Blast from the past. The Waffen SS, the most confusing formation in Hitler's war machine...

pics via Enrique262 Tumblr Page...

SS-Standartenführer Wilhelm Harun-el-Raschid Bey, the commander of the Osttürkischer Waffen-Verband der SS, meeting the unit Imam Nureddin Namangani for a prayer, Slovakia in late 1944. Harun el Raschid-Bey, a muslim himself, took over the unit composed of muslim volunteers from Turkestan, Azerbaijan, Crimea and Idel-Ural (Volga Tatars) in October 1944. Formed in November 1943 as the Ostmanische SS-Division, it consisted of Waffengruppe Idel-Ural, Waffengruppe Turkestan and Waffengruppe Krim and in March 1945 it was joined by Waffengruppe Aserbaidschanische. Waffen-SS, as a multi-ethnic and multi-racial military force, respected their way of life, their customs, and their religious beliefs. (note...caption is from an obvious SS fan and probable white supremacists...I'm checking the validity of this claim).

Jesus!

WW2 was a batshit crazy time in history.

Supposedly Jews fought fought for Hitler while he was gassing their kin.  He had African soldiers in German Army units while his soldier would kill captured African soldiers without second thought.

And now I'm see the fucking SS going native doing that Special Forces "combat multiplier" shit before it was cool?

WW2 was pure insanity.  Even worse.  It was an ideological war that had very flexible ideas apparently.

Kinda makes the mess we're in look simple in comparison.

Note:  Watching this gif of an SS general partaking in prayer rituals has me fucked beyond description.  How could anyone know this shit happened?  Who would even suspect that it was even possible?

Lockheed Martin shares down. Are investors seeing something many don't?

via Norman Observer.com

Keystone Financial Planning Inc decreased its stake in Lockheed Martin (LMT) by 76.71% based on its latest 2018Q1 regulatory filing with the SEC. Keystone Financial Planning Inc sold 10,833 shares as the company’s stock declined 10.57% with the market. The institutional investor held 3,289 shares of the military and government and technical company at the end of 2018Q1, valued at $1.11M, down from 14,122 at the end of the previous reported quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc who had been investing in Lockheed Martin for a number of months, seems to be less bullish one the $85.77 billion market cap company.

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 Investors sentiment decreased to 0.95 in 2018 Q1. Its down 0.23, from 1.18 in 2017Q4. It fall, as 43 investors sold LMT shares while 441 reduced holdings.

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 Since January 29, 2018, it had 0 insider purchases, and 2 sales for $9.28 million activity. Another trade for 19,000 shares valued at $6.59M was made by HEWSON MARILLYN A on Monday, January 29.

Since January 3, 2018, it had 0 insider purchases, and 52 insider sales for $197.53 million activity. Another trade for 5,126 shares valued at $1.31M was made by FRIEDLAND JONATHAN on Tuesday, January 23. Shares for $363,000 were sold by WELLS DAVID B on Friday, June 1. 75,271 shares were sold by HASTINGS REED, worth $23.86M. 

Hmmm.

Seems as if certain "big" investors and a few well placed insiders are starting to shed stock.

We think of defense programs as being about protecting a nation(s).  Wall Street only cares about money and don't care one bit about the survival of the West in a fight against China.

If the money is fleeing then what is the cause?

Is this the first indication of bad news coming out of Lockheed Martin?

Kuwait Eurofighter base.

Thanks to Pietro for the link!

Kuwaiti Eurofighter airbase, combining originality and modernity. The future base of the Kuwaiti Eurofighter aircraft, where construction work is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of the year 2019.

DARPA admits that "platform stealth" is reaching its limits...

Misplaced the name of the defense writer that found this juicy little nugget hidden away in a DARPA assessment of US air power.

The relevant passage?

"More fundamentally, platform stealth may be approaching physical limits."

