F-35 News. Election watch CANADA!!!!

Almost forgot about this till Peter_Goon reminded me!  Guess what the Pentagon, JSF Program office and HQMC/USAF HQ will be doing today?

If you said working hard to make the F-35 the fighter that they all claimed you'd be wrong.

They're going to be watching the elections in CANADA!

You are watching the future of the F-35 program wrapped up in the politics of a nation.  If the conservatives win then the program will be bolstered.  If it loses then its thrown into chaos.

The funny thing?  The business plan for the F-35 revolved around giving enough production offsets to make it too good to pass up.  The recession, rising costs and being horribly late have messed that up.  Now this multi-national project could be held hostage by the whims of voters in one nation.

Absolutely fucking amazing.

Oh and if you think the pain train is just coming from "little" blogs then check this out from Real Clear Defense (a major source of news for policy makers)...

But expectations for the F-35 to maintain Israel’s regional air dominance may be misplaced. The aircraft lacks the performance to go toe-to-toe with other new fighters fielded by neighboring states.

That my friends is a clear declaration of this airplanes performance.  "It lacks the performance to go toe-to-toe with other new fighters fielded by neighboring states."

That clear, simple statement should send chills down the spine of any Marine.  We've given up combat power on hopes and promises.  As a tribe we know better, so the question becomes...why didn't we do better?

Putin takes the gloves off. He issues a direct challenge to the White House.

Thanks to William for the link!

via Bloomberg.

As Russia’s air war in Syria nears its fourth week, officials now admit that Moscow’s aim is far broader than the publicly announced fight against terrorist groups.
The Kremlin’s real goal is to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retake as much as possible of the territory his forces
have lost to opponents, including U.S.-backed rebels, Russian officials say. Moscow’s deployment of several dozen planes, as
well as ships in the Black and Caspian Seas, could last a year or more, one official said. President Vladimir Putin is willing to run the risk of falling into the kind of quagmire that helped sink the Soviet
Union a generation ago for the chance to roll back U.S. influence and demonstrate he can dictate terms to Washington. If
the strategy is successful, Russia’s largest military drive in
decades outside the former Soviet Union would force the U.S. and
its allies to choose between Assad, whom they oppose for his
human-rights abuses, and the brutal extremists of Islamic State.
“They’re going to have to recognize that Islamic State is
the real threat that has been countered only by the Syrian
regular army commanded by President Bashar al-Assad,” said
Iliyas Umakhanov, deputy speaker of the upper house Federation
Council, who oversees international relations at the assembly.

Full article here.

Remember my little meme of Putin sitting on our couch drinking our milkshake, eyeing our wife?  Remember me going on to say that we need to get a handle on this situation before before he takes her, the furniture, the house, the truck and the kids start calling him daddy?

I was right.

This is a pure power play and Russia is seeking to be the "Kingmaker" in the region...the funny thing?  They're already halfway there.  Note the regional leaders that have traveled to Moscow recently.  Note the regional leaders that are scared shitless by what they see as weak US leadership (they never mention the EU by the way).  This problem needs to be worked!  Make no mistake about it.  This is a direct challenge to the White House.

Has the US Army Ranger School created a "recruiting" problem for itself?

via Ledger-Inquirer

Maj. Gen. Scott Miller’s voice held frustration late Friday afternoon during a quickly arranged media roundtable on the fourth floor of McGinnis-Wickam Hall, headquarters of the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence.
The commanding general of Fort Benning has been fighting allegations for months that female soldiers were given special treatment to pass Ranger School, the most physically and mentally demanding training offered by the Army.
Four hours after the third woman graduated, Miller sat front and center with Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Metheny to his right and four members of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, including the commander, Col. David Fivecoat, and Command Sgt. Maj. Curtis Arnold, on his left flank.
“There are some people who obviously have some concerns,” Miller said. “I can’t address them if they are opaque. These guys can’t address them or fix them if they are opaque.”

The General is simply lying his ass off.

Do you know how many witch hunts have started based on "opaque" information?  If you don't then let me get you up to speed....its LEGION!

To see the Ranger School caught up in this type of controversy especially when they could easily dig into this and sort it out one way or the other tells me everything...The women "Rangers" got pencil whipped.

Calling the Inspector General and have them independently investigate all the "opaque" concerns would be so easy it isn't funny...but the good general refuses to do so.  Instead he gets sympathetic media to do fluff pieces like this one.  But for the US Army a bigger issue just popped up.  Has the Ranger Tab been tainted?  Is it not to be respected?

Put that to one side for a minute.

You're a Sgt or LT (male) and you're being told that you need to go to Ranger School.  Would you dare?  Do you believe that it's fair now?  Would you put yourself thru a grueling course if you suspected that "chosen" individuals will be passed and others will be held to a different and much tougher standard?  If you drop how will you be viewed by your peers now?

I bet Ranger School has just created a "recruiting" issue for itself.

Russian Machine Guns on US Tanks no big deal? We're getting trolled on Russian Social Media...

Pic via Vitaly Kuzmin...

In case you don't know him, Vitaly Kuzmin is a well known photo journalist in Russia.  He usually plays it straight and I haven't detected any "propaganda" in his work....he just get the info out (some of the best pics of the Armata MBT came from him).

So consider my surprise when I saw this on his page.  His assessment of this?

"Brilliant"!

I've always discounted the "human terrain" theory but I think we're seeing it at play here.  For better or worse I believe we're being seen as totally inept in Russia and around the world.

Iraqi Forces Add Russian Machine Gun to US Abrams Tank

via Sputnik.

