Super Hornet now can carry the same internal fuel as the F-35.

Read the article about the CFT's here.

Someone has to get the balls to ask.  What do we need Naval Aviation to do?  Long loiter time while performing CAP missions to protect the Fleet?  Long loiter time to provide Close Air Support for Marines and other ground forces?  Deep strike missions against enemy installations??????

If you have the integrity to ask those questions then the next thing that must be asked is quite simple.  Does the F-35 provide enough value to justify cutting the Marine Corps down to 150,000?  Does it justify another decade or two driving a 50 year old Amphibious Assault Vehicle?

I'm just asking.

NavAir is sitting back, chilled the fuck out...laughing its ass off at the Marine Corps and Air Force.

Heartbreaking blast from the past via National Naval Aviation Museum

Final pages of the log book of Lieutenant (junior grade) Raymond Porter noting that he and his gunner, Aviation Radioman Third Class Normand Brissette, crashed during a strike against Kure Harbor in Japan. Taken prisoner by the Japanese, the Bombing Squadron (VB) 87 personnel were held captive in Hiroshima, where they died as the result of the atomic bomb dropped on the city on August 6, 1945, sixty-eight years ago today.

I'm calling bullshit on SLD in regards to Special Purpose MAGTF (Crisis Response).

SLD wrote an article trying to prop up the Special Purpose MAGTF (Crisis Response).  You can click here to read it for yourself, but be advised...I'm calling bullshit on the whole thing.

The thing that annoys me most about this is that it creates a brand new command.  The Marine Corps has its MEU's that are purpose built and float the seven seas waiting for trouble.  As a reader pointed out just yesterday when trouble hit in Liberia, the 26th MEU back in 97 (I believe thats the time frame) sent its LPD to conduct an embassy evacuation while its big deck remained on station conducting a larger more involved evacuation of personnel from another country.

So what is this formation really?  Its simply another slot for Marine Colonels to hang their hats. When did the Marine Corps become the land of the juicy command without actual need?  The fact that its aviation centric is another issue but one I'll ignore for the time being.

If you want to see how things are going off the rails then look at this SPMAGTF(CR).  If you want to see something that should be killed at birth then look at this formation. 

Unneeded Commands.  A Commandant that doesn't have the integrity to resign when he's caught up in wrongdoing.  And now a publication that is attempting to put lipstick on a pig.

Yeah.  We're screwed.

Extortion 17. Shot down two years ago today.

Two years ago today the Special Ops Community was shocked by the loss of a couple dozen plus SEALs from Team 6 in a helicopter shoot down.  You can Google the callsign and get more information (conflicting) than you can possibly digest.   I simply want to point to this passage from Wiki concerning the aftermath.

On 10 August 2011, the U.S. military claimed that the insurgent who fired the rocket-propelled grenade had been killed only two days afterward in a F-16 airstrike, saying only that intelligence gained on the ground provided "a high degree of confidence" that the person was among those killed in the airstrike from two days earlier, but providing no other details.[28]
During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F-16 airstrike had taken out "less than 10" of the insurgents involved, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan John R. Allen said the military investigation into the helicopter downing would also review whether small arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing.[28]
Many of the men interviewed for the book Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown by Eric Blehm perished in the crash.[29]
In 2013 Jason Chaffetz said he would hold an investigation of the United States House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security into the matter.[30]

I'm left speechless.   Two years later we're finally getting a review of events.



Quite honestly, we have family  members that are pushing for a probe but the vaunted Special Ops Command remains silent.

These guys deserve better.  Their families deserve better.  But just as importantly, our national defense deserves better.  Lessons learned from this incident could save lives in other theaters.  You can bet that the terrorist are doing their best to pass along lessons learned and best practices.

Click here to go to a Extortion 17 remembrance site.

C-2A Greyhound

Republic of Korea Army 5th Armored Brigade

More on the 22 DDH via Jeffhead's World Wide Aircraft Carriers.

