The German-based companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall
have placed on display before the international audience gathering at
Eurosatory 2010 one of the four prototypes of their newly developed
family of armoured multipurpose vehicles (AMPV) in the 5.3 to 9.3-ton
class. The vehicle, which has not been only developed for the
Bundeswehr’s GFF/GTF project, having requested protected C4I and
mission-specific vehicles as well as protected transport capacity, is
designed taking into account the operational experiences made by the
German armed forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
I guess this is the official unveiling because this vehicle has been up on KMW's website for at least a year or two. Another 7 ton Humvee/JLTV/light weight MRAP/patrol vehicle.
We have too many of these already. I don't really see much of a future in this segment. One dirty little secret of the current conflicts is that Infantry operating on foot or out of larger vehicles like the MTVR are as effective as those operating in uparmored Humvee type vehicles.
BAE has another interesting wheeled vehicle to add to a pretty impressive portfolio of products. The RG41. What has me slightly confused is that I didn't even catch a whiff of this vehicle before Eurosatory.
Thankfully Defense News has been doing the work and has a nice article on it. You can read it here.
Eurosatory 2010 is going on now and I can't find a major organization that's covering the going on's there. The only people that appear to be making an effort is Defense Update and Army Recognition.
The photo below is taken from Army Recognition. Its suppose to be of a new Leopard 2A7.
The Sea Phantom. An unusual high speed transport that is being touted by its developers as the answer to the issue of back injuries of Special Operations personnel when they're being transported in high speed boats.
SEAL Insertion / Harbor Patrol: the number one
long-term concern of the US Navy SEAL operative during small boat
insertion operations is the accumulative effect of the constant pounding
on his body. The average SEAL will complete his career one inch shorter
than his enlistment height, due solely to the endless wave impact loads
on his spine. Many admirable approaches have been made to mitigate
shock loads to small boat combatants at the seat base, but the more
logical approach would be to intercept the problem at its source: the
sea-surface interaction zone. The SeaPhantom does this. The SeaPhantom rises to cruise above average wave crests;
furthermore it is a boat with a suspension system - a very
serious suspension system: comprising non-corrosive fiberglass leaf
springs and billet-aluminum airbags - tested to 60,000 pounds - for
dampening the effects of errant wave impacts. Servicemen assigned to patrol will be in far better shape
to perform their duties when not beaten into the ground during hours of
small boat operations...
As to the actual utility of this boat? I just don't know, it is unusual looking, its a hydrofoil of sorts and it does appear to be fast. How practical it would be when used as an insertion platform is beyond me though.
For those that don't know...this is just another weekend for some Marines out on the town...this is an everyday happening...no big deal...until you consider that instead of happening out in town, its going to be happening on the base. In base housing. In barracks. Aboard ships. DADT repeal will be traumatic to the force.
Two Marines have been arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault. Savannah
police say a police officer was patrolling early Saturday morning when
he saw two men running on Congress Lane. The Savannah Morning News
reports that moments later, 26-year-old Kieran Daly was found lying
motionless on a nearby street. The Marines, 22-year-old Keil
Joseph Cronauer and 23-year-old Charles Stanzel were arrested a short
time later, police say. According to police, Cronauer and Stanzel said
they were trying to get away from a gay man who was harassing them.
According
to police, Daly said one of the suspects hit him because he thought he
was winking at him.
Police records state Cronauer and Stanzel were
later released to Marine police.
There are alot of pot smoking old timers and sissified men who have never served or even Chairmen who are approaching the end of their tenure and want to buttress their record against the fiasco in Afghanistan who are for the repeal of DADT.
If you do favor repeal, then you have to understand that the Marine Corps is the land of testosterone and bad attitudes. People will get hurt.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the new Defence Secretary Liam Fox
revealed the Chief of the Defence Staff - as well as the Ministry of
Defence's top civil servant, Sir Bill Jeffrey, are both to leave their
jobs at the same time later this year. The Government is currently conducting a Strategic Defence Review
(SDR) about the future
of the British forces. The paper said the clean sweep at the top is intended to improve the
military's performance on the Afghan front line, as well as cutting
Whitehall waste.
