The UK gets its Airborne Early Warning System for its new Carriers. Crowsnest goes onto AW101 Helicopters.

via Defense Update.

The British Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin announced a £269M (US$327 million) deal for the procurement of 10 aerial surveillance systems to operate on the Royal Navy new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. Initial deliveries are expected in 2018 with initial operational capability in 2020.
Lockheed Martin UK is the prime contractor for the Crowsnest project. The company will integrate airborne early warning radars and passive electronic support measures in the Merlin Mk2 helicopters provided by Leonardo that will also modify the Navy’s 30 AW101 Merlin HM.2 platforms to be able to carry the Crowsnet mission package.

Thales will provide the sensor suite solution for the system. With the new radar Crowsnet will replace the Seaking AEW7 that operated from the decks of the Royal Navy’s Invincible class aircraft carriers that were phased out of service in recent years. The system is an updated and improved version of the Cerberus tactical sensor suite, currently in service on the Sea King Mk7 helicopter.
The Merlin Mk2 Crowsnet will act as the eyes and ears for the Royal Navy’s ships, providing long range air, maritime and land detection and tracking capability. The Merlin Mk2 helicopters already perform a number of other roles for the Royal Navy, including anti submarine warfare, search and rescue.

One day we're going to have to have a real deal discussion on these pages about what a "real" aircraft carrier is and is expected to do.

The Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier is bigger than an America Class LHD (yes I know they've taken to calling them L-Class carriers but that's unmitigated bullshit and something they've pulled out of their asses...much more of that and the big Navy/Carrier Mafia will kick the Marine Corps so hard we'll bleed for years) but will have a similar complement.

It could operate conventional aircraft but they've chosen to go with the F-35B. Which means that while the AW101 will be a big improvement over the legacy system it will in no way compete with the E-2D Hawkeye when it comes to raw performance.

The Royal Navy made a conscious choice to move forward with degraded abilities across the board to include its future AEW system.

Why does this matter?

It matters because one day in the future the Brits MIGHT have to go it alone.
They might have to face another Falklands type situation where that little country that should be a pushover instead is launching advanced anti-ship missiles from long distance....

Making the best of a bad situation.  Dealing with the reality they face now and not relitigating decisions made in the past is what the Brits are doing.

This is good news.  But hindsight makes me wonder if mistakes were made.

Yars Nuclear Capable ICBM Combat Simulation

Russian Defense Ministry Says Its Warplanes Have Flown First Combat Mission in Syria With U.S.-Led Coalition Aircraft

Thanks to William for the link!

via Washington Post

MOSCOW — Russian Defense Ministry says its warplanes have flown first combat mission in Syria with U.S.-led coalition aircraft.

I don't know the implications of this but I like it.  About damn time.  Kill ISIS and deal with Assad at our leisure.

Ukrainian BTR-4M in Indonesia undergoing testing.

Thanks to DWI for the link!



Pics via Ukrainian Military Pages.com

Open Comment Post. Jan 22, 2017

Brits send tanks thru the Channel Tunnel...

via Sun

THE British Army has sent a TANK through the Channel Tunnel for the first time – to practise getting armoured vehicles to Eastern Europe quickly in case of a crisis with Russia.
The military exercise saw five armoured vehicles transported to France on train wagons in the early hours of Wednesday.
A Challenger tank and matching recovery vehicle, a Warrior armoured fighting vehicle, a Warrior recovery vehicle and a reconnaissance vehicle were all sent across the Channel during the exercise.
They made the 40-minute return journey a few hours later.

This is big in Europe but I don't quite get the excitement.  One raid by Russian Spetsnaz/GRU with a few demolition charges will destroy the tracks and shut down this form of rapid reinforcement.

More vehicles can be moved quickly by sea (if you're taking into account mass) and its not that far a trip.

As a PR exercise it sings.  Militarily practical?  Not so much.

Work with liberals to kill the F-35?

via MoveOn Petition.

PETITION BACKGROUND

With Republicans controlling the Presidency and both houses of Congress, reform proposals must be bipartisan to have any hope of success in Washington. Progressive Democrats may not have many Republican allies on some domestic issues, but for cutting the bloated Pentagon-industrial complex, we have potential Republican allies in the House Liberty Caucus. Of 40 Republicans who voted to stop the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, over half were members of the House Liberty Caucus. [1]


President Trump has called out Lockheed-Martin's F-35 warplane as a huge rip-off of our tax dollars. But jawboning Lockheed-Martin down on a warplane that doesn't work and we don't need anyway would only result in a slightly smaller ripoff. Congress should protect our tax dollars by shutting down the F-35 taxpayer ripoff immediately. The F-35 may never be ready for combat [2], and Pentagon brass are lying when they say there is no alternative. [3,4,5] The Congressional Budget Office says one modest proposal for killing the F-35 - buying different planes, but not fewer planes - would save taxpayers more than $20 billion over a decade. [6] Proposals to shut down the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which would likely harm renewable energy systems in rural areas, would save $2 billion a year - roughly the same amount. [7]

Urge Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders like Keith Ellison and House Liberty Caucus leaders like Justin Amash to work together to kill the F-35 by signing our petition.


References:
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html
2. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2016/f-35-may-never-be-ready-for-combat.html
3. http://www.pogo.org/straus/issues/weapons/2017/f-35-not-too-big-to-fail-twitter-trump-rattles-defense-industry.html
4. http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/the-unaffordable-f-35-budget-history-and-alternatives
5. http://nsnetwork.org/cms/assets/uploads/2015/08/F-35_FINAL.pdf
6. https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/52142-breakout-chapter32.pdf
7. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/315132-dems-blast-trump-plans-for-deep-spending-cuts

Wow.