SPECIFICATIONS

Designation: CVL (DDH)

Length: 815 ft

Width: 125 ft

Beam: 110 ft

Displacement: 27,000 tons (full load)

Propulsion: 4 GE LM2500 COGAG, 2 shafts

Speed: 30+ knots

Crew: 970 (Includes Air Wing)

Airwing: (Up to)

- 12 F-35B JSF

- 08 V-22 Osprey

- 08 ASW & SAR Helos

Armament:

- 2 x 21 Cell RAM (or 2 x SEARAM)

- 2 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS

- 2 x Triple 324mm topedoe tubes

Elevators: 2

Ships in class: 2 Planned

DDH-183, Kaga (Building)

DDH-184, Unnamed (Building)

Click here to go to Jeffhead's site on this and other aircraft carriers/amphibious assault ships. About the same size as the Australian ship but carries more aircraft.  According to articles I've read it carries vehicles and around 500 troops.  I haven't seen the ramp to allow roll on roll off of vehicles but if it isn't at a crazy angle (which it shouldn't be) and if they get AAVs, they should be able to launch them (recovery might be an issue....I'll have to check).

Long story short.  The Japanese just developed a pretty nice sea control ship with a minor amphibious assault capability.  That will be the next issue.  If they want it to flex into the LHD role then they'll need to get an effective troop carrying helicopter.

It'll be good to watch a Navy put its ship into service without its leadership hoping that the sailors that use it figure out how things need to be done or what roles it can fulfill (direct hit at Greenert and the LCS).

Japan to hold launching ceremony of latest aircraft carrier at Yokohama

The naming and launching ceremony of latest aircraft carrier-class destroyer “22DDH” will be held at Yokohama on Aug. 6, 2013. “22DDH" is a light aircraft carrier under the name of building "helicopter carrier". It's Japan's new generation helicopter destroyer. The Japanese helicopter carrier can be seen at the pictures. 

Its here.

The long awaited 22DDH is finally about to hit the water.  Somewhere Chinese leaders are shudering.  Japan is slowly but surely militarizing.

Won't it be ironic, if Japan becomes a major military power again all because China misplayed its hand?  Remember, while we're seeing countries unite in opposition to China, they also have age old beef between them.  S. Korean hates Japan.  Japan hates Vietnam.  Vietnam hates S. Korea.  Etc.

The guy sitting on the outside looking out his window at a neighborhood thats becoming dangerous is Australia.  Militarily they are outclassed by the S. Koreans, Japanese and maybe even Singapore.  Which is why I expect to see a major US Joint Base established there soon.

Today in Marine Corps History.

1990 - Marines of the 22d MEU (SOC) were flown to the American Embassy, Monrovia, Liberia, to help evacuate personnel.  

Please note that the MEU (not a Special Purpose MAGTF) did the embassy reinforcement and evacuation mission.

Note 1:  Naval Requirements blog reminded me of something.  We've had MEU's that have done embassy reinforcement, embassy evacuation, TRAP Missions into hostile territory, demonstrations of force, humanitarian relief...the list goes on.  These missions were accomplished by regular infantry that were trained by our own Special Operations Training Group to be certified as Special Operations Capable MEU's.  We have what we need.  The Maritime Raid Force, MARSOC, SPMAGTF (Crisis Response Force) are all just add on's that are fashionable but add nothing.  We were doing it before we got those units and we'll be doing it once we close shop on them.  The next Grunt Commandant of the Marine Corps will have to clean house. Of personnel that are in positions they don't belong in and of equipment/concepts that make no sense.

Gripen Future Concepts.

Above you see a slide from the SAAB Group's brief.  I don't have a breakdown of the talking points from each but it appears that fully networked, and command/control of unmanned aircraft is being built into the Gripen.

Thought provoking articles...

Thanks Bob for the links....

Want to get your Monday started on the right foot?  How about some articles to get your brain juices flowing....

*How dictators come to power in a democracy.

*The hard long slog.

*Will China's economy crash.

If you do follow my advice and read the articles then do so with an open mind and a view toward looking at the world the way it is, not the way we want it to be.

If you do, then you'll start seeing and hearing the same warning signs that I do.

Blast from the Past. Fully Amphibious, Surf Capable M-113 (Modified) by FMC.

Note:  I've posted this before but sometimes it pays to dust off the old and reintroduce concepts already covered.

When will you know that the Marine Corps is actually serious about developing a modern Amphibious Combat Vehicle?

When we finally have a real discussion about how many Marines it should be designed to carry!

When the LVTP-7 was developed that was a discussion the old skool Marines had, and from my readings it was rather spirited.  The debate was between rapid buildup of forces ashore and the vulnerability of the vehicles (and potential loss of life if hit) when they traveled on to the objective.

