OC...How dare you denigrate our country. "TPLAC's" = TIN POT LITTLE Australian C...s All the time I thought that you were like me, a suposotory of knowledge. Regards Errol 43
Holdfast: "If things got so bad that we had to defend Australia from an land invation from a Super Power, there's not much we can do." The best thing you could do is arm the public. Australia is big. Millions of armed Aussies is your best defense from any "super power". Ask Afghanistan.
Arming Australia would not do a thing, comparing Australia to Afghanistan is not accurate. In Australia as long as the invader kept pay TV on and people could access the Internet and the X box worked everything would be smooth. AustralIans are like Labrador puppies with a tummy full of milk as far as the general population goes.
Russians invaded Afghanistan and got their arse kicked. Same happened to the US and the coalition; same happened in Korea, Vietnam, Mogadishu, etc etc. If folk have arms they can take on any aggressor in their home country. Maybe large armies can not react quick enough or have the skills to combat those who know their own land. Anyway, facts would indicate that armed ordinary folk can and do take on so called experts. H
Once upon a time the Brits invaded Afghanistan with an army who marched in with 4000 soldiers and left with 4. The history of Afghanistan has a long way to go. Regards Errol 43
Errol, I think the British Army and 'camp followers' numbered about 30,000 and the sole survivor was a Doctor that was allowed to ride his horse into his destination to tell the story. About on a par with Teutoburg Forest. OC
U.S. grounds entire F-35 fleet pending engine inspections http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/04/us-lockheed-fighter-idUSKBN0F901T20140704
Seems like we cut our order FROM 76 TO 58.. No more to discuss here lets move on to subs. Regards Errol 43
Oh No...Expert on unmanned trucks, drones etc on The Business(ABC) Thursday, does not think Australia is getting a good deal with the F35. Watch on ABC I view..Interesting to hear feedback? Regards Errol 43
Sadly, I wouldn't count on that. Haven't you heard? Guns are bad. We love making metaphorical snow angels in our ANZAC myth, but our current generation has no collective awareness of what it is like to interact within a chain of command. If we had a national service programme for school leavers, that would provide the foundation of a civil defence force that could be engaged should some situation arise. It's not that Australians are lazy and self indulgent but so many have no experience working within a ranked organisation. It would be no better than trying to herd militants. If you were going to do it you might start by rapidly aggregating and militarising existing emergency management organisations. Maybe roll them into the ADF as some kind of auxiliaries then do a massive recruitment drive. Even then the results might be no better than Iraqi civilians signing up to fight ISIS. We don't even have a National Guard or a militia culture. Hmm, maybe the Green Army... nah! Aussies are too scared of loud noises, unless it's the footy siren.
F35 purchase.. Anyone change their mind yet? Or is it still the best of the best.? Anyway the Japanese subs will no doubt be better than the Australian made ones at half the price.. The final price will be the continuation of the collapse of the manufacturing industry in Australia.. Australia should go cap in hand and ask the Americans, let us change our order from F35's to F22's. Regards Errol 43
The F-35's primary value is in giving us something to argue about besides politics and property prices I doubt the US will reopen the F-22 production line so forget about that. And if they ever changed their mind, the lead time would mean that before we got our first F-22 it would have been long superseded. IMO, the F-35 is actually a good platform from a technological perspective and people should understand that a myriad of problems are expected in new, highly complex systems. But.... The primary problem is the incredibly high cost and our limited budget, and whether this fighter is value for money for the Australian environment and our defence requirements. I haven't seen a good argument for it. And we need to be very intelligent and frugal with our defence spend. I'm still mystified as to why Australia recently (and seemingly quite suddenly) decided to purchase 28 more. By the time we get those new ones, the technological and defence landscape may have changed considerably. It's like politicians made the decision rather than people with a deep understanding of the evolution of military technology and it's impact on our future battlespace.
Complete rubbish. If every Australian household had a semi-automatic rifle in it, Australia would be a very formidable landscape to invade. Take IS as a perfect example. IS' biggest strength is their lack of rigid chain of command. Commanders down to the smallest elements have the flexibility to make calls on the ground when the opportunity arises. This lack of rigid structural command is their biggest asset against arab armies and would also be a catalyst for a fantastic tactic if Australia was invaded. Should a country like China make landfall, the best command decision that could be made would be to disband the Army across the country and have the trained soldiers and leaders, lead the masses of civilians that are willing to fight guerilla style asymmetric warfare. It would be hugely costly for any invading army and a massive deterrent. Alas that can not be done in Australia anymore. We are left to lick the bum of America in the hope that they will come to our rescue.
I see the government is denying today that it is buying its submarines from Japan. Presumably from SA pressure. I don't like submarines but I don't mind manufacturing.
