Time to get real about the Chinese Navy and the Type 52D.

Thanks for the articles Paralus!

I put forward the theory that as things currently stand, we're building a parity force.

Left unsaid is the fact that I see us being potentially outclassed by the Chinese, particularly in the realms of air and sea power.  Luckily Paralus supplied me with articles from several respected authors that back my points.

The articles are from the Diplomat and its now on my must read list.  You can check them out here and here.

Once you've read them, tell me you aren't a bit concerned with the direction that our Navy is headed in with regards to a potential faceoff with the Chinese.

A real award winner via Gruntworks.

I've never seen anything like this.  I have always been a fan, but his legend continues to grow even after his service.  Awesome!

Modest Proposal. An Unmanned Assault Carrier.

Is it possible.

Could the US Navy have a carrier that is designated for unmanned aircraft operations only?  It would go to sea for crew qualifications (reservist getting in summer training?) but its unmanned aircraft would be kept in storage with  only a few used for unmanned pilot proficiency (even that would be limited as most training would be done by simulator).

During times of war it would reactors would be turned to full power, unmanned aircraft onloaded, reservist called to duty, unmanned  pilot billets filled/recalled and it would sail to the scene.

200 unmanned strike aircraft would suddenly arrive with our "regular" aircraft carriers and conduct wartime missions.

If we reach a point of where we can superpack these aircraft then that number might be 3 or even 400 airplanes.

If it isn't being considered they should.

The US Army's Global Response Force. Faster than a Marine Expeditionary Unit, more capable than the SPMAGTF-Crisis Response Force.

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division preparing their gear prior to jumping from Air Force C-130J Hercules during a Joint Operation Access exercise at Pope Field, N.C. 

The US Army is quickly getting its ducks in a row.

While the USMC, MARSOC, and SOCOM are all talking about orienting to the Pacific or developing forces to respond to specific threats, the US Army is doing something totally different.

US Army Special Forces is moving toward reclaiming its role of the training of foreign forces.  From the Philippines to Afghanistan, its working quietly and HARD to make its presence felt with those "partners"...its behind the scenes work but a quick Google search will reveal exactly how broad its footprints are.

US Army Rangers have gone into its shell.  What does that mean?  It means that they're doing the work of maintaining Ranger standards.  I'm guessing here but I think they're ensuring that standards are met throughout its ranks and they're cleaning house of all non-hackers.  They'll come out of this harder.

But what should make Headquarters Marine Corps pause is the fact that the 82nd and 101st haven't been resting on their laurels either.  They're been running Access Exercises like there's no tomorrow and they're reactivating the Global Response Ready Brigade Concept.

The idea is that they can either parachute in or airland a force of Brigade size within a set time that is faster to the scene than a MEU and more capable than a SPMAGTF-Crisis Response Force.

That should be telling.

The Army is putting together forces that aren't geographically oriented but have a global footprint.

SOCOM in the form of Special Forces or Rangers will handle small sized contingencies that require immediate response, and if a larger force is required for backup then the Army is promising to have a Brigade available and even more forces later.

Reactionary thinking?  Possibly, but the US Army appears to be ready to put us out of work.

S&W M&P 10. The next hot thing in firearms?

I'm still in the lust mode for the 300 but this looks right.  Check out a write up on it here.

3D Concept Aircraft "The Liberator" by Michael Daglas

The F-35, The ACV, The MPC & The Marine Corps Budget.

I got an e-mail today and to be honest I really expected it a bit earlier.

The issue is simple.  The sender believes that since word of the MPC "delay" became news I've been on a jihad against the F-35, the V-22 and Marine Air in general.

I reject that.

I wholeheartedly reject it.

Forgive me but an eyeballs test of the current situation shows a tremendous gap being created.  For most of its history, Marine Air has flown hand me downs from the Navy.  For most of its history it has made do with aircraft that had as its primary function support of Marine Ground Forces.

Now we have something different.

We have Marine Air flying cutting edge equipment that outpaces what the Navy, Air Force and Army are flying.  They're equipping with exotic equipment that is taking up a larger portion of the budget and appear to support forces other than the Marine Corps.

From a Joint Force perspective this might be a good thing.

From the view of the Ground Combat Element its disturbing.

