Hellfire R9X still active in Syria...

I am amazed that we've become so "humane" that the weapons we're using/developing seem to be so barbaric.  My choice?  If I had to choose a way to die between an explosive and a blender, I'd choose explosives everytime!

Silliness aside this weapon will go down in history.  I don't know if historians will look at it as being the ultimate expression of targeted killings without unintended casualties or a drug induced nightmare but its here and still doing work in Syria.  Check out the Tweets below.

Video: pic.twitter.com/nklVxydM9B

— The Dead District (@TheDeadDistrict) June 14, 2020

Chinese Army ZTQ-15 Light Tanks on exercise in Tibet...

Exercice d'une brigade de l'armée de terre chinoise basée au #Tibet. Parmi les sujets, les unités se sont entraînés sur l'assaut sous attaques chimiques d'ennemi, et le traversé des zones d'obstacle.

Les nouveaux chars légers ZTQ-15 font partie des manœuvres. pic.twitter.com/5J4NfyyPjC

— East Pendulum (@HenriKenhmann) June 14, 2020

Open Comments Post. 14 June 2020

Romanian MLI-84 photos

Thanks to RakuRo for the pics!

Society needs to pump the breaks in the demonization of Law Enforcement...

Gonna say it again.

REFORM!  NOT DEFUND!

The latest controversy?  A shooting in Atlanta.  Long story short?  Guy gets into a wrestling match with officers.  It goes to the ground.  I watched the video and one LEO was in perfect position to apply an LVNR but didn't.  Instead they tried to get the suspect's hand behind his back.  Didn't work out well (oh and believe me, its hard as hell to get hands behind a back when they're actively resisting you).  The suspect grabs the Officer's tazer.  Takes off running.  Turns around and aims it at the pursing LEO.  Pursuing LEO takes the shot, it hits true and the suspect is dead right there.

Bad shooting?

Not in the slightest.  Questionable?  Not in my mind.

Why?

Because you don't know what happens after the Officer is incapacitated.  Does this person that was actively resisting suddenly decide to end this dude?  LEO's get the right to go home at the end of shift too!

So what is the focus of the Atlanta Mayor (oh forgot to state it happened in GA)?

The fact that what led up to all this is the guy fell asleep in the drive thru of a local fast food joint.

The coroner thinks he had too much to drink.  The way he ran off I think he had something else in his system too (don't see many drunks running that fast with such a steady-even gait).

But back on task.

Everyone is upset because a simple situation (on the surface) resulted in a death.

This should sing to even the naysayers in my readership.

Personal responsibility.

If this had been done the right way (meaning the suspect simply surrendered) then he'd have a DUI and could talk shit about the police today.  Instead he fought, he lost and his actions led him to dying.

I despise what happened to Floyd but we're getting carried away on this anti-police stuff AND it will lead to more heartbreak in the community than anyone can imagine.

Society needs to pump the breaks in the demonization of Law Enforcement or Society will get EXACTLY what its calling for but doesn't even know it.

U.S. Marine and Navy helicopters exercise maritime strike capability....pics by Lance Cpl. Jacob Wilson

US Marine Corps attack and utility helicopters are involved in maritime strike? We've cut the number of cannons we have.  Our rocket artillery has turned toward maritime strike.  We've cut tanks entirely.  The Marine Air-Ground Task Force is dead as disco.

Is our Ground Combat Team even capable of fighting ashore without tremendous support from the US Army...and I'm talking from tanks to artillery and more?

Can the Marine Corps still call itself a credible forcible entry force in the future?

The pendulum is swinging way too far toward the sea battle.

NOTE:  It just occurred to me that the entire reason for being for the LCS class was to fight small boats.  Now the USN/USMC are using helos for maritime strike.  Where was this thinking when it came to fighting Iranian small craft?  The lack of thought is stunning.  We are utilizing USMC helos in maritime strike in our planning for fighting China but needed a new class of ships for Iranian fast boats?  I am astonished by the total lack of consistency in thought...the shifting sands of these concepts...the unmistakable desire to make hard stuff easy instead of focusing on the only thing that matters...WINNING!

2nd AAB conducts amphibious training event....pics by Lance Cpl. Patrick King

Info Comments Post. 13 June 2020

Open Comment Post. 13 June 2020

Chinese Army armor operating in the Himalayas

Ya know who I actually feel sorry for?  Poor, small, cash strapped Nepal!  They're gonna get hammered if China and India actually cross swords.

Taiwan's new indigenous advanced jet trainer (AJT), or "Brave Eagle" (勇鷹, Yung Yin)

Thanks to Kobudo for the pic/link!

Story here.



Good looking airplane.  Looks familiar though I can't place it.

A new "everyday page on SNAFU! Introducing a daily "info" page for tips on defense systems/small wars etc...

Lets get actual and factual.

