Brazillian Marines join the fighting in the city slums.

Amazing. Via Reuters.

"We have no deadline to stop operations. We're going to continue giving logistical support ... to transport police troops for as long as needed," said Colonel Carlos Chagas, commander of the Marine logistics battalion.

F-35C on the tanker

I never get tired of the F-35, and if you wonder why I post so much about it then check out all the anti- JSF sites out there.  All photos are from Lockheed Martin.

Strategy Page's TSA bumper stickers.

Too funny, but too true.

Aftermath of the N. Korean artillery strike.

More at Military Photos.net

If this didn't rate a retaliatory response then what does?

German CH-53's in Afghanistan.

Kinda makes you wonder if the early retirement of the MH-53J was really a smart move by the USAF doesn't it?

What the F-35C will bring to the fleet.

Hat tip to ELP...I'm starting to like this Dr. Goure!

There is no more strategically agile, operationally responsive and tactically flexible platform in the U.S. arsenal than the aircraft carrier. Properly supported as part of a carrier strike group (CSG) and sustained by the world’s best aerial and sea-based logistics system, the aircraft carrier can exploit the vast spaces of the open oceans to threaten U.S. adversaries and provide needed assistance to friends, all while minimizing its vulnerability to hostile action. This is accomplished by the CSG’s ability to establish a broad section of the open ocean as its operational maneuver space. The boundaries of this space are determined by the maximum range at which carrier aircraft can strike their targets, the maximum range at which threats to the carriers from missile and air-breathing threats can be detected and the greatest distance the resupply flights can reach the carrier. The greater the range at which sensor platforms, strike systems and resupply aircraft can operate, the larger the strike group’s operational maneuver box and the more flexibility and survivability it will have.

Over the years potential adversaries have paid the CSG the singular complement of focusing much of their naval strike assets on defeating it or at least denying it a workable operational maneuver box. The Soviet Union tried trailing the carriers with surface ships and submarines, tracking it with airborne and even space-based sensors and threatening it with massed raids by supersonic bombers. China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy is reported to have developed a maneuvering warhead for a long-range ballistic missile with the intention of using them to defeat the CSG.
But the carrier strike group is deploying a number of capabilities designed to counter the emerging threat and ensure that the carrier and its escorts have the maximum operation space within which to maneuver. First, there is the new F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. With around double the range of the current FA-18 E/F, a more powerful radar and better avionics, the F-35C can increase the strike range for the strike group and provide enhanced air defense. Then there is the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, just entering deployment, The E-2D is a game changer when it comes to managing the air defense battle and supporting strikes against land and sea targets. With its improved radar, new sensor suite, upgraded avionics and a massive communications sweep, the Advanced Hawkeye can significantly expand the safe operational box in which the CSG will operate. Finally, there is the certainty of resupply anywhere in the operational box. Today, that job is performed by the venerable C-2 Greyhound which carries supplies, personnel and mail out to the carrier. The Greyhound’s substantial range, high service ceiling, pressurized cockpit and large cargo ramps allows it to support the carrier’s under all kinds of environmental conditions, and at extreme ranges. The F-35C, E-2D and C-2 will contribute to making the aircraft carrier one of the most effective and survivable platforms in the U.S. Navy’s fleet.
The reports of the demise of the aircraft carrier are premature to say the least. The above mentioned programs will provide the aircraft carrier a new lease on life. Moreover, other technologies now under development such as electromagnetic launch, high-powered lasers and unmanned combat air vehicles will fundamentally change the role and power of the carrier in future warfare.

New Combat Water Survival Training Requirements.

Galrahn is back at USNI blog?!?

Galrahn is back blogging at USNI blog...Interesting.  Read his latest here.  


But note.  


No explanation.


No note from the editors.


Nothing.


He's just back, acting as if nothing happened.

BULLSHIT!!!!!

The whole enterprise reeks.


What gives guys.  The people want to know!  And how about a little sauce for the goose?  He's right back at it taking on Navy leadership!  This isn't bullshit, its amazing bullshit.

Suppression of enemy awesomeness.

They call the Prowler's mission "Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses," but they should call it "Suppression of Enemy Awesomeness," because there's no way you and your stupid C3I network can be awesome when an EA-6B is on station.
~photo & caption by Joe Copalman

Why are we still buying MRAPs?

I got this from Jonathan.  Thanks dude.  This is amazing.  This is nonsense.  This makes no sense!  Read it and weep, your tax dollars at work.  More MRAPs when we don't know what to do with the ones we already have.

Navistar Defense, LLC today announced that it received a delivery order for 250 International® MaxxPro® Recovery vehicles from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command. The $253 million order was placed under the company’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity contract and includes contractor logistics support. This is Navistar’s eighth major MRAP variant.
Navistar originally unveiled the MaxxPro Recovery vehicle, also known as a wrecker variant, in February 2009 as a new utility vehicle offering.

Galrahn bails on USNI blog.

I lurk on the USNI blog from time to time and to be honest when I first read this blog post, I didn't see anything controversial...just another statement from an inside the beltway blogger that spends too much time at Navy Headquarters.

This statement though has me scratching my head...

I apologize to the United States Naval Institute for failing to meet editorial standards on the blog in my November 10, 2010 post titled Leadership and Accountability. In that post it has been suggested I made an ad hominem attack against Admiral Jonathan Greenert. US Naval Institute blog rules forbid ad hominem attacks on the blog. I am responsible for all content posted under my name on the United States Naval Institute blog, and I strongly believe I should always be held accountable by USNI for any violation by me of their rules.

 I didn't see the 'ad hominem' attack.

The US Navy is in bigger trouble than I thought if they're to the point of pushing Politically Correct THOUGHT!

If you have an interest in Naval Services then this should send a chill down your spine.

The leading blog of the US Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard has now instituted a type of censorship of opinion that does not support the views of leadership.

I once lurked over at the USNI blog.  I won't even do that now.

PS.
And if you believe that this was simply a voluntary exit on Galrahn's part then I suggest you notice these words..."it has been suggested I made an ad hominem attack'...from reading his blog I can tell you that the only people that would carry weight when it comes to that suggestion with the G-man would be Navy leadership or the USNI blog editors.  Since the editors allowed the posting then it would have to be Navy leadership.

You have got to watch this.

Massive hat tip to War News Updates.  This is a part of history I never knew.