China tests its reusable spaceplane!

 

China says it conducted a successful suborbital test of a reusable spaceplane:https://t.co/Adj20iPkbg

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) July 16, 2021

Space will be a battlefield.

I can't even imagine the implications of that.  Land based warfare was bad enough.  Sea based is (in my estimation) barely manageable.  Aerial warfare is tilting toward being outside the realm of human activity and will be ruled by robots.

But space warfare?

The implications are ominous.

Knock out a few key sats and you can bring a nation to its knees.  

Blind it.

Leave it open to attack.

Does a prudent leader launch nukes out of an abundance of caution?

How do you defend essential sats against enemy activity?  Space stations would seem to be juicy targets.

Do we need a base on the moon to simply ensure being capable of being able to adequately defend ourselves?  And if the Chinese build one does that mean that we're talking about ground combat on the moon?

This will escalate and it will get out of control!  I'll be dead and gone but it will be a fascinating future (notice I didn't say good) once this gets going good.

An inexplicable result...Marine Corps Selects Textron, GDLS for Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle Prototypes

via Press Release

Marine Corps Selects Textron, GDLS for Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle Prototypes

Story by Barb Hamby

The Marine Corps selected Textron Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems for Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle pre-award and will begin negotiations for Other Transaction Agreement awards of ARV prototypes.

Pending successful negotiations, Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal will award the ARV OTAs utilizing the Ground Vehicle Systems OTA with the National Advanced Mobility Consortium.

A key Fleet Marine Force modernization initiative, the ARV Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Unmanned Aerial Systems will host a suite of C4 equipment, sensors, and operate both tethered and untethered UAS.

The ARV C4/UAS will employ an effective mix of reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and C4 systems to sense and communicate. These systems will enable ARV to serve as the manned hub of a manned/unmanned team and deliver next-generation, multi-domain, mobile reconnaissance capabilities.

Program Manager Light Armored Vehicles, located at the Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, manages the ARV effort. PM LAV falls within the portfolio of programs managed by the USMC Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia.

The period of performance for the agreements is 22 months, with prototype delivery expected in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 and six months of government evaluation that will complete in the third quarter.

The Marine Corps is working to validate the ARV requirement to serve as a mobile protected hub of manned capability with the C4 to effectively operate robotic autonomous systems-enabled teams through a competitive prototyping effort with multiple industry partners.

The effort gained momentum following an industry engagement held in

December 2020. PM LAV solicited proposals for prototypes through the consortium on March 30, 2021. The Marine Corps received responses on May 3 and promptly began evaluations.

In parallel to competitive prototyping, the Marine Corps is also pursuing an effort to define the trade space of a government off-the-shelf solution using the Amphibious Combat Vehicle. The data from the ARV competitive prototyping efforts and the ACV study will jointly inform a Marine Corps decision point in fiscal year 2023.

I totally don't get this.

I like it but don't understand the message being sent out by HQMC, how they're going forward with this program and how they arrived at this decision considering all that's been said..

I reached out to them and hope they answer but quite honestly I'm baffled. 

German Army is hard at work assisting flood ravaged communities in that country...

 

Shooting house of the Chelyabinsk SOBR via The Dead District Twitter Page...

Rescue was obviously never an option!

 

White House Nominates Next Marine Assistant Commandant

 via USNI News

The Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for combat development and integration has been tapped to serve as the second-highest-ranking officer in the service, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. Meanwhile, the current head of the Navy’s Atlantic submarine force and the current head of the service’s requirements office have been nominated to lead U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Lt. Gen. Eric Smith was nominated for a fourth star to serve as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps and succeed Gen. Gary Thomas. Smith has been the deputy commandant for combat development and integration since 2019. It is dual-hatted position, with Smith also leading the Marine Corps Combat Development Combat (MCCDC) as its commanding general.

Prior to leading the Quantico, Va., command, he led Okinawa, Japan-based III Marine Expeditionary Force. He previously was the commanding general of 1st Marine Division and has led Marine Corps Forces Southern Command, according to his service biography. Before leading 1st Marine Division, he was the assistant deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. He also served as the director of the Capability Development Directorate under CD&I and has commanded 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; and 8th Marine Regiment, according to his bio.

Smith has been a key figure in reshaping the Marine Corps to operate as a more nimble and expeditionary service as part of the service’s Force Design 2030 initiative. As the head of CD&I, he has worked to implement Commandant Gen. David Berger’s Commandant’s Planning Guidance, the strategic vision driving the Marines’ force design work.

I see Berger is working overtime to get his sycophants into place before he departs. 

Still don't think it'll work and I still believe the folly of designing an ENTIRE SERVICE to conduct operations SHORT OF WAR (Grey Zone) is idiotic in the extreme.  

But having handpicked subordinates in positions of power helps.

One more year to solidify or disrupt this foolishness. He has one more year to see his jacked up vision take hold. We have one more year to either kill this in its crib or see the Marine Corps of the future morph into a butched up coast guard, only good for "grey zone" operations.

Is the new Russian single engine fighter multi-role or the future F-35 killer?

They're building it and I can't wait to see it in all it's glory but what is it for? Is it a future F-35 killer? Multi-role? I can't pin it down. If this is a 4.75+ (Gen 5-) then could we be looking at the future backbone of the Russian air force?

S. African Army deploys Armored Fighting Vehicles to deal with unrest

 

The cavalry is here in Glen Anil finally. Check these beautiful beasts coming to protect us. The Rooikat I was trained on *not my video* #SouthAfricaBurning pic.twitter.com/zAOtNxBcWW

— #luckygordy (@LuckyGordy) July 16, 2021

Boxer CRV Pics by PTE Jacob Hilton/LAC John Solomon via Gregory Knowles Twitter Page...

@boxercrv by @RheinmetallAus as part of the IIS static live fire serials.
2/14 LHR (QMI) crew Lance turret-equipped Boxers delivered as part of Block 1 of L400-2.

Looking forward to seeing moving serials with service ammunition.

📸 PTE Jacob Hilton/LAC John Solomon pic.twitter.com/R6ZP8LnDA2

— Gregory Knowles (@2805662) July 15, 2021

Open Comment Post. 16 July 2021

 

Talisman Sabre 21

 

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Jonathon Lindgren, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System section chief with 3d Battalion, 12th Marines, 3d Marine Division, surveys a firing point during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia, July 15, 2021. TS21 supports the U.S. National Defense Strategy by enhancing our ability to protect the homeland and provide combat-credible forces to address the full range of potential security concerns in the Indo-Pacific. Lindgren is a native of Katy, Texas.