Textron and Granite win contract for Humvee upgrade.

via Press Release.

NEW ORLEANS – JULY 2, 2013 – Textron Marine & Land Systems (TM&LS), an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that it has been awarded a $3.29 million firm-fixed price contract from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command for work on the Modernized Expanded Capacity Vehicle Survivability (MECV-S) system. TM&LS is teaming with Granite Tactical Vehicles to deliver innovative crew protection and vehicle survivability enhancements for the Army’s HMMWV vehicles. The program’s follow-on potential is for work on up to 5,750 vehicles.
The Army is seeking technical solutions to address current and future threats to its HMMWV tactical vehicle fleet through the use of scalable armor technologies. The TM&LS/Granite team will install its MECV-S protection system, a production-ready Technology Readiness Level 8 system, on two government-furnished HMMWVs and deliver them this summer to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. for Improvised Explosive Device testing. Computer Aided Design models also will be submitted for analysis.
“Our TM&LS/Granite MECV-S solution would replace the current HMMWV crew compartment in a one-for-one exchange. It offers vehicle occupants an armored monocoque V-hull protective capsule and restores the vehicle’s tactical mobility with proven components,” explains TM&LS Senior Vice President and General Manager Tom Walmsley.

This practically seals it for me.  The JLTV WILL BE CANNED.  The fact that the Army is sponsoring this award tells me all I need to know.  An upgraded Humvee will be the ride for the near term and "we might revisit" the JLTV concept in the future.

Good. 

Hasik wants Army Strykers...I say follow the lead of the Brazilian Marines and go after M113's!

Thanks for the article Jonathan...

What happens when a service that has a history of fighting for its very existence suddenly starts making stupid decisions and ties itself to a single airframe to the exclusion of all else?

Its enemies smell blood in the water and like sharks getting gobbled up by seals, you have the hunter being turned into the hunted.

James Hasik is the latest bunny that suddenly has claws and fangs because of Marine Corps ineptitude (just joking...I don't know the guy but the part about a vicious bunny just seemed to fit).  Check this out (read the article here).

As separately announced this week by General Odierno, the Army will be cutting a whole Stryker brigade by 2017. Contrasting the service’s plans to add a third line battalion to its remaining tank and infantry brigades, however, the remaining seven Stryker formations already have that third battalion. Some 300 Strykers will soon be excess. So why not save the MPC program by moving a few hundred armored cars from the Army to the Navy Department? It’s not as through the Marine Corps wouldn’t know what to do with an 8x8 from General Dynamics. True, the Stryker doesn’t carry that outsized 13-man squad to which the Marines are so attached, but in this business, no one is going to get everything he wants for a long time. The “reinforced” squad planned for the EFV was 17 men, so split the squad between two vehicles. Don’t have doctrine for that? Write some. You’re Marines: adapt, adjust, overcome. The vehicles are there. In a few years, transferring them and bringing them into the force would just take some bureaucratic initiative. 

Hasik is talking about the real issue with the MPC and using basic off the shelf vehicles.  They don't fit with Marine Corps doctrine.  The M113 carries 13 so it accomplishes the basic mission.

Using upgrades provided by IMI and BAE the M113 becomes automotively reliable and simple to fix, it has increased buoyancy and it has the agility and speed to keep up with the M1 Abrams going cross country.

Last but not least its cheaper than the Strykers and would serve as a true interim vehicle without disrupting Marine Corps plans to develop the Amphibious Combat Vehicle.

Make no mistake about it.  Once the Marine Corps steps one foot inside the Stryker then you're going to see pressure applied to make that the defacto MPC/ACV replacement.  Its not suitable for either role and should NOT be pursued.

Old Corps vs New Corps from Sgt Grit.

If this is true then the F-35 is a bigger clusterfuck than the EFV ever was...

If this report is true then the F-35 is a bigger clusterfuck than the EFV EVER was.

I find it interesting that the USMC was able to unceremoniously cancel a armor program at the cusp of its success and start all over again but is unable to do so when it comes to an aviation project.

