LAV A2. A simple solution to the MPC issue.

The Marines already have a tailor made solution to the issue of what to buy for the Marine Personnel Carrier.  That solution is in production and being delivered today.  It would need minor modifications and is transportable by CH-53E/K.

Its the LAV-25A2.

Simply remove the turret, replace it with a remote weapon station and the issue is resolved.  Approval by the SecDef should be easy, it can be sole sourced (by passing competition) and it can be in the fleet by the 1st quarter of next year.  IF they act now.

USMC LAV A2

Amphibious warriors take SoCal beach

All photos courtesy of Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

An amphibious assault vehicle from 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, lands on a beach here, Feb. 28, during a bilateral training exercise with various Marine units from Southern California and more than 180 soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force.

An amphibious assault vehicle from 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, lands on a beach here, Feb. 28, during a bilateral training exercise with various Marine units from Southern California and more than 180 soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force.

Amphibious assault vehicles from 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, land on a beach here, Feb. 28, during a bilateral training exercise with various Marine units from Southern California and more than 180 soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force

F-35B completes milestone.

via NAVAIR

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- On Feb. 26, 2011, an F-35B test aircraft (BF-2) completed its 100th flight with Lockheed Martin test pilot David "Doc" Nelson at the controls. The 100th flight for BF-2 accomplished further short take-off envelope expansion in preparation for shipboard testing later this year. The F-35B is the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River. Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin.

XC-142A

Modest Proposal. A new foreign policy.

Just joking (a little).  It would be nice if we actually talked to terrorist, despots and dictators like this.

An air to air load out?

People like to believe that the above photo illustrates a common air to air load out for modern fighters....

Not hardly folks...its just a glamour shot...nothing more or less.

Lets get the discussion on actual combat loads back into the realm of reality.

UPDATE.

I haven't read this issue of Aviation Week (but I plan to once I visit my local bookstore) but it has the best image I've seen of the "evolved" Super Hornet.

Note that in its stealth configuration, designed to go head up against the F-35---it limits its weapons load to perhaps 6 air to air missiles (I think in its current configuration its 4) so again...another quiver in my argument about fantasy combat versus its reality.

British SAS rescue civilians in Libya.

Thanks Marcase for the heads up and the article.  Via The Independent.

British special forces last night mounted a daring rescue of 150 civilians trapped in the Libyan desert.

As the security situation deteriorated, SAS troops were deployed to evacuate oil workers from several isolated desert camps south of Benghazi.

One senior source said: "It had been planned for a few days, covering an area four and half times the size of the UK." Landing strips near remote oilfields had to be secured, with stranded civilians collected from several sites. The rescue was ordered by David Cameron, who chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee yesterday morning.

The British government has acted forcefully to secure its citizens in the wake of violence in a war torn country, the same cannot be said for the US.

US Navy fights the FBI over hostage killing.

Via CNN. 

Before two pirate leaders departed the yacht where they held four Americans earlier in February, a maritime source says they left instructions: kill the hostages if we do not come back from negotiations.

U.S. officials took the negotiating pirates into custody -- a move which goes against standard negotiation practices, the source said.

One thing is certain.  The US Navy is attempting to make sure that the word gets out that this "fiasco" wasn't there fault.  They're definitely pointing fingers at the FBI Hostage Negotiators.  What isn't known and what I'm extremely curious about is whether this comes from Headquarters Navy or whether this is coming from some Fleet Command.

Marine landing at Da Nang

Gates turns his gaze toward the US Army.

via Military.com

Gates told the cadets that as the Army competes for money in the tightening economy, it must realize that high-end conflicts will mainly require Navy and Air Force engagements, not a head-on clash of big land forces. The Army must not lose its ability to wage the kind of irregular warfare it has honed on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, and be prepared to face off against insurgents, militia groups and rogue states.

Gates also warned the cadets that the U.S. so far has a perfect record of never accurately predicting what the next war will be. But one thing, he said, is certain.

Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should "have his head examined," Gates said.

Beesley...Things to remember about the F-35.

Thanks Dewline.

Mutual Destruction. Close in aerial combat has changed.

