Levant crisis - III

[Philip]

A superb piece from the conservative mined journo the Spectator.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/10/stop ... st-russia/

Stop this stupid sabre-rattling against Russia
It’s not their side that worries me; it’s ours
Rod Liddle

I have been wondering these last few weeks whether it would be cheaper to excavate a basement and buy a Geiger counter and iodine tablets, or emigrate to New Zealand. Call me frit, but I don’t like the way things are heading. Probably the second option is easier: Armageddon outta here, etc. I can re-enact Nevil Shute’s On the Beach from some rocky cove near Dunedin, waiting for the fallout to arrive.

I was sentient only during the latter stages of the Cold War but from what I can remember, the two sides, them and us, behaved for the most part with a degree of rationality and common sense. (I like my politicians to be pragmatic rather than charismatic, which is why, if you were to ask who my favourite Soviet despot was, Brezhnev would always be the answer. Rather his grey, oppressive stolidity and détente than Khrushchev’s flaky, table-thumping, peasant-in-a-strop hyperbole.) Back then, when Reagan announced on microphone ‘we begin bombing in five minutes’ it was evident to everyone that he was joking. Today, when some deranged Tory MP clambers to his feet and demands we start shooting down Russian jets, it is evident to everyone that he is not joking, merely idiotic and dangerous. But it is a gung-ho idiocy which is catching. Every day sees a ratcheting up of the rhetoric against Russia. Some of it comes from our military, which is perhaps more comfortable dealing with a foe it understands, rather than with disparate gangs of nihilistic jihadi lunatics. We are warned, then, that Iskander missiles are being sited near the Baltic coast, the better to menace Latvia, with its large Russian population, and Poland. And then every day the tabloids tell us that Russian jets are flying up and down our coastline. As if they haven’t been flying up and down our coast for 70 years. And as if we have not reciprocated.

We should expect this sort of stuff from the armed forces, I suppose. It is when the politicians clamber aboard that I get really worried — for it is our side that worries me, not theirs. Andrew Mitchell was not alone in rattling the rusty sabre by suggesting we shoot down Russian jets over Syria. We also had Boris Johnson, our Foreign Secretary, demanding — in the manner of a clownish ayatollah — that people should protest outside the Russian embassy. Boris said this in response to the Russian and Syrian government air attacks upon Aleppo, which were certainly brutal. Then, about a week later, the West began, with clinical precision, to identify people in the last Iraqi Isis stronghold of Mosul with really radical beards and bomb them to smithereens, mercifully and humanitarianly sparing the local, decent, democratically minded citizens, who of course escaped the bombardment without so much as a graze.

Do people seriously swallow this rubbish? Do Boris and Mitchell? Both the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross have warned that more than one million people will become refugees as a consequence of the glorious liberation of Mosul — and probably hundreds killed. But when that happens, it will not be the fault of the coalition, it will be the fault of Isis, or vengeful Shia Iraqi soldiers, or the bloodthirsty Peshmerga. Nothing to do with us, guv.

The coalition action in Syria and Iraq is as incoherent and misguided as everything else we have done in the Middle East of late — from the invasion of Iraq, via the support for those somewhat chimeric ‘Arab Spring’ rebellions to the catastrophic and stupid intervention in Libya. What we have done in the name of dippy, well-meaning, liberal evangelism has cost far more lives than can be laid at the door of the Russkies and Vladimir Putin. In Syria and Iraq we are fighting in support of people who do not really exist: the nice moderates, not the jihadis, but also not Assad. You can count them on the fingers of one hand, the Syrian Lib Dems: Mohammed Clegg and his friends.

A month or so back I spoke to a chap who worked on behalf of the refugees in those two benighted countries and was certainly no friend of the Assad regime. What would be the best scenario now, I asked him? ‘That Russia and Assad win as quickly as possible. That would minimise the number of civilians killed.’ But we are doing what we can to prevent that outcome, thus prolonging the war.

