Turkish solo display flight

Its official. Cocaine usage is allowed at HQMC.

I say that tongue in cheek.

But when I read this story from the Firearm Blog...my first reaction was....WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

I just don't know what to make of this latest marketing program.  Read about it at the Firearms Blog and go here for the press release from Crosman.

F-35 at Edwards...more pics...

Commandant speaks alongside the Joint Strike Fighter

F-35 Family at Edwards....

And so it begins...the great LHD vs. Carrier war....

It has begun----the great LHD vs. Carrier war.

At its heart its a deception and pits two parts of the Dept of the Navy against each other....with one part of that Dept operating all the ships in the discussion!  How crazy is that!

Anyway, I digress.  Check out this post by Bill.  I'm going to dissect it a bit.  His words are in bold, my rebuttal will be in red....

The Marine propaganda offensive in support of the F-35B, carried on through events like last Friday’s media visit to Patuxent River, and through Marine-friendly websites, pounds relentlessly on the advantages of short take off and vertical landing.

It has to, because that’s the only respect in which the F-35B is not inferior to the F-35A and F-35C. Avionics are identical. The weapon load and range are less and it is (according to the UK) the most expensive of all the versions.

A complete misnomer.  The CMC went up to PaxRiver to brief the media on the progress of the F-35B.  Its not a propaganda war but more like an exercise in lessons learned.  The media and hence lawmakers weren't kept apprised of the progress being made with the EFV so when it came time to cut they looked at it as a prime target.  He's only trying to prevent that from happening with the F-35.  Nothing suspicious here.  Move along please.

The second point to remember is that most people, looking at an LHA or LHD class ship, will call it an aircraft carrier. Even people with some familiarity with defense issues may not be aware of just how many and big are the differences between these ships and a Nimitz.

The offensive power of an aircraft carrier resides in its air wing. A Wasp or Tarawa is mainly built to transport Marines, their weapons and equipment, and the landing craft and transport helicopters needed to put them ashore. The nominal air combat element onboard one of these ships includes six F-35Bs.

That number can be increased to up to 22 F-35Bs by disembarking helicopters. A paper on the Second Line of Defense website postulates that the JSF force could be increased on the fly, by ferrying more aircraft directly to the ship and dispersing rotorcraft to “lily pad” shore bases, but does not address obvious questions: how do you get JSF weapons, spares and maintainers to the ship? You fly them to the nearest cooperative and suitable port, transfer them to a logistics ship and use underway or vertical replenishment.

No one with even a passing familiarity with defense issues will mistake an LHD for an aircraft carrier.  But Bill ignores the fact that Sea Control Ships based on the LHD have been planned since the early 70's.  Using them this way in an extremis situation has been a part of the play book since then.  Its not hard to figure and the added punch of a normal detachment of STOVL aircraft was demonstrated during the Libya Conflict.  Yeah, land based fighters could get there but they had slow reaction times to targets of opportunity and the fact that land based aviation was used instead of at sea assets can probably be pointed to by historians as one of the failures of this conflict.

The future Carrier Strike Group air wing will include 44 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or F-35Cs, all with greater range and weapon load than the F-35B. (The air wing size is a force-structure decision, not constrained by space on the carrier.) Reach is further extended by using Super Hornets as tankers. Crucially, the air wing also includes five EA-18G Growlers for electronic attack and E-2 Hawkeyes for early warning.  Increasingly, the CVN is the main base for the anti-submarine fight, with MH-60R/S helicopters.

44 airplanes on an aircraft carrier?  Don't make me laugh.  A carrier could typically carry 100 airplanes during the 80's and 90's so we have a surplus of aircraft carriers!  And that is with Marine Aviation attached to each carrier.

Long story short.  Carriers deserve to be reduced to possibly 8 but probably 6 in total.  We can't afford to man them fully and we can't afford to operate them.

Its time for carriers to become fully manned warships again.  That means cities at sea and a full deck of aircraft.  Read the whole post though and decide for yourself.

Israeli's are getting a second squadron of F-35's!

via the Jerusalem Post.

The Israel Air Force plans to purchase a second squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters during the upcoming IDF multi-year procurement plan that is currently under review within the General Staff.

