French main battle tank AMX-56 Leclerc on exercises in Lithuania. April 2018.

Open Comment Post. April 24, 2018

Late Open Comment Post. April 23, 2018

Admiral admits that China has regional superiority in S. China sea...

via Inside Defense.

 The nominee to be the next chief of the U.S. forces in the Pacific has called for an increase in U.S. forces from all three services stationed in the vital region, adding that China is now effectively able to control the South China Sea and challenge the U.S. presence in the region.

In his testimony at last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, Adm. Philip Davidson also said he will work to recalibrate U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific region to align with the recently released 2018 National Defense Strategy, an effort he said “entails ensuring the continued combat readiness of assigned forces in the western Pacific (and) developing an updated footprint that accounts for China’s rapid modernization.”

Davidson, who has been nominated to take over U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM, also said the strategic and operational environment outlined in the NDS clearly identifies the importance of developing and fielding a force posture that is capable of “countering Chinese malign influence in the region,” while describing actions in the South China Sea such as the One Belt One Road Initiative as China executing its own deliberate and thoughtful force posture initiatives.

Due to the distances involved in the Indo-Pacific, Davidson stressed that the U.S. cannot solely rely on surge forces from the continental United States to deter Chinese aggression or prevent a fait accompli. He also said PACOM must maintain a robust, blunt layer that effectively deters Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

Story here.

Wow.

We're finally getting a bit of honest from military leadership with regard to China. 

This is a beginning but I fear its too late.

First you have to acknowledge the problem.  A good man, the former intel Chief for the Navy in the Pacific lost his job because he sounded the alarm bell.  Now others are picking up but do we have time to prepare?

Second.

To outright say that China controls the S. China Sea is stunning.  To say that we must counter their "Malign Influence" is obvious.

Last.

He just made an OUTSTANDING case, really the only case I've heard for forward presence of our forces.

We need to counter and hopefully contain the Chinese.  We need forces forward to do that.

Makes sense to me!

China is the threat.  China is the nation that actually threatens our national survival.  Russia?  Russia is in a defensive posture against NATO encirclement. We can reach an understanding if not friendship with them.  Friends?  Maybe not, but we definitely don't have to be enemies.  We have too many intersecting interests.  A handshake alliance on shit we can agree with, an understanding and respect on shit we don't (both sides...if they fuck up the respect part then we fuck with them and should expect the same in reverse).

But I do want to point out something here.

With regard to China and Russia we have the right policy for the wrong country.  What we're doing with China is what we should be doing with Russia...what we're doing with Russia is what we should be doing with China.

Politics at home and the hatred of Trump is what makes our foreign policy so batshit stupid.

This CH-53 Driver just gave me the best argument for the "K" that I've heard...

One of the good things about this blog is it's community.  I have readers from a wide variety of backgrounds and from various nations across the world.

Some keep me informed of what's going on with the FMF, Frazier you magnificent bastard stay safe while doing the hard thing, all my LEO bro's the same applies to you.

The list goes on and I can't name all the contributors to this little enterprise.

My readers give me knowledge, wisdom and insight into things that I have little visibility on.

One of those things was the CH-53K.

I've been lukewarm to the thing.  Thrilled by what I saw from the presentation on what it promised to deliver, excited by the way the beast looks and a bit pissed at the price.

Pissed is an understatement.

I balked at it.

Luckily a reader set me straight and gave me the best argument for the "K" that I've heard.

via Ian B

Disqus managed to eat my first response. Let’s see if I can be that coherent again.

1. Even if I wanted to simply build “new” CH-53Es, there’s no production line in existence to restart. You’d be building a production line from scratch, with all the cost and time that takes, and likely wind up waiting even longer for new airframes than with the Kilo line, which is already established.

