China's upcoming military parade will produce surprises.

Curious the DF-5B trailers are under cover: third group of vehicles. h/t @rickrodan pic.twitter.com/MMa3yG4X0S

— Hans Kristensen (@nukestrat) September 14, 2019

Wow.  The Chinese are taking off the gloves.  I wonder if we've upset their timetable?  I like to think we must have.  The Pentagon, State Dept and the rest of the US govt has been extremely slow to wake up to this threat and I imagine they believe that they would continue to operate in the shadows unnoticed.

BUT!

They've been exposed so instead of retreating they're going all out and showing us their strength.

I'm pleased.  At least they're being honest now.

For better or worse we have a new cold war with a foe that is in ways more/less dangerous than the USSR.

China parading hypersonic UAVs...

I think Zhuhai 2018 was already a great event, but this parade is gonna be even more impressive! 😮

WingLoong II (or Ch-5 ?), Sharp Sword and two of these secret hypersonic UAVs!!! Can't wait for the close up images.

(Image via Nick Tsarnas/FB) pic.twitter.com/pHAFly0wBa

— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) September 14, 2019

We just saw in Saudi Arabia what subsonic, loitering drones could do.  A primitive Army has the high tech Saudi military on its heels (Houthis).

What happens when hypersonics enter the game?

Remember the old "the bomber always will get thru" meme?

I see it returning with hypersonic missiles/drones.  Are lasers an effective countermeasure?  I'm not sure but we need to be working on defenses against these things as fast as we are to develop them in the first place.

10月の中国軍事パレードのために北京に部隊が集まってきているのですが、予想すらされていなかった新型兵器が次々と確認されて、すごいことになっています。

超音速無人偵察機(D-21 ?)まで登場して、今のところコイツが一番の衝撃。 pic.twitter.com/q7VPxrJrKz

— mssn65 (@jpg2t785) September 14, 2019

Open Comment Post. 14 Sept 2019

Houthis just nailed Saudi oil facilities with loitering drones...

#BREAKING: Largest ever attack against Oil facilities #SaudiArabia's #Aramco is carried-out by Loitering drones launched from #Iraq in support of #Houthi rebels in #Yemen. As its result two Aramco's facilities were hit 4 times in #Buqayq/#Abqaiq early morning. Here is the video pic.twitter.com/Gcw0Hsg8vB

— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) September 14, 2019

Wow.

The Houthis are the kind of allies you want in a war.  Provide them with weapons, a few advisers and they can kick ass and take names with minimum footprint.

Why can't we get allies like that.

On a more serious note, expect oil prices to rise.  Expect the usual suspects to want to bomb Iran.  Unfortunately expect the boiling cauldron that is the Middle East and North Africa to rise a bit more.

Can we call this conflagration a regional war yet?

German Boxer JODAA test bed

German Boxer JODAA test bed pic.twitter.com/EVlbp1RDCM

— Caesar (@Ninja998998) September 14, 2019

AJAX vehicle is being demonstrated with a deployable bridging system (pic)

General Dynamics UK AJAX variant with deployable bridge unit.

View this post on Instagram

Last chance to see #ARES, the #AJAX variant, demonstrated with a deployable bridging system on the East Terrace today at #DSEI2019. #GDatDSEI

A post shared by General Dynamics UK (@gduknews) on Sep 13, 2019 at 4:35am PDT

Add drones to the list of items that people use to evade police.

A hero of our time. When police came to independent mayoral candidate @_sergey_boyko's highrise apartment in Novosibirsk as part of 200+ raids to confiscate @navalny supporters' electronics yesterday, he flew his hard drives to a friend via drone before opening up. @romb_news pic.twitter.com/sOu1NySGX9

— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) September 13, 2019

How soon till we see drug dealers using these to move product?  That's certainly got to be in someone's thinking as we speak.  Additionally how soon till we see anti-drone devices attached to police units along with cell phone scramblers.

I focus on the military but law enforcement by necessity is becoming more sophisticated and unfortunately again out of necessity more militaristic....simply because crime is doing the same.

Doubt me?  Even in European countries the threat of illicit communication during raids could put law enforcement/public in danger during raids...so you need cell phone scramblers.  Drug dealers are transnational so anti-drone devices will be necessary when drone use becomes widespread.

It's truly a brave new world.

Sidenote.  I take no position on the subject of this video.  I simply look past it and examine what the truly evil could do.  Whether this guy is a villain or hero is up to you.  I haven't even heard of him before.

Korps Mariniers earning entry into the Korps & receiving their berets

Binnenkomst & baretuitreiking van mariniersopleiding blok EVO 19-1. Mariniers van harte welkom en gefeliciteerd. Suc6 bij onze operationele eenheden. Last but not least, de kaderleden ook gefeliciteerd en dank voor jullie professionele inzet en 24/7 mentaliteit 👍 @korpsmariniers pic.twitter.com/LXe2UdusML

— Bob Ouwerkerk (@CdE_MOC) September 13, 2019

I like our (USMC) traditions but I do fancy the way they do this too. Impressive.

Finnish Air Force...Dispersed basing, concentrated air power.

Thanks to Anderson for the links!

Dispersed basing, concentrated air power. #Readiness to operate from a dispersed base network is one of the key elements of Finnish Air Force doctrine. #baana19 #finaf pic.twitter.com/lVs7Mf5znD

— Ilmavoimat (@FinnishAirForce) September 10, 2019

#Baana19-harjoitus tarjosi ilmavoimien ohjaajille mahdollisuuden harjoitella laskeutumisia ja nousuja #maantietukikohta​olosuhteissa, joissa kiitotie on tavallista lyhyempi ja kapeampi. Ohessa tunnelmia harjoituksesta. #valmius #ilmavoimat pic.twitter.com/p4rOCPLLJo

— Ilmavoimat (@FinnishAirForce) September 12, 2019

Open Comment Post. 13 Sept 2019

US Army's 41st Field Artillery Brigade received its first shipment of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) @ Grafenwöhr Training Area

.@USArmy 🇺🇸 41st Field Artillery Brigade received its first shipment of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (#MLRS) and several support vehicles at a motor pool at the @7thATC’s Grafenwöhr Training Area 🇩🇪. 41st FA Bde is the only U.S. rocket artillery brigade in Europe. pic.twitter.com/YdakNQ24Uv

— Cezary Stachniak (@cezarysta) September 12, 2019