General Dynamics landed a huge arms contract Opens a New Window. in August when Saudi Arabia requested permission to purchase $1.15 billion worth of M1 Abrams main battle tanks for its army. At least, the contract looked huge at the time. Now, it looks positively tiny... Because General Dynamics just scored a second tank contract last week that's 50% bigger. Once again, General Dynamics is benefiting from turbulence in the Middle East. As we learned earlier this week from an official U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification Opens a New Window. to Congress, the government of Kuwait has asked Congress to approve the sale of a "recapitalization" package for 218 of its M1A2 main battle tanks. According to DSCA, this recapitalization will include the sale of 240 .50-caliber M2A1 machine guns and 480 7.62 mm M240 machine guns to install on the tanks, plus upgraded armor and engines, new 120 mm cannon tubes and remotely operated weapons stations, and assorted radios, night vision goggles, infrared sights, and other hardware.
In total, the recapitalization, which is essentially a rebuilding and upgrading of the entire tank fleet, will be worth $1.7 billion in revenue to principle contractor General Dynamics, which builds the M1. Other companies named as principal contractors include American contractors Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Honeywell, and also Norwegian defense giant Kongsberg.
Bad times and rumors of war in the middle east is good news for defense contractors.
BREAKING: 14 US-Led Coalition Military Advisers Captured by Syrian Special Forces in Aleppo.
Note that they list the name of a Civil Support Officer but I will not do that till this is confirmed or denied. If this is true then the nightmare scenario is in effect.
If not then this is a stupid shot in the dark by Syrian forces. We'll find out soon enough I guess.
The Chinese are testing the resolve of the incoming President and giving the middle finger to the outgoing one. Consider this...
1. China just devalued their dollar. That means that cheap Chinese good are gonna be even cheaper. They're daring Trump to do something about it.
2. That incident with the stolen underwater drone was probably more intense than we're being told. Around 2009 the Chinese played the same games with this same ship. The difference? Last time they sent a mini-task force of 5 military ships and a fishing trawler to harass them. The retaliation was to send the ship back out with an escort. Considering how the Chinese behave we should have all unarmed aircraft/ships escorted by Burke class destroyers.
3. Then the pics above. They just conducted their first live fire drill with their aircraft carrier.
Its time to stop kneeling in front of the Chinese and pleasuring them. They are the real threat to our nation's survival, not the Russians.
We need to seriously get our stance with them sorted out (cooperation is not respected...we're talking about Asia...only strength is respected). We also need to prepare for a major fight. If you spend 5 minutes on Chinese websites you'll realize that even the average citizen of that country wants a war with the US. We need to get ready.
Lance Cpl. Rick Mercer, a rifleman with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, emerges from the tree line during the Advanced Infantry Course aboard Kahuku Training Area, September 20, 2016.
The U.S. will "take action" against Russia for alleged cyberattacks on Democratic officials, President Obama warned Thursday, hours after his spokesman claimed that President-elect Donald Trump "obviously knew" about the breaches and leaks that critics say propelled him to victory in last month's election. The tough talk from Obama came in an interview scheduled to air on National Public Radio Friday. It followed complaints of Republican lawmakers that federal authorities refuse to brief them on investigations into Russia's role in leaking tensof thousands of damaging emails from top Clinton campaign officials.
"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action," Obama said. "And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be." Earlier Thursday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters during the daily White House briefing that "Mr. Trump obviously knew that Russia was engaged in malicious cyber activity that was helping him, [and] hurting [Democrat Hillary] Clinton ... "These are all facts that are not in dispute."
This is insane.
Suddenly the Russian breach of Dem Party computers played a part in swaying the election (personally I think they gave us a peek behind the curtain of how the elite actually see the masses) and only now the President thinks it deserves a response?
Is he really that weak? Was he that indecisive?
We're just over a month away from him leaving office and just now he's planning on a response?
This whole issue was planned as a way to sully Trump and weaken him just as he enters office. Instead it will be the finally nail in Obama's reputation. He will be seen as weaker than Carter and "indecisive" will be the most kind word used to describe his foreign policy.
“We are going to negotiate tougher deals … where we get more equipment for less money,” he said on Thursday. “For instance, you saw the other day about an airplane. Now I have a nice airplane. But this plane is going to cost $4.2 billion, Air Force One. I don’t want a plane to fly around in that costs $4.2 billion, believe me … not going to happen … and I didn’t order it, please, remember this. But we’re going to work with Boeing, we’re going to cut the price way down — way, way down.” He added, “And how about the F-35 fighter. It’s a disaster, it’s totally out of control. So we’re going to get more equipment for our military and we’re going to get better equipment for our military at a smaller price.”
He's going after the holy grail. Better deals on high tech equipment. I don't know if he'll actually get it done but I wouldn't bet against him.
The real question is where everyone's patron saint, Mad Dog Mattis stands. Will he stand with his buddies in the General's club or will he join forces with his boss and push for a bit of change?
I don't know the organization that this lady belongs to but damn! She dealt with that journalist in almost a brutal way.
But let's put that to the side for a moment. Remember how we were told that the fight against ISIS could take decades? That was insanity on a plate! We could roll Iraq's Army in a matter of months (almost a half million men) and yet ISIS would take years? It didn't make sense when they said it and yet no one challenged them. What was that? You don't remember? Check this out. via The Washington Times.
U.S. leaders must be prepared to fight extremism and radical jihad emanating from the Middle East for “decades,” says a retired Marine Corps four-star general who has spent the past decade on the military and diplomatic battlefields of America’s war on terrorism. John R. Allen, who served most recently as President Obama’s envoy to the international coalition against the Islamic State, warned in an interview that Washington will be courting disaster if it withdraws from the region any further than it already has. “The region, as bad as it is, can worsen,” Mr. Allen said in an interview with The Washington Times as part of a special series of articles examining the war against the terrorist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL. “Absent clear and unequivocal U.S. leadership and the long-term cooperation of the community of nations, we’re condemned to fight for the foreseeable future,” said the retired general, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
The war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could last more than a decade, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) told reporters on Thursday. "I think we do have a lot to debate. Realize this is not just bombing a mountainside or securing a dam. This is a war that we want for another 10, 15 years," said King, of the House Intelligence Committee. {mosads}When asked whether Congress might rethink defense spending cuts in light of the conflict, King replied, "To do that, I think we have to recalibrate our defense and realize we have to be on a war-time footing when it comes to spending."
President Barack Obama is proposing a new strategy in the fight against ISIS, saying the battle against the Islamic State will not be quick. In fact, he says it could take decades. During a rare visit to the Pentagon, Obama laid out his revamped strategy, saying the fight against the Islamic State will require more than just weapons. "No amount of military force will end the terror that is ISIL unless it's matched by a broader effort, political and economic," he said.
Decades to destroy a force that at most numbered 50K when it first burst on the scene?
We've been lied to.
We've been deceived by politicians (expected), military leaders (once unexpected but that is changing fast) and world institutions/nations (expected).
Games are being played and people are losing their lives because of it. Its ok to be patriotic. Its not ok to allow yourself to be made an ass of. If they lie to you that means they don't respect you.
Be advised my fellow citizens. These people don't respect us.