Python-5

ASRAAM

AIM-9X

The pictures above display just a few of the "within visual range" missiles that have driven the thought behind aerial combat in today's age.

Everyone points to Vietnam as the foundation of modern combat and the need to retain guns on aircraft.  Modeling and simulation have shown that not to be the case.

Detect with systems, enemy aircraft at distance.  Launch at optimum distance.  Break contact to re-arm, refuel and return to the fight.

If close in combat is the rule then this airplane would rule the skies...

Norman in...Beesley retires as F-35 Chief Test Pilot.

via Lockheed Martin.

Al Norman, a veteran Lockheed Martin experimental test pilot, was named chief test pilot for the F-35 program on 21 February 2011. Norman replaces former F-35 chief test pilot Jon Beesley, who retired 31 January 2011. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 1999, Norman served in the US Air Force for twenty-three years as a fighter pilot and test pilot. He left active duty in 1999 to become an experimental test pilot for Lockheed Martin on the F-22 program at Edwards AFB, California.  Norman tested all aspects of the Raptor's flight regime while in the Combined Test Force at Edwards. In addition to flight test and production work on the F-22, he performed production and test work on all models of the F-16. He is also Lockheed Martin’s chief pilot for the T-50 program. Norman has more than 6,000 hours of flying time in more than seventy aircraft types.

Best of luck to Norman.

Beesley has done outstanding work in the F-35 program and I can't help but want the best to him and his family.  I hope that he has success in all his future endeavours.

Having said that, I also hope that Norman has a more confrontational style with the programs critics.  Beesley was professorial with the nay-sayers and because he didn't meet their vigor, his comments while spot on, were often ignored.

Royal Navy Admirals Strike Back.

via the Daily Telegraph.

The operational and financial arguments for maintaining the Harrier in favour of the Tornado are clear to us and to the wider defence community. We therefore wish to bring to your attention a cost-effective option for retaining some Tornadoes and some Harriers, the latter under Royal Naval command, and both in reduced numbers

Wow.


One thing has me curious about all this.  The RAF dismantled and scrapped the Nimrods in a matter of days.  The Harriers remain available.

I don't know if this is part of a larger plan on the part of the MoD in regards to its civilian leadership...a gentleman's agreement between the RAF and RN or what but something just doesn't give.  Oh and the thought that they're selling a few aircraft on E-Bay (or rather were) doesn't add up either.

Strange happenings over in the UK and I don't have any visibility on what its about.  This bears watching.

Oh and read the entire article.  Gloves are coming off.

F-35 AF-6

Boeing's take on the tanker win.

Mud Ops.

Photos by Lance Cpl. Reece Lodder 

Amphibious assault vehicles with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, send mud flying as they tear up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

Lance Cpl. Michael Haus, an amphibious assault vehicle crewman with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, sits near the front of his AAV and watches as others tear up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

The spinning track of an amphibious assault vehicle with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, sends mud flying as it tears up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

The spinning tracks of an amphibious assault vehicle with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, sends mud flying as it tears up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

Lance Cpl. Michael Haus, an amphibious assault vehicle crewman with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, picks debris off an AAV after it tore up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, an amphibious assault vehicle crew chief with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, looks on as Sgt. Pedro Guerrero, 1st section leader, AAV Platoon, provides instruction to his driver, AAV crewman Lance Cpl. Michael Haus, during the 29th annual Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Nuupia Pond Wildlife Management Area, Feb. 23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV Platoon Marines with the base Environmental Compliance and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered Hawaiian stilt bird species, which lasts from March until September.

Lockheed Martin's JLTV.

Sweet looking vehicle...probably extremely capable...but can we afford it?

AWESOME! BOEING WINS!

Ares Blog is reporting that Boeing won the Tanker contest!

Absolutely awesome.

Not because I necessarily care at this point about the contest itself...but because the Air Force actually followed the rules of the competition this time.  There is no way that two dissimilar aircraft should have been allowed to compete.

This was the KC-X comp.

Not the KC-Y.

There is no way that the A-330 met the requirements that the USAF laid down.

This my friends is a win for the rules.

Force Recon practices VBSS.

Turkey's FNSS wins huge arms deal.

