Synthetic Weed is causing an outbreak of severe bleeding and has spread from Illinois to other parts of the country...

via Gizmodo.

A frightening outbreak of uncontrollable bleeding linked to inhaling synthetic weed products seems to have spread beyond the borders of Illinois. On Thursday, Maryland health officials reported that at least one person in the state has come down with similar symptoms, the first case reported there.

The anonymous Maryland patient was rushed to the emergency room on April 3, having developed unexplained bruising and bleeding from different parts of their body soon after taking a synthetic pot product. The person was later hospitalized.

Health officials are now calling the condition “synthetic cannabinoid-associated coagulopathy.”

“We’re warning people to not use synthetic cannabinoids,” said Bruce Anderson, executive director of the Maryland Poison Center, in a statement. “While never safe, the recent increased risk of adverse effects such as synthetic cannabinoid-associated coagulopathy makes it critical for people to abstain.”

Story here.

Geez!  Just fucking drink instead of smoking all this weird shit!

I personally don't give a fuck.  If you want to do this, then accept the consequences of your decision, don't expect the taxpayer via law enforcement and medical personnel to save your crazy ass and foot the bill for your stupidity.

Even I can buy weed with just a little effort and I bet everyone reading this could too. 

Real weed is illegal but legal.

I've seen cops simply toss shit away instead of even messing with the person doing it (assuming they don't have any other issues and aren't being a jackass).  How do I know?  Cause the person doing it was turned over for a bit of wall to wall counseling that lasted late into the night and involved the OOD that after being informed of the situation continued on his rounds.

This is some messed up stuff and you're right.  I don't get it at all.  Maybe I should feel sympathy but the warnings about this synthetic stuff has been out for years yet people are still doing it.

Am I wrong or am I right to be out of fucks to give? 

Robotic Complex Breach Concept (Brit/US Army)

Ok.

I get it.  The Brits are proud of their Engineer vehicle being operated unmanned (don't know if its being remotely operated or autonomous) but we've cracked the code on this stuff for over a decade now.

Remember the USMC/Oshkosh TerraMax unmanned MTVR?  Remember Carnegie Mellon's/DARPA Crusher?  How about the K-Max that was unmanned and delivered supplies to forward Marines in Afghanistan?  Still doesn't shake your memory?  How about the Black Knight that BAE developed...an unmanned combat vehicle mounting a heavy cannon?

Unmanned vehicles have been a thing for awhile.  No need for further testing we just need to pull the trigger.

I have no visibility on European projects but I'm sure they have more than this and the Taranis Combat UAV going.

Long short?  We know robotics have an application on the battlefield.  We know how to make it work.  It's just about funding it now.

Royal Canadian Air Force CT-155 Hawks @ Exercise Antler South (Nov 2017)

Russian May Day Practice.

Thanks to S300v4 for the pic!

Costas and S300v4 have been posting pics of May Day practice and I wonder what we're gonna see this year.  The above comparison of the Armata to the World War Two T-34 is just plain cool.

What do I expect?

I'm hoping we here something about the status of the SU-57.  Would like to see any new variants of the Armata and Boomerang.  A bit more visibility on the Typhoon armored vehicle and more.

They usually roll this stuff out in bits so we won't have to wait long.  More to come!

Hi Rez Pics of the Turk M60A3 Modernization

Thanks to Toni for the pics...

Looks good but I wonder why they didn't extend the add-on armor all the way down?  As we saw with the M1 Abrams in urban fighting in Iraq, enemy missile men will exploit gaps in armor protection.

When APS fails (or needs to be reloaded) you need armor to fill the gap.

It will take a well aimed shot but we've seen it done before.  I could be wrong but for an otherwise excellent looking upgrade they seem to have left a glaring weakness.

Of course this still makes me wonder which way the Corps will go with the future of tanks.

Will we opt for a MGS version of the ACV, keep M1's for the foreseeable future or will they go away in favor of anti-tank missiles for anti-armor work and direct fire?

Open Comment Post. April 7, 2018

F-35 maker gets ultimatum from Pentagon...

via Bloomberg.

Lockheed Martin Corp. must find ways to reduce the Pentagon’s current $1.1 trillion estimate to own and operate the F-35 jet, the world’s costliest weapons program, according to the Defense Department’s latest annual program overview.

According to the document, Lockheed “must embrace much-needed supply chain management affordability initiatives” to cut costs on the next-generation stealth fighter.

Story here. 

Variations of this story keep bouncing around my news alerts on the F-35 and with good reason.

The predictions made by many are finally coming true.

The reality?

The Pentagon got a plus up under Trump.  BUT!  Even if Trump wins a re-election I don't think he will be pushing this type of bill OR sign one into law.

The battle between bread and butter was won by both but in the near future choices will be made.

Long short?

The F-35 costs too much and the numbers they're talking of cutting is the death spiral that the fanboys  fear.

Sweetman, and APA were right.  It's taken another 10 plus years but in the end they will be vindicated.  They said this would happen and no one listened.

Turk M60A3 Modernization...

Thanks to Info Infantrie for the link!

I guess combat leads to modernization cause the Turks are doing it to the M60A3 in a big way.

I'm looking at the armor package and have to wonder if "shot traps" are still a thing because if they are then this has them in spades.

Still you have to give them credit.  Upgrading the M60 is probably more affordable than doing the same to the Leopards and for the enemy they're currently fighting good enough if not ideal.

Waiting on the new Turk tank to take to the field.  I would have thought a couple would have shown up to strut their stuff in Syria by now.

NOTE!  Why didn't you guys tell me I jacked up the title?  You lost cool points...in my defense though it's been a rough couple of weeks so bear with me...not an excuse but an explanation...

Swift Ships wins LCU-1700...pretty impressive carriage promised...

via USNI News.

The Navy awarded Louisiana-based Swiftships, LLC an $18-million contract for the detail design and construction of the first Landing Craft Utility (LCU-1700) surface connector, a program that has seen both timeline acceleration efforts and some slow-downs over the past two years.

The LCU-1700 is meant to be a “modified repeat” that looks and functions much like its predecessor, the LCU-1610 that dates back to the late 1950s, with the addition of some improvements to boost reliability and maintainability, according to the service

Story here. 

The good thing that has happened with US defense contractors is that they're looking at requirements and exceeding them.  It happened with the ACV 1.1. Required to cross only rivers and lakes, everyone involved attempted to move past that to build a platform that could get from ship to shore.

The same thing is going on with the LCU-1700.

I'm sure the idea was to get a refresh that improved reliability, lowered maintenance costs etc...I think the defense contracting community, in a triumph of free market thinking, exceeded those requirements.

If the above graphic is any indication then they blew the doors off.

Two M1 Abrams and a quartet of Humvees?

It might look old, it might look like it's daddy but it's a brand new bag!

2018 CF-18 Demo Hornet jet