Another Gripen E in the air (with a beautiful paint job!)...

Another Gripen E in the air. #smartfighter pic.twitter.com/v4FMYLvy4o

— Saab AB (@Saab) December 3, 2019

What a sexy beast!  That camo is striking.  I like it. 

British Army is chest thumping about Boxer, Ajax and Strike Brigades. Why are they still pushing a modernized Warrior?

Captain Appleyard is at the @NATO Leaders Meeting today in London, showcasing the @BritishArmy's new BOXER mechanised infantry vehicle. #NATOLondon | #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/94qE8DPaZg

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 4, 2019

Interesting.

I'm going from this short vid but from reading other news coming out of the UK, the impression of a bit of chest thumping over the Boxer, Ajax and Strike Brigades rings like a New Year's Day parade.

I get it.

They're getting their house in order and the Brit Army is attempting to form middleweight, quick reaction force that can scale up and down the spectrum.

On paper at least it should be formidable.

But one thing is off.

Why are they still pushing the modernized/upgunned Warrior?

We've seen this type thing before...especially with regard to aviation.  The USMC has been continuing to upgrade both the F-18 and Av-8B while awaiting the F-35B.

The reality?

Wasted money. 

Why?

Because the F-35 shouldn't be bought in numbers till it delivers on its promise.  Purchasing planes that aren't ready while still upgrading planes that will be put out to pasture as soon as they GET READY is wasteful in my opinion.

The Brits seem to be doing a variation on that theme.

Instead of holding place with the legacy Warrior as it is, they're upgrading it while purchasing obviously superior vehicles at the same time.  Additionally they're attempting a middle ground by incorporating that old rig into new formations.

I consider it both wasteful and unnecessarily expensive.  Logistically it simply adds friction.  Why keep an old vehicle along with its supply/training chain when you could "neck" down to its replacement?

Maybe Brit officers should head over to Australia to see procurement done right.

Why does the US pay so much for the defense of its allies? 5 questions answered

Interesting article.

We get a few general questions answered about how the US public views our "forward deployed" military and our allies views as well.

It's a mixed bag.

Public opinion polls like this are a mixed bag.  Most Americans have a better view of Kim Kardashian's ass than they do about our foreign policy (I wonder if that's by design).

Regardless.  This is a great little read and I believe worth your time.  Check it out here.

Mainland netizens have created a series of propaganda, demonising Hong Kong Protesters and vocal supporters of the movement and even journalist.

Note.  Must be a cultural thing cause I can't make out the insult except that the protesters seem to be labeled as "cockroaches" but the other creature is beyond me.  Anyone read Mandarin and can translate the writing on the pics? The weird thing?  I could see these creatures showing up in the Marvel Universe as heroes and not villains.

Mainland netizens have created a series of propaganda, demonising #HongKongProtesters and vocal supporters of the movement and even journalist. Purely in terms of efforts, it's an upgrade from the works we've seen in the past... pic.twitter.com/sRRrQZkM8k

— Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) December 2, 2019

Royal Canadian Navy’s First Harry DeWolf-Class Arctic And Offshore Patrol Ship Started Sea Trials

Here.

French, Brit & Canadian Politicians discussing Trump...

Astonishing.

Macron, Johnson and Trudeau seem to have ridiculed Trump last night while having some drinks. pic.twitter.com/kDnXMXnKqK

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 4, 2019

Caught gossiping about Trump? 👀

Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau, Mark Rutte and Princess Anne all appear to be having a jocular conversation about an unnamed associate at a Buckingham Palace reception.

Get more politics news 👉 https://t.co/YeKmtSLJnv pic.twitter.com/GwDOtWUb6B

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 4, 2019

Berger wants bold thinking? Ok. Disband FAST Regiment...

Where can the USMC find a pool of well trained, skilled infantry...shed unneeded infrastructure...while at the same time streamlining its force structure?

Disband FAST Regiment.

Don't get it twisted.  The guys train hard, get sent on missions and have had a good run.

But if we're gonna be bold then big changes aren't how you make it happen. You start small and work toward the big stuff.

An appropriate step would be to case this units colors.

Quick and dirty I know but tell me where I'm wrong.  Tell me how they're essential to the security of the US.  Tell me how their missions can't be conducted by forces that are held inside our big sister the US Navy.

If you can't readily tell me why FAST should exist in 2020 then you have your answer.

If you can then I stand ready to listen.

Change is coming.  Let's manage it appropriately by cutting excess (FAST definitely isn't cutting fat) before we make wholesale changes...its the smart way of doing things.

Why do "theorists" keep circling back to making the USMC light while the Chinese are meching up?

Let's dig into this cause everyone is slamming my inbox with this article (although it popped up in my Google alerts).

via Proceedings.

