Ronald Reagan 40th Anniversary of D-Day Montage.

Ironic that the US Army Rangers most famous action occurred as part of an amphibious assault. That in that same action they acted as SHOCK TROOPS...

Inspiring and fateful words from the LtCol.  Photo and vid from F3 Tactical

7-ton (MTVR) Fire Truck.

All images via VAFIRENEWS.com

What was that talk about the MTVR not being able to meet requirements for a firefighting vehicle????

The real issue is this.

Civilians have an obscene desire to have military equipment and the military has a desire to operate civilian gear.  Plain and simple.

Let me be even more clear.  The MTVR is simply a platform.  Any equipment necessary to meet USMC fire fighting needs could be met by simply putting the correct equipment on the MTVR platform...even if the standard truck is unfit then the extended version used by the SEABEES could have been acquired.

The Marine Corps has an opportunity that it might not have for another generation to neck down the number of vehicles that it has in inventory.  The benefits would be many, the risks few.  All we need is vision and leadership to make it happen.

ADAPTIV

General Dynamics MPC based on LAVIII?

via Press Release.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Land Systems' Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC) vehicle successfully completed the U.S. Marine Corps' water performance swim and human factors testing at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch (AVTB), in Camp Pendleton, Calif. General Dynamics Land Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
"Our teams in Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia and Canada developed a vehicle that performed impressively during testing and demonstrated the ability to meet the Marine Corps' MPC vehicle requirements," said Michael D. Bolon, senior vice president, General Dynamics Land Systems U.S. Marine Corps and Navy Business Sector. "Our vehicle clearly demonstrated it has the amphibious capabilities that the Marines seek with the required outstanding survivability."

Marine Corps teams at AVTB tested many critical vehicle features including troop egress and component storage, reserve buoyancy, center of gravity, water maneuverability, hydrodynamic stability, ocean speed into head seas and surf transit capability. The General Dynamics MPC demonstrated exceptional swim capabilities at its fully armored combat weight, along with the required ability to carry 12 Marines and their equipment. Rapid tactical and emergency egress through the vehicle's large roof hatches and rear ramp was also demonstrated.
The General Dynamics MPC demonstrated ample buoyancy at the fully armored combat weight, including two days of supplies to support 12 Marines in combat operations, and provided substantial stability and safety for amphibious tactical movements. This included safe maneuvering through plunging surf levels of up to four feet and reaching water speeds of over six knots. The General Dynamics MPC's rugged design allows it to maintain a stable waterborne attitude for all swimming and surf-penetration maneuvers.
In addition to its strong swimming capability, General Dynamics' MPC offers excellent crew, troop and equipment accommodation. It provides land mobility capability compatible with the M1A1 tank. Based on the combat-proven LAV III family of vehicles, its unique double-V hull provides unmatched protection levels for improved survivability. This MPC is the first amphibious vehicle of its type to demonstrate its swim capability with the double-V hull.
"General Dynamics has a long and proud history of providing land and amphibious combat systems to the Marine Corps. We look forward to continuing this strong partnership by drawing on the industry's broadest base of amphibious combat vehicle knowledge and experience to deliver optimum and best value solutions," said Bolon.

Black Market Ammo.

via Marines.mil

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. -- The Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated 64 individuals, some of whom are active-duty and former Marines and sailors, and confiscated one million dollars worth of contraband in connection with an organized crime ring in the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., area as part of Operation “Perfect Storm” June 4.

The operation is the result of an organized theft and narcotics undercover operation that began Aug. 8, 2012. The inter-agency operation included NCIS, the San Diego County Regional Automobile Theft Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Currently, there have been 64 grand jury indictments, two federal arrest warrants, and three Uniform Code of Military Justice apprehensions. Seven Marines, one sailor and seven Marine veterans have been implicated, ranging in rank from lance corporal to gunnery sergeant.

Items confiscated in the raid include cocaine, methamphetamines, ecstasy, enhanced small arms protective insert plates, tactical vests, M-40 gas masks, tool kits, high capacity magazines, 10,000 rounds of 5.56 millimeter ammunition, thermal monoculars, night vision goggles, semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, pistols, U.S. currency, and 92 stolen automobiles. The street value of the items is estimated at one million dollars.

I have been wondering when someone would make a run on military stockpiles of ammo to sell on the black market.  They recovered 10,000 rounds but I'm sure more than this is missing Marine Corps wide and much much more if you include the Army, Navy and Air Force.

I wonder what a real deal audit of ammo allotted to ammo on hand would reveal.
 