When the battle for the liberation of Mosul was announced to an utterly credulous western media, Vladimir Putin said he hoped that the coalition would do its best to limit the number of civilians killed as a consequence of the military action, but that he understood, too, that winning a war sometimes resulted in the loss of innocent lives and would not start stamping his feet and insisting we all go and protest outside the nearest US or UK embassy. Shortly after he made this statement, the Russians and the Syrian government announced a ceasefire in and around Aleppo, so that civilians might take advantage of six well-patrolled corridors to find their way to safety — for humanitarian reasons. So, as the coalition aircraft and artillery bombarded Mosul, Putin announced his ceasefire. And perhaps this is another reason for the anti-Russian apoplectic fury of both our government and the feeble and weary US administration — Putin is a canny operator. He is winning the propaganda war with some ease.

Listen to Ben Judah and Dmitri Linnik on Putin’s information war

It has been open season on all things Russian for a while now. Their athletes cheat and get banned from sporting events. Whereas ours take performance-enhancing drugs solely to combat their crippling asthma attacks which might otherwise prevent them from winning the Tour de France. The US accuses Putin of conducting cyberwarfare to influence the presidential election. Well sure, although they’re not doing quite enough right now, by my reckoning — step it up a bit, Dmitri. But are we to believe that the US has no covert cyberwarfare going on?

And then there’s Russia Today, now thrust into the frontline. NatWest, largely state-owned, announced in gravely pious terms that it intended to close the bank accounts of the British-based, Russian-financed broadcaster. Hell, we never did that to Pravda. NatWest has subsequently backed down, as soon as Russia Today — with some justification — complained about restrictions upon freedom of speech and threatened to freeze the financial accounts of the BBC operation in Russia. While our government, keeping a straight face, denied having influenced the original NatWest decision — yeah, right — a spokesman for Theresa May added, ill-advisedly: ‘More broadly, do we want to make sure that misinformation is not being spread? Of course we do.’

So I think that’s pretty clear, is it not? There is indeed direct government involvement. We try to harass and hopefully close down a broadcaster because it is putting out stuff with which our government disagrees. I thought that was what the Russians were supposed to do; stifle dissent? And yet while Russia Today is indeed reliably compliant on Putin’s excesses, its news reports — often mirroring good old UK tabloid newspaper hackery — sometimes reveal a truth which would have been otherwise hidden. The problem, then, is not that they are spreading misinformation, but that Russia Today is spreading truthful information which the UK government finds extremely unhelpful. Is it non-biased and non-partisan, does it always give balance and right of reply? No, no and thrice no. Does the BBC?

There is a certain predilection among some British people, especially men of around about my age, to admire Vladimir Putin — largely for his decisiveness and social conservatism. While the West flounders, Putin acts — and so we might forgive him the occasional homophobic spasm (or even commend him for it). I am not a member of his burgeoning British fan club, though. It is easy to be decisive when you face no democratic challenge — which Putin assuredly does not. He strikes me as amoral and ruthless and belligerent. And I do not know how deeply ingrained is that weird, stripped-naked-wrestling-a-bear machismo, or how much it is for show. This is my worry: we provoke and provoke, we distort the facts in order to suit our agenda, we vilify Putin and his country in a wholly belligerent, one-eyed, manner, ignoring our own misdeeds — in Ukraine, in Syria and Iraq, and with regard to human rights and freedom of speech.

I fervently hope that, as Paul Wood suggests on p. 12, Putin’s belligerence is just an act for international consumption, and that he is nowhere near as stupid as Andrew Mitchell or Boris Johnson. That’s what I cling to, before I book those flights to Wellington. Because it may very well be a misplaced hope. And he may be pushed further than he can be seen to endure.

Putin is at least partly our creation, too, of course. You cannot divest a country of its empire, its political system and raison d’être, its industry, its jobs, its money, its prestige and world stature in five or six short years and not expect some sort of rebound, some sort of hankering after the old way of life, the craving for a Stalin-lite. A hankering after Putin. It was a missed opportunity, back in the mid-1990s, not to have love-bombed Russia, and invited it to join Nato. Now we must deal with Putin, as a consequence. And we are failing to do so. We are losing all ends up

[Philip]

Viva Espana?
Will Spain of macho bullfighting fame hold out in the face of intense pressure and be gored by the Bull(y) NATO?!

[ain http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10 ... iminate-t/

Anger as Spain prepares to let Russian warships refuel on way back to Aleppo bombing
Spanish foreign ministry now reviewing permit issued to Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier to dock in Ceuta after outcry over Moscow’s Syria airstrikes
Play VideoPlay

Russian warships pass through English channel. Spain will reportedly allow them to refuel on their way to take part in the bombing campaign against Aleppo.

