My take on the Russian T4 base ISIS attack controversy.

Hey all, I decided that with a bit more information coming out that I could/should give you my take on the Russian T4 base ISIS attack controversy.

To bring you up to speed, this morning STRATFOR reported that analysis of sat images revealed that a major attack...a successful attack occurred at Russia's T4 base in Syria.

The Russians have denied the claim thru several of their domestic news organizations.

My take?

We all just wandered into the middle of some intel service play of some type.  What is the aim or objective?  I don't have a clue.  Well what about the attack?  Did it actually happen and did the Russians lose aircraft and personnel?  Again I don't know.  What I do know is that STRATFOR is connected.  They're one of those high power organizations that straddles the line between being private and govt.

On this one I'm gonna be patient and see how it plays out.  When you have two dangerous animals squaring off you don't get in the middle of it.  If you're smart you stay a good distance away (not too far, you still want to see the fight).  That's what I consider this to be.  To be honest its boiling down to either the Russians are lying in their denial, STRATFOR put out bad information by mistake, or STRATFOR put out bad information on purpose.

About that attack on Russia's T4 base. How did the Russian Marines do? UPDATE!

Hobgoblin Truth raised an interesting point on the thread showing images of the ISIS attack on Russia's T4 base.  He wondered about casualties.  I'll raise him one more.  Do you remember that Russian Marines were brought in to provide security for Russian facilities?  How did the Russian Marines perform, how was the base infiltrated and are they still combat capable?

This is a tremendous setback for the revitalization of the Russian military image in the world.

UPDATE!  We have officially entered the land of mirrors.  Propaganda efforts on both sides and involving many govts are now involved.  I'm stepping away from this thing until we get official word from Departments/Ministries of Defense.  

Images from the ISIS attack on the Russian T4 Base. THIS WAS A MAJOR ATTACK!

Thanks to Info Infantry for the pics!

This was a major attack.  I find it amazing that there was no word of this floating around the Russian defense forums.

Is China's economy about to go south?

Thanks to William for the link!

via Bloomberg.

Charlene Chu, a banking analyst who made her
name warning of the risks from China’s credit binge, said a
bailout in the trillions of dollars is needed to tackle the bad-
debt burden dragging down the nation’s economy.
Speaking eight days after a Communist Party newspaper
highlighted dangers from the build-up of debt, Chu, a partner at
Autonomous Research, said she was yet to be convinced the
government is serious about deleveraging and eliminating
industry overcapacity.
She also argued that lenders’ off-balance-sheet portfolios
of wealth-management products are the biggest immediate threat
to the nation’s financial system, with similarities to Western
bank exposures in 2008 that helped to trigger a global meltdown.
The former Fitch Ratings analyst uses a top-down approach
to calculating China’s bad-debt levels as the credit to gross
domestic product ratio worsens, requiring more credit to
generate each unit of GDP.
While Chu is on the bearish side of the debate about the
outlook for China, she’s not alone. In a report on Monday,
Societe Generale SA analysts said that Chinese banks may
ultimately face 8 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion) in losses and a
bailout from the government, citing the scale of soured credit
within state-owned enterprises.
Interviewed in Hong Kong last week, Chu estimated as much
as 22 percent of all China’s outstanding credit may be
nonperforming by the end of this year, compared with an official
bad-loan number for banks in March of 1.75 percent.

This is the wild card in the US election.  People are already skittish when it comes to the economy and if China goes south then it will almost guarantee a Trump win.

There are so many points of failure for the Democrat party this year that I find it amazing that people are missing this stuff.  Europe is teetering on the brink of violence.  The Middle East is as usual full of misery and agony.  China and the Pacific is on the brink of economic recession and the rest of the BRIC countries are on edge.

Its the economy stupid!

Sheriff of Pinal County tells citizens to "bring a gun" if you're camping or hiking this holiday!

Its a shame.  The guy in the vid has a solid heart but is really looking to get himself killed.  Out in the desert by yourself?  Looking for drug cartel members?

If the heat doesn't get him then a critter, misstep or dehydration will long before he runs into the threat.

Somethings should be left to the govt.  This is one of them.  If the Sheriff is saying that an area is infested then perhaps you should just avoid it....or grab a bunch of your buddies, arm up and then go looking for trouble.  Just kidding.  Its just not worth the headache.

ISIS destroys Russian helicopters at T4 airbase!

Thanks to Giannis for the link!

via BBC

New satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after an attack by so-called Islamic State (IS).
Four helicopters and 20 lorries were destroyed in a series of fires inside the T4 base last week, the images from intelligence company Stratfor suggest.
The cause of the fires is unconfirmed.
A pro-Kremlin website said the helicopters had been used by "used by both Russian and Syrian air forces".
Russia has not officially commented on the incident.
A Russian opposition website quoted "Syrian sources" as saying "a large fire in the Syrian part of the T4 airbase spread to the fleet of vehicles, and after a fuel tank exploded four Russian helicopters nearby went up in flames".
"The cause of the fire is being established," it added.

Hey Russia.  Welcome to the Middle East.  We feel know your pain..... 

