Steve Trimble posted this and it tells the bad news. Our systems aren't even competitive much less effectictive.
The only shining star is that the US Army seems to FINALLY be wrapping its head around the idea that the USAF won't be able to guarantee air superiority in the next big war and that they'll have to protect themselves against air attack.
That HOPEFULLY means more effective systems will be coming online soon...although I note with a bit of trepidation that the legacy anti-air will probably be with us in a different wrapper for the foreseeable future.
An epic battle fought on the pages of comics that is being mirrored in today's society. Which do we value more? Safety or Security? Hydra Capt America or Original Cap?
Ya know what had me cheering? The part where he states you stand and fight...you stand and fight...you stand and fight. This is how you are tested and how the enemy is tested. They made us feel small and weak...and then at the climax of the confrontation, Cap stands victorious and says "never again"...even though he knows there will be a next time.
You have your ARs....you have your shotguns...you have your pistols & your SBR style rifles.
You're set right?
Nope.
Not even close.
You have a whole in your inventory and I found the widget to fill that hole. A real deal Carbine. The definition of carbine has changed. Why? I have no idea but historically it was rifle sized that fired the same round as your side arm.
That's what the Ruger PC Carbine allows you to do. If you're part of the Glock Nation then its benefits will be obvious. I don't know of one real Glock guy that doesn't have at least a couple 30 round mags. Hell I don't know one Glock guy that doesn't at least have at least 5 mags holding 15 rounds or more.
This is what you've been looking for and didn't even know it. That's my thinking and you're gonna have to move me hard to get me to think otherwise.
Rewatch that vid and tell me that thing don't rock...
Looks good. Reminds me of a AH-64 sized helo and just as heavily armed. Too bad its so late.
The US Army is moving forward with MAYBE a tilt wing gunship. The USMC will surely go that way. So while the Turks will be getting a credible gunship that's homegrown, US manufacturers will be selling a tilt rotor or pusher prop helicopter against it.
Unless the price is right they're gonna be behind the power curve...even if the price is right they'll probably be selling this against a refurbished AH-64 or even AH-1Z that will be sold at a discount thru FMS.
Its a hard marketplace for up and coming manufacturers.
I consider this to be the most intriguing vehicle the Russians are working on. This will be a step change in their armored doctrine and will produce a vehicle that rivals what we see in the West...yet no one seems to be locking in on it. The Armata and the T-15 get all the buzz but this rig is ignored...I wonder why. Regardless this is the one that I'm impressed with!
Do you see the armament on both these vehicles? Those are 30mm cannons. I wonder if we're being head faked by the 57mm we're seeing on some BMPs. All evidence seems to indicate that they're sticking with the 30mm going into the future.
Alot to see here. I touched on a couple of vehicles but it looks like they've made some type of upgrade to the Pantsir and are moving forward with the S-500 (unless I'm miss identifying that anti-air system).
One weird thing I've noticed.
The Russians have always been big on artillery but they seem to be holding pat. Either they realize that they lead in that area or they're prioritizing other functions.
Ya know the more I think about the Squad Support Vehicle Concept the goofier it gets.
Don't get me wrong. I like what Rheinmetall has done here. I like other concepts too.
But we're adding a VEHICLE to each infantry squad and we're not increasing their ground mobility (perhaps endurance if the SSV is carrying all the gear) but we're also adding in a single point of failure, not to mention increased signature and an additional logistics burden.
Again.
The vehicles I've seen are built to what's being asked for. I guess I just wonder if we're even asking the right question. I somehow think we're heading down the infantry version of the LCS.
BAE Systems was awarded a $67 million contract to develop three amphibious combat vehicle command and control variants, as well as the ACV medium caliber cannons, for the U.S. Marine Corps.
The contract for Systems Land and Armaments includes development of engineering drawings, manufacture and test support for the command and control mission role variants, and the development of engineering drawings for the cannon mission role variants, the Defense Department announced Thursday.
Curious. The quick movement toward the Command & Control variant is completely understandable. What has me a bit confused is how the Gun variant is being moved ahead of the Recovery model.
I would have thought that would be an automatic but apparently it isn't. Perhaps the Gun variant is higher risk so they're moving it ahead? How about the thinking that an increase in firepower is needed now and they can't wait to see how the Army moves ahead with the 50mm cannon?
Not sure but this vehicle is truly a thing now.
How long it remains as the primary assault vehicle is in question. I'm mainly looking at the work the Japanese are doing...plus we have a history of "interim" vehicles before settling in on a long term steed (thinking about the relatively short history of the LVTP-5 and how it was quickly replaced with the LVTP-7). Regardless this is good news. After much stagnation and a bit of confusion, the USMC is moving again.