Come to think of it, the USMC did the same thing with the Marine Personnel Carrier Program.  Once BAE and Lockheed Martin finally showed that they had capable wheeled, amphibious combat vehicles that met blast specifications they canceled the program.

Something stinks in the Commandant's office.  We have a Commandant in charge of aviation and an Assistant Commandant in charge of aviation.  How about we get a Commandant for the Infantry/Ground Combat Element?

Amos has to go.  Read the story of the F-35's woes here.

Thompson gets it 1/4 right.

Thompson weighs in on the Marine Corps budget woes in his latest editorial.  Too bad he's only 1/4 right.  Read it all here but I've picked out a few tidbits for further comment.

Last week, Marine Corps Commandant James Amos told reporters that if sequestration of defense funds mandated under the 2011 Budget Control Act persists into future fiscal years, his service may have to back out of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. JLTV is a shared Army-Marine Corps program to develop a next-generation jeep, one that will remedy the deficiencies of the current Humvee.

Excuse me but the Marine Corps was only buying 5500 of those vehicles.  HUMVEES were going to be upgraded anyway and if there was ever an "easy" cut to be made, this was it.  The only reason why the Marine Corps has stayed with this program is because of "jointness" with the Army.  If it was about the Marine Corps then we would have already signed a contract with Granite or one of the other companies promising some pretty impressive upgrades to an old warhorse.

So now the service has to start over on an urgently needed replacement of its 40-year-old assault vehicles, and to find the money for the new program it may have to defer both a new personnel carrier and a new jeep. To make matters worse, nobody expects the Amphibious Combat Vehicle -- the new assault vehicle -- to reach the force until sometime in the next decade, by which time existing assault vehicles will be approaching half a century of age. Isn't it sort of obvious that this is going to put the lives of many Marines at risk?

This didn't have to be the case.  The ACV is STILL undefined.  We have no idea what it will look like and even when they do finally crunch the numbers, confidence is not high that enough will be bought to satisfy lift requirements. What does that mean?  It means that we'll at BEST end up with ACV and AAV operating together.  Poorly managed, inept, command indecision...all those words apply to the ACV program, the AAV upgrade and the MPC.

The only bright spot in Marine modernization plans today is aviation, but there is a real possibility sequestration might impact that area too in future years

You got this one right.  Aviation will be a paradise.  The rest of the Marine Corps will suffer but the Air Group will dazzle.  Alot of body bags will be flown out in pretty new helicopters being escorted by fancy new jets.

BLT 3/2 Fast Rope Exercise by Cpl Kyle Runnels

Your Monday WTF moment. Courtesy of the Predator Blog.

thepredatorblog:

South African photographer Chris Fallows has taken extremely rare and extraordinary photographs of a Cape fur seal killing and eating a total of five blue sharks for dinner!
Whilst seals normally eat fish, that doesn’t mean sharks cannot be part of their natural diet, especially when it comes to size. Cape fur seals can weigh up to 700 lbs, the sharks about 60-120 lbs.
Mr Fallows said: “If karma does indeed exist, the seal had better watch out if it returns during the great white’s winter hunting season.”
Photos by: Chris Fallows 

Uh.....

Wait!  What?

A Seal eating a Shark?

Damn!

Geez. 19 Firefighters Killed.

Wow.  Terrible news.  I know firefighters list their fire companies as numbering something like 6 or so men...so to lose almost 20 must be like losing an entire fire battalion.

I'm not quick to show sympathy but my heart goes out to these guys and their families.  God Bless.

Regional instability. The Middle East is a mess.

McCain said today that he is concerned about the crisis in Syria and that it calls out for American intervention.

The opposite is true.

The Middle East is a mess, the people are rebelling against both their own elected leaders AND the jihadist.

The best thing that the US can do is to take every step to become energy independent and wash our hands of the nonsense.  via Fox News.

Hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of Cairo and cities around the country Sunday and marched on the presidential palace, filling a broad avenue for blocks, in an attempt to force out the Islamist president with the most massive protests Egypt has seen in 2 1/2 years of turmoil.
In a sign of the explosive volatility of the country's divisions, young protesters mainly from the surrounding neighborhood pelted the main headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood with stones and firebombs, and at one point a fire erupted at the gates of the walled villa. During clashes, Brotherhood supporters barricaded inside opened fire on the attackers, and activists said at least five protesters were killed.
At least five more anti-Morsi protesters were killed Sunday in clashes and shootings in southern Egypt.
Fears were widespread that the collisions between the two sides could grow more violent in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a legitimate vote. During the day Sunday, thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor and sticks.

A few things.

Israel better keep up on current events.  Its bracketed on all sides by unstable countries.  Syria, Egypt and Lebanon are all up shit's creek.  The jihadist will seek to unify the people by attacking Israel.  I'm betting on a real deal shooting war soon.

The people know somethings wrong but can't identify it.  In reality its quite simple.  We're looking at a modern day Animal Farm...a more common way of saying it is that the new leader is just like the old leader.  It doesn't matter who is in charge in these countries.  The cycle remains the same.  Whoever is in power will be comfortable and take care of their allies.  Those on the outside will suffer.

We can't help, but can only waste more treasure.  The Middle East is a mess. A basket case.  This entire region is ready to burn.  I say we sit back, grab some popcorn and watch the fire.

India buys a better LCS.

Have you noticed that no one is buying the LCS?  Have you noticed that every possible candidate for an LCS buy is either procuring or in the process of procuring ships that appear (on paper at least) to be far more formidable.

India is no exception.  via Defense Industry Daily.

In July 2006, the Indian government announced that Russia would build 3 “stealth warships” for India under a Rs 5114 crore (INR 51.14 billion, then about $1.1 billion) contract signed in New Delhi. The contract actually covers 3 modifiedKrivak III/ Talwar Class frigates, as a follow-on to an earlier $900 million purchase in 1997.
The Krivak III/ Talwar Class ships like INS Tabar are not really stealth warships, esp. by comparison to more modern designs like Singapore’s new Formidable Class frigates from France (a Lafayette Class derivative). They’re best described as mid-range multi-role frigates, with some stealth features and a potential emphasis on anti-submarine work. By mid-2013 they had all been commissioned by the Indian Navy.

Now this from wikipedia...

 Armament: Guns and missiles: 1 × 100mm (3.9 in) A-190E gun, two KashtanCIWS systems, eight-cell VLS for3M-54E Klub and BrahMosmissiles, one 3S-90 launcher for9M317 (SA-N-12) SAMs, eightIgla-1E (SA-16) SAMs
Anti-submarine: 1 x RBU-6000rocket launcher, two twin 533mm torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried: 1 Ka-28, Ka-31 or Dhruvhelicopter

Yeah.

Another ally with a ship in the same class as the LCS that is more heavily armed (by magnitudes of 10....those BrahMos missiles are touted as genuine ship killers flying at supersonic speeds), is almost as fast and has more endurance.

The LCS does stand for "little crappy ship"...the Navy should kill the program today. 

All 3 contenders in the S. Korean fighter contest over budget.

Is a low cost fighter an impossibility?  I'm begining to think so.  The results of the S. Korean fighter contest will give us a clue to the answer..via Reuters.

(Reuters) - South Korea has extended bidding on a $7.3 billion (8.3 trillion won) fighter jet project after a second round of bidding ended on Friday with three aviation makers offering prices above the estimated cost, South Korea's news agency said.
South Korea opened the bidding on June 18 to import the country's 60 next-generation fighter jets between 2017 and 2021 and has since carried out about 30 bidding sessions, yet the offers were over the budget, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said citing the state's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) officials.
Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35A, Boeing Co's F-15SE and EADS' Eurofighter Typhoon are in the running to win the fighter competition.
"The bidding ended, and an additional bidding will resume on July 2," said Baek Yoon-hyeong, spokesman for the defence acquisition agency, according to Yonhap.


