Videos

Technology

Vehicle I-D: No more AAV, say hello to the ACV, finally?

Video

13 April 2021-23:59-UTC-07 Tango 06 (25 Farvardin 1400/02 Ramadan 1442/03 Ren-Chen [3rd month] 4719)

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Jamin M. Powell.

07APR2021, Marines ‘ingress’ a new ACV during MOUT (military operations urban terrain) on Twentynine Palms, California.

USMC photo by Corporal Jamin M. Powell.

05APR2021, the MOUT training on Twentynine Palms was apparently the second time a regular Marine unit (not a testing unit, aka NETT unit) employed the ACV in a wargame.

USMC photo by Private First Class Sarah Pysher.

08MAR2021, on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) revealed the new replacement for the Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV, formerly known as LVTP); the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV).

USMC photo by Private First Class Sarah Pysher.

The new mantra for building support for the ACV is “Newer, Bigger, Better”, even though some former USMC officers have said otherwise about the ‘better’ claim.

In February 2021, BAE Systems claims it delivered the first command version of the ACV.  It was also in February 2021, that BAE revealed that the USMC upped its order for BAE made ACVs to the tune of USD$366-million.

USMC photo by Sergeant Courtney G. White.

The above photo, 20FEB2021, shows the first use of ACVs by a regular Marine unit (3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion), in a wargame on Twentynine Palms, California.

USMC video report from February 2021, by Sergeant Courtney G. White, showing that the ACV was finally being put to the test by regular Marine units at Twentynine Palms, California:

In January 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation for Fiscal Year 2020 Navy Programs, said there were still numerous problems with the ACV: Things like tire failures in hot/dry climates due to problems with the Central Tire Inflation System, failure to meet mission deadlines, problems recovering broke-down ACVs due to their size and weight, armored seats made “rapid ingress and egress difficult”, Marines report great discomfort having to sit in those same armored seats, “subsystems with a high failure rate included suspension components, hatch and ramp sensors, and switches.”  

In October 2020, Italy based Iveco claims to have delivered 18 of their ACVs (aka SuperAV) to the USMC.

A January 2020 USMC video report, by Lance Corporal Anthony Alvarez, in which it’s revealed that ship-to-shore testing has finally been transferred from BAE employees to USMC personnel:

In December 2019, the USMC issued a promo-video claiming the ACV would become operational in 2020:

The ACV has been taking a long time in development (almost a decade), it was originally hoped that the ACV would begin field use between 2020 and 2022.  The entire ACV program is mired in controversy, from constant changes in mission requirements, to prototype funding problems, and claims that the decided upon British BAE Systems and Italian Iveco ACVs aren’t any faster than an AAV, doesn’t carry more than the AAV and even costs far more than a new AAV!

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Andrew Cortez.

December 2019 USMC video, by Lance Corporal Garret Kiger, showing day/night beach ops on Camp Pendleton:

There were two phases of development, and in each phase the USMC paid millions of dollars for each prototype vehicle (as much as $14-million per vehicle in the second phase).  Another controversy is the fact that the original ACV concept intended for it to be able to maneuver with Marine Corps M1 Abrams battle tanks, but you all should know what recently happened to them.

USMC photo by Ashley Calingo.

The above photo was taken in October 2019, in York, Pennsylvania, showing Marines of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion signing their names to an ACV.  The 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion is the first unit to get the ACV.

USMC photo by Ashley Calingo.

An ACV comes ashore on Camp Pendleton, California, February 2019.

USMC photo by Ashley Calingo.

An ACV undergoing testing by New Equipment Testing Team (NETT) on Camp Pendleton, February 2019.  One of the NETT personnel admitted “…we realized that some of the tactics we’re used to with the AAV don’t work with the ACV.”-Staff Sergeant Kevin Wheeler

USMC photo.

The above photo shows an ACV Phase 1.1 development vehicle on a Southern California beach in December 2017.

Photo via Marine Corps Systems Command.

In November 2016, the USMC paid BAE Systems $198-million for 30 ‘low-rate’ production ACVs.  Those low-rate ACVs were supposed to have been delivered by 2017-18.

