Armenian army destroys 4 Azerbaijani armored vehicles...we are entering a period of many small wars globally

via AlmasdarNews

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:45 A.M.) – The Armenian army recently delivered a powerful blow to the Azerbaijani forces, as new photos showed the aftermath of an Armenian attack on the former’s positions along the border.

In a photo that has been widely shared on social media, four destroyed vehicles belonging to the Azerbaijani forces can be seen from an aerial image taken near the border of the two countries.

“A day earlier it became known that Azerbaijan had already lost at least four tanks in the regions bordering with Armenia, however, the military from Armenia published new photos – as a result of the strikes, another Azerbaijani tank and an armored recovery and recovery vehicle (ARV) were destroyed. , according to some reports, under the cover of the same destroyed tank, several more units of damaged equipment were to be removed from the attacked area, which could indicate much greater losses from Azerbaijan,” the Russian publication, Avia.Pro, reported.

Previously, the Armenian Ministry of Defense announced that their air defense forces shot down as many as 15 Azerbaijani drones.

The clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out on July 12th, and since then, the two sides have traded accusations over who is to blame for this flare up in violence.

I call what's going on in the Middle East right now a REGIONAL war.  It could however be broken down into many small wars between different combatants but similar supporters over the region.

The big and middle powers are using proxies like street hookers in the bad part of town.

This thing though surprises me.  Did not see this coming.  Guess all the saber rattling would finally shake something loose.

What has me spinning just a bit is the fact that we didn't see this skirmish escalate.  Kinda makes me wonder if you didn't have a Company Commander sink his fangs in and not know how to extract them before people started dying. 

Lengthy F-35 Upgrade List To Transform Strike Fighter’s Future Role

Article is at Aviation Week (here).  This is the part I want you to focus on ... it's towards the end of the thing and he lays out the optimistic, neutral and pessimistic possibilities going forward.  See them below then head over and read the whole thing.

Optimistic
After short-term stagnation, global defense spending resumes growth and Lockheed delivers 4,000 F-35s overall
Despite early concerns, Lockheed completes the Block 4 modernization program on-time and on-budget

Neutral

Global defense spending stagnates through 2040, increasing downward pressure on programs of record
Block 4 modernization suffers some delays and overruns but does not affect aircraft procurement

Pessimistic
Global defense spending enters a long-term decline, setting off a 1990s-style “procurement holiday” for fighters
TR-3 Refresh and Block 4 are delayed significantly, with cost overruns leading to further cuts in the procurement budget

If you're neutral or optimistic then I applaud your faith.  The trainwreck is here and the F-35 is gonna make it harder than it should have been....and it still won't be worth a bucket of spit.

FNSS Korgan – Fortress on Wheels

via FreeNews.

The word korgan, translated from the ancient Turkic language, means “protected place” or “castle”. It is with a well-fortified and safe structure, as conceived by the designer, this vehicle should be associated.

FNSS Korgan – a military-designed amphibious hybrid car with remote control, ballistic protection, and modularity, which, if necessary, allows you to transform it to perform various missions.

The concept provides for a large enough interior space to accommodate many different modular solutions. The combat vehicle is capable of transporting 14 people, acting as a command post, an ambulance, a fire engine, as well as transporting ammunition and fuel.

With intelligent drive control, a diesel-electric hybrid power supply, and easily replaceable two battery modules, Korgan delivers top performance in any terrain.

When developing the hull and the concept of the layout of the armored vehicle, special emphasis was placed on maximum practicality. Electrically operated double-wing gullwing side doors and a wide tailgate with a retractable ramp allow servicemen to exit the vehicle at high speed.

The independent suspension system, airless tires, and the highest lean angles give Korgan countless advantages over rough terrain. Thanks to two unmanned drones located in the niches in front of the combat vehicle, it is possible to conduct reconnaissance of the surrounding area in advance in order to avoid possible threats.

In addition, with the help of a retractable 360-degree front camera and four lidar sensors, the vehicle can be remotely controlled or, if necessary, complete unmanned missions.

