The Chinese have NO shame. Now they're copying Embraer!

Alert 5 posted these pics of a new Chinese cargo plane.  Take a good look at it...

Now remember that the Chinese have a knack for taking Western designs and scaling them up and remember the KC-390 built by Embraer.  Doesn't fit you say?  Well think back to the first designs that were put forward around 2005-06..

Yeah that's right boys and girls.  The new Chinese plane looks alot like the KC-390 with a bigger fuselage and a couple more engines.

We HAVE GOT to get a handle on Chinese industrial espionage. 

Syria just went chemical.

This is via Naval Open Source Intelligence.

If Syria has gone chemical then this is an escalation that can't be ignored by the West.

The response will probably entail the use of Special Forces to lead the rebels and maybe Rangers or MARSOC conducting raids.  Either way this is going to get messy...and that's whether we get involved or not.

Note:
The more I think about this the more chilling it becomes.  First try and keep Israel from going crazy and bombing someone back to the stone ages when the threat of these weapons getting into terrorist hands is so high.  Next imagine what will happen if AQ gets ahold of some of this stockpile.  Our guys will wish for the days when all they had to worry about were snipers and IED's.  Imagine conducting combat operations in MOPP level 1?  Heat casualties will skyrocket but what could a commander do if he has credible intel on terrorist mixing mustard gas with IED's?

Two days before the celebrated birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and they pull this.

Damn.

Wall Papers?

You want wall papers?  Well I got them.  I was cleaning the computer of unwanted pics and decided I'd share these with ya before they went into the trash bin.  Yep, even Gemma had to go.

Blast from the past...Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk

What a pure dee beauty.  I wonder why they just didn't sweep the wings and put more powerful engines in her and get it into service?  The pics below are from Uncommon Aircraft.  Great site, check it out.

Russian ASW Helicopter Training...

Photos are via English Russia.  Click here to see the res of the flicks...

Anti-gunners attack is already faltering.

Caught the afternoon edition of Meet the Press.

Senator Graham for the first time in a long time impressed.  Representative Chaffetz is the star that I always knew he was.

The panelist were singing off tired talking points except for...Chuck Todd.

Todd was basically ringing the alarm bells for the Administration.  He stated quite plainly that if the Administration isn't able to get a BIG bargain on the Fiscal issue in this lame duck then the Administrations entire agenda for its second term will be derailed.

Graham and Chaffetz both warned about trying to renew the assault weapons ban...diplomatically of course but it was easy to read between the lines.

Long story short.  The Administration and its cheerleaders over reached before they even began day one of their 2nd term.

The canary in the coal mine...Obama Care will hit families hard.  EPA regulations will raise the prices of everything.  Taxes will have to go up to pay for all the things that were "promised" to constitutes so the Fiscal Cliff negotiations were paramount.  Immigration reform still has to be tackled and then you add the most contentious of all issues...guns on top of all that and you have a priorities list that isn't going anywhere.

Oh and since he moved the debate on guns to the front of his agenda then you can bet at least 6 months will be wasted trying to push that thru.  If they fail on that issue then his entire agenda will fail.

They campaign like champions and govern like idiots.

Israeli Defense Force Tank Recovery Exercise.

Gun Owners of America.

Larry Pratt.

I happened to glance up at the TV and saw Larry Pratt debating one of the idiots hosting a MSNBC news show.

Long story short?  Don't let the grandfatherly looks fool ya.  Pratt tore this guy a new asshole.  I mean he seriously went up one side and then down the other.  The dummy tried to pull facts out of his ass and Pratt would have none of it.

The NRA is good.  They're the big dogs on the block but this Gun Owners of America seem to fit more with my belief system.

Check them out for yourself here.

Killer Upgunned Kiowa...

Wow.  Interesting.  Weird.  Read about it on Sobchak's website.

Representative Alexander's take on anti-gun legislation...

I wrote this guy and this is what I got back (I excluded the normal sympathy to the victims of the shooting and get into the meat and potatoes of things)...

