FINALLY! Finally the Intel Agencies are cracking down on leakers..

via Washington Examiner.

A 25-year-old federal contractor is facing charges she leaked a classified National Security Agency document to a news outlet in May. The charges come about an hour after the publication of a story based on an NSA document detailing Russian attempts to hack American voting systems.

Reality Leigh Winner, of Augusta, Ga., is facing charges that she removed classified material from a government facility and mailed it to a news outlet. She was arrested on Saturday and appeared on the charge Monday.

The announcement comes shortly after The Intercept published a report based on a classified intelligence document showing Russian government hackers attempted to hack more than 100 local election officials before the November election.

According to the report, Russian military intelligence sent the emails to local elections officials. They also attempted a cyber attack on at least one American voting software supplier.

The Justice Department didn't confirm that Winner leaked the document to The Intercept, but the report stated the report received by the news outlet was dated May 5. The affidavit confirms the intelligence document was also dated on May 5.

Winner worked for Pluribus International Corporation and was assigned to a government facility in Georgia. She's held a Top Secret classified security clearance since being hired on Feb. 13.

Story here. 

Hey Ms. Reality Leigh Winner!  Here's some reality.  You're part of the resistance?  Ok, then get treated like an insurgent!

I hope they throw the book at her!

If this is done right then she won't see the outside of a federal penitentiary till she's in her late 60's!

Side note:  Have you noticed that no news organizations have come out calling her a whistle blower?  No one is actually coming forward to defend her? Someone called me a Russia supporter.  Nope.  I just don't see a need to cross swords with them.  However a Russian phrase definitely applies to Ms. Reality Winner.  What is that phrase?  Useful idiot!  She was used by the Neo-Cons, Establishment Republican/Democrats and disposed of once the deed was done.  This should be a warning to others.  You might have allegiance to them but they don't have a single ounce of caring for you!

Side note 1:  Is it possible this was a mole hunt?  Could this document be fake and used as a way to smoke out leakers?  I'm really not sure but the speed at which they made the arrest makes me wonder.

Blast from the past. XF-90...via Detail & Scale...

Two things.

1.  This was a 1950's design!  Done with slide rule ... no computers ... I'm impressed.  During that time period it was the engines, not the designs that killed many airplanes.

2.  Detail & Scale is a modeling group.  I've said it before and I'll say it again. Modellers, gamers and other enthusiasts are keeping military history alive. Fringe?  Maybe but they're doing good work.

Last but not least...I love this plane's look. Sleek and simple.

101st Airborne at the Jungle Warfare School in Ghana????

A Ghana Armed Forces instructor assists a #USArmy Soldier, assigned to the 101st Airborne Infantry Division, out of the water during #UnitedAccord17 at the Jungle Warfare School on Achiase military base in Akim Oda, Ghana, May 22, 2017.

Wow.  Modest proposal.  Team with the Brits and just fall in on their Jungle Course in the Pacific.  The Royal Marines are pretty cool guys and this is a no brainer.  But back to the Army.  I can't do anything but applaud.  Nice.  Pretty impressive that they're sending people to Ghana for the training.  Are they setting up a "Jungle Leader" type thing like the Brits have "Mountain Leaders" to advise units that are going to those locales?

Republic of Singapore Navy’s Lethal “F1-speedster”

Russia's Lavina Amphibious Assault Ship to highlight KA-52 Attack Helos.

via Sputnik

The Russian Navy expects to receive two brand new Lavina ('Avalanche')-class amphibious assault ships under the next state armaments procurement program. According to the Ministry of Defense, the ships will take the place of the Mistrals, the two French vessels which Moscow ordered but never received.

The new ships, expected to be delivered before 2025, are distinct from the Project 11711 Ivan Gren class of landing ships that are currently being built for the Russian Navy. According to Zvezda, the official television network of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Lavina design "looks more like the Mistral, in that it features a bare carrier deck used to base Ka-52K attack and Ka-32 ASW helicopters."

Lavina-class ships will be fitted with a powerful anti-aircraft system onboard, in the form of the  naval version of the Pantsir-S. Furthermore, the amphibious assault ships will feature the AK-176MA 76.2 mm naval gun, a weapons system that's controlled and fired using a digital guidance system.

Story here. 

Japan holding evacuation drills for a "missile attack"

via Stars and Stripes.

A Japanese town conducted an evacuation drill Sunday amid rising fear that a North Korean ballistic missile could hit Japanese soil.

More than 280 residents and schoolchildren from Abu, a small town with a population of just over 3,400 on Japan's western coast, rushed to designated school buildings to seek shelter after sirens from loudspeakers warned them of a possible missile flight and debris falling on them.

