American Mercenary takes another look at USAF & CAS

via AM

Close Air Support is the biggest mission the USAF has going if a war lasts more than a few months. But during the first bit of a war, CAS isn't even on any USAF planners minds. The USAF views CAS as a very low priority mission because it is not a "future shaping" mission. CAS effects the battlefield today where Air Superiority/Supremacy leads to conducting the "deep strike" mission with impunity. The "deep strike" mission is often the exact same targets as what they would service in CAS, but without any troops in contact.

Read it all here. 

The USAF if nothing else has a public relations problem..but in my opinion its more than that.

They're picking and choosing missions to justify the toys they want to buy.  The F-35?  MAYBE.  Just maybe it fits the 1st Gulf War's "first day of war" concept, but we didn't do it that way for the 2nd.  If they're planning on fighting technologically advanced opponents that have even two brain cells to rub together then the days of being able to launch a 90 plus day bombing campaign are long over.

What does that mean?

It means that China will be launching missiles at our bases, trying to sink our ships and putting our troops in contact at the worst possible times.

It means that CAS will be necessary from day one.

The USAF has a problem...and it relates to mindset and ideology.  Time for a purge in that service.

Badger-15 Exercise (Polish Army) photo essay via Defence24.

Defence24 outdid themselves with this one!  More pics here.

James Yeager gives the quote of the month...

via James Yeager's FaceBook Page.

Women fail at being a Ranger because they are physically and mentally different than Rangers. It is not misogyny it is biology.

I'm just the messenger so for all you type B males that want to tell your dominate female about me....save it.  Naw screw that.  Yeager said it but I believe it.

Bring the hate.  I need a good laugh today! 

Second Watercat M18 enters service with Finnish forces...

Thanks to Lee for the link!

The latest vessel developed by Marine Alutech is the Watercat M18 armored modular craft (AMC). This is a new landing craft which is designed to fulfill all modern requirements for future combat support vessels. It has been recently announced that Marine Alutech will deliver 12 pcs of these Watercat M18 AMC multipurpose high-speed landing crafts to Finnish Navy during 2014-2016. The vessels will be powered by two 660kW Scania diesel engines and feature Rolls-Royce waterjet propulsion.

The Watercat M18 AMC is suitable for troop transportation, medical and evacuation tasks, landing operations, patrolling and escort tasks, as well as combat and battle support scenarios. The vessel has been specially designed for archipelagic, coastal and offshore conditions with an effective heating and air-conditioning system allowing heat and extreme cold, arid or humid climates.

Ooooh.  Yes please.  I'll take 2 dozen for revitalized Small Boat Companies on both coasts....and maybe an additional dozen for our future base in the Philippines!

24th Special Tactics Squadron fast rope training...

Members from the U.S. Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Fort Bragg, complete helo, fast rope and hoisting training during exercise Advanced Guard, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., April 14, 2014. Advanced Guard is a multimillion dollar exercise spanning across the states to train special operators to conduct joint operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jodi Martinez/Released)

Geez.  Tongue in cheek guys.  Don't get mad 24th STS!  Are USMC pilots just sadistic or do these boys seem to be fast roping alot closer to the ground than is standard?  Assuming the roper is 6ft tall, the helicopter has to be no more than 20 feet off the ground.  A little lower and you could just jump out.

In a fight for survival, Ukraine is selling its best tanks?

via Defence24

Information about the preparation for the transfer of Thailand batch of five tanks T-84 Braid-M appeared in the Vietnamese media in April this year. Unofficial reports have talked about conducting trials in Ukraine vehicles, which were to be subsequently transported to Thailand.
Currently on defense-blog published photos of braids landed from ships in Thailand. In practice, this means probably that the recipient's machine has already been transferred.
Thailand has ordered 49 tanks T-84 basic braid-M in Ukraine in 2011. Contract for the acquisition was worth $ 200 million. The first five machines, after tests in the country of manufacture, delivered in February 2014.

