Work with liberals to kill the F-35?

via MoveOn Petition.

PETITION BACKGROUND

With Republicans controlling the Presidency and both houses of Congress, reform proposals must be bipartisan to have any hope of success in Washington. Progressive Democrats may not have many Republican allies on some domestic issues, but for cutting the bloated Pentagon-industrial complex, we have potential Republican allies in the House Liberty Caucus. Of 40 Republicans who voted to stop the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, over half were members of the House Liberty Caucus. [1]


President Trump has called out Lockheed-Martin's F-35 warplane as a huge rip-off of our tax dollars. But jawboning Lockheed-Martin down on a warplane that doesn't work and we don't need anyway would only result in a slightly smaller ripoff. Congress should protect our tax dollars by shutting down the F-35 taxpayer ripoff immediately. The F-35 may never be ready for combat [2], and Pentagon brass are lying when they say there is no alternative. [3,4,5] The Congressional Budget Office says one modest proposal for killing the F-35 - buying different planes, but not fewer planes - would save taxpayers more than $20 billion over a decade. [6] Proposals to shut down the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which would likely harm renewable energy systems in rural areas, would save $2 billion a year - roughly the same amount. [7]

Urge Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders like Keith Ellison and House Liberty Caucus leaders like Justin Amash to work together to kill the F-35 by signing our petition.


References:
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html
2. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2016/f-35-may-never-be-ready-for-combat.html
3. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2017/f-35-not-too-big-to-fail-twitter-trump-rattles-defense-industry.html
4. http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/the-unaffordable-f-35-budget-history-and-alternatives
5. http://nsnetwork.org/cms/assets/uploads/2015/08/F-35_FINAL.pdf
6. https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/52142-breakout-chapter32.pdf
7. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/315132-dems-blast-trump-plans-for-deep-spending-cuts

Wow.

These guys make my skin crawl but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Trump needs a unifying win and this would get him applause from many with a very small minority thinking its a bad move while the majority believe its long overdue.

Yeah.  I hate their guts but I could work with them on this.

Object 279...you thought it was all about the nuclear battlefield? You were wrong! (Vid)

Definitely gonna have to check out this series.  The portion of the vid where they talk about the hull armor was particularly interesting.  Seems that just like in WOT, heat rounds actually did rule the day.  Those tracks are interesting too.  Light tank type mobility with a ground psi of 8?  I think that's better than my truck (most trucks).

What doesn't the video cover?  If this thing was so damn cutting edge then why didn't the Soviets go forward with it?

Below The Turret Ring's take on Turkish Leopard 2 losses in Syria...

via BTTR

That's why speculating about how awful or how good some military unit perform just based on photos of wrecks doesn't make sense. Who knows how many hits the tank took before ending there? Or maybe the tanks didn't even take any damage but broke down before combat. Who would know based on a wreck of a tank?

Story here. 

I used a vague snippet of the article because I don't want to spoil it and I REALLY want you to head over to his house to read the whole thing.

BTTR wants us to wait before making assessments of Turkish Leopard 2A4 performance in Syria.

I contend we know the basics.

1.  Its obvious that they aren't using combined arms tactics in this fight.  Which means they aren't performing to NATO standards.

2.  The meme that the Leopard 2A4 is an old model and we can't judge its
performance because its not the latest and greatest version is nonsense.  Guess who operates the tank to the right!  Let me give you a hint (but I won't give the answer)...they're a Northern European nation that will be facing the Russian horde if "war were declared".  Additionally we can look at the performance of USMC M1A1 tanks in Iraq and Afghanistan as a marker, if that's too high a measure then (sorry no insult intended) we can look at the Canadian forces that for awhile were operating an EVEN OLDER version of the tank in that conflict.

3.  As far as knowing the "real story" of what happened on the ground we never will.  The fog of war, the fact that none of us were there AND the issue of differing perspectives depending on where the soldiers were that actually participated in the fighting makes me marvel at historian's ability to reconstruct a fight.  To get the real story it usually takes being able to talk to soldiers from both sides but that seems unlikely in this case.

4.  The Turks have obviously suffered due to the purges in their military.  This fight in my opinion proves that.  Additionally it should make us all pause on two levels.  First they apparently have devolved into another Middle Eastern Army that is currently incapable of performing to standard and this might continue for several years until they get a new cadre of professionals into the ranks instead of Erdogan sycophants.  Second the strategy of thinking that Turkey could guard the Southern Flank of NATO is probably dead.  If they can't handle ISIS then the Russians would throat punch them.

Long short?  I'm glad that Below The Turret Ring picked up this debate.  I personally think that it needs to continue and I still believe that the Leopard 2A4 and the Turkish Army (probably because of the purges) is overrated.

LAND 400 – BOXER CRV on its way to Australia

Note:  Video is two weeks old from Rheinmetall Defense.

Transportpanzer Fuchs 8x8 prototype...unknown armored vehicle!

Thanks to Galvars for the pic!

Wow!  Never knew this was a thing.  I like it.  Time to do a Google and find out why it wasn't pursued.  Below are more pics from Galvars.

If you have files on strange, unknown or rare armored vehicles make sure to drop a note in the Open Comments post.

Desert Tech MDR. Tavor killer looking more and more like vaporware...

via alloutdoor.com

There has been a lot of hype and a lot of disappointment and sniping around this gun. It was originally supposed to ship in late 2015 — here’s a group buy thread on a forum that has been active since 2014, with a bunch of bullpup fans planning their purchase. Then after delays Desert Tech announced a “firm” commitment to shipping it in the third quarter of 2016. Here’s the company’s CEO in a statement:

“We’re really excited that we can commit third quarter of this year — that’s our firm time and we’re excited to have that commitment. … We’re going to take the time to make sure out of the box that this is the product that you guys have been waiting for.”