In 2011, BAE and Iveco joined forces in the ACV competition for U.S. tax dollars. Unfortunately, it is yet another profit making military vehicle for foreign based corporations.  Aren’t any new U.S. armored vehicles made by a U.S. company?

Vehicle I-D: The new U.S. Army M109A7 PALADIN, is just ANOTHER ‘TOOL’ OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

Vehicle I-D: USMC CH-53K KING STALLION UPDATE

Vehicle I-D:  USMC AAV7 VID-FEST

Vehicle I-D: UNDIGNIFIED DEATH OF LVTP-5

Hurricane Harvey: MARINES USE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT TANKS TO SAVE LIVES!

Technology

Plague of Phrogs killed-off by Birds of Prey!

Video

Divestiture, disposition, or whatever is the latest official term for retiring a U.S. military aircraft, the end of the life of the CH-46 Sea Knight was a slow death, taking almost a decade.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Jason Jimenez.

An HH-46D Phrog, officially named Pedro, joins other rescue Phrogs on their final journey from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, 25SEP2015.

USMC photo by Corporal Andrea Cleopatra Dickerson, 2013.

Between August and the end of September 2015, the last of the  Phrogs made their final official flights.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Orlando Perez.

Helicopter Marine Medium-lift (HMM) 774 says goodbye to its Phrogs, 05AUG2015, MCAS Cherry Point.

04AUG2015 U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) video report by Sergeant Kathryn K. Bynum, in which its revealed the final Phrogs will not be scrapped but sold to the highest bidder:

 

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Cuong Le.

Made by Boeing-Vertol, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) nicknamed it The Phrog.  It began its USMC career in 1964, and flew missions during campaigns in Vietnam, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

USMC photo by Corporal Cuong Le.

On 01AUG2015, HMM-774, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing Marine Corps Forces Reserve, flew their flag-ship Phrog to the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Virginia.

USMC photo by Corporal Cuong Le.

It took just short of a decade, but slowly the CH-46 was replaced by the Bell-Boeing MV-22B Osprey.

2015 USMC video report by Corporal Cameron Storm, history of CH-46:

USMC photo by Corporal Owen Kimbrel.

29OCT2014, an HMM-364 ‘Purple Foxes’ Phrog takes its final flight to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (boneyard), in Arizona.

USMC photo by Corporal Owen Kimbrel.

USMC photo by Sergeant Keonaona C. Paulo.

On 31MAR2014, HMM-364, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), conducted a mass-fly-over (aka Flying the Barn) of San Diego, California.

USMC photo by Sergeant Keonaona C. Paulo.

USMC video, by Corporal Raquel Barraza, of a Plague of twelve Phrogs flying over the metro-area of San Diego:

In 2014, the U.S. Air Force issued a premature video report declaring the Phrog retired:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Natalie M. Rostran.

On 30SEP2013, on Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, HMM-262 ‘Flying Tigers’ conducted final flights of their CH-46Es.  This is a look at their tiger striped flag ship; 00.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Donald Peterson.

 

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Christopher Johns.

In February 2013, on Camp Pendleton, California, eight enlisted Marines became the last to be trained as CH-46 Crew Chief maintainers.

USMC video report by Lance Corporal Elizabeth Case, at the end of November 2012, HMM-265 shipped-off their CH-46Es:

USMC photo by Sergeant Justin M. Martinez.

In May 2012, First Lieutenant Zerbin Singleton became the last pilot to attend CH-46 flight school.

U.S. Navy photo dated 01SEP1987, an HMM-263 Phrog aboard USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).

The first USMC Phrogs to get deactivated were those of HMM-263, in March 2006.  HMM-263 then became Vertical Marine Medium-lift (VMM) 263, the first USMC unit flying the MV-22B Osprey.

The U.S. Navy retired its final Phrog in September 2004, in favor of the MH-60H Sea Hawk.

Final Flight:

OH-58D KIOWA WARRIORS

Weapon I-D:

USMC photo.

 DOOR GUNNER .50 CAL (including video of the last .50 -cal gun-run for HMM-774’s Phrogs)

Kit Bashing, Technology

How to move your 1:1 scale Whirlwind Flakpanzer, in Canada!

