British Harriers...then and now....

pic via RetroWar...

Then...

Now....

The Budget Battle. Head up on this one guys...

Consider this a heads up for what to watch next week.  Check this out from UPI.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced that he, Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agreed on a stopgap measure Thursday to keep the government running to allow for negotiations on a "meaningful" budget. Their meeting was a clear signal they were taking the possibility of a shutdown seriously.
Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending bill before government funding runs out at the end of the fiscal year. Reid said the measure would be a short-term one that includes the same size increase for military and non-military spending.

We've seen this playbook before.

The Democrats are about to use the defense budget as a foil to get increased domestic spending.  Expect Graham and McCain to lead the charge for the Pentagon...and expect every General available to appear on news shows talking about how the services need more money to accomplish their missions.

It semi-worked last year and we saw an increase in the budget.

I don't think it will work now though.  Relations between Congress and the White House are strained.  The Presidential election season is in full swing.  No one wants to be seen "wasting" money.  And this is before the Planned Parenthood controversy is added to the mix.

Additionally the public is in a foul mood and the idea that all is not well with the economy especially with the action by the Fed.

My prediction?  A continuing resolution at or just a little above current levels.

Pic of the day....Kuganets-25.

Thanks to Dragon for the link!

Pentagon Warns of F-35 Cuts.....

via Bloomberg..

The Pentagon would cut purchases of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 by a third if the current deadlock over the next year’s U.S. spending ends in a full-year stopgap bill, according to Comptroller Michael McCord.
“It would be illegal to buy” more than the 38 stealth fighters being purchased this year, McCord said in an interview. “So there’s 19 planes we are not buying if we are in a full-year” extension of current spending.
It was an early warning from the Defense Department on what it considers the worst-case outcome of current federal spending conflicts within Congress and between lawmakers and the White House: Gridlock probably would lead to a short-term “continuing resolution” to keep the government operating when the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 -- or to reopen it after a brief shutdown.
If such a workaround is later extended for the rest of the year, weapons production rates would be frozen at the previous year’s level while new programs and multiyear contracts are precluded, McCord said.

Interesting.  This current crop of military leaders threw their supporters under the bus, talked about a "new" this or that, lied and treated those that actually CARE about military matters like fools.

Now.

Now they expect sympathy?  Now they need the public to mobilize to make phone calls to show displeasure and they really think its going to happen?

Why should we?

Pass the popcorn.  I want to see the budget burn.  I want sequestration, not just another continuing resolution!  They wasted money, made stupid budget decisions and placed platforms over people....and decided that a social experiment is more important than combat capability.

The worst leadership in several generations is gonna finally get its comeuppance.

USAF Chief speaking at the 2015 Air & Space Conference (vid)

Saudi/GCC troops captured, paraded on TV...

Thanks to Spook for the link!

via Yahoo.

Sanaa (AFP) - Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen claim to have captured several troops from Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition against the insurgents, parading one of the soldiers on television.
The Iran-backed rebels' Al-Masirah television late on Wednesday showed footage of a man dressed in military fatigues who identified himself as Sergeant Ibrahim Hakmi of a Saudi brigade based in the Jazan border area.
The man said he was being held along with several other Saudi soldiers, but did not specify how many. He also did not say how, when or where he was allegedly captured.
AFP could not verify if the man was indeed a Saudi soldier and Riyadh had yet to comment on the claim.
Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region has been the scene of frequent clashes and cross-border shelling since the country launched an air campaign against the rebels in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Backed by renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the northern rebels seized Yemen's capital Sanaa a year ago and pushed Hadi into exile in March after advancing on his refuge in the southern city of Aden.
Pro-Hadi fighters, backed by troops freshly trained and armed by Saudi Arabia, ejected the rebels from Aden in July and have since recaptured four other southern provinces.
Several thousand troops from coalition countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also reported to have entered the country.

This has gone from bad to worse for Saudi/GCC.

Quick question.  How do you define a quagmire?  When does the Saudi Kingdom decide that the loss of men and material has reached a point where its no longer worth it?  When do they decide that a hit to their pride and prestige is worth it so that they can protect their homeland?

Is it too much to say that the Iranians are defeating the Saudis in this proxy war?

1st Battalion, 6th Marines does Bridgeport Summer Package... photos by Lance Cpl. Connor Hancock

The Summer Package is a blast. Winter? A kick in the ass!

Australia! You're on crack bro!

Thanks to Think Defence for the link!

via CNN
Beware, dry weather in Australia may be causing snakes to slither into toilets:

This is just wrong.  The people are cool...maybe even awesome, but the critters are on crack!  No.  Just fucking NO!

This is what fast roping from a MV-22 looks like???? Photo by Cpl. Leah Agler

Marines with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force—Crisis Response—Central Command, conduct fast rope training from an MV-22 Osprey while deployed to Southwest Asia, Sept. 16, 2015. Fast roping allows Marines to insert ground forces quickly from the air, without the need for a stabilized landing zone.

JESUS H. CHRIST!

The HRST Master sent one of his Marines own a rope and its hanging like that?  Take a real good look boys and girls.  Do you see the rope beneath that Marines body?  I can't tell if its just at an angle being blocked from view or if its what we see being whipped around.

I hope someone that's currently qualified can skool me on this but wow.  Just wow.  That looks dangerous as fuck (and I'm talking about beyond the "inherently dangerous" stuff that is done every day in training environments).

This looks more like a slide for life instead of a fast rope.  More info on this please (facts not opinions)...and if this is common why isn't it being fixed?

Sidenote.  Not slamming the HRST Master, not slamming 3/7, not slamming the wing.  I just want more info on how things are done today with regard to fast roping from MV-22's.

Sidenote 1.  Got my answer and it clears things up nicely.  It also explains why you don't see Marines fast roping with heavy gear from MV-22s.  "Ordinary" fast roping employs hands AND feet.  From what I've been told, fast roping from MV-22s is an upper body exercise.  The weak need not apply. 

Army Stryker's on exercise with Sakal IFV's.

This is why US Army Europe is so anxious about upgrading the Stryker with a 30mm gun.  If you watch the vid, you'll see them doing gunnery alongside BMP-2's.  A vehicle that was first introduced in 1982 yet it still outguns the Stryker.  Later (and most interesting to me) I get a first look at the Sakal IFV (I did a post on it here).

The US Army sees the writing on the wall.  The doctrine doesn't match but the optics are terrible.  They need a 30mm gun just so they won't get laughed off the continent.