Canada moves to 2% GDP end of FY25/26 - PMMC

[FJAG]

If you are cycling your trucks on 10 yrs are you even looking at the engine? I turned my trucks over on 10 yrs stretching to 15 when times were tougher and can only remember working on one truck engine. This was before DEF though

I'm the same way. I'm not one of those new car each year types and plan on my cars for ten years at which point they are still useable - then again I'm not an 18-year-old gunner slamming around the ranges anymore.

What I meant is that if you design a vehicle line to run ten or twenty years then 200 vehicles built in 2026 might have a different engine and related parts than the same truck coming off the line in 2033 because that original 2026 engine isn't being built anymore. You'll have the same chassis but it will have to compensate for engine mounts, a transmission and drive train connection that might be different.

It's not insurmountable but it can lead to a spare parts issue downstream for the older vehicles.

Notwithstanding that, I think that is the only way to go for our vehicle fleets. We need long run, low rate production lines that stay open indefinitely, if necessary as crown corporations or arsenals.

 

[Kirkhill]

Seems like Ukraine is going to get into the international hybrid game seriously..

Ukraine to Develop Foreign Intelligence Service Combat Units for Operations Abroad - Militarnyi

Ukraine will develop units of the Foreign Intelligence Service to carry out operations necessary to protect the country's interests abroad.

militarnyi.com

....

Russian Tanker Carrying 730,000 Barrels Of Oil Drifts Out Of Control In Mediterranean

Marine Insight - The maritime industry guide.

www.marineinsight.com

Same general vicinity as this one the Ukraine claimed in December

Ukraine Strikes Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker in Mediterranean

Latest Developments First Claimed Strike in International Waters: Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service claimed that Ukrainian drones struck and critically damaged a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker...

www.fdd.org

.....

Does Canada need its own "little green men"?

 

[Kirkhill]

New projects bring German 2025 military-equipment spending near $40bn

The Dec. 3 approval includes an expansion of the Bundeswehr’s G95 assault rifle order, additional Joint Strike Missile purchases and new AI systems.

www.defensenews.com

Germany Sets Out $438B Defense Shopping List: Report

Germany has outlined plans for $438 billion in defense acquisitions, according to internal government documents.

thedefensepost.com

Breaking News: Germany negotiates to acquire up to 7,000 combat vehicles from Rheinmetall in historic land forces expansion

Breaking News: Germany negotiates to acquire up to 7,000 combat vehicles from Rheinmetall in historic land forces expansion

armyrecognition.com

Germany’s parliamentary budget committee has approved 11 major defense procurement projects worth more than €2.5 billion ($3 billion), bringing the country’s tally on equipment spending for 2025 to over €33 billion across 73 major projects.

More....faster.

 

[Kirkhill]

This could have gone into the GBAD file but Golden Dome, IAMD seems to be likely to be a bigger issue in the overall defence plan.

Golden Dome is forcing the Pentagon to confront missile defense economics

Golden Dome is forcing the Pentagon to confront missile defense economics Golden Dome is forcing the Pentagon to confront missile defense economics

spacenews.com

“We have the most exquisite capabilities on the planet, with a high probability of kill. They do not miss but they take forever to build. They’re exceptionally expensive, and as a result, I have very small magazine depths, because the cost per kill is so high,” said Guetlein. “I have to flip that equation.”

The “cost per kill” has to come down, said Guetlein.

Current U.S. missile defense interceptors, which were designed for regional or limited homeland defense missions, cost millions of dollars apiece and are used to defeat much lower-cost weapons. Analysts have pointed out that this imbalance invites adversaries to overwhelm defenses through volume.

 

[FJAG]

Germany’s parliamentary budget committee has approved 11 major defense procurement projects worth more than €2.5 billion ($3 billion), bringing the country’s tally on equipment spending for 2025 to over €33 billion across 73 major projects.

More....faster.

It's nice when your navy expenditures can be modest.

 

[Kirkhill]

It's nice when your navy expenditures can be modest.

Overall German defense shopping list - 438 Billion US Dollars

Germany Sets Out $438B Defense Shopping List: Report

Germany has outlined plans for $438 billion in defense acquisitions, according to internal government documents.

thedefensepost.com