Wednesday 26 October 2016 07.26 BST
Spain is facing criticism for reportedly preparing to allow the refuelling of Russian warships en route to bolstering the bombing campaign against the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo.

Russian warships pass through Channel watched by Royal Navy
Warships led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov are expected to take on fuel and supplies at the Spanish port of Ceuta after passing through the Straits of Gibraltar on Wednesday morning.

Spanish media reported that two Spanish vessels, the frigate Almirante Juan de Borbón and logistical ship Cantabria, were shadowing the warships as they passed through international waters, and that the Admiral Kuznetsov, along with other Russian vessels and submarines, would dock at Ceuta to restock after 10 days at sea.

Late on Tuesday night, El País reported that the Spanish ministry of foreign affairs was reviewing the permit issued to the Russian flotilla to stop at Ceuta. The ABC newspaper quoted the ministry as saying: “The stops requested by Russia in Ceuta … are being reviewed right now based on the information we are receiving from our allies and the Russian authorities.”

At a meeting of defence ministers in Paris, Spain’s representative, Pedro Morenés, said the government would seek clarification from Russia about “the purpose and destination” of the ships, which he confirmed had “prior authorisation” to stop at Ceuta.

Last week British Royal Navy vessels monitored the Russian warships as they moved through the English Channel. The vessels were shadowed by the navy as they passed through the Dover Strait .

The enclave of Ceuta sits on the tip of Africa’s north coast, across the Straits of Gibraltar from mainland Spain, and bordering Morocco, which also lays claim to the territory. Although Ceuta is part of the EU, its Nato status is unclear, and since 2011 at least 60 Russian warships have docked there.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday that Russian warships heading for Syria could be used to target civilians.

“We are concerned and have expressed very clearly by the potential use of that battle group to increase air strikes on civilians in Aleppo,” Stoltenberg said, adding that it was “up to each nation to decide whether these vessels may obtain supplies and refuel at different ports along the route to the eastern Mediterranean”.

Nato is monitoring the movement of the eight-strong carrier battle group from northern Russia en route to the eastern Mediterranean, where alliance officials fear it will launch fighter bombers to hit northwestern Syria early in November.

“The battle group may be used to increase Russia’s ability to take part in combat operations over Syria and to conduct even more air strikes against Aleppo,” Stoltenberg said.

Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister of Belgium and now the EU’s representative on Brexit talks with the UK, called Spain’s decision to allow the refuelling “scandalous”.

Spain signed EU statement on Russian war crimes in #Aleppo last week; today helps refuel fleet on way to commit more atrocities. Seriously? pic.twitter.com/a0lYtMN3cV

October 25, 2016
The naval group is made up of Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, as well as a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, two anti-submarine warships and four support vessels, likely escorted by submarines, Nato officials said.

The naval deployment, a rare sight since the end of the Soviet Union, is carrying dozens of fighter bombers and helicopters and is expected to join around 10 other Russian vessels already off the Syrian coast, diplomats said.

Washington’s envoy to Nato said Russia was within its right to move vessels through international waters. Military analysts say the deployment is a show of Russian force, as few countries have the ability to send an aircraft carrier group so far from home – although this would rely on refuelling in Spain.

“The problem would arise if this ship [Admiral Kuznetsov] contributes to the indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets in northwest Syria, particularly in and around Aleppo,” US ambassador Douglas Lute told reporters.

Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, search for victims following airstrikes in Aleppo by Russian and Syrian warplanes.

Sir Gerald Howarth, a former defence minister, told the Daily Telegraph it would be “wholly inappropriate” for a Nato member to refuel the vessels.
Former Royal Navy chief Lord West told the newspaper: “There are sanctions against Russia and it’s an extraordinary thing for a Nato ally to do.”

Spain’s foreign ministry told the Telegraph requests from the Russian navy were considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
A spokesman told the newspaper: “Russian navy vessels have been making calls in Spanish ports for years.”

A UK government spokesman said: “Access to Spanish ports is a matter for the Spanish authorities. HMG [Her Majesty’s government] has previously expressed concerns to the Spanish government about its hospitality to the Russian navy when we have concerns about Russia’s military activity.

