Open Comment Post. Oct 18, 2016

I'm still watching the news but I find little interesting.  Mosul?  They've been planning that offensive for over a year.  What kind of military commander telegraphs an attack and allows an enemy to fortify their positions for a year?  Plus its an urban area?  The stupidity is astounding but most will wave the flag, shout USA and not question military leadership.

Same applies to a "worldwide conference on ISIS".  General Dunford is calling a meeting of over 50 nations to deal with the aftermath of the defeat of ISIS.  Seriously?  40K troops and they've been allowed to fight almost the whole world to a standstill for a couple of years?  Sorry I don't buy the fight, don't care about the outcome anymore.

US ships were targeted for a third time near Yemen.  Independent ship operations, a lack of a plan to kill the missiles and a jacked up alliance with Saudi Arabia has me wondering why I should care.

Maybe I'm in a bad mood but that little snippet of issues happening shows why blogging has been light.

I want to care, but just can't make myself.  But enough about me.  What's on your mind?

UH-34 Seahorse in Vietnam via National Naval Aviation Museum Facebook Page.

Troops run from a UH-34 Seahorse helicopter of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 362 in a landing zone in South Vietnam.

HUS-1 Seahorses from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 362 insert Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops in a landing zone in a rice paddy in South Vietnam. As part of Operation Shufly, HMM-362 became the first Marine aviation unit to fly operationally in country in South Vietnam beginning on April 15, 1962.

Marine Corps HUS Seahorse helicopters carrying vehicles operate from an amphibious assault ship.

Flight deck personnel carry wounded Marines across the deck of the amphibious assault ship Valley Forge (LPH 8) after UH-34 Seahorses of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 361 flew the casualties out to the ship.

USMC & Singapore Army @ Exercise Mark Valiant 2016

Ex Valiant Mark is an annual bilateral exercise between the SAF and USMC and that provides various opportunities for both militaries to build stronger bonds. This year, about 1,300 personnel from the 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade, and the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, as well as supporting components from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)'s Peace Carvin II Detachment and the 1st Marine Division took part in the exercise.

L-CAT 2? via Defesa Global.

Defesa Global has an article up on the L-CAT 2 (I'm calling it that..I have no idea how CNIM Defense is labeling this boat) and its kinda interesting.  via DG

On the occasion of the EURONAVAL 2016 naval technologies trade show, which is taking place 17- 21 October in France, CNIM Defense is presenting the new version of its L-CAT ship-to-shore fast landing catamaran, the L-CAT Shore-to-Shore version.
The ship-to-shore version was supplied to France (4) and to Egypt (2). All operates from BPC (Bâtiment de Projection et de Commandement ) amphibious assault ships supplied by DCNS and STX France to France and Egypt. The L-CAT boats were built by SOCARENAM, In French Navy service, the boat is designated as EDA-R (Engin de Débarquement Amphibie Rapide).

I went to CNIM Defense website but couldn't find any information on the boats specs, how much its rated to carry, how fast it is or its range.

Т-14 Armata Main Battle Tank Capabilities

Zhuhai Airshow Vehicle Display is shaping up....

Thanks to MicMac80 for the link!

Am I mistaken or is this the first "uparmored" Chinese 8x8 we've seen?  The extra armor on the turret and sides is obvious.  What we don't know is if its a local development, stolen tech or a mixture of the two.  If the Chinese are gonna get into the "adding armor" game then I wonder what the implications are?  Is there view of combat in the future changing?  Will we see a swing toward heavier base vehicles to gain the added protection that they desire?

I consider the above IFV as being the best in Chinese service.  They took the Russian design and tweaked it but the changes make sense.  Oh and it also seems to have additional armor applied.

Open Comment Post. Oct 16, 2016.

Don't know why but I do love Land Cruisers...especially the classic models.  I wonder why Toyota isn't pushing a retro-modern version for the US market, not those luxury abominations they've been building but a real deal off road vehicle to compete with Jeep and other backwoods rigs.

Anyway.  What's on your mind?

This is the new "King of Thailand"?????

Thanks to William for the link!

Are you seeing this?  If not take another look at the pics above.  The middle aged man-child wearing hip hugger jeans, sporting a freaking halter top is the new king of Thailand.

Yeah.  Drink in those pics again.

I wouldn't let that freak feed my dog much less represent my country.  Save your venom.  I know you're not suppose to judge a book by its cover but give me a break.  Somewhere deep inside you're saying the same.

Goodness.  I thought we were fucked.  Thailand is in a shitlocker.  Story on this yuts trip to Germany here.

China J-20 Stealth Fighter Flight Testing Vid

Open Comment Post. Oct 13, 2016.

MMMM!  Coffee!

Nothing to talk about today except our totally dysfunctional, illogical and inept use/application of military force in the Middle East.  We just lobbed missiles at the Houthis and I can't for the life of me ever remember them giving a fuck about the US.

Yeah.  That's how you make friends in the world.  You side with losers and idiots (Saudis) and you alienate those that had no opinion of you one way or the other.

Is it just me or is it past time that our civilian and military leaders level with us about what the real goals are in that region?  Everyone focuses on whether Trump groped a female 20 years ago (or even further back for a hag I saw on television last night) but no one is asking questions of real importance.

We're so screwed as a country.

At least we have the gym, coffee, beef and pre-workouts.

US attacks Houthi radar sites.

Thanks to Pete for the link!

via RT

The US military has carried out a series of “limited self-defence strikes” in Yemen, the Pentagon has announced. The attack, authorized by President Obama, was carried out in retaliation to recent attacks on the US naval destroyer, USS Mason.

According to the Pentagon’s initial assessments, three “radar sites” in the Houthi rebel-controlled area of Yemen were destroyed in the attack.
The attack on coastal targets was carried out by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the destroyer USS Nitze, NPR reported. According to US officials all targets were “in remote areas, where there was little risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage.”
“These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships, and our freedom of navigation in this important maritime passageway,” the statement reads.

Rant.

I fucking hate the Saudis.  They bit off more than they could chew and now they're dragging us into their idiocy.  I hate the Neo-Cons.  They want constant war and they're dragging the US down into a swamp of perpetual combat that will have untold effects on our society.

Finally, I hate the President, supposedly a smart man that tap dances to the beat of the Saudis.  He should know better.  He supposedly doesn't want war.  Yet everything he's done in the past two years has made things worse.

Navy Corpsmen are now called "Medics"

Wow.

I've been monitoring the mess with the Navy rating system and how everyone and their mother except the SecNav is pissed with the changes.

Quite honestly I didn't give a fuck.  The SecNav screwed the Marine Corps so hard and got so little resistance (and in the case of the traitorous bastards inhabiting USNI Blog...the fuckers over there know who I'm referring to and that includes certain writers AND their enablers in the staff) that I found it nothing but right that the Navy got their turn bent over Mabus' desk getting ass fucked into submission.

But I should have known better.

No tradition is safe.

Corpsmen.  Those special Sailors (that are really Marines but walked into the wrong recruiting office) that would run thru hell itself to help a wounded man don't get to keep their legacy intact.

Now they're called that lower form of creature (don't get me wrong...they're cool, just not as cool) known as Medics.

I weep for the US military.