The project was created by Turkish designer Emre Husmen for the FNSS Mildesign International Land Vehicle Design Contest, hosted annually by the US-Turkish military-industrial consortium FNSS, and won one of its prizes in 2019.

If you're not checking out their design contests then you're missing out.  They actually invent people to conceptualize future vehicles.  Many of the designs flat out look terrific.

Hoping to see alot more of it this year.

Open Comment Post. 20 July 2020

People wigging out about wearing a mask is a worldwide thing apparently....

How about some McPunch instead? Customer beats #McDonald’s employee in #HongKong after being asked to wear a face mask pic.twitter.com/C93sLOWqrp

— RT (@RT_com) July 18, 2020

Mexican cartel becoming "militarized"

This is terrifying. Video released by the Mexican cartel and paramilitary group CJNG show the extent of militarization of their special forces. Scores of armed & kitted out fighters in standardized uniforms line a large convoy of up-armored troop transport vehicles and technicals pic.twitter.com/Kffz6UYwIX

— Hugo Kaaman (@HKaaman) July 18, 2020

Hmm.  Don't know if that's a show of force or a declaration that the Mexican govt should handle this as an insurgency rather than a law enforcement issue.

AT4's should become standard loadout for all forces engaging them...but then it becomes an issue of those weapons getting into the hands of the cartel.

Maybe they should hire the KGB to take care of the problem...heard they were quite effective in the middle east when dealing with terrorists and these cartels seem to fit the bill.

Does the Littoral Combat Group sound useful in Africa, the Middle East or Europe?

via USNI News.

USS Somerset (LPD-25), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) and Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SP-MAGTF)-Peru deployed together as Littoral Combat Group 1 in November and December.

While at sea, the operations the group conducted leveraged both ships’ bread and butter missions: supporting Marines and pushing them ashore, embarking a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment, hosting a surgical team for humanitarian assistance work, and more. The two ships sailed to Valparaiso, Chile, for the Eleventh International Maritime and Naval Exhibition and Conference for Latin America (EXPONAVAL) and the 200th anniversary of the Chilean Navy. Also during the deployment, the 1,000 sailors and Marines from LCG-1 worked with the Peruvian Naval Infantry in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise in the disaster-prone Chorrillos district outside Lima, and conducted a maritime patrol exercise with Ecuadorian navy assets to counter illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, among other activities.
---------------------------
The goal of the LCG-1 deployment was to work out the command and control, which placed a Navy captain as the commodore of two ships and the SP-MAGTF, as is the case with the commodore of an amphibious squadron (PHIBRON) who oversees an Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit, or a destroyer squadron commander (DESRON) commanding a surface action group. Still, though the focus of the deployment was on command and control and not the actual missions that a DDG and an LPD could conduct together, it’s easy to see how the Littoral Combat Group could be useful higher up the range of military operations: the DDG firing missiles at an enemy defense system to allow the Marine forces to move ashore, the Marines using their MV-22B aircraft in support of the DDG’s maritime security missions at sea, and so on.

Story here. 


This is in connection with the Brute Talk that I posted earlier this week.  Go back and watch that vid then read this article.

Does this formation sound like it would be useful anywhere besides the Pacific (if there)?

I don't think so.

This concept is a failure.  That's why the Commandant is shedding units as fast as he can.  He knows that once the cheerleaders stop cheering and start thinking they'll all be asking "WHAT THE FUCK!"

By the time that the yes men, kiss asses and sycophants realize their mistake and join others who are questioning this abomination it'll be too late.

The die will be cast and the future of the Missile Marine Corps will be too far along to change.  China is gonna eat this force alive.

Open Comment Post. 18 July 2020

My money is on the Harris Hawk but that Rattler will put up a good fight....he won't go easy...nice sized too...

Saturday Funny. Not safe for work...

