Is this the "rationale" for Israel/Saudi action? US arming Hezbollah thru weapons donations to Lebanon?

via Free Beacon.

U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned that American military aid to the Lebanese army is arming the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, which has been amassing a large cache of advanced arms on Israel's border, according to multiple current and former U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

Following the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who fled the country and disclosed that Hezbollah controls the entirety of Lebanon, the U.S. government has continued its support for the Lebanese military, which multiple sources say has long been under the thumb of Hezbollah militants.

The ongoing policy is said to be fueling diplomatic tensions between the United States and Israel, which has found itself allied with Saudi Arabia as the American government advances a host of policies that have contributed to Iran's regional dominance, including in Iraq and Syria.

The Trump administration's State Department is coming under increased pressure from lawmakers and other foreign policy insiders to halt all military aid to Lebanon in light of Hariri's resignation and new evidence that Hezbollah is benefiting from the American arms and aid.

Story here. 

This whole thing is a freaking mess.

We supported moderate head choppers in Syria who were allied with ISIS against Hezbollah who was supporting Syria while at the same time we were arming the Lebanese govt that pushed those same weapons to  Hezbollah so that they could be used in the fight against moderate terrorists that we were supporting so that they could defeat Hezbollah that was supporting Syria???

Our foreign policy is batshit crazy.

Report to Congress on Chinese threat. "The United States cannot assume it will have an enduring advantage in developing next frontier military technology"

Chinese rail gun.  I didn't even know they were working on one!

via Free Beacon.

China is developing an array of advanced, high technology weapons designed to defeat the United States in a future conflict, according to a congressional commission report.

"China is pursuing a range of advanced weapons with disruptive military potential," says the annual report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

The report outlines six types of advanced arms programs that Beijing has made a priority development in seeking "dominance" in the high-tech weapons area. They include maneuverable missile warheads, hypersonic weapons, laser and beam weapons, electromagnetic railguns, counterspace weapons, and artificial intelligence-directed robots.

China revealed two anti-ship ballistic missiles with maneuverable reentry vehicles in 2010 and 2015 and also has set up the sensors and satellites needed for striking moving targets at sea—weapons designed for use against U.S. aircraft carriers and other warships.

Beijing's hypersonic missiles are in the developmental stage but are "progressing rapidly," with seven hypersonic glide vehicle tests since 2014 and one reported scramjet engine flight test in 2015.

Story here. 

Read it and cringe. 

Do you still think Russia is the country we should worry about?  If you do then you're officially a sheeple.

China is the nation that poses an existential threat to the United States!

IDF Chief of Staff: “Saudi Arabia and Israel have common interests against Iran”

via Jerusalem Online.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot commented during a rare interview with the Saudi newspaper Elaph on the possibility of a future war against Iran and Syria. During the interview, which was released today (Thursday), Eizenkot also said that Israel and Saudi Arabia share a common understanding when it comes to the threat from Iran. According to him, Israel is even ready to share sensitive intelligence with Riyadh. “Saudi Arabia and Israel have common interests against Iran,” he explained.

Story here.

Wow.  It is beyond strange.  Syria was once considered one of the US' best friends in the region and called a moderate Arab country.  Assad allowed us to hold terrorists on his soil and conduct "enhanced interrogations" there too (the same applied to Libya's Gaddafi).

Now after only a few years Syria is the huge threat?  A magazine even called Assad's wife the rose of the Middle East and touted her forward thinking and how Syria was modernizing and moving toward being much closer with the west!

Fast forward to the here and now and Israel and Saudi Arabia are both plotting to engage in a fight in Lebanon?  They're doing this because they have common interests against Iran?

Sorry boys but I'm done. 

I'm a supporter of Israel but this is making me run cold.  Enough of the games in the Middle East.  I view it as a serious money drain with little return.  I'm good with helping Israel defend itself but at what point do we wash our hands of the situation if they put themselves into a war of national survival and they're the ones that started it?