2. More a 2a: a “new” Ch-53E would still be 1980s analog technology. Almost all of the design features of the Kilo aren’t ground-breaking untried science experiment s like the F-35, but rather the incorporation of long-standing aerospace engineering developments simply used on all new aircraft. Digital cockpit? Airlines have had them for years and years. Fly-by-wire technology? That was new in the F-16 … in the 1970s. Composite airframe? Also used by aircraft for years. Aerodynamically efficient rotor blades? H-60s have had those for a long time. Digital fuel control? To my knowledge, the Echo is the only rotary wing aircraft in the MAGTF that still uses a mechanical fuel control. These are much harder to calibrate, not as efficient as they could be, and don’t have the internal response to time to prevent a pilot from potentially causing an over speed/overtemperature condition on an engine that requires even more maintenance. If we’re going to get a new heavy lift platform for the MAGTF, it might as well be one that utilizes the almost 40 years of aviation technology developed since the Echo first came on line.

3. More a 2b: much of upgraded aerospace engineering on the Kilo is what helps it lift more. Composite airframes reduce weight, which lets the aircraft lift more stuff for Marines. Fly-by-wire replaces yards and yards of physical metal control linkages between the pilot in the cockpit and the main and tail rotors; that’s also more weight the aircraft can now lift. The digital fuel control also makes the engines more efficient and helps mitigate excessive wear based on sudden changes in power requirements; more efficient engines can lift more, and also burn less fuel so we can move stuff farther.

4. Another key thing on the Kilo is that it’s various defensive, navigational, and other systems are integrated. Over the decades, the Echo has had lots of things slapped on it to make it a better aircraft and more survivable: the FLIR, various countermeasure systems, etc. These are great, but they were add where there was room in the cockpit, which means their placement isn’t always ideal from a tactical perspective. The FLIR screen sits in the pilot’s natural line of sight with other instruments, which is fine. But the missile countermeasure system is on the middle lower console, which means that when the pilots hear a missile alert, they have to look DOWN AND AWAY from outside to see where the missile is coming from. They have to take their eyes away from their exterior scan, which is where their eyes NEED TO BE to see the missile coming at them. Not very efficient or tactical. The countermeasure in itself is great, but it’s not optimized in the way it would be when it’s built into the aircraft from day one.

Long story short, if the Marine Corps has a heavy lift requirement, which I think it does, and you’re going to get a replacement for an aging platform, t hat replacement might as well be new in the fullest sense, incorporating the many advances in aviation engineering since 1980. Whether the Kilo was the best way to do that, it’s too late to say now; but simply building new Echos isn’t an option, and I really wouldn’t want that anyway since the technology dates back to when most of its pilots were either learning how to walk or still gleams in daddy’s eye.

In either another comment or this one (that Disqus ate) he said something that made me pause even more than what you're reading above.

To paraphrase he said that "they're seeing weird shit with the airplane that they've never seen before".  That's the kind of talk that portends planes falling out of the sky.  That's the kind of talk that let's you know that the people flying and maintaining them know they're on borrowed time.  That's the kind of talk that should be reserved for combat not a milk run from Pendleton to 29 Palms.

I've slammed HQMC for the trainwreck that I blame on the F-35 (I still hold that position), but the ship has sailed.  Whatever the reason..... mismanagement, poor planning or simply fucked up priorities the CH-53E has to be replaced.

Yeah.  I think Davis and Amos totally fucked up.

Yeah.  I think they made a bad situation worse by buying aircraft so fast that they screwed up logistics/maintenance all because they worshipped at the altar of a former Commandant saying to a couple of Colonels testifying to Congress on the then radically new Harrier Jump Jet way back yonder that they should say that "the plane is perfect", while privately admitting that "we'll fix it once we get it" (can someone please find me the quote and the Commandant who said that....I've been looking but it seems to have almost been scrubbed from Marine Corps history).

But we're hear now.

I am thinking that Marine Air is in worse shape than anyone will admit and that those airplanes are unsafe.

All we can do is deal with things the way they are now, not as they should be. They fucked up but we have to move forward.  That means buying the CH-53K now.