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A post shared by Fitness Motivation (@aesthetic_chicks) on Jul 17, 2020 at 8:45am PDT

The 81st Group Army of the PLA has recently taken delivery of what appears to be a battalion set of Type 99A2 MBTs

The 81st Group Army of the PLA has recently taken delivery of what appears to be a battalion set of Type 99A2 MBTs, according to footage from CCTV-7. It is part of the Central Theatre Command with responsibilities to protect Beijing and act as a reserve for the rest of China. pic.twitter.com/k1CQ3Y6O9r

— Sam Cranny-Evans (@Sam_Cranny) July 10, 2020

I had a sudden epiphany.

The NEW Missile Marine Corps (MMC) will be in the same position as the Japanese Imperial Army & Navy versus the United States Marine Corps during WW2.

We will be holding pieces of land in the Pacific and will be doing our very best to prevent them from making an amphibious assault onto those islands so that they can conduct further operations...ie setup FARPS for further action against our fleet (in essence doing to us what we're hoping to do to them).

Just like the Japanese in WW2, if the Missile Marine Corps can't keep them from hitting shore then it will be over.  The GCE is almost non-existent (or will be in the near future) so those Chinese Mechanized Army, Marine and Airborne formations will simply roll over our forces.

Even worse?

I can actually see a time when we make the same determination as the Japanese Imperial Forces and allow landings in the hope that defensive positions (along with the vain hope that supporting fires will arrive from over the horizon) will somehow make the survival of those MMC Marines possible.

This scenario is bad enough in the Pacific but if the Chinese take the advise of a former CNO then they'll simply roll back our defenses, attritting us into oblivion then having their way with the feeble remnants of a once powerful ground force. 

I really see that happening in N. Africa against the Chinese, possibly against the Iranians in the Middle East (so many naval choke points in that region that it's a wonder how they think this concept can apply there) and against the Russians the MMC would be food on the table waiting to be devoured.

18th Airborne Corps' Twitter Series...Chapter 9: The Expendables

Chapter 9: The Expendables

1 of 58 pic.twitter.com/tVuOOZySjS

— XVIII Airborne Corps (@18airbornecorps) July 17, 2020

TUNE INTO THIS FOLKS!  Good stuff...

Thai Army takes delivery of Black Widow Spider 8×8 armored vehicle

Story here.

Griffon Combat Vehicle headed to France's 21RMA

En général, quand on vous dit qu'il y en a 13 qui débarquent à la maison, vous le prenez bien ? Demandez à nos marsouins du #21RIMa 😎...#MatosTerre pic.twitter.com/kBEKbK5wa0

— Armée de Terre (@armeedeterre) July 17, 2020

Army says its helping not encroaching on missions with its long range missiles..and its IS coming for the Missile Marine Corps!.

via Breaking Defense.

The Army is not trying to challenge the division of labor laid down at the famous 1948 meeting in Key West, Fla. between the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the newly-independent Air Force. There’s plenty of precedent within that framework for the Army to have surface-launched missiles that can fire one thousand miles or more, Rafferty said.

“I don’t think we need to go back to Key West, although I wouldn’t mind a trip there to discuss it,” Rafferty told me.

------------------

Army Advantages

At the most basic level, Army artillery units do things differently from naval vessels or air squadrons, so they add another problem for an enemy to solve. In some cases, land-based missiles have advantages over air- or sea-launched ones.

Concealability is one such. While aircraft and even surface warships can be designed with stealth features to hide from radar, they’re never invisible, and there’s nothing at sea or in the air to hide behind. Airbases, meanwhile, are notoriously large and static targets. But for artillery units, camouflage can be as cheap and simple as slapping on a coat of green paint, erecting some netting with tree branches on top, or driving into a tunnel. Indeed, as North Korea has shown, a wheeled missile launcher under a mountain is even harder to find than a submarine under the ocean. (Of course the enemy has to roll that artillery into the open to use it.)

The US and its allies, for all their surveillance technology, struggled to find Saddam’s SCUD missile launchers in 1991 and 2003, Rafferty notes. And that was in the open desert, not the more varied terrain of Eastern Europe or Pacific islands. Even the largest artillery systems the Army is developing, the semitrailer-mounted Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Strategic Long-Range Cannon supergun, will still be small enough to conceal, he said.

Story here. 

A certain reader has made the last bold comments in the article several times in our debate about the Missile Marine Corps.

