Turkey is going all in on Idlib...deadline set...

#Idlib

Countdown for when #Turkey will use militairy force on Assad to withdraw behind the Turkish observation points in Idlib.

Assad has 13 days left to comply before #Erdogan acts on his words https://t.co/t5Ax1GbOvp pic.twitter.com/06P2YWf10w

— QalQal (@Qalamaat) February 17, 2020

This almost smacks of desperation.  What am I missing with this?  One thing is certain.  The Syrian Army has the terrorist on the run...the front is crumbling and this thing is teetering on the edge of turning into a rout.

Canada’s Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) Standard Military Pattern (SMP) programme

via Shepard Media.

Mack Defense has completed the final truck for Canada’s Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) Standard Military Pattern (SMP) programme.

This 1587th truck rolled off the assembly line in Saint Nicolas, Quebec, on 13 February.

Mack Defense, part of the Volvo Group, leveraged the group’s large industrial footprint and global capabilities to engineer and produce the MSVS SMP trucks. Before final production took place at a Prevost facility in Saint Nicolas, additional work was completed at facilities located in Bourg-en-Bresse, Marolles, Blainville and Limoges, France.

Canadian partners Dumur Industries, EODC, Marshall, Craig Manufacturing and Link Suspensions of Canada also contributed to the project.

Mack Defense received the contracts to deliver more than 1,500 8x8 MSVS SMP trucks, including variants such as cargo, material handling cranes, load handling systems and mobile repair trucks, in 2015.

I can understand mission specific gear but I have to wonder why Canada just doesn't glob onto what the Europe, Australia or the US Army and/or Marine Corps is doing when it comes to items like logistics vehicles.

Don't get me wrong.  I think this will be a fine vehicle and will meet their requirements.  My issue is the scale of the work.  Any of the above listed partners could lower the cost of this purchase. The entire Canadian Army is smaller than the USMC.  Piggybacking on someone's purchase would seem like a no brainer considering their size.

Lithuania's Vilkas IFV (pics)

The first turreted Boxer, Lithuania's Vilkas IFV is a fine looking gun car. Add to that high protection levels, superb rough terrain mobility, 30x173mm main armament, ATGM plus lots of internal volume and you have an impressive 8x8 combat vehicle. Be good to know more about it. pic.twitter.com/YH6zbsa8yC

— DTR Magazine (@DTRmag) February 17, 2020

ULTRAK Amphibious Fighting Vehicle.....concept art by Doug Didia

Note.  This is for a certain few that just love to poke holes, negative Nancy and basically shit on anything posted here.  This is CONCEPT ART.  Enjoy it. Don't slam it.  It's simply a flight of fancy and doesn't have to be practical or tactical.  Sometimes just being cool is enough.  That's the secret with CONCEPT ART.  It's art and art is to be enjoyed.

To the Artist.  Awesome work!  I enjoy your stuff and will be posting more (with credit to you of course!).  Keep doing what you do.

You can see his stuff here.

The Chinese President called for control over society in response to the Coronavirus..the result is 760 million people under lock down!

To stop the spread of the coronavirus much of China has effectively shut down. What’s not been fully appreciated is how extensive the closures are. By our calculations 760 million are living under some kind of residential lockdown. https://t.co/ZuO31QVi6g

— Paul Mozur 孟建国 (@paulmozur) February 15, 2020

Simply amazing.

This situation deserves study.  For better or worse, EVERY govt will be faced with the prospect of having to shutdown a mega city within their borders.

The Chinese experience can be instructive.

If you doubt my thinking then consider what most Western forces are gearing up for.  Fighting in a mega city.  If it isn't for civil defense purposes then we should be studying this clusterfuck from hell for warfighting.

Interesting doesn't begin to describe the situation in China.

It’s one of the largest social control experiments ever anywhere, even in China. To do it, Beijing is relying on local party officials, police, and busybodies known as grid workers. They’ve effectively closed down many cities to outsiders. This is a station at a closed city: Yiwu pic.twitter.com/9x27uDjxHI

— Paul Mozur 孟建国 (@paulmozur) February 15, 2020

The Damen's OPV 1900 (Yarmook-class) for Pakistan's Navy will actually be a corvette.

The @damen's OPV 1900 (Yarmook-class) for #PakistanNavy will be actually a corvette. The ship will be fitted with a gun, anti-ship missiles (2x4), machine guns, secondary gun or CIWS, decoy launchers and the corresponding electronic equipment (FCS, ESM, Radars). pic.twitter.com/SRAscFrBhi

— Naval Analyses (@D__Mitch) February 16, 2020

This makes too much sense.  I've always been curious about the actual role and need for "Offshore Patrol Vessels" and always thought that Corvettes filled the same role only better because they actually have a combat capability.

