Spanish Army Aviation operating from the French Navy's BPC Dixmude (pics)

Denmark has placed an order for 309 Piranha 5 army personnel carriers

Thanks to Jonathan for the link!

via Reuters

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark has placed an order for 309 Piranha 5 army personnel carriers (APCs) from General Dynamics in a deal worth $662 million, the defense ministry said on Friday.
"This is a historically large investment in modern equipment for our army," Defence Minister Peter Christensen said in a statement.
(Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen; editing by Sabina Zawadzki)

The second big buy this week for the Piranha 5.

What am I missing?  Why is this 8x8 suddenly so popular?  How is Patria losing the European market to General Dynamics?

I predicted that the Patria AMV Advanced would be the "EU 8x8" in the same way the Leopard 2 is the "EU Tank".

I was wrong.  Even worse for Patria?  General Dynamics is the odds on favorite to win the UK Mechanised Infantry Vehicle contest.

The F-35 continues to destroy current/future budgets...

Thanks to Don for the link!

via Washington Post.

For example, auditors reported that the Defense Department’s massive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program Fighter “continues to encounter significant technical problems,” Dodaro testified, including engine and bulkhead failures, which require design changes at the same time aircraft production is well underway. DOD plans to steeply increase F-35 funding over the next five years and projects that it will need between $14 billion and $15 billion annually for nearly a decade.
GAO recommended that defense officials conduct a “comprehensive affordability analysis” of the F-35 program’s procurement plan, Dodaro said. DOD agreed with the recommendation, although the agency maintains that it accomplishes this through its annual budget process. Auditors say a more thorough analysis is necessary “to accurately account for the future technical and funding uncertainty” the program faces, he said.

I know what the Assistant Commandant for Aviation is saying.....

Tell everyone its perfect.  We'll fix it once we get it. 

The reality is stark.  This one airplane is destroying the Marine Corps.  How Dunford could allow this insanity to continue is beyond me.  Why Neller (and I've been told by more than one person that  I consider knowledgeable that he's beyond solid) isn't clamping down hard is a mystery.

This will not end well.

The fanboys can delude themselves all they want.  But the truth is the truth. We will lose air superiority with this airplane....and we'll pay an arm and leg while we're doing so.

SOCOM trigger pullers speak about Women in the infantry...just like everyone else they're too late.

Thanks to Joe for the link!

via Free Beacon.

U.S. special operations forces worry that integrating women into the military’s most demanding combat jobs will deal a blow to their effectiveness, result in lower standards, and possibly drive men away from serving in the positions.
The revelations come in a survey, first reported by the Associated Press, that was released in full by the Pentagon last week in timing with Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s announcement that all combat jobs would be opened up to women despite recommendations otherwise from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The survey, conducted by the Rand Corporation last year, solicited voluntary responses from over 7,600 men serving in Navy SEAL, Army Delta, and other commando units. Approximately 85 percent of the respondents said they oppose opening special operations positions to women, and 70 percent oppose having women in their individual units.
More than 80 percent answered that women are not strong enough to handle the demands of the job.
The new details of the survey, some results of which were reported by AP earlier this year, follow the release of a nine-month study conducted by the Marine Corps which found that women perform worse than men in combat operations.

Quite honestly I'm past caring.  I view the military that we see now as something new.  Puller was wrong.  There is a difference between this new Corps and the old one.

What has me pissed off the most is that while I was taking the lumps and being called all kinds of things, the likes of USNI Blog with Haynie as the ring leader pushed an agenda and everyone remained silent.

So to all the Grunts, SOCOM bubbas etc....fuck you all.  You should have spoken up sooner.  Instead you kept your head down.  

This is what happens when you lack moral courage.  You played it safe so now deal with the consequences.  The time for outrage and to speak up was well before the SecDef made his decision.  Now they'll toss a few bonuses at you while the social experiment is conducted.  I'm not a complete ass though....I hope you survive it.

Its becoming clear that we suffered an intelligence failure in the San Bernardino shooters case.

via CNN

FBI investigators say they believe San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook had ties to one of four Riverside, California, men who were charged in 2012 with planning to join al Qaeda in Afghanistan, two U.S. law enforcement officials said on condition of anonymity Thursday.
The officials said Farook was in the social circle of Sohiel Kabir, who the FBI has said recruited and helped radicalize the other three men in the Riverside group.
Kabir, who was apprehended in Afghanistan in 2012, was sentenced this year to 25 years in prison for his role in the case.
FBI investigators who are probing the San Bernardino shooting are taking a new look at Kabir, the two officials said.

Are you still focused on Trump?  Have you let that news story take your eyes off the real bouncing ball?

If so then congrats.  The media succeeded.

If not then marvel at the intel failure we're seeing here.  Not only did we have a person participating in subversive activities with his wife that ended in a catastrophic terrorist attack, but we also see that the FBI failed to properly investigate a terrorist cell operating in the Riverside area (March AFB, 29 Palms MCB...should take another look at their workforce).

Long story short?

Ignore the human interest story.  Why the mother decided to drop off her child and go do Jihad is irrelevant.  The words of the police officers that risked life and limb can be read later.  The tales of the survivors will make a great movie.

What we need to focus on is the threat that remains.  There is always one more.  If you find one terrorist cell you can bet prized body parts that another is operating close by.  Its just the way that life works...I'm just the messenger...I don't make the rules. 

The Norwegian Army is considering "Small Team Swarms" to confront a Russian mech assault.