Here.

So let me get this straight.  Ukraine is in a fight for its very survival.  Its equipping its troops with WW2 relics, or hand me downs from friendly nations, its begging for gear of all type and yet it has the AUDACITY to sell potentially game changing armored vehicles to Thailand?

Really?

Seriously?

Just plain wow.  If they're not going to take the war seriously...if the government is more concerned with profit and propping up business than it is with ensuring a WIN in the war then why should we in the West care what happens!

Tell me I'm missing something because the optics are terrible.

Naval Guns News. BAE brings traditional firepower into the 21st Century.

via USNI News.

The U.S. Navy’s deck guns could take on new relevance if ongoing tests to fire a guided round at five times the speed of sound from their muzzles are successful, USNI News has learned.
Using rounds initially designed for the service’s emerging electromagnetic railgun, Naval Sea Systems Command are now in early testing phases of using the planned hyper velocity projectile (HVPs) with the service’s existing gunpowder-based deck guns found on almost every U.S. Navy surface ship, NAVSEA told USNI News.

Here.

The possibilities are .... mind boggling!

Precision, high speed firepower that isn't weather dependent?  Yes please!  This is what the Company Landing Team Concept needs on steroids.  I have serious doubts about the air component being able to deliver on the promise of providing the type of close air support that our ground forces have come to expect....but if all forms of artillery can fill the void then we're looking at maintaining, maybe even increasing, the standard.

But our black shoe friends will be able to make claims to more.  Surface engagements will (maybe) be possible without the use of missiles.  Consider.  The projectiles will have longer reach than the Harpoon.  The next idea is to place these on trucks for shore defense.  Taiwan?  You seeing this buddy?

This is a pretty exciting development in my opinion.

Open Carry in Texas. Gun rights loses by winning.

via Breitbart.

The bill, which will take effect after being signed by the Governor on January 1, 2016, will allow people with Concealed Handgun Licenses to openly carry a handgun in a belt or shoulder holster. Should the Campus Carry Bill pass on Saturday as expected, licensees will not be able to openly carry a handgun on campus.

Here.

Bring the hate.  Its time for some bitter truth.  The biggest vulnerability the Gun Rights agenda is currently facing is from the group of people that advocate open carry.

Its the most insane I could possibly think of in this day and age.

First its tactically stupid.

Let me repeat.  Its tactically stupid.  I've seen many Law Enforcement Officials walking around in what appears to be a dazed, slack eyed and stupid way, not wearing snatch proof holsters, fat as cows and while I think that I'm a good guy, I've often thought that it would be child's play to take their weapon while they're so focused on their Iphone, some chick's ass or some paperwork that they leaning across a counter doing.

Make it a civilian with the latest style holster that actually belongs in a 3-gun match and not on the streets and my prediction is that you're going to see open carry morons get robbed so many times it gonna make heads spin.  Some of these people are gonna die with weapons that they brought to a gunfight they weren't prepared for.

The next issue is gonna be the news coverage of the inevitable assaults, thefts and deaths of these open carriers when the criminals zero in on the fact that these people are walking around with decent, to good, to high dollar handguns that are ripe for the picking.

The idea of the irresponsible gun owner is about blossom.  Many in the gun rights community are gonna think this is a win.  Its not.  We lost by winning.

Sidenote:  Spare me the "its our right" argument.  If you compromise your ultimate goal by enforcing a "right" that is questionable at best then in my opinion you're being foolish.  We'll see what we see but this is gonna bring nothing but misery to the movement.

Sidenote 2:  If I was a police chief in Texas I would develop protocols that open carriers have the right to carry but when approached by my officers they would be proned out and made safe...then their credentials would be checked.  I would have the ass of any of my officers that didn't put the fear of God or at least make it a tremendous hassle.  YEAH BRING THE HATE, but unless checks are done then what's gonna happen is that we see criminals open carrying because some prohibition has been put in place on checking these people when they're walking around BRANDISHING firearms...oh and brandishing includes OPEN DISPLAY!