“We are clear that the UK’s relationship with Russia should not be business as usual.”

EU leaders fail to agree on threatening Russia with sanctions over Aleppo
Read more
Last week’s Russian passage through the English Channel came after British prime minister Theresa May condemned Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Syria, accusing Moscow of being behind “sickening atrocities” in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

May’s deputy official spokesman rejected suggestions that it was a sign of weakness that Russia felt able to send its ships via the English Channel. A Downing Street spokesman said: “I would reject suggestions that the Russians feel we are too weak. Clearly, we are not weak at all.”

Nato said the prospect of Russia’s only aircraft carrier heading to the region does not “inspire confidence” that Moscow is seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said in September that the Admiral Kuznetsov-led Northern Fleet would be joining a taskforce in the Mediterranean.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, he told a defence board meeting that the plan was to bolster the Mediterranean fleet’s “combat capabilities”.

A statement from the fleet to the agency on 15 October said the group also consisted of the Pyotr Velikiy battlecruiser, the Severomorsk anti-submarine ship, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer and other support vessels.

Press Association and Reuters contributed to this report.

[IndraD]

Trump says Clinton policy on Syria would lead to World War Three http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-e ... SKCN12P2PZ

[IndraD]

That Admiral Kuz getting refueled in Spain has caused massive heart burn in Europe and Spain is being mocked as if Ireland or Britain would have bombed the fighter carrier !

[Bhurishravas]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-midea ... SKCN12Q0GV

The field commander of the forces allied to the Syrian leader - which include the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - warned Turkey any advance towards their positions north and east of Aleppo would be met "decisively and with force".

[Singha]

https://mobile.twitter.com/nickglavin/s ... 69/photo/1

Map of the mess that is africa

[UlanBatori]

Piotr Velikiy Battle Cruiser. Interesting. What is a "Battle Cruiser" in this day? Heavy long-range artillery, or is it a floating missile platform? SLCM, SLBM, torpedos..

[Gyan]

Allies Set Sights on Raqqa in Battle Against Islamic State

Coalition is preparing to launch invasion of group’s stronghold before Mosul operation is done, U.S. defense secretary says

PARIS—The U.S. and its allies are preparing to launch the invasion of Islamic State’s Raqqa stronghold before the recapture of Mosul in Iraq is complete, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday, signaling new urgency to prevent militants from regrouping in Syria...

Mr. Carter on Tuesday described the soldiers that he hopes will take Raqqa as “capable and motivated local forces that we identify and then enable. The lasting defeat of ISIL can’t be achieved by outsiders; it can only be achieved by Syrians enabled by us.” (who the hell is left to fight??) ISIL is one acronym for Islamic State.
...
The U.S. envisions Kurdish fighters playing a role in taking Raqqa—but only to “shape” and surround the Sunni city, not enter it, a senior U.S. military official said. The U.S. is now recruiting Sunni Arabs who would occupy the city itself after Islamic State is expelled, the official said....

The Awacs system won’t be used directly to target Islamic State. Instead, its powerful radar will be used to track the movement of coalition, Russian and Syrian aircraft inside Syria, providing the coalition air command in Qatar real-time information that can be used to deconflict operations or track the movements of war planes...

USA Is trying to prevent liberation of Raqqa. ISIS will change flags from Black to Green and will be declared as liberators.

[habal]

Watch a single Syrian Army Kornet operator destroy 4 tanks belonging to the Jaysh Al-Islam and Nusra/Alqaeda at Khaan Al-Shaykh: (tape from Ron Chandler)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SYRPER/ ... 623056128/

[Singha]

Ulan read up on the kirov class.

Kornet sales should boom worldwide now...has proven itself a real sharp beast

[IndraD]

Kuz carrier skips Spain, no refuelling done: moves on towards Middle East.

[IndraD]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 077259.cms
How US soldiers based at Q West base near Mosul helping Iraq army

Striking from afar
The stated US mission is not to head out with Iraqi soldiers to fight on the frontlines. Instead, they hit targets provided by the Iraqi army or through coalition surveillance with air strikes, GPS-aided rockets and conventional artillery.
The GPS-aided rockets, known by the acronym HMARS (high mobility artillery rocket system), have a range of up to 70 km and are positioned at a spot on the base the soldiers have dubbed "rocket city".
"We've been hitting targets inside Mosul since we've been here," said one American soldier. "Nothing else in theater can shoot as far as we can."
Since the operation to recapture Mosul from Islamic State began last week, the US military has dropped 1,700 munitions on targets in the battlefield.