Video

“It’s unfortunately deteriorated to a condition that if we don’t do something now we’re going to lose her, and being that it’s so rare it’s important that we preserve it.”-Steve Faccial, Flakpanzer Restoration Project, March 2017 interview with CTV

Canadian Forces photo by Ordinary Seaman Justin Spinello.

In October 2016, a World War Two German Flakpanzer-4 ‘gate guard’ had to be moved to interior storage on Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden.

Canadian Forces photo by Ordinary Seaman Justin Spinello.

Canadians use a German Bergepanzer (Armored Recovery Vehicle, ARV) to lift the Flakpanzer onto a flatbed trailer.

Canadian Forces photo by Ordinary Seaman Justin Spinello.

“Only two have survived the war. This is one of them. The other one is in Germany, in much better shape.”-Guy Despatie, Flakpanzer Restoration Project, March 2017 interview with CTV

The Wirbelwind is part of the CFB Borden Museum’s Worthington Memorial Park (aka ‘tank park’) collection, this is how it looked in 2004 (see more by clicking here).  Notice in 2004 it was still displayed with an open top and ‘guns’.

The flakpanzer-4 has been undergoing a complete restoration since 2017.  It’s a German designed Panzer IV that was converted to a flakpanzer, reportedly in Austria.  Before the restoration, the flakpanzer Wirbelwind had been on gate guard duty for about 70 years on CFB Borden.

Here’s a video about the running-gear:

Here’s a video for kit builders, about original paint:

Watch more of CFB Borden’s restoration projects on SABOT Videos.

Keep updated about the flakpanzer project by checking

flakpanzerrestoration.com

or

www.facebook.com/FlakpanzerRestorationProject.

Vehicle I-D:

1-116th Cav, 1-148th FA, Pocatello, Idaho.

1-148 FIELD ARTILLERY GATE GUARDS

Vietnam War era M113 (M132) chemical (flamethrower) tank.

ARMOR MUSEUM FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI

 

Idaho, Technology

Weapon I-D: Door Gunner .50 Cal

Video

Today’s fifty-cal door gunners now use the M3 .50 caliber, a lighter weight version of the ‘old-but-gold’ M2HB (HB for Heavy Barrel), but in the door gunner configuration it’s officially called GAU-21 (GAU stands for Gun Aircraft Unit).

Via M. Pignede.

Apparently the French were the first to mount .50 caliber machine guns, on U.S. made H-34 Choctaw helicopters, during the eight years Algerian War.  The French H-34 ‘Pirate’ has M2HB .50-cals in the small windows on either side of the aircraft.  The gun in the open doorway is a 20mm.

Service Historique de l’Armée de l’Air (SHAA) photo.

This is a French experimental externally mounted .50 -cal gun turret pod, mounted on the side of an H-34.

U.S. Army photo.

The U.S. use of ‘Ma-Deuces’ as helicopter door guns began during the Viet Nam affair.  Besides the forward facing guns and rockets, this U.S. Army (USA) H-34 Choctaw has a door mounted lightweight .50-cal, as denoted by the type of barrel used.

USA photo.

Notice the unique handle/trigger on this H-34 door mount fifty.  I’m not sure if it doubles as the charging handle, or is just blocking the view of the charging handle, or the gun has the charging handle on the left side?

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Clyde R. White.

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) CH-46s armed with .50-cals, location Arizona Territory south of Da Nang, date not given.

USMC photo.

The CH-46 could carry up to three ‘fifties’, one on the starboard side, two on the port side.  This one is armed with the M2HB.

U.S. Army photo.

UH-1D ‘Nighthawk’ Huey. For night ops, the USA tried mounting fifties to Huey’s with improvised spotlights made from C-130 landing lights.

USA photo.

This Nighthawk Huey has the standard heavy M2HB ‘ground mount’ gun.

Photo via U.S. Army Aviation Museum.