Last October, Israel purchased its first squadron of 20 F-35s in a $2.75 billion deal. The aircraft are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and are expected to begin arriving in Israel in late 2016- early 2017.

Read the whole thing, but as I've been saying for the past year.  This program is gaining momentum...the US Marines, Israeli's and several others are fully committed to the program.

The critics have failed.

2nd BN 4th Marines in Combat Town 29 Palms

How soon before Special Ops Command buys these Wildcats?

Read the story at Defense Update...but I would bet money that some of these will find themselves employed by US Special Ops.

I mean they have to have the shiniest, fastest toys right?  The military application?  Negligible.  The fun factor and the "regulars don't have it" factor?  High.

They'll buy it.

Another apologist post on female SOF.

Kit-Up has an article about the politically correct head Admiral Olson saying that he'd like to see female SEALs.

“I don’t think the idea is to select G.I. Jane and put her through SEAL training, but there are a number of things that a man and a woman can do together that two guys can’t,” the Admiral told Forum attendees. “…it’s much more important what they’re made of and whether or not they have the courage and the intellectual agility…”
You may remember Kit Up! discussed something along these lines a couple of months back. CSTs and the FETs that preceded them have received a lot of attention and have been successful. They’re not a new idea, as the Marines of the Lioness Program can attest.
Let us try to preempt some of the inevitable outcry. No one is saying females must equal male counterparts in every way, and this is an important distinction: the use of females in SOF capacity is, frankly, a force multiplier.

Wow.

Really?

Say it out loud and tell all the guys who washed out of SEAL training that a female that couldn't meet the standards deserves to be on the teams while they went through pure dee hell and aren't qualified because they don't have breasts and ovaries.

This kind of thinking makes me sick.

Force multiplier my ass.

The whole outfit over at Military.com must be smoking industrial strength crack.

Politically correct bastards!

PS.

You can tell what this is really about.  Its about a push to open up the Infantry to females.  If they're in SEALs then you can bet they'll be pushing them to be in Rifle companies.  We're facing bad times.  Standards will suffer and if you can't admit that then you're not being honest.

USMC and Romanian Forces get busy during Summer Storm 2011

*Note*
I've been watching but haven't posted on this Black Sea Rotation (?) Group that the Marine Corps has been running for some time now.  The issue for me has been it seems totally ceremonial...in my mind its been more dog and pony shows than anything else.  I could easily be wrong but thats been my opinion.  

Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit prepare to launch from USS Whidbey Island in Amphibious Assault Vehicles as part of Summer Storm 2011, a combined amphibious assault exercise with Romania, July 30. Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Rachael L. Leslie)

Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit launch from USS Whidbey Island in Amphibious Assault Vehicles as part of Summer Storm 2011, a combined amphibious assault exercise with Romania, July 30. Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Rachael L. Leslie)

Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit launch from USS Whidbey Island in Amphibious Assault Vehicles as part of Summer Storm 2011, a combined amphibious assault exercise with Romania, July 30. Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Rachael L. Leslie)

Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit launch from USS Whidbey Island in Amphibious Assault Vehicles as part of Summer Storm 2011, a combined amphibious assault exercise with Romania, July 30. Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Rachael L. Leslie)

CMC briefs press on the F-35B

US Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos briefs media in front of an F-35B at NAS Patuxent River July 29, 2011

Gator Navy and Marine Expeditionary Units poised to sink aircraft carriers?!!!

Check out this story from Information Dissemination.  A tid bit though....

In Admiral Greenert's confirmation yesterday, there were no statements that suggested a force structure change, only that the budget situation could force one. I tend to believe Amos, that we are already at the point of change, but if that is true it is disappointing that Admiral Greenert didn't take the moment that included absolute certainty of his confirmation and use the hearings to describe in detail to the Senate what the future of the Navy looks like under certain scenarios.

Long story short....big deck carriers are about to take a hair cut.  What does this mean for the Marines?

1.  The MEU is about to gain prominence.  Much more than it currently has...the biggest problem might be to keep boat spaces for Marines.  You can bet your last dollar that Special Ops Command along with their surrogates in Marine Special Forces will be trying to pare down the MEU so that they can start taking rides.

