Tyler Rogoway has a story up about a mystery S-92 evacuating injured Special Ops from Syria...

The story is here.

Read the story but I'm not buying the contractor flying for Special Ops thing.  Either its some kind of secret unit we don't know about, the 160th flying aircraft we didn't know they had or some bubbas from the CIA but it ain't a contractor.

I can't quite make it out but that thing has all kinds of bumps, bulges and machine guns hanging out...plus Syria is complex battlespace.  You can't fly in that type of environment without the latest anti-missile, identification etc type gear.

AAVs doing work aboard the USS Arlington...pics by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandon Parker

Zimbabwe suffers violent protests after fuel tax hike...

via Voice Of America.

HARARE, ZIMBABWE —

Violent protests erupted in Zimbabwe's two largest cities after the government announced a massive fuel hike.

Police fired tear gas in order to contain the protests in the capital Harare and Bulawayo Monday, while protesters threw rocks, burned tires and blocked streets.

There were media reports of riot police using live ammunition to disperse the crowds.

At least 13 people were injured by gunfire, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said.

The clashes came on the first day of a three-day strike called by unions in response to an intensifying economic crisis.

On Saturday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a 150 percent rise in fuel prices.

Mnangagwa on Monday defended the decision at the start of a five-nation tour.

"Zimbabwe is going through both political and economic reforms and these do not come easily," he told reporters in Moscow. "It will take time for things to settle and results to be shown."

He said the fuel price hike was necessary because local fuel was the cheapest in the region.

Mnangagwa, who took power after longtime leader Robert Mugabe was forced to resign in November 2017, is trying to win back foreign investors sidelined under Mugabe.

Sounds a bit like the same trouble Macron ran into in France doesn't it.  Something is in the wind.  Don't know what it is but leaders worldwide are singing from the same playbook and citizens everywhere aren't buying it.

Blast from the past. French AMX-10P ACRA (Anti-Char Rapide Autopropulsé) with 142mm gun ,it can launch ACRA ATGMs

Pics via Caesar's Twitter Page!

Coming soon to a Marine Base near you...LAV-A3!

via DVIDS

The fleet of Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles will begin receiving a number of necessary upgrades under the terms of a $37.2 million contract awarded Jan. 4. General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada will perform the work, which includes the procurement of 60 hardware kits in support of the Light Armored Vehicle Reset Program. The enhancements are designed to extend the service life of the LAV into the 2030s.
Embedded in their original design, LAVs combine speed, maneuverability and firepower to perform a variety of functions, including security, command and control, reconnaissance and assault. The first LAVs were initially fielded in 1983.

The reset effort will focus on five key areas:

• modernized powerpack to improve reliability, cooling capacity and diagnostics with the added benefit of better fuel economy

• new drive train which will improve towing capability

• steering dampener to improve road feel and usability 

• digitized drivers’ instrument panel

• LAV 25 slip rings—doubling power supply capability to the turret and modernized to handle additional channels for gigabit Ethernet, video and fiber optics

“The Marine Corps is committed to ensuring this platform remains viable into the 2030s,” said Steve Myers, LAV program manager.
Active light armored reconnaissance battalions will be the first units to receive the upgraded vehicles, which will become LAV A3s.

The hardware kits will be installed at Marine Corps Depots, with Initial Operational Capability targeted for the second quarter of fiscal 2021.

The contract was awarded through the Army Contracting Command in Warren, Michigan.

Someone in the USMC hiearchy really loves the LAV.  They just upgraded to the LAV-A2 version and they're already doing a LAV-A3?  Name another vehicle that's had such an aggressive upgrade path anywhere else in the US military.  I can't think of one!

Assault Breacher Vehicle disembarks from a Landing Craft Air Cushion Hovercraft with Assault Craft Unit 5, during a simulated amphibious assault

Iron Horse Troopers conduct live fire exercise @ Camp Aachen in Grafenwoehr, Germany

"What the actual fuck is going on in London"?? Is this real??

