Check & balance

Cameron to check arms export licences to Russia
The Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls report shows the importance of having checks and balances.

The military nuts forum has a thread which crowdsources the appearance of singapore-made weapons in interesting locations.
http://militarynuts.com/index.php?showtopic=424

Not ideal, but the situation is not likely to improve, until Singaporeans understand the impact of selling weapons to countries which may misuse them.

Some info on the arms trade below.
http://www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/ArmsTrade/

3 PARA Airborne in Africa

Just spotted a new documentary series, showing the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, training in Kenya.
http://forces.tv/topic/3-para-airborne-africa-0

Episode 1 below
http://forces.tv/87495148

Libya stirs again

U.S evacuates embassy in Libya amid clashes
http://mobile.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/07/26/us/politics/ap-us-us-libya.html

Did a quick search for keywords, in this case, the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response.

This was the new task force that was formed in the aftermath of the deadly attack on the US mission in Benghazi.

So was quite glad to find photos on DVIDS.
http://www.dvidshub.net/image/1465711/sp-magtf-crisis-response-supports-military-assisted-departure-tripoli

Reading between the lines

Defense.gov News Article: U.S. Sends More Marines to Romania, Navy Vessel to Black Sea http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121959

With the crisis in Ukraine, it is understandable that the US would want additional assets in case of an emergency.

Incidentally, the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response (SP-MAGTF CR) was set up specifically to deal with this kind of scenario, after the death of the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

Military Ground Vehicle Trends

Jane's
Short but informative video from Jane's.

Didn't know about

1. Russia's new Main Battle Tank (MBT) [link]
2. Netherlands retiring it's MBTs [link]

Wonder if MBTs of the future will morph. We already see heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) like the Namer, which point to a possible reframing of the classic firepower/protection/mobility mix.

One additional factor to consider is situational awareness. Future platforms will need to have sensors that help the tank crew "see better". With urban warfare more and more likely in future conflicts, future platforms will need to be able to defend and fire back at elevated targets [read: thicker top armour and guns with high elevation].

The End of the German Euro Hawk Programme

The Implications for Germany and NATO

Another project cancellation. opswarfare missed this, when the cancellation was first announced in June 2013. The article above provides a good summary of the reasons for cancellation, and the follow-up.

The reasons given for this decision included great difficulties and enormous additional costs (500–600 million euros) linked to the procedure of admitting the UAV for use in German general airspace outside the segregated airspace (i.e. strictly defined areas). 

This will be necessary if this kind of UAV is to be used in Germany (and in Europe) due to the fact that German (and European) airspace is used intensely. 

According to information from the German MoD, the problems concerned lacks in the technical documentation provided by the US company. 

The press reported that there were probably also some technical problems with the prototype, namely problems maintaining contact between the UAV and the ground control station, as well as Northrop Grumman’s unwillingness to provide sensitive technical data and the lack of an automatic anti-collision system.