My refrain has always been if we become the Missile Marine Corps that Berger wants then what makes us necessary to the nation.

What makes us unique.

Well according to this article not a damn thing.  I can't believe people tend to forget one thing.  The Army WILL NOT be left out of any fight in any region on this planet. 

The Marine Corps was once the same.  

Not the New Missile Marine Corps!  We are pigeon holing ourselves into one fight against one enemy in one region.  That's a mistake.  No one has ever correctly predicted the next fight.  The Commandant is thinking the Pacific.  I'm thinking Northern Africa.

Open Comment Post. 17 July 2020

Mood

Lockheed’s IRST Stealth Detection Pod Passes AF Milestones

Story here.

The stunning statement in this article?

“This is exceptionally important, as the Legion Pod uses an advanced IRST technology that gives 4th generation fighters the ability to ‘see’ stealth aircraft that traditional radar cannot,” an Air Combat Command spokesperson says in an email.

If I'm not mistaken the ACC spokesperson stated out loud that 4th gen fighters can detect stealth fighters.

Does that reset everything we've been told?  Is stealth essentially dead?  Does better speed, range, altitude now come back to the fore in importance...not just middling capability in those areas along with stealth?

If so then we've spent the past two decades building a lemon...just like I've said all along.

Marine Wing Support Group 37 Deactivation Video Message...a victim of the new concept (how many have we seen over the past decade?)

Another deactivation.

The Marine Corps is shedding units faster than a dog sheds hair!

The weird thing?  How many different concepts have we heard trotted out?  Remember the shouting I did over being told that fighting in Mega Cities was the hot new thing?  Remember how we were told that the F-35 would act as a sensor node and be the quarterback in the sky?  That it was a "die in the ditch" program (funny thing is we're even cutting that now!) Remember the idea that cyber Marines would be the thing that would change the battlefield?  Remember how we needed to do sea basing to win the day?  There are a few more I've forgotten.

The point?

The difference between now and all the other stuff we've had slammed against the wall to see if it sticks is that we didn't see the MASSIVE shedding of combat power before it was realized that it wouldn't work.

Once it's gone getting it back in the coming age of EXTREME austerity for the military will be a herculean task...maybe impossible!

For some in my audience that continue to shout "believe the generals" I point to past performance.

I don't know why but this generation of generals have been more wrong than right.  It's not a hate filled statement.  It's been demonstrated right before our eyes.

So I hit you with this question.

If you have a general leadership that can't crack the code when it comes to fighting the Taliban, screwed the pooch in Iraq, seem confused as hell in Syria then why would you trust that same leadership to have it together when developing the future force to fight the Chinese?

I have to wonder if this isn't a final legacy building exercise by this class of generals.

The leadership of the 80's built a force that is still doing work to this very day. Gear coming online is already looking incapable of facing the future.  Their only shot at a legacy of "leaving the place as good (no way they can think they left it better) as they found it" is to develop a war winning concept.

For the Marines this will seal the deal on having the worst Commandant's in its history....3 of them in a row with another getting pulled to be CJCS (which means he will suffer the barbs of the failure in the Middle East along with the President he served).

Marines run to the sound of chaos?  Chaos is on every Marine installation right now...no need to go overseas to find it.

U.S. Army Air and Missile Defense Command

2nd America Class Amphibious Assault joins the fleet...a ship the Commandant says we don't need...

US Navy’s 2nd America-class amphibious assault ship joins the fleet https://t.co/DszWTsZ1Mm @navalnewscomから

— ヒラメ (@Gawa_03RK) July 16, 2020

@Armeedeterre presents the JAGUAR , new program vehicle SCORPION .

🇫🇷 A l’occasion du #14juillet2020, l’@armeedeterre présente le #JAGUAR, nouveau véhicule du programme #SCORPION.
Cet engin blindé de reconnaissance et de combat est développé et produit conjointement par @Nexter_Group, Arquus et @thalesgroup. pic.twitter.com/gu2iWxEHqd

— Nexter_Group (@Nexter_Group) July 14, 2020