The Russians built a "new" T-35 for the May Day Parade...it's batshit crazy...it's glorious...it's pure Russia....

 A couple of readers were talking about this earlier this week but this month has been blasted for me.  When I finally got round to it all I could say is wow.

This is batshit crazy.

It's glorious.

It's pure Russia and I'm glad they did it.

If you check out the West we have a fascination with aviation.  For the most part ground forces are ignored.  Try and find information on the web for armored, logistics or utility vehicles and its spotty at best.

Much to my annoyance even the Historical Branches of the Army & Marine Corps aren't as open as I would hope with information....don't even think about getting into the cache of photos on the vehicles!

But for armor buffs the Russians are different and as focused on aviation as we are, they're as focused on armor.

Enough from me.  Check out the site here (it's in Russian but if you use Google just set it to translate automatically and you're set).

Side Note.  That is ONE BIG TANK!  Now I understand the term "land battleship".

Blast from the past. Vela Incident...

via Wikipedia.

The Vela Incident, also known as the South Atlantic Flash, was an unidentified "double flash" of light detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on 22 September 1979, near the Prince Edward Islands off Antarctica. The most common theory among those who believe the flash was of nuclear origin is that it resulted from a joint South African–Israeli nuclear test.[1][2][3][4] The topic has been highly disputed. In 2016 researchers from George Washington University's National Security Archive noted that the debate over the South Atlantic flash has shifted over the last few years to the side of a man-made weapon test.[5][6]

While a "double flash" signal is characteristic of a nuclear weapons test in the atmosphere, the signal could also have been a spurious electronic signal generated by an ageing detector in an old satellite,[citation needed] or a meteoroid hitting the Vela satellite. No corroboration of an explosion, such as the presence of nuclear byproducts in the air, was ever identified.[citation needed] Results from numerous passes in the area by Boeing WC-135s,[when?] planes designed by the United States Air Force to detect airborne radioactive dust, were negative. Other examiners of the data, including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and defense contractors, have come to the conclusion that the flash was not a result of a nuclear detonation. Of the previous 41 double flashes the Vela satellites had detected all were subsequently confirmed to be nuclear explosions.[7][8][9] Portions of the information about the event remain classified.[5]

Here.

Will we ever know the truth?

Helo lift to Sand Hill during ITX-18...Plus a question...Can the JLTV act as the prime mover for the M-777?

This is an interesting collection of pics but it did lead me to a question.  Can the JLTV act as the prime mover for the M-777?

If it can then that would be huge for advocates of the "aviation centric" Marine Corps. 

Don't get me wrong.  Maintenance alone dooms that concept to the trash bin of history but using the JLTV as prime mover would allow the excellent MTVR to act in a pure logistics role.

That should shore up logistics tremendously.  The off road mobility combined with its  load carrying should help simplify things from the ground side.  As far as aviation is concerned I remain unconvinced that they will ever be able to successfully resupply a large force in the field.

Open Comment Post. April 29, 2018.

Poland MOD - We Serve For Independence Promo

Open Comment Post. April 27, 2018

Jimmy Van Drunen's CH-47 Photo Essay...

MAG-36 | Remembering Hue City

CH-53K Aerial Demo at 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show

Congressmen warned the Pentagon they had two years to fix things...Now the Marines are bracing for impact...

Too little time, and even with a budget that is seriously approaching a trillion dollars, too little money (or rather too much money thrown at a single project...).  Check this out via Breaking Defense.

The Marine Corps Commandant has joined the chorus of senior Pentagon officials who say they’re bracing for potential budget cuts in 2020. That’s when the 2018-2019 budget deal expires and the Budget Control Act caps on spending come back in force (sometimes called “sequestration”), unless Congress can scrape together another compromise.

Gen. Robert Neller made it clear he’s grateful for budget increases in 2018 and 2019, though he noted the ’19 appropriations haven’t passed yet. He promised to make the most of every dollar to modernize the Marine Corps to prepare for major wars against high-tech adversaries like Russia and China. But, like Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — a retired Marine general himself — and Pentagon comptroller David Norquist at a Senate hearing this morning, Neller also made it clear he isn’t counting on the good times to continue.

Story here. 

We knew this was coming.  At least the readers of this blog did.  Now?  Now it seems like the DoD has woken up and smelled the coffee.

It doesn't matter who wins control of Congress or is the next President.

You've just seen the last of the blockbuster budgets for the military.