FNSS Has Been Awarded with the Turkish Land Forces (TLF) New Generation Armoured Vehicles Program for the Serial Production of PARS ALPHA 8x8 & 6x6 Variants

Story here. The Turk defense industry is making major strides. It appears that they're going unnoticed which is a shame. I see them making a major splash in the defense market with many sales of their gear worldwide soon.

26th MEU completes crisis response exercise with EOTG...Photos by Lance Cpl. Kyle Baskin

 

GDELS to supply Piranha 5 vehicles for German Army’s TaWAN project

 

Story here

I will never understand the desire to put gear like this on a full on armored vehicle instead of a 5 to 7 ton logistics vehicle.  Seems to add unnecessary cost in my opinion.

General McMaster eviscerates Force Design 2030 via Marine Compass Points

 Before we hit on Gen McMaster's comments I have to pop this out because I found it fascinating...

I actually also just graduated from Marine Officer Candidate School on Saturday and while we were there, we were forbidden from asking about Force Design 2030 . . . . So I wanted to ask you, because it is a very controversial strategic document -- [yet] every former living commandant came out and criticized it . . . . so was interested to hear your thoughts on it.

-- Marine OCS Graduate

Drink that in.

Marine Corps leadership is so scared of criticism of Force Design 2030 that they refuse to allow it to be discussed at OCS?

That is not the Marine Corps that I knew and its not the Marine Corps they tell us it is.  This is some draconian bullshit.  If the plan is solid then they should encourage debate.  But they know better.  They just don't know how to extricate themselves from this boondoggle and above all else face must be saved! 

Onto the general's comments.

McMaster begins his view of the Marine Corps' Force Design by saying, "I think that that document is flawed, because it's based on unrealistic assumptions about the future of war."

-----

 . . . Force Design 2030 is criticized for being based on unrealistic assumptions about future war, emphasizing stand-off strikes over close combat. [1-10]

-- The reliance on future war being clean and cheaper is compared to past strategic bombing theories and dismissed as unrealistic. [1-17]

-- Effective military deterrence relies on capable Joint Forces across all domains, rather than relying solely on long-range capabilities. [1-22]

-- The Marine Corps' shift from close combat capabilities to long-range strategies overlooks the importance of close combat's evolving decisive role. [1-36]

-- lilys.ai

Read it for yourself here 

Amazing isn't it.

Even an Army general that specialized in Armored/Mechanized combat can see the mountain sized holes in FD2030, but Marine Corps leadership can't.

Force Design 2030 is the DEI of military concepts.  It got put into position but not based on merit but based on who was pushing the idea.  It's not qualified to be a military concept but here it is.  

We all know its a failure but no one wants to rock the boat or we'll get called into the office.

Well I'll stand on the carpet.  

Force Design 2030 is bullshit.  Even the Army knows it (trust and believe if McMaster is able to comment that quickly in a question and answer period then its been discussed vigorously in Army circles).

PS.

God bless that young LT.  He might have the shortest commission in the history of the Marine Corps.  He took his leadership principles a bit too seriously for the crowd that is running the Corps today.

Well this State Trooper was obviously in the Marine Corps

People getting tired of these bikers man..🤦🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/yY2oMhJZfv

— Gang Hits (@GangHits) February 25, 2025

Leaders arrive in Kyiv urging Zelensky to stay the course and refuse efforts by the Trump administration to end the war

UKRAINE: Leaders arrive in Kyiv urging Zelensky to stay the course and refuse efforts by the Trump administration to end the war. Leaders in attendance from: Canada, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuaniapic.twitter.com/T1cmC8O2st

— @amuse (@amuse) February 24, 2025

I truly hope these people are not that blood thirsty. Trump talks peace and they talk continued war? This was always a possibility but I wonder if they've factored in the US response? I know Congress is on the take but would Republicans actually send Zelensky more money when we're seeing cuts at home? They must be making a metric shit ton of money off the war. Nothing else makes sense.

Let me know your opinion. Child abuse or properly disciplining your wayward child?

Father sparks debate after a video surfaces of him disciplining his sons for allegedly stealing. Some say he’s teaching them a lesson, while others call it ab-usive. What’s your take? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/cfJ05u9Nlt

— Fight Karnivore (@FightKarnivore) February 24, 2025

Wow. A few people are actually getting pinched by the reforms we're seeing...

 

She drives a 2024 BMW and has taxpayers paying her bills, groceries, rent, and cash assistance! Now she’s shocked she has to pay her own way ..
She needs to be arrested for fraud … pic.twitter.com/0lTS190fUn

— Squirrel Mama (@Squil_Mama) February 13, 2025

Slovakia's Prime Minister is tired of Zelensky's shit..