Don't answer that.  Just drink in this article and tell me we're not looking at another 20 plus years of war in the Middle east.

Open Comment Post. Nov 17, 2018

Older guy destroys youngster spoiling for a fight...

 

https://tacticalsquad.tumblr.com/post/167574926775

 


Wow.  I bet most of you guys didn't see that coming did ya?  So let's review and see what we've learned.

1.  Size up your opponent.  Young idiot just saw grey hair.  What he failed to see is that grey hair wearing guy was in serviceable condition (from what we could see).  He wouldn't be breathing hard just because he had a sudden rush of adrenalin in prep for a fight.

2.  Dress properly.  I'm talking about the sagging stupidity that the aggressor wore.  Why wearing your pants where they just come up halfway up your ass is a thing is beyond me.  Ignoring the idiocy of that fashion choice if you decide you're gonna fight then its beyond comprehension why you would dress that.  He immediately suffered limited mobility (assuming he had at the very least shadow boxed at home) and in the "walk in" to the encounter he even had to pause to pull up his pants.

3.  Patty cake isn't your friend.  I don't know what young-dumb was thinking but from my chair it appeared that he wasn't really prepared mentally or physically.  That patty cake stuff at the beginning of the fight just set him up for the knockout blow.

In short, you need to properly size up your opponent, dress everyday as if you might end up needing to defend yourself and finally if a fight can't be avoided you need to be prepared to engage and end it as quickly as possible.

I have no doubt old guy sized up young-dumb properly and knew that he could successfully engage him, and in the end he showed mercy.  Young-dumb was out cold on the street.  If he decided to do a finishing move by throat stomping him there is little young-dumb could do to prevent that.

Street fights.  Avoid if possible but if you can't then fight hard and fast and finish it quickly.

H145M Special Forces Light Attack Helicopter

Senator Al Franken Accused of Sexual Misconduct

via Roll Call.

A Los Angeles radio news anchor accused Sen. Al Franken of groping and kissing her without consent in open letter Thursday on the radio station’s website.

“We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth,” 790KABC morning host Leeann Tweeden wrote.

“I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time.

“I walked away. All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth.”

Story here. 

I would laugh my ass off but this is becoming a bit alarming.

I mean think about it.

Is there a single straight male over the age of 10 years old that can be said to be safe in this environment?  Even worse?  Its to the point where if you're accused you're guilty!

This is bad guys.  I'd tell you to be careful but you're screwed no matter how you handle this.  If you stay away from females and join the "Men Going There Own Way" movement then you're promoting a hostile work place.  If you treat them like one of the guys then you could get accused of sexual harassment.

The world just became a bit more confusing for men.

North Korean Defector had 10-Inch Parasite in His Stomach...a potential ground fight might be easier than projected...

via Yahoo.com

An experienced South Korean surgeon operating on a defector from North Korea has described his shock upon finding dozens of unusual parasites inside the man’s stomach, suggesting widespread health issues among the population of the secretive state.

The patient, who has not been named, was critically injured as he fled North Korea under a hail of bullets fired from his former comrades through the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) border area between the two countries on Monday. Doctor Lee Guk-jong has now operated twice on the man to treat his injuries, with the presence of parasites adding complications to the surgery.

“We are struggling with treatment as we found a large number of parasites in the soldier’s stomach, invading and eating into the wounded areas,” Lee said at a press briefing following a three-and-a-half-hour operation on Wednesday, quoted in the Korea Biomedical Review. 

Story here. 

Follow the link and read the story before continuing...I'll wait.  You're back?  Good.

My armchair analysis.

I always thought that a limited airstrike on nuke facilities was the way that they would go (if there is war) because of the desire to limit blowback.  I'm sure China doesn't want a refugee crisis and neither does S. Korea.

They might go for a decapitation strike but they would still want a functional N. Korea so that its breakup can be managed at the time and pace of the powers in the region.

But two things have me wondering if plans are being written for a limited ground incursion into N. Korea.

