1st Tanks better get ready.

via DefenseTalk.

Blurring the line between sports and warfare, the Russian army premiered a new sport – tank biathlon – and invited US crews to compete. Russian news agency Novosti reports. “We’ve invited our American colleagues to participate… and our invitation was accepted by US Secretary of Defense [Chuck] Hagel,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Saturday. Italy and Germany also agreed to send their teams to compete with Russian and US tank crews, Shoigu said, adding that the event will take place sometime next year.
Russia will host the world’s first ever tank biathlon championship next week. The country’s best tank crews will compete against each other at a firing range outside Moscow, the winners then taking on competitors from Armenia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan.
The new sport allows showcasing the quality of Russian tanks, comparing them against foreign analogues, Shoigu’s deputy Yury Borisov said Saturday.
Next week’s event, however, will be limited to T-72 tanks, the staple of post-Soviet militaries, Vedomosti business daily said Friday. The newspaper offered a preview of the new sport, covering a test competition held outside Moscow earlier this week. The event involved four tanks painted in bright colors – including yellow and pinkish red – which did three laps over rough terrain, shooting at targets shaped like tanks, houses and helicopters. The best time was 5:28.

Hmmm.

Does anyone in the West practice Tank ballet the way the Russians do?  By that I mean driving them like maniacs, jumping them over small mounds etc....

Centauro Tank Destroyers and Ariete B1 MBT 

The Germans did at one time but I think those days have passed.  Do the Italians?  And exactly what will they send?  The Centauro or the Ariete MBT? Who is going to represent the US?  Army or Marines?  1st Tanks should have the edge in the Marines...all those guys do is run the ranges at 29 Palms and pull maintenance.  For the Army?  I have absolutely no idea.  I guess the jokers from the 1st ID might have a leg up.  They're still heavy (I believe) and they do the same thing except on the plains.

I really wish Hagel would have thought a moment before he reflexively accepted.  This is going to be a marketing bonanza for the Russians...all because they'll be able to highlight an extremely small, super cramped, malfunctioning autoloading, mechanically unreliable Main Battle Tank against it betters from the West on a Russian designed "war game".

I see the Brits and French are steering clear...at least so far.  Good for them.  This is going to be a cluster.

Troops vs Tech. Battle lines are drawn.

via Early Warning Blog.

Arguably, the single worst national security decision of the Obama presidency, at least so far, is to protect the personnel portion of the defense budget from the automatic cuts mandated by sequestration. The President protected the personnel accounts in FY2013, forcing procurement and operations and maintenance to absorb virtually the entire $37 billion reduction. Now, it is reported that he will again exempt personnel from its share of the $52 billion that must be taken from the proposed FY2014 defense budget. This means that once again procurement and O&M will take the additional hit of approximately $13 billion.
The requirement to absorb a reduction of about 15 percent of procurement and operating funds would, to employ that overused word, be catastrophic for any federal department, much less one still fighting a war. Even a proportional cut of $37 billion to procurement and O&M will likely necessitate breaking contracts for most weapons systems, grounding hundreds of Air Force aircraft, tying up dozens of Navy ships at the docks and a curtailing of Army and Marine Corps training. Add $13 billion on top of that and it is possible that the military will not just bend but break.
In addition, this decision sets the stage for continual growth in personnel costs. On its current trajectory, personnel costs will consume the entire defense budget by the late-2020s. Thus, protecting personnel spending means setting the stage for a hollow military down the road. This is a horrible legacy for any president. A bad decision, Mr. President; in fact, your worst in the national security arena so far.

The battle lines are drawn.

It troops against tech and since this is Lexington Institute, you can break it down even further to Neo-Cons vs plain cost cutters.

This will bear watching because it takes it to another place no one wants to admit.  Its combat experienced troops vs. gear that is in some cases unneeded.  When the troops, vets, retirees and others finally wake up to the fact that the weapon systems that they're being pushed to support are the same systems that will cut hard earned benefits it will be a sight to behold.

