Friday, October 27, 2017
Small Rant....Exercise overload is real!
Everyone that has spent more than 5 minutes on this blog know I have a few pet peeves that I bang on constantly. The F-35, the vulnerability of small units, my distaste of the aviation centric Marine Corps concepts are all WELL established on these pages.
But it's becoming obvious that I have to make a little more noise about another issue that I believe is a danger to our military services.
The issue is exercise overload and from my chair it's real!
I keep an eye on the Marine Corps and do my best to keep up with a few Army units. Most notably the 82nd, Rangers, 101st, 25th ID, and 10th Mountain (although those guys have really disappeared...are they about to have their color cased?).
Additionally I try and look across the pond to the European continent and look at what the NATO forces are up to too.
The 2nd Cav is being run into the ground. The 173rd are making so many jumps that the whole unit will be wearing master parachutist badges soon and our NATO friends are getting worn out before a single shot is fired in anger.
I know what you're thinking. What's bringing on this rant fest? Who pissed in my cereal and has me going ape over exercises.
News tonight (and I'm still catching up) in addition to Bold Alligator 2017 being conducted on the East coast, we have Dawn Blitz 2017 being ran on the West coast!
That's two major exercises at the same time by the Marine Corps!
I'm not sure but I believe they're both Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) led exercises to boot.
In essence we have the 1st and 2nd MEF Headquarters both running exercises at the same time, while 3rd MEF is probably on a hair trigger in case stuff goes sideways in Korea.
We're looking at a situation where all three of our highest level HQ units are deployed at the same time. In short there is no slack in the system because of the emphasis on exercises.
My recommendation and primal scream remains the same. Take authority away from the Combatant Commanders. Have a desk established in the SecDef's office to handle all requests for forces with an eye toward ensuring that our guys aren't run into the ground because they're on back to back exercises after coming off deployment.
SIDE NOTE: There is a possibility that this is all happening the way it is because of preparations for a wartime effort in Korea but from my reading they are expecting to do this without committing boots on the ground...in essence a shock and awe Desert Storm style.
Light carriers aren't the answer for Marines...we need to fix the aviation centric LPD/LSD by replacing them with Mistrals!
via USNI News.
The Navy’s director of amphibious warfare warned that pursuing a light aircraft carrier option in lieu of amphibious assault ships would limit the Marines’ options for responding to operational commanders’ needs, and instead urged faster shipbuilding and experimenting with new ship groupings to increase operational flexibility.Story here.
Maj. Gen. David Coffman (OPNAV N95) said Thursday at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference that “there is a threat from above – ‘threat’ being Pentagon-speak – of the light carrier coming down into Marine trade space and affecting us.”
The most recent iteration of the light carrier concept was raised in a trio of future fleet architecture studies released earlier this year, with proponents advocating something similar to the America-class amphibious assault ship or potentially something that looks more like a conventionally powered aircraft carrier with a catapult to launch planes. Amphibious assault ships USS America (LHA-6) and the future Tripoli (LHA-7) are aviation-optimized ships that trade a well deck in order for added aviation maintenance space and jet fuel storage.
Read the whole story but I consider this talk of building a light carrier to be missing the real problem.
The America Class LHAs fill that role nicely.
The problem isn't with the LHA/LHDs. The problem is with the San Antonio class and the upcoming LSD replacement.
Those ships are built to accommodate the traditional USMC, not the aviation centric bastardization that they're pushing today.
So why don't they build ships that could better fit the concepts they're pushing? Why don't they build Mistrals that would fill the bill perfectly?
I have no idea.
Perhaps its a lack of conviction. Maybe they think that they can fool the tribe into believing that they aren't seeking a completely different Marine Corps for the future by continuing to buy ship shells that look familiar while trying to flex them into this new role.
Again I have no idea why, but light carriers aren't the solution to the Marine Corps problems. The solution will be figuring out whether or not we need modern day LPD/LSD that are by form and function designed to support surface assault while leadership is pushing aviation.
The Marine Corps needs Mistrals...especially if they stay the course with the aviation heavy Corps.
F-35 now has a parts problem to go with the development woes.
via Nasdaq.
Spare parts for Lockheed Martin Corp's stealthy F-35 fighter jets are not keeping up with demand according to a report out on Thursday from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.Story here.
The report said "from January through August 7, 2017, F-35 aircraft were unable to fly about 22 percent of the time due to parts shortages."
This whole program is trash. They have a limited number of aircraft in service now and they're having problems with parts? Just plain wow.
