Combat Leap.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Valdez (left), a corpsman with 1st Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and 30-year-old native of Waipahu, Hawaii, extends a helping hand to Lance Cpl. Patrick Mireles, a team leader and 23-year-old native of Austin, Texas, as Mireles jumps a stream during a security patrol here, April 30, 2012. On the final patrol of their seven-month deployment, the Marines toured the Durzay region of Helmand province's Garmsir district to disrupt possible insurgent activity. After arriving in Garmsir in October 2011, the Marines aided Afghan National Security Forces in assuming lead security responsibility of the district, developing and expanding legitimate Afghan governance by defeating insurgent forces and securing the people of Garmsir. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder)

Argentina gut punches the UK

Wow.

Argentina is alot more serious about the Falklands than the British are willing to admit.  There will be a shooting war over this issue.  The Argentinians are inflamed about this issue and the Brits are so laid back about it that they can't see the warning signs.

Watch the vid again and take in exactly what they're saying.

The UK got bitch slapped.

A blog you should check out.

Hey gents.

Found a blog you should check out...Why the F-35....

Recommended reading for Bill Sweetman, Bob Cox, the entire Aviation Week Staff, Air Power Australia and all the other camp followers that they have.

The Kawasaki C-2...the real A400 Grizzly killer.

Looking like a scaled down C-17 or a slightly larger and more advanced YC-15, the C-2 is hitting the real sweet spot in future tactical airlift.

The A400 was designed to fill that niche but it's missed the mark due to advancements in armor technology and changing defense trends.  The 30 ton payload of the A400 just won't do.  Additionally its price point is going to make it difficult to export.

Now compare that to the C-2.  Its faster than the A400, has a bigger payload, and is zooming toward production and should be on the defense market anytime.  The Japanese just relaxed export restrictions and this airplane should be one of the first beneficiaries of that decision.

The Kawasaki C-2.  The real A400 Grizzly killer. 

British Anti-Air Missile Deployment for the Olympics.

Interesting.

Anti-air missiles...Typhoon Fighters....Amphibious Assault Ships in the harbor....

They're going all out and this is just the stuff we can see.  I'd bet body parts that if the public got wind of whats going on behind the scenes they'd be shitting bricks.

Soldier dies of dog bite.

This is crazy.  via Military.com.

A U.S. soldier died of rabies after being bitten by a dog in Afghanistan, U.S. health authorities said on Thursday.
The 24-year-old male first complained in mid-August 2011 of symptoms including shoulder and neck pain, odd sensations in his hands and fainting, shortly after arriving at Fort Drum, N.Y., for a new military assignment.
"He was lucid and described having received a dog bite on the right hand during January 2011 while deployed to Afghanistan," said the report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tests confirmed that the patient had a type of canine rabies associated with dogs in Afghanistan, the CDC report said.
The soldier's condition swiftly deteriorated after he was hospitalized on Aug. 19.
He suffered a severe brain hemorrhage and after consulting with doctors who said recovery was unlikely, the family withdrew life support. The soldier, whose name was withheld by the CDC, died on Aug. 31.

This makes your heart break.  To survive mines, IED's and bullets and to die of a dog bite?

I'm not about to throw stones at Army medicine, but what happened here?  All the warnings about not befriending stray animals in that hell hole--to report bites and this went unnoticed?

I WASN'T THERE SO I DON'T KNOW.

But this sucks.  This really sucks.

Tank Instructor....

A sexy Israeli Tank Instructor! 

Mythical Fleet. Patrol Boat.

Thought I had forgotten my mythical fleet?

Not a chance.

Next on the list to actual take the fight to the enemy in the Pacific theater and even off the coast of Africa and in other confined waters around the world is a patrol boat.

Working in concert with LCS (properly named Off Shore Patrol Vessels)...LHD's with their embarked helicopters will be squadrons of Austal 30m Fast Patrol Vessels.

Of course we'd need to determine a type of weapons fit for them but that shouldn't be an issue.  The goal here is to act as screening forces for the larger ships and to fill the role of WW2 Torpedo Boats.

Its a hole in our capabilities that we can easily fill.  Visit and Boarding activities can more easily be carried out from these boats and when you consider the crowded water ways in which future combat might take place, an ink bloat strategy on waves might prove helpful.

Less expensive and more plentiful is the way to go.

Mike at New Wars along with the guy talking about buying Fords not Cadillacs have won the day with me.  Stats via Austal.

GENERAL VESSEL DESCRIPTION
Vessel type Fast Patrol Craft
Material Aluminium alloy
Hull form Monohull
Deadweight (max) 16 tonnes
PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS
Length overall 30.0 metres
Length (waterline) 24.6 metres
Beam (moulded) 6.4 metres
Depth (moulded) 3.2 metres
Draft (approx.) 1.5 metres
PERSONNEL
Crew 11
PERFORMANCE
Range at 10 knots >1000nm
Speed 40 knots
PROPULSION
Main engines 2 x MTU 16V 2000 M92
2 x 1630kW @ 2450rpm
Propulsion 2 x Kamewa SIII waterjets
WEAPONS AND SENSORS
Standard 2 x 0.50 calibre general purpose machine gun mounts
1 x 20mm cannon