Breaking Defense is so caught up in the beltway that they don't understand Republican politics...

via Breaking Defense.

“As usual, he (Obama) has the upper hand in these negotiations. Hopefully, this (veto) will reinvigorate the already-stalled budget talks underway,” Eaglen, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, said in an email.
That helps explain why — aside from the usual partisan reaction of we must strike back because the other guy did something — defense Republicans are trying really hard to get someone in America to care about the veto of the defense policy bill.
To help get someone outside of Washington to pay attention to what really is an important measure — whichever side of the Overseas Contingency Operations funding issue you’re on — Republicans launched a Twitter campaign yesterday afternoon to stir the faithful using the hashtags #OverrideTheVeto and #FY16NDAA.

They don't get it.  They don't begin to understand the Republican party and the limitations placed on them by its public.

Ryan has little to no wiggle room.

Quite honestly the issue is already decided because of this veto.  The nation will have a continuing resolution that will take it thru the Presidential Election.

What's amazing though is the thinking here.  They put forward the possibility that the budget will be passed by taking out the Overseas Contingency Operations portion of it.  I seriously doubt it.  What BD failed to realize is that the President threw down a gauntlet.  Its either fund defense and social programs equally or there will be no acceptable budget deal.

And that's the rub.  Republicans rank and file feel like they've been rolled over and over again.  There will be a literal war inside the party if that happens...which means it won't...especially this close to the election.

The President doesn't have the upper hand.  He created another round of gridlock.  The budget hawks win.  The last chance for the F-35 ramp up dies.

The Most Powerful Amphibious Force Of All Time (vid)

I can't figure if this is a birthday ball message, a shot across the bow at the start of the budget wars or simply a bit of motivation because the troops are pissed.  Either way .... pretty cool.

When combat isn't combat via DefenseOne.

via DefenseOne.

We have this capability. It is a great American strength,” Carter said Friday at the Pentagon of special operations raids like the one this week. But he insisted those raids are not the same as the U.S.military “assuming a combat role.”
“Americans are flying combat missions, thousands of combat missions, over Syria and Iraqi territory. There are Americans involved in training and advising Iraqi security forces around the country. We do not have combat formations there the way we had once upon a time in Iraq, or the way we have had in years past in Afghanistan,” Carter said.

 Then this drivel from the Defense Dept Press Sec...

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook had been blunter on Thursday: “Our mission in Iraq is the train, advise and assist mission. This was a unique circumstance…This was a support mission in which they were providing support to the Kurdistan Regional Government. U.S. forces are not in an active combat mission in Iraq.”

Really?

Fucking seriously?

An American Special Ops soldier dies from small arms fire while participating in a raid to rescue Iraqi and Kurd forces from an ISIS prison and its not combat?

FUCK THEM ALL!

How many people have thrown away their credibility to protect one man?  How many are willing to lie to protect the policies of one individual?

And they wonder why Vets, Retirees and Active Duty members aren't upset about the budget being vetoed?  This isn't the military that I remember and it sure isn't the leadership that I guess I took for granted.  Once you could always count on at least one person shouting bullshit.  Now?  They all line up and kiss the ring.

Rant over. 

HMAS Canberra does CH-47 flight trials via Alert 5 Blog...

Textron Systems Unveiled its Advanced Amphibious Craft for US Army MSV(L) and US Navy SC(X)R

Check out the story over at Navy Recognition (here).

Oh and Textron.  All sins forgiven.  Get it done boys!

F-35 Block 4 Upgrade list is unaffordable!

via Breaking Defense.

But there’s a problem, Bogdan freely admitted. With wish-lists coming from three US armed services and foreign partners — seven if Canada drops out (more on that below) — the upgrade package has swollen beyond what’s feasible or affordable, Bogdan said. The next six to eight months will be crucial as the program office, US services, and foreign partners wrestle over those requirements. If they can’t whittle them down, then the F-35 modernization effort may suffer the same cost overruns and schedule slips as many programs in the past, including the original F-35 program itself.
“I know that these further upgrades are essential, but I think it’s important for us to try to get a handle on this before it gets out of whack as we’ve seen [on] this project from the very beginning,” longtime F-35 skeptic Loretta Sanchez, the top Democrat on the committee, told Bogdan. “So,” she asked pointedly, “does the F-35 program have a prioritized list [of requirements]?”
“We have a large amount of requirements that I today believe are unaffordable,” he said frankly. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons in the last three years about what the original EMD (Engineering, Manufacturing and Development) program looked like; I don’t want the follow-on program to look anything like that.”
The basic issue with the requirements list is that “it grew over time as threats evolved,” Harrigian told reporters. “It grew to, frankly, an unacceptable list that we are now working through to determine what no-kidding capabilities…do we need to have on this airplane to ensure we stay ahead of the threat.

Here.

Well I was wondering what the next shoe to drop on the F-35 would be and now we have it.

