Commandant talks expanding the force but touches on lack of ground based air defense.

via National Defense.

These new billets would include: information operations, intelligence analysis, electronic warfare, cyber, communications, air defense, engineering and areas where there are shortfalls such as maintenance, he said. Even if the Marines don’t receive this boost in personnel, it will still be adding these capabilities, he said. They will just have to be taken out of other units, he added.

And then this.

“We have to change our training and our mindset to almost where it was in the 80s,” he said. Marines will have to learn to maneuver with uncertainty as to what the enemy is going to do. They will have to mask their signatures, expect to receive accurate indirect fires and expect that the adversary will have aviation, battlefield sensors and robust electronic warfare capabilities, he said.
“They are going to fly their planes over you. And we’re going to have to create that training environment so the soldier, sailor, airmen, Marine sees that and they know what it is … It’s an airplane and its not yours and he’s coming here to bomb you.”

Just plain fucking wow.

Could HQMC be starting to see the future fight the way that I've been screaming about on these pages?  It means that we're gonna need to increase the number of ACVs that are being bought...at least if we intend to keep our "amphibious nature" intact.  It means that a family of vehicles will be needed.  An anti-air, electronic warfare and maybe even a command post variant.

Of course I'm assuming that he's talking about ground based maneuver.  If the idea is still to stuff everything into the back of MV-22's and fly 1000 miles from ship and engage enemy armored formations then the Marine Corps thinkers are still smoking illegal shit.

Bird person’s big day at Blood Ridge on Glapflap’s third moon against the Gromflomites

via joelkilpatrick Tumblr Page

I absolutely Love Rick and Morty, and ever since Rick mentioned Bird Person’s big day on Blood Ridge I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what the scene would be like. So I had to finally paint it something.
I really liked the idea of a younger Rick, Bird Person and Squanchy fighting in a battle together.
“The road your father and I walked together is soaked deeply with the blood of both friends and enemies”
“The war in which we fought is far from over..”

There has to be some type of internet rule that says that any nonsensical cartoon will be made into something dark and serious.  I always took that little scene as filler in the Rick and Morty series and then this guy does this to it.

I don't know whether to look at that cartoon in a new light or kick myself for not getting how freaking serious it is while I'm laughing my ass off.

5.11 Master Race.

via Soldier Systems

A member of the Reddit’s Law Enforce community noticed that the tread of his new 5.11 Speed 3.0 5″ boots left a rather distinctive tread marking. There’s absolutely no reason to believe this was intentional, but I’m sure it will fuel many a conspiracy theory.

Story here. 

Wow.  I think 5.11 better fix this quick.  On the other hand they should be best sellers for Stormfront and others like them.

Polish Cav...past and present!

UAE parades new Nimr vehicles

Thanks to Jonathan for the link!

via Janes

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces displayed its new Nimr N35 armoured vehicles for the first time during a parade to mark the country's 45th National Day on 5 December.

The vehicles seen in the parade were all 4x4 N35-4 rather than 6x6 N35-6 versions and fitted with Dynamit Noble FeWaS remote weapon stations, a type that has previously been seen on Oshkosh M-ATV armoured vehicles in service with the Emirati military.

The N35 was originally developed by BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa (now part of Denel Vehicle Systems) as the RG35 before it was sold to Nimr Automotive.

Denel announced in November 2015 that it had signed a ZAR900 million (then worth around USD63 million) contract with Nimr to produce N35 vehicles. The Denel Group annual report for 2015/2016 said the deal is estimated to be worth ZAR1.2 billion in total.

IHS Jane's was told at the time of the announcement that the contract covers initial low-rate production of N35 vehicles in South Africa, the transfer of the manufacturing process to the UAE, and further development of the N35-4 and N35-6 variants.

Nimr announced in June that the N35 was being built at its plant in Abu Dhabi's Tawazun Industrial Park.

Two open-top versions of Nimr's Ajban family of 4x4 vehicles were also seen during the parade.

Wow.  Everyone is hot and heavy over Special Ops type patrol vehicles.  What I don't understand is why the big specialized versions of these things are so popular.

Has anyone in the Light Infantry/Special Ops Community actually done a study on the utility of these vehicles in a real live shooting war?

Additionally with UAE building the RG35, it seems that making MRAPS into combat vehicles is continuing.  Past a certain size it seems to be a losing proposition.  Democratic nations will not allow endless participation in counter insurgency....and that seems to be the sweet spot for these type vehicles.  Well old skool counter insurgency.  If Iraq/Syria and Ukraine point to the future then even in that type warfare you're gonna need full on combat vehicles if you want to survive.