I've focused on the AAV replacement but the issues are really bigger than that.  Yes.  We desperately need a replacement for a vehicle that is soon to approach 50 years in service (I'll say it again, can you imagine using LVTP-5's during Iraq Wars 1 and 2).  To once again delay its replacement is a disgrace. To see that the US Army has placed into service the Stryker, canned the FCS, developed an upgraded Stryker and placed it into production and service and is now developing a Ground Combat Vehicle is telling.  We are developing an unbalanced force that is biased toward heliborne operations.  It will be a force that is aviation centric.  I reject that as being "UnMarine Like".  The focus of the Corps has always been the Infantry.  To move away from that is to embrace a concept that is something different.

But back on task...I have never said that the F-35 isn't capable.  I have never said that the MV-22 isn't a good airplane.

I have questioned whether they should be taking up as much of our budget as they are.

Long posts aren't my style so I'll add this.  I'll be researching budget documents to bolster my case, but consider this.  Delaying the buys of F-35's and MV-22's could easily put into production and service a full complement of Marine Personnel Carriers.  I'll have the numbers to back my claim tonight or early tomorrow.

The Future? X-47 making carrier landing vid.

Are we building a parity force?

J-20.  Presumably a high flying, long range, high speed interceptor/fighter (in the F-14 mold--my opinion) this airplane has the legs to make the Pacific a pond, the firepower to challenge 4th gen fighter weapons payloads and enough stealth to allow it to get close.  Its the Chinese version of the F-23.  The plane we should have built.

BMP-3F.  The Russian (and presumably the Chinese) military have a rapidly deployable, air droppable armored fighting vehicle that will give their airborne forces both strategic and tactical mobility.  This is a capability that has been sought but still evades the 82nd.

SU-35.  The original SU-27 was designed to best the F-15 in all conditions.  The SU-35 is listed as a 4th Gen + airplane.  How it would perform against the US is a matter of conjecture but expectations of losses to competently flown SU-35's greater than 1 to 1 is foolish thinking.

Hobei Class Fast Attack Boat.  More formidable than LCS and much more plentiful.  LCS might not be designed to fight them one on one but you can bet that it will be forced on us.

Type 52D. Chinese equivalent of the Burke?

This from American Mercenary Blog.

When you fight a parity force you do have a higher risk of losing. But it isn't a guarantee of anything. The ultimate parity fight is a game of chess. Each side has the same pieces, the same power, and there is no "fog of war" to hinder a decision makers ability to know all the facts. Parity may even the playing field somewhat, but it does not decide victors and losers.

Consider AM's words and then answer this.

If current trends continue will we have a parity force, or when you consider both numbers and quality an inferior force?

Note: I chose mostly aircraft and naval vessels because that is where the US is laying most of its Pacific eggs.  If parity or superiority is achieved by our enemies in one of these realms then our entire strategy is at risk.

Uncomfortable Question. Why is Colonel Moore still at the EFV Program Office?

Colonel Moore with the EFV during testing at Pendleton.

Colonel Moore's Bio via Wikipedia.

Keith M. Moore is a colonel in the United States Marine Corps who is the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program manager.[1]
Colonel Moore was born in Phoenix, AZ. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration (Economics) degree from theUniversity of Oklahoma, Norman, OK in 1986.
In May 1986, Colonel Moore attended The Basic School (Basic Officers’ Course 5-86) at Quantico, Virginia. Upon graduating from The Basic School in November 1986, he attended the Assault Amphibian Officers’ course at Camp Pendleton, CA and was subsequently assigned to 2d Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2d Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, NC. While there, he served as a Platoon Commander and Company Executive Officer.
Colonel Moore was next assigned to Recruiting Station, Lansing, MI as the OIC, Officer Selection Station, East Lansing from December 1989 to June 1992. After completing his recruiting tour, he attended the Amphibious Warfare School, Quantico, VA. Upon graduation in May 1993, he returned to 2d Assault Amphibian Battalion where he served as the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of Bravo Company. In April 1995, he was selected to attend Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Upon completion of his Masters’ degree in Management from NPS, he was assigned to the Office of the Direct Reporting Program Manager, Advanced Amphibious Assault. He served consecutively as the Operations Officer and the Director of Systems Testing until May 2000. During this tour he attended the Intermediate Test and Evaluation course and Advanced Program Managers’ course. He was subsequently assigned the Acquisition Management Officer MOS.
In June 2000, Colonel Moore was assigned as the Executive Officer, 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton CA. He served in that billet from June 2000-July 2002. He then served as the G-3 Training Officer, 1st Marine Division. After that assignment, he was assigned as the Inspector-Instructor for the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Tampa, FL. In August 2005, he was again assigned to the Direct Reporting Program Manager, Advanced Amphibious Assault. He served as the Director of Test and Evaluation from July 2007-August 2008. In August 2008, Colonel Moore reported to the Office of PM AAA for duty as the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Program Manager.
Colonel Moore completed the Marine Corps Command and Staff College by correspondence and is a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University Program Manager’s Course.
Colonel Moore’s personal decorations include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with gold star in lieu of 2nd award).