The 82nd's jump into Poland is about more than testing out an all terrain vehicle.

via Military.com

Tuley's battalion will take off from Fort Bragg and rig in the air on the 10-hour flight on June 6, the anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in Normandy and a hallowed date for the 82nd Division, which helped liberate France.
The troops will be dropping with about 10 of their MRZR all-terrain vehicles made by Minnesota-based Polaris Defense. (MRZR is not an acronym but simply a designator, said a Polaris spokeswoman.)
The four-seat MRZRs were still a "pilot program" for the 82nd but were intended to give the paratroopers more mobility once they hit the ground. "It's a little more robust" than commercial ATVs, Tuley said.
"These vehicles significantly enhance what would otherwise be foot mobility," Brig. Gen. Brian Winski, deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne, told Bloomberg News. "They change the dynamic and turn what would have been a three-mile per hour operation into a 50-mile per hour operation."
"Swift Response will demonstrate the allies' ability to respond to a crisis scenario from staging bases in both Europe and the U.S. within 18 hours of notification," the Army said in a statement.
The exercise, which will run from May 27 to June 26, will include more than 5,000 soldiers and airmen from Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United States, and will take place in Poland and Germany.
On the jump into Poland, the 1st BCT troops will be joined by about 1,000 paratroopers from the British 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade. At the same time, the Europe-based 173rd Airborne Brigade will deploy from staging bases in Germany to conduct airborne assaults onto training areas in northern Poland.
The second phase of Swift Response 16 will take place in Germany at the U.S. Army's Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas, and will include another Joint Forcible Entry airdrop.

The Marine Corps tribe should be paying close attention.  There is alot to unpack here so lets take it by the numbers....

1.  This exercise is about more than Russia, even if the defense media wants to focus on that.  This is about highlighting the 82nd's ability as a "Global Response Force".  This anniversary exercise is the Army's way of telling their paratroops to go up on a hill and beat the drum.  They can get anywhere fast, fight and win.

2.  They're testing out what Mike Sparks talked about so long ago.  Airborne Mechanization.  I find it funny.  He wanted to do it with M-113's and he was criticized from hell and back but now?  He's having the last laugh.  The primary weakness of airborne units?  They're strategically fast, but tactically slow.  They get to the fight at 500 mph by air but as soon as they hit ground they're foot slogging.  The MRZR's could change all that.

3.  This is another missed opportunity.  The 82nd and USMC MEUs are NATURAL brothers.  I have been pounding the table wondering why we aren't seeing exercises involving both formations here is another opportunity and its being wasted.

Swift Response this year looks to be as big or bigger than what we've seen in the past.  I look forward to watching it.

Was I an unknowing participant in corporate warfare/messaging?

This is pretty awesome and a little off putting.  We all know that the Pentagon, Joint Program Office, Lockheed Martin and various cabals inside the services are trying to drum up support for the F-35 this summer.

F-35's arriving in the Netherlands (click here for the story)

In the morning I got a link to the Advanced F-15 2040C video and posted it with glee.  The graphics were amazing and the plane holds promise of being the affordable missile truck that we'll need in the Pacific against hordes of Chinese airplanes
while being quarterbacked by high flying F-22's.

But back to the summer of the F-35.

Did Boeing deliberately release the video to stomp on news of the F-35 crossing the Atlantic?  Was I an unknowing participant in corporate warfare/messaging?

If so, then in this case I don't mind!

Advanced F-15 (2040c) Air Superiority Fighter Screen Grabs...

Note:  I will never understand why the defense side of these corporations can't get it right.  Boeing put together a great vid and then didn't release graphic images of their fighter?  I notice the same with BAE and STK with the ACV.  People could careless about seeing corporate big wigs and seeing them smiling with Generals at some conference.  We want to see the gear!  Anyway, this was a rush job and I'll try and get some cleared up later today...

Number 47 Squadron Centenary Tail Art Aerial Photos!

Is this the famous "loop"?

In Europe it has begun. First place to suffer is France.

This video was posted on May 18, 2016.

My popcorn is in the microwave.

Its time for the Marine Corps to revolt against the SecNav.

Thanks to Bryan for the link!


via Marine Corps Times.

One of the most time-honored phrases in the Marine Corps — "every Marine a rifleman" — could get an update as the service's top leaders consider new gender-neutral job titles for all positions.
The Marine Corps is conducting a sweeping review of its military occupational specialty titles, Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, told Marine Corps Times. The move follows a January directive from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that Navy and Marine leaders ensure all job titles are gender neutral as ground combat jobs opened to women.
Mabus specifically wanted the word "man" dropped from all titles. That could mean that female Marines — or even men — heading to ground-combat jobs may not pick up traditional titles like rifleman or artilleryman.

Its time for the Marine Corps leadership to grow a spine and revolt against the SecNav.  This isn't about an agenda to "diversify" the Marine Corps and open job opportunities to women.

This is an assault against our culture.

I will be watching this carefully.  The Army isn't going thru this nonsense but the Marine Corps is?  Chesty must be cursing us all.  Leadership for not standing up and the rest of the Corps for remaining silent.