Did we get a sneak peak at the upgraded AAV hull form?

Check out the video below and stop it at the 44 second mark.  Is that a sneak peek at an upgraded AAV hull?


Now compare it to the MPC hull form in the photo below...

And finally a comparison of it with a standard AAV...

I can't be sure but it looks different to me.  Again I'm just eyeballing it but I've looked through BAE's vehicle portfolio and I don't see anything similar. YMMV.

SOFREP's article on Recon.

SOFREP has an article on Recon.  Its a good read and worth your time.

But I have a bigger question if anyone will take me up on it.

By its very name Recon is outmoded and probably miss named. We use other means that don't risk life or limb to conduct recon now.  They should revert to the WW2 name of Marine Raiders.  But that's just ignoring the real issue.

The real question is this.  How does Recon fit into the modern Marine Corps.  These are Recon missions (via Wikipedia too late in the night to drag out manuals)....

These are the main missions that are outlined to some, or all of, the reconnaissance assets in the Marine Corps:

• Plan, coordinate, and conduct amphibious-ground reconnaissance and surveillance to observe, identify, and report enemy activity, and collect other information of military significance.

Done by drones and other means now. 

• Conduct specialized surveying to include: underwater reconnaissance and/or demolitions, beach permeability and topography, routes, bridges, structures, urban/rural areas, helicopter landing zones (LZ), parachute drop zones (DZ), aircraft forward operating sites, and mechanized reconnaissance missions.

The US Army calls this a pathfinder mission.  In US Army parlance this is specialized training...found in many if not all Infantry units. 

• When properly task organized with other forces, equipment or personnel, assist in specialized engineer, radio, mobile, and other special reconnaissance missions.

Again, the US Army would call the engineer function Sappers and is already present in our Combat Engineers.  Radio Recon does its thing too.  Special Recon Missions are beyond my knowledge.  I simply don't know what that would include. 

• Infiltrate mission areas by necessary means to include: surface, subsurface and airborne operations.

This is simply how they get to work but even this is duplicated to some extent by the conventional Marine Corps.  Scout Swimmers are found in every battalion.  And only Scuba and Airborne ops are unique to Recon/Force Recon.  But in the US Army these skill sets are found outside their Special Operations Forces.

• Conduct counter-reconnaissance.

Marine Snipers conduct this mission as well as regular Marine Units. 

• Conduct Initial Terminal Guidance (ITG) for helicopters, landing craft, parachutists, air-delivery, and re-supply.

Pathfinder by a different name.  Again found throughout the Army Infantry. 

• Designate and engage selected targets with organic weapons and force fires to support battlespace shaping. This includes designation and terminal guidance of precision-guided munitions.

ANGLICO, Terminal Air Control Party all do this.  Same skillset found throughout the DoD. 

• Conduct post-strike reconnaissance to determine and report battle damage assessment on a specified target or area.

Done by drones and other means without risking life or limb. 

• Conduct limited scale raids and ambushes.

A regular infantry mission.

Again I'm not trying to start a fight.

I don't need or want the drama but I would like an answer.  If you have one then feel free to post a comment or even hit me up on my e-mail.

This is an issue that won't be wished away and if you think that the last 12 years of conflict are going to change minds then you're wrong.  We were set on a path by Rumsfield that I don't think we're off yet.  He wanted a high tech force with far fewer people in the services.  That will include SOCOM and Recon unless a real answer to why we need them can be found.

 

French Amphibious Forces in action.

G 63 6x6

I think I just found my other "if I win the lottery" vehicle...Of course if I was Australian I'd just buy one used from the military.  Ah who am I kidding.  I'm still partial to the AEV Brute 4 door!

CIA aerial combat. Helicopter vs Bi-plane warfare.

What happens when you have an isolated and clandestine CIA site mixed with an unusual move by the North Vietnamese to attack it using AN-2 Colt bi-planes, dashed with a bit of quick thinking courtesy of Air America in a Huey helicopter?

You have one of the most unusual air battles of the Vietnam War.

From the CIA Website....