The project, called F-X, is South Korea's largest arms import ever. (Reporting By Jane Chung; Editing by Michael Perry)

This should be somewhat concerning for F-35 supporters.  The 2017-2021 time period is the sweet spot (at least I thought it was) regarding production versus cost...that should be the lowest cost and highest production time frame.

If the F-35 isn't blowing the F-15 and Eurofighter out during that time frame then its really time to rethink this drink.

From what I understand of how the Marine Corps is approaching its procurement trainwreck, its going to finish its major buys of the MV-22, AH-1Z and UH-1Y.  Next on its list of must do's is the AAV upgrade supposedly to start in 2017.  Then its on to the F-35 gobbling up the budget in the 2016-2025 time frame.  During this same time you'll see the CH-53K in some type of production (low rate?) and if the Commandant is to be believed we'll begin buying the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (I don't believe him by the way).

The main trouble with all this is that he is basically structuring things to where even if the next guy disagrees, he'll be locked into this course of action.  Which essentially means that even if the next guy wants to augment the AAV with a Marine Personnel Carrier, he won't be able to.

We're going aviation and we're screwed.  They have no plan.  No good plan anyway...they've chopped at previous planning and are now lost in the woods.

What is the difference between the Commandant and a LT straight out of TBS?  At least the LT would know that he was headed in the wrong direction.

Totally justified Police shooting.

Lazar 2.

HR forum

HR Forum

Vesti Online

It seems Serbia is upgrading refining its 8 wheeled MRAPs.

Interesting.  By going to what are in essence multi-wheeled truck platforms, the market for APCs has opened dramatically.  In its rush to lower operating costs, the Western Allies have created competition for their domestic weapons manufacturers.  They'll never meet the low costs of the developing countries and because of the numerous production sharing contracts of the past, they've essentially taught their comp how its done.  I can't wait to watch what happens when China turns its full attention to armored vehicles.  We'll be in a hurt locker of our own making...sorta like what we're seeing in aviation.

The US Army is trying to get amphibious?

MRAPs into storage? Not so fast & about that Asian pivot....

Thanks for the article Jonathan!

We're making a pivot to Asia.

We're getting out of Afghanistan.

Therefore we no longer need to have MRAPs as part of our frontline force.

Not so fast.  via Bangkok Post.

A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in Thailand's restive south, an army spokesman said, raising questions over the durability of a fragile peace process aiming to end the near-decade long insurgency.
More than 5,700 people have been killed in a festering insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority southern provinces, but optimism for peace has flickered recently after talks between authorities and some rebel groups including the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN).
The bomb, among the most deadly single attacks by rebels on Thai security forces in recent years, ripped through a military truck transporting the soldiers after a night on duty at a base in Krongpinang district of Yala province.
"It was a very powerful bomb that completely destroyed the truck," spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin told AFP by phone.
"Ten soldiers were in the truck. Eight died and two were wounded," he said, adding that two villagers had also been injured in the blast.
"It's likely the biggest loss for our military so far this year."
Local media reports said the bomb weighed more than 50 kilograms (110 lbs), backing up the view of experts who say the rebels are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the the bomb attacks.
Near-daily assaults on security forces and civilians have continued despite a successful round of talks on June 14 which saw both sides agree to work towards curbing violence over Ramadan.
But prospects for a significant reduction in violence appeared to receive a blow last week after the BRN called for the army to return to their bases over Ramadan in exchange for a ceasefire during the holy month, a condition swiftly rejected by the kingdom's government.
Questions also linger over whether the BRN representatives negotiating with Thai authorities can rein-in violence by an increasingly battle-hardened and brutal younger generation of rebels believed to be behind much of the worst violence in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.
The nine-year-old insurgency has claimed more than 5,700 lives in the Muslim-dominated south, the majority of them civilians, where many local people complain of a long history of discrimination by Thai authorities in the Buddhist-majority nation.

