Swedish teens are burning cars???

BREAKING: Reports of a serious incident in Göteborg, Sweden, as at least 14 cars are set on fire near a shopping mall - @V_of_Europe Reports. pic.twitter.com/1L6JAzGhBs

— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) August 13, 2018

Uh what the fuck is going on in Sweden?

I mean they're not Canada friendly but they're close.  I mean seriously what the fuck is happening there!

Lockheed Martin Concept for a Lunar Gateway

NASA's Gateway is the proving ground to take humans further than ever before. Essentially a “space dock”, the Gateway is a place where America and other space-faring nations will be able to perform revolutionary science, establish a lunar commercial economy, and build and test the system elements to get us to other destinations such as the surface of the Moon, asteroids and Mars. Lockheed Martin is studying and creating designs
to determine how the Orion spaceship and future habitats will need to interface in the near future.

FNSS Medium Tank Mobility Tests (pics)...

Note.  Once again a reader of the blog shared pics in the comments section and I didn't get his name.  Apologies to whoever it was and let me know so I can credit you!

The FNSS Medium Tank is intriguing to me.  The concept is simple enough.  Put a tank caliber gun on the hull of an IFV.  BAM!  Medium Tank!

But I wonder.

Most modern IFVs can shred it with their 30mm or bigger cannons (after seeing a pic one of you guys showed of the penetration power of a 25mm armor piercing round you can probably add that to the list too!) and when it comes to actually providing close fire support can you really beat a full on MBT?

Yeah.  I've pushed for the concept for the USMC with the ACV.  But that'a a specialized role.  I'm thinking we need a surrogate for supporting our guys during the assault phase...a big gun that can swim ashore.  The same applies to the Airborne Bubbas with their "Light Tank" concept.  They need a big gun that can parachute in till they link up with heavy forces.

But for general purpose work does it make sense?

Armor Porn. AV-8 8x8, based on FNSS's PARS 8x8 Wheeled Armored Vehicle

The AV-8 8x8, based on FNSS's PARS 8x8 Wheeled Armored Vehicle, is jointly developed by Deftech and FNSS for the Malaysian Army requirements.

FNSS is still pushing this vehicle hard.  They have to be looking at a competition about to kick off somewhere...

USMC Air Defense Capability via Navy Matters Blog...

Navy Matters did it again.  He identified a critical vulnerability (one we've talked about several times) that is facing Marine Ground, gave a solid background and pointed toward a disturbing future.

Read it here.

Be warned!  Reading the article will cause two things to happen to you.  The first will be you muttering "What The Fuck Are They Thinking" and the second will be that you will be startled by the lack of foresight.

Deal bros.

Reality is seldom pretty.

China has secret internment camps with over a MILLION Uighurs imprisoned???

via Free Beacon.

A United Nations human rights panel said on Friday that it had received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uighurs in China are held in what resembles a "massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy."

Gay McDougall, a member of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, cited estimates that 2 million Uighurs and Muslim minorities were forced into "political camps for indoctrination" in the western Xinjiang autonomous region.

"We are deeply concerned at the many numerous and credible reports that we have received that in the name of combating religious extremism and maintaining social stability (China) has changed the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy, a sort of ‘no rights zone’," she told the start of a two-day regular review of China’s record, including Hong Kong and Macao.

Story here. 

Wonder why Canada hasn't spoken about this?  Ok, that was a terrible joke but the reality is that we're seeing a tremendous civil rights violation and the entire world is mute.

Kinda makes ya wonder don't it!

Maybe the CMV-22 makes sense for Carrier On-Board Delivery (COD)!

via DVIDS

In August 2018, Osprey pilots successfully tested rolling landing and takeoffs in excess of 57,000 pounds on the flight deck of the ship. This key capability allows the Osprey to haul more weight than the C-2A, which is limited to landing at 49,000 pounds. GHWB’s onboard testing included integrating the MV-22 into flight deck operations, and heavy gross weight rolling landings and takeoffs.

“I started off flying Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft and I love the platform,” said Lt. Cmdr. Steven Tschanz, from Libertyville, Illinois, a test pilot assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21. “With that said, nothing lasts forever and the Navy came up with a solution to move us into the future with the CMV-22 Osprey.”

The CMV-22 Osprey, the Navy’s MV-22 variant, combines fixed-wing aircraft speed and range with the vertical lift capabilities of rotary wing platforms, making it the ideal carrier strike group COD and vertical on board delivery (VOD) platform in support of aerial resupply and logistics. The Navy COD crews piloting CMV-22 aircraft will land and take off with forward airspeed, which allows flight at a much higher weight.

Wow.

Impressive.  Maybe the CMV-22 makes sense as the next COD.  I still wonder about the alternatives though.  Hell I wonder what the current bird could do with better engines, and newer tech.

Regardless this MIGHT not be as bad an ideas as I originally thought.

Open Comment Post. August 13, 2018

Norwegian FFI - Joint Strike Missile (JSM) Live Firing Test

I find it telling that the surrogate target is a Mobile Radar truck.  Not too long ago these type tests would be going after mobile missiles.  Now?  Now they're scared shitless over the ability of enemy anti-air to disrupt allied airpower.

I would love to see a true assessment of threat systems and how we stack up against them.  We're starting to see military officials state that the gap has closed and that our vaunted air superiority is threatened.

This is another reason why ground forces MUST be prepared to fight with our air arms contested if not stalemated.

The F-35 is the very definition of pyrrhic victory.  The supporters of the plane are gonna get a few, but they threw away our tech lead in the process.

A Pyrrhic victory (/ˈpɪrɪk/  PIRR-ik) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has also taken a heavy toll that negates any true sense of achievement.

The reality?

The JSM is a bandaid that won't solve the problem.  Future US Soldiers and Marines will be bombed, rocketed and strafed by enemy aircraft.

That's almost a certainty.

Polish Armor (with some from the US 1st CAV) on parade...

Note:  Don't ask cause I don't know what the parade marks.  Someone from Poland or neighboring countries will have to tell us.  What I do know is that it appears to have been a pretty big affair.  Pics are from the Polish Ministry of Defense.