Note. Why so many posts on the little tyrant? Cause I'm tired of his shit too. He hasn't asked for aid. He hasn't asked for weapons. HE HAS DEMANDED THEM! The little fuck is unappreciative of all the treasure sent his way and the only thing he can do is demand more. Plus the little fuck loves to wear tactical gear everywhere. He must be single handedly keeping 5.11 in business. Buy a fucking suit bitch boy.

🇸🇰 Slovakia PM Robert Fico goes NUCLEAR on Zelensky:

"I’m not here to walk hand in hand with President Zelensky. I’m fed up with him. He is constantly begging and extorting others for money. This has to STOP."

Finally, a European leader with the courage to speak the truth! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/loRgkboyG2

— Cillian (@CilComLFC) February 19, 2025

Zelensky says he received 75 of 177 billion dollars slated for Ukraine aid. What happened to 102 BILLION DOLLARS?

THROWBACK: Zelensky claims Ukraine only received around $75 billion of the $177 billion in aid that was sent from the United States.

Where did our money go? Who is lying?

We need a full audit of all our money that was sent to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/bOSJepkbV6

— Crazy Vibes (@CrazyVibes_1) February 22, 2025

This dude killed someone, ate their brains and an eyeball and they let him out the psych hospital...

 

Meet Tyree Smith, he brutally killed a man with an ax, then ate his brain and an eyeball.

Now, the Connecticut Psychiatric Security Review Board has granted him conditional release.

Why is such a dangerous individual allowed on the streets? pic.twitter.com/Ge5r1QTam9

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 23, 2025

I hope his next victim is armed and wearing a helmet...AND scrambles this loons brain with a +P+ shot to the dome.

Blast from the past. Cleaning house of generals is nothing new...Obama did it...

Let me say this before the liberal readers here chime in. 197 generals in 5 years is ALOT more than normal attrition. It's a purge. Didn't say it was bad back then, not saying its bad now. I am saying that perhaps its a good thing. For better or worse the General Officer Corps HAS BECOME MORE POLITICAL (or at least they're less shy about showing their political leanings). You pick the losing side you deal with the horns. You take a shot at the king you better not miss...ya'll know what I'm talking about...oh and once you do something and aren't forced to yield then it becomes precedent and you can't complain when the other side does it to you.

Late Open Comment Post. 23 Feb 25

Shoot'em in the dick!

GOOD GOD! The New Marines live like KINGS! Check out their fucking barracks & rooms!

 

SMMC barracks tour
byu/newnoadeptness inUSMC

They'll tear that shit up in a year but it looks awesome now...

Trudeau, Trump talk Ukraine as allies fear U.S. withdrawal from war effort

 via globalnews.ca

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine Saturday as European allies fear a withdrawal of U.S. support for Kyiv’s efforts to defend against Russia’s invasion.

The translation?  They want us to provide money, troops and guarantees.  Why can't they do it themselves?  Easy.  Its easier to talk shit about the US while we do the heavy lifting and they sit on their ass than it is for them to actually commit.  Oh and if you don't consider the EU a superpower then you're wrong.

 

It also comes as Ukraine and its European allies fear the U.S. president may scale back its support of Kyiv’s war effort.

Russian and U.S. representatives last week agreed to start working towards ending the war in Ukraine — without Ukrainian representatives at the table. Senior U.S. officials have publicly mused that Ukraine must give up its aspirations to join the NATO security alliance and accept Russia’s seizure of substantial tracts of their country.

This part mystifies me.  Zelensky talked shit about Trump "operating in a disinformation bubble" and now he's using others to talk on his behalf to keep the gravy train rolling even though his CORRUPT ass country can't account for half the money sent and all kinds of high ranking officials now have new mansions and stacked bank accounts?

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that his country would not accept any outcome of talks that Kyiv wasn’t party to.

This part irks too.

I wish to God that Trump would call his bluff and arrange a peace deal with Russia.  I dare Zelensky to walk away and if he did then we say "fuck'em".

I'd pay good money to see that.  Hell do that and they can keep that 5K from DOGE savings!

Anyway read this whine and cry fest here. 

U.S. Marines Execute Live Fire Platoon Attacks During Korea Viper 25.2...Pics by Lance Cpl. Kendrick Jackson

 

Marines prepare for deployment with insertion and extraction drills...Pics by Lance Cpl. Kyle Baskin

Trump has the EU elite losing their minds. This is the most mind blowing article I've read in a long time...

https://t.co/5m528S2sYx

— Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) February 21, 2025

 

We're getting close to diplomatic midnight...

There are three kinds of people in Western politics right now. People who understand that Trump just blew up the post-1945 order; people who suspect he did but are hoping that “the system” will sort it out; and people going about their business in blyth ignorance, passing laws, issuing press releases, staging photo ops as if our democracy and way of life were not in severe danger.