USAF not interested in electronic warfare.

via Reuters.

The U.S. Air Force on Monday said it aims to meet electronic warfare needs using next-generation aircraft such as Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter and a new long-range bomber, rather than older planes like Boeing Co's EA-18G Growler.
Air Combat Command Commander General Herbert Carlisle said the F-35 offered "some pretty impressive" electronic warfare capabilities - consisting of jamming enemy signals to make it easier for warplanes to bomb targets on the ground and other offensive actions - though he gave no details.
Carlisle said a bomber for which a contract will be awarded in coming months, and the associated "family of systems" to be rolled out in coming years, would also give the Air Force new electronic warfare capabilities.
"With the limited (budget), you've got to think harder about buying brand new legacy airplanes versus the next generation as we go forward," Carlisle told reporters after an event hosted by the Air Force Association booster group.

Once again, the F-35 possesses impressive capabilities but AGAIN officials refuse to state what those capabilities are, and expect the public to take it on faith that the airplane will deliver.  Interesting isn't it?  The US Navy definitely doesn't lay all its cards on the table when it comes to what the Growlers do when it comes to the EA Mission but its quantifiable and not VAPORWARE.

If that's not bad enough, check this out from the same article...

However, neither of the services have endorsed that view, and a Navy-led study of the joint needs has not been released.
Carlisle said he had not been fully briefed on the study, which was completed this spring, but his preference would be to opt for newer, next-generation aircraft like the bomber or F-35.

The services conduct a study on EA warfare, the Air Force Chief states that he would opt for the F-35, even though he hasn't been FULLY briefed on the study?

That's Pentagon-ese for the preliminary results are terrible for them and they're looking for wiggle room to validate their views.

Long story short?

The USAF isn't interested in Close Air Support, Electronic Warfare, Nuclear Warfare---they've made a mess of the land and air delivered portions of the triad and if the moves with regard to transporting the 82nd are taken into account then the Forcible Entry Mission is also beneath their caring.

Do we really need a service that is only focused on two things....air superiority and deep strike?

How do you kill the F-35? You forget the technical and focus on the financial.

via Defense One.

The headline-grabbing $400 billion price tag for developing and buying 2,443 U.S.F-35s is less than half the cost of operating, maintaining, and upgrading all of those jets for the next half-century. In March estimates, various Pentagon offices put the total of those expenses between $859 billion and $1 trillion.

The critics of this program should have taken my advice.

Focus on the financial, not technical aspects of the F-35 if you want to kill it.

What do I mean?  Well here's some inside baseball.  I've talked to many of the critics of the F-35 program.  Unfortunately they're engineers, test pilots...in general they're professionals that have taken a look at this airplane, done simulations on its combat performance, compared it to legacy fighters that were given certain upgrades, kept track of issues (the engine is a topic of interest with this crowd) and I've had my eyes roll back in my head as they head into a forest of info that I couldn't keep up with.

They're wrong and missed the point...brilliance does not always lend itself to the correct answer...financial considerations is the achilles heel of this program.

Threats by Italy to reduce its buy due to its cost.  Canada delaying an announcement because of the planes cost.  Japan and S. Korea buying fewer than hoped because of its cost.  The Netherlands buying some, but again not as many as hoped because of cost.

Now we hear the Pentagon Program Chief making the announcement of block buys in the future and this article from Defense One about the need to "push down" maintenance costs.

The announcement from Kendall isn't a cause for celebration for this plane's supporters, its a indication of increased desperation on their part!

Critics of this airplane have missed an opportunity but its not too late.  Lockheed competitors, critics, and people interested in maintaining the defense of their nations need to focus like a laser on cost.

Educate the public, get Boeing, SAAB and Dassault to do cost comparisons in major defense pubs, write Op-Eds and pound on the cost issue like a thief caught in your home at night.

That's how you kill the F-35.