On 12 January, CIA lookouts reported a four-plane formation heading in the direction of Site 85. Two aircraft split off, but the other two continued to Phou Phathi, where they bombed, strafed, and fired rockets at the ridgeline. Several local Hmong were killed. The CIA officers and the local Air Force forward air controller (FAC) fired on the slow-moving Antonov-2 Colt biplanes and called in an Air America helicopter in the area to assist. The helicopter, a Bell 212, the civilian version of the Huey, proved faster than the Colts. The Air America pilot flew alongside the Soviet-made biplanes and fired a submachinegun at them through the door. Both aircraft were shot down, and the rudder from one was taken to Longtiang, an Air America base, as a souvenir.
The Embassy believed the air attack was an attempt to eliminate the radar without resorting to a costly ground attack. It also considered, rightly, that the attack was highly unusual and was unlikely to be repeated. The North Vietnamese did not have the air assets to squander.
After the air attack, ground activity abruptly increased. On 19 January an informant at Samneua reported that a five-battalion group of NVA and PL had moved west and divided into two groups. Three battalions with a 105-mm howitzer moved into position to attack Phou Den Din, a key position in control of the Phou Phathi area. The other two battalions moved southeast of the mountain in an encircling maneuver. The American and Hmong forces at the Site 85 command post, a ramshackle structure next to the helicopter landing area, recognized another major assault in the making. They realized that, if the enemy were willing to accept heavy losses, the ridgeline could not be held.

Pretty dry fare from the Central Intelligence Agency.

If you want a more entertaining telling then I highly recommend you go to Sobchak Security Blog here and check out his version of events. 

Terrex AV 8x8 at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch

Sources tell me that the Terrex AV 8x8 is currently at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch, Camp Pendleton undergoing testing.

I'm touching base with contacts at Pendleton as we speak trying to see if I can get someone in a ghillie suit to go down and take pics of the vehicle in the water.

As far as the MPC concept is concerned, the silence that's coming from the Marine Corps on both the MPC and ACV projects makes me wonder if they might be merging.  One thing is certain.  The continuous delays of the ACV have probably doomed that program...especially in this budget environment.

In the end we might be lucky to get the MPC and an upgraded AAV.  If we're lucky that is.

...An Excellent Article on Force Recon and Marsoc issues.

SOFREP did an article on Force Recon and Marsoc that is a must read.  Go here to check it out but a tidbit...

By 2008, it was becoming evident to the Marine Corps that while, MARSOC was doing some good, in spite of certain growing pains, it really worked for USSOCOM, not the Marine Corps.  In effect, while expanding the Marine contribution, the Marine Expeditionary Forces had lost the Direct Action and Deep Reconnaissance capability that the Force Companies had owned since Vietnam.  While technically the capability was retained in the Deep Recon Companies, these were shadows of what Force had been, in the case of 1st Recon being barely two platoons strong.  In 2003, 1st Force Recon Company had had nine.
So it was decided to stand the Force Company back up as a separate entity, once again working for the MEF.  In August 2008, Force Recon Company I MEF and Force Recon Company II MEF were officially stood up.  The Marine Corps was on its way to getting back the capability that it had effectively ceded to SOCOM.

Like I said, read it all.

One thing is clear however.  The Marine Corps has lost organic capability in its effort to support SOCOM and has become weaker because of it.  Additionally Marsoc duplicates capabilities already found in SOCOM.  Lastly, SOCOM and the Marine Corps work for the same masters...Combatant Commanders via the President.

There are really only two options.  Either shut down Marsoc and make the Marine Corps whole again OR secede those positions, understand that Marsoc is and will always be a drain on resources and develop a new direct action/deep recon capability based on a different type unit.  I've always stated that it should be based around the Scout Sniper Platoon and my thinking now is that we should enlarge it to become Scout Raiders.

We were ordered by a former Sec of Defense to stand up Marsoc.  We can solve the problem that his inept decision caused by making Scout Raiders a reality.

LaRue’s Thoughts on the M110 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS).

Wow.

