SNAFU!

Sunday, January 27, 2019

'China Marines' launch simulated boat raid from Ashland....pics by Lance Cpl. Harrison Rakhshani (isn't it time for Boat Company to get CB90's?)

Small rant.

The Rubber Raiding Craft has served us well for a long time but it's time has past. Did you read the article I posted on how the Marine Corps is getting ready for the big fight? Did you read how they're talking about big amphibs operating far offshore with other ships closer in?

With that in mind I believe it's time to dump the old style raiding craft and climb into the future with the CB-90.

The basics? 21 Marines per boat. 240 mile range at 20 knots. 3 fifty cal machine guns, 40mm grenade launcher and I imagine a few other things we could attach if we put forth the effort.

Long story short?

The CB-90 could accomplish the same mission more easily, launching from further out, traveling much faster, providing much more firepower to support insertion/extraction, could flex into other missions like VBSS and the Navy has experience operating them due to our friends in the Riverines.

It's past time to make our Boat Raids more effective. It's time to get CB-90's for our Marines.

Nexter Group - VBCI 2 T40 8X8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle & Titus 6x6 Armoured Vehicle

Note: Don't know what language that is but ignore it. The vid itself nicely highlights both vehicles...

Poland Ministry Of National Defense - XC-360P Rosomak 8X8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle

Saturday, January 26, 2019

(Repeat Vid...but I'm excited by this airplane!) Bell V-280 Valor – First Year of Flight

This is a repeat vid but I'm excited by this airplane! I'm really beginning to wonder if we finally cracked the code on tilt rotors and will get prop plane performance in flight along with the ability to land vertically. Remember another of my old favorites the XC-142A?

It also seemed like a winner but supposedly vibrations were too severe and I'm guessing that a bit of reluctance to embrace the new tech also played a role.

The V-280 APPEARS to be the winner we've been waiting for. Experience from the V-22, plus advances in the tech, a new approach to tilt rotors and a new appreciation for the needs of modern military forces might mean we can finally embrace the tech and have our competitors struggling to catch up.

The Army is trying to slow walk this thing. I get it. Budgets are tight but SOCOM and it's various air arms along with a smattering of them with in the conventional forces, a big buy from DHS and other federal agencies could help prevent this thing from slipping away.

In my opinion SOCOM is the key.

Where they lead others will follow. As much as I hate to admit it (cause the USMC was once that leader) they need to keep this tech alive by buying a couple dozen, if not more. The applications in Africa alone are mind boggling and it could LITERALLY save lives if its just used in the Medivac role.

The DRIVE Blog covers the Leclerc MBT 140mm ....

Story here.

Not wanting to bust sunshine off the readers of this blog but you guys rock! The DRIVE article is good, Tyler as usual hit a home run, the problem is that everything covered was already discussed in the comments section of this blog.

Read his article, but well done gents. We're ahead of the curve.

MAGTF-6: Motorized Operations Course.....pic by Sgt. Victor Mancilla

ISIS WILL be defeated in Syria within a month, says Kurdish military commander

via Daily Mail.

A top military commander has said ISIS will be defeated in Syria within a month - five weeks after Donald Trump said the terror group had been eliminated in the country.

Mazloum Kobani, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said the last remaining jihadists will soon be flushed out and military operations against the extremists wrapped up.

It comes five weeks after the US President tweeted: 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.'

Story here.

The Daily Mail tries to spin this as the Commander disputing what Trump said but that is just false.

If our purpose for remaining in Syria is all about ISIS then planning for withdrawal now ONLY makes sense.

To be blunt it makes NO MILITARY SENSE for this conflict to have dragged out this long. The idea that it has taken years to defeat a force numbering around 100K is beyond crazy. Add to that the number of countries arrayed against this terror force and it becomes insanity on steroids.

But no matter you can only slow walk a conflict for so long. This one is winding down. I reckon the next excuse for continued presence of US forces will be "stabilization". Unfortunately the Turks ALONG WITH the Kurds have made that a plausible explanation. If only the Kurds hadn't declared a state, if only Turkey had shown a bit of strategic patience we could have gotten out of their clean.

Regardless, at the end of the day, Trump was right. ISIS has been defeated.

Iran showcases 12,000 Man Rapid Deployment Force...

via Radio Farda.

Iran staged war games on Friday involving newly developed rapid redeployment units focused on fighting enemy aggressors and armed militants, state media reported, amid increased tensions with the United States and following a militant attack.

