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| U.S. Marines with 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division and U.S Airman with 353rd Special Operations Group, navigate a water obstacle during the endurance course at the Basic Jungle Survival Course on Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa, Japan April 29, 2021. BJSC prepares Marines and joint partners to fight in jungle environments. |
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The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron completed a munitions proof-of-concept called Project Strike Rodeo, May 11, 2021, that validated loading five AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) on an F-15E Strike Eagle. This lays the foundation for follow-on flight testing that would more than double the F-15E’s current JASSM-carrying capacity. According to Lt. Col. Mike Benitez, 53rd Wing director of staff, the grass-roots initiative started in January 2021 during a WEPTAC working group. A team of expert tacticians were working through a specific scenario that relied on the ability to escort a bomber loaded with stand-off munitions to a release point in a highly-contested environment. Some warfighters hypothesized that using a formation of fighters instead of a single bomber to employ the JASSM salvo could not only reduce the size and complexity of the strike package required to execute the mission, it would also distribute mission risk across the force. Unfortunately, the maximum number of JASSMs any fighter can currently carry is two, meaning though the idea is feasible it wasn’t viable based on the number of fighters required, unless… a fighter could carry more JASSMs. With this idea in mind, the F-15E Strike Eagle was the platform considered for taking on the task of carrying more JASSMs, and Project Strike Rodeo was born. Unfortunately, the munitions would not fit on the conformal fuel tank weapons stations of the F-15E, as JASSM was designed to be loaded directly from the base of their shipping containers, which is too large to fit under the F-15E without hitting the main landing gear. A small Eglin-based team was formed comprising multiple units within the 53d Wing, 96 Test Wing, and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to find a solution. Using Squadron Innovation Funds, the team designed and manufactured a special loading tool and wrote new weapons loading procedures. Project Strike Rodeo then drew the interest of the F-15 System Program Office, which provided the funding to execute this load test. “No one told us to do this,” said Benitez. “We saw the need and the opportunity, so we executed. This infectious attitude drove every unit or office we coordinated with. Everyone wanted to see if we could do it, and no one ever pushed back and asked for a requirement or a formal higher headquarters tasking.” With the successful execution of this load test, Project Strike Rodeo went from idea to execution in five months. “This is a squadron innovation effort with operational and strategic implications,” said Benitez. “Project Strike Rodeo is all about creating options for combatant commanders, which ultimately can be used to create multiple dilemmas for the adversary.” |
JUST IN - The two prison guards looking after Jeffrey Epstein have admitted they "falsified records" the night he died in a New York jail.
— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) May 21, 2021
I'm amazed.
I've been monitoring the conversations on this blog about the latest round of Israeli vs Palestinian fighting and I'm flabbergasted by the thinking that some are expressing.
Hamas won?
Fucking wow!
How do you figure????
Go over the tick-tock of the events of this week. Rioting at a religious center (don't remember if it was a Temple or a Mosque). Hamas starts launching rockets. The Israeli response is at first tepid but soon ramps up. Hamas launches its full magazine. The Israelis ramp it up further and airstrikes commence in earnest.
What did we start hearing?
Iron Dome is failed because a few leakers get thru the defense. Next we hear the predictable. A target is hit (occupied by the media and co-habitated by Hamas) and suddenly the Israelis are attacking the media, targeting civilians etc.
That's straight out the terrorist playbook. HUG CIVILIANS so retaliatory strikes become problematic (off the table for weak leadership either at the tactical or strategic level).
The Israelis continue the onslaught.
Next up is another page out of the playbook. The media calls for international action to stop the fighting. The Biden administration (much to their credit) walks a fine line. Their base is wanting Israel's head on a plate and to back Hamas while the usual international players are calling for calm and a cease fire.
The Israeli PM continues the effort and signals that an incursion is on the table.
The media goes nuts. Calls for a ceasefire increase. We see pics of injured children.
Egypt steps up and brokers a ceasefire.
The Palestinians declare victory.
We've seen this before but I've never seen so many people buy into the idea that they won?
How do you win when you've emptied your magazine, your opponent is still firing and hitting their targets and you're reduced to begging the world to make them stop?
I don't get the thinking!
Tell me where I'm wrong. If you're anti-semitic then don't bother with responding. I'm looking at the military situation and I don't care about your personal bias or politics.
👏👏 La semaine dernière, la @DGA a livré le 250ème #GRIFFON à l’@armeedeterre. A la fin de l’année 2021, 339 véhicules auront été livrés ! pic.twitter.com/OXvag4BnvZ
— Nexter_Group (@Nexter_Group) May 17, 2021
Geez!#US considering development of #amphibious #C130 as part of #SOF capability, writes @AndrewJGWhite. Story here on @JanesINTEL https://t.co/0oHXZEhfHQ pic.twitter.com/Q9L3L8G6Q7
— Charles Forrester (@securitysplat) May 20, 2021