The US military is one occupation where 20 years of service (albeit in certain career fields) can leave a person that appears 40 to actually be 60 internally (work with me, you know what I mean).

Of course there is waste and fraud in the benefits system, but if any of our so called social programs are actually earned then the ones paid to Vets and Retirees should be at the top of the list.

Fireworks ahead and for those paying attention, Obama might end up being a hero on this issue.  We'll see.

USMC Survival Kits. via Don Rearic.

The USMC was doing daily carry before daily carry was cool.

via Don Rearic.

While searching through various NSNs (National Stock Numbers), I came upon a PDF Document from The Department of The Navy. The document is dated 9 July 91.
From the document:
“The SK consists of two sealed pouches that are issued as a single Kit and can be separated after issue. The NSN’s of the components which make up the SK are as follows:
Side A: Shelter and Food Gathering Side:
Fishing Kit, Emergency 4220-00-244-0764
Saw, Finger Ring 5110-00-70-6896

Survival Blanket 7210-00-935-6666

Plastic Bag, Zip-Lock 8105-00-837-7755

Candle, Votive 9925-00-202-4417

Snare Wire 9525-00-59-63498
Side B: Escape and Evasion (E & E) Side:
Fire Starter, Magnesium 4240-01-160-5618

Knife, Pocket 5110-00-162-2205

Signalling Mirror 6350-00-105-1252

Compass, Smoke Chaser 6605-00-553-87-95
Plastic Bag, Zip-Lock 8105-00-837-7756
Whistle, Extreme Cold 8465-01-278-6982
Water Bag, Drinking 8466-00-634-4499
Matches, Waterproof 9920-01-191-3434”
I am lifting excerpts as I go along, bear with me…
It continues…under “Operational characteristics…”
The SK is designed for use by individuals serving as members of the Ground Combat Element (GCE). This SK prevents Marines from having to purchase or requisition their own survival items. This SK enables a Marine to perform the basic survival tasks of making shelter, gathering food and water and signaling. The SK is a general purpose kit, but it was developed for use in desert; mountain; arctic; and temperate water survival during small boat operations. The intent of the SK is to have Marines carry it when there is a possibility that they will be placed in a rescue or survival situation. Formal school or unit training should allow an individual to learn the specific application of the SK and its individual components. The SK is sealed so that it can be quickly and visually inspected to determine if it is complete. The seal should only be opened when a Marine is confronted with a survival situation. The SK is packaged in a sand colored, abrasion resistant, waterproof outer bag that is heat sealed around the perimeter and center to form two separate sides. Both sides have inner bags that are transparent, waterproof, vaporproof, and greaseproof. The inner bags are vacuum heat sealed. The two-sided design allows a Marine to carry the SK as a single item in a rucksack, butt pack or folded and placed in a trouser cargo pocket. A Marine can also tear the SK’s outer bag in half along the center heat seal and still maintain its storage integrity features. Each half can be carried in the lower pockets of the utility jacket or the Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) jacket pockets. The components of each side of the SK have been packaged to better accommodate a survival situation. Side A contains those components needed for shelter and food gathering. Side B contains those items a Marine may need to immediately start their escape/evasion and rescue. The overall purpose of the SK is to enhance a Marine’s chances of survival and rescue for 24 hours and beyond.
The document continues on with Marine Corps information, something interesting stated later on…
“The edges of the outer bag can be resealed with a hot clothing iron.”
Pretty neat, huh!
Earlier in the document, the size was listed:
Length: 13 inches
Width: 6 inches
Height: 2 inches
Weight: 1.75 pounds
So, as you can imagine, I was very interested in obtaining one of these complete survival kits. There have been quite a few of them sold on the Internet. I assume that they have been sold in surplus military auctions (or whatever other “channels” exist, I don’t know…) like just about everything else that is not a “restricted item” in the military inventory. For example, there are a plethora of Military-Issue lensatic compasses and strobe lights as well as other survival kits, primarily United States Air Force Survival Kits, complete and sealed, rations, survival vests, you name it and it is out there…

Of course this was from a time when Marine Infantry was considered elite and Force Recon was a supporting, not a supported unit.