The Marine Corps needs to ask itself a serious question.

Why is Colonel Moore still at the Program Office?

No flaming.  No ranting.  Just an observation.

Colonel Moore has been the director of whatever you want to name the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle Program since 2008.  In Marine Land that's a long time to be at one position.  In Program Office Land that is an eternity.

I don't know Colonel Moore.  Never met him.  He has a pretty good record, has shown initiative to try and keep on his career track but he's been away from the fleet for a VERY VERY VERY LONG TIME.

Could this be a reason why this program is lagging?  Because we don't have a fresh set of eyes tackling the issues?  Could we be seeing the effects of burnout in what is the most serious ground program the USMC has going?

Is the Marine Corps failing Colonel Moore and by extension failing itself?

I don't know but this is peculiar.  Even if you're homesteading you're usually ready to go after more than 8 years in a posting.  This screams out for review.  As a comparison, consider that the average length of service for a Program Manager for the F-35 is around 2.5 years.  

Opinion. Zimmerman will get off but rioting isn't what you should worry about.

We've been round and round on the Zimmerman trial.  With the defense soon to wrap up here's what I see.

1.  Zimmerman will walk.  His defense team was simply better than the prosecution.
2.  I stand by my thinking on the character of the guy.  He's a wanna be cop and he reeks of little man syndrome.  You're right I wasn't there but I bet that if he was faced with someone larger he would not have gotten within a stones throw of him.
3.  Zimmerman overstepped his bounds on that night.  Following someone is stalking at best, menacing at worst.  If you're visiting a relative and some strange guy starts following you because your car broke down on the way, I'd bet you'd grip your pistol or at the very least adjust clothing so you could get to it quickly.
4.  I don't believe there will be rioting.  There is no doubt in my mind that a plan is in place that will have so many police resources flowing to even a peaceful assembly that it will look like a SWAT convention.  This is the type of thing that Homeland Security lives for!
5.  For those that are level headed consider this.  Rioting isn't the real worry.  The real worry is that (especially with Chicago now about to become concealed carry) the stand your ground laws will be reviewed and probably aligned to the reality of people (a minority of gun owners) brandishing their firearms when facing unarmed people.  Additionally Florida has seen a rash of shootings that Law Enforcement calls questionable...by that I mean the shooting of unarmed people and their being doubt about the threat.

Long story short.  Zimmerman walks, there are no riots and we'll probably see a massive show of police force that will be credited (wrongly) for keeping a lid on things.

Kokesh being raided. via The Truth About Guns.

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Geez.

I get where Kokesh is coming from but individual action will only create individual arrests.

I'm not calling for an open revolt but it will take a coordinated effort to get real attention or else "activists" will simply be picked off one by one.  Its easy to bring the full weight of the law against one man...unless he's violent and skilled (remember Dohner in L.A.?)

I'll label this as bad idea, mixed with poor execution, resulting in an obvious outcome.

Spoke too soon. MPC is done.

A buddy got me the entire article and any speck of optimism I once had was crushed like 1000 ton boulder falling on a kitten.

This is the paragraph regarding the Marine Personnel Carrier.  My comments are in blue.

