London surpasses NY's murder rate.

via BBC

A spike in violent crime in London saw more murders committed in the city in February and March than there were in New York, figures show.

So far in 2018, the Met Police has investigated 46 murders, compared with 50 in the US city.

But, while New York's murder rate decreased from the end of January, London's rose markedly from that point.

Ex-Met Police Ch Supt Leroy Logan says it is proof that "London's violent traits have become a virus".

Statistics from the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Metropolitan Police, reported in the Sunday Times and obtained by the BBC, highlight narrowing murder rates between the two cities, which have similar population sizes.

Story here. 

This points to two things for me....

*  Major Metropolitan areas no matter where they are happen to be cesspools of despair, opulence and stupidity.  Some will live in the lap of luxury, others will be chasing dreams that will never be fulfilled and the majority will live in some type of hell on earth where crime is high and life is cheap.

*  Why any military force would even think about fighting in such an area is beyond me.  The humanitarian crisis that will ensue will gobble up resources and GIVE the initiative to an enemy that isn't concerned with CNN, media in general, human suffering or rules of engagement.

Long story short?

Avoid major cities like the plague.

If you just have the itch then pick locations carefully and if you're a military planner/theorists, STOP SNIFFING THE ELMERS GLUE and work this problem.

This fighting in major urban areas is a holdover from the SOCOM mafia trying to justify an after the war on terrorism reason for being.

Your primer on this subject?

Black Hawk Down....and that was a small city.

Not convinced?  Check out the official history of the fighting in Fallujah.

Still not convinced?

You're a zealot and there is no talking to you.

Side note.  Gun rights advocates are trying to point out that London is suffering from a knife culture and that its more deadly or as deadly as a gun culture.  

To me that's not the point.  The point is that humans in a confined geographic space act stupidly.  Its just not natural and behaviors are skewed to reflect that.

But forgetting all that.  

The knife culture is coming here.  S. Americans and people from the Pacific region (to include others from Africa and the Middle East) all come from knife cultures.  That will be the next big issue for police (besides terrorism).  Shoot no shoot will become even more chaotic because drawing to engage a fairly agile man with a knife from less than 20 feet away always ends badly.  They're gonna have to learn to shoot first...if they want to go home that is....which means even more societal chaos in the US>

A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US,

Thanks to Moebius for the link!

via BuzzFeed.

For five days now hundreds of Central Americans — children, women, and men, most of them from Honduras — have boldly crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the United States. Despite their being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them.

Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants.

Organizers like Rodrigo Abeja hope that the sheer size of the crowd will give immigration authorities and criminals pause before trying to stop them.

“If we all protect each other we'll get through this together,” Abeja yelled through a loudspeaker on the morning they left Tapachula, on Mexico's border with Guatemala, for the nearly monthlong trek.

Story here. 

Think about this shit!  Over a thousand people are marching toward the US, plan on crashing our borders and no one is stopping them?

That's a Battalion of people about to cross our lines folks!

This is politically incorrect and I hope to say it better than Rogue Tech but that's an invasion.

Worse.

If this is allowed then we will see replay after replay.

Someone beyond that little pissant Pueblos Sin Fronteras is funding, planning and pushing this agenda.

If our govt fails to act then we have no rule of law, we've given up a basic tenet of being a nation state (having recognized borders and control of those who enter) and we're allowing those from foreign lands to dictate to supposedly the most powerful country in the world.

No matter where you stand on immigration this cannot be allowed.

US Army on Future Vertical Lift...

via Defense News

The U.S. Army has been talking about procuring a Future Vertical Lift family of helicopters for the better part of a decade, but is wavering on what procurement effort it should first attack.

The service is weighing two options: prioritize the procurement of medium-lift aircraft to replace UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apaches, or buy an armed reconnaissance helicopter to fill the gap left from the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior’s 2014 retirement.

The Army still expects it will start fielding FVL aircraft in the early 2030s despite some delays in its Joint Multi-Role demonstrator program being conducted in advance of the FVL program of record.

Story here. 

My guess?  We're looking at a split contract.  The Army will want their "new" Comanche, especially since they retired the Kiowa early.  If it can flex into the attack mission then that's sauce for the goose because the Apache will be around for awhile.

I expect the Raider to win the attack mission (which the Army will pursue first) and for the Bell tilt rotor to win the UH-60 replacement.

As much as it pains me that would put less pressure on the Marine Corps to dump the MV-22 when the next gen presents dazzling performance in comparison and whether we like it or not, the Black Hawk is capable for at least another 10 years.