Thanks Jonathan for the article!

via Today Zaman.com

Turkish and Malaysian defense companies have signed a $600 million deal, making it Turkey's largest single sale in defense industry exports. Turkish defense industry firm FNSS signed a deal in Ankara on Tuesday with Malaysia's DEFTECH to sell armored combat vehicle frames to the Malaysian armed forces. Under the deal FNSS will sell 257 armored carrier frames for the Pars 8x8 to Malaysia. The 8x8 Pars armored vehicle will be redesigned by Turkish and Malaysian engineers, and the vehicles will be produced locally in Malaysia. The deal is important for the Turkish defense industry since it is the largest single sale in defense industry exports.

I knew the PARS 8x8 looked familiar and the full article points to the US corporation GPV.  

Cartwright cleared?

I didn't even know that the Vice Chairman was under investigation.  This smells...via CNN.

Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation by the Pentagon inspector general in connection with an incident involving a female officer on his staff.

Zipper control...or the appearance of a lack of zipper control.  How did they keep this quiet?

GvG on the European Response.

GvG of Information Dissemination fame has an excellent article on the European response to the crisis in Libya.  Bear in mind that the US response has been a (as in 1) ferry and the generosity of Turkey to allow our citizens aboard their ships....read the whole thing here but to sum it up...he writes...

So how many naval vessels are we counting?
HMS Cumberland (F 85)
HNLMS Tromp (F 803)
INS Francesco Mimbelli (D 561)
INS San Marco (L 9893)
INS San Georgio (L 9892)

So, that's 1 destroyer, 2 frigates and 2 LPD's.

This doesn't include Turkey...remember our response, the response of the most powerful military/Navy in the world ...One freaking ferry...and hitchhiking on Turkish ships.

America in distress.

America appears to be under distress.


While militarily our power is unrivaled, it seems (at least to my eyes) that there is a disconnect between the application of that power, the diplomatic element and finally respect from enemies / fear from despots.

Why do I say this?

In the past month what have we witnessed.

1.  The fall of Mubarak and a middling response that satisfied neither conservative or liberal.  Mubarak was pushed out but it is now clear that events spiraled out of control in part because of the tepid and weak stance taken by the current administration.

2.  The most powerful Navy in the world...with an Aircraft Carrier-the most powerful ship afloat...and a Burke Class Destroyer-perhaps the modern equivalent of a WW2 Battleship...along with possibly the finest of our Special Forces--Navy SEALS...all forced to standby while American Missionaries are gunned down.

3.  Libya melts down with reports of mercenaries committing atrocities and foreign snipers murdering people in the street.  European Powers are acting forcefully to recover their citizens while the US dithers.

One thing is clear.

It doesn't matter if you haven't the finest, best equipped, most highly trained forces in the world if you have no strategic vision.

If you have no plan.

If you vacillate when decisive- considered action is required.

Then you have a nation under distress. 

More info on the Merkava than even I wanted.

I found this site and many of you have probably already been there but its new to me.  If you want information on the latest and greatest in regards to the Merkava Main Battle Tank then this is your spot.

Quote of the week...

The media and the think tank community is made up of chicken shit cowards who refuse to ask why the US Navy sails circles around the Gulf of Aden while piracy gets worse, and under no circumstances will anyone criticize the Obama administration for an aimless, endless perpetual violence policy in the Indian Ocean. What is the point of continuous military operations without objectives? 

Galrahn at Information Dissemination on an "after action" report on the latest atrocity committed by Somali pirates.

UAE to convert its BlackHawks to BattleHawks.

via DefenseNews.

ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates is set to turn a number of its Sikorsky Black Hawks into gunships in a deal with the U.S. helicopter maker worth nearly 1 billion Arab Emirate dirhams ($272 million).

The announcement of a plan to buy weaponization kits for 23 of its Black Hawk UH-60M helicopters was the pick of a 4 billion Arab Emirate dirham order bonanza unveiled by the UAE armed forces at the IDEX show Feb. 21 in Abu Dhabi.

