Thursday, July 12, 2012
Militarized Police and Citizen Missteps.
Check out this vid.
The people that posted this video will want you to believe that the police over stepped the bounds and that this was an unjustified arrest.
Bullshit.
When asked to present an identification by Police you must comply. If you believe that Police are acting unjustifiably then you have the right to file a complaint or law suit later.
This guy crossed the line when the officer tried to place him under arrest and prevented him from handcuffing him. At that time he officially RESISTED ARREST and if he injured or in the case of him resisting caused the officer to injury himself, that little game of patty cake would have turned into FELONY RESISTING.
Additionally the female YELLING in the background was also wrong.
But this goes back to the issue of the people and its Police becoming divided. Do you remember the OPEN CARRY movement? People legally walked around with weapons on their hips in order to spark a police response. I believe we're seeing that movement evolve into these little run in's with police.
My prediction. Its gonna get much worse and one tiny spark will ignite certain cities unless these minor run in's are managed properly.
MRAPs go to Korea.
Pretty awesome news. Not awesome in a good way but more like awesome in the ... DOES ANYONE IN D.C. HAVE A CLUE!...kinda way.
I could be wrong (I could easily be wrong) but I haven't heard of any ideas, guidance, planning or policy regarding the use of MRAPs in regular Army formations. Read the entire article from Stars and Stripes but check out this....
“Beyond the increased force protection MRAPs offer our soldiers, MRAPs provide the 2nd Infantry Division the best platform for ‘mission command-on-the-move’ systems that allow our commanders to take command-post communications (and) command-and-control capabilities with them while circulating the battlefield,” he said.Read the whole thing but I would pay good money for one of these people to look at a reporter and say...Hey buddy I just don't fucking know!
Asked if the 2ID was concerned how North Korea might respond to the MRAP testing, Scrocca said, “The addition of MRAPs improves the 2nd Infantry Division’s force protection capabilities and enhances our ability to preserve peace and deter aggression on the Korean peninsula.”
Officials said most, if not all, of the MRAPs being delivered to South Korea were previously deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan and were refurbished in the U.S.
Mutter said U.S. military officials want to “capitalize on our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan” in figuring out how MRAPs might best be used in South Korea.
To the best of his knowledge, Mutter said, this month’s deliveries mark the first time MRAPs have been on the Korean peninsula.
But they won't. Instead we get bullshit like..."enhances our ability to preserve peace and deter aggression"....
Geez!
Long story short. The US Army and Marine Corps will store most of these vehicles, will give a few to federal, state and local law enforcement and the rest will be gifted to foreign countries.
They won't become a part of regular units except for maybe a few EOD and Military Police outfits and this will be looked back as a tremendous failure. Not because they were bought in a hurry but because too many were bought with no plans for the future.
Too funny.
Of course if that doesn't hit your funny bone then how about this????
Fat Girl Faceplants Off a Mechanical Bull - Watch More Funny Videos
F-35B BK-2 First Flight
 |
| Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti flew the 1.4-hour inagural flight of F-35B BK-2 from NAS Fort Worth JRB on 11 July 2012. BK-2 (serial number ZM136) is the second F-35 produced for the United Kingdom.The aircraft will join other F-35s at the training center at Eglin AFB, Florida, later this year. |
Farnborough 2012. F-18 Super Hornet flight display.
The best performance so far. Nothing special but it was done with flair. I wonder who the pilot is. That semi-cobra was cool though.
Rope Training.
 |
| Lance Cpl. Hung Q. Nguyen crosses a two-strand rope bridge at the
Jungle Warfare Training Center at Camp Gonsalves July 7. Nguyen, along
with his unit, are participating in a seven-day training package to
develop their skills in a jungle environment. Nguyen is a ground
communications organizational repairer with Marine Wing Support
Squadron 172, Marine Aircraft Group 36. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Erick Brooks) |
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Kfir on approach. A Joe Copalman pic.
 |
Colombian Air Force Kfir on final approach into Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base during workups for the FAC's participation in Red Flag 12-4
starting next week at Nellis.
Hugo Chavez probably ain't too happy about all this |
The Royal Air Force is whacking terrorist with drones...only they keep quiet about it!
Christopher Lee writes from London: Everyone knows about the US drones whacking the Taliban – or that’s how the Americans tell it. In the UK, the general attitude is: good on you Yanks. Blow away as many Taliban as your cowboys in Nevada Predator Control can spot.Read the whole thing...and I'm not sure about the website but it makes you wonder doesn't it?
It’s great stuff because no one gets killed except terrorists and a few civilians. Also, the military anoraks say this is the future as well as Now Warfare. It’s technology challenging the guy with the turban and bomb-lined waistcoat. If a few Human Rights Watch campaigners complain that a bunch of families got in the way, then that’s too bad. They shouldn’t hang out with the bad guys.