This flying piece of shit will cost EVEN MORE MONEY to get it combat capable....and even then they won't be able to afford all the desired upgrades requested by the USAF, USN, USMC, and our allies.

Time to pull the plug now!

NOTE:  What do I not like about F-16.net?  They have an environment where only F-35 supporters can participate on their page.  If you are a detractor (like me) then you will be shouted down and ostracized to a point where you will simply leave instead of putting up with the headache.  I don't want that here with the misguided individuals that think that the F-35 is worthwhile.  I WANT THE DEBATE!  I WANT THE DISCUSSION!  I want it to happen in the right way. I'm hardly a bleeding heart but the discussion MUST be had if we're to get more people to our side.  So what does that mean?  IT MEANS LAY OFF LEROY!  He's acting as the voice for many so lets show them they're wrong, not simply cuss, fuss and tell them to eat shit and die.  We're winning and winning big.  But new people brought to our side is never a bad thing.  Remember.  I was once a HUGE supporter of this program and if I can be convinced that I was wrong then so can others....even at this late stage.

One burning question about the effort to replace Assad.

We've listened to the Administration talk about how Assad must go.  We've watched them backing rebels...many with questionable resumes....with military assistance, but no one is asking the real question.

We have the intel to be able to locate Assad and his remaining generals to within a few feet.  So why haven't we sent a couple of F-15E's from the UK loaded with some of the bunker busters and micro fragment his ass?

Why are we looking for style points when it comes to his removal?  Why must it be accomplished by rebel groups?

2nd ACR @ Exercise Brave Warrior 2015....Photos by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn

F-35 News. Stick a fork in it...

via The Hill.

 President Obama will veto a major defense policy bill Thursday, just two days after the Republican-controlled Congress sent it to his desk. 
Obama plans to hold a photo-op in the Oval Office when he uses his veto pen on the National Defense Authorization Act, according to his public schedule.
The decision amounts to a public rebuke of congressional Republicans, who warned Obama not to veto the measure as part of a showdown over government spending.

Obama has threatened to veto the bill, which typically receives bipartisan support, primarily because it puts $38 billion into a war fund not subject to budget caps.

The president argues that it irresponsibly skirts spending caps put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act. He has called on Congress to increase both defense and non-defense spending.

“The bill includes this slush fund tactic that’s an irresponsible way to fund our most basic national security priorities,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters last week.

GOP lawmakers have accused Obama of playing politics with national security by promising to veto the defense bill.

“There’s no need — and frankly, no place — for any politics here," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a signing ceremony Tuesday. "So I hope the president will do the right thing and sign this bill for our troops and their families.”
Republicans have pledged to attempt to override Obama’s veto, but it’s unlikely they have the votes to do so.

The Senate voted 70-27 to pass the bill, enough to override a veto. Democratic leaders have said, however, that some members would switch their vote to avoid defying the president.

The House vote count, 270-156, would not be enough to override a veto.

Full disclosure.

I called the F-35 death spiral but there was one (1) way out for the program.  It would be if the President signed the NDAA that Congress sent him.  Congress, with the backing of a few critters from bases that the F-35 was to be stationed in along with the usual defense hawks, could have/would have saved the program if this appropriation had been signed.

But as usual the Pentagon fucked up.

They backed the President's play and stated that they supported his veto of this bill....and so the last chance for the production ramp up dies with a veto signing ceremony....

The F-35 is fucked....proper fucked. 
(Sidenote:  F-16.net is suddenly grave yard quiet....I wonder why? Lol!)

McCain calls DEATH SPIRAL for F-35!!!!!

Thanks to Don for the link!

via Defense News.

In a brief comment to reporters, McCain seemed to signal that the total projected buy for the Pentagon's most costly and ambitious program — 2,443 in total, spread across three models for the Air Force, Marines and Navy — is out of whack with budget realities. He said that cost growth in the program will mean fewer jets overall.
"We're going to have to reduce the buy," he said. "The number they are now quoting — there's just not going to be that many."
McCain, a longtime critic of the F-35, is known for hitting the program for a series of cost overruns and delays. But calling for a formal reduction in the Pentagon's buy of the jets has been a touchy subject in the Defense Department.
For years, the Pentagon and backers in Congress have fiercely guarded the 2,443 figure for the F-35, quickly shooting down talk that the number could be reduced.
That seemed to change earlier this year, when Gen. Joseph Dunford, now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in testimony that the Pentagon is "presently taking the newest strategic foundation and analyzing whether 2,443 aircraft is the correct number."
That was followed by similar written comments from Adm. John Richardson, who, during his hearing to be named Chief Naval Officer, wrote that he would work to "re-validate the appropriate number of aircraft the Navy requires."

This is the CLASSIC DEATH SPIRAL!

The funny thing?  Its been plain to see to anyone with eyes to see.