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Whilst Russia continues to deny that its troops are fighting in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, a respected news site in Russia seemingly inadvertently published secret figures that detail deaths and causalities of forces on the ground. According to Forbes, Russian news site Business Life (Delovaya Zhizn) revealed what seem to be official figures detailing the number of Russian troops killed and injured in “Eastern Ukraine.” The site, which generally focuses on coverage of markets, finance and leisure, posted a piece entitled “Increases in Pay for Military in 2015,” that at first glance would be uncontroversial.

Source: Russia ‘accidentally reveals’ number of its soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine – Europe – World – The Independent

About 2000 KIA. Which when you consider the small size of the forces involved, and the relatively short time they’ve been engaged is pretty sobering.  Both sides in Ukraine have focused on using artillery as the prime weapon, rather than infantry. And the Russian (and hence Ukraine) history of artillery is that more is better, and much more is much better. That of course leads to more casualties.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Bell Helicopter a USD581 million contract that includes the delivery of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to Pakistan. The contract, which was announced by the DoD on 26 August but awarded the day before, covers the manufacture and delivery of 15 Lot 12 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters, 19 Lot 12 AH-1Zs, one Lot 13 UH-1Y, and 21 auxiliary fuel kits for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and government of Pakistan. Pakistan requested the sale of 15 AH-1Z helicopters in April, and this announcement is the first official confirmation that a deal has been signed. While the notification does not say how many of the 15 helicopters have been signed for at this stage, it states that 10% (USD57.9 million) of the overall contract value covers the sale to the government of Pakistan. This suggests that this is an initial deal for the first two helicopters only, with contracts for the remaining 13 (plus spares and support) to follow.

Source: DoD awards Pakistan AH-1Z contract – IHS Jane’s 360

Interesting. The AH-1Z (and the UH-1Y) were developed very specifically for the US Marines. That level of specificity would tend to make it less appealing for most operators. Indeed, most foreign air forces would generally rather operate either the AH-64 Apache, or a completely foreign design. One issue is, given the relatively small fleet size, spare parts are bound to be more expensive. Of course, given our “frienemy” status with Pakistan, it may be that the US isn’t exactly eager to share the Apache with them. For that matter, India might have asked us not to provide Apache to Pakistan.

As far as I know, this is the first foreign sale of the Viper.

TUCSON, Aug. 26 (UPI) — The AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile has been successfully used as a ground-based air defense weapon was conducted recently by the U.S. Army and Raytheon. In the test, the unmodified missile locked onto an unmanned aerial vehicle target before launch, and then intercepted and destroyed the UAS, which was flying at an altitude of more than 4,900 feet, Raytheon said.

Source: Air-launched Sidewinder missile tested as ground-based weapon – UPI.com

This is hardly surprising, given that for decades, the primary ground based short range air defense in the Army was the Chapparal, which fired an earlier generation of Sidewinder missile. The article doesn’t specify much about  the launcher, but we’ve heard that the new one is a “common” launcher that will be able to fire either Sidewinder or AMRAAM or even one of several other short range anti-air missiles.

GEN Mark Milley just took over as the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army from GEN Ray Odierno.  Here’s his first message to the troops.

Take note of what’s not listed.

**cough**SHARP**cough**

Marine LtGen Frank E. Petersen, who at the time of his retirement in 1988 was the senior aviator in the Armed Forces, has died at the age of 83.  Lieutenant General Petersen served multiple combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, flying a total of 350 combat missions.  He commanded VMF-212 and VMF 314 in his long and distinguished career.  His awards include a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Purple Heart, a basket full of Air Medals, and a Combat Action Ribbon.

LtGen Petersen was the guest of honor at my Basic School mess night, nearly thirty years ago, and was the epitome of the gentleman warrior.  I was in awe of him then, and upon meeting him some twenty years later, remained so, even though I was a Lieutenant Colonel by then, and he long retired.

Semper Fidelis, General.  Thank you for your service to our country and our Corps.  And thank you for the incomparable example of what a Marine Officer should be.

H/T “Lieutenant” Mewborn

Spc. Alek Skarlatos will receive the Soldier’s Medal for helping subdue an armed attacker who opened fire on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. Skarlatos, who is a member of the Oregon National Guard, and his friends, Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler, were on vacation when they encountered the gunman on the train. Skarlatos is assigned to 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan. The three friends rushed the gunman, who was armed with an AK-47, a handgun and a box cutter, subduing him.

Source: Hero guardsman to receive Soldier’s Medal

It should be a Bronze Star with V device. But the Soldier’s Medal is certainly nothing to sneeze at. His friend and accomplice A1C Stone is slated to receive the Airman’s Medal, the Air Force equivalent.

One wonders how we expect to win the fight against Islamist extremist terrorists when we cannot even name it?

The Army has been ramping up operations in Germany, using its thinly spread O&M money to reassure its continental allies that it is still capable of contributing to NATO.

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany (Aug. 6, 2015) — Paratroopers from 11 NATO nations will conduct a massive airborne combined joint forcible entry operation across four European nations during the U.S. Army-led Exercise Swift Response 15, Aug. 17-Sept. 13.
Swift Response 15 is the largest combined airborne training on the continent since the end of the Cold War. It’s designed to integrate multiple Allied nations’ high-readiness forces to operate as a cohesive team and demonstrate the Alliance’s capacity to rapidly deploy and operate in support of maintaining a strong and secure Europe.
The exercise will take place in Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy; and will include more than 4,800 Soldiers from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Our man on the scene snapped a few pics of the jump today.

Hohenfels is the maneuver training area. The exercise will conclude with live fire exercises at nearby Grafenwohr.