What say you?

Former Royal Navy First Sea Lord calls ship numbers an embarrassment and disgrace...the RN is in trouble

via The Sun.co.uk

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West dubbed the shortfall “a national embarrassment and disgrace”.

The peer had been repeatedly assured by defence ministers that the Type 31s would be delivered on time.

Lord West told The Sun: “Just 15 major service ships will put us into the second tier of the world’s navies
“Fifteen surface ships means only five on task, as a third will be in maintenance and a third will be training.

“For a great nation like ours, just five frigates on task is a national embarrassment and disgrace.”

The revelation will hike tensions further between the MoD and No10 ahead of this summer’s defence and security review, which forces chiefs already plan to use it to plea for more money.

Just 10 days ago at the Sun’s Millies awards, PM Boris Johnson boasted that the number of frigates in increasing.

Last Autumn, the MoD faced international embarrassment when it was unable to protect British flagged merchant ships from being hijacked by Iran in the Straits of Hormuz.

Story here. 

You think what I highlighted above isn't bad enough?  Then check out this tidbit from the same article.

In comparison, France has 22 frigates and destroyers, and even Italy has 17.

In a letter to the Commons Public Accounts Committee last month, MoD Permanent Secretary Stephen Lovegrove let slip that five new Type 31 frigates won’t now come into service until May 2027, four years late.

At the same time, the ageing generation of Type 23 frigates are still to be paid off from 2023, leaving the major shortfall.

The number of frigates is set to fall from 13 to nine by 2027, while the number of Type 45 destroyers remains at six.

Gonna be hard for the UK to keep up global commitments with such a small naval force.  By necessity they're gonna have to rely more on the Royal Air Force and maybe even the British Army to act as a deterrent.

Question.  Can the Royal Navy even float a credible carrier task force with such a small force?  If they can will that strip them of independent ship operations elsewhere?

It might be worthy of a giggle if our own Navy/Marine Corps wasn't headed down the same road.

With the exception of China (at least right now...still waiting to see how the Coronavirus affects them), everyone seems to be following the lead of the Germans.

Smaller and potentially less effective.

Open Comment Post. 17 Feb 2020.

I think I found my new breakfast mix...with a French or Japanese flair

French Omelette Vs. Japanese Omelette
By @tasty pic.twitter.com/TtjpnDv9NN

— Tips & Tricks (@awkwardgoogle) December 9, 2019

Everyone using Twitter for their own particular interests.  But if you're a foodie or just someone that likes to experiment at home (I've gotten to a point where for a VARIETY of reasons I just don't trust fast food restaurants unless I'm familiar with the people that work there or its recommended by people I trust) then the above Twitter page is for you.

l Be-200ES amphibious aircraft pics...

Navy seeks to cut 40 Billion Dollars in 6 weeks...the budget trainwreck is here...

via Forbes.

The Department of the Navy is preparing to announce a crash program to find “at least $40B in real line-of-accounting savings” over the next six weeks. This lighting-fast cost-cutting initiative, called a “Stem-to-Stern Capability Strategic Review”, will begin on February 18 and end on Tuesday, March 31.

Here.

The trainwreck is here folks.  They can try and put lipstick on this pig but the fact remains that its finally time to pay for the foolishness of the past two decades.

This won't be pretty.  It won't be pleasant and no one is going to like it.

But there is a silver lining.  If they can SOMEHOW do it right then it'll be of benefit to the entire US govt.

Waste, fraud and abuse is rampant.

There are savings to be found.

Additionally if the US Navy/Marine Corps can take this kind of hit then certainly the other departments in the govt can do the same.

That's potentially good news if the President (of whatever party) actually holds feet to the fire.

One other thing.  With cuts of this type the military will have to start saying no.  No we can't be in forever war.  No we can't have bases in every freaking nation on the planet.  No we can't be a piggy bank for whatever domestic program you want funded.

Much danger and much opportunity here.

Its finally being said out loud. IMF head says that the Coronavirus could damage global growth...

The coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year, the IMF head said Sunday, but a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow https://t.co/d9K228ERkh

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 16, 2020

Turks are threatening the Russian Ambassador...

via Sputnik.

