Sunday May 27, 2012

GSDF drills

Picture of the Day ( 23 )

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REUTERS

Members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force are carried by a rope from a helicopter at an annual military exercise in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on Sunday.

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23 Comments

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  • 0

    KansaiTruth

    They'd better not fire first! It's the law!

  • 0

    Foxie

    Just wondering when this particular situation would come up in real life.

  • 0

    Foxie

    Oops...just saw it on TV....maybe the explanation should read that they were lowered from a helicopter to the ground.

  • 0

    genjuro

    Catch of the day.

  • 0

    oberst

    not a wise move, one machine gun burst would have nailed them all

  • 0

    wanderlust

    Have been watching these 'exercise' and 'drills' for a few decades now. Looks initially impressive, like most Japanese exercises and drills. Lots of old men with white gloves, whistles and starting line. Highly choreographed for the mass media and public consumption. The trouble is, real life is not like that...

    And that's not a very stable firing platform!

  • 0

    the_sicilian

    Gives a new meaning to "dope on a rope" (air assault joke).

  • 0

    gogogo

    Sitting ducks, who the hell comes up with these? They watched too many action movies.

  • 0

    nimbus

    That makes a rather large and unprotected target for the enemies.

  • 0

    sharpie

    fish in a barrel. fish in a barrel.

  • 0

    UnagiDon

    That makes a rather large and unprotected target for the enemies.

    As opposed to the helicopter that's carrying them?

  • 0

    dishdash

    Toy Story methinks!

  • 0

    gaijinfo

    Foxie at 05:31 PM JST - 9th January

    Just wondering when this particular situation would come up in real life.

    Zombie attack. Easier to get head shots when slightly elevated.

  • 0

    kitagwa30

    Japan's Ground Self Force. Nice!

  • 0

    mushroomcloud

    Lame. And as others have mentioned, perfect sitting ducks. One burst from an AK and these three are on their way to Yasukuni.

  • 0

    OssanAmerica

    Foxie at 05:31 PM JST - 9th January Just wondering when this particular situation would come up in real life.

    During insertion or extraction. A very very common excercise to see among all militaries of the world.

  • 0

    KansaiTruth

    It is a lovely blue sky!

  • 0

    mchaley

    Not as easy to hit a moving target as you might think.

  • 0

    Triple888

    It's like a bundle of bait with rifles.

  • 0

    sidjtd

    I know JapanToday commen section is always filled with cynical comments, but to pretend you know anything about rifleman ship when you don't is quite embarrassing.

    Is this the most effective way to be extracted or inserted into an area? No. But if there is no landing zone for he helicopter or requires hasteful action to scoop up more than 1 person, is it effective? Yes.

    A big open target? Uhhh, hello? You think they'll be easier targets than the GIGANTIC helicopter carrying them?

    Shooting when you move is incredibly hard, but its called cover fire. Its also hard shooting at anything moving, let alone flying. Ballistics of rifles are designed to shoot parallel to the earth, so firing down at something and firing up at something requires a lot of extra modifications to how you shoot.

    This doesnt factor in the whole, FLYING part. (Granted shooting down from up is generally much easier, but not always either)

  • 0

    apecNetworks

    That photo is like the scene from the movie, "You Live Only Twice". Aside from dated societal norms, good picture.

    Blofeld: "You only live twice, Mr. Bond."

  • 0

    lostrune2

    In such maneuvers, soldiers don't usually "hang around" (haha, pun) on the rope too long. The helicopter usually does a quick, drop-in-fly-out, drop as many soldiers as fast as possible then get out - while the soldiers protect themselves by providing cover fire on all directions, not giving much time for the enemies on the ground to aim targets while the soldiers are on the air. Supposedly if done correctly, by the time the enemies could fire back, the soldiers are already on the ground, and the helicopter is already long gone.

  • 0

    SEPTIMUS

    Sweet! So now you only need to shoot the rope above them...

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