Armata Armored Recovery Vehicle via Gur Khan Attacks...

More images here.

1st Tanks on range 500...photos by Sgt Hector de Jesus

Marines with 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine division, conduct tank gunnery engagements during Realistic Urban Training Exercise (RUTEX) at range 500 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Sept. 4, 2015. RUTEX provides Marines and Sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU) an opportunity to perform and practice their duties while deployed in an urban environment.

Camp Bastion about to be overrun? They buried the lead. The ANA is about to collapse.

via Daily Mail...

Camp Bastion, the former British Army headquarters in Helmand, Afghanistan, is in such danger of being over-run by the Taliban that an American Special Forces team has been deployed to protect it.
In a shocking indictment of how far security has collapsed in the province since Britain handed over the base to the Afghan National Army (ANA) last year, the United States has been forced to use 90 ‘Special Operations’ soldiers to defend the site.
In a further alarming development, a British security source who visited Helmand last week has told The Mail on Sunday that the ANA is now paying the Taliban thousands of US dollars not to attack them – a claim regarded as plausible by military experts.

Everyone has latched onto this part of the story.  Understandable, but as is almost always the case, the mainstream reporter missed the bigger issue.  The Afghan National Army is on the verge of collapsing and with it we will probably see the Taliban re-take Afghanistan if/when we actually leave.  Don't believe me?  Check this out from the same article...

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said: ‘The deals are done between field commanders of the ANA and the Taliban’s higher-ups.
‘The Taliban are better equipped and can pay fighters twice the wages of ANA troops, so discounting US air strikes, the engagements have become rather one-sided.
‘Faced with that reality, and in anticipation of an expected peace agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government in the next 12 months, the ANA doesn’t want to lose more soldiers – they’ve lost 4,300 soldiers in action and suffered 12,000 wounded – and the morgues are full. They know they’re onto a loser so they’re literally buying time.’

Yeah.

The Taliban is claimed to be better equipped.  The engagements have been one sided with the ANA getting the worst of it.

They're putting all of their eggs into the basket of a peace treaty!

My question to you is this.  The Taliban aren't idiots.  They know that the West is beyond war weary.  They understand that there is even opposition to sending more of our treasure to that backwards country.

They know that we're ready to leave.

Knowing all of the above, if you were a Taliban leader would accept a peace treaty when outright victory is so close? 

Your moral Monday news feed. Homeless Man in Brazil dies saving woman from gunman

via Unilad.uk

A 61-year-old homeless man in Brazil has fought with a gunman to save a woman. He was killed after the gunman shot him in the chest. The woman held hostage has survived.
The homeless man, Francisco Erasmo Rodrigues de Lima, sacrificed his life to fight off a gunman who was threatening to kill a woman outside the famous Sao Paulo Cathedral in Brazil.
The gunman has been identified as Luiz Antonio da Silva (49) and he was shot and injured by police as Francisco bravely intervened. Silva has previously spent 22 years in prison for theft, damage of property and causing bodily harm.
Francisco received at least two bullets to the chest and died at the scene.

Full story, pics and link to vid here. 

Do you want a kick in the pants?  The nation of Brazil is hailing the guy as a hero but they didn't even give him a decent burial.  From what I've been able to gather he was simply put in what was once called in the US a hobo grave.

Ain't that some shit?

Moral Mondays don't always have a happy ending.

Mexico's Navy/Marine Corps at Dawn Blitz 15....

Thanks to NO for the link!

Note:  Thanks to my readers we know have a tag on at least a few ships participating.  The USS Somerset, a Mexican LST and what appears to my untrained eye to be either a Frigate or a small Destroyer.  I'm still trying to get a birdseye view of the scale of this exercise.  If you have any info hit me with it...from my chair it looks unusually small this year.

More Dawn Blitz 15...pics by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Riley

NOTE:  Is it just me or does this seem like a MUCH smaller exercise than we've seen in the past?  I've tried finding out the units involved but all I get is 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade.  I can't get a good feel for the ships involved either and its suppose to also include some type of sea base portion to it. Something is off here...this is suppose to be one of the premier amphibious assault exercises and the Corps is holding its cards REAL close to its vest...even with (supposedly) Australia, Japan and Mexico participating.

So the SecNav is going to overrule Marine Corps leadership?

via Navy Times.

Marine officials will soon offer their recommendations, but Mabus, the civilian secretary who leads the Navy Department — including the Marine Corps — made clear that he must sign off on the decision to seek any exemptions to opening all jobs to women, and he hasn't had a change of heart.
"That's still my call, and I've been very public," Mabus said in an exclusive Sept. 1 interview. "I do not see a reason for an exemption."

Do you get the arrogance of this guy?

Everytime you turn around you get the meme "following the recommendations of my military" from the President but when it comes time for a social experiment that will rip the Marine Corps to its very foundation, the truth comes out and its obvious that a military appointee will decide.  Don't believe me?  The issue of Obama (and his appointees) following military advice has come up before, I just ignored it.  Check this out from Fox News...

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president listens very carefully to the advice that he gets from his military commanders.

The fact is, Joe --
(CROSSTALK)
JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST, "MORNING JOE"/MSNBC: -- What do you make of the Washington Post headline when it says in the military, there's skepticism of the president's plan.

EARNEST: The headline's wrong. All they do is they misinterpret Chairman Dempsey's testimony. And the rest of the time they essentially they quote people who are either frequent critics of the president or people who supported the previous Iraq conflict. So the more accurate headline would be supporters of the Bush war in Iraq criticize President Obama's strategy.

So this is just par for the course.

The problem though?  For the administration this is a legacy issue.  For Marine Corps leadership they're concerned with combat effectiveness AND recruiting/retention.