One of three ACH-47A gunships lost in Viet Nam.  Two were lost due to freak accidents, ‘Birth Control’ was shot down and then blown up on the ground by Vietnamese mortars. The ACH-47As had as many as six light weight .50-cals in door, ramp and window positions.  Only four ACH-47As were made, the surviving Chinook gunship is at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum. (see also MH-47 Special Ops Chinook, Pocatello Airport)

Since Viet Nam, attempts were made using lighter weight, faster firing .50-cals, their designations are GAU-15, GAU-16 or GAU-18.  The light weight of the guns were problematic, the guns didn’t last long.  The M3 .50-cal GAU-21 was developed and is slowly replacing the older systems. The GAU-21 M3 is claimed to have a rate of fire of 1-thousand-1-hundred per minute, and a 10-thousand round barrel life.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Mercedee Wilds, 22MAR2021.

‘Spud Smoke 21’; HH-60G crews, on Gowen Field in Idaho, arm-up for .50 caliber door gunning over the Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC, formerly Orchard Training Area), 22MAR2021.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Mercedee Wilds, 22MAR2021.

This mustachioed Pave Hawk is home-based on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, but flew up to Idaho to let off some 12.7×99-mm steam.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 19MAR2021.

Spud Smoke 21 took place between March 8th and 28th, 2021.  It included active duty units from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and U.S. Army (USA), 11 units in total.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Ross, 19MAR2021.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Mercedee Wilds, 22MAR2021.

Video, by Senior Airman Blake Gonzales, showing HH-60G Pave Hawk crews uploading their GAUs and heading out over the Idaho Steppes (Orchard Combat Training Center):

More Idaho shoot ’em up video, by Senior Airman Blake Gonzales, 17MAR2021:

If you’re trying to build a helicopter model with a GAU door-gun system you’ll need photos of the specific system you’re modeling because they can differ greatly from between each service of the U.S. military, and between the type of aircraft using it.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Third Class Toni Burton, 03JUN2019.

GAU-21 equipped MH-60R Sea Hawk onboard USS Antietam (CG 54), somewhere in the South China Sea, June 2019.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Philip Steiner, 11SEP2017.

Notice the handle/trigger system on the USAF CV-22 Osprey .50-cal tail gun, somewhere over merry ole England, September 2017.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Philip Steiner, 11SEP2017.

The handle/trigger system is very different than what’s seen on USAF HH-60G Pave Hawks.

USAF photo by Senior Airman John Linzmeier, 26JUL2017.

July 2017, Kadena Air Base, Japan, USAF personnel tear-down a GAU-18.

USAF photo by Senior Airman John Linzmeier, 26JUL2017.

When you check out the photos, also notice slight differences in muzzle brakes.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer First Class Joshua Bryce Bruns, 20APR2017.

U.S. Navy (USN) .50-cal gunner, positioned on the rear ramp of a MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer First Class Joshua Bryce Bruns, 20APR2017.

Filling the Persian Gulf with 12.7mm ‘lead’, 20APR2017.  Take that you terrorist waters!

USMC photo by Corporal Matthew Kirk, over Hawaii, 25OCT2018.

Compare this USN/USMC .50-cal handle-trigger system to the types used by USAF crews.

Video by Lance Corporal Christopher D. Thompson, U.S. Marine Corps GAU-21 live-fire training on the Chocolate Mountain Gunnery Refinement Range, California, 01APR2016:

USAF photo by Senior Airman Betty R. Chevalier, 09JUN2015.

June 2015, tail gunner position on German CH-53GS, which was visiting Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for the Angel Thunder wargame.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Betty R. Chevalier, 09JUN2015.

It appears the Germans use a handle/trigger system that’s similar to the U.S. Marines.

USMC video, by Lance Corporal Logan Snyder, HMM-774 conducts one last .50-cal gun-run with its retiring CH-46 ‘Phrogs’, 17APR2015:

USMC video by Lance Corporal Jordan Walker, CH-53E Super Stallion making .50-cal gun-runs during Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) Course near Yuma, Arizona, October 2014:

USMC video by Lance Corporal Jordan Walker, showing a MV-22B Osprey tail gunner using the old GAU-16 system, near Yuma, Arizona, 2014:

USMC photo by Corporal Adam Dublinske, 23OCT2018.

Here’s a look at the USN/USMC gun mount, sans gun, in a UH-1Y out of Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, 2018.