With the recent senseless and tragic acts of violence in Colorado, Connecticut, and elsewhere, many have called for a reexamination of America’s gun laws. It seems that the frequency of these dreadful acts is on the rise, and it is up to America’s law makers and law enforcement bodies to do everything in their power to prevent these events from occurring again. Naturally, one of the first suggestions after events like these is to institute stricter gun control laws, and I am happy to participate in this debate. Unfortunately, of the many policy proposals put forward regarding gun control, I have not heard a single one that I believe would do anything to curb gun violence in America. Instead, it would simply restrict the ability of law abiding gun owners to buy and possess firearms. With that said, Congress cannot shy away from this debate. We must confront this issue head-on and do what we can to prevent these senseless acts of violence from happening again. If any new gun control legislation is proposed that actually has a chance of preventing these events from occurring again, it is worth discussing. However, gun control alone will never be the solution to this problem. We must also examine the motives behind the shooters and address the underlying mental health problems that seem to be the underlying factor in all of these events. Without taking a holistic approach, we only stand to create more laws and restrictions without doing anything to remedy the problem. As Congress works through this and other issues, I want you to know that I remain a supporter of the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms is a fundamental right that is assured to every law-abiding citizen, and there is perhaps no other region in the country that exercises this right more so than Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District. Recreational hunting and shooting in Louisiana are traditions that extend back for generations, and I was elected on the promise that I would continue to protect those traditions.

Hey gun grabbers!  You can't do a thing without the House Of Representatives!  So guess what you'll end up with?  Alot of states on the east and west coasts banning "assault" rifles (who came up with word?) and the middle of the country living like free men.

Disarm Americans to protect disarmed Americans?

Yeah that's right.

Criminals don't follow laws so what do the "elite" want to do?  They want Congress to pass a law so that Americans are disarmed.

I don't fucking think so.

New York's Governor has even floated the idea of gun confiscation!  Think about it.  The governor of a large US state is talking about confiscating weapons!  Doesn't that chill your bones?  Doesn't that sound like something out of Nazi Germany or Communist Europe?

Elements of Power has a great write up on the subject here.

Oh and for my brothers in the occupied state of New York...check this out.

Forget the gun, its the PVC pipe that should catch your attention.  Buy the biggest one possible, prep it, seal one end, make sure you have enough room to saw off the cap, in goes your guns with some ammo and bury it vertically   Make sure that its buried below the level of a big guy with a shovel being able to hit it with one scoop...get gps coordinates if off site, and make sure you have fools metal spread out on top of it to throw off metal detectors.

But even sadder for my brothers in New York is this fact...oh and I can't take credit for it, I read it on a message board...

If you're having to think about burying your guns, then hasn't the time arrived for you to use your guns?

Why are they still jumping the old chutes?

Army paratroopers jump from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aricraft during Operation Toy Drop 2012 at Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 8, 2012. This is the 15th year the Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop collected toy donations for children and families in need. Soldiers donate a new toy in exchange to jump with a foreign jumpmaster and earn foreign jump wings. This year, the event expanded from its traditional focus around Fort Bragg to select cities around the country. It is a Fort Bragg airborne tradition. Operation Toy Drop combines thousands of toys, Army paratroopers, hundreds of volunteers, dozens of allied military personnel, and more than a dozen Air Force aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Barry A. Loo

The caption is about the Army's version of toys for tots.  Cool.  But I'm curious about something else entirely.  Why is the Army still using the old T-10 instead of upgrading to the T-11?

If you are near or over 200 pounds then you would appreciate the advantages that the new chute will bring but I have yet to see it being used by the 82nd.  What gives?

F-35 'pushes

This F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft, AF-4, is outfitted with a spin recovery chute during high angle of attack testing accomplished by the F-35 Integrated Test Force team at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The F-35 Integrated Test Force made significant progress expanding the flight envelope of the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant over the past few months with numerous successes in High Angle of Attack flight tests. (Photo by Darin Russell/Lockheed Martin)

F-35B Hovers at Night

The most useless training Marine Military Police must ever do.

I'm gonna cut the idiot Public Affairs Officer that decided to release this video after the tragedy in CT some slack.

A little, not alot.  The Marine Corps doesn't need to touch the gun control issue with a 10 foot pole and they're dancing on the line by coming out with a vid on active shooters.

Next.