What the actual fuck is going on in London??? Just witnessed a man at Tulse Hill station running around chasing people with a machete! #TulseHill pic.twitter.com/X7t9BKap21

— Xara Pandora (@xarapandapop) January 14, 2019

4 US Servicemen killed in Syria. Tell their families that fight is worth it...

via CBS

U.S. troops were among those killed Wednesday in an attack in northern Syria, the U.S. military has confirmed to CBS News. The U.S.-led coalition in Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve, confirmed in a tweet that, "U.S. service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today." 

A U.S. military official confirmed separately to CBS News senior national defense correspondent David Martin reports by Kurdish media outlets that at least two Americans were among the dead in the city of Manbij, not far from the Turkish border, after an explosion hit a coalition convoy.

The U.S. military has not confirmed how many American casualties were among the bombing victims on Wednesday, but at least one report said as many as four U.S. service members were killed. If true, Martin notes that it would be the single largest loss of U.S. life in Syria since American forces were deployed there in 2015. 

Story here. 

Initial reports are irking the hell outta me.  These bubbas got careless if the mouthpiece on MSNBC is correct.  Engel is reporting that US forces frequented a local restaurant a couple of times a week and that they would regularly stop in for food to either eat there or to take out.

That's sloppy as hell.

They made it easy for the bad guys to clock them.  That's basic 101 type shit.

We'll get the after action so I'll table that for a second and hope that report is wrong.  The bigger issue is the fight itself.  Hatred for Trump has the news media pointing to this thing and saying that ISIS isn't dead.

Their force is!  How could such a small force, at most 100K fighters in the field, stand up to the might being arrayed against them in the form of the US, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Turkey and others?

The answer is simple.

They couldn't.

The ISIS dream of a new caliphate died long ago.  This is about the next war in the Middle East and we can alter plans without getting dragged into the Syria debacle. 

If that terrain is key to the next fight then we need to go all in and win it.  Put boots on the ground in a major way and occupy the country.  If not then we need to withdraw, alter plans to meet new realities and rest/reset/modernize our forces for the future fight.

Either way we're doing this wrong.

The worst part of this thing?  Someone is gonna have to tell those families that their loved one died and reassure them that it was for a noble cause. The person selected needs to be evil as hell, otherwise they won't be able to mutter the lie.

Artillery Fire....photo by Sgt. James Lefty Larimer

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 65th Field Artillery Brigade, and soldiers from the Kuwait Land Forces fire their High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (U.S.) and BM-30 Smerch rocket systems (Kuwait) during a joint live-fire exercise, Jan. 8, 2019, near Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The U.S. and Kuwaiti forces train together frequently to maintain a high level of combat readiness and to maintain effective communication between the two forces. 

Open Comment Post. 16 Jan 2019

UK Ministry Of Defense Fighter Roadmap...

They're planning on the F-35 to have a 40 year service life?  Talk about optimistic! 

CH-147 Chinook performing a "pinnacle landing"

The background on the famous seal vs penguin pic is fascinating...

Photo by @amosnachoumphotography “When the seal reached open water, I followed him moving in parallel and watching every action. To my surprise, the seal let the penguin go twice. Each time the seal chased the penguin, the seal seemed to enjoy the game. The penguin was terrified. The seal caught him a few times and eventually drowned the penguin. The seal shook his victim violently in and out of the water stripping all the feathers off and then he preyed on the penguin’s raw exposed skin."Facing Reality was voted category winner for Animals in their Environment and Love on the Rocks received honorable mention. 

I find that explanation of this pic fascinating.  I've always wondered about this photo and wanted to know more.  Now that I do it makes me curious about animals.

The seal was playing with his prey before devouring it.

Is this simply a part of its instinct or is it an act of intelligence?  If it's intelligence then can we say that it's malevolent?  Eating to survive is one thing (instinct), toying with your prey (intelligence) is something else entirely.

Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer (SSPH) Primus in New Zealand.

Thanks to LRD for these pics (popping it out of comments for those that didn't see it)!!!