That my friends is a classic IED attack.  The same thing that our forces face in Afghanistan.  Additionally you see this throughout Asia...at least anywhere a current insurgency is being fought.  Just off the top of my head that includes the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and parts of China.  And that's just off the top of my head.  I'm sure the list is alot longer.

The terrorist have exported their expertise halfway around the globe and we'll face the same issues in Asia as we have in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.

Kinda makes ya think the Marine Corps Personnel Carrier might have been canned a bit prematurely don't ya think?

But even if they stick with that decision it would be beyond stupid not to have a full fleet of MRAPs aboard a MPS ship ready to be deployed.  Even in the case of disaster relief it might be necessary to give our forces protected transportation.

Chinese Sukhoi on deck via China Military Review.

LCS---Forward...From the Sea. We did this before with apparently the same results.

I like to think that the US Marine Corps has some of the most audacious, boldest, most progressive (militarily) thinkers around.

But we are a stubborn bunch and when we head down a bad path its sometimes hard to get the patrol re-orientated and going in the proper direction.  Ask any Lieutenant.

When it comes to stubbornness we don't hold a candle to the planners in the US Navy.

Let me introduce you to the Cyclone Class Patrol Boats.  via Wikipedia....

The Cyclone-class patrol ships are a class of United States Navy coastal patrol boats. Most of these ships were launched between 1992 and 1994.
The primary mission of these ships is coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, an important aspect of littoraloperations outlined in the Navy's strategy, "Forward...From the Sea." These ships also provide full mission support for U.S. Navy SEALs and other special operations forces.

That sounds exactly like what the LCS is suppose to provide us isn't it?  Of course its mission has been expanded and they added the mission modules to dress it up a bit but we've been down this coastal patrol rode before...with SEALs and other Special Ops forces thrown in for good measure.

Want a bigger kick in the pants?  Take a look at the Pegasus, again via Wikipedia...

The Pegasus-class hydrofoils were a series of fast attack patrol boats employed by the U.S. Navy. They were in service from 1977 through 1993. These hydrofoils carried the designation "PHM" for "Patrol, Hydrofoil, Missile." ThePegasus class vessels were primarily intended for green water coastal operations, such as narcotics interdiction and coastal patrol.

Again, another coastal patrol or green/brown water ops.  Thats saying it plainly but the Navy loves its talking points so the current term these days is Littoral Combat.

The Pegasus however was a small ship that packed a huge punch.  In addition to a 76mm gun it also had a quad pack of Harpoon missiles.

So in the early 70's the US Navy developed a coastal...sorry...Littoral Combat Ship that was as fast the the current LCS', packs a bigger punch, has about the same endurance and was less than 1/4 the weight.  If the Navy had actually procured the Pegasus in the intended numbers then we would have had about the same number of ships that are planned for the LCS.

Long story short for all those who doubt the obvious....the LCS is nothing new.  Its a concept that has been dusted off, modernized and called new.

Its anything but.

The LCS will fail, just like the Pegasus and the Cyclone after that.  The US Navy doesn't do patrol boats, coastal boats or Littoral Combat Ships.  If they're smart they'll leave this mission in the hands of the Riverines and concentrate on building proper Frigates.

They won't because they're stubborn, but we've seen this movie before.

WWII US Landing Craft in Action

  17 - WWII US Landing Craft in Action by Hatem Yosr

LCS. Back to the future is the only way to save the ship....

Thanks for reminding me of this concept David...its the only way to save the LCS now....

  SCS Bifold

If the Navy was smart they would follow Lockheed Martin's lead and simply build the ships to certain specifications.  An anti-air, anti-sub, multi-mission and then build dedicated mine hunters is the only real answer.  But to continue on as they are is going to fail.  Only stubbornness and an inability to deal with reality will see the LCS, as it is currently envisioned, bought in large numbers.

Robert Gill Arizona Cardinals 25MPH treadmill @BUBBYGILL10