Why didn't hydrofoils catch on with the military?

Hydrofoil technology allowing this boat to effortlessly float above the water pic.twitter.com/Wx9HZne09B

— Science is Amazing (@AMAZlNGSCIENCE) April 23, 2020

Do you see how fast and smooth that ship is zooming across the sea?  Simply amazing!  Why didn't this catch on with a military force?  Seems like the old fast attack concepts would make this a no brainer especially in the 1st island chain.

Forget LCS.

Get a small ship with an even smaller crew, load up about four to eight medium to long range anti-ship missiles and have them zoom out to attrit an enemy fleet.

This is old tech.  Why ain't it being used?

EOS Successfully Fires Multiple Weapons from Remote Weapon Station

via Press Release.

EOS Defense Systems USA, Inc. (ASX: EOS) successfully fired anti-tank missiles and a 30mm cannon from an EOS remote weapon station mounted on a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The firings, conducted at the Redstone Test Center, Ala., utilized U.S. Army-supplied Javelin missiles and the Northrop Grumman M230LF Bushmaster gun.

During the test, the team launched two Javelin missiles in between M230LF Bushmaster gun 30mm cannon fire volleys. Both systems were mounted on an EOS R400S Mk2 Remote Weapon Station and validated that neither weapons’ employment adversely affected the other’s performance. EOS and the Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), worked together to fully integrate Javelin with the EOS remote weapon station within 10 months.

“This was an exceptional opportunity to fire one of the most lethal anti-tank missiles in the world in conjunction with a 30mm chain gun to validate that they are completely interoperable.” said BG (Retired) Phil Coker, CEO for EOS Defense Systems USA. “The ability to effectively counter any maneuver threat on the modern battlefield is a significant advantage to an Army that has to deploy to any fight.  At the same time, the capacity that the R400 offers to clearly identify friend-from-foe at the Javelin’s max range is an advantage that few other systems offer.”

The R400S is in full-rate production and is currently in use by six allied nations. The system can be mounted on a broad range of fighting and support vehicles, both wheeled and tracked.

Javelin was first deployed in 1996, and has been involved in more than 5,000 engagements by U.S. and coalition forces.

About EOS Defense Systems USA: EOS Defense Systems USA, Inc. is a US company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.  EOS' parent company, Electro Optic Systems PTY Limited is an Australian company that has been at the forefront of the development of remote weapon stations since 1993.  EOS is an industry leader in Remote Weapon Station technology and continuously invests to improve currently fielded and developing stations.

Two things.

1.  Hey Marine Corps.  Since you killed tanks and are killing the number of ACVs (possibly...still hoping not) how about you slap one of these on every ACV/JLTV, hell even a few MTVRs so we can have a bit of ground based organic tank killing capability as well as a kick ass cannon to take on enemy technicals, APCs and IFVs?

2.  EOS must be pissed cause I usually get a heads up on these announcements.  Not this time.  I don't do facebook so unless they put me back on the list news is gonna be slow from these bubbas.

Sidenote.  I wonder if they can give us a double javelin launcher...Maybe even a triple or quad pack?

UAE appears to have ordered Wahash IFVs

via Janes

A Finnish export approval indicates that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has placed an order for the Wahash 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) developed by the local company Calidus.

Official documentation shows that, during a 12 March session, the Finnish government gave Sisu Axles and Katsa licenses to export axles and transmissions that Calidus would use in its own products. The Wahash is the only land vehicle promoted by Calidus.

Both companies produce similar parts for the Patria AMV 8×8 IFV, 40 of which were delivered to the UAE in 2016 as an urgent requirement while it continued to develop an indigenous counterpart.

A version of the Turkish company Otokar's Arma 8×8 called the Rabdan appeared to have won the contest when it was announced during the IDEX show held in Abu Dhabi in February 2017 that the Emirati military had ordered 400 from a joint venture called Al-Jasoor (now part of the UAE's Edge defence conglomerate).

Otokar said it would produce the first 100 Rabdans in Turkey and some of these were delivered in time for the IDEX show held in February 2019. However, the Wahash was unveiled by the leaders of Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the same show, prompting speculation that the competition might still be open.

At the time, Calidus had no known manufacturing capability. Nevertheless, it was announced during the Dubai Air Show in November 2019 that the UAE's air force had ordered 24 of the B-250 light attack aircraft developed by the company.

Meanwhile, a member of the Wahash engineering team uploaded a photograph of an industrial building to Google Maps that he identified as the location of the Calidus Land Systems facility in Abu Dhabi's Al-Wathbah suburb. Satellite imagery shows construction of the facility began in 2018 and there is also a new runway and hangar nearby there that were completed in 2019.

Wow.

Alot of secret squirrel going on in this article.  That's why JANES is so good. I couldn't put that together with the directions!