USMC video by Corporal Rashaun X. James, a CH-53D crew chief loads her window mounted .50-cal for an upcoming mission over Afghanistan, Spring 2011:

USMC photo by Sergeant Derek Carlson, 09DEC2010.

A GAU-16 aims out the side window of a CH-53D somewhere over Afghanistan, December 2010.

USMC video of the last days of UH-1N Iroquois gunship operations in Afghanistan, 2009:

USMC photo by Corporal Seth Maggard, 29SEP2008.

Here’s a very simple .50-cal window mount (similar to what was used on the Viet Nam ACH-47A) in a CH-46 Sea Knight, over the Jazirah Desert, Iraq, September 2008.

USMC photo by Staff Sergeant John A. Lee the Second, 12DEC2007.

 

USMC UH-1Y Venom helicopters are usually armed with one GAU-21 and one GAU-17 ‘minigun’.  A UH-1Y somewhere near Yuma, Arizona, December 2007.

USMC photo by Corporal Alison L. Martinez, 11DEC2007.

Watch out Yuma, Arizona, this CH-53 Super Stallion ‘tail gunner’ could be gunning for you!  December 2007.

Weapon I-D: WYOMING AIR MILITIA 50-CAL LIVE FIRE!

Weapon I-D: MARK 82

Vehicle I-D: IRAQI HUEY

Technology

Vehicle I-D: C1 Ariete Italiana

Video

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Amanda Fry.

Italian C1 Ariete playing the bad guy OpFor (Opposition Forces) during Dragoon Ready ’21, Hohenfels Training Area, 20APR2021.

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Julian Padua.

These photos show Italian C1 Arietes during the U.S. Army’s (USA) Combined Resolve XV wargame, in Hohenfels, Germany, which took place from February through March 2021.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua.

Ariete means Aires in Italian, and Aires is Latin for ram.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua.

USA photo by Specialist Savannah Miller.

USA photo by Specialist Uriel Ramirez.

USA photo by Specialist Uriel Ramirez.

U.S. Army video report  by Sergeant Joseph McDonald, Combined Resolve XV:

USA photo by Joyce Costello.

USA photo by Specialist Enrique Moya.

USA photo by Specialist Enrique Moya.

2020 Esercito Italiano video report celebrating 93 years of Italian tanks:

Esercito photo.

Ariete with boresight device installed, sometime in 2020.

Esercito photo.

In August 2019, the Esercito (Italian Army) signed a contract to create Ariete upgrade prototypes to explore new motors, transmissions, fire control (ballistics) computers, sights, etc.  It’s hoped a new upgraded Ariete would be ready in 2021.

2019 Esercito Italiano music video promoting the C1 Ariete:

2017 Esercito Italiano video promoting their armored cavalry school:

USA photo by Specialist Nathanael Mercado.

USA photo by Specialist Nathanael Mercado.

These photos are from the Strong Europe Tank Challenge (SETC), on  Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 2016.

USA photo by Specialist Nathanael Mercado.

USA photo by Specialist Nathanael Mercado.

Vehicle I-D: SLOVENIJA M84A4 SNIPER, 2021

Vehicle I-D: NATO’S CV-90

Idaho, Technology, U.S.

Idaho home to first ever National Guard D-A-G-I-R!

Video

05 April 2021 (15:50-UTC-07 Tango 06) 16 Farvardin 1400/22 Sha’ban 1442/24 Ren-Chen 4719

Notice the ladder looking antenna coming off the bustle rack. Idaho National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur, 04MAR2021.

The vastness of the Steppes of South Western Idaho.  Back when I was ‘in’ we called it Orchard Training Area (OTA), now it’s called Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC).  It is located on federal land (60% of land in Idaho is actually owned by the federales).

ING photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur, 04MAR2021.

On 04MAR2021, the Idaho National Guard revealed its new Digital Air Ground Integrated Range (DAGIR), the first to be operated by the National Guard.  It’s the second DAGIR in operation in the United States, the other DAGIR is operated by the U.S. Army (USA) on Fort Bliss, Texas/New Mexico (a second USA DAGIR is currently under construction on Fort Knox, Kentucky).

