Graham comes out in support of Trump on N. Korea...Neo-Cons are supporting him? Now I'm worried....

Thanks to Nico for the link!

Wow.

So Graham (and we can assume McCain) support Trump on N. Korea.  In essence Neo-Cons are supporting him.  Now I'm worried.

If that's the case and we know that Neo-Cons and globalists are joined at the hip and we know that they never stop at the point of handling the original problem, ie...Iraq has weapons of mass destruction so we go in, destroy the "stockpile" and then stay and play to transform the country.  How would history have played out if we had deposed Saddam, destroyed the stockpile and left?

Back on task.

The worry for me is that if war comes we're probably looking at nation building...or worse.

I can see a strike to destroy his nukes, production facilities and even taking a shot at killing little fat boy.  But that's it.  I don't want another occupation.

The Kinzhal. We must develop countermeasures to this weapon...

Thanks to Drinas for the link!

Russian ASF MiG-31 aircraft crew conducted combat training launch of a hypersonic missile of #Kinzhal high-precision aviation missile system in the assigned area. Launch was conducted normally. The missile hit the target at a training ground. pic.twitter.com/u8jkUw27O9

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 10, 2018

The Kinzhal is a modified Isklander?

That's what the "experts" are saying.  Me?  Don't care.  What I do know is that we need to develop countermeasures and since it might be operational we need to get it done sooner rather than later.

From hanging out (well reading) with the aviation guys here, everything about this missile to include its preferred launch vehicle is troubling.

Think about it.

The MIG-31 is chosen as the platform of choice for it.

Why does that worry.

Name another airplane in Russian service that flies higher, or faster.  I mean the thing was designed to hunt down SR-71s and its recon version has outspeed stripped down Israeli F-15s that reportedly can credibly do Mach 2.75 (need to find the link to the article making that claim before you guys go batshit on me).

All the aviation guys on the blog have talked about flying high and launching missiles at speed to give them extra "umph".

Well this plane does that in spades.

Long story short?

I don't care about the nuclear powered missile.

The Russians won't sell that on the open market.  This missile could find itself in the hands of certain countries that we'd prefer didn't have it.  I'd bet the Chinese have already sent a delegation to get info and purchase a few to try out (before they copy it).

Matimus' video on the Canadian TAPV...I disagree with his assessment and think this vehicle is a winner!...

On this one I disagree.

I think the Canadian Army got it right.

The TAPV has protection against IEDs, will have a surveillance mast, has the capability to employ anti-tank missiles against heavy armor and has most importantly OUTSTANDING mobility.

If you look around the globe and take a gander at current and projected recon vehicles then the TAPV fits the bill better than many of them. 

Is it tall?  Yes.  Is it highly mobile?  Yes.  Can it flex into a troop transport if needed?  Yes.  Can it do other duties as needed such as convoy escort?  Yes.
Can it self deploy over long distances, not tear up infrastructure in undeveloped countries and "last longer" in the field without having to rely on a complex/vulnerable logistics chain?  Yes.

Yeah, I completely disagree with Matimus on this one, I think the Canadians got it right.

My personal nightmare scenario plays out. Vet takes hostages at Vet Home.

via Reuters.

 A gunman who once served in the U.S. military opened fire on Friday inside a California home for disabled and aging war veterans, where he took three hostages and was holding police at bay as negotiators sought to make contact with him for several hours, authorities said.

Story here. 

At the time I'm posting this I can't find where its been resolved so I'm assuming the standoff continues.

This is my personal nightmare scenario playing out.

The ultimate scenario would be if a bunch of buddies from the Army or Marine Corps decided to get together to do some act of evil.

But one is enough if he's properly motivated, and from what I can tell this guy was denied PTSD treatment and its speculated that's why he's acting out.

Why is this so personally worrisome for me?

Because it taints the entire community.  Have a rash of these incidents and it won't be a stale "thank you for your service" but more of a "damn, is this dude crazy"?

We could be headed toward the Vietnam Vet experience that those old skool guys talk about (well...a minor level but you get my meaning).

To add to the problem?

I workout because it makes me feel good.  Look better.  I try and do it everyday.  I practice with my firearms monthly cause I enjoy the range.  To me its fun.

But what if some guys with some knowledge and military experience were to do a "bad thing" and took the time to train and rehearse?

Then you have to consider the flip side.  This dude looks like he's simply acting out.  If he had gone on a shooting rampage I'm sure law enforcement wouldn't have been able to stage their Tac Team and negotiate.

Would the first responding officer be capable of dealing with this guy?  We saw incredible bravery with the Florida shooting and incredible incompetence.

Sadly if we rewind the tape, we saw the same in Dallas and Baton Rouge with the cop killers that were encountered in those situation.

How many street cops are trained enough, tough enough and crusty enough to engage a skilled assailant...an assailant with military training?

My guess is at best 50% nationwide could perform adequately or better.  That's the good news.  It's the 50% that would fold like the Sheriff's Deputy that should give us all pause.

I hope this works out and the guy gets help.  More to come.

Your Saturday "animals are cool" moment.

 

http://graf-spectre.tumblr.com/post/171707072698/theskoomacat-catsbeaversandducks-sir-i-can

 

If that little vid didn't put at least a smirk if not outright smile on your face then you have no heart and I don't want anything to do with you.

This proves it.

Animals are just cool.  Much cooler than people.

Open Comment Post. March 10, 2018

I was wrong about war on the Korean Peninsula...what did I miss?

DC is abuzz about Trump meeting with the little fat boy to discuss their nuclear arms program.

I figured we'd be seeing airstrikes on certain sites in N. Korea by now.  So how did I get this wrong?

The Pentagon followed the well established script for the march to war. 

We heard more and more warnings about the grave threat of nukes in N. Korea.  We got estimates of the number of casualties if we undertook the endeavor.  Everyone witnessed the massive shows of force off the coast of N. Korea.

Little Fat Boy seemed convinced that they were coming for him.

Literally.

SOCOM went outside of usual procedure and talked about a decapitation raid against the N. Korean "Command Authority" in concert with S. Korean Special Ops.

Even Japan was beating the war hammer.

Everything pointed toward combat either before or shortly after the Olympics.

Then.

Like a bolt out of the blue.

Nothing.

No more displays of force.

Tillerson started talking about diplomacy working.

Mattis and Dunford over at DoD were strangely silent.

And now the meeting between Little Fat Boy and Trump.

I missed something big but can't figure out what it was.

Haven't talked about him in a while but Vitaly Kuzmin is KILLIN' it!

We haven't talked about him in a while but Vitaly Kuzmin is KILLIN' it!  Do yourself a favor and take 10-15 min to check out his photo blog and be awed but all the military goodness there. Follow THIS link!

Front view of the Boeing entry in the MQ-25 competition...

So this is what Boeing's mystery UAV looks like from the front.  I'll have to let the aviation bubbas have at this one cause I just don't know but it looks like it covers most bases when it comes to being stealthy.

Which tells me something.

The corporations participating in this thing are acting like this is a winner take all.  By that I mean it seems as if this tanking project is just an entry point for them, and someone behind the scenes is stating that this will be the deep strike/ISR bird too.

I think we're seeing the UAV version of the Hornet to Super Hornet saga playing out.  Yeah.  The Navy gave those in the competition the old wink and a nod and told them to put something together that could fill both roles.  Oh and like many on this blog have stated, Northrop backed out because they already have their hands full and the DoD has stated that it would spread out programs to maintain what's left of the defense base.

Blast from the past. Women leading men to their graves...