To persist inside an adversary A2/AD engagement zone, Marines need to be lighter, more agile, and more survivable. The middleweight force currently fielded by Marine divisions has a signature that is too large and too tied to vehicular support to evade adversary targeting. The Corps must divest itself of all heavy armor and most light-armored platforms. The main effort should be light infantry forces operating in small units that can maneuver and communicate clandestinely for extended periods inside an adversary engagement zone. Forces that can effectively infiltrate will be more successful at evading adversaries and more successful at persisting inside enemy engagement zones.  

Here. 

I consider this a variation on a theme that we've been hearing since Amos' time in the big chair...maybe before.

They're wanting a "commando" force.

Have you noticed one thing about this concept though?  Somehow it's expected that light forces can operate for "extended periods" within the reach of enemy forces.

Why is everyone assuming that the ability to find, fix and destroy these small units is beyond the ability of an adversary force?

No need to do a full breakdown but everyone remembers the time that a SEAL Team was located, hunted down and killed with only one person surviving the encounter.

We've seen it with Marine Sniper Platoons in Iraq too.

Small units will not survive on the modern battlefield.  Survivability is built on the shifting sands of being stealth, having robust communications, magical resupply and God like supporting fires to protect them when things go sideways.

Additionally the force that many want won't scale up and down the spectrum and will be biased toward operating only against terrorist (and I have my doubts against even those forces as we've seen them morph into quasi nation state armies...just ask the Saudis in Yemen, the French in Mali etc...).

As for the rest?

Give Marine Air to the Navy?

In a billion years maybe!

I can see greater integration but that alone would tilt Marine Air on it's head and shake it out in ways that would probably leave it a shell of itself.

This is a great article and bold thinking but I believe it misses on the mark on most of it's assumptions.

Finally we have to take note of our enemies.  The Chinese are meching up like a crack whore smokes it in a dark New Orleans alley.  The Russians are too.  Hell even "light infantry" is meching up in ways that make me cringe (light infantry that uses robotic mules?).  In a world that is getting heavier and heavier in every way possible (to include SOCOM) the Marine Corps has found a magic pill by way of Air Assault?

We might as navalize the 101st and send our people to the UK. This plan is about nothing but making the 198K man USMC into a big version of the UK's Royal Marines.

Open Comment Post. 3 Nov 2019

The Flanker is huge compared to the Hornet...Maybe we should have supersized the thing!

Yeah I know.

Perspective.

But I'm not getting caught up in that just tossing this out there.  In hindsight I wonder if we shouldn't have supersized the Super Hornet when it went in for a design change.  I mean really plus size the beast into an F-14 sized bird...maybe even larger.

We have to remember that the F-18 was derived from the failing contestant in the USAF's Lightweight Fighter competition.  Due to decision made based on economy (and I can't fault them for that part) it ended up being the Navy's mainstay.

Moving into the future and assuming that the F-35C can actually deliver on all the promises it's made (and I seriously doubt that...the Navy would seem to agree considering the limited numbers being bought...in actuality it would make too much sense to cancel the F-35C but that's for another day) it would still seem to be lacking.

So what does the future hold?

More UCAVs.  Definitely more UCAVs.  A supersized Super Hornet?  I think it's probably approaching its design limits.  A plus sized F-35C?  Perhaps but with the move to UCAVs it might not seem practical.

I can't put my finger on it.  UCAVs are the obvious solution but I really think manned fighters will hang on a while longer.  The F-35C is simply failed.  I don't see it making a comeback with the Navy.  A supersized F-18 seems to be just more of the same with longer range.

Who knows.  But the next gen Navy fighter should be a sight to behold...meanwhile the Super Hornet is really tiny next to the Flanker.

433rd Weapons Squadron (WPS) takes off from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada....pics by Airman 1st Class Bryan Guthrie

Bomb Proof Your Knees...

💗Huge Calf Tips 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/mmOKAJORKa

— Bakhar Nabieva (@Bakhar_Nabieva) December 1, 2019

Just learned something that many of you probably already know.  To bomb proof your knees (or to help recover from a knee injury) you need to power up the supporting muscles.

Calf raises are a good start.  It will burn if done correctly but it's essential because they run up the back of the knee and provide support.



TLDR?  Well the guys above are a little nerdy but they hit on a good point if you checked out the vid.  If not then this is your benchmark.

If you have a weak elbow then you need to hit your forearms, biceps and triceps to help bring it back.  Can you expect discomfort?  You bet your ass but nothing ventured is nothing gained and pain is just weakness leaving the body (or so I was told).

Anyway hit the major muscle groups individually if you have to (if squats will bomb you out).  That means leg extensions, calf raises, leg presses and/or leg presses.  Those are all low impact, you can vary the resistance and more importantly it'll get you back in the game.