The Marine Corps has delayed the MPC program until there is room in the budget to resurrect it. Moore hopes the future fiscal environment will become more predictable and allow the service to put the MPC back in the budget.
However, "it's certainly several years in the future before the Marine Corps' got to nail down all of those decisions," he said.  What he's really saying is that this program is deader than disco.  I can't believe that he has the audacity to tell such a bold faced lie.  Name one program that has been delayed and then resurrected?  The only one that I can even come up with is the V-22 and that program was continued in a research project fashion which kept the design team together.  I would imagine that everyone is sending their people to other more promising projects as we speak.  Bullshit from this Program Office is becoming par for the course.The service is now wrapping up MPC demonstrations. The service awarded four $3.5 million demonstration contracts to BAE Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, Lockheed Martin and Science Applications International Corporation to build MPC prototypes.
"Industry, in my mind, really stepped up and you could really tell they were very interested in meeting the Marine Corps' requirements," Moore said. "In some cases, those were some stretch requirements outside of what is traditionally associated with that kind of vehicle and they have put in a lot of time and effort and money."What he's really saying is that the Marine Corps demanded more than they thought industry could deliver and they did.  You have wheeled combat vehicles that gave almost AAV type water performance and I'd guess superior land performance.  If the Marine Corps made public the results of the test I'd bet you'd have so many letters to the Marine Gazette that it would overwhelm their servers.  After wrapping up the demonstrations at the end of the calendar year, the service will be able to refine the requirements for the program, he said. "When, ultimately, the fiscal environment and other things shift to where it's time to put MPC back as a program moving forward we are poised to launch into that as rapidly as possible to provide that capability to the Marine Corps," Moore said.
When asked that once the program is put back into the budget if the technical information gained from the demonstrations will be outdated, Moore said, the service will modify the requirement as threats emerge over time.
"There will still be work to be done with some refinement that will have to take place for restarting that program, but we should be able to refine that as a narrow range of things to figure out," he said.He's coming out with half a truth here.  In essence he's almost but not quite admitting that IF a new MPC program is started that it won't be able to take advantage of the work done on this one.

Why should you care about this?

Because the Marine Corps just wasted more taxpayer money starting down the road to a program that led to nothing.  They have poisoned the well with industry and have condemned its Marines to ride into combat in an almost 50 year old vehicle.  It would be like using an LVT-1 during Vietnam...or a LVTP-5 during the Iraq Wars 1 and 2!

The blame lies with the Commandant.  Amos is indecisive, vacillates, shows a marked inability to inspire confidence, is incapable of accomplishing what should be the simplest tasks and does not reflect the traits necessary to continue in his present Command.

Consider that my evaluation of his leadership/performance.

Did HQMC just back off the Marine Personnel Carrier Cancellation?

Thanks for the article Lee!  Oh and yeah.  It surprised me on several levels.

via Inside Defense.

The Marine Corps may not be able to purchase the same number of amphibious assault vehicles it has planned if sequestration cuts continue, reductions that would include eliminating about 8,000 Marines from infantry battalions, aviation squadrons, headquarters and logistics units, according to a service official.

If force structure cuts reach the point where there are no longer 20 to 23 infantry battalions, the Marine Corps may not buy the same number of Marine Personnel Carriers, the complementary capability to the Amphibious Combat Vehicle, Col. Keith Moore, advanced amphibious assault program manager, told Inside the Navy.

The service is already drawing down from about 202,000 Marines to 182,000 because of cuts imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act. Further sequestration cuts would reduce that number by an additional 8,000 Marines to bring the force to 174,000, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos said the same day, during a Defense Writers Group breakfast.

"They're infantry battalions. They're fixed-wing squadrons, which would be F-35 -- they are, in the near term, going to be some F-18s and probably some Harriers, but in the long term, it would be F-35. There will be some attack helicopters, some Cobras and Hueys. There will be some MV-22s. And there will be logistics battalions," Amos said, declining to give exact numbers or the locations of these units.

The article was datelined for today.

So yeah.  I'm not just surprised.  I'm shocked.

The Program Office is now stating that they may not BUY THE SAME NUMBER OF MARINE PERSONNEL CARRIERS???!!!!  That indicates they're buying some.

The Commandant states that cuts will be across the board and not just in Infantry and Logistics???  Aviation will take a hit too????!!!

F-35's buys will be reduced (yeah I caught that qualifying "eventually" he tossed in there...he'll protect this airplane not one of his daughters), MV-22s (some) and there will be Attack Helicopter reductions (did you notice that the Huey is now being called an attack helicopter?...amazing what a laser guided 2.75 rocket can do huh?)

I need confirmation on this.  They won't talk to me so I hope Inside Defense follows up.

Imperialism via US Palm.

Wow.

When I saw this I paused real hard.  Its strange because US Palm is one of those rah-rah outfits that sells magazines and other firearms goods/parts.  Because of that I know that its suppose to be tongue in cheek patriotic.  But when I sit back and realize that this is EXACTLY how at least half the world sees us it leaves me speechless.

This one I'm going to have to chew on a bit.

