Centauro II during testing (pic)

pic via Slaughter is the best medicine Tumblr Page.

France withdraws invitation to Polish Delegation to attend Euronaval 2016!

via Shepard News.

It is the latest in a series of snubs by the French government, showing its displeasure with Poland’s decision to scrap a landmark deal to purchase 50 H225M ‘Caracal’ helicopters. A foreign trip by French President Francois Hollande to Warsaw has already been cancelled.

The news that France had withdrawn its Euronaval invitation to Poland was reported by the AFP news agency on 13 October. Bartosz Kownacki, Poland’s deputy defence minister, said the invitation withdrawal had been the direct result of the cancelled negotiations for the new helicopters.

In a move that is unlikely to end the diplomatic spat anytime soon, Kownacki said France’s current behaviour could be explained by the fact that Poland taught the French how to use forks ‘a couple of centuries ago’.

All this over a helicopter contract?  JESUS! How desperate are the French?  This should be a minor thing but its turning into a diplomatic incident!

German Army @ Informationslehrübung Landoperationen 2016 (Pics)

Open Comment Post. Oct 21, 2016.

What's on your mind?

Trump called her nasty...Hillary gave away our nuclear response time.

This has been floating around conservative sites and to be honest I ignored it as being another overblown piece of nonsense.  Then I read the stories.  I'll be damned!  Everyone is upset because Trump called her nasty, but Hillary gave away our nuclear response time.

The media IS trying to rig this election.  This is devastating news but no one is talking about it...even us military bloggers are missing this.

Challenger 2 lights the night sky (pic via The Royal Tank Regiment)

Pacific Pivot in Peril. Duarte announces realignment with Russia and China...

Thanks to Nico for the link!

via AFP

"I announce my separation from the United States," he said to applause at a meeting in the Chinese capital.
"America does not control our lives. Enough bullshit," he added in a rambling speech that flipped between languages.
"How can you be the most powerful industrial country when you owe China and you are not paying it?"
His comments came after he met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, with the two men pledging to enhance trust and friendship, while playing down a maritime dispute.
Xi called the two countries "neighbours across the sea" with "no reason for hostility or confrontation", the official Xinhua news agency said.

Story here (make sure to watch the vid).

I hope someone in the Pentagon is paying attention.  Why reconstitute US bases on that island when this guy is making these types of statements?  Why continue to provide military assistance of any kind?

I've had Filipino readers state that this guy is speaking for a minority of his country.  Most Presidents do.  He's setting policy and its past time we responded.

Egyptian Armed Forces - Be Prepared (propaganda vid)

Did we miss Egypt doing a massive rearming program?  I know this is a propaganda vid but they have some pretty impressive kit...and alot of it.  Focus has been on Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC but Egypt has been doing work.  If a fight comes between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Egyptians...if they decide to participate or not...could be the key to a Saudi victory or defeat.

The Saudi's should have a care though.  They invited the Egyptians to participate in the Yemen affair and they declined.  Its not an automatic that they will assist against Iran.

Desert Cat via Joe Copalman's Flickr Page.

An AgustaWestland Wildcat AH1 Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter from the Royal Navy's 847 Naval Air Squadron banks over the Imperial Dunes northwest of Yuma, Arizona during a recent deployment for desert environmental qualification.
Shot for my article on 847 NAS in the November issue of AirForces Monthly magazine: www.airforcesmonthly.com/view_issue.asp?ID=6722

I'm telling you guys now!  If you're not subscribed to Joe's Flickr Page then you're missing out!

Scorpion jet successfully completes first weapons capability exercise

Thanks to Robert for the link!

Whoever is running the PR shop over at Textron needs a bit of schooling.  If he wants max distribution of his pics then that little "caption" block at the bottom just won't do.  I'd bet body parts I highly value that you'll see these same pics but with that portion cropped off.

But back on task.  Robert is excited about the plane but I just don't see the utility.  Maybe its the next big thing but is it really more valuable than a Tucano?  Is it a step ahead of the A-10?

I like its look but it seems to solve a problem that doesn't exist.  Regardless, press release here.

More pics from MAWTS Offensive Air Support Exercise.

Open Comment Post. Debate Talk. Oct 20, 2016.

I'm sitting here in awe.  Trump could so easily have won the election if he had stuck to the issues of illegal immigration, bad trade deals, jobs, offshoring by corporations etc...

Unfortunately that was beyond his capabilities.  He forgot that this wasn't about him but IS about the people.  He made this a "Me" instead of "We" election.

As expected the mainstream media played up the irrelevant and we have a criminal about to win the Presidency (not the first time either....just the most obvious).

The never Trump people on these pages (I know who you are no matter how much you deny it) and the Republican Party should worry though.  Something evil is about to be unleashed.  If Trump was bad then how much worse will the next person be?  Do you think that Rubio, Cruz or Bush have a chance to win the nomination in the Republican party four years from now?  We're gonna see another Trump but this time it'll be a smarter version, more calculating, less arrogant (publicly) and willing to play the media game.

They won and Trump made it easy, but in the end they will lose....we will all lose.