Earlier this week, the ambassador revealed that the recent rise in tensions between Moscow and Ankara over Russian support for Syria in Idlib had led to threats being made against his life, recalling that the last crisis in relations between the two countries led to the assassination of his predecessor by a Turkish radical.

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexei Yerkhov has expanded on his earlier comments about the threats he and embassy staff have had to deal with in recent days, stressing that while he does not take them to heart, they’re unacceptable because he is a representative of Russia.

“As far as the threats are concerned, we’ve discussed them at length, and even publicized the most odious ones. Among the last which we’ve received last night and this morning are comments such as ‘We’ll build skyscrapers out of the skulls of your army’, and ‘You’ll pay the price for every drop of blood you shed’, and so on,” Yerkhov said, speaking to Zvezda on Sunday.
The ambassador noted that he could not help but treat this subject with the utmost seriousness, since it’s not simply a matter of threats against himself.

“Someone may say that this is a case of people letting off some steam and moving on, someone else may say this is democratic. It’s hard to disagree with these viewpoints. But at the same time such actions are unacceptable, because we’re not talking about the embassy or the ambassador, but about Russia and all of its representatives,” Yerkhov stressed.

Wow.

When it comes to threats the highlighted one is pretty inventive.  Wonder when Russian gloves come off when it comes to Turkey?

Syrian Army has captured Aleppo...

Battle of #Aleppo city ends in Syrian Army victory after 7+ years of fighting https://t.co/x5KPUQBiY8 #Syria

— Al-Masdar News (@TheArabSource) February 16, 2020

BMP turned VBIED in Syria...

Поставил жирную точку pic.twitter.com/0WxOGzuSq1

— Денис Дионисов (@DenisDionisov) February 16, 2020

What a waste of an armored vehicle.  AI would be ideal for outpost defense.  The problem is that to get the most out of the system you'd have to remove the man from the loop.  Could we design a friend or foe system capable enough to kill the bad guys and keep from raining 50 caliber rounds on the good when returning from patrol?

Saudi Tornado shot down over Yemen...

Thanks to Αλεξικέραυνος Αλεξικέραυνος for the link!

Footage released by @almasirah showing the moment the Saudi Panavia Tornado was shot down over Yemen last night. pic.twitter.com/QOssmN0TDn

— Aldin 🇧🇦 (@aldin_ww) February 15, 2020

Yeah.

This thing has been allowed to morph into something nasty.  Remember a bit ago when our MH-60 was downed off the coast?  Then we saw ships hit at sea.  Anti-tank missiles being lobbied at anything with wheels or tracks...and we can't forget the fact that major Saudi cities have been hit with ballistic missiles.

We've been in a regional war for at least a couple of years now and its intensity has been amping up with little notice.

Do the Saudis have an exit plan or are they stuck like we are in Afghanistan?

Sunday Funny...

Things are getting sporting in China...could a virus bring about the fall of this govt?

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for tighter policing to protect social stability, while Beijing ordered people returning to the capital to self-quarantine for 14 days in the latest measure aimed at containing the virus https://t.co/6NYpEVWur2 pic.twitter.com/fmG1MuT5lN

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 15, 2020

#UPDATE More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countrieshttps://t.co/6NYpEWe5PC pic.twitter.com/UNMp41e3At

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 16, 2020

Have we reached a point where we should all be asking if this virus could cause the fall of this govt?

I'm not so sure we AREN'T there!

We've seen the explosion in cases.  We know that production/exports are taking a HUGE hit.  We've seen corporations warning that profits will be down because of production delays in China.  We have no idea what is happening with the social fabric of the country but we've seen anecdotal evidence that its at least under strain if not unraveling.

The bad thing for the Chinese?  Very few remember the "hard" times that they've suffered.  For many of the young and or especially hardcore all they know is of the seemingly unstoppable rise.

What would a blow of this type do to the psyche of those people?

I have no idea but I think its a question that policy makers that have a much better view of this thing probably should be asking.

Open Comment Post. 16 Feb 2020.

Northern Fleet's 200th Arctic Motorized Rifle Brigade on exercise....

Photos from a training exercise with the Northern Fleet's 200th Arctic Motorized Rifle Brigade and MT-LB vehicles.
Photos: Павел Львовhttps://t.co/N6fWKTUKb6 pic.twitter.com/A63SIbGv9m

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) February 15, 2020

The MTLB is old as dirt but I always thought it was an extremely functional vehicle.  Have the Russians been smart with updates or is it basically the old stuff inside the same wrapper?