What do the Chinese have that we don't? A manned spaceflight program.

via Chinese military.

via 101st Airborne. LtCol Robert Cole.

For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty on 11 June 1944, in France. Lt. Col. Cole was personally leading his battalion in forcing the last 4 bridges on the road to Carentan when his entire unit was suddenly pinned to the ground by intense and withering enemy rifle, machinegun, mortar, and artillery fire placed upon them from well-prepared and heavily fortified positions within 150 yards of the foremost elements. After the devastating and unceasing enemy fire had for over 1 hour prevented any move and inflicted numerous casualties, Lt. Col. Cole, observing this almost hopeless situation, courageously issued orders to assault the enemy positions with fixed bayonets. With utter disregard for his own safety and completely ignoring the enemy fire, he rose to his feet in front of his battalion and with drawn pistol shouted to his men to follow him in the assault. Catching up a fallen man's rifle and bayonet, he charged on and led the remnants of his battalion across the bullet-swept open ground and into the enemy position. His heroic and valiant action in so inspiring his men resulted in the complete establishment of our bridgehead across the Douve River. The cool fearlessness, personal bravery, and outstanding leadership displayed by Lt. Col. Cole reflect great credit upon himself and are worthy of the highest praise in the military service.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Heli-One.

X3 helicopter achieves a speed milestone of 255 knots

US Army buys another 215 Chinook Helicopters.

via Press Release.

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa., June 11, 2013 – In an agreement that will save the U.S. government more than $800 million, the Army and Boeing [NYSE:BA] have signed a $4 billion multi-year contract for 177 CH-47F Chinook helicopters, with the Army holding options that could increase its total buy to 215 aircraft.
Deliveries from the agreement, which is a cost-effective alternative to annually contracting for the aircraft, begin in 2015.
“This multi-year contract provides unprecedented savings for the U.S. Army and American taxpayers,” said Col. Robert Barrie, U.S. Army project manager for Cargo Helicopters. “But the most important benefit is the continued support these aircraft will provide to soldiers in the field and civilians in distress.”

I am really starting to despise reading these stale, politically correct press releases.

"...unprecedented savings..."

"...continued support to soldiers in the field and civilians in distress."

I am underwhelmed.

Doosan DST Company: Tarantula 6x6 armored vehicle

TW.Myblog.Yahoo.com (S. Korean website) is reporting that the Tarantula 6x6 has been delivered to Indonesia.  Doosan DST does not list this vehicle as part of its portfolio, although if memory serves it was once under consideration for a S. Korean Army requirement for a wheeled APC.  Confusion continues.

SOCOM wants Polaris ATVs On Non-Pneumatic Tires

Polaris Defense is soon to offer SOCOM its Polaris ATVs with Non-Pneumatic Tires (NPT).

The big bonus?  No need for spares meaning an increase in payload and space plus if hit with a 12.7mm bullet they supposedly can still travel upwards of 8000km.

via Airless Tire.com

For the time being, Polaris has integrated the non-pneumatic tires (NPTs) into its defense division and testing with the US Army already started in October 2012. In-theater conditions have been simulated in one test where a .50-caliber bullet was shot at the airless tire which was then ridden for 5,000 miles without any issues.
Richard Haddad, general manager of Polaris’ military business confirmed: “We drove one tire with a railroad spike in it for over 1,000 miles. The thing drove like it was brand new. These are designed to last the life of the vehicle. This capability gives our troops an edge when operating in rugged, war-torn terrain.”

If it works then this is some trickle down that I can support.  But make no mistake, this isn't a new idea and quite honestly it dates back to the first mass produced cars.  Taking the idea even further back its just the old wagon wheel from war chariots.   The photo below is from Military Photos of a S. African attempt.

Blast from the past. Flyer 21 ITV.

The Flyer 21 was a contender in the Internally Carried Vehicle contest and was put forward by Marvin Group.

I won't go over the allegations of gross misconduct that was revealed by investigative reporters, but a serious look back tells us that the Marine Corps sometimes buys the wrong vehicle for the wrong reasons and saddles Marines with inferior products at exorbitant prices.

Forgive me, I can't help it.  Compare what we could have had above with what we got below...