A better view of the DAGIR antenna. ING photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur, 04MAR2021.

USA video report by David Poe, from November 2020, explaining the Fort Bliss DAGIR (which straddles the Texas-New Mexico border):

DAGIR allows armor, infantry and helicopter units to conduct combined arms live-fire wargames, while receiving performance feedback in real-time: “This fully instrumented range will make it possible for military personnel within Idaho and the United States to coordinate and practice accomplishing missions from the ground and air simultaneously.”-Colonel Matthew Godfrey, Idaho Army National Guard

As many as 2-hundred types of targets can be used in more than 4-hundred scenarios, all recorded for posterity: “Video doesn’t lie. Soldiers and leaders will have the ability to go back and re-watch what they just executed like never before. This will help fine-tune points you can’t see on most ranges and allow units to use the recording to prepare for future gunnery cycles and use it as a training tool.”-Major Joe Doyle, OCTC range officer

The Steppes of South West Idaho are so vast that the new DAGIR is only one of 23 other military ranges on the OTA, oops, I mean OCTC.

Idaho’s Sailor Creek Range: MORALE BOOSTER A-10C GUN-RUN!

February 2018: IDAHO MILITIA RANKED 2ND ONLY TO U.S. ARMY!

Martial Law 2014: WIMP-ASS IDAHO GOVERNOR BEGS OBAMA REGIME NOT TO STEAL ARMY NATIONAL GUARD’S AIR ASSETS!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Slovenija M84A4 Sniper, 2021

Video

U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo.

19MAY2021, Slovenian M84 fires a shot in the rain during NATO wargame Adriatic Strike-21.

U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo

18MAY2021, Slovenian M84 fires a shot during NATO wargame Adriatic Strike-21.

USA photo by Paolo Bovo, 18MAY2021.

USA photo by Joyce Costello, 01MAR2021.

The M84 was a Cold War Yugoslav upgrade of the Soviet T-72 using ‘western’ tech (Yugoslavia was not part of the Warsaw Pact).  The visual give-away is the wind sensor on the center-front of the top of the turret, just above and behind the main gun.

USA photo by Joyce Costello, 01MAR2021.

USA photo by Joyce Costello.

These photos show Slovenian M84A4s during the U.S. Army’s (USA) Combined Resolve XV wargame, in Hohenfels, Germany, which took place from February through March 2021.

USA photo by Joyce Costello, 01MAR2021.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua, 01MAR2021.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua, 01MAR2021.

The A4 ‘Sniper’ upgrade improved the day/night gun sight and the fire control (ballistics) computer.  There are unconfirmed reports that the ‘Sniper’ is powered by a German made motor.

USA photo by Sergeant Julian Padua, 01MAR2021.

USA photo by Specialist Savannah Miller, 26FEB2021.

USA happy-happy-joy-joy ‘interoperability’ video report, by Sergeant Joseph McDonald, about building a turret down defensive position for M84 on Hohenfels, Germany, February 2021:

USA photo by Specialist Savannah Miller, 26FEB2021.

USA photo by Specialist Savannah Miller, 26FEB2021.

In the early 2000s, former Yugoslav member Slovenia upgraded their M84s to M84A4s and called them Sniper.  The ‘A4 Sniper’ upgrade was created by former Yugoslav member Croatia, which operates a factory that has built M84s since the days of Yugoslavia (former Yugoslav member Serbia also builds upgraded versions of the M84).

USA photo by Specialist Savannah Miller, 26FEB2021.

USA photo by Joyce Costello, 26FEB2021.

The Republic of Slovenia became a member of NATO in March 2004.

Soviet era tanks in use by NATO: SLOVENIAN M84A4, 2015-2020

NATO:  TARCZA POLSKI PT-91

Kit Bashing, Technology

Bare Metal: C-5M Super Galaxy Super Strip

Video

U.S. Air Force by Joseph Mather.

During the Summer of 2020, a C-5M Super Galaxy got stripped for depot level maintenance in the refurbished Hanger-125 on Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia.

USAF by Joseph Mather.

The C-5M is the largest aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force (USAF).

USAF by Joseph Mather.