Thanks to Nidar for the link!

via AFTENPOSTEN (translated by Google)

"Norwegian Silence" is the name of a proposed operational concept that utilizes Norwegian benefits. Rather than tanks and artillery are betting it on many teams intent of six or ATV, possibly inserted with boats or cargo helicopters.
These are armed with laptops, homing missiles, sniper weapons and mines.Before they embark on the mission teams get an area in which they operate in, as well as an overarching intention of what they should achieve in the area and after which supply electricity. Beyond that teams are free to act as they think best solved mission.

And this...

The lieutenant stresses that warfare is effective, but not easy to implement.
He draws parallels to Finnish warfare against Russia in 1939-1940.
"All advance must be made over large distances in roadless terrain. This must be the soldier physically robust enough to cope. The small units, both on land and sea, will operate alone and with limited replenishment. This requires a robust psyche and commitment, "writes Lieutenant.

I'm sure there is much more to this concept than this short article tells, but I can't help but compare it to "Little Groups of Paratroops" or Partisan Units operating in WW2.

I guess the closest modern day example of what's being talked about here is what we've seen with Special Ops in Afghanistan.

Will it work against a modern mechanized force?

I really don't think so.  The Ukrainian Infantry experience in ops against the Russian supported rebels keeps popping up.

All I can think is that these small units will be found, fixed and destroyed.  The idea of having freedom of movement disappears (at least in my mind) after the first and certainly second attack.

We need to know more before we make a final judgement but it seems like another "let's turn our conventional forces into quasi-special ops" thinking.  It might be easy on procurement dollars but expensive in lives.

F-35 Opinion Meter...via Save The Royal Navy.org

Interesting.  Note where they place the US Navy, Netherlands, Israel, Canada, S. Korea and Japan.  Also noteworthy is the placing of UK Armed Forces Commentary Blog and Information Dissemination.

My point is this.  The big naval power boosters are all lukewarm or neutral at best.  That should make everyone pause.  The true supporters of the airplane are all air power and/or SOCOM zealots (to include portions of the USMC).  Anyone that sees a major conventional war with a peer opponent is worried about the plane's performance.

I guess that's what it all boils down to.  If you see small wars as being all the future holds then the F-35 is the best thing going.  If you think a major dust up is in the offing then you're scared shitless.

NOTE:  Let me explain the airpower/SOCOM zealot theory.  Certain think tanks in the US believe that those two components will be all that the US and our allies need to dominate the battlefield into the future.  That view has gained traction among our allies.  The nations in the Pacific region seem to know better and are moving at breakneck speed to upgrade across the board.  That's what I mean.  The European powers that are embracing the plane fall into the airpower/SOCOM concept of operations.  It's cheaper than building capable ground and naval forces.

Now they're saying the F-35 is stealthier than the F-22...

Just when you thought you heard it all, the F-35 fanboys always seem to come up with something new.   The latest?   The F-35 is stealthier than the F-22.

Yeah.  That's right.  Supposedly Bogdan said that the F-35 has a lower RCS than the F-22.  I had never heard that claim before so I Googled it.  This is what I found from Aviation Week...

The F-35′s cross section is much smaller than the F-22′s. “The F-35 doesn’t have the altitude, doesn’t have the speed [of the F-22], but it can beat the F-22 in stealth.”

Bogdan didn't spout that obvious lie.  It was Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mike Hostage.   I tried to find any instance where that statement was repeated by the then ACC Chief.  He didn't.  It was a one-off.

I checked to see what was going on in the world of the F-35, US Air Power and DoD budgeting.  The controversy sweeping the defense blogosphere?  The USN seeking more Growlers.  The F-35 program was on a whirlwind tour to kill any future procurement of the Growler Electronic Attack airplane.

Long story short?  Bogdan, the USAF & US Marines, the Program Office and Lockheed Martin will say and do anything to get this plane across the finish line.

My question is this.  How much more time are you willing to give a program that continues to fail?  Do you realize that if the F-35 was delivered on time and it was in service that we'd be working on its replacement NOW (not to mention that the USMC/US ARMY/US NAVY/USAF, allies wouldn't all be facing procurement trainwrecks which required shelving personnel with hardwon combat experience and casing the colors on Infantry, Artillery, Tank, Amphib and Engineer Battalions)!  This airplane isn't only endangering current budgets but is affecting future development.  The problem becomes even more acute when you consider the advancements being made by other countries.  If the F-35 had been on time the J-20 and PAK-FA would be a generation behind it while we would maintain our technological lead because our 6th gen would be getting ready for production.
The undeniable fact is stark.  By allowing the F-35 to continue in development for so long has practically guaranteed that we will be at best on par with future threats...not ahead of them.

Lockheed Martin F-35 propaganda is all about economic benefits...combat capability is now an afterthought!

Just plain wow.

The above vid is a bit of Lockheed Martin propaganda on the F-35.  The stunning part?  They aren't even talking about the plane's combat capabilities anymore.  The "juice" is in the business plan.  To be precise they're talking about the economic benefits associated with the plane.

The burning question in my mind is how can this business plan even make one ounce of sense?  They have manufacturing or assembly subcontractors in so many countries that we have to be paying a premium on redundant manufacturing costs.

But back to the combat capabilities of the airplane.  I can see a future Commandant of the Marine Corps playing the part of Vivien Leigh and the Lockheed Martin President playing the part of Clark Gable.

The future CMC asks the LM President to tell him/her what to do with the regard to the F-35's lack of performance.  The LM President turns and says....

Trump was right?

Rush Limbaugh is citing US Code Chapter 12 Immigration and Naturalization Act as being the basis for Trump's proposal.

Additionally section V deals with removing Non-Resident Alien Terrorists that slipped into the country undetected.

More to come but this story is about to be turned on its head.  Republicans that rushed to condemn Trump are in for a rude awakening.