82nd Airborne IS making a move toward the Pacific! Can we get a Brigade forward deployed next?

An 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper handles a snake during Jungle Survival Training with the Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (Indonesian Army) 17th Airborne Brigade as part of Garuda Shield bilateral training, June 12, 2013, in 1st Kostrad Headquarters, West Java, Indonesia. Sponsored by United States Army Pacific, the training is in its seventh year.

About the caption to this photo...

1.  I'm calling bullshit on what they're trying to imply.  They're giving the idea that the 17th Airborne Brigade has been rotating troops through this training regularly.  I might have missed it but I've only seen the occasional frontline unit go through this training.  Lots of Marines but few Soldiers.

2.  He can try and put on his war face but I can tell he ain't happy.  Check out his death grip on dinner!  A few more minutes and that snake's head is gonna pop off!!!!:))

3.  Now how about we make room in the back of the base the Marines, Navy and Air Force is building in Australia (way in the back...closest to the swamp water) and stick a Reinforced Company of Paratroopers there permanently...we can rotate them in and out but eventually we can have the dream ticket (if they don't jack up the formations) of a MEU (full strength with armor) and Airborne Light Infantry along with C-130/C-17 detachment from Pope AFB to fly them around showing the flag (heck they can jump into Singapore, while we hit the beach to show what a combined Airborne, Amphibious Assault looks like...that should make the Dragon piss his pants).

Sidenote:  Australia is about to become the modern day Germany and Philippines/Japan rolled into one.  Military men go their single but come back with wives....Recommendation?  Don't do it boys.  Save your pennies and make weekend jaunts to Sydney.  Paradise awaits but hurry.  5 years in and it'll be filled with graby ya catch ya bars right off base.

We revived the concept and EADS will finish it...

A heavy lift airship.

Once sought by the US Army and now presumably abandoned is revived by EADS.

They'll probably make it work too.  Oh and check out EADS' fantastic Paris Airshow Video Page here.

Sunday Selfy..

Note:  Although we all lust after this body type is it biologically possible for it to be achieved naturally?  By that I mean without the use of silicon or water soluble based enhancements?  Body fat on women that is low enough to show abs is usually low enough to make "the good stuff" diminish proportionally.  Ok.  That's a sign of too many beers.  Why do I even care?  This pic is approved!

Happy Fathers Day...Marine style.

via Tactical News Magazine.

VBTP-MR 6x6 Guarani Torc.

via TechnoDefesa

The TORC-30 is a tower modern dual employment (antiaircraft and ground) that uses the cannon Rheinmetall MK 30-2 ABM (Air Burst Munitions) of 30x173mm (the same used in Puma IFV) and, according to Ricardo Azevedo, Director Marketing ARES, this station will be equipped with weapons shooting system already employed at REMAX, also developed by the partnership CTEx and ARES.
Although anti-aircraft capability, the TORC-30 does not have a radar, which significantly reduces the weight of the tower, eliminating the need for structural reinforcement pillars as Guarani equipped with the turret TU-30 BR-Elbit AEL. The TORC-30 also has a lower profile than the tower Israeli.
This program was secured with funds from FINEP. On 23/07/2012 the fund disbursed R $ 3,198,500.00 for the design and construction of the prototype, which Rheinmetall cannon should arrive in Brazil during the second half of this year. The design and manufacture of tower 30 TORC is scheduled for completion in 2015.

And now it begins.

I missed this news from LAAD, but the arms makers are rushing in to make sure that every possible variant is fielded, and that they're providing components for it.

But the bigger news is that Elbit is getting competition from all directions.  RAFAEL is making a new 30mm unmanned turret and now Rheinmetall is marketing their Puma setup.  This is nothing but good news for the USMC.  Especially if we had a REAL Marine Personnel Carrier program running. 

Help needed! A comprehensive history of the AAV-7/LVTP-7

Hey all!

I need your help.  I'm looking for a comprehensive history of the AAV-7/LVTP-7 from development to its current build.

Ideally it would cover all modifications, both sanctioned and "hillbilly" mods done in the field, along with costs.  Combat history of the platform isn't really what I'm after...that's already well documented and easily found.  Whats got me stumped is a history of the vehicle itself.

Recommendations would be appreciated...in or out of print is irrelevant.  A complete history would be ideal but even if a book covers from development to the '80's would work (for example).

Thanks!  Sol.

BAE's historic data dump.

I wondered what was going on when I got these in my mailbox and a little "google-foo" showed me that BAE uncovered these secret projects and ITV published a story on it that is only now making it over to the US.  Read it all here.

BAE Fighter Jet Take-Off Platform

Note:  They keep putting 'em out and as long as they're cool, I'll keep posting 'em!

