New Wheeled Bridge Layer & "Engineer" Vehicle? via China Defense Blog. UPDATED!

Note:  The pics below are via China Defense Blog, you can check it out here. Oh and I need one of you China experts to hit me up on my e-mail to give me pointers on how to navigate the Chinese part of the internet.  I've gone through their version of Google and its still a bear to get where you want to go...help please.

What the hell is this structure for?  Increase visibility during clearing ops?

Galvars found this additional photo...

Is anyone noticing how large these vehicles are?  I can't quite put it to scale but just eyeballing it they look a bit larger than the Stryker and almost the size of BAE SuperAV

F-16 design evolution/rationale via Code One Magazine...

Note:  I have to give Lockheed Martin credit.  They're doing one of the best jobs of ANY corporation in maintaining and presenting the history of military aviation to the public.  Nowhere else will you find some of the stuff that they've put out. Pay careful attention to the slides that discuss the rationale for the "Monica" inlet on the F-16.  It kinda puts into focus why Boeing went with the same on the failed (selection wise) X-32.  Also pay attention to the last slide.  Notice the buzzword of the time?  "Man-machine interface"!  Replace that for sensor fusion and we can see a warmed over sales pitch being used by the Pentagon to sell the plane today.

What The Fuck! via US Patriot Tactical's FaceBook Page...

SU-100 in combat in Yemen (2015) via Defense 24...

Your weekend viewing assignment...Who's Afraid of Machiavelli - BBC Documentary

I'm going to re-read this book again.

Machiavelli type thinking rules the day (perhaps it always has and I was too stupid to notice) and it pays to know what the enemy is thinking.

A very nicely done documentary.

NOTE:  If you can't watch it all fast forward to the 43 or so minute mark.  The talk by the British Commander about the book is ....  interesting.

Russian Scouts during training op...via English Russia...

Note:  I think the biggest unseen change in infantry tactics is the desire in some parts to take prisoners.  During my years, we were drilled to "keep a tidy" battlefield.  I won't go into details.  Today it seems like a premium is put on taking prisoners.  The logistics of doing so must be almost unbearable...but the Russians are on the bandwagon...see the entire photo spread here.

Russian ships dock at once secret Norwegian Arctic Base...

Thanks for the link Mike!

via Yahoo News.

Oslo (AFP) - Russian ships docked at what was once a secret Norwegian naval base in the Arctic have prompted concern from the NATO country's former top military leaders, anxious about its resurgent eastern neighbour roaming nearby.
Norway's jagged Arctic coastline has regained its strategic importance since tensions between Russia and NATO members have spiked to levels not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The rocky relations have led some to criticise the shutting down of Olavsvern Naval Base, a massive complex burrowed into a mountain near the northern town of Tromsoe, that has been closed since 2009.
Shuttering it was driven by the then seemingly reduced threat from Moscow and its massive Northern Fleet based on Russia's nearby Kola Peninsula.
"We sold the only base worthy of the name that we had up there. It's pure madness," former vice admiral Einar Skorgen, who commanded Norway's northern forces, told AFP.

Putin is beating our military and civilian leadership in the West with half his brain tied behind his back... 

Damen Amphibious Landing Craft Line Computer Generated Images...

Advanced Fast Landing Craft Utility....Range...550 miles...Speed...30 mph...

Advanced Fast Landing Craft Mechanized...Range...300 miles...Speed....30 mph...

Landing Craft Utility (also known as LCU-1E..in service with several allies)....Speed..11 mph...Range..200 miles...

Landing Craft Personnel (in service with several allies)...Speed...22 mph....Range... 200 miles....

Product Spotlight. Damen Advanced Fast Landing Craft Brochure...

Thanks to Lee for the link!

  Damen Product Sheet Advanced Fast Landing Craft Utility Series by Solomon

Is the J-20 Mighty Dragon simply a "stealthified" Mig 1.44?

Tritron29 made this comment in a previous blog post...

Problem is that the J20 is a barely reworked 1.44 with even less effective engines...Nothing wrong on that since the 1.44 was already an 1980's beast decaying on its own juice.

He then linked to the above pic.  On the left is the Mig 1.44, on the right the J-20.  Below is a pics of the 1.44.

I don't buy it.

If you take any of the planes flying today you could make claims of every one of them taking design cues from each other.

I believe its time to acknowledge the ugly truth.

The Chinese are rapidly advancing.  The source of inspiration is irrelevant.  What we need to focus on is how do we deal with a technologically advanced foe that is more dangerous than the Soviet Union with territorial claims that could start the next major war.