SNAFU!

Monday, August 03, 2020

Pic of the day. Inverted Super Hornet.

Note. I'm sad to say I don't know what those "folding wing" missiles are under the wing. Help a bro out.

Leclerc tank repairer (DCL)

Avec ses 56 tonnes, le dépanneur char Leclerc (DCL) a été conçu pour récupérer et évacuer les chars de plus de 50 tonnes. Grâce à son équipement, il participe aux opérations de maintenance lourde et à l’aménagement du terrain en opération. #ProduitNexter #fildedefense pic.twitter.com/9VJTjtjL5z
— Nexter_Group (@Nexter_Group) July 29, 2020

Chinese Military Aviation "Ooh-Rah" Tweet...

受阅空中梯队起飞 pic.twitter.com/3y1ZxTMiX1
— 蜜柑🍊 (@KushigumoAkane) August 1, 2020

Special Forces of the Rosgvardia Directorate for the Tula Region (Russian SF)

Looks like Russian SF are big on ATVs and Team Wendy helmets now. Weird thing is that almost looks like a Brit Tomcar or whatever that contraption they have that they claim to be an "equivalent" Polaris...

Porsanger battalion has been established in Finnmark (Norwegian Army)

Translation by Google

Porsanger battalion has been established in Finnmark and the year of training for Cavalry Squadron 2 has been concluded with a sniper with the squadron battle group. The sniping was carried out as a cooperative exercise in which all the troops in Cavalry Squadron 2 participated (armored reconnaissance, sniper, combat support, bomber and armored engineer). The troops carried out missions and shootings in their respective fields, and collaborated across the troops.

Sunday, August 02, 2020

Canadian Super Hornet?

Pic via The Drive

One thing has confused me about the Canadian competition and the planes in the running. Why did Boeing go with the Super Hornet instead of the F-15EX?

Open Comment Post. 2 August 2020

Evil Reed Richards vs Ultimate Hulk

God bless the Marines involved in the AAV accident but I fear that worse is coming.

By now you've heard of the accident off the California coast with 1 Marine confirmed dead and eight others missing.

This isn't going to be a "slam the concept" type blog post.

It isn't going to try and guess the cause of the accident.

No. This blog post is a warning to Marines and the Marine Corps about trouble, big trouble coming our way.

The very nature of how the Marine Corps transports its personnel from ship to shore is going to lead to a mass tragedy at sea one day. Quite honestly I'm more than a bit surprised we haven't seen it yet.

Think about it.

We transport large numbers of Marines (relatively large) by CH-53K, MV-22, AAV/ACV, C-130 and landing craft.

With operations getting pushed further out to sea, independent ship operations etc...then we can expect an airplane/helo to go down or an AAV/ACV/Landing Craft to sink.

Sorry men but that's the sad reality of things. What can we do to mitigate the risk? Unfortunately it would take totally revamping our way of doing things (which I don't deem feasible). We would have to reduce the number of people per transport, and stop practicing as we will fight. Like I said it just ain't feasible.

Unfortunately that danger will only increase in the future. Imagine this. A C-130 is dispatched to establish a FARP on a remote island. That C-130 suffers engine trouble at 200 miles from land. Suddenly it goes down with 50 Marines onboard. The nearest rescue is 5 hours away. Except for the pilots/aircrew no one is wearing locator beacons. It isn't storm conditions but the seas are high.

Oh and let me add that the water temp is 60 degrees.

We'll be lucky to save 10 of these Marines.

Military service is inherently dangerous. The Marine Corps needs to reaffirm that fact, do everything possible to mitigate risk and accept the sad fact that unfortunately Marines will die.

That is the future I unfortunately see (and that's just training, not open warfare against a capable foe).

Having said all that let me get to the important part.

May the memories of the Marines be a blessing to their families. God Bless.