It’s no secret that LaRue Tactical is one of the contenders for the US Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS). The CSASS solicitation is exploring the options for reconfiguring the existing M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS) currently available in Army inventory, or completely replacing the M110 with a new system.
At the recent SHOT Show, aisle-talk centered on impending and drastic military cuts. Rumors were flying, from aircraft carriers missing important scheduled maintenance, to drastically-reduced training flights, to warships stacking up in Pacific harbors ...
Given the tsunami of cutbacks our military organizations are crashing head-on into, we feel the substantial costs required for LaRue Tactical to pursue the upcoming CSASS / M110-Upgrade would simply be a waste of resources.
While we believe that America's Warfighters should always have the best, and that we are large enough to handle the project, our consensus is that the program will not gain full traction. We feel our money is better spent invested in people, processes, manufacturing infrastructure, and continued improvements to our product lines.
Henceforth, we are officially opting-out of the CSASS / M110-Upgrade solicitation. 
However, let it be known that our doors are always open for OTS/OTC purchases ... like recent customers: FBI-HRT, DEA, U.S. Marshals, DoE, Texas Rangers, just to name a few ...
v/r,
Mark LaRue - PresidentLaRue Tacticalwww.larue.com

What is the MLP? Mobile lighterage....I think.

Chinese version (notice the box like structures on the platform?...I believe they give it mobility)

US version, notice the LCU ramped up to the platform...further modifications and an enlarged platform MIGHT have accomplished our goals.

Via SLD

Admiral Buzby:  The USNS Montfort Point is our newest ship and it’s our newest type of ship.  It’s a float on/float off ship that was basically conceived from an existing BP Alaska-class tanker design that we modified to give us a float on/float off capability that’s going to be essentially a pier at sea.
It’s going to integrate with the maritime prepositioning force that we currently have.  These two squadrons of ships provide the ability to deliver a brigade’s worth of combat equipment and sustainment from large medium speed roll on/roll off ships in stream or inport.  MLP enhances the in stream off load capability.
This will give us the capability to have a lot of throughput as it’s currently envisioned.It will give us the capability to have connection to the beach to move the material off those LMSRs much quicker than we do today using lighterage that is typically carried on the MPS ships.
It’s a big empty deck, it’s 80,000 tons and 800 feet of use your imagination.It’s a big empty deck from which you can put almost anything to move pretty much anywhere.

I'm really hoping that I'm being overly skeptical on this.  I really hope that these ships deliver on the promise of transforming amphibious operations....

But I just don't see it.

Question.  And I'm a Marine Corps supporter extraordinaire', but short of deploying a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (and I want to remind you that a MEB is about equal to an old fashioned Army Division plus) why would we draw stocks from MPS ships in a hasty fashion?

Next question.  Why the focus on the MEB instead of working to enhance the MEU?  The real workhorse of Marine formations?

I ask the question regarding the MEB vs. the MEU because this ship seems designed to be an enabler for a formation that hasn't seen use since the Iraq War 1 & 2(and rarely in the time before that), wasn't highlighted in the amphibious feint during Iraq War 1 and has been a non-factor in the current war.

I hope many of you can change my mind on this but I just don't see this ship as really being useful in the near term.  Quite honestly I really believe that it will probably be completely converted to SOCOM use and will serve 99.9 percent of its career serving those guys instead of its intended role as part of the amphibious fleet.

Again I hope you can change my mind but this ship has the smell and texture of being a huge shiny cow patty.

The Netherlands can fly top cover for France and Germany...

via Armada

The second Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II for the Netherlands rolled out of the F-35 production facility on March 2. This is the latest step in the production process leading to its eventual assignment to Eglin AFB later this summer. The Netherlands is planning to use this conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) jet, known as AN-2, for training and operational tests for pilots and maintainers. AN-2 will undergo functional fuel system checks before being transported to the flight line for ground and flight tests later this year.

Seeing that the Netherlands will be one of only a small few European Air Forces with stealth capability, they'll be able to provide top cover for the Germans and French when the EU takes on capable opponents without US help.

