British Army's "Centenary Of The Tank" special!

The British Army has a web page covering 100 years of British tanks.  Its definitely worth a read and the few videos they have up are a nice watch.  Check it out here.

Farmer in Zimbabwe finds MASSIVE rock python under the hood of his truck.

JESUS H. CHRIST!

Story and video of this demonic animal that was obviously created on another planet and sent to earth to freaking terrorize the LIVING FUCK outta me is here.

The craziest thing?

The fucking farmer put the animal back into the "bush"....I guess they don't live by the adage of "if you see a snake you kill a snake" but maybe they should!

I mean seriously the beast was well over 8 ft long and they let it live? People in Zimbabwe are as crazy as the bastards in Australia!

Combat School: Reinforced Rifle Platoon in the Attack of a Built-Up Area 1953 US Army Training Film

Where will up-gunning of IFV's end?

The above vehicle is a DARDO IFV mounting a 60mm gun.  The vehicles below are other examples of IMI's gun being mounted on APC/IFVs and even its service on Israeli Sherman Tanks at the end of their useful life.

This will be quick and dirty.

The US Army has jumped on the bandwagon of up-gunning and will put a 30mm gun on its Strykers.  The USMC was all about it with the EFV and planned a 30mm cannon for use on that vehicle.  The Brits are taking it to a new place and are going with a 40mm cannon for its Warrior and Scout IFVs.  The French not to be left behind are doing the same with its Scorpion Project...and finally the Russians are about to take it to the house with a potential 57mm gun on its Boomerang IFV.

But we've been here before.  "Back in the day" IMI developed a 60mm hypervelocity gun that performed well but didn't remain in service long.  Which brings me to the question of the day.  Where will up-gunning of IFVs end?  How much gun is enough to handle anti-personnel/light vehicle tasks?

I stand by my belief that 30mm is the sweet spot and anything bigger cuts down on your engagement capability and will cause crews to hunt for bear (tanks) when they should be killing rabbits (IFV/APC/Logistics Vehicles/Infantry).

What do you think?  Have planners gone too far, demanded too much and ignored the practical limitations of heavy medium weight cannon fire on the modern battlefield?

Open Comment Post. Sept 14, 2016.

"War Is A Racket" By Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler (vid)

Hat Tip to Defense & Freedom Blog!

Have we ever had 3 failed Commandant's in a row?

Check out the above vid.

Neller is trying his best to say the right things, but in the end he's doubling down on a strategy that is for want of a better term...fucked beyond recognition!

We're going to work with Special Operations Command?  That's means he's about to turn the Air Wing into the personal ride of SOCOM.  Marines get to be the outer perimeter guards to the outer perimeter on raids.

We're gonna leverage the F-35?  Still don't know what the fuck he means by that!

Regardless we're faced with something we've never seen before.  We had an outright disgrace in the form of Amos.  Dunford didn't stick around long enough to do shit and Neller is dazed and confused.  We're seeing 3 failed Commandant's in a row.

Historians will look back at this time when the Marine Corps sold it soul for an airplane, destroyed itself to be a Special Ops enabler and gave up any real thinking about fighting future wars.  The think tanks have won, Marines have put their balls and brains on a shelf...and future Marines will curse us all for not speaking up.

Boeing T-X: The Future of Pilot Training (vid)

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!



Hmm.  I don't know anything about this project.  I've heard that they want fighter like performance in a trainer so I do think they're trying to sneak a light weight attack plane into the fold without raising eyebrows, but we'll see.

This is our response to North Korea nuclear tests?

Have you heard the term "image over substance"?  A quick and dirty illustration of it can be seen at rifle ranges.  There is always some guy that has sparkling gear...the latest, trendiest thing going...and when its his turn on the line he shoots fast, does all the cool boy trash like turning his head from side and side and other nonsense...and didn't hit his target once.

Fast forward to this display.  Two B-1 bombers?  Four F-16's flying in escort?That's our response to the N. Korea nuke tests?

We should have saved the gas.  What I can't figure out is who they think they're impressing.  N. Korean leadership?  I bet they don't give a rats ass about that fly over.  The American public?  Those that follow military affairs know how feeble this is. So who is the audience?

Open Comment Post. Sept 13, 2016.

Land 400 Phase 3. Place your bets!

I thought that now is a good time to examine the Land 400 Phase 3 contest.  Earlier I said that it will be canceled (here) and I stand by that possibility due to certain steps the Australian govt has enacted to "secure" their economy.  A report was put out (I'll have to find it) that Australia has 6 weeks to prevent a housing bubble collapse.  Additionally they've passed laws that make investment by Chinese a bit more difficult.

But then we have to consider Phase 2 and the surprising results of that downselect alongside the push by politicians to use defense spending as a form of economic stimulus and it makes me think that they could somehow get this thing across the finish line.

So who do I place my early bet on?

After looking at Phase 2 I'm thinking that the Puma IFV has this thing in the bag.  The Australian Army is looking for gold plated solutions.  Additionally I think they're looking at Indonesia and they're getting a bit nervous.

In a few short years it could be argued that the Indonesian Army will have a
quantitative and quality advantage over the Aussies.

Yeah.  Mix a bit of domestic spending, with the lust for gold plated vehicles and add a little Pacific armor race together and the Puma is probably in the drivers seat.

Too bad.  I really think the CV-9035 makes much more sense.

Female Sailor gives birth on carrier at sea! Welcome to the new US Navy!

Thanks to RebelRouser for the link!

via Navy Times.

A third class petty officer from Carrier Air Wing 3 checked into the carrier's medical clinic after stomach pains Saturday. Nine hours later, in the early hours of Sept. 11, she gave birth to a healthy 7-pound baby girl, according to an internal memo on the incident obtained by Navy Times. 
“Both the mother and the baby are healthy and are doing well,” 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said of the new family on the carrier in the Persian Gulf. 
Neither the mother nor her command knew she was pregnant before Saturday, Urban said. Normally pregnant service members would leave an operational command at 20 weeks and would certainly not deploy. 

What's next?  Maternity Wards on ships?  How about changing tables in armored vehicles!

This is the US military that YOU people allowed.  This is the bullshit that you didn't speak up about!