Lockheed solving the "Missile Saturation Attack" problem.

via Press Release.

DALLAS, June 6, 2013 – Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) Missile successfully engaged, intercepted and destroyed two different threat representative targets during a flight test today at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
The first target engagement involved two PAC-3 MSE Missiles ripple fired against an advanced Tactical Ballistic Missile (TBM) target. The first MSE Missile successfully engaged a TBM target, while the second missile self-destructed as planned. A third PAC-3 MSE Missile engaged a BQM-74 cruise missile target. Preliminary data indicates that all test objectives were achieved.

We've talked about Missile Saturation Attacks against Carriers and big deck Amphibs, but we've ignored attacks against land targets...marshalling areas, ports, airports, etc...

If an attack was launched and it was successful then you could be looking at an entire campaign being setback at best and at worst the loss of a war.

Good to know that someone has identified the potential problem...lets hope this works as advertised.

Cape Buffalo in the attack.

via Victran

Law Enforcement vs. Law Enforcement.

Read the story here.

I continue to be amazed at how tone deaf some people/organizations are.  The FDLE is not only committing a public relations disaster, but they're also stoking the fears of the gun rights community and perhaps even worse they're pitting Law Enforcement against Law Enforcement.

If this Sheriff screwed up then they need to get that info out asap.

If he made a judgement call about a man carrying concealed and is being made an example of then they've got problems.

This is lining up to be State and Federal against the locals.  That is not a good thing.  Trouble is sure to come.

(AFV Weapons Profiles No.62) Commando, Twister and High Mobility Vehicles

   (AFV Weapons Profiles No.62) Commando, Twister and High Mobility Vehicles by Inveteratus

Note:  I'm really surprised the Gama Goat isn't more popular in the secondary market.   Old Skool guys always talked about them being able to go anywhere and they were amphibious, I would think that some rich rancher somewhere would use one as a runabout.

Note 1:  The experiment to convert webpages to PDF files so that they could be saved and read on e-readers at leisure without an internet connection was an utter failure.  The quest for improvement continues.

US Secret Service puts out tender for new Presidential Limo.

Thanks for the link Mike!

The US Secret Service has put out a tender for the design of a new Presidential Limo.  My guess is that there has probably been a huge spike in the number of death threats directed at the President.

Quite honestly I would expect all pretense to be put to the side and we'll soon see the President traveling in a highly modified MRAP with perhaps a "personnel lift" to help him get inside.  Its really the only way to improve survivability at this point.  The doors already appear to have at least 12 inches of armor on them and if that extends all around the passenger compartment then you're looking at a vehicle that's approaching at least M-ATV weight right now.

You can read the request here.

Could the vehicle below be the next presidential limo???

B.O.P.E. in action.

I can't explain why but I'm fascinated by this organization.  I hope a Brazilian reader can suggest a good book on the history of this unit.

The Storm High Speed Interceptor

The Storm High Speed InterceptorSKU: 12067276
The Storm is the culmination of thousands of hours of tactical experience, research, and training. The features of this high speed vessel present the perfect platform for interception and boarding in a hostile marine environment. The bow ramp, with access to the multi-purpose compartment below deck, and the full length protruding keel offer the premiere platform for beaching on rugged coastlines. Fully capable of being fitted with modern weapons systems, the Storm is the finest example of a twenty-first century combat boat.

Please contact us to learn more about Storm.

Terrier Combat Engineer Vehicle.

The British Army's Most Advanced Engineering Vehicle

Final Flight for Merlins

Navy awards contract for operational test CH-53K aircraft

Remember this story from early 2012?  via Flight Global.

The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is evaluating a proposal from Sikorsky to build four production-representative CH-53K Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters, says the US Marine Corps' programme manager.
"We're looking at the proposal now," says Col Robert Pridgen.
NAVAIR received the proposal at the beginning of March, he says. A contract award is expected some time after this has been evaluated, although Pridgen says: "I don't want to nail down a date."
The four pre-production aircraft will be "fleet-representative" and be used for operational evaluations, as well to finish developmental testing.

Well this hit the airwaves a few days ago....via NAVAIR Press Release.

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a $435 million cost-plus-incentive contract to Sikorsky to build four production-representative CH-53K heavy lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps on May 30.
These four aircraft will be the System Demonstration Test Articles (SDTA) that the Marines will test during operational evaluation.
“The SDTA contract represents an exciting and significant milestone in our program,” said Col. Robert Pridgen, the Heavy Lift Helicopters program manager for NAVAIR. “We are well on our way to making the CH-53K a reality for our Marines and our naval fleet. The capability this aircraft brings, in every clime and place, is critical to sustaining the future missions of the Marine Air/Ground Task Force. The future of heavy lift is bright.”