Nevertheless the contents are interesting.

VFA-14's CAG-bird . A Joe Copalman Special.

Viral Video. Murky Circumstances. Adults behaving badly. Young Boy slapped.

Well this is the latest sweeping the airways.

From what I know the LEO had to remove the child from the care of his mother, some are saying the child attempted or did bite the officer (people's mouths are bacteria factories) and the adults are acting like ass holes.

I just don't know on this one.  Seems like a pretty bad situation all around.

Ultra Hornet flying with CFTs and Stealth Pod. via ELP Blog.

Boeing and its industry partners are flying a prototype of the Advanced Super Hornet complete with conformal fuel tanks, enclosed weapons pods and signature enhancements. We will announce our findings from the series of test flights later this month.

Superman Leap.

BAE Precision Munitions.

Boom via TacBlog.

Building the Marine Corps of the future. What can we cut?

via Defense One.

And the Marines are undergoing historic budget cuts and threats to cut the force structure to as low as 150,000, something Amos says will be impossible to do. “I’m past denial,” he said. “I’m no longer in denial of sequestration. I’ve confessed that it’s here and we own it. We don’t like it but we own it and we’re going to have to live with it.”

Even a liar can occasionally be counted on to state the obvious.

Sequestration is here.  We have to deal with it and we have to plan accordingly.  So the question becomes ...what do we cut?  What capability can we SAFELY take a holiday on?  Where are we fully capitalized and any additional resources would be wasteful?

This is what I would cut.

The F-35.  You don't like it.  You want to deny it, but life is a bitch and checkbooks aren't bottomless.  The USMC can't afford it.  I doubt that the Brits can.  Neither can our other partners.  And unless the USAF buys its full compliment and gets the program ramped up quickly (I find the earlier statement by Lockheed about ramping up production adding to more jobs comical) it just won't happen.

Whats worse for F-35 supporters?  Your daddy Amos admitted that sequestration is here.  You can stick a fork in F-35 purchases...at least accelerated purchases.  You heard it here first.  The plane is in a death spiral.  Everyone knows it, you just won't admit it.

If what I'm saying turns out to be true then why not wait for the death?  Because the USMC needs to get ahead of the problem. Fixed wing aviation for our LHDs and LHAs can be managed now, if we take the necessary steps.  Best course of action.  Take steps to extend the life of our Harriers.  NAVAIR says they're good right now till 2030.  We need to squeeze every bit out of them while we start a proper STOVL program....A joint program that will include all the free nations that operate Big Deck Amphibs.  The Navy and Air Force won't participate but the Japanese, Singaporeans, S. Koreans, Italians, Australians, Spaniards and new members of the club would love the chance to design the Harrier III in conjunction with the Marine Corps.  With these partners it would be bigger than the F-35C part of this program and would be a money maker for corporations and money saver for all those defense departments.

V-22.  I would kill all future purchases right now.  Don't pass go.  No retreat just cold reality.  We would join the Navy in the purchase of the MH-60 series and save a shit load of cash.  Excess V-22s would be tossed to AFSOC or the 160th.

SPMAGTF.  I would kill these organizations and toss the crazy idea of a Crisis Response force that isn't based on MEU's to the Special Forces or if its too big for them over to the US Army.  Marines float, they're aboard amphibs and they are the Corps Crisis Response Force.  No more craziness that hasn't been properly experimented.  The days of pulling concepts out of your ass are over.

Reduce the number of Generals.  An outfit that is comprised of 4 Divisions (reinforced) is allocated (and is filled with) 80 General Officer spots. You've got to be joking!  80 Generals to command a force that totals a bit under 200,000 right now!  If I need to go on about the insanity of this then something is wrong.

Civilian Personnel. There was a time when civilians cost less to employ than a Marine in a particular job.  Those days are over.  Additionally many of those civilians are operating as contractors instead of civilian government workers which mean they're even more expensive.  Any job that can't be justified will be cut.  We won't even have to do the work.  We simply ask each department to issue a statement (one page or less) explaining how what they're doing is essential to the day to day operations of the Marines and if its bullshit they're gone.