The drill follows three consecutive weeks of North Korean missile tests. Last week, a missile splashed into the sea inside Japan's 200-mile exclusive economic zone off the country's western coast.

It was the second such drill since March, when Tokyo instructed local governments to review their contingency plans and conduct evacuation exercises.

A similar drill was conducted Sunday in the neighboring prefecture of Fukuoka in southern Japan, and others are planned over the next few months.

Tell me again how two aircraft carrier groups operating off the coast of N. Korea is normal.  Tell me again how PACOM hasn't taken its troops off alert is normal.  Tell me that the 31st MEU setting sail with no exercises announced for the next couple of months is normal.

You thought that the N. Korean drama was over because it's not on the front pages?  You thought wrong.  Seems like the Japanese are getting its civilian population prepped for missile strikes in the near term.  That ain't normal either.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar?

via RT.com

Key Arab League nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar after Bahrain said it was cutting all ties and contacts with Doha. Qatar is accused of backing terrorist groups and meddling in other countries’ affairs.

Bahrain announced early Monday that it is severing diplomatic relations with neighboring Qatar and cutting air and sea connections with Doha, accusing it of meddling in its internal affairs. Bahrain’s state news agency said in a brief statement that Qatari citizens have 14 days to leave the country.

Story here. 

About 50% of you will say that this is no big deal so consider yourself excused from this discussion.

For those that remain...Holy Shit!  This is huge.  I don't know the inner workings but this is a rift that I did not see coming.  I'll have to rely on experts to let me know the potential implications but this is a region changing event.

Why do I get the feeling that Iran just won big with this announcement.

12th Combat Aviation Brigade arriving at Budapest Airport (pics)

Note:  I don't get the thinking of today's military.  There was a time when the idea of disrupting civilian activities was frowned upon.  Today?  Today they want to be seen in cities, public areas etc...It just doesn't make any sense.  In the US there are literally millions of acres of land that can be used for military exercises and combat towns have been built at every major military installation, and the same applies to our allies. Yet for some reason the current military wants to play in civilian areas!  If I actually wore a tinfoil hat I would believe that this is conditioning civilians to viewing troops in common areas as being normal, but quite honestly I can think of no other reason.

12th Combat Aviation Brigade in Romania (vid - propaganda)

Hmm.  This little exercise in Romania is being played up big time.  Wonder why?  I don't see it as being anything remarkable, yet a bunch of chest thumping is going on.  I don't get it.

Namer 1 APC- Engineering Version (video)

via YeshivaWorld.

The engineering version of the Namer armored personnel carrier (APC), which was developed by the Tank Program Management at the Ministry of Defense, in collaboration with the IDF Engineering Corps, was developed in three different configurations: APC for a company commander equipped with an excavator bucket, APC for a platoon commander with infiltration capabilities, and an APC for a class commander with towing and bridging capabilities.

These unique platforms were developed on the basis of the Namer, considered the world’s most protected APC, which proved its abilities during Operation Protective Edge (2014) against a range of threats. Every new Namer APC, including its engineering versions, is equipped with the Trophy active protection system (APS), developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, providing additional protection for every APC. Operational training for the new tools is taking place at a training base in the Uvda Cliffs.

Tank Program Management Director, Brigadier-General Baruch Matzliah explains, “The Engineering Namer will enable brigade combat teams with abilities it previously didn’t have, to overcome any engineering obstacle on the battlefield, efficient and effective protected maneuvering and maintaining maximal operability. The collaboration between the new engineering abilities, together with the Namer’s capabilities and the Trophy system, we will equip the IDF’s combat engineers a significant advantage on the battle field.”

Story here. 

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan: More attacks 'highly likely'...and I have a terrible "what if"

A week or so ago British security/intel agencies gave the number of terrorists in their country which totalled to a reinforced division of troops.

What if?  What if this is ISIS inspired and they are planning on a summer of attacks?  What if the plan is for let's say 10 cells initially to launch attack after attack.  They know to go operational a few days after the prior cell attacked a target.

It's obvious that the authorities are walking a self imposed tightrope. If they attempt to get ahead of the situation now, it will take draconian measures that will stuff their economy and the Brits can't afford that.  If they don't then they face further terrorists attacks which will stifle their economy and cause the current govt to fall.

The politicians MIGHT have painted themselves into a corner by not acting more aggressively sooner.  It reminds me of an old saying.  Inaction is an action.  They failed to act and now the butchers bill is coming due.

Patria AMV swim test...

Ready for the Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces 4 June 2017 

Hmm.  This doesn't appear to be the AMV 28A.  Are they trying to further develop the swim package in their standard vehicle?  Not sure.  I do know Patria Group posted this pic today.