S-300 is a beast. One system is altering US military options.

Have you been keeping up with the talk about a no fly zone in Syria?

If you have then whats been talked about is almost shocking.  I'm reading between the lines but it appears from my Command Chair in Camp SNAFU! that US military options are being shaped by the S-300 and fear of it.

Why do I say that?

I read earlier that they were discussing using F-16's from Jordanian airbases to enforce a zone that extended 25 miles into Syria.  F-16's would fire their missiles from inside Jordan to destroy any aircraft violating that zone.

That was quickly knocked down as only an option.  Later we heard that the Army would be sending Patriot Missile Batteries to join Marine units on the border.  I found this to be particularly interesting because the USMC doesn't have organic anti-air except in the form of the aircraft that accompany the MEU.  Hell it doesn't have organic anti-air even at the division level (I won't touch the MEB and MEF which I consider to be full scale warfare orgs).

But again, I'm off track.  One missile system...not even the Russians most advanced...is keeping the allies (US and Western European forces) from mounting a vigorous no fly zone like we saw over Libya.

What happens when we face a real deal, 100% fully integrated air defense establishment over a country doing bad things?

The S-300 is a beast.  The S-400/500 must be Monsters.

(VBTP-MR) 6x6 Guarani in full scale production in Brazil.

Impressive.

In the span of a few short years, the Brazilians have put forward a request to industry...selected a winning design...negotiated a favorable price & production schedule...and put it into production.

During the same time span, the US Marine Corps (once considered the finest fighting organization the world has ever known) has done basically nothing.

Is there a better example of a power in decline than this? If not then I can point to about 100 other things that point to the same conclusion.  We need to get our house in order from the top down.  We don't have a sexual assault, desecrating of enemy body, failure to treat our sick and wounded (although those are legit issues) problem...we have a leadership problem.  No more "stand downs" to address these issues with the troops...This is an 0-5 and above problem and the answer can only come from those ranks (not ignoring the SNCO's here but they implement policy, not make it).

First course of business?  Accept that change cannot come until there is change at the top.  AMOS MUST GO!

But back to the issue at hand.  Put on your Google translate and read about the VBTP-MR here.

Blast from the past. BAE's concept "Jumping Jeep"

The 'Jumping Jeep' was a concept reconnaissance vehicle capable of leaping over obstacles - a 4x4 transporter flanked by 12 vertical lift fans, whose angle could be adjusted dependant on the situation - allowing the jeep to overcome enemy barriers.

Developed by BAC Warton at the request of the British army in the 1960s, the design was an attempt to adapt vertical take-off and landing technology to vehicles and was developed with the Ministry of Defence's Fighting Vehicle Research and Development Establishment.

The project was cancelled in the mid-1960s, due to assessments that production of the design would be too expensive

BAE Intercity Vertical-Lift Aircraft. AWESOME!

The Ultimate Close Air Support Airplane.

via Sobchak Blog. ..you really should pay him a visit.  Good stuff.  Fun stuff.

The new multi-purpose attack aircraft TAMARR-1 comes under the philosophy that the firepower is never too much. To avoid unnecessary complications of contemporary F-35, its simple cell is already built amphibious, terrestrial, hydro and VTOL version as the only one in the assembly line. Its wide range of weapons, fixed and launch, allows him to cover the whole spectrum of missions desirable: Cas, Coin, ASW, anti-tank, anti-ship, air superiority, strafing, strike, ect. It 'also equipped with an internal bomb bay capable for special loads. Thanks to the double probe bivalent its autonomy is unlimited and does not need fighter escort. In the R & D was discarded each configuration recce, because useless arrives, it finds and destroys everything is gone. A reconnaissance mission post is superfluous.

1st MEB Press Release goes full retard. "Historic" landing on Japanese ships? Really? Seriously?

This is getting embarrassing.

You put out a press release that you're going to "cross deck" the Marine Corps MV-22's on Japanese helo capable ships and instead of looking at it as business normal, you loudly proclaim that its HISTORIC!

Really?

Seriously?

Can someone in that head shed PLEASE take a step back and realize how stupid this sounds.  Its suppose to be able to take off and land like a helicopter, so whats historic about this?  Check out this quote from the release....

"The very first landing of an MV-22 Osprey on a Japanese ship is a historic moment for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Marine Corps at large. Dawn Blitz provides us an opportunity to enhance our longstanding relationship with the Japanese and to highlight the capabilities of the MV-22 Osprey, which allows the Marine Corps to quickly respond to a crisis when launched from sea or land." – Brig. Gen. John Broadmeadow, 1st MEB commanding general.

Wow. I think the General hit all his marks...