If I were to guess, I'd say that the good General didn't quite get on board with planned cuts or the direction of military forces in Afghanistan.
That leads me to believe that the cuts are going to be deeper than the Chief of Defense Staff wanted and the posture in Afghanistan is probably going to be biased toward reduced casualties.
Either way its bad news for the Afghans and General McChrystal. Now we know why Gates said that progress had to be shown by the end of the year...our allies are packing bags...they haven't left yet, but they're getting ready.
One of the issues that will face the ground forces when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finally wind down is that money that has been going to make sure that our Infantry is the best and most lavishly equipped in the world will go away.
That is one (of only a few) good things to come out of these conflicts. The advancement in gear tech has been ... stunning.
ADS Inc. is a 'clearing house'...a one stop shop if you will, of gear that units can make purchases from without going through the headache of tracking down each individual vendor.
Which leads to another unforeseen economic shock that will be hitting soon so enjoy the wide variety while you can. Fewer personnel and smaller budgets will mean that many of the companies highlighted in the brochures below won't be around.
The good people at the Marine Corps Sea Basing Website are stressing the importance of the Sea Base being able to support not only Marine Corps Units but also US Army Combat Brigades and Allied Forces.
But Houston, we have a problem.
The Ground Combat Vehicle or for that matter the next generation Stryker/Bradley A3 will strain our current and interim Ship to Shore Connector...the LCAC.
The LCAC's are in the middle of a service life extension and are due to serve for another 10-20 years until the Navy gets around to replacing them.
The problem is this. The LCAC is capable of carrying 74 tons at 35 knots over a distance of 25 nm or greater (pg 7 of the brochure).
That means that carrying the future Ground Combat Vehicle will be the equivalent of moving a Main Battle Tank for every sortie. And with the future growth in weight of the Stryker and Bradley (once the Army gets around to recapitalizing it!) will place the Bradley close to the 35-40 ton range and the Stryker close to the 30 ton threshold. Similar in weight to the EFV----but those systems can't swim!.
The US Army Heavy Brigade Combat Teams and to a certain extent the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (the middle weight force) are moving away from use in the Assault Echelon. Before I hear howls of protest understand that the HBCT or the SBCT were not to be part of the first wave but were to be launched in a non-permissive environment.
With current vehicle growth they will be too heavy to move in any environment except one thats highly permissive---this also means that it will have to be an administrative movement---not combat.
Weight is going to be an issue and might keep the Army on the sidelines in the future. Its obvious that the Army isn't taking into account strategic mobility or employment in their future vehicle force structure. Infantry will once again rule ----whether Airborne, Air Assault, or Ranger---every other part of the Army force will be too heavy to get into the fight.
*Note*
The US Army has virtually discarded what they called "Light" Infantry -read that to mean Non-Airborne or Air Assault Infantry formations.
They're either Heavy or Stryker. That means that the US Marine Corps will have to bear the burden of the fight if conflict erupts in Jungles....heavily urbanized areas or even in the arctic. The 82nd or the 101st can deploy and fight as Light Infantry but they are tasked organized for short duration missions (especially the 82nd). They aren't formed or equipped to last more than a couple of days in an active combat zone without support.
I absolutely love the way the guys at Headquarters Marine Corps can take an overly wordy document and break it down for wide distribution. Consider it Cliff Notes....
Here's the short version of the Naval Operations Concept 2010.
No 049 Basic Parachute Course strapped into a RAAF C-17 Globemaster
waiting for take off to participate in their first descent.
Private Eric Egginton waiting for the command to "GO" from the jump
master to be the first student to jump from a RAAF C-17 Globemaster
transport aircraft.
Commanding Officer of Parachute Training School HMAS ALBATROSS,
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Bonativa is first to jump out of a Royal
Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft during a
parachute training exercise on the HMAS ALBATROSS airfield
Personnel from Parachute Training School, HMAS ALBATROSS, comprising of
both staff and trainees, conduct static line parachute training with a
Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, as
operated by 36 Squadron, RAAF BASE AMBERLEY.
