HEADING BACK TO NELLIS: The USAF Thunderbirds fly in formation over the Pacific coast.

CARL GUSTAF AT GRAFENWOEHR, GERMANY: Paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade fire the Carl Gustaf on a range at Graf.

MEANWHILE, ON THE CHINA FRONT: The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement as a weapon in the economic struggle with Communist China. (My latest Creators Syndicate column.)

LONGBOW FROM THE SEA: A littoral combat ship fires an AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile during a live-fire missile exercise.

POOR POOR PITIFUL IRANIAN DICTATORSHIP: This long post begins with this sentence: “Iran has had more than its share of setbacks recently.”

The post is chock-full of ayatollah setbacks and troubles, but here are a few examples:

The U.S. also noted that its current military posture in the Gulf had put an end to Iranian harassment of U.S. warships. There had been 22 of those incidents in 2015, 36 in 2016 but only 14 in 2017 and none so far in 2018. Iran has published some videos of 2018 harassment incidents but the Iranians are not nearly as bold as they were in the past and will back off quickly if challenged.

Now why would harassment incidents decline? I link, you decide.

Another:

The Iranian government continues to be challenged by its own people. The large anti-government demonstrations continue and opinion polls confirm that most Iranians are fed up with their government and want change.

Another:

Speaking of loyalty. Iran is finding less of it from its allies in Syria. Russia, Turkey and the Assad government see the continuing Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria as a matter between Israel and Iran. The obsession with destroying Israel is seen as an Iranian weakness.

The post has more — worth the read.

BUFF IN QATAR: A B-52 assigned to the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron lands at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, April 8, 2018. The photo caption says the squadron is about to return to the U.S.

AIR-CUSHIONED SANDSTORM: An air-cushioned landing craft lands at Arta Beach, Djibouti,

THE U.S.-MEXICO-CANADA AGREEMENT: A weapon against Chinese imperialism.

THE U.S.-MEXICO-CANADA AGREEMENT: A weapon against Chinese imperialism.

LIGHTNING ON THE ELIZABETH: An F-35B Lightning II fighter jet takes off from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

SILENT SHELLS FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS:

In 2018 Russian special operations troops began receiving the lightweight 2B25 silenced mortar. The mortar weighs 13 kg (29 pounds) and fires a 3.3 kg (7.2 pound) shell with a 1.9 kg (4.2 pound) high explosive warhead…The 2B25 shell is designed to create no smoke or flash as it is fired from the mortar tube. Equally important is that the silenced mortar makes no more sound than a silenced assault rifle bullet would make when fired. This unique performance comes at a price.

The rest of the post discusses transport and deployment.

FRANCE SANCTIONS IRANIAN OPERATIVES FOR TERROR BOMB PLOT: Tehran’s policy of violent meddling is once again backfiring.

France seized assets belonging to Iran’s intelligence services and two Iranian nationals in response to a June plot to attack an exiled Iranian opposition group’s rally outside Paris, the government said on Tuesday.

A senior French official said Paris had no doubt that elements of the Iranian state were behind the bomb plot and that it was likely to have been hatched by hardliners looking to undermine President Hassan Rouhani.

Even AFP sees the connection to America’s withdrawal from the Obama Administration’s ridiculous “Iran deal”:

The hardening of relations between Paris and Tehran could have deep consequences for Iran, coming at a time when Rouhani’s government is looking to European capitals to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal after the United States pulled out.

“An attempted attack in Villepinte was foiled on June 30. An incident of such gravity on our national territory could not go unpunished,” said a joint statement by the foreign, interior and economy ministries.

Violent meddling is an intrinsic feature of the ayatollah dictatorship. So read the whole thing.

CONSTRUCTING A CARRIER: The final piece of the underwater hull of the future aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is lowered into place at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding.

CHINA’S LURKING WOES: History bites back.

Chinese leaders thought they had learned from these Russian mistakes but now Chinese economists and bankers are reporting that China has many of the problems that brought down the Soviet Union and kept post-Soviet Russia weak. While China currently has the second largest economy on the planet it has many serious problems that cannot be ignored.

More:

China has made impressive efforts to deal with corruption it concentrates on, such as corruption that causes the most unrest among the general population. This includes blatantly corrupt behavior at the local level as well as in the military or companies where the bad behavior leads to tainted food or medicine. But if you are a loyal senior official and show discretion and restraint in your corrupt practices you are left alone. That form of favoritism is necessary to run what is just another Chinese dynasty.

Read the whole thing.

VOTING MACHINES SUBJECT TO “STAGGERING” VULNERABILITIES:

Voting machines and election equipment in use across the United States are prone to a “staggering” number of vulnerabilities, including bugs that could be harnessed by hackers to potentially interfere in a U.S. presidential race, security researchers warned Thursday.

A report summarizing the results of the “Voting Village” held at this summer’s Def Con, the world’s largest hacking conference, said that attendees discovered dozens of vulnerabilities upon conducting a rare, hands-on inspection of 30 pieces of various election equipment currently used throughout the U.S., including an electronic ballot scanner deployed in more than half the country.

For years Glenn’s been advocating a return to paper ballots.

LIGHTNING AND LIGHTNING: An F-35B being prepared for its first combat strike, Sept. 27, 2018.

U.S. NAVY TO THE RESCUE: Sailors from Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 2 lift the passengers and crew of Air Niugini flight PX56 to shore following the plane crashing into the sea on its approach to Chuuk International Airport in the Federated States of Micronesia.

A TERROR PLOT TOO FAR: Dutch police in Arnhem have foiled an Islamic State-inspired terrorist plot. Good work.

EAGLE OVER THE MARIANAS: A USAF F-15D Eagle flies above the Mariana Islands, Sept. 18, 2018.

FOOD INSECURITY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

MINE KILLING: An assault breaching/obstacle reduction exercise at Fort Hood.

GRIFFIN TAKES FLIGHT: The USS Thunderbolt (PC-12) launches a MK-60 Griffin surface-to-surface missile in the Arabian Gulf.

RELATED: The Thunderbolt on patrol in 2015.

POWER SHOT: In the Philippine Sea.

JAVELIN DUET: Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, fire two FGM-148 Javelin Missiles in a volley fire exercise. The photo was taken in Michigan. Here’s a Javelin “demonstration” in another locale: Syria.

THE MED AT NIGHT: The USS Carney on a starry night in the Mediterranean Sea.