Test Tow

F-35C CF-3 was used for a heavyweight ground tow test at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division test facility at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 6 June 2013. The aircraft was fitted with four 2,000-pound GBU-31 guided bombs on the aircraft’s external pylons. US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Tony Wilson was in the cockpit during the test.

Rhino vs. warthog

Don't pull on Superman's cape.

Don't piss in the wind.

Don't mess with a Rhino's grub!

Where are you on this scale?

Note:  I find it interesting that guys consider women that are below 17% to be almost "hulking out".  I also note that sticking to a BF of below 8% for more than a few weeks is either aided (yeah, you're juicing) or you're a mean miserable SOB.

French amphibious ops.

First F-35A In-Flight Missile Launch

Second production Airbus Military A400M (MSN8) makes maiden flight

The second production Airbus Military A400M new generation airlifter has made its maiden flight.
Known as MSN8, the aircraft made its first flight from Seville, Spain, the location of the A400M final assembly line on 7 June.
It is scheduled for delivery to the French Air Force in the third quarter of the year. MSN7, which flew for the first time at the beginning of March this year, will be delivered to the French Air Force in the coming weeks.

Know your allies. Japanese Ground Self Defense Force Armored Vehicles.

Note:  The JGSDF's collection of armored vehicles isn't widely known outside of the circle of military professionals, armor enthusiast and hobbyist.  That's a pity because they have some of the finest kit in the world, and the underrated Type 90 can be considered the Leopard 2 of the East.

Type 90 MBT.

Type 87 Recon Vehicle

This vehicle intrigues me.  I'm definitely going to find out more.

Type 89 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier

It should be noted that the Japanese are in the midst of a pretty impressive upgrade of their armored forces and especially their armor.

The Type 90 is about to be supplemented in service by a new, lighter tank.  The Type 89 is set to be replaced with a dedicated wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, and the Type 87 is going to be replaced too.  Not shown are the wheeled mortar carriers and those are due for replacement...and that ignores what is being done for the Navy (traditionally the service that receives the most funding) and Air Force.  Not mentioned but still important are the AAVs on order, the potential buy of V-22s and the rumor that not only are they buying F-35As but considering adding F-35Bs to the wish list.

All photos via Geocities.Jp/Pinealguy

CH-53K, the USMC and the Inspector General.

A blistering report from the DoD Inspector General on the CH-53K.

As a result, the Marine Corps risks spending $22.2 billion in procurement and operating and support funding for 44 additional aircraft that have not been justified and may not be needed to support future Marine Corps mission requirements.

Read the entire summary here.

The Marine Corps originally had a requirement of 200 CH-53Ks when the force was measured at being 202,000.  Currently its projected to fall to 182,000 and many believe (but aren't saying publicly) that it could drop to 150,000 or even lower.

With that as a backdrop, the Inspector General is saying that the Marine Corps is buying excess capability.

So how will the Marine Corps justify it?

Expect the Marines to offer up both a V-22 and CH-53K squadron to SOCOM for support.  Some in the airwing have been pushing the idea for years and its gained traction lately.  If you've been paying attention MV-22s are exercising more and more with SOCOM.

The sad part of this?  22.4 billion would buy the entire run of MPCs and fund the AAV upgrade.

MARSOC to train with 11th MEU? Why? Wasn't the point to get away from the Corps?

via Army Times.

