US General admit US military's $500 million USD Syria training program has 'probably four or five fighters' on the ground



The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Wednesday that a Pentagon program that sought to train and arm 5,400 opposition fighters to confront Islamic State militants in Syria this year has only "four or five" in the field.

Gen. Lloyd Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command, made the disclosure Wednesday during a heated hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he was grilled about the $500-million program’s effectiveness.

Austin said the first group of 54 fighters were sent into northern Syria in July after a six-week training course. But they were attacked by Al Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate, and most of the fighters were killed, captured or scattered.

Asked how many remain, he responded, "It's a small number. ... We're talking four or five."

Defense analyst say US has spent $110 Billion USD trying to rebuild Afghanistan



The U.S. reconstruction of Afghanistan was one of the worst foreign policy failures in American history. Taxpayers have wasted billions on roads that don’t work, buildings that don’t exist and weapons Afghan soldiers don’t know how to use.

Since World War II, The US has spent an incredible amount of time, effort and money rebuilding the countries it invades, which is a noble goal and can be successful. But reconstruction in Afghanistan is a mess.

John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has admitted that the US has spent around $110 Billion USD in trying to build a semblage of normalcy in Afghanistan.

“To give that number some perspective,” Sopko explained. “After adjusting for inflation, Afghanistan reconstruction exceeds the value of the entire Marshall Plan effort to rebuild Western Europe after World War II.”

I remembered reading somewhere that the 'teeth-to-tail ratio' (the ratio of soldiers who do secondary work like logistics support or intelligence duties vs soldiers who are actually fighting on the front lines) in the US military is so massive, it was speculated that only 30% of the US military are front-line soldiers.

Wonder if this is true?

Although aluminium is lighter than steel, at the same time you need 3x the thickness of a steel plate to have the same level of protection. Dunno how much exactly does aluminium armor is worth it in terms of manufacturing capability and costs in contrast to steel armor. Also heard aluminium armor more vulnerable to HEAT warhead too, something have to do with having a lower temperature threshold making it easier for the plasma jetstream to puncture through.

Counter-battery fire is also a concern for artillery units. Having decent protection is important in SPG design, if not you only have is an artillery gun on tracks.

Not really a joke though, infiltration units like SF or irregular units can knock out artillery units with hit-and-run raids, especially field artillery not inside the protection of an FOB.

Assault on Brecourt manor on D-day by 101st airborne is a good example.

Currently the situation don't really need dedicated anti-tank helicopters, so for now Hinds will do. The way I see it situation is like 1980s Afghanistan with insurgents mostly on foot or light vehicles with a few armored vehicles here and there. Any infiltrating SF or Spetznaz units carried to suspected insurgent concentrations by the attacking Hinds can potentially do a lot more damage than purely hard-hitting Havoc or Alligators.

Also Syrian Army & Air Force are already familiar with Hind and Hip helicopter controls, so if anything happen can give control to Syrian pilots. Spare parts for both types would also be available from Syrian government depots.

Haha I've kept advocating more and more modern local -made patrol boats for APMM for a long time alredi

PLA armored company on routine training exercise ambushed by two 'enemy' attack helicopters, resulting in 80% losses



During a recent routine training exercise with the Nanjing military district armored brigades, a few commanders decided to sneak in a surprise element to the exercise: An ambush by two attack helicopters armed with 'anti-tank weapons' on an armored company.

The armored company was reported to have reacted poorly to the surprise helicopter attacks, with conflicting and confusing orders given resulting in reported 80% loss for the armored company. Out of a typical PLA armored company of 14 tanks, this would amount to about 11 or 12 tanks lost to the attack helicopters. The outcome of the botched exercise was claimed to have caused an 'uproar' at Brigade command.

The U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office took note of the exercise in its monthly journal OE Watch. “It was … apparent that commanders were not staying abreast of recent changes in warfare,” the journal stated.

According to the journal, the 'enemy' ambush was sprung after "When they exploited the victory and staged attacks on “remnant enemies,” two “enemy” helicopter gunships suddenly appeared and fired a number of anti-tank missiles. Facing the abrupt counter-attacks from the opponent, the Fourth Company was knocked off stride and forced into a messy condition. Multiple tanks were hit, releasing red smoke. The battle damage rate of the tanks reached 80 percent."

Probably assumed the day was just like any other monthly training exercise. Show up, shoot some stuff and go back to barracks. Shows the suspect quality of the training in the PLA actually.

Maybe starting to employ real-world scenarios in training rather than stupid propaganda-based training where they inflict 125% casualties on the enemy?

WTF is ' RPG hypersonic propulsion?'
The RPG itself doesn't penetrate the armor like a kinetic energy penetrator, the plasma jet stream created by the shaped charge is what penetrates the armor. The warhead detonates and is destroyed the moment the fuze impacts the armor.