 An attack copter that does double duty as a transport?  It took several years but it seems that the US has finally achieved what the Russians did many years ago.  We have our own Mi-24...Columbia has been using a version of this for quite some time too...the only remaining question is whether the US Navy or Army will acquire a few kits.  It would seem a natural for the Navy.  With the focus on littoral combat, these would seem an ideal addition to the fleet.


S70-054_ABH_BR_hi

The British people will go ape if the RN buys P-8's.

via the News.

Navy to buy new aircraft

Published on Tue Feb 22 13:07:21 GMT 2011

THE Royal Navy is looking to buy a fleet of maritime patrol aircraft for up to £1 billion just weeks after the Ministry of Defence scrapped the new Nimrod aircraft at a cost of £3.6 billion.
The MoD confirmed last week that the navy wanted to buy its own maritime patrol aircraft to track enemy submarines to replace the Nimrods, which are being broken up for scrap.
The new RAF Nimrod MRA4s had not even come into service when the prime minister announced last October that as part of the strategic defence review he was scrapping Nimrod.
The navy, which was furious that RAF bosses had agreed to get rid of Nimrod at a time of increased submarine activity, has already set up a team to buy a replacement and ensure that it is flown by the Fleet Air Arm. The programme is being run by Commodore Simon Kings with a team made up of naval officers.

If this is true and the plan is actually carried out then the British public will go ape!  This will be the ultimate boondoggle.

Another blast from the past...the XP-87.

via the National Museum of the Air Force...

The XF-87 was the last aircraft built by Curtiss Aircraft. The specification originally called for a twin-engine, single-place fighter, which evolved into an attack aircraft (XA-43) and finally to a quad-jet, twin-place, all-weather, high-altitude fighter. Two prototype XF-87s were built (S/N 45-59600 and 46-522), the second of which was modified to the sole XF-87A.

The XF-87 was designed for an innovative nose turret capable of swiveling in a wide arc around the axis of flight; however, the turret was never actually installed on the XF-87.

The very large fighter was severely underpowered by four J34 turbojets and was redesigned for two J47 turbojets (XF-87A). A production order for 58 XF-87As and 30 RF-87s was canceled before any aircraft were constructed.

Type	Number built/ converted	Remarks
XF-87	2	Last Curtiss aircraft
XF-87A	1 (cv)	Modified XF-87
F-87A	0	58 canceled
RF-87A	0	30 canceled

TECHNICAL NOTES:
Engines: Four Westinghouse J34-WE-7 turbojets of 3,000 lbs. thrust each
Armament: Four 20mm cannon and two .50-cal. machine guns
Maximum speed: 520 mph
Cruising speed: 450 mph
Range: 1,000 miles
Service ceiling: 41,000 ft.
Span: 60 ft. 0 in.
Length: 62 ft. 0 in.
Height: 20 ft. 4 in.
Weight: 37,350 lbs. loaded
Crew: Two

Sadly, this beautiful airplane lost out to the F-89... 

I hope we have security devices...

Watching the Middle East descend into chaos reminds me of one terrible fact.  We've sold some very hi-tech toys to many of the nations in the region...and if we haven't then the Europeans have.

I hope kill switches, security devices...something to keep them from being used against our forces has been installed.  Playing with dictatorships, monarchies ... whatever can be very dangerous business.

AAV Replacement RFI is coming.

Defense News has info on the upcoming RFI on the AAV Replacement.  Pretty heady stuff.  Follow the link to read the whole thing but here are the basics.

* The ability to autonomously deliver a Marine infantry squad from an amphibious ship to shore a minimum distance of 12 nautical miles, at "a speed to enable the element of surprise in the buildup ashore." The notice acknowledges that a high rate of speed "may prove to be unaffordable."
* Protection against direct and indirect fire, mines and improvised explosive devices. The protection can be modular, "applied incrementally as the situation dictates."
* Employ open architecture principles to rapidly integrate new technologies, and be reconfigurable to carry out alternative roles, including operation of heavy mortars or rockets, and logistic or medical evacuation missions.
* Be powerful enough to engage and destroy similar vehicles, provide direct fire support to dismounted infantry and maneuver with M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.

If General Dynamics were smart, they'd just redo the EFV without hydraulics and moving treads and just toss the de-teched version at the Marines.

