Open Comment Post. 22 Sept 18

121st Air-Assault Brigade coming together nicely...according to China Defense Blog...

Story here.

Interesting.

The USMC has a scarcity of anti-air assets...our fast movers might be off doing other missions...

Has anyone considered doing a full-on air to air setup for our AH-1Z's?

It might be nice to have the ground commander's hip pocket air force able to engage enemy helicopters before they can drop off their infantry.  Better to kill them in the air then let them get to the ground where they can cause a bit of mayhem before they're put down.

Australian Army's GaN AESA Radar on a Hawkei High Mobility Protected Vehicle...

Thanks to Dave for the link!

Story here.

Wonder how it compares to the world beating Saab Giraffe setup?

6x6 VAB MK3 during amphibious testing in the Czech Republic

Pics via FdeStV@ Marsattaqueblog Twitter Page!

Space X's BFR in flight...

Read an article about this earlier in the week.  Some aeronautical engineer was claiming that the project was too ambitious..that people would die...that building a spaceship out of carbon fibers was a step too far.

Typical naysayer stuff.

Ya know what I thought?

This guy must be part of NASA.  That bubba must be part of the cabal that has practically stalled US space efforts and turned us into robot sending explorers instead of having humans venture out into space.

This was probably one of the bubbas that built the shuttle and had us stuck in near earth orbit instead of reaching out to the moon like we did almost a half century ago.

Drink that in.

Pretty soon it will be 50 years since man walked on the moon and we haven't pushed forward yet.

Space X might be overly ambitious but at least they're daring to try. 

Army converting two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams .... what does this tell us about future fights?

via Business Insider.

The Pentagon is making a military-wide shift to prepare for a bigger, more intense fight against a peer or near-peer competitor, and the latest part of that shift means big changes to the mission and makeup of two Army units.

The Army announced on Thursday that the 1st Brigade Combat Team of 1st Armored Division, based at Fort Bliss in Texas, will change from Stryker Brigade Combat Team equipped with Stryker armored vehicles to an Armored Brigade Combat Team outfitted with tanks in spring 2019.

The service also said that the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Armored Division, based at Fort Carson in Colorado, will change from an infantry brigade to a Stryker brigade in spring 2020, adding about 500 personnel and hundreds of the eight-wheeled armored vehicles.

Story here. 

These moves by the Army should spark a bit of debate inside the Marine Corps.

What has the latest hotness been?  Fighting in large urban areas.  The city fight is suppose to be the future right?

Well according to doctrine that is an infantry playground.  Armor plays a part but they're supporting elements.

So the idea that the Army would toss an infantry brigade and make them Stryker units is a head scratcher.  Especially since I thought the 4th Armored Division had a Pacific mission set (could easily be wrong...going by memory and it's early morning here).

1st Armored grabbing back an Armored Brigade Combat Team makes nothing but sense.  They've historically been the big sticks of the big Army.  I get that but note that "rapid deployment" seems to be taking a backseat of getting there as fast as we can and then WINNING once we hit ground.

What is the thinking?

It goes back to the makeup of future forces.  The Army seems to be headed back to a "full mechanization" model.  Regular Infantry seems to be a dying entity in their formations.

Not positive but the Army will only have 3 pure infantry divisions left.  The 82nd, 101st and 10th Mountain (not sure about these guys).  Everyone else will be mechanized.

Is that the future?

Does the Army see a future where conventional infantry must be mechanized in order to survive unless its specialized, meaning either Airborne, Air Assault or Mountain troops? 

If so then how does Marine Corps infantry fit into the future?  Should we consider it specialized?  An amalgamation of Amphibious/Mech/Heliborne/Shock Troops (old term Shock Troops, haven't heard Marines described that way in years but it was once commonplace)?

I would love to know the Army's thinking...in a professional setting...not to some reporter that doesn't know the questions to ask.

British Fleet Air Arm. ‘Farewell Flight - Mission Complete’....Sea King ends its tour of duty...

fleetairarm‪One of our favourites: ‘Farewell Flight - Mission Complete’. ‬ ‪This team of naval aviators have a serious amount of flying hours & military operations behind them #Heroes #Seaking ‬#milstagram #rnasculdrose #fleetairarm #sailors #pride #fly #flynavy #helicopter #aviation #avgeek #royalnavy #uk #greatbritain #mission #pilot #observer #navigator #aircrew #flight #aircraft

Wow.  The march of time claims another of the world's great aircraft.  The funny thing is that when I think of this airframe I always wander to two variants.  The modified Jolly Green Giants of Vietnam War fame and the British Marine "Junglies" (they bowed out of service a bit ago).

Open Comment Post. 21 Sept 18