Modified Bradley Fighting Vehicle known as Mission Enabling Technologies Demonstrator (MET-D)

Modified Bradley Fighting Vehicles known as Mission Enabling Technologies Demonstrators (MET-D) and modified M113 tracked armored personnel carriers, known as Robotic Combat Vehicles (RCVs) are being utilized in a soldier operation experimentation at Ft. Carson, Col., from June 15 – Aug. 14, 2020...pic by Kimberly Derryberry

USAF 352nd Special Operations Group conducts deck landing qualifications aboard the USS Bataan...

Note.  With the concepts being pushed by the Commandant I think I'd be happier if we saw Army Aviation and Armor making its way toward ship. 

Open Comment Post. 2 July 2020.

US Navy’s first 4 littoral combat ships to leave the fleet in 9 months

Thanks to Fillippo for the link!

via Defense News.

The Navy’s first four littoral combat ships will be headed into mothballs next March, according to a June 20 message from the chief of naval operations.

The littoral combat ships Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado will all be inactivated on March 31, 2021, with Coronado being commissioned just six years ago.

The Navy decided to cut the ships to save money on modernization efforts as it faces a mountain of shipbuilding bills and upgrade costs.

The ships were supposed to be used as test vessels for the continued standing up of the LCS class, but LCS 1 through 4 have just about reached the end of their usefulness as test vessels and are no longer worth a deeper financial investment, according to a February briefing by Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget.

Story here. 

A modest proposal.  I'm not at all convinced that slow moving tramp steamer like ships will be of benefit to the Marine Corps..the new Corps...under Berger's concept.

So how about we play with the old idea of putting mission modules for amphibious warfare on these speed boats and see if they have some utility as fast intertheater transports?

Remember the idea of adding a ramp to the Expeditionary Fast Transport so that they could do instream launches of AAVs, handle aircraft etc?

Let's see what we could do with a properly modified LCS!  Just an idea. 

Tümosan Pusat 4x4

Nature is brutal....

Seagull swallowing a rat in the streets. pic.twitter.com/g3HHNlzj4a

— Incredible Beauty (@ScienceAndAstr1) July 1, 2020

You don't see that everyday.  Had to hurt...

Iran makes a smart looking BMP-2...

Story here.

I would love to get a few more views of this vehicle, watch it maneuver over broken ground and check out it firing, but on looks alone its a rather smart looking vehicle.

I don't recognize the turret.  Locally made?

Hate them or love them but the  Iranians deserve a bit of credit.  They're doing more than expected with a crushed economy and being considered an international pariah.

Public Health officials under fire...a predictable result of the lockdown...

via CNN

During a live public briefing on Facebook last month, "someone very casually suggested" the Los Angeles County's public health director should be shot, the director said.

"I didn't immediately see the message, but my husband did, my children did, and so did my colleagues," Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Monday in a statement.

It's just one of the many threats of violence public health workers are facing across the nation "on a regular basis" as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, Ferrer said.
Whether it's advising people to avoid large groups or encouraging people to wear face coverings in public, health officials -- both at the local and federal level -- have spent the last few months updating Americans on how to remain safe during the pandemic and avoid spreading the virus.

----------

The backlash has taken its toll: At least 24 public health officials have either resigned, retired or been fired from the positions during the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) said Monday.
"What has typically been just pure public health advice coming from a trusted source in the community, the local health department, is being politicized and made to seem like the public health advice is something that is restricting people's rights, their freedoms to move about," Lori Freeman, CEO of NACCHO, told CNN.

Story here.

This should have been easily predicted and should have served as a SERIOUS consideration for governors across the nation.

Free men and women will eventually buck at the notion of being told that they are essentially being placed on house arrest.

I also contend that the protests/riots, the response by law enforcement (hoisted on them by policy makers) to businesses reopening and wide spread defiance by the public to go out into the public is having a terrible effect on the psyche of our nation.

From my chair the messaging has been all wrong about this pandemic.

If you recall I stated on this blog that medical professionals would go from being hailed as heroes to hated by the public.

I think we're there now.

The real question that we will have to grapple with?  How much damage has/is being done to our fellow citizens finances, mental health and physical health (because so much medical care has been canceled/postponed)?  How much damage has been done to the nation?

The only good thing that can come out of this?  The US military has another datapoint when it comes to insurgent warfare.  Study of the pandemic response in the US should be studied by our psychological warfare and special ops community.  There is much to be learned here and those lessons could possibly translate to future operations in megacities and/or disaster response.

Side note.  Could we consider this entire pandemic (at least so far) a missed opportunity for the US military?  Should our reaction to this thing have been to look at it as a massive HA/DR episode that required Northern Command to fully leverage the logistics capability of the US military?  I think so.  Additionally I believe that this is another bit of evidence that Northern Command is basically useless.  It really should be disbanded.

2d Assault Amphibious Battalion training maneuvers on Onslow Beach ... Pics by Lance Cpl. Jacqueline Parsons

Houthis strikes on Saudi Airport

Houthis strikes on Saudi Airport pic.twitter.com/2b8H5Hd6bn

— ZOKA (@200_zoka) July 1, 2020

Open Comment Post. 1 July 2020.

rabbit is almost as big as the fox...wonder if he actually killed it...

Patria and Kongsberg Teaming Up for U.S. Turreted Mortar Programs

Story here.

Wow.  This program would be a natural in the old Corps but I'm not sure the new Corps will even be an observer in it.

I'm really liking the moves the US Army is making with regard to modernizing its ground force.

It's airborne forces (and light infantry) will gain mobility with the Infantry Squad Vehicle.  The Stryker while old has seen a number of upgrades along with firepower.  The turreted mortar will only add to that.  Heavy Brigades are also experiencing an evolution right before our eyes.

The weird thing is that the Army/Navy are evolving while the Marines/Air Force are seeking transformation.

Can't wait to see which direction is correct.