Defense Secretary Gates messed up F-22 stealth fighter and other military procurement

Retired Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has stated in his new memoir that F-22 production was axed after building less than half the required number so that the flying force could get then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to approve building a new stealth bomber. Gates made near-sighted decisions based upon focusing on …

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Cessna’s with Hellfire missiles dominates the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan

A turboprop Cessna with Hellfire missiles is appropriate technology for air superiority and close air support in Afghanistan. The Cessna 208 Caravan is an American single-engined turboprop, fixed-tricycle landing gear, short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft that is built by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers with a single pilot. There is a modified …

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Winning – ISIS in Syria and Iraq has no land, US planes are shifting to Afghanistan, Taliban has asked for peace talks

President Trump has delegated more authority to the US military. The US has pushed the Taliban back from several district centers and two provincial capitals. Col. Stephen “Joker” Jones is commander of the 451st Air Expeditionary Group, in charge of the airfield at Kandahar and all Air Force flying operations in Afghanistan. The US military …

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Fit soldiers = Fitness Apps = Massive security leak

Australian student Nathan Ruser noticed that trails from Strava users in certain countries made it possible to identify military bases and other facilities operated by countries, including the U.S., in locations such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria. Strava released their global heatmap. 13 trillion GPS points from their users (turning off data sharing is …

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Almost 26000 US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria and similar number of contractors

The U.S. has almost 26,000 troops deployed total in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, according to a new DOD report, far exceeding the Pentagon’s previously acknowledged troop levels overseas. The U.S. has 8,892 forces in Iraq, 15,298 troops in Afghanistan and 1,720 in Syria, for a total of 25,910 troops serving in the three war zones …

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Turkey, Iran, and Iraq join forces against emergence of Kurdistan

Turkey, Iran, and Iraq adopted a coordinated, aggressive force posture in retaliation for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum on September 25, 2017. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) conducted military exercises on the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan with the Turkish Armed Forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and Iranian Artesh. Turkey and Iran implemented …

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US Dept of Defense estimate of war costs per taxpayer

The US department of Defense reported to congress on the total incremental cost of the post-2001 wars per tax payer. Their lowball calculation is $7740 and continuing to increase by $200-300 per year. It does not include all the increased medical costs (compared to costs if those people did not fight and get injured) that …

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US spent $250 billion on contractors from 2007-2017 andmay adopt Blackwater 2.0 plan

A US Congressional report shows that From FY2007 to FY2016, obligations for all DOD-funded contracts performed with in the Iraq and Afghanistan areas of operation totaled approximately $249 billion in FY2017 dollars. For the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, CENTCOM reported 42,592 contractor personnel working for DOD within its area of responsibility, which …

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