The problem?

Everything including this program is gonna be slow walked. 

Every part of the Marine Corps is screaming for more money but the pot is not endless.

Something will be left undone.  So what will that be?  Do we fuck over the GCE?  Leave portions of the ACE in shit shape?  Neglect logistics?

Everything is all screwed up and I have no idea how they'll fix it.

Marine Rotational Force-Europe train with allies on NH-90's in cold weather conditions...pics by Cpl. Raul Torres

Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe move toward their objective during Exercise Winter Sun 18 in Boden, Sweden, March 14, 2018.

New Chinese IFV VN17

Thanks to Mr T for the pic!

FUCK!  I've been predicting this.  I knew the Chinese had to be working on their next generation of IFVs and this is probably just the first batch of new stuff coming online.

The West is so focused on aviation that they are missing the fact that we've been stuck in neutral on IFV/Armored Vehicle development, that our potential foes have or are about to take the lead.

The ridiculous thing?

Judging by how we fight all our enemies need to do is to reach a stalemate in the air...just prevent us from gaining air superiority and they can roll over our ground formations.

We have shot our conventional forces in the foot and based everything on air power being our saving grace.

That's idiocy on a stick.

Expect more from the Chinese.  What am I looking for?  The next gen amphibious assault vehicle.  One that makes up for the poor performance and armoring of the current one.  A rig that is as formidable on land as it is on water.  In essence a true Chinese EFV.

Regardless, we need to shake ourselves out of the current batch of stupidity and get to work.

SOCOM has gone quiet....

After watching that promo film from the 1st Special Operations Wing I realized something.

SOCOM has gone quiet.

I remember the bravado that was on display during the Bush Admin, the craziness of a former SEAL that took charge of the command and how every week it seemed they were making movies or writing books.

Then I remember tragedy hitting.

A senior NCO that got killed on a raid with Iraqi Special Ops to rescue prisoners.  Close calls for our guys beyond forward in Syria, and finally the tragedy of the incident in Africa.

I also remember an old skool Special Ops guy telling McRaven to get his guys out of the news media, the reporters at the briefing laughing at the old guy and then McRaven basically telling the retired 3 star to pound sand.

It seems like SOCOM has learned its lessons.  They've noted that the more they stay in the media the more chances the enemy has to read their playbook.  I also notice that they've seemed to tone down that other thing that annoyed the fuck outta me.  They stopped teaching questionable allies how we do things (essentially they were teaching the very terrorists that they would fight within a month).

So SOCOM has decided to fade into the background.

Good.

But they're still trying to wage the dog. 

They're still trying to be the supported instead of supporting force and its obvious by the latest fantasy of fighting in mega cities.  Do you guys remember that a few years ago the next fight was suppose to be over resources?  Yeah they called them resource wars and how we needed to be ready to fight them (resources aren't in cities...only consumers are in cities...the shit they need to sustain themselves are usually in the boonies...to include food and water).

This is a good start for SOCOM and I credit Army leadership for reigning them back in. 

Now they need to complete the mission and go back to being the guys worthy of all the praise heaped on them .... oh and maintain standards .... quality over quantity .... there should be no more than 6 SEAL Teams .... half of USAF special ops teams should be canned .... 3 battalions of USMC Special Operations .... for fuck sake why....at most 2 and preferably 1~!

1st Special Operations Wing - Mission Promo

26th MEU Arrives in Djibouti...pics by Cpl. Santino Martinez

Side note.  We haven't heard a peep from the Chinese who are just down the road from our base in this country.  I don't know how many of you realize that this is another cold war redo.  We did it first in Cuba with the Soviet Union and now we're doing it in Africa with the Chinese.

Many are still fighting my contention that the Chinese are our real enemies and that we can/should reach some type of understanding with the Russians but I simply point to our stance in Africa as proof positive that the Chinese are taking an offensive posture against us while the Russians are taking a defensive one.