SIDENOTE:  What the fuck Lockheed?  You guys getting rattled by the critics?  Why isn't this in my normal news feed...now I have to keep up with 5 different sources (all from your company) to get F-35 news?  GEEZ.  You're getting as bad as the confused and socially inept military! Get it together public affairs geeks.

Friday Interesting and Funny.

Why hasn't anyone challenged the Soda Size ban in court as being unconstitutional???

Wow.  And yet many believe that gun control is actually about public safety!

Amateurs should never do the work of professionals...

So true.....have a good Friday!

Support this guys bravery.

ColinNoir is taking hits from many liberals for stating what we all know to be the truth.

Stating that Police can't protect you, Obama sure won't be there and that its a cultural, poverty, lack of responsibility problem should be music to ever RIGHT thinking person.

Give him a like on his YouTube page, if nothing else.

DHS has enough armored vehicles to staff a US Army sized company of Agents in every major US city.

via the American Thinker...A MUST READ!

According to 2011 Census data, the U.S. has nine cities with populations over one million, and twenty-five more with populations over half a million, but under a million. Let us assign thirty armored vehicles to each of the megacities, and fifteen to each city between half a million and a million. That would be 645 vehicles. Now, for each of the next forty-one cities, down to a quarter million citizens, let us designate ten vehicles, i.e., 410 altogether. That makes 1,055. For the smaller cities, down to a bare one hundred thousand (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma), let's provide five each, or 1,050. That makes the total 2,105.We have provided armored vehicles for all 285 cities in the United States, and we still have almost 600 left over for town and rural duty. And of course this is accounting for only the single order of vehicles that DHS is known to have made. No doubt further acquisitions are planned.

What makes this acquisition of vehicles so menacing is the type of vehicles that are being used.

PVI Alpha and the Golan MRAPs.  As one person stated, they have armor that is equal to that of a WW2 main battle tank and can mount heavy machine guns.  These are battle weapons...not law enforcement tools.  Information has it that they have a new contract that has them buying Lenco Bearcats.

They're being used by portions of the Marine Corps (which parts I can't determine), Navy, Air Force, and reportedly FBI.  They're also a favorite of local law enforcement (by means of grants).  I'm still looking but it almost appears that this is the new standard law enforcement assault vehicle.

Is it time to start asking questions yet?

A new weapons mount for MPC?

Perfect weapon for a Marine Personnel Carrier.  How about a Missile Support Vehicle?  Instead of launching Javelins and TOWs at bunkers we ripple fire a bunch of DAGRs instead?  Plus they're so small that reloads should be plentiful.  The setup on the JLTV is pretty impressive too.  The only thing left to do is to set it up for ship board use against small boats and they have the market cornered.

Axe writes a hit piece and Palmer nails him in comments...sort of.

Thanks for the link Joe!

David Axe has been a long time critic of the F-35.  If you follow his writing then its damn near undeniable.  And although Sweetman has been missing in action of late (I hope he's ok, I miss jabbing at him) he's definitely an acolyte of the dark lord.

But back on track.

Axe wrote up his latest hit piece on the F-35 and to be honest I'm a bit confused.  Check this out...

All four student pilots commented on the out-of-cockpit visibility of the F-35, an issue
which not only adversely affects training, but safety and survivability as well.8
 One rated the
degree to which the visibility deficiencies impeded or degraded training effectiveness as
“Moderate;” the other three rated it as “High” or “Very High.” 

That my friends is a training issue.  I can tell you and I'm not a fly guy that fighting an F-35 will be markedly different than fighting a F-16 or A-10.  If this was a real article then this part of the report would have been the real issue.

F-35 pilots are fitted with and required to wear a jacket on every flight as part of their
flight equipment, which works with the escape system and personal flotation devices. Three of
the four student pilots and one instructor pilot commented on thermal burden created by the
jacket in their survey comments. The discomfort to the pilots due to excessively hot pilot’s flight
equipment (PFE) did not significantly hamper the execution of the OUE, but the outdoor
temperatures during the evaluation were nowhere near the maximums experienced during the
summer months at Eglin AFB or at other training sites, such as Marine Corps Air Station
(MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, where the first operational F-35B unit is located. While the thermal
loading of the PFE was tolerable during the OUE time period, it may very well turn out to more
significantly hamper training at hotter times of the year.