Keep MARSOC but support goes.  I'm resigned to the idea that Amos is in bed with MARSOC so it'll continue until the COIN mafia is put back in its cage.  But that doesn't mean that it can't be streamlined.  There are three battalions of shooters and three support battalions.  Make them lean.  Three battalions with one support battalion.  If that means that personnel are rotated in and out so be it, homesteading in SOCOM shouldn't be a Marine Corps thing.

Close Logistics bases.  We have Logistics bases on both coasts.  Why?  Shut them down and move the activity to Pendleton and Lejeune respectively.

There are probably many more cuts available but this is off the top of my head.  Its not perfect but its a start.  But even better tell me your ideas.  Sequestration is a reality.  Deal with it and lets plan for the lean times.

Note:  What's left unsaid is what isn't being cut.  Infantry Battalions are intact.  Artillery, Engineers, Aviation.  Some gear, senior ranks, civilians and bases are sacrificed for people.

Rafale getting slowed...

via FlightGlobal.

Deliveries of the Dassault Rafale fighter, Airbus Military A400M transport and A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) to France could be slowed significantly over the next six years, if the nation's newly proposed military planning law is adopted.
Outlined by defence minister Jean Yves Le-Drian on 2 August, the suggested spending plan for 2014-19 would slow deliveries of the Rafale to a combined 26 aircraft for the French air force and navy. While a significant reduction from the 11 examples currently being produced per annum, the fall could be accommodated if potential export sales are finalised. A Dassault-led team is still negotiating the terms for a planned 126-unit order for India, with the type also on offer to nations including Brazil, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

Read it and weep bat fans.

The fighter industry has gone off the rails. The only people right now buying new advanced fighters are the US (in small batches) and the rich Middle Eastern countries.

Once sequestration hits this fall, I wonder if we might see a global slow down in the defense sector.

BATUS: The World's Biggest Training Area

The tension between Taiwan and the Philippines has finally ended. via Bantay Spratly.

via BaSp

The tension between Taiwan and the Philippines has finally ended.
This developed after the Taiwanese government lifted its sanctions against the Philippines that were imposed after the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman in May.
The move came after Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman Amadeo Perez flew to Taiwan Thursday and offered an official apology on behalf of President Benigno Aquino.
Perez personally met the family of the slain fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng.
The apology was accepted and sealed with a handshake by Hung's widow.
Taiwan earlier rejected apologies from the Philippines and imposed a series of sanctions that included a freeze on the hiring of Filipino workers and the suspension of trade and academic exchanges.
Diplomatic tensions eased after the National Bureau of Investigation recommended the filing of homicide charges against Philippine Coast Guard personnel implicated in Hung's death.
In a related development, the Coast Guard says it respects the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation on the incident, which concluded that the filing of homicide and obstruction of justice charges is warranted against 10 Coast Guard personnel involved.
PCG Spokesman Armand Balilo says the legal proceedings will give PCG the opportunity to defend itself in a proper venue.
The PCG pledged legal support for the implicated personnel, who remain under "preventive custody."

So things were really bad between Taiwan and the Philippines.

I'd keep my eye on this one though.

If the Philippine legal system chooses not to or can't convict these Coast Guardsmen then it could flare up all over again.

Lockheed plays the job card. A sign of desperation?

via Yahoo News.

More than 2,400 manufacturing jobs could be added at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth in the next several years if production ramps up as expected on the F-35 joint strike fighter, officials say.
Currently, Lockheed Martin has more than 10,000 employees working on the F-35 program, including about 1,600 production workers involved in building the jet fighter at the company's Fort Worth plant.In six years, the company expects that the program's "ramped-up rate" will require an additional 2,417 workers to manufacture more than 150 fighters a year. That's four times the current rate of production of three aircraft per month.
"We're going to almost 200 airplanes a year," said Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed's vice president of program development and business integration for the F-35 program.
"When you talk about what the effect is going to be in Texas, it's going to be significant."
O'Bryan offered the jobs forecast in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after news that Pentagon leaders had agreed to terms for the purchase of 71 additional F-35s.
In the deal, the government negotiated a lower cost for the planes, a signal that the F-35 program is stabilising after years of cost over-runs and delays, aerospace analysts said.
The deal has brought a new cautious optimism to the program, which has suffered through years of cost over-runs and technical problems since Lockheed Martin was awarded the F-35 contract in 2001.
Just last northern autumn, Pentagon leaders were moaning publicly about the program's costs and Lockheed's inability to solve problems.
Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, the top Pentagon official over the F-35, called the relationship between Lockheed and the military "the worst I've seen".