Armored or not depends on role of a vehicle. You can't have everything armored up to the gills. MD530 to me looks like a reconnaisance/light attack helicopter, so its priority is not to go all guns blazing at heavily fortified and defended targets.

If follow your logic every type of military vehicle should be as armored as an MBT.

No biggie, I'd say 99% of all military helicopters are still vulnerable even against small arms. By design helicopters are inherently fragile, there's too many little things that enable the helicopter to fly the way it does. Hit one weak point out of many (pilots, engines, main rotor assembly, tail rotor) and the entire things falls apart. There's nothing you can do about that barring doing some major fundamental redesigns to the concept of helicopters themselves.

BTW I think only 4-5 kinds of helicopters that are seriously armored enough to withstand anything heavier than small arms fire. Also aerial vehicles don't work like land vehicles, where you can uparmor it to a high degree as long as the engine and suspension allows it. Aerial vehicles are precision instruments where even small changes to its original design can throw its performance and operability out the window. You just cant add armor plates or bulletproof glass to a helicopter without changing major design parameters.

Well, most helicopter operations are run on low or medium altitude, so not that many high-altitude helicopters are ever designed anyway. Also there's a certain limit on how much atmospheric pressure is needed for the rotor blades to generate lift. I think average max altitude for a helicopter is about 10,000 feet (around 3,000 meters) before the atmosphere gets too thin and the main rotors lose their ability to generate lift effectively.

Attracted by huge deployment bonuses, Russian military personnel scramble to volunteer for action in Syria



As Russia begins its military operations in Syria against militants, there has been a scramble of military personnel registering to volunteer for overseas deployment in Syria.

Russian media stress that only professional ('contract') soldiers have been sent to Syria, not conscripts. However, the force strength and units have not been revealed. Western experts believe, to date, Russia has around 1,500 personnel in Syria, mainly from the Air Force.

According to the daily Vedomosti, there will be no shortage of soldiers willing to go there, to earn bonus pay. Officers are being paid an extra $62 USD (RUB 4,073) per day, while lower ranks $43 USD (RUB 2,082) per day in addition to their normal pay, it reported, quoting Valentina Melnikova, head of the Soldiers' Mothers group.

Since the rouble's slump in value, that kind of bonus - paid in roubles - means a lot more purchasing power in Russia.

Chinese police arrest more than 1,000 PLA veterans protesting their lack of government assistance benefits



Authorities in the Chinese capital on Monday detained more than 1,000 veterans of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who gathered outside government buildings in protest over lack of government assistance and income, protesters said.

Yang Suiquan,a PLA veteran and protester said the veterans had arrived in Beijing on June 23, in the hope of lodging a formal complaint, and had been promised a reply within a 60-day time limit.

"But there has been no reply to date, and nobody was doing anything about it, so we went back there again," he said.

Many veterans of China's brief 1979 border war with Vietnam and the Korean War (1950-1953), live in extreme hardship in old age, he said.

"We gave our best, but when we got back, they didn't do anything to help us earn a living, find work, get medical care or social security payments," Yang said. "The local governments say they can't do anything, but maybe they just don't want to."

"We have been forced into petitioning, into pressing our demands," he said. "There are a lot of veterans who have fought in wars that have been put in jail by the authorities, "The government's way of dealing with this issue is pretty defective."

"I think the authorities should find a way to ensure their standard of living ... or else it's going to have a big impact on applications to join the Chinese armed forces in the present," he said.

Just one day after accusing Russia of bombing civilians in Syria, US planes bomb a hospital in Afghanistan



Early this (saturday) morning, in the Afghan city of Kunduz, the U.S. dropped bombs on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)). The MSF reported that to date, the airstrike killed at least 16 people including 9 of the hospital’s medical staff, and seriously injured dozens of patients. “Among the dead was the Afghan head of the hospital, Abdul Sattar,” reported The New York Times.

Jason Cone, MSF’s Executive Director, said the medical charity “condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific bombing of its hospital in Kunduz full of staff and patients.” He added that “all parties [to the] conflict, including in Kabul & Washington, were clearly informed of precise GPS Coordinates of MSF facilities in Kunduz.”

For its part, the U.S. military in Afghanistan issued a statement acknowledging that it carried out airstrikes, claimed they were conducted “against individuals threatening the force,” and conceded that “the strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”

No need all that. The continued use of a Russian warm-water port (Tartus) and air base (Lataqiyyah) in Eastern Mediterranean for the Russians to operate is reward enough. A chance send a 'f*ck you' note to Washington as Assad is still able continue his rule even after 4 years of attempted western-sponsored 'regime change' is a good bonus for Putin though.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Oct 5 2015, 03:11 PM