These guys make my skin crawl but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Trump needs a unifying win and this would get him applause from many with a very small minority thinking its a bad move while the majority believe its long overdue.

Yeah.  I hate their guts but I could work with them on this.

Object 279...you thought it was all about the nuclear battlefield? You were wrong! (Vid)

Definitely gonna have to check out this series.  The portion of the vid where they talk about the hull armor was particularly interesting.  Seems that just like in WOT, heat rounds actually did rule the day.  Those tracks are interesting too.  Light tank type mobility with a ground psi of 8?  I think that's better than my truck (most trucks).

What doesn't the video cover?  If this thing was so damn cutting edge then why didn't the Soviets go forward with it?

Below The Turret Ring's take on Turkish Leopard 2 losses in Syria...

via BTTR

That's why speculating about how awful or how good some military unit perform just based on photos of wrecks doesn't make sense. Who knows how many hits the tank took before ending there? Or maybe the tanks didn't even take any damage but broke down before combat. Who would know based on a wreck of a tank?

Story here. 

I used a vague snippet of the article because I don't want to spoil it and I REALLY want you to head over to his house to read the whole thing.

BTTR wants us to wait before making assessments of Turkish Leopard 2A4 performance in Syria.

I contend we know the basics.

1.  Its obvious that they aren't using combined arms tactics in this fight.  Which means they aren't performing to NATO standards.

2.  The meme that the Leopard 2A4 is an old model and we can't judge its
performance because its not the latest and greatest version is nonsense.  Guess who operates the tank to the right!  Let me give you a hint (but I won't give the answer)...they're a Northern European nation that will be facing the Russian horde if "war were declared".  Additionally we can look at the performance of USMC M1A1 tanks in Iraq and Afghanistan as a marker, if that's too high a measure then (sorry no insult intended) we can look at the Canadian forces that for awhile were operating an EVEN OLDER version of the tank in that conflict.

3.  As far as knowing the "real story" of what happened on the ground we never will.  The fog of war, the fact that none of us were there AND the issue of differing perspectives depending on where the soldiers were that actually participated in the fighting makes me marvel at historian's ability to reconstruct a fight.  To get the real story it usually takes being able to talk to soldiers from both sides but that seems unlikely in this case.

4.  The Turks have obviously suffered due to the purges in their military.  This fight in my opinion proves that.  Additionally it should make us all pause on two levels.  First they apparently have devolved into another Middle Eastern Army that is currently incapable of performing to standard and this might continue for several years until they get a new cadre of professionals into the ranks instead of Erdogan sycophants.  Second the strategy of thinking that Turkey could guard the Southern Flank of NATO is probably dead.  If they can't handle ISIS then the Russians would throat punch them.

Long short?  I'm glad that Below The Turret Ring picked up this debate.  I personally think that it needs to continue and I still believe that the Leopard 2A4 and the Turkish Army (probably because of the purges) is overrated.

LAND 400 – BOXER CRV on its way to Australia

Note:  Video is two weeks old from Rheinmetall Defense.

Transportpanzer Fuchs 8x8 prototype...unknown armored vehicle!

Thanks to Galvars for the pic!

Wow!  Never knew this was a thing.  I like it.  Time to do a Google and find out why it wasn't pursued.  Below are more pics from Galvars.

If you have files on strange, unknown or rare armored vehicles make sure to drop a note in the Open Comments post.

Desert Tech MDR. Tavor killer looking more and more like vaporware...

via alloutdoor.com

There has been a lot of hype and a lot of disappointment and sniping around this gun. It was originally supposed to ship in late 2015 — here’s a group buy thread on a forum that has been active since 2014, with a bunch of bullpup fans planning their purchase. Then after delays Desert Tech announced a “firm” commitment to shipping it in the third quarter of 2016. Here’s the company’s CEO in a statement:

“We’re really excited that we can commit third quarter of this year — that’s our firm time and we’re excited to have that commitment. … We’re going to take the time to make sure out of the box that this is the product that you guys have been waiting for.”

So that didn’t happen, and now the rep is swearing that it will be shipping in volume this coming July.
I, for one, am not going to hold my breath. As I said above, there has been a ton of disappointment out there, because folks have been so excited about this thing for so long.
I want to note that I did not see this gun at Range Day, and I take that to be a bad sign. If you’re shipping a new, hot gun this year, it’s going to be at Range Day. The fact that the MDR wasn’t there suggests to me that it’s still vapor.
At any rate, when the gun eventually ships, our colleagues at TFB will be all over it, and then we’ll see if it can actually deliver more than just broken dreams.

Story here. 

If you don't know about the Desert Tech MDR then you're not really a gun guy.  This was suppose to be the ULTIMATE Tavor killer.  A bullpup with outstanding ergonomics.  Slim, trim, lightweight, and almost instinctive when it comes its controls.  Want even more?  It was suppose to be completely modular.  One gun and with the switch out of a barrel and couple of other parts and you had a .223, .308 and 300blkout.

Unfortunately Desert Tech has been jerking our chain for over 3 years now.  As much as I hate it this thing is obviously vaporware.  Even at the proposed price point people would have been throwing money at them but they just can't get it together.

Pity.  They had a world beating design but couldn't get it over the finish line.