Wait.

Let me get this straight.  Lockheed has 10,000 employees working on the F-35 program and its been as screwed up and late as its been?

If production ramps up they'll add another 2400?

And we're all supposed to sing hallelujah?   They're had a Reinforced Brigade worth of people on this thing, its leaked classified information like a sieve, the program manager isn't convinced that they've plugged those leaks, they ARE JUST NOW showing any sense of urgency and the best thing they can tell us is that additional jobs will be created?

Sounds desperate to me.

Sounds like an organization that is failing to grasp reality as it is, but instead is clinging to the worldview of 6 months to a year ago.

Even now, the plane costs too damn much.  The plane and engine are topping (for the STOVL version) 300 million dollars.

The Marine Corps can't afford that.  The Brits can't afford that.  The nation can't afford it.

Lower the price DRAMATICALLY or shoot this puppy in the face.  Since I don't see them doing that, I suggest you get out your 147 grain Golden Sabers and prepare to get to work.

Amos gets thrown underneath the bus.

Huge thanks to my buddy for getting me this!  Keep your head down Bro!  Its hard to be a warrior in a force that is turning politically correct.

  SECDEF Memorandum on Integrity of the Military Justice Process 6 Aug 13

Boy.  It must suck to be Amos.

Think about it.  He goes out of his way to follow what he believes are his Commanders intent.  He interferes in an investigation.  He classifies his actions in order to protect himself.  Despite all that his slimy behavior gets out.  And then the SecDef publicly expresses his full support.

But then hell rains down.  Marine Times picks up the story and blasts it all over the world and military websites and analyst are suddenly paying attention.

But he has the support of the SecDef right?

Wrong.

Hagel just threw the bastard under the bus.  This memorandum basically says that the integrity of the Military Justice system must continue to APPEAR fair.  We all know thats bullshit but the illusion must be maintained.  Amos fucked up.  I expect the hammer to fall soon.  The Inspector General is out hunting and he might as well be in a petting zoo the game is so plentiful. The only question is what kind of lie will be told when Amos is forced to retire early.

Blast from the past. LAV-300

The LAV-300 armored vehicle was developed by Cadillac Gage Textron (which in 1994 became part of Textron Marine & Land Systems) in the late 1970s. The vehicle builds on experience in the development and production of the LAV-150. The fully amphibious vehicle, offered in 15 mission-ready configurations, is capable of speeds up to 65 mph and can be air-transported by C-5A, C-141 and C-130 aircraft. The first two prototypes were completed in 1979 and the first customer was Panama. In 1984, the Kuwait National Guard ordered 62 LAV-300 Commandos. These were lost during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Production resumed in 1993 as, the US Army Tank Automotive Command awarded Cadillac Gage a contract for the supply of 24 LAV-300s (6 × 6) for the Philippines

Et tu General Mattis????

via Marine Corps Times.

James Mattis, the retired four-star Marine Corps general who spent just under three years as the commander of the United States’ most active combatant command, is joining the board of General Dynamics, the company announced Wednesday.
Mattis retired in May, two months after handing off command of U.S. Central Command, his most significant post that wrapped up more than 40 years in uniform. He oversaw the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, as well as continued efforts to contain violence in Afghanistan.
“Jim Mattis is a visionary and an inspiring leader who is renowned for his wisdom, courage and integrity,” said Phebe Novakovic, General Dynamics CEO, in a statement released by the company. “General Dynamics is honored to have him join our board.”