Its hard to be enthused about this news when you realize that it was proposed over a year ago by Sikorsky in response to ANOTHER delay to the CH-53K program.

Its becoming a common rant on these blog pages but something is seriously wrong with Marine Corps procurement.

The simple is becoming hard and the hard impossible.  New leadership across the board is desperately needed. 

Modest proposal. Replace the legacy LCU with the LCM-1E.

The rumor mill (or at least I've gotten some e-mails indicating that its gonna happen) is swirling with the news that this year the Marine Corps is about to dedicate a couple of MV-22 squadrons to support MARSOC.

If true then MV-22s go back to being a premium asset and will probably become the sole domain of the Maritime Raid Force.  Fleet Marines will still need to get to shore so that puts boats at a premium..

The LCACs are awesome but they're loud, require extensive maintenance and are too few in number for us to put the rest of our eggs into.  That's why we should follow Australia's lead and procure the LCM-1E.  The same techniques that have been tested on the LCAC, like transporting AAVs from beyond the horizon and stopping short of the beach and letting them swim the last mile or two to shore should be doable.

The wiki article on the LCM-1E is here.

Blast from the past. XF-90.

Amos on the F-35 vs. Amos on the ACV.

"I personally met with top leadership within the F35 program, to include our industry partner, and communicated that I intend to personally track the progress of our airplane over the next two years. I will track every pound of weight growth, required engineering fixes, and every test point completed.....General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps.

The above quote is an indication of the seriousness that the Commandant placed on getting the F-35 in service.  Looks like it paid off because the airplane has an IOC date and the program appears unstoppable. (passage below is via DoD Buzz)

“Cost is a factor in this,” Amos said.“If things go according to current plans, a request for proposal should go out to industry early next year.”In 2011 the Marines cancelled its Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program due to increased cost for the capability. The EFV was designed to transit from an amphibious assault ship over a distance of 25 nautical miles. The over-the-horizon transit capability was considered essential to the Navy and the Marine Corps during the EFV development to protect from the threat of low-cost guided weapon systems.“I want [the ACV] to be like an F-150 [a large Ford pickup truck], reliable and beefy. …They are utility fighting vehicles for us,” Amos said.“I am only going to get one more shot to get this right.”

Amos again.  This time he's talking about the ACV and declaring that cost is a factor!  A battalion worth of ACVs could be bought with the money spent on two or three F-35s and cost is a factor?  (passage below is via Defense Tech)

“There are two answers to that, one is as Commandant of the Marine Corps’s answer which is Before I leave leave office four years from now … we’ll have a program of record, we’ll have steel, there will be a vehicle and I’ll be able to drive it,” Amos said responding to lawmakers questions during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “I’m trying to pressurize industry, I’m trying to pressurize the acquisition folks, I want the word to get out. If we followed the standard acquisition timeline, which in some cases got us to where we are today, it’ll be 2024.”To avoid such a fate, the general said the Department of the Navy will be using a model similar to the one it used to quickly buy and field thousands of MRAPs during the height of the Iraq war.“Something probably that resembles the sense of urgency that we had for the MRAP but probably a little bit more scheduled, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Amos is gone next year.  Hopefully we'll get a grunt Commandant to sort the armor mess out. But it must be noted that the sense of urgency that was found for the F-35 is clearly lacking with a Marine Corps unique, mission specific, personnel carrier/infantry fighting vehicle for Marines.

Clearly something is broken in Marine land for this amount of vacillation to be going on without comment from members of the Infantry, and AAV community.  You lose one F-35 in combat and you lose a pilot and an airframe.  You lose an upgraded AAV to an enemy IED and you lose a squad.

Considering potential body counts which platform do you think deserves priority replacement? 

Defense Industry Daily said it best when they said this..." another episode of ballooning costs and delays will cripple the Marines for a generation"...I think we should consider the Marine Corps on crutches.

NOTE:  Amos said..... 

"I’m trying to pressurize industry, I’m trying to pressurize the acquisition folks, I want the word to get out. If we followed the standard acquisition timeline, which in some cases got us to where we are today, it’ll be 2024.”

Planned IOC for the ACV is now past 2020.

Read more here: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2011/01/marine-commandant-pledges-personal-scrutiny-on-f-35.html#storylink=cpy

F-35