XBradTC

Home

  • TDB: CIA Asks Coast Guard For Its Cocaine Back

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant offloads 2,046 pounds of cocaine at Station Port Canaveral, Fla., July 2, 2012. The haul taken from a go fast boat 90 miles south of Punta Beata, Dominican Republic is estimated to have a wholesale value of $26 million. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael De Nyse.

    “We didn’t spend the last forty years perfecting narcotics smuggling so that a couple of wet-behind-the-ears puddle pirates could pull a paper mache submarine out of the water and make off with South America’s new government,” a CIA operative known only as “John” told reporters. “You guys are lucky that we outsourced the crews, or you’d be chupacabra food right now.”

    According to the CIA, the final stroke occurred when the Coast Guard managed to ambush a semi-submersible vessel on its way to El Salvador, which was going to either help fund Mara Salvatrucha (more commonly known as MS-13) or Calle 18, depending on which gang they thought would function better as the country’s future government.

    Pretty damned funny.  Worth the read.

    , ,

  • Nine Minutes of the worlds largest cappuccino machine.

    Seriously, the RS-25 engine, formerly the Space Shuttle Main Engine, combines liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to produce thrust. And steam. Lots of steam. You could froth up a heck of a lot of milk with that.

  • Lightning strike injures Ranger instructors, students

    Forty Ranger students and four Ranger instructors were taken to the hospital Wednesday after they were hit by lightning during training. The students were learning lightning protection protocols at the time of the incident.

    All 44 of them had returned to duty by Thursday evening, officials said.

    The Army initially reported nine students and two instructors remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon for observation. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

    via Lightning strike injures Ranger instructors, students.

    This could have been much worse.

    Historically, swamp phase is the most dangerous phase of Ranger school. One suspects that’s partly due to the environment, and partly due to the sheer exhaustion the students are operating under. Remember, fatigue is cumulative, and some students have been on reduced rations for almost three months now.

    No, the two women remaining were not involved.

  • Secretary of Defense makes surprise appearance at Highland Games – South Whidbey Record

    Amidst a sea of tartan and the swell of bagpipes, thousands gathered Saturday for the 17th annual Whidbey Island Highland Games.

    Amongst the dozens of notable community members and Scottish clan representatives, one particularly distinguished guest traversed the grounds.

    Visiting the Pacific Northwest to attend meetings in Seattle, United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter attended the games during a brief getaway to Whidbey.

    Mac MacDonald, master of ceremonies, noted that he had spoken with Carter following the opening ceremonies and was told Carter was impressed.

    Carter also paid a visit to the Scottish American Military Association, representatives of which were present Saturday.

    Carter’s presence was befitting of the event, as several aspects of the Highland Games harken to ancient battle traditions.

    via Secretary of Defense makes surprise appearance at Highland Games – South Whidbey Record.

    How cool. I wonder if he had a chance to zip up to the north end of the island and visit NAS Whidbey?

  • China’s Growler?

    Spill passed along this little bit about China introducing a new version of the JH-7A Flounder for the Electronic Attack mission.

    The People’s Liberation Army is hoping that its new JH-7A “Flying Leopard” fighter-bomber can help give China a much-needed boost in aerial electronic warfare, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network.

    The JH-7A is an upgraded version of the JH-7 twin-engine fourth generation aircraft manufactured by the Xi’an Aircraft Industry Corporation. The fighter-bomber is said to be a major step forward in China’s bid for “electromagnetic supremacy,” the modern key to air supremacy in combat.

    According to the report, the current problem with China’s electronic warfare lies in the low number of available platforms, inferior technology and average combat capabilities.

    At present, the PLA only has two aircraft with electronic warfare and countermeasure capabilities — the HD-6, the electronic warfare variant of the H-6 jet bomber, and the Y-8G, the electronic warfare model of the Y-8 transport aircraft.

    The baseline JH-7A Flounder serves as a long range precision strike aircraft in the PLAAF and as a long range maritime strike aircraft in the PLANAF.

    nvtkq_3aqus

    Yes, it greatly resembles a SEPECAT Jaguar, but it is a good deal larger, being powered by a Chinese made variant of the Rolls Royce Spey engine.

    It’s unclear from the linked article whether the new EA mission will be fulfilled with a dedicated full time variant, or if it is simply a “podded” capability being added to the Flounder fleet. At any rate, it’s interesting in that very few countries operate dedicated electronic attack aircraft.

    The US, of course, flies the EA-18G Growler, and the EA-6B Prowler. Germany operates the Tornado ECR, but that’s a Wild Weasel variant, not a jamming platform.  Australia has also bought the EA-18G. Most of our other allies, however, seem to presume that any air campaign will be conducted in cooperation with us, with the US supplying all the EA needed. After all, that’s been the template for the last 25 years.

    China, of course, doesn’t see us supply EA coverage for any potential campaign. One wonders what possible campaigns they might contemplate? Area denial to the South China Sea? That is, EA attacks on US, Japanese, or Korean Aegis equipped destroyers?  Or maybe deep strike missions against Japan?

    , ,

  • Snowbirds!

    We’ve all seen the Blue Angels, and the Thunderbirds. Most have seen the Red Arrows. But how about  little love to our neighbors to the north, the Snowbirds of the Royal Canadian Air Force?

    The Canadians built about 190 CT-114 Tutor trainer jets beginning in 1960. They retired the type as a trainer in 2000, but have continued to fly them with the Snowbirds.

  • Climate Science Explained

    11870739_970714866319478_3448648103963083381_n

    “Climate Science” might be defined as the process by which alarmist, anti-capitalist nonsense can be converted into tax dollars to further a socialist agenda.   Climate change is indicated by more storms, fewer storms, rain, drought, cooling, warming, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.  And mankind is the cause!  Walking to the mailbox can be a cause of climate change.  Newsweek this past April posited the earthquakes in Nepal as being caused by global warming.  Yes, the same Newsweek that blamed the 1974 Xenia tornadoes on global cooling.

    Ahh, settled science.

  • M777A2 Howitzer Live Fire

    Via Popular Mechanics– Gotta share this kind of stuff to keep URR happy.

  • Downfall

  • Massive Explosion rocks Tianjin China

    Warning, some graphic images.

    Flammable goods at a container terminal in northern China’s Tianjin municipality exploded at about 11:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday (11:30 a.m. ET), shattering windows and causing injuries, according to state media reports.

    The number of casualties from the blast in the city’s Binhai New Area is unknown, China Central Television reported on its news app, citing the local fire department. Injured people have been hospitalized, it said. One report put the number injured higher than 400. The Daily Mirror reported the injury toll at more than 1,000.

    Via National Post.

    https://twitter.com/freewill89/status/631515342775291904

    ,