The first is that the Pentagon told the Congress that while they could get MANY of N. Korea's nukes, they couldn't get them all in an air campaign.  Attriting an enemy works in every form of combat except for nukes.  With nukes you have to gobble up every one of them cause even one can ruin your day and kill millions of your citizens.

The second is this news story.  I knew that the N. Koreans operated elderly equipment but I didn't take into account how badly the population has been ravaged.  This guy was tiny.  Most American 16 year olds are bigger (male and female!) and the idea of parasites probably affecting a large part of their population along with other diseases makes me believe that we have an overwhelming advantage against them.

In tech, training, health, equipment and general "physicality" we outclass the North Koreans by a wide margin.  If they push during the coldest part of winter, timing the assault when a terrible winter storm front rolls thru would seem to be the icing on the cake for either an airstrike, ground campaign or both.

Malnourished, under equipped troops just don't perform well when its bad outside.

These two bullet points tell me that a potential ground fight might be easier than projected if it's planned right.  My guess?  The go order is given sometime this winter.  That's been my prediction and I see no reason to change now.

Israeli Air Force General gets orientation flight on CH-53K...a buy looks almost certain...

via SMNewsNet.

Naval Air Systems Command and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, hosted a ‘first of its kind’ orientation flight in the CH-53K King Stallion for Brig. Gen. Nir Nin-Nun, Israeli Air Force, Commander, Air Support and Helicopter Division, during a test flight Nov. 7.

The 90-minute orientation flight included various operational maneuvers, landings and takeoffs, providing Nin-Nun a firsthand look at the unique and capabilities of the CH-53K available through full authority fly-by-wire flight controls.

“This is the first time we have flown an international ally in the CH-53K,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Hank Vanderborght, program manager for the H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters program office, PMA-261. “Flights like this give us an opportunity to strengthen relationships with our allies while sharing a taste of America’s next generation heavy lift helicopter.”

The flight was arranged based on a government-to-government request from Brig. Gen. Nin-Nun and made possible through a contract modification between Sikorsky and NAVAIR.
“[It was a] a great honor being hosted by the Marines and having a chance to fly on two outstanding platforms as we ramp up to decide on our future heavy lift,” said Nin-Nun.

Story here. 

Iranian President takes aim at Saudi Arabia and Israel...

via PressTV

It is very reprehensible and shameful for a Muslim country in the region to beg the Zionist regime [of Israel] to bomb the people of Lebanon,” President Hassan Rouhani said at a government meeting on Wednesday.

“It is unprecedented in history for a Muslim country to take such measures, and this indicates the immaturity of the individuals, who have come to power in those countries,” Rouhani added.

Secretary General of the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on November 10 that Saudi Arabia had appealed to the Israeli regime to launch a military onslaught against Lebanon in the name of fighting Hezbollah, and was ready to spend billions of dollars to attain this objective.

........

  “Why has a country, which considers itself to be serving the two sanctuaries [of Mecca and Medina], has come to pressure the innocent and Muslim people of Yemen in such a way?”

Leading a number of its vassal states, Saudi Arabia has been conducting military strikes on Yemen since March 2015 to restore a former pro-Riyadh regime.

Story here. 

Wow.  This is wild.  The Israelis have been making noises and have indicated that military operations in Lebanon could happen pretty soon.  The idea that its being pushed by Saudi Arabia is....batshit crazy.

But everything we've seen in the fight against ISIS has been....batshit crazy!

Ok. How do we freaking track this?  ISIS was a proxy of the Sauds in the fight in Syria.  Hezbollah supported Syria.  The fight against ISIS is over in Syria (well practically over) so the Sauds have pivoted to the new battlefield of Lebanon.

And instead of getting themselves into a new Yemen-like quagmire they're hoping to get the Israelis to do it for them?

Wow.

USMC ACV/AAV7A2 trades terrain capability for survivability?

via Janes.