**Buzzwords inserted into the statement?  Check!
**Proper brown nosing of the Commandants policy on promoting the V-22?  Check!
**Demonstrated kiss ass-itude required for promotion to the next rank...with added brown nosery to demonstrate that deep selection to the rank of Commandant and 4 stars will result in policy makers have a properly polished "hole"?  Check!
**Going full retard to show the world that you're an idiot?  Check!  

Failure abounds.  The Marine Corps is fucked.

The Aviation Mafia is killing the Corps.

Go here and read the article.

Then come back.

Once you've done that check out the passages that I've highlighted below...

Former Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation Lt. Gen. George Trautman agreed that the service will return to its traditional role in the vast stretches of the Pacific. “The presence of strength breeds prosperity and peace,” he said.

Another Aviator is being quoted in a story about the Marine Corps future.  Hold onto your wallet when the wing is in charge of anything.

Overall, the Marines are in good shape for the Pacific theater, having procured the Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor and the Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, Trautman noted. The only real problem is that the U.S. Navy has not agreed to provide the service with as many amphibious assault ships as the Marines believe they need.
“Other than the fact that the United States Navy is unable to provide them the amphibious lift that’s essential to moving large amounts of equipment and men and materiel around a vast ocean,” Trautman said, the service is in good shape.

No.  The General is wrong.  Marine Aviation is in good shape.  MARSOC is in good shape.  The conventional forces are in disarray.

Because of sequestration automatically cutting Pentagon outlays by 10 percent every year for 10 years, the U.S. government does not have a lot of spare cash. While the Marines clearly would like to have the high speed of the ACV, Work said the service simply may not be able to afford it. “The Marine Corps with LCACs, MV-22s, and the amphibious capabilities they have right now is a very capable force able to conduct complex ship-to-shore maneuver,” he said.
And with all of the capabilities the Marines are scheduled to receive in the coming years, like the heavy-lift Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter, the Marines will remain “a pretty damn good” force ideally suited for the Pacific even without the ACV, Work noted. Given the competing priorities of paying for the MV-22 and F-35B, there is a dearth of financial resources available to the Marines, especially if the sequestration law is not overturned. Whether and how the ACV fits into the mix will depend on exploratory work now being conducted on whether the Marines can get a platform capable of high water-speeds for an affordable price. “Ultimately, it’s a trade off,” he said. “What do you want to keep?”

Its clear.

They're setting up a scenario to make a pitch that the ACV is not needed.

Additionally they're setting it up to make the argument that an upgraded AAV will be sufficient, and that with the JLTV the ground side will be more agile and as protected as ever...especially in light of the new toys that the wing is getting.

So count on the ACV & the MPC to be cancelled by the aviation MAFIA riding roughshod over the Marines.

Amos has to go.

We don't need another Aviator in the Commandants Chair and where are the retired Marine Corps Commandants from the Infantry side of the house to fight all this?

An aviation centric Marine Corps is no longer the Marine Corps.  

This game trailer should scare the shit out of you!

Galvars!  Thanks!  You just made me plop down money for more ammo and food.  You bastard (joking)!



The Black Helicopter crowd was right about government spying.

They're right about our society being so complex that breakdown is inevitable.

Are they right about a society without rule of law?  I don't know but I'm lifting harder, dieting even stricter and practicing even more.

This is how it would look!

A U.S. Navy landing craft utility (LCU) from USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) prepares to move equipment and personnel ashore for Pacific Partnership in Tonga. Working at the invitation of each host nation, Pacific Partnership is joined by partner nations that include Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, Malaysia Singapore, South Korea and New Zealand to strengthen disaster response preparedness around the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tim D. Godbee)

An LCU stops far short of the beach and discharges its cargo.

This is how the concept would work if the Marine Corps adopted this method to achieve over the horizon surface assaults utilizing both its LCAC/LCU and Marine Personnel Carriers and Amphibious Combat Vehicles.

The Ships would launch its LCACs and LCUs from over the horizon to a predetermined set of coordinates...they would discharge the first wave of vehicles.  For the second wave the LCAC/LCU would make the entire run to the beach and we would use airpower and naval artillery to keep the enemy away from our landing area.

Additionally the first wave could motor inland and establish a different beachhead to keep the enemy off balance.

The whole point of this is that we have the tools necessary already.  We don't need to make the same mistake of designing a high water speed amphibian.

First select the right vehicle for the MPC and get it into the fleet asap.  Next decide what you want in an ACV but understand that we have workarounds already on hand to negate the need for high water speed over great distances.

WE CAN DO THIS NOW!  We just lack the leadership with the vision to get it done.

The U.S. Army

Marines, Army form quick-strike forces for Africa

via USA Today.