By mid-November the C-5M rolled out, but still a little more work needed before test-flight and new clothes.

Photo by Rashida Banks.

In 2018, the World War Two era Hanger-125 underwent a $75-million renovation, supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Photo by Rashida Banks.

Building (hanger) 125 is capable of fully enclosing multiple large aircraft at the same time, for depot level tear-down.

Photo by Rashida Banks.

Hanger-125 has four ‘docks’, which allows up to four C-5 type aircraft, or a whole bunch of smaller aircraft.  Building/Hanger-125 takes-up 14.7 acres (5.9 hectares) of land.

USAF by Joseph Mather.

Rebuilders can perform mass-depot level maintenance on several smaller aircraft at the same time, like these F-15s which just happen to be stripped down at the same time as our C-5M, in Summer 2020.

USAF photo by Edward Aspera Junior.

In 2019, this naked C-5 was exposed to a group of looky-loos from other USAF depots, as part of a get-together discussing how best to do their jobs.

Time lapse USAF music video by Paul Wenzel, C-5 gets new clothes at Robins AFB, 2018:

Bare Metal: WISE GUY RESURRECTION

Bare Metal:  NASA TRUCKS SAVING THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY

Bare Metal: KC-135R GETS STRIPPED

Technology

B-1B Ruptured Duck saved from the Boneyard, but it’ll never fly again!

Video

On 23FEB2021, a ‘divested’ B-1B bomber landed at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, being saved from the ‘boneyard’ in Arizona, but never to fly again.

U.S. Air Force photo by May Straight.

The B-1B tail number 86-0099 arrived with Ruptured Duck artwork on the side.

USAF photo by May Straight.

Under the National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is required to divest 17 B-1B Lancers (aka Bones) in order to justify buying the new B-21 Raider (a new version of the B-2).

USAF photo by Giancarlo Casem, 23FEB2021..

Ruptured Duck is now the new Edwards Aircraft Ground Integration Lab (EAGIL) static test aircraft.  It’s hoped the EAGIL program will save taxpayers money by reducing the costs of developing electronic upgrades for aircraft, compared to using flying test-beds.

USAF photo by Wesley Farnsworth, 17APR2017.

B-1B #86-0099 was named Ruptured Duck in 2017, on the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle vengeance raid on Japan.  One of the B-25 Mitchell bombers in that raid was named Ruptured Duck:

Official video explainer:

Natural sound video, by Giancarlo Casem, of Ruptured Duck’s arrival on Edwards AFB:

‘Divestiture’: ANOTHER B-1B ‘BONE’ SENT TO THE BONEYARD! IS THE END NEAR?

International

U.S. Navy Air Base has front row seat to Mount Etna eruptions!

Video

03 April 2021 (02:57-UTC-07 Tango 06) 14 Farvardin 1400/20 Sha’ban 1442/22 Ren-Chen 4719

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Second Class Austin Ingram.

This photo, taken from a U.S. Navy (USN) P-8A Poseidon, shows Mount Etna on 14JAN2021, before the eruptions started.

U.S. Navy photo by Captain Kevin Pickard, Junior.

As if dealing with pandemic panic-attack restrictions wasn’t enough, the personnel on U.S. Naval Air Station Sigonella have also been on alert since Mount Etna began erupting in February 2021.

USN photo by Captain Kevin Pickard, Junior.

NASA photo from 2006.

Mount Etna is located on Sicily, just off the toe of the Italian boot.  It is considered one of the most active volcanos on Earth.

USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Zach Dalton.

Another eruption, 04MAR2021.  Since 16FEB2021, there have been at least 17 ‘ lava fountain episodes or paroxysms’.  Writers at Volcano Discovery stated that “This eruptive episode had been very remarkable, even for Etna standards…”

USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Zachary Dalton.

Compare this photo, taken in November 2020, to the one taken on 04MAR2021.

Day and night video by Michele Mammino, of the New South East Crater, recorded at the end of March 2021:

https://youtu.be/vq_j1mMu3XI

Pacific Ring of Fire, January 2020: ZOMBIE WHALES!

Volcanos, 2018: VOLCANOES & GLACIERS CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING?