General Dynamics Flyer 72 have some market penetration...they're in service with Italian Special Ops...

Italian SF, Col Moschin with some of their Flyer 72's@LeighJNeville pic.twitter.com/ZuEFNbFjiX

— mupper2 (@mupper2) March 17, 2020

Interesting.  I really can't figure Special Ops Forces out.  They seem to be stuck between two hard places.  On one side is the dream/fantasy of being pure raid forces that ride around in ultralight vehicles brimming with weapons but being vulnerable to mines and other threats.

On the other side you have the reality of hybrid warfare and terror forces having conventional force type weaponry that will hazard these ultralight vehicles if contact is made and mines littering the battlefield if it isn't.

This is gonna shake out one way or the other.  As things currently stand I don't know if you can justify the expense of these vehicles in the coming budget apocalypse.

Maiden flight of LCA FOC series production fighter SP-21 tail number LA-5021.....pics by Deb Rana

Israel is going hardcore on the quarantine...will we see this in the US?

Suspected covid-19 carrier arrested after escaping quarantine in Israel pic.twitter.com/H0hyb9x58w

— RT (@RT_com) March 18, 2020

A couple of videos have come out of the Israeli Police forcibly arresting citizens that violate quarantine rules.

We haven't seen anything like that in the EU and I have to wonder if that is part of the reason why they can't get a handle on this thing.  The same applies to the US.

Once we go full force on quarantining people will we go hardcore on imprisoning those that fail to comply?

Denmark Army Artillery units say goodbye to the M109A3DK

Le régiment d'artillerie 🇩🇰 a dit adieu à ses derniers canons automoteurs M109A3DK

➡️Dernier tir "intervenu + tôt que prévu en raison du coronavirus"

➡️Prochainement remplacés par 19 CAESAR 8x8 de @Nexter_Group acquis en 2017 (15) & 2019 (4)

(©️DAR/John Randeris) pic.twitter.com/1R8od9Emo8

— Forcesoperations (@ForcesOperation) March 17, 2020

Wow! I'm late on this! What will the coronavirus and govt spending to combat a slowdown do to the defense budget/modernization????

I'm monitoring CNBC and I'm watching the Dow Jones dip below 20K before popping back up.  Additionally major retailers are announcing that they're gonna be closed indefinitely with AMC Theaters announcing that they'll be closed for 6 to 12 weeks.

That's all huge.

Add to it that Auto Workers are asking for a work stoppage because of corona, the President is floating the idea of sending every person in the US a thousand dollars and the Fed has gone ape shit lending money and you have a deficit that has exploded.

Which brings me to the subject of this post.

What does this do to the defense budget/modernization?  We've all heard the talk of the terrible 2020's but I never thought it would be like this.

It's gonna be bad but how bad?  Will they be forced to adopt to the new reality of flat or declining budgets.  What are your thoughts?

845 Naval Air Squadron on their way to RNAS Yeovilton from Exercise Cold Response 2020 in the Arctic

For the love of all that's good with the world...please paint them green!

Jesus! 200,000 to almost 2 million Americans could die from the coronavirus?

NY Times from CDC estimates - US deaths - "As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die."

"2.4 million to 21 million people in the United States could require hospitalization" https://t.co/cKrcpLP4Ic

— Trent Reinsmith (@TrentReinsmith) March 14, 2020

Just plain wow.

Ok.  This has crystalized it for me.  Curious though.  I'm assuming they've had these estimates for at least a couple of weeks so why the slow rollout of the extra measures?  Why the slowness to declare a pandemic?

My thinking?

The Western world isn't ready to handle the measures necessary to win on this.  Additionally you can expect that China's relations with the rest of the world will FOREVER be tarnished after this episode.

We're seeing a society changing event even if it works to the best case scenario.

Chinese Light Armored Vehicle (Humvee Clone?) has clam shell side doors...

pic.twitter.com/7CSBcAdz7g

— 马日天 (@z5J6NWig6ByNnsC) March 14, 2020

If you follow the thread a Japanese poster asked the same question I had.  Why do this when normal doors are quicker and easier and has less stuff that could break.

Seems unnecessarily complex (although still relatively simple) solution to a thing so basic.

Even criminals are taking the coronavirus threat seriously...

Yeaaaaah ..that’s right pic.twitter.com/Wwg0RzH06W

— AMAZINACE (@AMAZINACE) March 14, 2020

I look at this as a minor crime although apparently New York City takes it quite seriously.  Regardless this is a bit of much needed humor (dark humor...pun not intended) in these crazy times.

Why hasn't anyone in the West duplicated the coaxial 30mm cannon on Mobile Gun Systems?

Новый конь для ВДВ pic.twitter.com/D9cMapcIho

— Денис Дионисов (@DenisDionisov) March 15, 2020

Was watching this tweet on the "new horse" for Russian airborne forces and while watching it fire it struck me that we're seeing a very simple (although at times limited) way to add firepower to our vehicles.

Are the negatives really so large that it shouldn't be considered?

Open Comment Post. 17 Mar 2020

Chinese Armor Pics. Type 99 & Type 04 doing work in the desert...

使用荒漠涂装的99A和04A pic.twitter.com/Lenz35jbd8

— 马日天 (@z5J6NWig6ByNnsC) March 16, 2020