Wow.

I'm gonna have to chew on this one a while.  I know its par for the course when it comes to retired Generals but if anyone was gonna buck that, I thought for sure General Mattis would.

Sequestration, Simpson-Bowles and why cancellation of the F-35 isn't far fetched.

Everyone is jumping up and down proudly proclaiming that cancellation of the F-35 is just not in the cards no matter how I think it would be in the best interests of the Marine Corps.

The truth is much starker...gloomier...and will essentially put us in a no win situation because leadership did not get in front of the wave and instead chose to ride this horse into the ground.

Exhibit number one via The Financial Times.  An interview with Chuck Hagel (12/19/2012).

The defence department has gotten everything it’s wanted the last 10 years and more. We’ve taken priorities, we’ve taken dollars, we’ve taken programmes, we’ve taken policies out of the State Department, out of a number of other departments and put them over in defence.
Now, I understand the nation is at war, two wars. That’s going to be the result. But, you have, and I think most Americans who read, who pay attention to anything, know about the inspector general’s reports. The latest one talking about $35bn in waste, fraud and abuse, coming directly out of corruption. $35 bn, and that’s just one report in one country.
The abuse and the waste and the fraud is astounding. It always is in war, by the way. I was in Vietnam in 1968. Even as a private, eventually being a sergeant, out on combat every day, even I saw a tremendous amount of that, so I think the Pentagon needs to be pared down. I think we need the Pentagon to look at their own priorities.

And this...

Well, no American wants to in any way hurt our capabilities to national defence, but that doesn’t mean an unlimited amount of money, and a blank cheque for anything they want at any time, for any purpose. Not at all. Not at all, and so the realities are that the mess we’re in this country, with our debt and our deficits, and our infrastructure and jobless and all the rest, is going to require everybody to take a look, even the defence department, and make a pretty hard re-evaluation and review.

And finally this...

There is a natural self correction under way right now in the world. We do that in democracies, we do that with ourselves as individuals, and we can’t control that, and that’s a terribly difficult proposition for Americans to face, because almost every American alive today has lived over the last 65 years in a world where America has dominated, unrivalled in any way.
We call the shots, no matter who, no matter what. It isn’t that way any more and it isn’t going to be that way. Now, that doesn’t mean we have to be a weaker power, or we’re not the senior power of the world. Not at all, but there’s a new reality of accommodation now, that’s going to have to be factored in.
China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Korea, Europe’s issues, and it’s very difficult for America to come to grips with this. 9/11 knocked us off balance. We’re still not back to where we were.
Winston Churchill used the term once, the jarring gong of reality. This was America’s jarring gong of reality, like few we’ve ever had. We will get back. We will restructure, we will reorient. We will find a new centre of gravity in every way. Our people are too good, our system is too good. It’s too strong. Our fabric is too strong and we have the system, and we have the resources. We have the ability to do this. It’s painful. It’s probably going to be more painful as we go along. It’s going to be unfair, but we will reorient, restructure and we’ll have a better, stronger country.

That my friends is your Secretary of Defense talking.

Does he sound like a man that is going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that the US DoD is the most powerful in the world?  Does he sound like the type of guy that is going to fund a defense system that has been historically overcost and late?

He doesn't to me.  Quite honestly he sounds like the type of guy thats ready to take a meat cleaver to the Pentagon and won't stop till he hits bone.

I said before and I'll say again.  Sequester is only giving the Obama Administration and the Secretary of Defense room to do what they wanted to do all along.  Most of the cuts are in the DoD and thats just fine.  Public pronouncements of how the cuts are going to be painful will of course be made but I'm betting its just for show.  This is all part of the plan.  Don't believe me?

Exhibit number two. Defense News (9/23/2012).