I’ve just come from a public meeting at London's RSA with Ukraine’s ex foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. He definitely falls into the first camp. Trump, he said, will attempt to force Ukraine to sign a deal by narrowing the timeframe in which the Zelensky administration and the Europeans can influence it. That’s what all the insults are about.

This is not just a US grab for Ukraine’s mineral wealth. The USA is in direct competition with European attempts to both develop their own AI industry, strategic geopolitical autonomy and an independent economic relationship with Ukraine. It is also an attempt at preventing Europeans from adopting the “militant democracy” defence against fascism.

As the days pass, I believe it will emerge that Trump’s goal is a strategic deal with Putin, reviving the ethno-nationalist regime as a partner in the carve up of Europe.

I also believe Europe will survive this and triumph. But we need the British and French political class to snap out of their stupor and lead. Both Keir Starmer and Emanuel Macron have stepped up to the plate well so far: Macron is talking about massive defence invesments, Starmer has promised troops to Ukraine once a deal is signed.

As a result, both are now in the crosshairs of the slander-machine run by Musk and the American far right. What’s at issue over the next week is if Trump tries to humiliate and browbeat the two nuclear-armed P5 powers into acquiescence.

I spoke to senior ex diplomats tonight who have no idea whether Trump actually has a plan or not. The Hegseth speech, wrong-headed though it was, was at least clear: it contained clear language about conventional and nuclear weapons and a clear ask - 5% defence spending - that is long overdue.

Few people in the loop now claim to know whether that speech represents the foreign policy of the Trump administration, or whether the policy is just being improvised by billionaire dimwits.

So this is much worse than the 1930s. In the 1930s there was a clear threat; we knew what it wanted; we could prioritise fighting Germany over fighting Japan; we had time. And the USA was isolationist but not led by venal idiots.

Also, the USA in the 1930s – Joseph P.  Kennedy notwithstanding – was not routinely trying to disrupt  European anti-fascism. Today the American far right is openly meddling in European politics.

What can we do? The number one thing I want to see happen is European politicians levelling with their electorates: hour by hour, day by day. Trump's decision to blow up the Western alliance is an attack on all of us. It is undermining our armed forces, our national security, our economic investment in the construction of a stable democracy and partner in Ukraine.

Of course, we need to use diplomacy – but neither Putin or Trump is using diplomacy. And at some point Western governments need to use raw power to carve out a position in the negotiations.

Kuleba was clear tonight – he thinks Trump will force through a deal, which freezes the war. But it cannot happen without Europe and Ukraine, and the EU, UK and Ukraine united around the same goals would a powerful factor in events, especially because Trump is torching the USA’s soft power.

The UK now has to rearm. Not to 3% of GDP but more like 5 or 6%, scalable beyond that. That means borrowing to invest. Do it right and the economy will be booming in 18 months time, and Reform UK will look like a sorry bunch of Putinist puppets, closer to the enemy than the Union flag.

We are going to need tactical nuclear weapons, because we can no longer rely on the USA. And yes, that’s a mindbender that I wish we didn’t have to contemplate but without  a bigger range of escalation options we lose our freedom of action in the world.

That was one of the biggest takeaways from Kuleba’s talk: don’t ever think it won’t happen to you. 

And here’s the biggest. He was asked how the war will end. He said: one of us disappears. It’s existential for Putin in the long run. As in the 2021 essay, he cannot see Ukraine as a European and democratic country. He has to destroy it – and thus Ukraine and the European democracies are fated to destroy the Putin regime.

In the coming days I expect all the domestic forces platonically aligned to Putin and Trump’s war aims to start mobilising: Reform are conflicted – they don’t know how to play this; but the reliable Stalinists of the far left are already on board with Trump’s vision for a Ukrainian sell out.

In response, I’ll be on the streets tomorrow, protesting outside the Russian Embassy tomorrow.

But the real action has to happen inside the heads of a few tens of thousands of politically active people in Britain – in Labour, the Tories, Libdems, even the Greens if they want to live in a continent where Net Zero actually matters. And Fleet Street.

The basic question is: which side are you on? Putin, Musk, Trump and the sieg-heiling Bannon? Or European democracy. If you’ve ever set foot in the Louvre, the Uffizi or the Reina Sofia the answer should be pretty damn clear.

Trump and Putin colluding to destroy the West as a concept. We have two leaders, in Macron and Starmer, who have stepped up to the plate and need support - plus an admirable set of smaller nations who know which side they're on. If they come back from Washington with a trail of insults and nothing else, we then we will have to draw sombre conclusions: nuclear rearmament to protect ourselves; probably the nuclear rearmament of Ukraine, too. And active destabilisation of the Putin regime with no holds barred.

You didn’t come into politics to do this? You want to stick to the 1001 just causes and campaigns that win you kudos with voters? Tough. 

Trump and Putin have called time on all that. February 2025 is the turning point after which how you responded to the big political decisions of our era is what you’re going to be judged on.