Après une 1ère commande en 2017 de 339 véhicules blindés #Griffon et #Jaguar du programme #SCORPION, la DGA notifie une 2e tranche de production de 313 véhicules aux sociétés Nexter Systems, Arquus et Thales.
— Direction générale de l'armement (@DGA) September 22, 2020
➡️ Ces 271 Griffon et 42 Jaguar seront livrés entre 2022 et 2023. pic.twitter.com/jBtZcbAgME
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">French President Emmanuel Macron demanded an immediate explanation from Russia over the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, warning that Paris would not allow its red lines on the use of chemical weapons to be crossed <a href="https://t.co/Fc5paKhD8I">pic.twitter.com/Fc5paKhD8I</a></p>— Reuters (@Reuters) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1308537810966765569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For @AviationWeek Intelligence Network subscribers, @TheDEWLine reveals how Boeing envisions B-1Bs & B-52s becoming hypersonic missile carriers https://t.co/FBf4KJviFA #AnteUp pic.twitter.com/MhsX61OnTG
— James Drew (@StrikeWriter) September 22, 2020
#Iran’s T-72M1 upgrade. (#Iranian Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics / @JanesINTEL ) pic.twitter.com/hkCsxwmC2Y
— Sukhoi Su-57 Felon 🇷🇺🇮🇳 (@I30mki) September 22, 2020
First I gotta get this off my chest before we dig into this thing. Where are the screws on this ship? I can't see how it moves thru the water if they're not at the stern (cause I can't see them at the bow) and if they're back there then how will it not beach itself. Additionally you do realize what this is don't you?
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It's just a MODERNIZED Newport Tank Landing Ship! Even the specs are similar...
But onto the story. via Defense News.
The U.S. Marine Corps is moving as fast as it can to field a new class of light amphibious warship, but it remains unclear what it will do, where it will be based or what capabilities it will bring to the fight.
The idea behind the ship is to take a commercial design or adapt a historic design to make a vessel capable of accommodating up to 40 sailors and at least 75 Marines to transport Marine kit over a range of about 3,500 nautical miles, according to a recent industry day presentation.
While the presentation noted that the ship should have few tailored Navy requirements, that also creates a problem: If the Navy is going to pay tens of millions to develop, build, crew and operate them, should it not provide some additional value to the fleet?
A bit more.
When asked whether the ship should contribute to a more distributed sensor architecture to align with the Navy’s desire to be more spread out over a large area during a fight, King answered in the affirmative.
"[But] I really see it benefiting from [that architecture] more,” he said. “We need to build an affordable ship that can get after the ability to do maritime campaigning in the littorals.”
The unstated implication appeared to be that if the ship is loaded up with sensors and requirements, it will slow down the process and increase the cost. Analysts who spoke to Defense News agreed with that, saying the Navy is likely trying to put more systems on the platform that will make it more complex and more expensive.
A little bit more and the real meat of the story.
"The commandant can’t divest of some of the legacy platforms he’s building — these big, expensive and vulnerable platforms — until he has something that replaces it in the water. And so he’s anxious to get going with something else so he then has a reason to move away from what he has.
“The commandant is well aware he has a four-year clock and its ticking. So if he’s going to make changes, he’s got to get moving to get those changes in place and commit the Marine Corps to them to make sure it’s going to last. And right now I’m not sure there’s a lot of high confidence that they are going to last.”
Hendrix acknowledged that the Navy has good reason to want the light amphibious warship to have more capability, but added that the Corps is more interested in something simple than something costly and elaborate.
“What that does,” Hendrix said, “is drive up unit cost and drive down the numbers that can be purchased.”
The stark reality facing the Commandant of the Marine Corps? He attempted to be a change agent but stumbled into the common failure of all change agents.
He went bold. He went big. But he failed to get those he led onboard with his change.
A reader asked the question (Snafuperman) so I decided to take him up on the challenge.
We're gonna wade into these muddy waters.
The question.
Is the US headed toward widespread violence this presidential election?
My answer.
I just don't know!
We had an incident here where an officer was ambushed. That's kinda unheard of in rural areas. I didn't see it coming. Luckily he's ok and was only hit in the leg...but still.
Remember that this is in an area that widely supports Law Enforcement (there are mutterings from the usual suspects but I dismiss them...or rather had). So what happens in more urban/city areas?
Unfortunately I think we might be tipping toward even more bad times.