I love getting info about wars/rumors of wars that are happening around the planet.  I love getting info about weapon systems...especially from medium powers.  I love the interaction when I have active participation on the blog.

But I've been a bit miffed that a reader (yeah ALPAY) was getting so much grief about the information he posted.  Quite honestly we're lucky to have him here.  He could easily start his own blog and I believe it would be bigger than this one in a couple of months max.  But instead he commented here.  Many bitched and moaned about his style but that's irrelevant.  He posted stuff that I wasn't aware of or wasn't keeping track on.

As things played out I gave into the cries of the mob (sound familiar with the anguish over the LVNR?) and asked him to limit his comments.

Well it just don't sit well with me.  I want that info.  So the compromise I'm working out is that I'm starting a new info page that will go along with open comments for specific information on wars, defense systems etc.

Open comments will continue which will focus on whatever topics you guys bring up but this new one will focus on defense systems from other countries.

Read it or not but I hope Alpay and readers like them toss their hats into this new page and make it sing.

EOS Defense Systems USA ... Interoperable Engagement at RTC 2020 FINAL (RS 400 Mk2)

I wonder if EOS is working on an anti-air setup that could be offered to the USMC for their latest RFI?

USMC solicits industry to provide mobile air-defence system for JLTV vehicles

Story here.

The door is open for other corporations (hello EOS Defense Systems USA!!!) to slide in and scoop this thing up.

Still a bit disappointed at MOOG.  I'd really be interested in finding out what the point of failure was in their system but since this is opening up it'll have to wait till it all shakes out.

May the best system win.  God knows I fear we'll need it.

Two 8×8 MUTT Unmanned Ground Vehicles Delivered to the British Army

Note: We posted about this early but the YouTube vid is worth a watch. Enjoy.

Technology Transfer – Trust and Cooperation with Patria

Can't help but this is Patria sticking their head back up after getting roasted by Lockheed Martin during the ACV competition.  Oh you don't remember that?  Well let me remind you.  Patria and Lockheed Martin initially partnered to offer the AMV to the Marine Corps for the ACV contest.

I was torn at the time.  The Patria AMV is in my opinion a good vehicle and the battle with BAE/Iveco was shaping up to be a world title match.



Then Lockheed Martin dumped Patria, produced a vehicle that looked like a rough copy of the AMV and the rest is history.  After the dust settled it appears that Lockheed Martin (especially after a terrible showing in the JLTV competition) decided to exit the armored vehicle market before they even really got started and Patria stayed silent but you could tell there were some wounds that would need to be healed.

Now they're back and I'm happy for them.

AJAX Bridging: For the British Army of the Future

Japanese Hitomaru-shiki (Type 10)

Navy Kicks Off Most Advanced Wargames Since 1930s

via Breaking Defense.

 Looking for new ways to accelerate its nascent modernization push,  the Navy has set up a new Warfighting Development office that will blend force planning, strategic thinking, and officer education under one roof.

The push comes at a heady time for the Navy, as the service settles in under its fourth civilian secretary in seven months while continuing work on its 30-year shipbuilding plan — which was due to be sent to Congress almost four months ago — along with a major rethink to a new force structure plan rejected by Defense Secretary Mark Esper earlier this year.

The force structure plan is aimed at plotting the way to grow the fleet through a mix of smaller, often unmanned, vessels, while retaining the ability to defend US interests against Chinese and Russian naval modernization. It’s a tall order at a time of flat or declining budgets and rapidly emerging offensive and defensive weaponry that have eroded the traditional US superiority at sea, but all the more reason, Navy leaders say, for the new focus on strategy and education in its ranks.

Vice Adm. Stuart Munsch, head of the Warfighting Development (N7) office, said he sees the present moment as akin to the post-Vietnam years. “We were a Navy then that was focused on power projection ashore against a nation that didn’t have much in the way of naval capability, namely Vietnam,” he told reporters earlier this week. “We saw the future coming, and knew we would have to change the Navy to be more focused on sea control against a Navy that had considerable capability, and that was the Soviet Union.”

Today, after 20 years wholly focused on ground wars in the Middle East, Munsch said there’s again the “need to shift to sea control against an adversary with considerable capability, namely China.” 

Here. 

So let me get this straight.  The USMC is changing its entire force structure to support a US Navy that MIGHT NOT EVEN EXIST in its present form in 10 years?

We went first and the Navy has yet to even get started on planning to confront the pacing threat that is China?

What are they thinking?  This is craziness!

Where is the coordination?  We could in essence see a US Navy that finally gets itself together (surface and aviation sides) and is capable of properly engaging the Chinese Fleet on the high seas....while the US Marines are providing redundant support from sea bases.

Additionally at the end of the day this island hopping missile and raid force (that will be useless once the balloon goes up) will be more of a hindrance than a help!

The only thing broken with the Marine Corps are the many futurists that think they have a handle on this thing and believe that they can make the hard thing easy.

Open Comment Post. 12 June 2020