If you have a Marine go madman and do an active shooter on a Marine base then you're more than likely facing a combat veteran...they better hope its not someone from Combat Arms or they're facing hell in a hand basket.  The "fast is slow" "smooth is fast" nonsense will get tossed when they engage in a CQB battle against someone that knows what they're doing.

An 03 will be slicing pies around corners and making MP's cry.

Last but not least, the truth of it all is this.

Marine MP's will secure the perimeter and once the active shooter knows that a credible deterrent has arrived then most just cap themselves.

This was trendy training, not smart training.

3d Printing.. The answer to a magazine ban?

I've been looking at some worse case scenarios with regard to a gun ban and one keeps sticking out as being a game changer.

3d printing.

For the price of a high end AR-15, I can get a printer and at the very least replicate certain parts.  Other parts can be machined in any decent machine workshop.

As a matter of fact that's how many AR-15 manufacturers got started.  They simply had a decent machine shop and fabricated parts.

Now is not the time to look at wild cat ideas but the implications are clear.  A large portion of the US public is about to be declared criminals and you can bet money that many will find work arounds to those ILLEGAL proposed laws.

Blast from the past. Forgotten German Armor of WWII

panzerfaehre

panzerfaehre

panzerfaehre

panzerfaehre

Schwere Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rad

Schwere Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rad

Radschlepper Ost

Radschlepper Ost

Radschlepper Ost

 I love armor history.  If you want to check out some then I recommend you visit

* Wehrmacht History

*Achtung Panzer

* and of course LoneSentry's Catalog of Enemy Ordnance

AETC declares Eglin ready for F-35 training

"The preliminary results provided by the Joint Operational Test Team show the F-35A aircraft and its pilot training and sustainment systems, are robust enough to conduct the planned pilot transition and instructor upgrade courses," said Air Education and Training Command commander, Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr. 

And somewhere a "Sweetman" cries...

A Thompson laughs...

And a Goon swoons...(ok.  this last one was just in jest...I like ribbing him, besides...it rhymes!).

Adopt 3/9 part 1.

Ok.  Still running this thing down.  Hopeful tomorrow you'll see a PayPal tag for you to send donations to the guys down range.  I'll start it off with a paltry $100 but I had allocated that for the Sgt's christmas present before I/We hit on this idea instead.  I'll be making contact with him so he can get the proper stuff together to withdraw the funds for his guys.

And let me point something else out.  His guys had a bad day.  Not the kind of bad day where someone cuts you off on the road or your boss is pissed or the Wife is being evil, but a bad day for real.  You read between the lines on that one but be advised.  The fighting in Afghanistan continues.

Sorry for the delay guys but this is a bit of a bear to bring stuff together.  Launch for what I think is a great effort will be by noon tomorrow.

The UK's Solid Support Ships (SSS)..too much on one hull?

I found the above images when surfing the UK Armed Forces Commentary Blog...Let examine a blurb that the author of the piece put out on these ships...

The ships are also expected to have, much like the current Forts, a great Aviation-Support capability, with large hangars for multiple helicopters.  
Other than this, though, we do not know much about the ship's design yet. However, an interesting concept drawing has appeared, which shows a two-spot flight deck, a triple hangar for Merlin-sized helicopters and, most interestingly, a RoRo ramp for vehicles and a LPD-style well deck. This feature, which has appeared on several designs of "Joint" Solid Support vessels around the world, might be inherited, along with the role of support to troops ashore, from the defunct JSBL. It is too early to say if this project will be the definitive one, but it seems safe to assume that some real consideration is going into giving the SSS a vehicle deck and the possibility to operate with large LCU crafts for the delivery of supplies, vehicles and logistic services to troops ashore. This is important, since the JSBL ship might well have been cancelled, but the requirements that brought to her in the first place are still very much there.

Uh wow.

That seems to be quite a bit to slam onto a support ship.  A triple hangar?  A well deck?  A Ro-Ro ramp?

This seems more like a different type of amphib rather than a support ship.  Eyes are open on this new style ship that seems to be the rage in Europe and Canada.  Less capable than a Mistral but costing about the same, I wonder how they can justify it instead of new Helicopter Carriers (LHD).