I guarantee that has been scrubbed and tailored for distribution to the public. I remember reading as long ago as 2010 that stealth had reached its limit and that electronic warfare and exotic solutions were the future (this is also the time when we first got word of "plasma stealth" from Russia).

What's going on behind closed doors?

I'm betting that assessments have already been made that stealth as done in the F-35 and MAYBE even the F-22 is dead...certainly in the F-35 which seems to lack the refinement of the F-22.

The evidence is overwhelming.

Raytheon, SAAB and others have already said that they have radars that can detect stealth.  Computing power continues to increase so working out firing solutions with what we could consider limited data is improving too...even without GAN AESA.

The F-35 is gonna need a plan B.  The idea that it will actually achieve first look first kill when it enters service after 2020 is already in doubt.

Future Tech. British Army’s Future Soldier Vision (FSV)

British Fashion Industry Designers Help Develop The Future of Combat Clothing

Scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are continuing to work with a range of industry partners to develop the Army’s Future Soldier Vision (FSV), showcasing the personal equipment that soldiers could be using by the mid-2020s. 

As well as the design of advanced combat clothing, which includes new materials like four-way stretch fabric and silent hook and loop pockets, new body armour will be lighter, and a new high-tech helmet will have state-of-the- art built-in communication systems. 

The Vision is part of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) plan to ensure that British Soldiers have high-quality equipment utilising the latest technologies, as part of an integrated system. Future Soldier Vision (FSV) gives companies an aim point – an example of an integrated soldier system that balances military need with technology that delivers distributed power to data, scaleable and integrated protection, augmented surveillance and target acquisition, and a range of functional fabrics incorporated into the clothing. 

Partners include The Royal College of Art (RCA) who provided professional designers, who – when they weren’t working in London on high-end jewellery – spent months working on the clothing to ensure prototypes were fitted to the body, were easy to run in and comfortable to wear.

Aviation Porn. F-16 @ Red Flag Alaska...

An F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off prior to a sortie as part of Red Flag Alaska
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (June 20, 2018) - An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska takes off prior to a sortie as part of Red Flag Alaska. Red Flag Alaska provides large force employment training in a simulated combat environment. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. John Winn)

Aviation Porn. Brazilian CSAR

Battalion Landing Team 3/1 conducting COMPUTEX @ Camp Pendleton...pics by Lance Cpl. A. J. Van Fredenberg

Open Comment Post. 22 June 2018

The Marine Corps has lost its first F-35

via Marine Corps Times.

An F-35B that erupted into flames caused by a faulty bracket nearly two years ago has been struck by the Marine Corps, making it the first loss of an F-35 for the Corps.

The Corps made the determination that the costs to repair the costly high-tech fighter would not be worth the return on investment.

However, the Marines have not put out an official strike message for the F-35B because the Corps has not decided whether the aircraft will be used as a trainer for maintenance or a museum centerpiece.

“With the specific F-35B involved in this discussion, the Marine Corps’ cost-benefit analysis determined the repair costs would not yield a sufficient ROI [return on investment] to justify the expenses,” Capt. Christopher Harrison, a Marine spokesman, told Marine Corps Times. “The decision was made to strike the F-35B; however, there has not yet been a strike message as the disposition decision has not yet been made.”

Story here. 

Even if this program and this jet ISN'T corrupt, it IS corrupting!  Since when does it take the United States Fucking Marine Corps two years to declare a jet a write off?

It doesn't!

The games playing with this declaration tells you everything.  This was simple and instead they make the obvious controversial.  Military aviation is dangerous.  Planes will unfortunately crash.  I'm a BIG CRITIC of this program but a plane crash is part of doing work cause shit happens and Mr Murphy will come calling. 

It does make me wonder though.

If they're this risk averse with regard to unfavorable paperwork then how risk averse are they when it comes to pushing this plane to determine its operational boundaries?  Are they so timid that F-35 jockeys will in essence be practicing transporting passengers from city to city in their career after the Corps?