British Army’s Combined Arms Manoeuvre Demonstration

New Israeli APC may be produced in US

via Globe English

The planned new IDF armored personnel carrier (APC) - the Eitan - will be manufactured in the US and purchased by Israel with US military aid, according to internal discussions by the IDF land forces and the Ministry of Defense. Such a decision is liable to disappoint Israeli defense companies and dozens more small and medium-sized companies in Israel involved in the Merkava tank program. These companies hoped that their involvement in the new APC program would increase the volume of their business.
The APC, which is in the advanced stages of development by the Ministry of Defense and IDF, was first unveiled four months ago, and is in the midst of a series of tests. A prototype of the APC has already been built, and two more will be completed in the coming months.
The Nahal brigade is due to conduct a series of tests on the APC in the coming weeks. Defense sources said that the tests might be completed in the coming months, in which case the IDF and Ministry of Defense would discuss its procurement. If this occurs, procurement is likely to begin during the Gideon multi-year plan, under which the IDF is already operating.

Makes sense.  I wonder if they'll go with BAE, General Dynamics or SAIC?

Nationalism claims the Italian PM's scalp

via CNN

Italian center-left Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he will resign on Monday, after conceding an "extraordinary clear" defeat on an Italian constitutional referendum.
"Tomorrow the President of the Republic will have a meeting with me and I will hand in my resignation," Renzi said. "I take on full responsibilities for defeat and so I say I lost, not you," he told supporters.
The defeat of the referendum was resounding, with nealy 60% of voters saying "no." It is considered a win for eurosceptic populist and nationalist parties in Italy, which campaigned heavily against Renzi and his promise to stimulate Italy's sluggish economy.
"When you lose you cannot pretend that nothing has happened and go to bed and sleep. My government ends here today," Renzi said.

The worldwide populist movement just claimed the Italian PM's scalp and is taking aim at the EU.  2017 is gonna be fun.

U.S. Navy aims to buy more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets: source

via Reuters

The U.S. Navy plans to divest its older model Boeing Co (BA.N) F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets in coming years and hopes to buy dozens of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to deal with a shortfall of strike fighters aboard its carriers, a Navy official said.
The plan, which is still being finalized, could be implemented as early as part of the fiscal 2018 budget, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
"To decrease the strike fighter shortfall and to best prepare future air wings for likely threats we will soon divest from legacy Hornets, look to buy several squadrons worth of Super Hornets and continue with efforts to bring on the F-35 carrier variant," said the official.
The Navy also plans to field and deploy a new unmanned carrier-based refueling plane, the official said.


Sources familiar with Navy plans say delays in the fielding of the carrier variant of the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet, longer-than-expected maintenance times for older model Hornets, and higher usage rates have left the Navy facing a shortfall of about 70 fighter jets in coming years.

We've been hearing this for at least two years.  The Navy needs to do it or shut up.

FNSS & PT Pindad - 105mm Modern Medium Weight Tank Simulation

American Heroes Channel (formerly Military History Channel) Collaborators.

With the interest in a previous post I wanted to inform people that might not know of the series by AHC covering Nazi Collaborators.  If you haven't seen it you're missing out.  They cover a wide range of figures that were unknown to me and it goes from southern to northern Europe.  A definite must see.

Finnish experimental armored “Valmet”. 1989

pic via bmashina.tumblr.com

Russia's New Patrol Armoured Vehicle (Winter Trials)

Interesting theory about the "Trump Taiwan Issue" by Medal Honor Winner Colonel (ret) Jack Jacobs.

Heard an interesting theory on the Trump Taiwan issue by Colonel Jacobs today on MSNBC.  The good Colonel pointed out that China has been bullying its neighbors, manipulating its currency and defying international treaties.

He also recalled Trump's rhetoric about China during the campaign.

Of course the usual suspects on both the left and right are rolling out the meme that Trump "doesn't understand" (I so despise that...how the fuck does anyone know what he does or doesn't understand...even worse that shit has caught on with the general public!), doesn't know the diplomatic framework and is disrespecting a rising power.