[Karthik S]

[Singha]

video - daesh youngsters arguing over who gets to drive a SVBIED into the Kuffar. they play a game and the delighted winner gets to drive off to his 72

https://twitter.com/IraqiSecurity/statu ... 0797569024

with this level of brainwashing no wonder they specialize in SVBIED

[TSJones]

^^^^aw geez, that lucky guy gets all the fun!

[Singha]

someone commented when in doubt why choose - send both off!

[Singha]

total blackout on news reports from the front, or a lull in activity . official pmu twitter silent for 2 days now and others too.

[Singha]

Al-Masdar News ‏@TheArabSource
Russian KA-31 officially on duty in #Syria https://aml.ink/YTW2u

Reason likely is they are testing gmti radar over land..which they lacked earlier except on the strategic tu214r. this will be divisional resource. EArlier thecfrench had such a system on cougar helicopter.

[Singha]

it might also embark on the kuznetsov as it moves around the eastern Med and test its sea borne capability in the tropics vs the variety of nato and civilian a/c prowling around.

[Philip]

It looks like the task force's arrival will see the commencement of the festive season fireworks. The Kuz will add to the airpower available and I'm sure the Russians want to "blood" the Kirov too,using a variety of missiles,etc.The Syrian conflict is giving the Russians a grat opportunitgy to test their weaponry in a true war zone instead of during mil exercises. The UKR spat gave it ample opportunity to test its spl. forces (green men) who grabbed Crimea from under the noses of the UKR oligarchs and fascists. This operation will allow it to test strategy and tactics for warfare in the Meditt for a worst-case future scenario with NATO whose leaders are getting increasingly "bolshie" with the Bolshies (pardon the pun!).

Latest task force news.NATO is trying to scupper any plans for refuelling at ports belonging to NATO/EU nations.The great Spanish "matadors" and now nothing but "pollodors" (chickens) . Will little Malta also succumb to the pressure? I'm sure that Algeria will be no problem as Russia supplies it with a lot of weaponry.

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... d-warships
quote]Russia cancels Spanish fuel stop for Syria-bound warships
Madrid heavily criticised by Nato allies over refuelling plan for Russian flotilla at enclave of Ceuta
The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Wednesday 26 October 2016
Russia has withdrawn a request for a flotilla of warships to be allowed to refuel in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta, after Nato allies criticised Madrid for assisting warships they believe could be used to target civilians in Syria. The Russian embassy in Madrid gave no reason for the change of heart, but said the fleet would bypass the port, across the Straits of Gibraltar from mainland Spain, which Moscow has frequently used in the past.

The Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement: “The Russian embassy has just informed us that it is withdrawing the request for permission for stopovers for these ships and these stopovers have therefore been cancelled.”

It is understood that the Spanish foreign affairs ministry formally asked the Russians if the ships were likely to be used in future Russian attacks on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo and, if so, said it was advisable that Russia withdraw the request to use Ceuta.

Led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, the Russian flotilla had been due to dock imminently at Ceuta. Bordering Morocco, which also lays claim to the territory, Ceuta is an anomaly, since it is one of two European cities in mainland Africa. It is part of the EU, and has the euro as its currency. However, its Nato status is unclear.

Spain had come under intense international pressure to withdraw the refuelling offer, from countries including Britain and the United States. The Russian defence ministry said the Russian fleet had never intended to dock at Ceuta in the first place. The reported plan had, however, drawn criticism from the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, senior European parliamentarians and Conservative MPs in Britain.

Prior to the Russian announcement, the UK’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, said Britain “would be extremely concerned if a Nato member should consider assisting a Russian carrier group that might end up bombing Syria”. “On the contrary, Nato should be standing together,” he said as Nato defence ministers gathered in Brussels.

The Spanish were accused of hypocrisy for potentially letting the warships refuel, after signing statements last week accusing the Russians of war crimes in Syria, and tweeting support for the “liberation of Syria” during a conference in Paris on Tuesday.

