Scolopax

Very interesting camera position there. I'm assuming they managed to stick a Gopro or something and kept it stable on the probe there.

"US Army scraps plan to compete in OMFV competition"

Quote

The US Army will not form a team and bid on its own M2 Bradley replacement competition due, in part, to industry and senior leader feedback.

More US troops (approximately 100) are headed to Syria and are bringing Bradleys to take the MRAP chicken games to the next level.

B-17 testbeds with various turboprop engines mounted in their noses

US troops being in Syria has definitely fallen off most everyone's radar here in the states.  I recognize some of the reasons we're there still (official and otherwise), but it's been past time to leave in my opinion.  This continual playing of chicken with trucks and MRAPs isn't doing anything good for either side.  Best let it go before something bad happens.

3 hours ago, David Moyes said:

Might need to call some Italian plumbers

The idea of a BTR-based camper sounds fun.  That big orange thing though... I'm not sure what to think of that.  Realistically, I guess it's an arctic transport of some kind?

All aboard the battle bus!

Beat me to it.  Of note is that these are 37mm guns, not 57mm.

Following a very productive use of my time in an extensive investigation, I have made a discovery that could very well tear apart our beliefs concerning Frank Roosevelt's true allegiance during the Second World War.

Below is a photo of the bathtub meant to help accommodate the President aboard the battleship USS Iowa as he traveled to Tehran Conference in 1943.

A harmless enough scene.  Sudsy water, various toiletries, some reading material, and a few bath toys to play with. Let's take a closer look at that plastic boat though.

It appears to be a fairly realistic-looking design, a warship of some type for sure.  It does not look like the Iowa or any other ship used by the US Navy though.  Perhaps it could be a vessel of another nationality?

This here is an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser (taken from World of Warships for the sake of a similar viewing angle).  These ships were constructed in the late 1930's by Nazi Germany and saw use during the Second World War.  With the exception of the main battery gun count, you will notice that the cruiser shares several details with the toy boat from above.  A fair number of details really...

What was the president of the United States doing with a model of an enemy cruiser floating in his personal bathtub, and of such a relatively modern (at the time) vessel at that?

1 hour ago, ZloyKrolik said:

Did they actually fire them that way, or are they just carrying them?

From what I remember of the thing, it should just be carrying them.  The vehicle was used as a transport for tank hunters and their weapons, not as some tank destroyer itself.

This seems like an odd arrangement, but I suppose that is par for this particular course.

I haven't kept up as of late on your postings here and so have been going back through them, but after you play through the Allied and German campaigns, do you have any other games on your radar that you'd like to possibly play through/review, if you are interested in doing that still?

The Hack-Frauds have drawn the ire of William Shatner! Kinda...

Those are some chubby cheeks there

I don't figure it's much, but what are they say at the end of the video there?

Vehicle photos from the past few months from the US Army Armor and Calvary Collection:

T5E1

T-34. This particular vehicle was captured from the Germans, who had been using it as a test vehicle after capturing it themselves from the Soviets.

T30, IS-3, and M3 Grant

T28 and Chieftain

Bonus T28 historical pic

Something related to welding or maintenance seems most likely as the cause to me, but who knows with the social/political climate we have now. Time will tell.

1 hour ago, Jeeps_Guns_Tanks said:

Yikes! Is that the mast all fallen over?

Yes. I think the forward mast came down somewhat early on.  For reference and for anyone that can't tell, those burn holes are in the roof of the ship's island superstructure, not the flight deck

News and updates from the Navy

I want to provide you with some updates on the progress we have made: First, we have investigated the four main engineering spaces and found no major damage. There is no threat to the fuel tanks, which is well-below any active fires or heat sources. The ship is stable and the structure is safe. We still have an active fire, which we are combating from both within and outside the ship from multiple access points. HSC 3 helicopters have conducted more than 1,000 helicopter water bucket drops, which is cooling the super structure and flight deck enabling fire crews to get onboard internally to fight the fire. Tugs are also provide firefighting support from the waterline. I’m proud of the toughness of the Sailors and federal firefighters for making this significant progress possible.  - Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck

So it seems maybe it's not near a total loss, but that sure isn't going to be a quick or cheap fix.

I have once again fallen out of keeping pace with Syria/Libya, but it seems to me that all the non-Syrian players in that country's war have decided Libya is the place to play now (much more Turkey than Russia and other powers.)

12 hours ago, LoooSeR said:

   Hey, MT-LB may be put to rest, finally. It is possible it will be replaced with JGBT-LB MGTT-LB.

 

 

Would this possibly be complimenting the number of Kurganets in service, perhaps seeing more use in remote or "lower intensity" areas in the country?  The vehicle weighing about half that of the Kurganets might be worth something in that regard.

Alternatively, could this be another case of the army procurement decision makers getting antsy and choosing upgrades of existing vehicles over newly developed ones?