Jacobs thinks that this is the first shot across China's bow by the Trump administration.  He thinks this wasn't a mistake and was designed to let the Chinese know that there is a new way of thinking about them in Washington.

I hope so.

Cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict? UPDATED.

If you haven't seen the video of the Slager case then you're probably living under a rock.  Long short?  Black male motorist pulled over, had some type of minor infractions with the law, took off running...and Slager shot him in the back numerous times.

To add insult to injury (and I'm amazed that no one is talking about this) another officer arrived (a black guy) and appeared at best to tamper with the crime scene at worst to plant evidence (this part is fuzzy as hell...I've heard it both ways....kinda curious what the dept does with him, but like I said no one is talking about that dude).

Ordinarily I'd kick back, relax and watch how this all plays out but one of the jurors said something that made me freeze in my tracks.  Check this out from NBC News.

A lone juror said Friday he can't convict a white former police officer who fatally shot a black man in South Carolina, and the jury said they want to continue deliberating.
The juror in a letter to the court said "I cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict" against Michael Slager, a former patrolman who pulled over Walter Scott in North Charleston, and ended up shooting him as a bystander recorded the incident on video.
The jury foreperson said in a separate note to the court that it was only one juror who was "having issues," Circuit Judge Clifton Newman said. The juror opposed to conviction said in the letter, "I cannot and will not change my mind," Newman said.

The crazy thing?  I'm not sure cause I'm not a lawyer but after the juror made that statement even if they come back with some type of guilty verdict this trial is tainted and the conviction will be easily over turned.

I thought that state and local govts could handle these kind of cases. I think I was wrong.

UPDATE.  The juror that I quoted above said quite a bit more than the news media initially told us.  Quite honestly I thought that somehow a KKK member made it onto the jury but the juror is questioning the choices laid out before him.  I'm thinking but not sure that they probably pressed for murder and this juror is thinking this is more an involuntary manslaughter case.  The only reason why I give this a bit of "hope" is because they're talking about what wasn't seen on the tape.  Supposedly Scott grabbed at the officers taser.  What the truth is I don't know.  I wasn't there.

Collaborator.

via warpicshistory

A French woman accused of collaborating with the Germans had her head shaved and swastikas painted on her face. Many French women who slept with German soldiers or officials received this or sometimes even harsher treatment at the hands of their countrymen as northern France was liberated in the summer of 1944. 

The act of shaving a womans head as punishment dates back to as far as biblical times. The Visigoths used the punishment in the Dark Ages and during the medieval era this was often used as a punishment for adultery as a woman’s long hair was a symbol of the feminine and a mark of beauty. Shaving a woman bald was one of the worst humiliations. I personally have a difficult time with these images. These women all had different stories. Many French women had husbands killed in the 1940 Battle of France and saw German soldiers as a way to support themselves in difficult times. Frenzied punishment without due process of law is never a good thing, even when done with good 

Kim Jong Un Tells Troops 'Wipe Out South Korea'

via International Business Times

Kim Jong Un instructed North Korean troops to "wipe out South Korea" in the latest sign of aggression from North Korea's supreme leader. Kim's remarks came during a military border exercise this week as the United Nations Security Council adopted sanctions targeting Pyongyang's coal exports.
"This is how we must forcefully respond to those South Koreans. At first strike we must completely break the will of those South Koreans and wipe them all out," Kim said according state-controlled television network KCTV.
Kim spoke directly to a marine brigade and a frontline unit that has been tasked with fighting Seoul. The drills included the rapid firing of artillery and Kim was briefed on their training plan, UPI reported Friday.

Ya know what the good news is?  The good news is that we can expect little statements by the little madman in N. Korea on an almost quarterly basis.

The bad news is that you can feel the Neo-Con (both Republicans and Democrats) are almost hoping that N. Korea does something stupid to test Trump's administration.