The US Marine Corps’ (USMC’s) two-pronged amphibious vehicle modernisation effort will include some significant survivability upgrades to its legacy AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles, and be complemented with a new personnel carrier with mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP)-levels of protection.

The AAV7A2/Survivability Upgrade package and Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) 1.1 and 1.2 are, aside from improving USMC sealift, focused on protecting against underbelly blasts from mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Major Darrel Commander, a requirements officer within the USMC’s Assault Amphibian Vehicle programme, said on 15 November at the SMi Future Armoured Vehicle Survivability conference in London.

Indeed, the AAV7A2 plans to upgrade four battalions-worth of vehicles with additional belly armour, integrated buoyant armour, blast attenuated seats, and an external armoured fuel tank, improving the vehicle’s underbelly blast survivability to approximately half that of a MRAP-type vehicle, according to Maj Commander.

To compensate for the 11,000 lb additional weight burden of these elements, improvements to the vehicles’ powertrain, marine drive train, and suspension were also necessary. However, despite these, the AAV7A2 has a reduced capacity on soft soil and can carry one less dismount compared with the original AAV7. The two variants share the same capacity to operate at sea and the same weapons.

Story here (most behind a paywall). 

With this upgrade the AAV picked up 5.5 tons?  Has reduced capability on soft soil?

I didn't see this coming and everything I've read seemed to indicate that this was an upgrade with no tradeoffs.

We really need to see the cost of the program.  Many have said and I'm beginning to wonder if this is even worth the effort.

Open Comment Post. Nov 16, 2017

Saab Gripen with a vintage paint job...

Airbus Defence & Space - 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Unveiled

Wow.  Talk about variations on the US airpower roadmap!  I miss the days when Europe actually approached problems and came up with different solutions.  Those days are over it would appear.

The only thing I'm seeing different in this vid is that they're using European systems to do the samething that the US is planning to do.

I guess that F-35 briefing served not only the German Air Force but also AirBus well.

As far as that new fighter?  Not impressed.  It looks like a slightly modified Advanced Super Hornet with twin engines.  The Japanese have a much more impressive offering on tap.

What does this mean?

I think we're they're gonna wind up with a new fighter that will be called 5th gen but will actually be in the same class as the Advanced Super Hornet.

The only saving grace is if the Europeans have actually crunched numbers and determined that stealth is dead (as I believe).

If that's the case and if they can produce this new plane at a reasonable price then they might be onto something.

Russian Landing Ship Tank (LST) Ivan Gren completes builders trials...

Thanks to s300v4 for the pic!

Wow.  I've been calling for the US Navy/Marine Corps to investigate the possibility of a modern day LST on these pages for years!  My thinking?  If we're talking about a forcible entry situation, and if its gonna happen the way Greenert once said then we need to be able to put as many forces ashore as quickly as possible.

A little explanation.

Greenert said that the solution to the forcible entry dilemma would be the tried and true method of rolling back enemy defenses and providing corridors to get our forces ashore.  Amos disagreed and was talking about launching from 200 miles offshore and putting penny packets of Marines on the beach while hoping that air power would keep the enemy from overwhelming this small air delivered force.

I preferred the idea of putting the combined arms team on LSTs, have them make high speed dashes to the beach, deposit Marines in AAV/ACVs, our tanks, artillery etc... and then head back out to sea to our Mobile Landing Platform to pickup the next load.

The benefit of the LST over doing the same by LCAC?  You're talking about putting 13 tanks and 300 Marines ashore on every trip.  A comparable number (probably greater) of ACVs or whatever you decide.  4 LSTs assigned to the mission could put a battalion of armor on the beach in one trip.  I don't even want to calculate how many LCACs it would take.

I'll definitely keep an eye on this ship.  I'll also be interested in the Russians concept of operations with her too.

Patria AMV28A glamour pics!

Note: You might have seen these already..I haven't!  Also check out how much less bulk it has when the flotation armor is removed.

Note 1:  Just noticed this but when it loses its flotation armor it also lost its swim vane.  I wonder if this is an indication that without the flotation kit it loses the ability to swim...even across small bodies of water?