Two vehicles were submitted.  One that carried a Squad plus of Marines (the LVTP-7...upgraded to the AAV we all know) and one that carried fewer Marines (the vehicle you see above).  The Marine Personnel Carrier Program that was recently cancelled split the baby perfectly and would have revolutionized mechanized combat in the Marine Corps.

Now.  We're stuck with old vehicles that will be upgraded for the foreseeable future.

Navantia responds to Philippine RFP with the Avante 1800.

  Avante 1800 Corvette_r01(1)

The Philippine Navy put out a request for proposals with regards to a new Corvette and Navantia was all over it with the Avante 1800.

Just a glance at the brochure tells me that its MUCH more capable than the LCS, at a lower cost with much greater firepower.

Let's hope that this is the beginning of common sense defense procurement for the Philippine people.

Blast from the past. F2H Banshees of VF-12 from National Naval Aviation Museum.

USMC JAG Lawyers.

via Marine Times.

The Marine Corps commandant’s controversial handling of legal cases tied to the infamous video of scout snipers urinating on Taliban corpses has caught the eye of attorneys involved in another hot-button issue for the military: sexual assault.
Mounting evidence that Gen. Jim Amos and some of his top legal advisers may have deliberately sought to sway the outcome of the war-zone video cases — which would constitute actual unlawful command influence — could be used by attorneys in an attempt to get military courts to take another look at unrelated sexual assault convictions the Corps has secured, said attorneys tracking the issue.
Amos last year cited both the urination video and sexual assaults as embarrassing examples of misbehavior during his “Heritage Brief” tour of Marine bases and stations around the world. He condemned immoral actions by Marines and pressed for aggressive responses when they were discovered.
That tough talk on sexual assault cases led military judges in at least four cases within the past year to rule that the commandant exerted apparent unlawful command influence, according to an active-duty military lawyer involved in some of those cases. The judges determined that Amos’ words potentially violated defendants’ legal rights by tainting jury pools and ensuring convictions before their cases played out in court.
The judges, however, did not find that Amos committed actual unlawful command influence, a more serious finding that could have led to the cases’ dismissal. 

Read the whole thing.  I'm pleasantly surprised that the Marine Times is staying on this.  Amos is hoping that if he keeps his head down he can weather the storm.  I'm not convinced but time will tell.

Well done to the JAG Lawyers that are going after this.

It takes a special kind of guts to go after the top ranking Marine while wearing the uniform. King size balls and ovaries reside in that shop.  I imagine they all wear the morale patch below.

Type 75 LHA under construction. via Chinese Military Review.

I've been waiting for this.

Carriers are cool.  But they don't signify a nations intent to be able to take and hold ground in distant lands.  Yes, they can control air space, they can launch punitive air raids...they can even level cities...but they can't deliver and deploy forces to take and hold real estate.

An LHA can.

If they build in numbers and continue to work on the other pieces of their Marine Corps then we will be faced with an issue the USMC hasn't dealt with since the Cold War.  The USMC will have to face fighting a conventional force, capable of landing at a spot of its choosing, backed with Carrier Aviation, using combined arms against our infantry.

At this moment the Chinese Marine Corps can in my opinion claim to have achieved at the very least equality with our Corps.  HQMC can keep pimping humanitarian assistance and disaster relief but it better dust off simulations using the projected Chinese Order of Battle against our own forces before it happens in real life.

SIDE NOTE:  Does anyone have a good definition of the difference between an LHA and a LHD?  At one time their was a clear distinction between the two.  LHA's could only land forces via aviation  where  a LHD used landing craft & aviation.  That no longer seems to be a valid definition.   Ideas?  Or is this another case of creeping classification to a point where it no longer makes a difference.

Interesting news out of China. via South China Morning Post.

China develops a PsyWarfare Airplane.

Praise for a Chinese aircraft armed with psychological warfare capabilities emerged in state media on Tuesday, alongside claims the plane could “give the enemy nervous breakdowns” - a statement that attracted mass ridicule online.
The article, originally printed in the Global Times, was entitled “China’s new psychological warfare aircraft overtakes the US army – It gives the enemy nervous breakdowns.” The title was a reference to the Gaoxin 7, a plane armed with portable electronic devices for psychological combat assignments, the article reported. During missions, the Gaoxin 7 would utilise its own “programmes”- which the article did not describe in further detail - to disrupt the normally-scheduled broadcasts of television, radio and wireless internet communications.
These infiltrations would “limit the spread of enemy propaganda, affect the morale of the enemy’s army, sow seeds of rumour and confusion, and send all enemy troops from soldiers to officials into a state of nervous breakdown, achieving victory without soldiers even having to fight.”
“The capabilities of the [Gaoxin 7] psychological warfare aircraft…can be used to collapse the enemy propaganda dissemination mechanism,” the article reported. “After that, [dealing with] dropped enemy pamphlets and other propaganda items will be a piece of cake.”