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps and Army have developed quick-reaction forces to respond to attacks such as the one in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.
The Marines will base 500 troops at Moron Air Force Base in Spain, about 35 miles southeast of Seville, said Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman. They can be flown on short notice to African crises aboard six Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
Those aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter and cruise at more than 300 mph. Two KC-130 tanker aircraft have been dedicated to refuel them in flight, which will expand their reach.
The unit is known as the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force for Crisis Response. It will act as a first responder to U.S. embassies in the region on behalf of U.S. Africa Command, Flanagan said. It will be on standby to help evacuate Americans from hot spots and to provide disaster relief and humanitarian missions.
The Army has developed the East Africa Response Force, which operates under the Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa. Its headquarters are at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. The company-size unit is equipped with aircraft to conduct evacuations and rescue missions in the region.
"Soldiers have been on the ground in Djibouti to support this mission since April and have the capabilities they need to conduct it," said. Brig. Gen. Kimberly Field, deputy director of strategy, plans and policy for the Army.
The soldiers for the force come from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division based at Fort Riley, Kan.
The Benghazi attack on Sept. 11, 2012, exposed the vulnerability of U.S. outposts in dangerous countries. Although Pentagon officials knew of the attack as it was happening, they lacked forces in the region capable of responding fast enough to help. The consulate was overrun by Islamist militants, killing Ambassador Christopher Stephens. A nearby U.S. facility was also attacked.
The light, quick forces deployed by the Marines and Army are designed to fill that gap in north and east Africa.
"Benghazi really throttled things up," Flanagan said. "Everybody has looked at the threat and decided this is the new normal. We need something more responsive in the North Africa area."
Benghazi proved that the Pentagon needs to respond quickly to "flare-ups," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute and a defense industry consultant. The Marines are his choice for the job.
"This mission should be given to the Marines, because they have Osprey tilt-rotors that can get to fights fast and then land anywhere," he said. "They also have amphibious warships that allow them to act without access to land bases. The Army doesn't have the right equipment for quick-reaction forces in the Mediterranean or Middle East."
Peter Singer, director for the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at the Brookings Institution, said there have been about two embassy emergencies or evacuations each year for the past decade, making the Marine and Army quick-reaction forces necessary into the foreseeable future.
They're a "good idea," Singer said. "The response time at Benghazi was unacceptable. Period."

And the bad ideas keep coming.

*  1st ID is now one of those geographically aligned divisions the Army is so quick to want to experiment with.  What happens if it hits the fan and they're needed somewhere else though?

*  Why isn't SOCOM shouting from the roof tops for this mission?  Its probably because they know what everyone inside the military knows. This is gonna be a Security Forces type setup.  You train your ass off, you stand inspection upon inspection, go through all kinds of "readiness exercises" and you never do it for real.  The dirty little secret is that the State Dept will evacuate an embassy faster than you can say...whatever it is you want to say.  These units will NOT be used as designed.

*  The head shed is finding another reason for being as far as the V-22 is concerned.  Nicely played...but we still need new armor more than we need new V-22s.

China's looming Expeditionary Airborne Forces.

Do you remember the Chinese Heavy Transport Airplane that they've recently started testing?

I do.

I hope you did more than me and simply dismiss it as another example of the Chinese copying more plans from foreign governments and building weapon systems.

I hope you put it together in a way that I didn't and realize that this seems to be part of a greater strategy.

Its really quite obvious when you step back.

I've called for the US Army to forward deploy a Battalion or two of its 82nd Airborne to the Pacific to act as rapid deployment forces to be used in conjunction with Marine Forces.  I'm not as enthused about Stryker Brigades in an air transported role but the US Army had that as a requirement when the vehicles were first developed/delivered.

But what happens if your doctrine is pure?  What if you didn't suffer a decade plus of IED warfare?  What happens if your vehicles are in the 15-25 ton class and air transportable.

What if your wheeled vehicle is something like this...

ZBD-09.  The Chinese Stryker...20 tons lighter than the Double V-Hull US Army Stryker.

We've all been pumped up by the tech coming to the Chinese Air Force and Navy but have missed the improvements at a more basic level.

They're putting together the parts to have a truly expeditionary, air transportable, mechanized infantry unit that will augment several airborne divisions already in service.

What does this mean for our defense posture?

We could be looking at Chinese naval activity as a clue to their intentions and miss aerial transports operating inland that suddenly sortie out to land an air mech/airborne infantry force on a strategically or politically important island.

I could be wrong, but if you put the new air transport together with vehicles that appear to geared more toward pure expeditionary operations rather than stabilization or extended ground combat then I think my guesses might be spot on.