Singapore's Armored School conducting exercises @ Oberlausitz range in Germany

Singapore's armed forces get around.  I wish I had a better view of their defense strategy.  It seems that they've embarked on a new concept.  How do they prevent their forces from getting wiped out in a sneak attack?  Hardened shelters?  Dispersed forces throughout their territory?

Nope.

They have a sizeable part of their armed forces offshore...as in other countries.  I knew they did that with their Air Force, but it seems like their Army is starting to follow that lead.

As a side note it's good to see the Bionix 2 in the wild.  That neat little IFV has been overshadowed by the Terrex 2 and their Next Generation Fighting Vehicle but it's been a capable ride for a couple of generations for them.

Off roading military style...

Open Comment Post. 14 Oct 2018

Turk Intel Service was aware of the plot against the journalist!

Thanks to Tom Meyer's Twitter Page for the link!!!

I told you guys this whole thing with the journalist seemed to be filled with holes and now we have this tweet.  Check it out below...

#BREAKING: #Turkey Intel Service was very well aware of #SaudiArabia's plan for arrest of #JamalKhashoggi. They even had wired #Saudi consulate in #Istanbul to capture moment of his arrest (Apple watch story is cover-up!). This was a trap for #KSA but had an unexpected ending! pic.twitter.com/XHzIDerQNy

— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) October 12, 2018

Is this real?

I'm not sure but it rings true to me.  The sequence of events is just too perfect.  This guy walks into the consulate.  Before he's even known to be missing by friends and associates the Turks put out audio and video evidence of his torture and murder.  Then they release a pastor that has been at the center of bad relations with the US.

A guy died because nation states decided to play games (I say games because if the Turks had him monitored then we probably did too...and the Israelis, Germans, French, and the rest of the world's intel services that have an interest in the region).

There is only one question left in my mind.

What did the Saudis hope to gain by killing this guy?  What are the Turks hoping to achieve by exposing this fact to the world?  Should the US even respond to this atrocity?

I just don't know.

Houthis destroy a Saudi M1A2 Main Battle Tank...

Thanks to Tom Meyers via Yemen Observer Twitter Page...

Notice that the vehicle wasn't penetrated but rather abandoned.  What a terrible waste of fine gear.

Must be nice to view high dollar military gear as disposable.

Spey talked about the F-35...two issues...one is the news site & the second is the critique...

via Sputnik.

Pierre Sprey, a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense and a former defense analyst who is considered to be one of the fathers of the F-16 and A-10 fighter jets, and one of the country's foremost critics of the F-35, told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear Thursday that the reason for both the high cost and the low quality of the plane's parts is the way the procurement system operates. Built into this system, he says, are incentives for cost overruns and corruption by military brass who go on to lucrative defense contracts after they retire.

Story here. 

As I see this we're looking at two issues.  The first is the news site.  He talked to Sputnik.  Personally I don't have a problem with that!  I've heard so many lament the fact that the main stream media is no longer investigative, but rather an arm of big govts propaganda wing.  Additionally I've seen a disturbing trend of many to only want to read DOMESTIC news sources instead of broadening their horizons and seeing what the rest of the world is talking about.

At the end of the day I don't consider this "bitch and whine" legitimate.  We've all seen news hit Sputnik that wasn't reported thru domestic news sites.  The same goes for Al Jazeera, AMN etc...

As for his second issue, the performance of the F-35?

I agree with the dude.  Nothing but trouble ahead.  For my beloved Marine Corps we're gonna get an advanced airplane that will far outperform the legacy Harrier(The USMC, and Royal Navy made out like bandits...the problem is the F-35A users are getting screwed hard).  Quite honestly it will match upgraded Hornets.  Doubts remain over whether or not it meets upgraded performance characteristics of the Super Hornet, Upgraded F-16's etc...I won't even touch on how it matches up against the latest offerings from Russia and China.

But you know how I feel about the F-35.  What's your opinion on this baby controversy.

AST-4: Combat Assault Transport (Assault Support Tactics 4)....Pics by Sgt. Justin Huffty

Raytheon & Rheinmetall Defence - Lynx KF31/KF41 Infantry Fighting Vehicle