Where are the Russian Tanks???

Global Research Blog has an interesting take on the "Russian Invasion" of Ukraine.

They seem to think that we're all the victims of a NATO psy-ops campaign.  Why?  Because we have yet to see evidence of Russian armor or artillery INSIDE Ukraine.

Quite honestly all we've seen is a bunch of infantry running around engaged in gunfights....a bit of armor, both conventional and hillbilly, but nothing that proves the fact that the Russians have invaded.  Read the story here.

6th ROK Marine brigade - Mobile Exercise

ISIS Pounds Syrian Airbase With American Howitzer

Note.  We wondered if ISIS had the skill to operate the equipment they captured.  Obviously they do.  I think they just became one of the richest "nations" in the region and certainly are better equipped than a few countries.

Donbass Battalion Surrounded And taking Casualties In Ilovaisk

Thanks Mauricio  for the link!

China's "Peace Mission-2014" is going on now.

via Xinhua

The scale of the ongoing "Peace Mission 2014" joint military drill is the largest to date, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
The exercise is being held from Aug. 24 to 29 at Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in accordance with the 2014-2015 defense ministry cooperation plan among Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members.
Spokesperson Yang Yujun told a regular news briefing the drill is progressing smoothly, with troop exercises beginning Friday.
Yang said the exercise will play an important role in deterring the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, safeguarding regional peace and stability and improving the military's ability to coordinate fights against terrorism.
The exercise is the fifth multinational drill under the SCO framework. Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan sent armed forces by land and air in early August.

Russia in Ukraine is a European problem (in my opinion).

Russia teamed with China in the Pacific is a US problem (in my opinion).

Time for a little straight talk.  We can't have a true NATO type alliance where countries come to each others defense if attacked by China because the region is still suffering the effects of centuries of rivalries and ethnic hatred.

So be it.

But that means that all these glorious plans of a 1000 ship Navy and partnership missions is just bullshit seeking to pacify policy makers when it comes to spending the necessary funds on defense to keep the Dragon in its cage.  One other thing to consider.  Those two Mistrals that were bought (along with the expertise to produce more) has everyone thinking that they're aimed at European operations...maybe some actions in the Middle East.  I say bullshit.  I'm betting that those ships are aimed at the Pacific.

China's new Type 55 Destroyer.

All images via Chinese Military Review.

F-35 IOC in 2015? Not fucking likely!

via Bloomberg (Aug 20, 2014).

The start of rigorous in-flight testing on the initial software for the Marine Corps version of the fighter is already five months late, and may be further delayed by the flight restrictions imposed on the 20 test aircraft and 79 training jets after an engine fire on an Air Force F-35 on June 23.
“Many test points remain blocked or difficult to achieve because” of the flight restrictions, Jennifer Elzea, a spokeswoman for Pentagon director of operational testing Michael Gilmore, said in an e-mailed statement. “This may cause further delays in completing” testing of the software, she said.

Hmm.  5 months late for the testing of the initial software for the USMC.  The daddy of the F-35 Amos heading out the door this Oct (THANK GOD!!!!!!), a grunt getting back in the big chair... Added with the probability that the Republicans will reclaim the Senate and "spending discipline" will be imposed (hopefully)....all adds up to the Marine Corps delaying the IOC for the F-35.  But this is to be expected.  The US DoD has been pursuing exotic weapon systems and has been failing everytime.  Check out what USMC 0802 said on the post about the GVX.

All of this points back to the same basic problem in all weapon procurement which is that we only green light leap ahead systems.
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, Future Combat System, and all of the other systems that were supposed to be leap ahead technologies that failed.
Joint Strike Fighter, Lightweight Small Arms Technology, DDG1000, Littoral Combat Ship. All of these systems are behind schedule and massively over budget. All were supposed to be ground breaking technologies that have instead taken forever to make it out of development and massively under delivered on the original promise.
Instead that has left us with yet another upgrade on the AAV7, plummeting readiness rates on F/A-18s and AV-8Bs, and a assault rifle that continues to come in near last place in every competition to name just a couple of the legacy systems that we continue to use. This leaves our warfighters using weapons systems that were designed before they were born because the replacement is always just another couple of years away and is always just a couple of years away.

Sidenote.  Has anyone noticed that we still don't have a reported cause of the fire...only speculation?  Has it escaped your attention that the F-35 is still operating under flight restrictions?  Amos was going to pencil whip the plane into service.  I don't see Dunford taking those kinds of unnecessary risks with the lives of Marines flying an airplane that hasn't completed flight testing.

This should be on the wall of every General Officer in the Pentagon that deals with procurement....

“Putting the F-35 into production years before the first test flight was acquisition malpractice,” said acting Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall

The above statement is the closest thing we've seen to a government official admitting wrong doing when it comes to this project...but it won't be the last.

People will go to jail over this boondoggle.

I'd bet bodyparts!