I'm still kinda unsure about going to the 6.8mm although I do think the 5.56 definitely isn't 'good enough' if we think about something like near peer or peer war that they are talking about (the opponent infantry actually having good armor/equipment).
Agree, especially the fact that the training round is gonna have less recoil than the actual combat (and it seems like the difference isn't even that small).
5.56mm is very easy to control so there's less of a reason to acclimatise soldiers to it. Think back to the days of 7.62mm, but it'll be worse.
I think the ideal would be to keep the 5.56mm and use the kraut high barrel pressure magic on a new rifle. That way you don't sacrifice magazine capacity and would still get better penetration than standard.
Have some time on your hands?
Actually, interesting thing about this. A few years ago, I was chatting with a well known American general from Vietnam war. He was just telling how US military is now struggling with so many obese recruits. As a whole, the American society has just gotten so much fatter in the past 50 years. I would say that having worked with numerous people from west point. They tend to be some of the most fit people that I know in person. So, I guess once the army whips you into shape, you tend to stay in great shape.
Frank Kendall seems to have just been contradicting himself. I'd be curious to hear what people really think about him, because he does not sound as intelligent as some of air force generals I've listened to. Either way, it's kind of unrealistic for people to think that NGAD can achieve IOC by 2029 when it took 14 years for F-22 to go from start of EMD to IOC and 17 years for that to happen with F-35A. Assuming things do move faster with NGAD, I think we will start seeing early production squadron doing testing & evaluation by the end of this decade. I don't think we will see IOC until early to mid 2030s.
If you look at crowded beach or street photos from the 1970s US there's barely a fatty in sight, nowadays they are the majority. I blame corn syrup, which is put into basically all processed foodstuffs in the USA as I understand it.
Thomas E. Rick's article is pretty much the theme of the book he wrote a few years ago titled "The Generals" which he essentially discussed pretty much the same thing he did on this article but with expanded examples and ideas as to why, how such methods worked during the crucial period for the U.S. Military and the U.S. Army in particular.