I can see armored vehicle cooling jackets coming to the air wing real soon...at least while the planes are on the ground.

But to the part where Palmer smashes Axe.  Its in the comments.  Check this out and consider it an accidental jab that lands with a pound of truth.

If only DAS and the helmet actually worked reliably.

What he's saying is that rearward vision will be a non-issue once DAS and the helmet works.

I mean seriously!  The plane is designed so that the pilot can see through the planes floor and engage airplanes below it!  Look and shoot will be a reality once the planes hit the fleet!

This article was a cheap shot at a plane still in development, being assessed by pilots that weren't able to take full advantage of its capability (not fully installed), who were assessing it against airplanes that don't have the same capabilities!

Let's be honest.  An F-16 doesn't have the rearward visibility that a WW1 biplane has.  But which would you want to take into combat?

Tossing the Mini-ARG in the trash.

Check out this passage from an AOL story...

To increase their strategic responsiveness even as budgets fall, the Marines are experimenting with the concept of a "Special Purpose MAGTF" (Marine Air-Ground Task Force), a relatively small unit operating not off ships but primarily from the land. Exploiting the long range of the Marines' MV-22 Osprey aircraft backed by KC-130J fuel tankers, such forces could react rapidly to a crisis for which a full-sized Marine Expeditionary Unit might not be available. (A somewhat different kind of Special Purpose MAGTF recently deployed to Africa).
"The crown jewel of forward presence for us is the Marine Expeditionary Unit," McKenzie said. "Well, there're a finite number of those. [The Special Purpose MAGTF] allows you to put something forward that is not a MEU but provides some of the qualities of a MEU."

I'm really surprised that years of thinking and study is being tossed out the window to recreate the wheel.

I remember reading in the Gazette a couple of years ago about the Mini-ARG concept.

An MEU would arrive off the coast of Africa, multiple embassies would be under siege and in order to deal with multiple contingency operations, the MEU would split up, dividing the air wing and ground vehicles and head off to perform missions.

Under this concept the individual ships would be configured to handle everything from raids against Pirates to embassy reinforcement to even limited disaster relief.

From this thinking the Company Landing Team was formed.

Looks like Headquarters Marine Corps is throwing all that work away and reverting to a Command heavy SPMAGTF formation instead.

Pity.

We could have been ground breaking.  Instead we're stuck with another gimmick.  Too bad.  

Under cover camera shows cops admitting the truth. You're on your own.

How can a 180,000 man force be a feeder for SOCOM?

Question of the day.

How can a force of 180,000 men going to supply forces to SOCOM that itself will number just shy of 100,000 people?

I am still waiting for someone to explain how a force as small as the Marine Corps can be expected to basically give up a Regiment of Infantry AND supporting units to SOCOM and still remain viable.

It doesn't make sense and everyone knows it.

If Sequester really bites and the Marine Corps goes down to 150,000 boatspaces then participation in SOCOM will necessarily come to an end.

Maybe Sequester isn't as bad as everyone says!

Are Syrian Rebels soon to get Foxhounds?

Are the Syrian Rebels about to get a batch of Foxhound armored 4x4's?

Stories have been floating around the internet about the UK finally getting the support they've been asking for to take a more proactive role in supporting the Rebels and part of that effort has them supplying armored 4x4's.  The only issue is that they didn't state what type of vehicle they would receive.

The Foxhound in my opinion is the best of the latest generation of MRAPs/Utility Vehicles.  I've openly called for the Marine Corps to dump the JLTV and simply buy this vehicle off the shelf.  It could serve every role that is envisioned for the JLTV and be less expensive....while providing (I believe) every ounce of protection that the JLTV will.

For more on the story of the UK providing armored vehicles to the Rebels click here.

First production Airbus Military A400M (MSN7) makes its maiden flight