Chinese Stock Market in free fall.

Four years after China's growth helped lead the global economy out of a recession and won the admiration of luminaries from billionaire George Soros to Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the nation's stock market has lost more money for investors than any other in the world.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which doubled in the 10 months to August 2009 as the government poured US$652 billion of stimulus into building roads, railways and housing, has tumbled 43 per cent from its high, destroying US$748 billion in market value.
Only Greece's ASE Index has fallen more in percentage terms. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the benchmark gauge of American equity, erased all of the losses from the worst recession since the Depression and has gained 68 per cent since the China peak, reaching a record this month.
China looked unbeatable in 2009, surpassing Germany as the world's third-largest economy and growing 6 per cent in the first quarter while the US shrank 4 per cent.
Templeton Emerging Markets Group executive chairman Mark Mobius said in July 2009 that China's stock market could be larger than its US counterpart in three years.
Now, China is poised for the weakest expansion since 1990 as the government orders more than 1,400 companies to close factories.

It should be fairly obvious that I consider the second story much more important than the first.  The idea that China is attempting to replicate our psychological warfare elements is to be expected.

News that the Chinese stock market is trash is something different.

Conventional wisdom holds that China is a rising star and that it will replace the US as the world's superpower is considered a given.  This article tells a different story.  Some have theorized that the current economic troubles are all tied to globalization and that the very system that was created to support it is unsustainable.

This would seem to add fuel to that theories fire.

It would also help explain many of the border skirmishes we've seen.  If stuff is going bad internally then you seek to place attention on an outside issue.   Bad economic conditions get Western governments replaced.   It gets Communist governments toppled.

Some guys are just fucking confused. Pic via Bayou Man.

I've never been big on re-enactment or cosplay but to each his own.  I'd like to be able to expand that thinking to the above pic but come on!  Thor and hello kitty?

Guys are either pissed, pussified or confused.  Ole' boy above falls into the pussified or confused camp in my opinion.

Geez.

Let me say it again.

Thor and Hello Fucking Kitty?!  Our society is so screwed.

Argentina ups the ante!

via the Mirror.

Argentina has launched a new round of sabre-rattling against Britain by buying a squadron of warplanes to be based within striking distance of the Falklands, the Sunday People has revealed.
President Cristina de Kirchner – who wants the UK to hand over the disputed islands – personally agreed the £145million deal to buy 20 second-hand Mirage F1 jets from Spain.
The 1,453mph aircraft carry a fearsome array of weaponry including smart bombs.
Argentina’s move could force the Ministry of Defence to bolster Britain’s presence in the south Atlantic, even though its budget is to be slashed by £875million in 2015.
Senior officers believe Argentina could now begin a campaign of ­“pester patrols” – flights towards the Falklands to test RAF responses.
Kirchner is thought to be trying to boost her nation’s military capability in a show of strength before elections which are due in 2015.
But last night a senior RAF source said: “If the Argentines start playing games and escalate the tension, we will see more RAF aircraft being deployed to the Falklands.”
The French-built Mirage F1 has a range of 500 miles – the Falklands are 400 miles east of Argentina.

Talk to any Brit about the Falklands and he'll dismiss the threat without serious thought.  Well it might be time to get serious now.

Proper intel, a surprise attack, long range missiles and the right flight profile and you could literally catch those vaunted Typhoons sitting in their hangers.

After that bit of work is done then its a simple matter to destroy the British version of the LCS that patrols the waterways and you wouldn't have a thing to worry about until a Type 45 shows up to crash the party.

Seriously though the main concern should be the mini alliance that is forming between Spain and Argentina.  The connection seems to warrant further investigation to see exactly how deep the defense ties actually are.

An untapped treasure chest of Naval Aviation history!

 Are you interested in Naval Aviation history?  Do you find the internet based information "galaxy" limited?  If you answer to either of those questions is yes then follow this link to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

The back issues of Naval Aviation News are a God send and well worth your time.  Check out the site.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed.