New Russian military hardware.

[norseamd]

Tanks and to a lesser extent armor in general are just not effective in modern warfare. Not in the wars we have to fight right now anyway. It is hard to see a situation where the Abrams would be dominant besides another run through the desert somewhere a la desert storm. These days with the Konkurs you have tanks being knocked out at 10km. There isn't jack sh*t a tank can do to somebody from 10km and that won't change soon.

How can you hit what you can not see? Add in the advancing active protection systems and armor could get a lot more survivable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py1P2vVfnl8

 

[norseamd]

edit: It appears a majority of the vehicles were not the latest Mk IV. But otherwise what I cited was correct.

Yes there were a lot of Israeli tank casualties in the last war with Lebanon. Have not read about it in a while but I thought there were various opinions on the performance of tanks and armor in the war.

 

[OverVolt]

..

 

[Fenixgoon]

a lot of the good stuff is in the electronics. the stabilization and aiming on the abrams is (was?) second to none

 

[norseamd]

a lot of the good stuff is in the electronics. the stabilization and aiming on the abrams is (was?) second to none

The ROK K2 Black Panther might be the king right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2_Black_Panther

 

[biostud]

Hellfires and Javelins.... lots of them.

 

[Meghan54]

So what's america doing to keep up?

The Navy’s highest shipbuilding priority is the Ohio-Class Replacement program to build 12 ballistic missile submarines to replace the current force of 14. The Navy plans to replace the ships as they retire, beginning the first hull in 2021 and continuing to build through 2035. The Navy has budgeted $1.4B for research and design in fiscal year 2016. The Navy’s most recent budget request to Congress to build the first ship was for about $5.7B. Funding the total program could cost as much as $139B.

The Defense Department budget for 2016 shows about $2B budgeted for this year and $2B for next year toward the cost of a Ford class aircraft carrier, which costs in total about $14B. The Gerald R. Ford, the lead ship of this new Ford-class of aircraft carriers, has been under construction since 2008 and is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in the second quarter of FY 2016.

The Air Force has started a new bomber program, known as long-range strike bomber. The Air Force anticipates awarding a contract in the late spring with initial operational capability for the planned fleet of 80-100 aircraft in the mid 2020s.

The Defense Department is in the middle of the largest aircraft procurement ever for different versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Full-scale production is expected to start around 2018. Plans call for acquiring a total of 2,443 over about 20 years at a cost of nearly $400B. Through fiscal year 2013, the F-35 program has received a total of roughly $83B of funding. The Marine Corps is funding it, the Navy is funding it, the Air Force is funding it. It is a massive amount of money, a massive amount of jobs and a massive capability that is being delivered to the fighter.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s March 2015 report to Congress details plans to modernize nuclear equipment including various warheads over the coming years.

While we haven’t deployed major new strategic systems in some time, we’ve been modernizing the ones we’ve got more or less continuously — new rocket motors and guidance systems for the Minuteman missiles, lots of rebuilt parts for the B-52s, etc., etc. We’re in the middle of a $10B modernization of the B-61 bomb. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in January that the administration’s plans for nuclear forces would cost $348B over the next decade. During the next three decades, the cost to maintain the nuclear arsenal and purchase replacement systems could rise to more than $1 trillion.



Yep, we're not doing anything and we've got to spend MORE!!!

 

[TXHokie]

I still haven't seen the stealth helo that was used to nail Bin Laden. Probably some cool stuff out there we don't know about.

 

[ultimatebob]

I still haven't seen the stealth helo that was used to nail Bin Laden. Probably some cool stuff out there we don't know about.

Yeah... the US doesn't usually show off our latest military toys until a war starts and we start killing the enemy with it.

 

[Fire&Blood]

All of those weapons look cute from the perspective of a fast approaching US missile. Good defensive tools but I wouldn't be concerned. Even though it wasn't necessarily managed properly, the decades of unrivaled military spending have brute forced the US into domination. China is the only remarkable contender but the US military is a notch above and it will take them decades to even the arms race, at which point tactical and strategic blows are dealt from orbit, we win since we have been playing video games longer than they have.

TL;DR In a 21st century hostile relationship between two countries, essentially a technology war, the country that mimics it's opponent's products loses.

 

[John Connor]

So what's america doing to keep up?

http://eng.mil.ru/en/multimedia/photo/gallery.htm?id=21804@cmsPhotoGallery

Adaptive camouflage for tanks is also being worked on.

 

[norseamd]

All of those weapons look cute from the perspective of a fast approaching US missile. Good defensive tools but I wouldn't be concerned. Even though it wasn't necessarily managed properly, the decades of unrivaled military spending have brute forced the US into domination. China is the only remarkable contender but the US military is a notch above and it will take them decades to even the arms race, at which point tactical and strategic blows are dealt from orbit, we win since we have been playing video games longer than they have.

TL;DR In a 21st century hostile relationship between two countries, essentially a technology war, the country that mimics it's opponent's products loses.

You sound naive and overconfident.

 

[norseamd]

lots of them.

Why? Seems to me that American missiles are less advanced than European missiles especially those from MDBA and the new Norwegian missile.

 

[John Connor]

You made me run to the net. The story was believable, I guess, until:



"Our radar didn't work, Chief. I feel . . . demoralized. I wish to resign from the Navy forthwith."

I don't see this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Donald_Cook

 

[mnewsham]

new Norwegian missile

The NSM is being equipped to US navy LCS class ships for trial. The NSM is also being developed into the JSM to be equipped to the F-35.


its not like europe doesn't work with the US or US defense contractors often.

 

[norseamd]

its not like europe doesn't work with the US or US defense contractors often.

Well they often buy American hardware and they often offer to sell us European hardware but lobbying usually seems to shoot down any acquisition of European products.

 

[dawheat]

This is what I had found just now.


http://aviationweek.com/blog/navweek-jammed

So what exactly is the story - is there where a Russian jet buzzed the Donald Cook? What exactly does anyone think is supposed to happen in peacetime? A US vessel is not going to destroy a Russian vehicle and vice versa outside of the aggressor actually opening fire. That's how wars start.

Is the Russian media story really that since the Donald Cook didn't destroy the jet, that it must have been some EW victory and the vessel was defenseless? That is absolutely hilarious.

 

[norseamd]

So what exactly is the story - is there where a Russian jet buzzed the Donald Cook? What exactly does anyone think is supposed to happen in peacetime? A US vessel is not going to destroy a Russian vehicle and vice versa outside of the aggressor actually opening fire. That's how wars start.

Is the Russian media story really that since the Donald Cook didn't destroy the jet, that it must have been some EW victory and the vessel was defenseless? That is absolutely hilarious.

The story is that supposedly the Russians were jamming the Aegis radar and sensors of the American ship.

 

[JTsyo]

Everyone said tanks were not worth shit in urban warfare. Experience in the Iraq War shows that premise is not true at all as although tanks are vulnerable they add lots of power to those who use them in addition to infantry.

Syria has been using tanks too in urban setting with success, though it helps that the rebels are limited in AT weaponry.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I don't think we need to worry.

But labor is cheaper over there in teh third worlds!

 

[touchstone]

lol @ the F22 and B2 pics, two utterly massive boondoggles that have wasted billions.


B2 you could argue we were developing new tech. F22 is just generally an overpriced aircraft that is also unnecessary.



Nobody needs low-observable tech if you have FLIR it is absolutely useless junk. DRONES DRONES DRONES DRONES DRONES



can you say drones?

 

[Newell Steamer]

So what's america doing to keep up?

Being AWESOME is what.

 

[Tequila]

So what's america doing to keep up?

Sharks with fricken lasers!

Actually what concerns me most is China and their hypersonic missile delivery system. From nukes to carrier killers.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...-race-china-tests-high-speed-missil/?page=all

 

[blankslate]

Im sure china can do a hell of a lot more with 200bil than america can with 600bil, our mil contractors rape the government, while the chinese government rapes its mil contractors, no?

Also China apparently is focusing their cyberwarfare force more then other countries...

How expensive can Hot-Pockets and other assorted fast food be compared to armored vehicles?

.....

 

[dawheat]

The story is that supposedly the Russians were jamming the Aegis radar and sensors of the American ship.

So apparently a Moscow think tank claimed that's what happened and some fringe sites ran with it.

Would the Russians be so idiotic to reveal what would be a huge advance in EW for zero gain? EW is a constant game and showing your cards like this would be utterly foolish.

Has there been any credible source corroborating this? It seems like fringe sites are basically running off this single Russian claim. The same think tank has been bad-mouthing US missile defence technology for some time.

Maybe it's just me, but it sounds more to me like a Russian nationalist dreaming of the good old days when the Soviet Union was a real global power, not just a regional bully.