Open Comment Post. 15 Jan 2019

Apache Attack Helicopters and Wildcat Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopters @ Exercise CLOCKWORK

Pics via Jon Pentreath's (Commander, Joint Helicopter Command)...

AAVs conduct training ops from the USS Wasp...Pics by Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Barker

FNSS Kaplan MT Infographic...

Canadian TAPV suffering high rate of rollovers and fires...

via National Post.

The Canadian Army’s new armoured vehicles have been plagued by rollovers and fires, the latest in a series of problems to affect the $600-million fleet.

Since April 2014, there have been 10 incidents when Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles have tipped on to their sides, six where they have rolled over completely, and four where they have caught fire.

Pat Finn, the assistant deputy minister in charge of procurement at the Department of National Defence, told Postmedia there have been no serious injuries as a result of the incidents. But the problems are not the first to hit the Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles or TAPVs.

The TAPV program has “experienced a number of significant technical issues, particularly affecting vehicle mobility,” then-defence minister Rob Nicholson was told in August 2014. There have been problems with the suspension, steering and other items on the vehicle, according to a briefing document released under the Access to Information law.

The technical issues significantly delayed the test program for the vehicles, the document added. “These accumulating incidents, which relate to the vehicle’s ability to travel distances on medium cross country terrain, led the project office to conclude the existing testing could no longer continue.”

The Conservative government announced the TAPV contract in 2012 as part of its re-equipping of the Canadian Army. Canada bought 500 TAPVs from Textron, a U.S.-based defence firm, at a cost of $603 million. The TAPV is a wheeled combat vehicle that will conduct reconnaissance and surveillance, security, command and control, and armoured transport of personnel and equipment.

Finn said as a result of the various incidents further quality assurance tests are being done. “It’s kind of high off the ground so it can be more agile,” he explained about the vehicle. “(But) it brings with it a high centre of gravity.”

“It may be it’s about training and understanding the vehicle,” Finn added.

None of the vehicles have been written off because of the incidents, according to the Canadian Army. “Upon review of the major TAPV incidents, it has been identified that the most common contributing factors of these incidents tends to be human error due to limited familiarity time operating the vehicles,” the army noted in an emailed statement to Postmedia.

The army pointed out that investigations into the incidents did not reveal any design or mechanical faults. “Primary reports on the majority of these incidents (rollover and tip-overs) were attributed to a combination of factors, such as operator experience, the vehicle’s high centre of gravity, weather conditions, and/or vehicle speed,” the email noted.

The army did not provide any explanation for the four fires on the TAPVs.

The army noted that it is considering limits on the speeds the vehicles can operate at as well as “rollover hazard mitigations” and “recommendations such as the use of new technology to enhance experience for new drivers and crew.”

The army did not provide further details on those new technologies or initiatives.

The TAPV project will cost taxpayers a total of $1.2 billion, which not only includes the vehicles but also includes the building of infrastructure to house them, as well as the purchase of ammunition and service support for the equipment.

The initial problems with steering and other issues delayed the delivery of the vehicles. After those were dealt with, the army had to contend last year with concerns about brakes and the distance the vehicles needed to stop. The TAPV is a heavy vehicle and requires longer stopping distances at higher speeds than most new drivers are familiar with, noted DND spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier in July 2018.

The fleet of TAPVs have been distributed across seven bases and 24 units throughout Canada. The Canadian army has said it expects to declare full operational capability by mid-2020, following training of all operators. TAPVs were first deployed in spring 2017 to assist communities affected by the flooding in Quebec.

This is (in my opinion) an issue of driver training first and foremost.  If you ain't used to driving a high center of gravity vehicle...especially over rough terrain, then you're gonna see stuff like this.

That explains the rollovers.

The vehicle fires?

I have no clue.

Either way I'm a fan of the TAPV and know that it will serve the Canadians well.  Hopefully they get this sorted out quickly.  If they do then this bargain priced acquisition will live up to its potential.