Personnel with the Marine Corps’ special operations force will soon train aboard Navy ships, a step toward returning special operators to sea for the first time in more than a decade, said Commandant Gen. Jim Amos.
Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command will begin training as soon as this fall off the West Coast with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., said Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine spokesman. The mission will be a prototype to prepare MARSOC for a closer relationship with MEUs and their Navy counterparts, Amphibious Ready Groups, Amos said.
Col. Matthew Trollinger, commander of the 11th MEU, said his unit is prepared to conduct its predeployment training “with representation from the special operations community to facilitate planning with Theater Special Operations commands and other spec-ops units.” Doing so will improve the MEU’s support to geographic combatant commanders, he said.
The move comes as MARSOC, established in 2006, assesses its future as forces come out of Afghanistan. This spring, top Marine officials traveled to U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., for a war game that examined MARSOC’s maritime capabilities and a way forward.
Amos, speaking at a May 29 event in Washington, said Marine officials decided to go forward with the “prototype” training mission involving the MEU. It’s a step toward an arrangement that has similarities to operations in the 1990s, Amos said. At that time, Navy SEALs deployed regularly with MEUs, tackling a host of complex missions.
“Every amphibious ready group/marine expeditionary unit had a team of SEALs on board,” Amos said at the Brookings Institution, an independent think tank in Washington. “In about 2000, 2001, that changed, and it became a function of ‘Well, there are other things,’ and then the war in Iraq broke out, and they became preoccupied. They have not been back aboard naval vessels — except for unique, specific, surgical-type operations — on any kind of routine basis since then.”
The recent war game focused on developing special operations “network integration teams” that can train with MEUs and ARGs prior to deployment, a SOCOM official said.
“While the details of this concept are still being developed, SOCOM is leading a planning effort to deploy SOF Network Integration Teams with West and East Coast-based ARG/MEUs in 2014,” the official said. The 11th MEU is one of those units.
Left to be sorted out is when teams of MARSOC operators will return to the sea — and how that will affect other Marine forces. Raids and other complicated missions at sea have been handled in recent years by other Marines, particularly Force Reconnaissance units. In one high-profile example, a Force Reconnaissance platoon with Pendleton’s 15th MEU was called on in September 2010 to take back the German shipping vessel Magellan Star from Somali pirates. They stormed the vessel without any loss of life.
The commandant at the time, now-retired Gen. James Conway, said afterward that he saw Force Recon as a possible solution going forward in similar future missions. Amos, however, has embraced MARSOC since taking over as commandant. At the Brookings Institution, he said he had “no intention of downsizing special operations,” citing their cost effectiveness and ability to build security and partnerships abroad.

A couple of opinions/facts.

*  SEALs did not deploy regularly with MEUs before 2000.
*  MARSOC & SEALs will be competing not only for missions but also space on amphibs.  Unless MEUs are about to start leaving capabilities on the beach there is only a finite bit of space aboard amphibs.
*  This is indicative of an issue that does not receive alot of attention.  SOCOM requires conventional support.  Not only air but also infantry.  We have submarines that have the transport of Special Ops as part of their mission set but instead these forces are wanting to climb aboard amphibs. Marine leadership should ask if this is the best use of resources.
*  Is this another slap in the face for the LCS?  One of its big selling points was that it could transport and support SOCOM.
*  What about the dedicated Afloat Forward Staging Base?  Isn't that what SOCOM was pushing hard for?  Why the push to teaming with MEUs instead of pushing to get that ship into service as soon as possible?

Something is going on in SOCOM land that I can't quite decipher.  The moves don't make sense from the outside looking in and seem to point to a greater integration with conventional forces instead of their being a bright clear line between them.

As it is now McRaven and his Theater Joint Special Ops Commander just looks like another bureaucracy that will slow down instead of speed up operations...especially if they're operating with instead of independent of conventional forces.

Comics are cool. Emma Frost.

24th MEU and the rescue of Basher 52

Once the weak signal was validated, a platoon-sized element (41 Marines) from Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/8 boarded two Super Stallions from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, Marine Corps Air Station, New River, N.C., lifted off the deck of USS Kearsarge in the Adriatic Sea and headed east toward Bosnia.
Two AH-1W Super Cobras from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269 at New River and four AV-8B Harriers from Marine Attack Squadron 231, Cherry Point, N.C., rode shotgun, scanning the countryside for any resistance.
All of the Marine helicopters are attached to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, a composite squadron.
The so-called TRAP (Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel) team headed northeast through enemy territory to a spot about 20 miles southeast of Bihac, a Muslim safe haven for refugees that has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past year.

Read it all here.... 

NOTE:  Weapons Company did the TRAP mission, not Maritime Raid Force.  Why the Marine Corps is so fixated on that unit and the Marine Expeditionary Brigade as the operating units of the future is beyond me, but I have yet to read anything explaining why.

KAMAZ-63969 MRAP.

all fotos via Military Photo.net.

Interesting.  Kamaz seems to be tweaking the Typhoon to fit a different role than originally intended.  Out the box this was to be a transport for internal security troops...now its morphing into more of a combat role...especially if it actually has MRAP level protection.

Of course the Russians do use internal security troops in Chechnya...just sayin.

Pic below is of the baseline Typhoon.