The US-Russian tank hybrid has unnerved the Pentagon. According to the officials the hybrid could result in violations of Iraq’s FMS agreements with Washington, due to unauthorized use by Shiite militias and the unsanctioned addition of the Russian gun and Iranian ammo.

Our friends (as if Iraq could be called a friend) no longer respect us and our enemies no longer fear us.

Unless things change drastically the legacy of the US president will be the same as Bush Jr...drastic failure on the international stage.  What makes his time worse?  Even his "legacy" items are tarnished.  The Iran Nuke Deal is being questioned by even his most ardent supporters and no one can point to a single success.  His only hope is TPP and most Americans are against that too.

NOTE:  For all the people that are saying this isn't a big deal...just go to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency website (here) and check out all the gear/ammo/vehicles that were expedited to Iraq.  This move isn't a wartime emergency.  Its a choice and a slap in the face.

Syrian News. Where is all the new gear coming from?

Thanks to InfoInfanterie for the link!



The above video is of the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Force moving to Aleppo.

The combat vids that are flowing out are interesting but this is stunning.  Check out the troops on march.  Brand new helmet covers, sparkling load bearing equipment and I even thought I saw a cherry M16 (type unknown) being palmed by one of those men.  Even the armored vehicles appear to be "new"!  Not the battle damaged stuff we saw before but newish type vehicles that definitely have not been beat up by over 2 years of war.

Where is all this new gear coming from?

That's the real story here.  Not the airstrikes but the reconstitution of Syria's Army.  No one is keeping track of cargo ships/planes but that's where the real action is.

F-35 News. Carter says "no" to S. Korean Defense Chief...

via koreajoongangdaily...

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter refused to transfer four key technologies needed to build Korea’s KF-X fighter jets despite Korean National Defense Minister Han Min-koo’s appeals Thursday.

Han accompanied President Park Geun-hye on her first visit to the Department of Defense during a four-day Washington trip leading up to a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama.
In bilateral talks with Carter, Han asked the Pentagon chief to reconsider Washington’s rejection of an export license for key technologies from Lockheed Martin to be transferred to Korea to help develop its indigenous fighter jets over the next decade.

But the U.S. government made clear it wants to preserve its advanced F-35 stealth fighter technology, including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) multifunction radar system, for security reasons.

A Korean defense official told reporters after the talks on Thursday that “Minister Han requested a forward-looking review of the transfer of the technologies for the KF-X project, but Secretary Carter adhered to the position that it would be difficult to transfer the four technologies for the KF-X, even conditionally.”

This is the first time that I've seen the US react to the closer ties between China and S. Korea.

Interesting.

The S. Koreans want to have it both ways but they're finally STARTING to pay the consequences.  Next up?  Operational control of forces in their country.  The S. Koreans have been fighting it for one simple reason.  They know that the moment they assume control is the moment that the US starts reducing the number of forces their.  It won't come from the Army or Pentagon either.  Current military leadership believes in keeping a large contingent of forces there.  The problem for the S. Koreans is the civilian leaders.

With the Army going down to about 10 division's worth of troops and with a division or so permanently attached to ops in the Middle East/Europe (with another division--the 82nd for all intents and purposes on standby for reinforcement), you just don't have much slack left.

One thing is certain.  The S. Koreans are stung by this decision and even worse is the fact that they're falling further behind the hated Japanese when it comes to developing a homegrown stealth fighter.

2nd ACR in Hungary..pics by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn

Blast from the past. XH-59...US military pissing away great designs since the 1970's...

Thanks to Dracae for the link!

all photos from Wikipedia.

Read about this great bird here.

What I find depressing is that with all the designs that we're seeing coming today, they're just rehashed/washed examples of work that was done in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

I don't know what's going on, but it seems that the great aircraft designers have all retired, passed away or go on to do other things....or it could be that the US military is too conservative to know ground changing tech when they see it and stick to traditional designs.  Either way its frustrating to think of what could have been if only someone had been a bit bolder on the procurement side of things (and no...this does not give a pass to a basic design like the F-35 that has taken forever, costs too much and delivers absolutely nothing).

Bonus coverage.  These are some of the variants that Sikorsky was proposing...

Russian strategy. Stabilize, end Ukraine conflict...ramp up in Syria?

Thanks to William for the link!

via Bloomberg

By Daryna Krasnolutska

(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine will start withdrawing weapons from
a clash line in its pro-Russian separatist Donetsk region on
Sunday as a truce is holding, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko
said.
Ukrainian government troops will pull back mortars with a
caliber less than 120 millimeters and cannons with a caliber
less than 100 millimeters, Lysenko told reporters on Saturday in
Kiev. Separatists would start weapon withdrawal on Oct. 21,
Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Friday, citing rebel
commander Eduard Basurin.
“The ceasefire is holding exemplary along the frontline,”
Lysenko said. “As a result no Ukrainian serviceman was killed or
wounded.”
The Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian insurgents in
the country’s easternmost regions agreed to pull back tanks and
light weapons earlier this month. They were given 41 days to
complete the withdrawal, which would move tanks and light
artillery 30 kilometers (19 miles) from each other.

The visuals are terrible for the administration.

First the ceasefire in Ukraine is holding.  Why is this bad?  Because it gives the Europeans an excuse to end the sanctions, allows trade to resume ahead of what appears to be a harsh winter and Russia's allies in Ukraine retain all territory taken.

Quite honestly this scenario was predicted.  What wasn't seen is the new push into Syria.

But the bigger issue is that this is another failure for our Admin, and State Dept. They have been "outfoxed" at every turn.

This is unsat on a geo-political level.  The Russians are drinking our milkshake and have their feet up on our couch eyeing our wife.  Its time to get serious before they take her, the furniture, the house, truck and the kids starting calling Putin daddy.