I hear your question.  So shouldn't we cut Marine leaders slack because you just pointed out that the administration doesn't listen to them!  To that I say BULLSHIT!

Why?

Simple.  Because the administration has lied to the American people.  You would expect at least one person wearing stars (and in this case the fingers can be pointed only at the Joint Chiefs and the Combatant Commanders) to have some integrity and say that it wasn't there plan OR to resign in protest.

We haven't seen that so no slack is given.

The pain train is coming for the Marine Corps.  The separation between the Marine Corps and former/retired/vets, the public is going to increase.  The Corps will be seen as just another govt agency.  The old debate between the New vs. Old Corps will have a date.  New Corps Marines (the ones that serve after females are allowed in the infantry) will never be looked at as equals again.

BMP "Kurganets" vid...

Thanks to Olgert for the link!



My big takeaway?  The Kurganet is what we thought.  My big oh shit moment?  The Kornet is top attack.



Thanks to MicMac80 for the below vid!



My big takeaway?  I totally underestimated the size of this vehicle.  ITS BIG!  My WTF moment?  That armor looks remarkably like what we see on the ASCOD being built for the Brits.  Is flotation armor the new "hotness" for armored vehicles?  Could this be a way to give the US Army an amphibious capability (limited) and increase the floatation of USMC vehicles?

Is pushing a "Aviation" Centric Marine Corps the cause for mishaps?

via Marine Corps Times.

The Sept. 2 incident, which remains under investigation, was one of at least 13 since May 2014 that resulted in death, injury or significant property damage. Five aircraft mishaps have left at least 18 Marines dead in 2015 — up 15 compared to the 2014 total. The last spike in aviation-related deaths occurred in 2012, when 15 Marines were killed in aircraft mishaps.
Marine officials say they're committed to aircraft safety, but "by its very nature, there will always be inherent risk in military aviation," said Maj. Paul Greenberg a Marine aviation spokesman at the Pentagon.
"That being said, the Marine Corps utilizes highly reliable aircraft, extensively trains pilots and aircrew, conducts exhaustive maintenance, and at every step puts in place safeguards and precautions to ensure a high degree of aviation safety," he added.
The Marine Corps suffered its biggest loss of life this year in a single aviation accident when 11 troops, including seven members of Marine Corps Special Forces Operations Command, were killed when their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Florida during a training exercise. That and other fatal mishaps over the past year and a half have some observers concerned about the safety of military aircraft.

Go here to read the story. 

What no one is talking about is the USMC's push to emphasize, no let me restate that...to become even more "Aviation" centric.

From attempting to use SPMAGTF-CR's in place of traditional MEU's to developing adhoc joint task forces with aviation elements at its center, leadership has ignored something essential.

Upping ops tempo without regard to maintenance and personnel stress/deployment schedule/welfare is going to lead to accidents.

I don't know for sure if this is the cause but when you pull too hard on a thin string its going to break.  I think we're seeing Marine Aviation reach the breaking point.  Even worse?  This isn't happening in a wartime setting.  This is relative peace but with a CRAZY ops tempo.  1+1=2.

Su-30SM Multi-Role Fighter With Naval Capabilities

Middle East Migrants just messed up...

via Telegraph.uk

Clashes broke out on the Greek islands of Lesbos on Friday after 1,000 people, mostly Afghans, attempted to rush onto a ferry heading to the port of Piraeus, near Athens.
Police fired stun grenades to repel the stone-throwing crowd.
The mayor of Lesbos appealed for "immediate measures" to help alleviate the acute refugee and migrant crisis on his island, which is the entry point for about half of the hundreds of thousands who have arrived in Greece so far this year.
Spyros Galinos described the situation as a bomb about to explode in his hands. "I appeal to the prime minister for immediate measures," he told state television on Friday. "We will have victims."
Mr Galinos said there were currently about 15,000 refugees and migrants on his island, of whom 7,000-8,000 were already registered and waiting to leave Lesbos for Athens but were unable to find ferry tickets due to fully booked ships.

These migrants might not know it but they just made a catastrophic mistake....they messed up bad!

Rioting?  Demanding?  Clashing with local security?

Every ounce of sympathy for them is evaporating.  They're being seen as an invading force and not people fleeing war or tyranny.

We're inching closer to Europe reacting....forcefully.

Sidenote:  As far as the US helping by taking in some of these people?  Nope.  Not our problem.  Good luck Europe.

Hi-Point Carbines are the latest "hotness" in truck guns?

via SWATMagazine...

At my local gun palace, I watched a guy examine a pistol-based carbine. Keith, my favorite sales rep, said, “Those are Hi-Points and we can’t keep ‘em in the store.” He said most of the countermen had purchased them as the hot new truck gun, and word is spreading fast in the Texas Hill Country that they are dynamite for wild pigs in heavy cover. And the price? Depending on caliber, $265 to $325!
Being a cop, the needle on my skeptic alert started to jump. Frankly, I expected something clunky at that price point, but right out of the box, the Hi- Point carbine felt solid and substantial.

The world is changing.

A Hi-Point being a firearm worth considering?  It boggles the mind!  But maybe...just maybe they have a legit weapon here.  I know that several YouTube "creators" swear by them and have given them good reviews but I just never even considered it for a truck gun.

But maybe that's the niche they've conquered.

What's the biggest fear for gun owners?  That despite their best efforts someone breaks into their vehicle, defeats their locking mechanisms (and by god if you leave a vehicle in your car you should (A) have a kill switch so it can't be driven away and (B) have made serious allowances to keep your weapon secure) and steals their gun.

Assuming you're responsible and your gun is still stolen then you don't want it to be a $1500 plus setup.

So a low cost alternative might be the ticket.  But a Hi-Point?  Who knew!