Crisis Response Force? How about Mobile Dog and Pony Show (MDPS)

Lieutenant Colonel Christian Harshberger, the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response executive officer and commanding officer of the task force's Aviation Combat Element (ACE), receives an appreciation award from Italian Rear Admiral Paolo Treu, right, the Chief of Italian Navy Aviation Department, aboard Taranto-Grottaglie Air Base, Italy, July 28, 2013. The award was given in recognition of the work the ACE Marines put into an Osprey presentation held to familiarize Italian military leaders with the capabilities of the Osprey. SP-MAGTF Crisis Response is a rotational force of approximately 500 Marines and sailors sourced from a variety of Marine Corps units to include II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The mission of the task-organized deployment-force is to respond to potential crises in the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility. (Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Caleb McDonald/ Released)

Excuse me but....WHAT THE FUCK!

If you're a Crisis Response Force and you have aircraft and personnel supposedly forward deployed because an incident could kick off at anytime requiring you to fly out and kick ass........

AND THEY CAN SEND AIRCRAFT FOR FAMILIARIZATION AND CELEBRATORY MISSIONS???

I suspected that this was nothing more than a cover for administration indecision when it came to Benghazi.  Others have suspected that the unit is a test bed for what some in the Marine Corps consider the future.

One thing it obviously isn't is a real crisis response force.  Training, workouts, maintenance 24/7 and more of the above with joy coming at the end of your deployment is how it was once done.

This thing is something different.  I'll be watching these guys closely.

Law Enforcement. I've shown the hate, now for some love.

The video below is from I09 and its supposedly the first arrest recorded by Google Glasses.  It happened at the Jersey Shore (I guess its an attraction, I always thought it was a location) and the Cops are faced with the worst of several bad situations.

They did a HELL of a job.  I would have proned out the entire crowd, picked up whoever was identified in the fight and then when I was clear yell out that they could get up now.

Of course the LEO's in this vid didn't do that.  They waded into a endless mob of people, dealt with some people that were obviously intoxicated and made it out with their arrestee.  All without going to blows, using tasers or drawing weapons.  Again.  Great job, but I'm still left wondering how all that measures on the scale of officer safety.  It would be so easy for a couple of guys to do a weapon snatch on a single officer in crowd that big.  Much respect and I hope these guys are careful.

Sweet Deal on Ceramic Body Armor! NIJ Level IV!

Check out The Bang Switch Blog here to get details on the armor and the deal but that's a smoking hot price for some certified armor.  I'm not a big fan of ceramic plates because I think you have to baby them a bit but the price is right and for you guys wearing plate carrier without the plates this is your ticket to ride.

An airburst grenade.

Many thanks to Dahlberg for the article and vid!

via FMV.

A FMV-employed engineer behind the biggest news in the grenade area since WWI. By jumping up just before brisaden and target fragmentation in a cone towards the ground minimizes the risk of innocent victims, while the grenade is many times more effective against their military objectives.
When an ordinary shrapnel grenade explodes, half of shrapnel into the ground to no value. The other half goes into the air, spreading in all directions and involves unnecessary danger to a third party. Only a few fragments have a chance to give effect to the target, provided that the soldier is not behind a small barrier, then the effect fails completely.
- I started this because I felt that ordinary hand grenades filled its function. They are unnecessarily dangerous for innocent nearby and the largely lacks the ability to reach the goal, says Ian Kinley, technical expert in specialty ammunition at FMV.
Ian Kinleys solution is based instead on the grenade shoots itself up in the air before it explodes.
- Since it shoots up to reach it not only targets behind obstacles. The technology behind the launch means that it knows what is up and down, which allows us to target shrapnel downwards, in an area five meters around the crash site, said Ian Kinley.

You have to love the military.

How do you save lives?  By killing more efficiently!  But this is something new that I never thought I'd see.  Essentially this is an airburst grenade...akin to Bouncy Betty's that the old school Marines dealt with in Vietnam.

Impressive.  Check out the video here. 

One of the best vids I've seen on self defense from a vehicle.

This is a great vid.  Matter of fact and straight to the point.  Additionally it covers the bases for the second fight you'll be involved in after defending yourself.

The court fight.

Many don't want to admit it but you WILL be asked if you had a chance to retreat (even in stand your ground states),  they will ask if you felt you were in danger (an unarmed frail woman thats homeless about to pass out from starvation is not a threat except from maybe disease) from the attacker and they will ask if you were aware of the backstop to your target.

I like it.  Smart, factual and concise.