Dogfights of the Future. So much right, wrong and a lot of hope.

Do you remember this series?  If not then I HIGHLY recommend it.  The historic accounts of man and machine in aerial combat is without comparison but the one episode that I found absolutely compelling was the "Dogfight of the Future".

They got so much right, so much wrong and it was dashed with a lot of hope.  If you have a bit of time then give it a watch and tell me what your takeaways are.

11th MEU @ Exercise Alligator Dagger 2016....photo by Cpl. Devan K. Gowans

Another annual exercise that I've never heard of.  Are these new or do I need to become better informed?

Dec 7, 1941. Never forget the REAL Pearl Harbor.

I've been struggling to figure out how I would talk about the Battle of Pearl Harbor and its commemoration today.  I settled on the above pic with the thought that we SHOULD remember it...only the REAL Pearl Harbor and not the mythology that built up around it.

We were caught flat footed and the Japanese hit us hard.  The reality is that on the day in question, our military failed.  Good men died doing their duty aboard ship.  Civilians were gunned down in their vehicles and homes.  Why? Because leadership was sold on their ideology and didn't see it coming.

Ignore the mythology.  The Battle of Pearl Harbor is perhaps the greatest naval defeat the US has ever suffered.

Fitness Funny.

Marine F-18 crashes off Okinawa. Why does Davis still have a job?

via USNI News.

The Marine pilot of a F/A-18 Hornet is missing following a crash off the coast of Japan, III Marine Expeditionary Force said in a statement Wednesday morning.
The fighter – assigned to Okinawa-based 1st Marine Aircraft Wing — was operating about 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, Japan when the pilot ejected about 6:40 p.m., the statement said.
“The aircraft was conducting regularly scheduled training at the time of the mishap. The cause of the incident is under investigation,” the statement said.
Unspecified search and rescue efforts to find the missing Marine are underway.

How many more pilots and aircraft does the USMC have to lose before someone decides that they've lost faith in this guys leadership?  He's fired Squadron Commanders like its the latest hot thing but fails to take responsibility for the condition of the Wing.

This is substandard leadership.  Mark my words.  This crash will be blamed on the pilot and Davis will only come out of his hole to tout how revolutionary the F-35 is.

Meanwhile Marine Air Crew and their passengers will be in more danger from jacked up procurement/maintenance than they will be from enemy activity.

Davis needs to be fired.

Philippines set to buy Frigate from Hyundai Heavy Industries is more formidable than LCS...cheaper too...

via ASEAN Blog.

The letter of credit (LOC) for the country's first two missile-firing frigates, whose contract was won by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), is now being finalized, Philippine Navy (PN) flag-officer-in-command, Vice Adm. Roland Joseph Mercado has said.

"As far as I know, they are now finalizing the terms in the LOC, for the frigate project. That's the only update I could give for now," he said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

An LOC is a letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer's payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In case the buyer is unable to make payment for the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase.

Mercado is the same officer who headed the technical working group that came up with the specifications of the country's first-ever missile-capable frigates.

On Oct. 24, National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana formally inked the contract for the Frigate Acquisition Program, together with officials and delegates from South Korea's HHI. The signing ceremony took place at the PN's headquarters in Naval Station Andrada, Roxas Blvd., Manila.

The project involves the construction and delivery of two missile-firing frigates to the PN.

The signing of the contract signals the start of the construction and is the culmination of the long and tedious procurement process for the project.

As background, the Notice of Award was approved, issued and was duly conformed by HHI on Sept. 13 with the amount of USD336,912,000 or PHP15,744,571,584.

Ain't that a kick in the pants.  The Philippines will get a frigate that is cheaper and more heavily armed (and probably has better seakeeping/endurance) than the LCS we're slamming into service.

Typical.

Is Turkey is about to try and consolidate it gains in Syria?

Pics via Bmashina Tumblr Page.

The above pics show Leopard 2's staged at the Syria-Turk border.  We've all been wondering when they would commit their first line gear to the fight and this MIGHT be it.

If so then what's the plan?  Russians don't take a dump without a plan and while Turkish leadership is erratic I don't see them moving these tanks forward without a reason.

Are the Turks signalling the end of the war in Syria?  Are they about to try and consolidate their gains there so that the price is too high for Assad to try and stitch his country back together.  Is this an attempt at a  fait accompli?

I'm not sure.