The Simpson-Bowles plan proposed slashing Pentagon spending by just more than $100 billion.
As for specifics, it advocated a military pay freeze and sizable annual cuts to military acquisition coffers by making major changes or killing programs such as the
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft. The commission’s report also proposed reducing the U.S. military footprint in Europe and Asia.
“It remains on the table ... as simply a framework for being able to accomplish the kind of debt reduction that we need to maintain fiscal security,” said Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). “I don’t think both parties have paid close enough attention to it.”
Members of both political parties agree — but only that the other party did too little to enact its recommendations after Simpson and Bowles delivered their report to the president in late 2010. Democrats accuse Republicans of rejecting its revenue suggestions; Republicans often accuse President Barack Obama of, as several have described it, putting the report on a shelf to collect dust.

The Commandant and SOCOM both rushed to safeguard funding for the V-22.  The original Simpson-Bowles planned at stopping production of the V-22 at 280 aircraft.  They've skirted that by sacrificing the Marine Personnel Carrier on the aviation altar.  You can probably add the Amphibious Combat Vehicle to the fire.

Exhibit number three. Washington Post Wonk Blog (12/04/2012).

Congress has already passed 70 percent of the discretionary cuts. Under the Budget Control Act, discretionary spending will be $1.5 trillion lower from 2013 to 2022 than was projected in the Congressional Budget Office’s 2010 baseliner. That means that 70 percent of S-B’s cuts to discretionary spending are done.
Simpson-Bowles cuts security spending by $1.4 trillion, not including drawing down the wars. That’s far deeper than what’s in the law now, far deeper than anything the White House or the Republicans have proposed, and deeper, I believe, than the sequester cuts that so many think would devastate the military.

The cuts that we're seeing now are all in addition to cuts that the Pentagon has already done.  This is actually above and beyond what is necessary to meet even the tougher requirements of the Simpson-Bowles plan.  These were cuts that Panetta pushed to ease future pain.  The JCS went along and now they're about to get bum rushed.

The actual document is below but in it calls for reducing Air Force, Navy buys of the F-35 and replace it with F-16s and F/A-18s (in doubt).  Kills the EFV (done).  Cuts procurement of the V-22 (still in play by way of trickery).  Reduce procurement by 15% (in process).  Cancel the JLTV, the Ground Combat Vehicle and the Joint Tactical Radio (in process). Reduce military personnel stationed overseas (in process).  Freeze military pay (in process).  Modernize Tricare/DoD healthcare (in process).  Kill the Marine Corps version of the F-35 (in doubt).

My point should be clear but if it isn't I'll say it plainly.

The "shocking" state of the DoD if sequester continues news conference by the JCS and SECDEF was nothing but politics.  Sequester or better said, Simpson-Bowles is already in play and its being carried out.  The only issues that remain to be accomplished are the F-35, officially killing the GCV and JLTV, making retirees swallow hard and accept Tricare fees (but they've been going up for a couple of years now anyway) and the military pay freeze.

Its damn near a fait accompli....

  Illustrative List 11.10.2010

Possibilities of British Carrier Aviation. via Naval Requirements.

SecDef Hagel is looking at the possibility (no matter how unlikely he feels it is) of the F-35 going to the scrapheap so is it any wonder that other governments are doing the same behind the scenes (if they're not they're idiots)?

Naval Requirements takes a look at British options in case the "best interests of the Marine Corps" actually takes place.  Read it here.

Return of an A-4 type fighter?

M-346

YAK-130

L-15

With the above trainers form follows function and it appears that at least two of them (still not going to credit China with anything except copying the Italians or the Russians) saw the same requirement and came up with similar designs.

But that really isn't the point.

The fighter market is producing aircraft that cost so much, are technologically so advanced that without contractor support some air forces will have difficulty operating them.

If that is real, then could we see the return of an A-4 type fighter?  In reality we haven't really seen the type since the BAE Hawk.

Small, lightweight fighters that could swing into multi-roles...not perfectly but effective enough to get the job done.  All the planes listed are supersonic, have been shown with a respectable weapons load and with a bit of cash can certainly be qualified to carry everything from anti-ship missiles to long range anti-air setups.

Is this the real future?  A return to an A-4 SkyHawk type fighter.  Fast, nimble and rugged.  Able to go where you don't want to send your expensive fighter but UAVs would prove inadequate?