Anyway, not many dead and we never met any of them. End of US media briefing. British Media break into applause
What people in the UK don’t know is that the British have their own drones and they’re doing quite a bit of their own killing – including civilians. The RAF is operating Reaper drones and guiding them to targets – or as close as doesn’t seem to matter to the RAF – from a US military facility in Nevada.
How many drone strikes have the Brits made and the US took the credit/blame for it? Oh and only a fool would believe that the Brits aren't making cross border drone raids into Pakistan.
The difference? The Brits know how to maintain operational security and we seem to have forgotten.
SIDENOTE:
This has been staring everyone in the face but to my knowledge no one (before this article) put it together. And the reason why we missed it is because they haven't been broadcasting the capability all over the place. Not only is the upper lip stiff but the mouth is closed. Bully for them.
F-35 pic dump.
Lockheed tossed a whole bunch of pics out today...tried to go through them and find the ones I haven't posted. If some are re-runs then I apologize get over it.
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Fifth F-35B test aircraft returns to Patuxent River
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| NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The F-35B test aircraft BF-5 returned to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on June 26 after a planned modification period in Fort Worth, Texas. BF-5 fills the complement of five F-35B test aircraft at NAS Patuxent River. The F-35B is the variant of the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. Marine Corps and international partners, capable of short take-offs and vertical landings for use on amphibious ships or expeditionary airfields to provide air power to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The F-35B is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to delivery to the fleet. |
Costa-Haley Effect (CHE) and the perfect carbine setup.
The Costa Haley Effect (CHE) exemplified in his AR.
It goes a little like this.
- A 14 to 16 inch gas Carbine. The higher dollar it is the better.
- Magpul buttstock (adjustable of course)
- Tango Down grip
- Aimpoint optics on a LaRue mount
- LaRue rails
Well you get the idea. But hold on and be strong. Once the gear makers have sold as many units of this setup you can bet that they'll move on to something else. And that's the danger of this. Its not really a matter of what works, its a matter of separating the consumer from his cash. I mean really. I have buddies that run compensators on AR's and they go 6'3" and 225! The last thing they need is a compensator on a rifle that's as light as a 5.56! Its more style than substance. Of course night shoots are fun with these guys and the first time we did it they were blind as bats but that's all right...they were stylin'!
Spare us the trendy and that goes for HQMC too. That's the danger with Marines attending 3 gun matches...some of its practical, most of it isn't and almost 90% of it is gear based.
And that's what this post is all about. Time to get back to basics Marines. 3 gun is a sport that was designed to give sport shooters another platform to ply their skills on. Unless the Marine Corps is about to start building race guns then its another trend that needs to be done away with.
SIDENOTE:
It's coming and when it finally hits I'll be pounding walls. The first time I see a Marine attempting to clear a room while using a C-clamp on his rifle I'll know that common sense when it comes to weapons handling has left the Corps. Perfect camo...except for the black rifle.
Check out this picture of a Marine sweating his ass off at 29 Palms (been there, done that have more than a few t-shirts)....
That MARPAT Desert works.
It works great and the US Army deserves a foot in the ass for not adopting it. But ignore that issue for a minute and what stands out. Those gay ass shades he's wearing and that black rifle.
Isn't it time for the Marine Corps to duracoat all its weapons coyote brown and be done with it? That's pure dee craziness. A camo system that works and then you mess it all up with a black rifle that stands out!
That's the kind of back to basics thinking that the Marine Corps needs to adopt. Enough of the social engineering -- we need a focus on getting each and everything right when it comes to winning on the battlefield.
Every Marine, everywhere sweating his nuts off deserves nothing less.
Fire Team Ready
 |
| Lance Cpl. Mark Fitzmyer, rifleman, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 25th
Marine Regiment, provides cover fire for the rest of his platoon
during an attack on the Combat Center's Range 410A July 6, 2012,
during Large Scale Exercise-1/Javelin Thrust 2012. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. D. J. Wu) |
H-60. US Military Multi-Generational Helicopter.
The U.S. Army and Navy today signed an $8.5 billion contract with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), to buy a baseline quantity of 653 BLACK HAWK and SEAHAWK® helicopters through December 2017. The five-year contract will yield significant savings for the U.S. Government compared with purchasing the same quantity across five separate annual agreements.Interesting.
The five-year agreement also allows the Army and Navy to order as many as 263 more aircraft within the same contractual terms. If exercised, the optional purchases could push the contract value as high as $11.7 billion. Actual production quantities will be determined year-by-year over the life of the program based on funding allocations set by Congress and Pentagon acquisition priorities.
“By buying a five-year quantity of four helicopter models in a single joint-service purchase, the two services have enabled Sikorsky and our suppliers to aggressively control our long- term costs,” said John Palumbo, Sikorsky’s Vice President for BLACK HAWK aircraft production. “Furthermore, by ordering a similar number of aircraft year-over-year, the Army and Navy have ensured that we can stabilize our supply base over the same period of time.”