Anyway this is an interesting vehicle.  Can't wait to see it in the wild.

Armor P*rn. Chinese VT4 MBT is now equipped with the heavy FY-4 ERA (EXPORT version)...

Pics via China Defense Blog.

Yep.  That front armor has gone from a "B" cup to "DD".  If the Chinese are exporting this armor (CDB says this is for Thailand) then I wonder what they have cooked up for their domestic forces.

Boomerang 8x8 amphibious combat vehicle to be sold on the export market....

via Defense Aerospace.

MOSCOW --- Russia has started to promote the export of armored vehicles based on the latest Bumerang combat platform, with their sales estimated at about $1 billion, the press office of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport reported on Thursday.

"Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec) has started to promote the latest Bumerang standardized combat platform developed and produced by the Military Industrial Company on foreign markets," the press office said in a statement.

As Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev said, countries of Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the CIS have already displayed their interest in the Bumerang combat vehicle.

"We estimate the export of this platform at about $1 billion in the foreseeable future," the press office quoted the Rosoboronexport chief as saying.

Here. 

This.

This is my concern. 

The USMC is getting light.  So light that it should almost be reclassified as a coastal defense force and no longer a Marine Corps, but the threat is only increasing.

Outside of that limited role in the Pacific, the future Marine Corps (as planned) will be useless.

Hybrid forces are meching up.

Nation state forces are doing the same...and you can bet that Russia will be selling these beasts at cost...maybe at a loss if they can gain influence/bases/or a loyal govt to push their agenda.

Penny packets of Marines in these mythical Company Landing Teams will be found, fixed and destroyed.  The last thing we'll hear is the XO screaming into the radio that "6" is dead, he's taken command and he requests immediate firesupport.  Then the blast from a 30mm chain gun, 120mm cannon fire or the screech of missiles and the radio goes dead.

Change course Berger.

China is the pacing threat but its a big big world with tons of enemies and hotspots that have yet to show up on the radar screen.

Golf Company conducts amphibious raid training on Karan Island, Saudi Arabia.....Photos by Staff Sgt. Pablo Morrison

FNSS MAV Marine Assault Vehicle

Note.  We were so focused on the coronavirus that I missed pics of this thing operating in the real world.  Hopefully more info to come.  FNSS is probably the best of the defense manufacturers with communicating to the public about their products at this time.  BAE has fallen way back (don't know why), Rheinmetall has always been closed mouth unless you're in their handpicked club (congrats Drummond) and Lockheed will never love me.  So just MAYBE we can get some info on this beast.

Armor P*rn. FNSS Kaplan STA

The History of: The US Army's "D-Day" Assault Jacket | Uniform History

Note.  Haven't really been into uniform items but somehow this showed up in my YouTube recommended vids.  I'm digging it.  Not gonna go wild but I'll be on the lookout for specialized uniform items that might be worth a look during the current times.

Open Comment Post. 23 Apr 2020

If we're looking at a 2nd wave of the coronavirus then what were these lockdowns all about????

via Washington Post.

Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season.

“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”

“We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,” he said.

Here. 

Then we have everyone's favorite,  tiny,  little Science - God...Dr Faucci.  Let's see what he said to his worshippers.



Ok.

So if we're looking at a 2nd wave (and I agree with that...I've said that long ago)...then what were these lockdowns about?

It WASN'T ABOUT killing the spread of the virus.

It WASN'T ABOUT obtaining herd immunity.

It WAS ABOUT preventing hospitals from being over run.

We accomplished that goal.  Even the WORST HIT PLACE IN THE US, New York City ended up with excess capacity.

Yet some of you clowns think we should remain closed?  What metrics are you using?  What are the conditions that you think we need to meet in order to re-open?

The answer?

At this time THERE IS NOTHING we can do!

We can keep hotspots closed.  We can monitor each county and be ready to pounce on an outbreak. We can continue to message wearing masks and gloves (while getting production up to a level that stuns the world and makes the Chinese blush).

Finally we can open up the fucking economy.

We won't beat this thing till we have a vaccine and that won't be for another year, year and a half.  Meanwhile we need to save our economy.

For the fearful?  Get over yourselves.  We can't stop moving because fear is spreading across the land.  You cinch your gear down tight and you keep moving forward.

Anything else is just idiocy.

Yemen: Supreme Council for Administration & Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs & International Cooperation (Houti) Launches Urgent Distress Call To Provide Humanitarian Aid To Those Affected By Torrential Rain In Aden

Yémen : Le Conseil suprême pour l'administration & la coordination des affaires humanitaires & de la coopération internationale (Houti) lance un appel de détresse urgent pour fournir l'aide humanitaire nécessaire aux personnes touchées par les pluies torrentielles à Aden (au sud) pic.twitter.com/H4I7I8UHMR

— Rebecca Rambar (@RebeccaRambar) April 22, 2020