As a matter of fact I wonder why they are even opening this up to bid---single source it and get the simplified vehicle into the fleet.

Wow, what a reversal...

Talk about being taken to the woodshed and coming out with their mind right!

Well in the words of a famous movie...

ELP had a failure to communicate---I wonder if he spent a night in the box!

First the author of ELP Defens(c)e Blog wrote this...

ELP Defens(c)e Blog is in favor of the F-35?????

Now that the latest USAF gathering in Orlando–which in recent years doesn’t
produce much of anything–is over, we can have the week of wild alternatives
for the USAF fighter roadmap. How to fix a force structure in the coming
years of shrinking budgets? Well, we need ideas. And these will be thrown
around mostly for entertainment purposes. And when I state “shrinking
budgets”, I mean real bad stuff. All plans will assume the stupids in D.C.
let F-22 production close.

Plan one.

The F-35 program will be composed of 20 Fighter Groups. Each group will have
one squadron of 24 F-35B STOVL aircraft. They will be procured at 48 per
year for 10 years. This does not count extras for test, training and
development. This will support 10 AEFs and allow for home air defense of the
most basic kind.

A-10s stays as-is. Refurb as much and as many times as needed.

Well in the short span of one day he's come out with these posts!


http://ericpalmer.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/more-unsupportable-rubbish/

http://ericpalmer.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/the-ponzi-scheme-that-has-to-deliver-for-australian-industry-or-else-auspol/

I'm not going to say group think or accuse the writer of falling victim to peer pressure but I will say that the turn around is remarkable.

Navy Test Pilot talks about the "solid" F-35C.

via Navy Times.

The thrust is good, and there’s no indication that the F-35 has only one engine, instead of two like on the Super Hornet, he said.

The thrust is good, and there’s no indication that the F-35 has only one engine, instead of two like on the Super Hornet, he said.

Compared to the Hornet, it seems “a bit more solid,” Buus said.

“I really like a lot of things they have done with this airplane,” he said.

all quotes attributed to Cmdr. Eric ‘Magic’ Buus

As always follow the link and read the whole thing...but if the Marine Corps has to keep its pilots away from the Super Hornet, then its a sure thing that the Navy better keep its boys away from the F-35!

Interesting timing of this story...Considering the events happening in the Indian Ocean.

Thailand-February 14, 2011, U.S. Marines with the Maritime Raid Force (MRF), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), participate in a Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) exercise aboard the U.S. Navy Ship Jack Lummus, in support of a certification exercise conducted by the 31st MEU., Sgt. Kelsey J. Green, 2/17/2011 9:30 AM (SNAFU! Note- if you enlarge this pic you'll notice that the Marine in front has a Magpul stock attached to his weapon.  I've never seen Marine Corps weapons utilize Magpul stocks...it maybe common but its news to me...looks like the Marine Corps is going "DYNAMIC" with all the products from Magpul filtering in)

Thailand-February 14, 2011, U.S. Marines with the Maritime Raid Force (MRF), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), participate in a Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) exercise aboard the U.S. Navy Ship Jack Lummus, in support of a certification exercise conducted by the 31st MEU., Sgt. Kelsey J. Green, 2/17/2011 9:32 AM

Thailand-February 14, 2011, U.S. Marines with the Maritime Raid Force (MRF), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), participate in a Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) exercise aboard the U.S. Navy Ship Jack Lummus, in support of a certification exercise conducted by the 31st MEU., Sgt. Kelsey J. Green, 2/17/2011 9:57 AM

Maritime Contingency Force remains ready 

2/21/2011  By Cpl. Michael A. Bianco  , 31st MEU 

 