Oriole Capital Group invests in AN-74 via Defense Aersopace

Oriole Capital Group, US-based investment fund, has agreed to inject $150 million to launch the production of the Antonov An-74 twin-jet transport aircraft, a variant of the An-72 originally developed in the 1980s. 

Just plain wow.  Oriole is getting a steal.  Everyone is looking at the Japanese and Brazilian offerings for a small jet transport to compete with the C-130 but they're forgetting about this puppy.

What has me a bit impressed and miffed?  The USAF had a requirement to replace the C-130 and Boeing came up with the (I think) awesome YC-14. Those engines above the wing?  Supposedly they provide OUTSTANDING short field takeoff performance and don't degrade normal flight performance.

We had a winner in the blocks ready to go but had the attention span of a gnat and now the Russians are picking up the ball and running with it.

Too bad.

The C-130 is good but its elderly and has its time in the sun.  We should have moved on long ago.  Looks the Russians are about to.

Turkey will buy HMS Ocean if Brazil backs out...via Naval News Instagram...

Story via Naval News.

According to a written question in UK Parliament asked by Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) , to the Secretary of State for Defence; Government of Turkey is willing to buy HMS Ocean if it is not sold to Brazil.

The question is answered by Mr Tobias Ellwood on Nov 13, revealed that "The Ministry of Defence has received an expression of interest from the Government of Turkey about the potential sale of HMS OCEAN"
According to local media in Brazil, the U.K. Ministry of Defence have offered HMS Ocean for sale to the South American country on Mar 17.

HMS Ocean is the UK’s only helicopter carrier and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force.

The helicopter carrier was constructed in the mid-1990s and commissioned in September 1998.

In November 2015, the MoD confirmed that HMS Ocean is to be decommissioned in 2018 with no like-for-like replacement.

This comes as the Brazilian Navy have decided to abandon the refit of the  aircraft carrier Sao Paulo and decommission the vessel after a series of technical issues and accidents.

Rectification costs are understood to be a major factor in this decision.

Jesus.

Turkey with a helicopter assault carrier?  Just plain awesome.  So now they'll be able to project power too?

Mark my words.  The nations inside and on the periphery of the Middle East aren't all arming up for giggles.  We're looking at a major regional war sometime soon.

This is why I think the deployment of 3 carriers to the Pacific for the current exercise is both awe inspiring and risky.  What if something kicks off and we have 6 carriers down for maintenance because someone decided that a massive show of force was necessary?  Oh and all those forward deployed Marines and Soldiers are dogmeat in our way of war if they can't get adequate air cover.

I hope to God I'm wrong....but Turkey with the HMS Ocean?  This just don't smell right to me.

9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines embarked on HMS Ocean conduct a winching exercise

Heads up tribe! This book is worth reading!

Hmm.  How can I say this without sounding like I'm chest thumping instead of simply telling my boys about a book that is blowing my socks off?

Forget the nonsense, let me get to it.

You'd be surprised how many times I've gotten "asks" to check out a book and if I like it to tell my readers about it.  I guess the world of military blogging is small because I've hit a few radars.

If you've been here more than a minute then you know that it's not often that I get on a hilltop and scream BUY THIS BOOK!

Well I'm doing that now.

The Author?  Never heard of him.  The subject matter?  The USMC way of war...in essence a primer on how we're going from "hey diddle diddle straight up the middle" to maneuver warfare.  Yeah. It touched all my hot spots.

So what do I think?

I got the book on Monday.  I've been reading it at my leisure and I'm halfway thru today.

I'm hooked like a crackhead and I can't wait to finish today's activities so I can climb back into it.

A full review is coming but like I said.  Halfway thru and I'm learning about the visionaries inside the Marine Corps that "transformed" (hate that word but in this instance it applies) the way we fight.

Trust me guys.  At this point it's a must buy.  Full review coming soon but unless it crashes and burns in the second half this is one for your personal library.