So that didn’t happen, and now the rep is swearing that it will be shipping in volume this coming July.
I, for one, am not going to hold my breath. As I said above, there has been a ton of disappointment out there, because folks have been so excited about this thing for so long.
I want to note that I did not see this gun at Range Day, and I take that to be a bad sign. If you’re shipping a new, hot gun this year, it’s going to be at Range Day. The fact that the MDR wasn’t there suggests to me that it’s still vapor.
At any rate, when the gun eventually ships, our colleagues at TFB will be all over it, and then we’ll see if it can actually deliver more than just broken dreams.

Story here. 

If you don't know about the Desert Tech MDR then you're not really a gun guy.  This was suppose to be the ULTIMATE Tavor killer.  A bullpup with outstanding ergonomics.  Slim, trim, lightweight, and almost instinctive when it comes its controls.  Want even more?  It was suppose to be completely modular.  One gun and with the switch out of a barrel and couple of other parts and you had a .223, .308 and 300blkout.

Unfortunately Desert Tech has been jerking our chain for over 3 years now.  As much as I hate it this thing is obviously vaporware.  Even at the proposed price point people would have been throwing money at them but they just can't get it together.

Pity.  They had a world beating design but couldn't get it over the finish line.

Open Comment Post. Jan 21, 2017

How many Iranian Generals have died in Syria?

via The New Yorker (Oct 2016).

Iran has increasingly been forced to acknowledge its losses—including at least four generals in the past year—with some reports suggesting that twice that number have been killed since the intervention began. Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, who was killed on October 8th, was given a state funeral. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, personally called on Hamedani’s family to convey his condolences. Khamenei’s official Twitteraccount, in English, lauded the general for fulfilling his “martyrdom wish.”

Hamedani’s death was a setback for Iran—and possibly for Syria, too. According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, Syria’s regular Army has been halved since the war began, in 2011. Assad has increasingly relied on leaders in Iran to develop strategy, and counted on Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon, to provide new fighters. Hamedani was the senior Iranian tactician in northern Syria, where the regime is simultaneously fighting Western-backed rebels, the Islamic State, a local Al Qaeda franchise, and smaller militias. Hamedani was a hero of the war with Iraq—the deadliest modern conflict in the Middle East—and his death was the most notable Iranian military loss since that war ended.

Story here. 

How did we miss this?  The problem with gaining combat experience is that if its done improperly you start losing valuable personnel (the same can be said if you "over deploy" the force with back to back tours and increased optempo to satisfy a strange forward basing strategy...HELLO Pentagon!).

I would say that the Iranians are gaining combat experience but at the expense of current expertise and destroying the "seed corn" of an effective force in the future.

Syria might be buying us time to effectively deal with them after the madness of Obama's nuclear deal.  From my seat things are grim for the two countries that sought to become masters of the Middle East.  The Turk military has suffered a catastrophic purge which has destroyed any hint of combat effectiveness/leadership that they might have had and the Iranians are seeing the same thing happen by pushing their best and brightest into the meat grinder that is Syria.

Even worse for the Iranians?  We know that the Quds Force has been active in Syria but additionally its believed that in addition to volunteers on Jihad, they're also losing regulars.  Check this out from the same article.

Iran’s aid has increased since the Islamic State, the Nusra Front, and other Sunni extremists began seizing large areas of Syria and Iraq, in mid-2014. Over the past month, hundreds of additional Iranian “advisers” have reportedly gone to Syria. Middle East media outlets claim that General Qassem Suleimani, the renowned commander of the Quds Force, arrived in Syria this month to mobilize a new offensive around Aleppo. The growing Iranian ground presence has coincided with Russia’s new bombing campaign by air.

Side note.  I don't like the targeted assassination of "high value targets".  In my opinion focusing on individual leaders instead of conducting the war is a distraction.  Leaders can be replaced but when there is no one left to lead then the war is over.  I personally feel that the current policy of raids and drone strikes is a fools errand.  Having said that I would cheer if we caught General Suleimani in a strike while he's in Syria.  I've heard rumors that the guy was behind the Quds Force while they were active in Iraq.  A B-2 strike on his sorry ass instead of training camps would be welcome news. 

Back on task.  The Iranians have probably lost a couple of battalions (at least) of troops in Syria.  We're talking Generals but they've probably lost quite a few Colonels and Majors too.

We have an opportunity.  If we can act decisively against ISIS and get that issue solved we might have the room to deal with Iran properly while they're weakened from their participation in Syria.

NCSIST - Guided Missile Destroyer Concept Combat Simulation

ISIS is curb stomping the Turks!

Thanks to MicMac 80 for the pics!

JESUS!

No wonder they've been crying for US air support!  ISIS is curb stomping the Turks if these pics are to be believed.

Open Comment Post. Jan 20, 2017. Have you watched the protests?

Ok so Trump is now President but that's just the anti-climax...the amazing thing is the protests!

From the Congress Critters not attending the inauguration to the idiots in the streets its been comical beyond belief (the only bad spot is that some LEO's have been injured).

Fear and loathing because a new President is put in office?  People have lived some soft lives.  Personally I fear Congress and the talk about "doing something" which translates into new intrusive laws that will wreck or at least mess with our lives.

The pushback against Trump's "America first" slogan is puzzling.  I won't even try to understand the thinking.  But that's what's on my mind.  What's on yours?

Lotar Monkeys Search & Rescue Training pics by Cpl. Eden Briand

NOTE!  The "Monkey" section of the Lotar counter-terrorism unit specializes in mountaineering, climbing and rappelling. Last week, the section's new "monkeys" trained in S&R.