Around 12,000 elite troops, armored vehicles, fighter jets and drones were taking part in the two-day exercises, staged in the central province of Isfahan, state television said.

Deployed by transport planes and 60 helicopters, commandos hunted mock armed militants, while an armored battalion blocked "enemy" forces trying to retreat, state media said.

"In these war-games we will showcase two important developments: a special-forces rapid deployment battalion and a highly mobile offensive armored battalion," General Kioumars Heydari, head of the regular army's ground forces, told state television.

Heydari said the war games would delight Iran's friends and show any aggressors that they would face a "rapid and crushing blow" by the Iranian army, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Story here.

Interesting isn't it. Why would the Iranians time such an event now? Could it have anything to do with the recent Israeli airstrikes and their Intel Minister stating that they're in "open hostilities" with Iran?

I would bet it does.

Many won't agree but the Iranians are usually a bit more subtle. Even the wording used is provocative in a way that I haven't heard from the Iranians. The Iranian General talked about a "highly mobile offensive armored battalion"??? They usually talk only in defensive terms.

For the General to talk about an offensive armored force is MOST DEFINITELY a shot across the bow of Israel.

I don't know the capabilities or make up of this unit but I'll be looking for hints in the future.

Korea Aerospace Industries - Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) Combat Simulation

GDELS - Piranha 5 8X8 Wheeled Armoured Vehicle

Open Comment Post. 26 Jan 2019

Excalibur Army - Czech Slovak BVP-M2 SKCZ Sakal Infantry Fighting Vehicle

AAV Training Iron Fist 19.....Video by Sgt. Antonio Campbell

Friday, January 25, 2019

Leclerc MBT mounting a 140mm gun (pic)...

Pic via Tom Antonov Twitter Page...

41 of 60 RAF Chinooks are out of service...the rest of the fleet isn't in any better shape...

via Business Insider.

Forty-one of 60 Chinook helicopters have been switched from the forward fleet to sustainment, and seven of 23 Puma helicopters are in sustainment.

Story here.

Don't know what to make of this but I have a theory. Maintenance accounts are being raided to pay for new items. Take the Navy for example. It's hard to expand a fleet while maintaining the one you have.

The RAF seems to have been bitten by the same bug.

1-5 CAV participated in battalion force-on-force training this week at Fort Hood!

BlackJack Troopers from 1-5 CAV participated in battalion force-on-force training this week at Fort Hood! They will begin Pegasus Forge IV next week, a week long training event for the entire brigade where they prepare for their rotation at NTC later in the Spring.

The T-14 almost HAS TO BE less well armored than the T-90...

Rebel 44CZ made this remark on his Twitter Page...

Considering that T-90MS and T-14 are reported to weight about the same (48 metric tons) T-14 with its larger surface area will almost certainly have a lot weaker armor protection - material advances are very unlikely to compensate for such increase of surface area.

Ya know what? I never considered it but he's right! I always thought that the T-14 was much heavier than the T-90 (actually I thought it was in the same weight class as the M1A2C...about 70 tons).

Taking this into consideration we have to rethink our drink when it comes to this vehicle.

Crew survivability might be improved (that almost goes without doubt), but I am willing to bet that getting mission kills will be much easier.

Considering the volume then we can bet that most of the armor is dedicated to protecting the crew. That means that the main gun, engine and probably the rear half of the vehicle is vulnerable. Maybe not to machine gun fire but it will probably be penetrated by certain 25mm rounds and definitely 30mm and higher.

Additionally anti-tank missiles might need to be coordinated because of the APS system it has but artillery fire should be able to at least get mobility kills because of the almost certain lack of armoring on the engine deck.

Of course it does raise a disturbing possibility. Why would the Russians go so big on this vehicle when they have extensive experience with autoloading tank guns? Certainly they could have made a more compact package couldn't they?

My guess? I'm thinking that it's about what we talked about yesterday. They're working on a bigger gun to mount on this beast. What we're seeing today is simply a stand in for future development. This isn't the final form I think.

🎥Watch the @BritishArmy's Ajax family of vehicles undergo mobility and durability trials, managed by DE&S, and find out more about our role in delivering this multi-role, fully-digitised armoured vehicle https://t.co/wwJwsmjqvX pic.twitter.com/ZvoADBMuCI
— Defence Equipment & Support (@DefenceES) January 25, 2019

Subscribe to: Comments ( Atom )