The Army and Navy have carved out a scheme to ensure that they have a steady supply of new helicopters to replace old and lost airframes over the next five years. Left on the outside looking in is the US Air Force and Marines.
I like the MV-22. I think that it has some awesome capabilities. But at the end of the day, I wonder if we wouldn't have been better served (from a cost AND capabilities point) by going in with the Navy and buying a pure combat UH-60. Using the ESSS, we could have a helicopter that would replace both the UH-1Y and the CH-46. Combat capable. Attack capable. Cargo carrying capable. I think the aviation neck down might have cost us more than we realize.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Italy postpones Freccia while attempting sales to Columbia...
Hmmm. Missed this one but it makes sense. Iveco is making inroads into S. America in a big way...or at least trying to. Check this out.
Italian manufacturers are in talks with Colombian officials to negotiate the delivery of new military vehicles including the 8x8 IFV VBM Freccia. The Colombia Army has a requirement for a new 8x8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle as it is trying to improve its armoured component. The Colombian Army currently operates with the Brazilian made EE-9 Cascavel and EE-11 Urutu....That article is from late April. Hit the link to read it all. The Italian govt is including a nice package of vehicles to sweeten the pot. Now add to it this article I got from Jonathan today (Defense News article by subscription only).
However, Italian CIO (Consorzio Iveco Oto Melara) is trying to push the Freccia armoured vehicle proposing a large military package also including the Leopard 1 A5 MBT's and the M113 APC coming from the Italian Army's surplus.The Leopard 1 A5's were placed in storage as Italian armoured brigades dismissed them in favour of new Ariete MBTs. The 31sth Armoured Regiment "Pinerolo" Brigade was the last Italian Army Regiment to be equipped with Leopard 1 A5 as it was converted for the Italian Army's "Forza NEC" Program, the Italian net-centric program.
The Leopard 1 A5 was produced by German KMW and Rheinmetall companies and bought by the Italian Army in the Eighties to use with armoured units alongside American M60s. The Leopard 1 A5's were fitted out with a larger turret than the previous models to host a new fire control systems and enable night operations. Currently in the Italian Army surplus there could be more than 100 Leopard 1 A5's.
The M113's are still in service with Italian Army armoured and mechanized units, but they are being replaced with Freccias and they could be available as second hand equipment for the export. The Freccia armoured vehicle is currently deployed with Italian contingent in Afghanistan in Shindand western province.
ROME — Italy’s newly released Defense Ministry budget for 2012 reveals that a number of key procurement programs are to be slowed as spending cuts announced last year begin to bite.Why am I am I linking the two developments?
After deciding last year to slash 28 percent off procurement spending, Italy has reduced its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter order, announced a fire sale of Navy ships and hatched plans to cut 30,000 troops.
But Rome had not, until now, gone public with a full breakdown on its truncated spending plan for 2012. Due for publication last November, Italy’s 2012 budget had been delayed as generals divided up scarce funds for ongoing programs.
Released to the parliament at the end of June and seen by Defense News, the spending document describes a “reduction, remodulation, slow down and reorienting” of procurement in 2012.
The completion of Italy’s purchase of 249 VBM Freccia armored vehicles, built by Iveco and Oto Melara, slips from this year to 2016, while the full buy of Italy’s second pair of U 212 submarines is pushed back from 2016 to 2017.
The upgrading of Italian mine-sweepers is moved back from 2014 to 2018, while the full delivery of Army and Navy NH90 helicopters is pushed from 2018 to 2021. New combat search-and-rescue AW101 helicopters for the Air Force will be fully delivered by 2017, not 2014.
Deliveries of the new Vulcano munition for Army and Navy guns, and small-diameter bombs and a new direct infrared countermeasure system for the Air Force are all put back by at least two years.
“There has been a tendency for a number of years to delay big decisions about a large rebalancing of the budget,” said Roberto Menotti, an analyst at think tank Aspen Institute Italia. “It is a cautious way to proceed that makes sense when the future is uncertain, but you want to be at the table in Europe on major programs.”
The upshot, he added, is that producers such as Italy’s Finmeccanica defense and aerospace group are being driven “to find innovative ways into new markets as their traditional sources of income reduce.”
Total Defense Ministry spending this year stands at 13.61 billion euros ($16.75 billion), down 5.2 percent from 2011, and equal to 0.84 percent of Italy’s gross domestic product.
Because I'm not looking at them in a vaccum. First. The delay in production is understandable with the economic troubles hitting Italy. Remember. Delayed not canceled. Second. Considering the success in Brazil, the pending buy of Gurauni IFV's by Argentina and if they can get Columbia to bite then you'll see a string of success in S. America by the Italian govt and Iveco that is hard to beat. Quite honestly the only other group that has had equal success would be the Germans and KMW.
Everyone is focused on the Brazillian fighter contest yet the arms race in S. America is zooming along and what many would consider bit players in the defense industry are running away with it.
The big boys better pay attention cause the little guys are kicking there ass down south.
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