2.  The Gator Navy can look to expand.  The idea of finally getting 38 big deck amphibs will probably be the price paid to cut back on the number of aircraft carriers.

3.  The USMC might be able to kill off the silly idea of buying F-35C's.

4.  Speaking of the JSF, its future is almost assured now...especially the B model.  I've already read reports that the CMC is looking to get the plane off probation....

5.  The idea of going from 11 carriers down to 8 seems likely.  Sadly, I can even it going to 6...three on each coast.

6.  I hope the NAVAIR likes the F/A-18E/F....they might be stuck with it.  If so then Boeing can probably take heart in the idea of selling upgraded versions.

A little late but Terminal Lance agrees with me....

Check out his post on the "invite a celeb" epidemic!

Funny.

Purse thief gets owned!

*click the pic to see the action!

Fire Scout in Afghanistan

Large Unmanned Ground Vehicles about to make their combat debut...

via Lockheed Martin Press Release...

u.s. Army selects lockheed martin’S SMSS Autonomous vehicle for afghanistan deployment

 

DALLAS, July 28, 2011 – The U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, through the Robotics Technology Consortium, selected the Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) to deploy to Afghanistan for a first-of-its-kind military assessment.  SMSS will deploy as the winner of the Project Workhorse Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) competition sponsored by the Army.

 

The largest autonomous vehicle ever to be deployed with infantry, the 11-foot-long SMSS can carry more than half-a-ton of a squad’s equipment on rugged terrain, easing the individual soldier’s burden, which can often exceed 100 pounds.

 

“SMSS is the result of more than a decade of robotic technology development, and we welcome the opportunity to demonstrate this capability in theater, where it can have an immediate impact at the squad level,” said Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business.  “The Army has tested the system’s capabilities in three domestic user assessments, and SMSS has been deemed ready to deploy.”

 

As part of the three-month Military Utility Assessment (MUA), four vehicles and a field service representative will support light infantry in theater as the service evaluates how autonomous vehicles can support or ease the equipment burden for deployed troops.  A fifth vehicle and an engineering team will remain in the U.S. for analysis and additional support.  The Army plans to begin the Afghanistan assessment late this year, after a period of evaluations and training.

 

“An in-theater assessment is the next logical step in the process of informing the requirements for the Army’s future squad-sized UGV developments,” Greene said.

 

A fully-loaded SMSS is internally transportable on board CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters, providing new logistics capability to light and early-entry forces.  The SMSS Block I variant, which will be deployed, has a range of 125 miles and features three control options: supervised autonomy, tele-operation or manually driven.  The SMSS sensor suite allows it to lock on and follow any person by recognizing their digital 3-D profile (captured by the onboard sensors), and it can also navigate terrain on its own following a trail of GPS waypoints.

 

In addition to a month-long MUA at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2009, SMSS has been selected for further evaluation as part of the Army’s Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) Spiral G in November this year.  While SMSS has already demonstrated its ability to reduce soldier loads and provide portable power, the November experiment will evaluate its ability to field a reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition mission equipment package.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

So this is finally becoming reality.  I remember the studies that were done that indicated that systems like this that could play the mule for a platoon on patrol could be a life saver, but I never thought that it would make it to the field.

Glad I was wrong.

Instead of defense, lets talk economics.

Usually the focus is on defense here, but lets switch gears and talk economics.  You must read this story via the Survival Spot from the Business Insider.

Today, over half of all American families live paycheck to paycheck.  Unemployment is rampant and those that do actually have jobs are finding that their wages are rising much more slowly than prices are.

Read the whole thing and if you still "hope" that things will "change" for the better then please explain it to me.

F-35 cat launch vid.

Catapult launches F-35C for the first time

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Navy test pilot Lt. Christopher Tabert takes to the sky July 27 in an F-35C test aircraft launched by a steam catapult for the first time. CF-3 is the designated carrier suitability testing aircraft, and is in Lakehurst for catapult and jet blast deflector testing. The F-35C is the carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants. It has larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for slower catapult launch and landing approach speeds and deck impacts associated with the demanding carrier take-off and landing environment. The F-35C is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River prior to eventual delivery to the fleet.