engineer.

The flight envelope refers to the conditions in which an aircraft can safely operate. The UH-1Y helicopters had been operating within the restrictive generic wind envelope for six-to-seven years.

As Neagle—the aviation combat element LPD detachment officer in charge (OIC) from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365 (Reinforced), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)—began researching the limited flight envelope, he was looking for the lessons learned from other pilots who had faced similar challenges.

“It had not occurred to me to conduct testing on Mesa Verde while deployed,” he said. “I was looking for information to mitigate risk while flying outside the wind envelope.”

Story here. 

I know my rep.  Another day another chance for SNAFU! Blog to beat up on Marine Air.

That ain't happening here.

Quite honestly I think Major Neagle was on the ball and damn near heroic with his actions not to go with the status quo.  I think HX-21 personnel were cut from the same cloth. To conduct flight testing while a unit is deployed?  They broke every rule and for the right reasons.

What has me scratching my head is this passage...

 The UH-1Y helicopters had been operating within the restrictive generic wind envelope for six-to-seven years.

From its inception the UH-1Y was built as a SUBSTANTIAL improvement over the UH-1N.  It's faster, lifts more, flies farther and faster...It's just better in all areas.  So why did they just roll with the "restrictive generic wind envelope"?  I'm not bashing Marine Air or the personnel that work there.  I am questioning leadership! 

Am I wrong or does this seem like a no-brainer?

White Sands Missile Range assists US Army in search for next Air Defense System ...Stryker Maneuver Short Range Air Defense, K-21 Air Defense Variant & Multiple Missile Launcher tested.

Russia Mulls Upgrading Su-57 to 6th Gen

via The Diplomat

Russia’s first indigenously designed and built fifth-generation stealth fighter, the Su-57, could be turned into a sixth-generation fighter aircraft, the former head of the Russian Aerospace Force, Viktor Bondarev told TASS news agency on November.

“This is actually a splendid plane and it can embrace both fifth-and sixth-generation features. It has huge modernization potential,” Bondarev, now chairman of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, said. “Importantly, it is the best among the existing versions by its stealth characteristics. It incorporates all the best that is available in modern aviation science both in Russia and in the world,” he added.

As I reported in July 2016, Russian defense officials have repeatedly claimed that hardware elements designed for a future sixth generation fighter have been tested on the Su-57 prototype, including flight and navigation systems as well as advanced electronic warfare  and radar systems.

Story here.

This sounds good.  Uh.  What qualities make an airplane a 6th gen?

MCLIC tested aboard the Combat Center...pics by Lance Cpl. Christian Lopez

S. Korea launches new Navy landing ship

via xinhuanet.com

 South Korea on Thursday launched its new Navy landing ship capable of conducting a massive landing operation, according to local media reports.
The launching ceremony was held at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries, the country's largest shipbuilder, in the southeastern coastal city of Ulsan.
The 4,900-ton landing ship was the fourth of its kind, which was built under the LST-II program to replace smaller amphibious landing vessels.
The new vessel is 127 meters long and can sail at a maximum speed of 23 knots, or about 40 km per hour. It is operated by some 120 crew.
It can carry as many as 300 soldiers in full armor, transporting high-speed landing craft, amphibious assault armored vehicle and tank.

Story here.