Northrop has a patent for an anti-missile missile for aircraft!
We have been talking a lot lately about some cutting-edge technologies that could be incorporated into the upcoming B-21 Raider stealth bomber or in other future stealthy aircraft designs. Seeing as evolving integrated air defense system technology will continue to slowly erode some of stealth's current advantages, electronic warfare, laser defenses, advanced decoys, and even high speed are potential applications that will bolster the survivability of future American air combat assets. But Northrop Grumman may have another trick up its sleeve—a pop out kinetic kill missile defense system that is especially well suited for installation on stealthy aircraft.Story here.
Wow. So this is one of the many solutions that we're gonna see heading into the future.
It makes sense and Tyler does a good job of spelling this whole thing out (definitely read it).
For better or worse it seems that manufacturers are locked onto the future alot better than the services. Stealth is becoming marginalized as we speak and its shelf life can be measured in years, not decades.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
That's one pretty athletic sailor!
Wow. That's one pretty athletic sailor. Glad he's ok but that could have gone so wrong! I guess this is why they say the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is so dangerous....wonder if anyone's been blown overboard because of jet blast.
US Military Chiefs Warn Of 'Damaging' Cuts To Royal Marines
via Forces.net
Colonel Dan Sullivan warned that the relationship between the US Marine Corps (USMC) and its British counterpart would change if the proposed cut of 1,000 Royal Marines and UK's two amphibious assault ships are lost...........
During a visit to London to attend a conference on the impact of technology on defence, The Times reporting him saying:
“My message is to articulate how important having that capability in our partner is, and how damaging I think it would be if our most important coalition partner potentially takes the hits that are projected right now.”
“From a military standpoint as the UK continues to diminish and as the Royal Marines in particular take a hit, I think that our view of what we will be able to do together in the future changes.”Story here.
Hmm. Not sure why I'm just hearing alarm bells from US officials over UK defense cuts now.
The capability lost BEFORE now is much greater than any additional steps they're considering so I don't understand why things would change with regard to us working together.
Is it the loss of two amphibious ships? The potential loss of F-35 sales? I'm really not sure but would love to know.
Diplomacy with North Korea looks to be on its 'last legs' as Trump openly ponders war
via Business Insider.
Multiple US government and congressional sources have said US diplomatic efforts with North Korea stand on their "last legs" as Pyongyang threatens more nuclear tests and Washington ponders all-out war.Story here.
The sources told NBC News on Wednesday that the efforts of Joseph Yun — a top US diplomat working with North Korea — to find a diplomatic solution to the missile crisis have all but completely broken down.
A US official told NBC that the sides have reached an impasse, a s North Korea apparently pursues completing its nuclear missile program above all else, and the US repeatedly states that it won't tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea.
"It is not so much that North Korea is shutting down, it’s that the message from the US government is, 'surrender without a fight or surrender with a fight,'" the official said. Another added that diplomatic efforts are on their "last legs."
Right on schedule. My prediction stands. This winter. Late this year, early next.
Expect some type of modified shock and awe. They'll be massive strikes but targeted at a few sites.
I doubt very much that you'll see ground forces used...I don't think they'll actually try a decapitation raid...maybe a couple of MOABs dropped on the little fat dude but no Ranger/MARSOC raid into hell.
What I find funny is that everyone thinks that Trump is pushing this.
He isn't.
He is taking the advice of his generals and Dunford practically shouted at the top of his lungs that N. Korea having nukes was unacceptable and that a fight would be necessary.
I'm sure they're planning to minimize escalation and I'm sure there are serious talks with China to determine their actions. Same with Russia.
Oh and for our allies?
You can bet that they're gonna assemble at least one airplane, servicemember and ship from as many nations as possible to make this look like a united effort and to give the illusion of legality to the upcoming fight.
My fear?
I think they'll go after Seoul and our bases in Okinawa with conventionally tipped ballistic missiles. There are some service people that haven't got the memo and brought their families to a war zone and because the services don't want to give away the store they'll be considered a reasonable risk if things go bad because an evacuation would warn the North.
Side note. Do you think that Trump would actually do the Transgender ban unless the military told him to? Dude just doesn't care that much about the issue and his New York sensibilities would have him leave it alone. He acted for the service chiefs. Same with the recall of pilots. The SecAF can lie and say that they won't use it but Trump didn't pull that out of his ass. All this is part of the war prep. Integrating transexuals in this environment would be too hard during a big war and the pilots thing is obvious. As far as I'm concerned War has already been declared.
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