ABOARD THE USNS JACK LUMMUS  — CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters broke the silence of the early morning hours as they soared toward a ship refusing to comply with orders of the U.S. Navy. The Force Reconnaissance Platoon inserted via Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (reinforced), both with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and quickly gained control of the bridge, as the rest of the Maritime Raid Force searched key areas throughout the vessel, during a mock Visit Board Search and Seizure, Feb. 17.
The ship used for the event, USNS Jack Lummus, is a military sealift command ship. The MRF was tasked to perform a non-compliant boarding of the ship and locate a specific individual aboard.
The VBSS mission is a regular, but vital part of the 31st MEU’s certification as a Maritime Contingency Force. The training teaches service members how to board a ship, search it for weaponry or combatants, and eventually gain control of the vessel.
MEU snipers provided support from the air, aboard a SH-60 helicopter, and from a nearby shouldering ship.
Throughout the evolution, the MRF secured and held key areas of the ship and detained persons of interest for further questioning.
The training evolution prepares the MEU to conduct maritime interdiction operations throughout the Pacific Command’s area of of operations.
“Situations like this can happen at any time, much like the Magellan Star operation last Fall. The 15th MEU’s MRF successfully boarded that ship and detained nine pirates while recovering the crew,” said Gunnery Sgt. Steven Sarten, Special Missions Chief Instructor for Special Operations Training Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. “And by doing this training, this certifies the 31st MEU to always be ready, always be on stand-by and be able to be called upon at anytime to conduct this mission.”
The training was conducted as a part of the MEU’s certification exercise and coincided with the unit’s participation in exercise Cobra Gold 2011.

Where are the liberals on this???

Fascinating.

The liberals in the US and Europe were all over the story of the unrest in Egypt.  They pushed hard for Mubarak to step down and refused to see the danger that his unplanned ouster would mean to the rest of the Middle East.

Now we have this drama going on not only in Bahrain but in the rest of the M.E. and all we hear is silence.

Why?

Graphic images...probably too strong for liberal stomachs.

XP-67...First blended wing, semi stealth fighter?

My love affair with airplanes from the past continue.  Introducing the XP-67...if they had gotten the engines to work this would have been a war winner!

What The F*CK!!!!

Thanks Phil for sending me this link!!!

ELP Defens(c)e Blog is in favor of the F-35?????

Now that the latest USAF gathering in Orlando–which in recent years doesn’t
produce much of anything–is over, we can have the week of wild alternatives
for the USAF fighter roadmap. How to fix a force structure in the coming
years of shrinking budgets? Well, we need ideas. And these will be thrown
around mostly for entertainment purposes. And when I state “shrinking
budgets”, I mean real bad stuff. All plans will assume the stupids in D.C.
let F-22 production close.

Plan one.

The F-35 program will be composed of 20 Fighter Groups. Each group will have
one squadron of 24 F-35B STOVL aircraft. They will be procured at 48 per
year for 10 years. This does not count extras for test, training and
development. This will support 10 AEFs and allow for home air defense of the
most basic kind.

A-10s stays as-is. Refurb as much and as many times as needed.

Ok, if ELP is in favor of the F-35B then the world is spinning backwards, the end times are here and there is hope for the world to get right again!

The Battle of Iwo Jima began today.

Today marks the 66th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, under the command of the V Amphibious Corps,  participated in this battle along with an enormous Naval Task Force under the command of Marc Mitscher

Another page of American history worth relearning.

Weekend Humor.

Weekend humor is being provided by Cracked Magazine.  First up is...

The 11 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered

and then we have...

7 Historical Figures Who Were Absurdly Hard To Kill

yep, its slightly morbid but entertaining none-the-less.

Montage of German WW2 Concept Aircraft.

I am constantly impressed by the innovation shown by the pioneers of aerial engineering.  Whether friend or foe they were brilliant.

Wow.

Everyday, No Days Off Blogspot posted this and its down right...I don't know what it is....

An unknown USMC core competency

"The questions raised last summer by deputy Navy Secretary Robert Work and by Gates himself about the Marines' future "created not a little bit of angst," in the Corps, Dunford said.

"Paranoia is one of our core competencies," he added, "but rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Assistant Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. 

via Ares Defense Blog.

Hmm.  Have I been acting paranoid in regards to the future of the Marine Corps?

I don't think so!

Why is the discussion of the F-35 so contentious.

On Ares, the commenter Horde, asks the question...am I posting under another name (in particular his current nemesis "JackJack").

I can assure you I don't --- and I won't.

Why is the discussion so contentious about the F-35?  In my opinion ---especially after this latest episode---is because we're all operating in a vacuum and some would rather state opinions as facts instead of acknowledging the lack of information that we all suffer from.