Since 2011, at least 60 Russian warships have docked there, including numerous stopovers following the imposition of EU sanctions on Russia for its invasion and annexation of Crimea in March 2014. At least 25 Russian navy vessels have been resupplied at various Spanish ports since then.

The practice has been criticised in the past, but the scale of the Russian-backed bombardment of eastern Aleppo brought a new level of outrage this week.

Russian warships pass through English channel
The Russian fleet, representing the core of its Murmansk-based northern fleet, includes four warships and the tanker Sergei Osipov, a tanker that helped rescue the battle cruiser when it broke down in 2012 in the Bay of Biscay. It appears that none of the ships will now enter the Spanish port.

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg said: “We are concerned – and have expressed very clearly – by the potential use of that battle group to increase airstrikes on civilians in Aleppo.” He said it was “up to each nation to decide whether these vessels may obtain supplies and refuel at different ports along the route to the eastern Mediterranean”.

Nato has been monitoring the movement of the eight-strong carrier battle group from northern Russia en route to the eastern Mediterranean, where alliance officials fear it will launch fighter bombers to hit north-western Syria early in November.

Although military analysts say the fleet’s passage could be a PR exercise, it does increase Russian air power and make the remote possibility of an American air force counter-strike more hazardous. Last week, British Royal Navy vessels monitored the Russian warships as they moved through the Channel.

Ceuta is one of the poorest towns in Spain. According to its port authority, about 2,300 Russian sailors spent leave in the city in 2014, changing around €450 of foreign currency each to spend locally during their free time. That adds up to over €1m a year, most of which goes on local dining and shopping. In addition, an amphibious ship needs around 300 tons of diesel fuel and 150 tons of water; an oil tanker might need as much as 3,750 tons of fuel.

It is now likely that pressure will be placed on the Maltese government to withdraw any offer of facilities for the Russian ships.[/quote]

[Singha]

Lcarabinier

[Singha]

[Singha]

peshmerga use desperate means to stop a svbied, getting it on 2nd or 3rd try
https://twitter.com/GissiSim/status/789078545486245888

ISIS trying to escape dressed in burqa...caught!

[Singha]

the map above misses one thing...a iraqi army division has circled around through kurdish territory and is attacking south from near the mosul dam i believe...and there are also NPF - niveveh plain forces attacking from north.

[IndraD]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... eports-say
Idlib school attack could be deadliest since Syrian war began, says UN
Top UN official describes attack on school in rebel-held northern Syria that killed at least 35 people as an outrage and possible war crime

[IndraD]

Failed weapons systems cost Pentagon $58 billion over two decades https://www.rt.com/usa/364230-pentagon- ... ons-costs/

The Pentagon loves to throw good money after bad ‒ to the tune of nearly $60 billion on failed big-ticket weapons systems over the last two decades, according to a new internal Department of Defense review.
From the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) that focused on fighting the last war to its RAH-66 Comanche stealth helicopters that never quite got off the ground, between 1997 and October 2016, the Pentagon invested $58 billion on weapons technology it never received. That doesn’t include the boondoggle that is the F-35 jet, which was finally declared“ready for combat” at the beginning of August.

The FCS ($20 billion) and the Comanche ($9.8 billion) are just two of 23 major weapons programs that were canceled before they were finished, and together the two Army projects made up more than 50 percent of the “sunk costs” outlined in the Pentagon’s annual internal acquisitions performance review. The 224-page report by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall was published earlier this week.

The report noted how much money was spent on each canceled program, how far along in the process they were before they were killed, and if any of the technology was rolled up into new programs. For example, although the FCS was canceled, parts of it ‒ including many of the manned ground vehicles and the Intelligent Munitions System ‒ were swept up into a current program called the Army Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program.

Most of the programs were killed before they blew through their budgets, but eight of them spent all the money allotted to them before the Pentagon canceled them, the report found.

[Austin]

Iraqi M1 Abrams tank hit by ISIS Kornet guided missile near Mosul

[IndraD]

Abu Azrael, ‘Iraq’s Rambo’, the most reknown fighter in Iraq

[UlanBatori]

Ceuta is one of the poorest towns in Spain. According to its port authority, about 2,300 Russian sailors spent leave in the city in 2014, changing around €450 of foreign currency each to spend locally during their free time.