Party Directive Reveals Increased Chinese Theft of U.S. Technology

via Free Beacon.

China's Communist Party recently authorized an aggressive program of stealing U.S. science and technology information by recruiting Americans in the tech sector with access to trade secrets, according to an internal Party directive.

The directive outlines a secret program authorized by the general office of the Communist Party of China (CCP) Central Committee of stepped up technology collection beginning in late 2016 and carried out by an intelligence unit called the United Front Work Department.

The document is an approval order from the Central Committee for a "working plan on strengthening the intensity of United Front Work in the area of science and technology of the United States in 2017."

Story here. 

China is a clear threat to the existence of the United States.  Worse?  We have not only enabled their rise with idiotic policy but we are aiding them in their goal of destroying us with liberal immigration policies, a complacent intel community and colleges prioritizing Chinese students ahead of Americans.

When the history of America is written and some child in the future asks how it is that China was able to destroy the US, his teacher will say because they were greedy, lazy and refused to see the threat.

Open Comment Post. April 2, 2018

Saab Group - Brazil Gripen NG Multi-Role Fighter

100 years of the RAF

* The Brit Ministry Of Defence is publishing a "100 years of the RAF" photo spread on Flickr.  Pretty interesting and you should check it out.  Below are a few pics....

South Korean Navy's new 4,500-ton landing ship, the Ilchulbong

via Yonhapnews

 South Korea's Navy will take over a new 4,500-ton landing ship featuring speedier and larger-load operations on Monday, the state arms agency said.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) plans to hand over the Ilchulbong vessel to the Navy in a ceremony to be held at Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in Ulsan.

It will be the Navy's third Cheonwangbong-class landing ship (LST-II) following the Cheonwangbong and Cheonjabong vessels. They are named after mountain peaks in South Korea.

The 127-meter-long Ilchulbong can sail at the maximum speed of 23 knots, with more than 130 crew members onboard.

Story here. 

We need better information on this ship.  The article gives a PATHETIC loadout and I know it has to be better.

Still it is interesting that in most navies in the Pacific the LPD (as its called in the US Navy) is still a highlighted ship and sought after.  I don't think anyone is following the USMC's example and going "air centric".

Prototype anti-aircraft missile and gun complex “Pantsir-SM” on the chassis K-53958 “Tornado”.

pics via Bmashina Tumblr Page.

What do I see?

I see a highly mobile platform transporting what looks to my untrained eye to be an AESA (maybe GaN) radar.

Why post this?

Because you're watching stealth fade away.  Networked Anti-Air systems are the bane of stealth fighters and a stealth force.  You're back to doing things the hard way.

You have to roll back enemy defenses.

You have to take out the nodes of the network, while the enemy is not only defending but covering the gaps you filled which means that the opening you created suddenly got covered by quickly moving resources around.

Overlapping fields of fire is replaced with overlapping AESA arrays that are tied into launch vehicles that are also mobile.

Leadership was counting on air power making the next big war easy.

Leadership was wrong.

We might as well steel ourselves to the realization that the next war will be manpower intensive, will quickly chew up our "high dollar force" and will be protracted.

We need to rethink our entire drink when it comes to peer conflict.

Russian T-15 Heavy APC Fire Support Variant?

Thanks to Costas TT for the link!

via vestek-rm.ru

On the basis of the heavy unified platform "Armata" it is planned to create a whole family of armored vehicles for various purposes. At present, the need to create the so-called "Russian Merkava" - versions of the T-15 BMP with tank armament is being discussed. They will include the "heavy units" of the ground forces of the Russian army. This is reported by sources in the military industrial complex of the Russian Federation.

We are talking about the possibility of equipping some infantry combat vehicles with a unified combat module, which was created on the topic "Breakthrough 3". At present, we see it on the modernized T-90M tank.

As expected, the novelty should remain the possibility of transporting motorized rifles, but in a somewhat reduced composition.

Experts emphasize that the new version of the heavy infantry fighting vehicle should not replace the T-14 tanks, but be their addition on the battlefield. They will be in the same battalions along with the usual T-15.

Story here. 

I tried to link to the translated version.  If it doesn't work and you don't use Google then Babel Fish is your best bet.

Is this from fanboys, computer gamers or Russian Think Tanks throwing out a possibility I don't know.  What I do know is that the Armata is gonna one expensive MBT (by Russian standards) and if they can get an alternate type of fire support platform for less demanding missions then it makes sense.

I anxiously wait to see what happens.