We took a big hit to our F-22 fleet...

“But we'll know after we get the hangars -- get them out of the hangars that're damaged and get more work done. So I'm not ready to say it can all be fixed, but our initial review was perhaps more positive than I anticipated in the last ...,” #Mattis days. #F22

— Lee Hudson (@LeeHudson_) October 16, 2018

I'll check fire on this till we get the exact number of F-22's damaged and deemed not worth fixing (that's different from F-22's that are fixable!!!).

Regardless its enough to say that we took a big hit to our F-22 fleet.

Philippines Air Force likely to buy Gripens???

via PTVNews.ph

After a thorough study and research, the Department of National Defense (DND) is most likely to buy the Swedish-made Gripenmulti-role supersonic jet fighter for the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made this disclosure in an exclusive interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on the sidelines of the book launching of former President Fidel V. Ramos at the Manila Hotel on Sunday.

Lorenzana said aside from being cheaper and less expensive in maintenance cost, the Gripen has been proven to be an excellent supersonic fighter aircraft with a top speed of Mach 2 or 1,236 kilometers per hour, or twice the speed of sound.

The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration and is powered by the Volvo RM12. It is being used by various countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Story here. 

Saab appears to be on a roll.  Nice for them and great for the Philippines.

PARS III 8x8

Note.  I try and make a swing by every armored vehicle corporation's social media sites I can think of to see if they've put out any new pics of their vehicles.  FNSS is the only one that does it on a consistent basis. Every week you'll see them posting a glamour pic of one of their rigs.  I wish others would do the same but until they do I'll just post what I can find.  Lately that's been FNSS products.

US Army Large Scale Combat Operations Book Set (Downloadable!!!)

One of the members of the SNAFU Tribe was gracious enough to share this with me (sorry bro, I fucked up and forgot to jot down your name) and I'm sharing it with you.

I have to give the services (well the ground forces that is) credit.  They ARE TRYING TO EXPLAIN THEIR THINKING to the general public.

You just have to know where to look.

Just like the bubba that tossed me the powerpoint on the Amphibious Recon Vehicle (LAV replacement) that the USMC is starting to work on, the Army is explaining how they view future combat on a large scale with this book set.

I've already downloaded it and can't wait to dig into it.  

Do the right thing.  Grab it while you can.  I'm sure someone will come along and say that it needs to be behind a firewall and will designate it "eyes only" type material.

RAF Photo Ops gives you your next wallpaper...RAF CH-47's and USMC CH-53's doing work!

Lack of a $2,000 part caused the loss of a $150 Million Dollar F-22 because it couldn't fly out???

Check out this tweet...

You might be wondering why the F-22s were not evacuated. Most were, but a number remained behind for maintenance and safety reasons. Some were awaiting spare parts, etc. “They were secured in the highest storm rated hangars,” the official said.

— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) October 15, 2018

I'm sorry but I can't let this go.  Is this hindsight 20/20?  Don't think so.  We've seen hurricanes ravage air bases in Florida before.  So spare me that drama.

What they're trying to sell us is that a part...let's say that part costs 2K dollars...NO!...let's be generous and say that part costs 100K prevented the F-22's to be flown out before the storm.

So a 100K part caused us to lose a 150 Million Dollar airplane?

Sorry but that's stupid!  That's batshit crazy!

Additionally we're looking at a low density HIGH demand weapon system that we will rely on if the nation goes to war against a peer.

I can accept enemy action.  I can accept pilot error.  I can even accept mishaps caused by faulty maintenance that led to a crash.

But the idea that they were waiting on a part and that caused us to have a valuable portion of our air fleet damaged/destroyed in a storm is unforgivable.

Pentagon Talk. Why did Trump sour on Mattis?

Ever since news broke that Trump has soured on Mattis I've been trying to trace the shatter point of their relationship.

Oh you think it recent news?

Naw not at all.

From my seat the relationship soured awhile ago and the first hints of it came not too soon after the election and has been getting worse ever since with it culminating with the 60 Minutes interview.

My theory is that the real issue isn't that Mattis is "sorta a Democrat".  I think the real issue is that Trump wanted out of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and Mattis pushed hard (successfully) to stay in.

Funny enough I think that has a bit to do with why our Ambassador to the UN is leaving.  Few people know it but those two are pure establishment.  Haley was obscene with her neo-con leanings but Mattis was a bit more clever, but the results were the same.

Trump wanted out of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and Mattis could only promise more of the same.

Weirdly enough the breaking point wasn't this issue in my opinion but the pushback Trump has received on building a Space Force.  Trump wants it, Mattis doesn't and Trump is smart enough to know that they're slow walking the effort.

The sad reality?

Mattis had the right ideas (for the most part...with the exception of continuing the Afghanistan fight) but misplayed his hand with Trump.

Note:  I know Mattis is damn near a deity for many of you.  Spare me the drama.  Just calling it like I see it.

Economic Talk. Sanctions...we've gone to that well waaay too many times.

Hey all.

I'm monitoring the news and it seems like Congress is talking about sanctioning Saudi Arabia for the killing of the journalist.

The weird thing?

The Obama administration started the "sanctioning" meme and Congress has been wild about it ever since.

The sad reality?

We've gone to that well waaay too many times and we're soon gonna be faced with a grim reality (if we aren't already). 

We're in essence forcing nations to conduct trade in anything but dollars.  We're killing the dollar as the world's fiat currency because we only have two modes when it comes to diplomacy.

Deploy troops or sanction.

By running to the sanctions meme everytime ANYTHING happens we're at BEST forcing an underground economy to become established outside normal channels and at WORST forcing nations to work around our financial institutions.

Just my view and I could be wrong.  What do you think?