Wow! Either Russian Navy pays exceptionally well or these ppl are ripping off the Russkies... or they are selling something other than Sangria and Paella.

[Singha]

Ulan tou need to read agitpapa on twitter. he gets nuggets of info like this

B52 near shahdadi ne of deir azzor taken by a syrian airline pilot

https://mobile.twitter.com/syrianmilita ... 72/photo/1

[habal]

TOP Jihadist leaders KILLED in Homs today
1. Colonel Shawqi Ayoub
2. Brig General Mahmoud Ayoub
3. Brig Lt. Hazem AlAshtar
4. Col Faisal Awd

700 Desert Hawks already arrived in Aleppo and counting, it may reach 1,000 elite fighters very soon, still unknown the offensive this group will lead, but it seems imminent.

Desert Hawks were usually seen in NE Lattakia and Palmyra offensives both with very strong Russian support, on the other side Desert Hawks led the controvertial Tabqa/Raqqa attack, which by many a fiasco but it could have been a decoy all around for northern/eastern Aleppo offensives, we will probably never know before it takes place.

Aleppo is housing several elite groups lately, from the 4th Mechanized Division, Liwa al Quds, Tiger Forces, Hizbollah "crack" Radwan unit and Republican Guards 102nd Brigade.
These are very effective offensive forces, looking forward to see them all in action together.

[habal]

Iraqi M1 Abrams tank hit by ISIS Kornet guided missile near Mosul

During WW2 the US tanks were nicknamed Ronson's , because all it took was one hit and they always lit up. I think the slogan was, "Lights first time, every time"

https://tankandafvnews.files.wordpress. ... 1944_2.jpg

[habal]

This is why the Resistance is fighting for and this is why the resistance will win. Freaking heartbreaking video of this child in Iraq saved from ISIS in the Mosul offensive, she said "I thought you would never come for us".

https://twitter.com/CodeAud/status/791583566844928000

God bless, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, all the Shia fighters, Yazidis, Yemenis, Libyans, Russians and all other forces representing the resistance against the blood thirsty UK, France, USA, Israel, GCC and Turkey, may these lot burn in hell.

[Pratyush]

I find it quite amusing that the self-proclaimed free world is doing it's best to insure that the civilized world suffers from ISIS.

Where as the so called despots of the world are the ones who are holding the line against the night.

[habal]

Relaxing on the deck of the kuznetsov.
a day for meditteranean vacation.

[Singha]

During regular ops the fishing pole antennas fold parallel to the sea

[Singha]

Hezbollah had already proven in 2006 that given right conditions, well camouflaged infantry using atgm can extract a price from even the best tanks like merkava. isia has also hit iraqi abrams in anbar also sometimes with tow atgm

Tow has also proven very dangerous for syrian army despite not being latest radio guided model

And as usual india is busy saboting its own work the nag

[Singha]

Daesh john rambo killed south of mosul

http://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-I ... hCRUQ4NkE=

[Austin]

Iraqi M1 Abrams tank hit by ISIS Kornet guided missile near Mosul

During WW2 the US tanks were nicknamed Ronson's , because all it took was one hit and they always lit up. I think the slogan was, "Lights first time, every time"

https://tankandafvnews.files.wordpress. ... 1944_2.jpg

To be fair any tank would suffer the same fate when hit from side or rear , tanks sides and rear are not designed to withstand more than a normal RPG hit. Only the front is heavily protected to withstand any hit from any antitank missile other option is to have APS and or light era for sides and rear protection

Side and rear of tanks are designed to survive not more than 500 mm heat and frontal is around 1500-1800 heat , kornet is around 1200 heat

We have seen repeatedly T series , French lecrac & Abrams and merkava suffer the same fate whn hit with anti tank missile on side top or rear be it Syria or yemen or ghaza.

Tank warfare needs lots of skill, tactics , infantry and helicopter support to be survivable

With idiots like Saudi ,UAE and their camel breeder birather from Gulf you have little hope when it comes to skills and tactics , they can make the most advanced toy gifted to them be it from West or east looks like worst model in their hands.

[TSJones]

hooties are being supplied by iran........

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s ... ls-n674181