BAE MPC screen captures.

Note:  BAE appears to be fighting behind the scenes to get their vehicle into production.  Quite honestly I expected the same from Lockheed Martin with the Patria, but it doesn't appear to be the case.  LM has turned full bore to supporting the F-35 at the expensive of all their other divisions.  So be it.  We need the Marine Personnel Carrier.  The Commandant can die in a ditch, we need the BAE/Iveco MPC.

If by chance we can somehow get this vehicle into service, I have the perfect nickname.  Juggernaut All Terrain Heavy Assault Vehicle.  Star Wars Fans will go wild.

BAE Marine Personnel Carrier.

Sweeeeeet!

Smart marketing too (at least to the Marines in their audience)...linking the history of the FMC corporation that they bought and tying it all in to the current organization is beyond smart.  Its brilliant.

Ultra Hornet coming to the Navy???

Amy Butler has a tantalizing article hidden behind a pay wall that gives the impression that the US Navy is about to jump on the Ultra Hornet.

After years of courting from afar, Boeing seems to finally have caught the U.S. Navy's attention—and support—for a series of upgrades for the F/A-18E/F designed to improve its stealthiness and keep it relevant against threats well beyond 2030.
With 25 hr. of flight time on new, stealthy F/A-18 fuel tanks and more upgrade trials planned, the company has shed any pretense of targeting the Defense Department.

If it is what it appears to be then NAVAIR and the Carrier Mafia have just revealed their chips and my thinking is confirmed.

NAVAIR was chilled out, laughing their asses off at the USMC and USAF. 

Seriously though.  What it means is that the Navy will fight to keep its carriers and squadrons. The Chief Of Naval Operations has been pushing one concept over all others...Presence.  The different Combatant Commanders will insist that carriers are needed and that eight are too few.  China threat gurus will state the same.  Air-Sea Battle just hit its first bump...are aircraft carriers necessary to fight the anti-access threats or is stealth the uber tool that proponents claim.  Either way, the battle over the F-35 just headed out to sea.

Humanitarian Defense. The death of the concept.

via the Urban Dictionary.

From the roots, defend + human; Humanitarian Defense is the taking of proactive action to defend human rights and the lives and well being of people. Humanitarian defense actions go beyond simply providing aid, medical treatment and supplies to victims, they take action to prevent and/or reverse the actions that caused the victimization. These actions may take the form of the direct protection of people, the building of programs and offering support to people/governments on the verge of victimization and bold actions to help victims recover from derogatory events. Term credited to the international non-profit, non-governmental organization; Humanitarian Defense Inc.
A Humanitarian Defense operation is one in which an organization, group or government intervenes on behalf of a group of innocent people that are being attacked, victimized or killed and takes direction action to stop said actions.

I never thought I would see this day.

Liberal or Progressive Groups have (at least for the past few years) been pushing the idea that in addition to wars that are strictly tied to National Security, the only other legal warfare should be wars in which we're conducting Humanitarian Defense of "world citizens".

But with the debate over Syria heating up here in the US and with the Brits effectively shooting down the idea, we're seeing the practical end of the humanitarian defense concept.

Susan Rice and Samantha Powers championed the concept inside the administration so its ironic that their biggest success with it (Libya) proved to be one of the factors that helped kill it.

CV-90.

Just make it swim and we have our ACV.

This, That and The Other Thing...

Focus gents.

This, That and The Other Thing...

*  American Mercenary has an article up that refutes a few of my arguments with regard to the F-35.  I'm not buying it but it is an interesting read.

*  Speaking of the F-35, I got a note from the Norwegian Ministry of Defense that refutes points made in an article that I linked to you yesterday.  It reads as follows....

Hi, just saw your post on the Norwegian F-35 purchase, and I feel like some context is required here. The article you refer to only gives part of the story.
First of all – the armed forces do not have to “find” four billion NOK within its own budgets. The money for the F-35 has been found, and is being allocated annually. There is no change here.
What did change was that up until 2012, the government had planned to provide the defense budget with more supplemental funding during the procurement of the F-35 than what is currently the plan. That funding was scaled back in 2012, meaning the Ministry of Defense had to fund more of the project within its regular procurement budgets, and because of that, some other projects of lesser priority over the coming 10 years had to be pushed, scaled back, and in a few cases cancelled outright. In other words, it was not that the F-35 grew in cost, it was that the way it was being funded changed.
Even after we changed our procurement plans to take more of the F-35 funding within the regular budget, which was not an easy process, as the Chief of Defense indicates in his comments, we will still be using 70% of the procurement funds in the years 2012-2023 on other projects than the F-35. Note that these are the main years of the Norwegian F-35 procurement. So the F-35 is by no means eating the entire budget and we continue to invest in a full range of capabilities for our armed forces, and the F-35 is not responsible for any “thinning” or “gutting” of our forces, quite the opposite. The F-35 is of course a big chunk of our budgets, no one is denying that, but then again, the F-35 will also be a significant component of our future armed forces.
And, a final point to remember – irrespective of what aircraft we had decided to buy, we would have had a similar challenge. Had we decided to go for another aircraft of similar capability, and supplemental funding for the purchase had been scaled back, we would also have had to make some kind of adjustment to our general procurement plans. In other words, this has nothing to do with the F-35 being “unaffordable” or anything like that, it simply reflects that modern fighter aircraft are expensive, and that they will make an impact on the budgets of any nation that buys them, no matter the type of aircraft we are talking about.
Hope that provides you with some additional context.

To all of the above I say fine...But I'm just the messenger.  I have no visibility on the Norwegian Defense Force and I was going off the information provided in the article.  I refuse to imply that this person is misleading or lying.  I've corresponded with him on several occasions and know him to be an honorable individual.  But its apparent that the battle over the cost of the F-35 is raging in Norway just like it is in the US.

*  Next up is an article by Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.  Its also a must read.  The reality of how the F-35 is killing other important procurement projects is becoming obvious even to him.  He tries to make the case for increased funding, the end of sequestration or a modification of the same.  He's asking too much and it just won't happen.  Cuts are here to stay and the US is putting all its eggs into the F-35 basket.

This is getting interesting.

I feel critical mass approaching for the F-35 program.  Either it lives and everything else dies, or the program is curtailed and we get at least a few other programs in the door.

Syria is the focus but the coming budget debate is where the real action is.  This fall will be fun.

Norwegian Defense feels Marine Corps pain.

via  svd.se/naringsliv

Fighter thins the Norwegian Defence
Norway's future fighter aircraft F-35 (JSF) becomes so expensive that the defense must find four billion of its own budget every year until 2024 to finance aircraft purchase. Everything from new submarines to uniforms, weapons, helicopters and armored vehicles hit savings target is based on the system itself will finance the purchase.
Government and Storting has certainly granted between 22 and 28 billion NOK in additional funding, but it takes between 40 and 46 billion until the last plane is delivered. Now the unions in the armed forces react, but also Chief Harald Sunde has warned of the consequences.

I feel the pain of the Norwegian Defense Force.  But they're not alone.  Canada, the US, S. Korea, Japan, Australia, Italy, and Spain (to name a few) are in the same boat.  They don't know it yet, or rather they won't admit it yet, but this single project is gutting their defense budgets.

Not even the industrial bribery thats been set in motion can avoid the reality of the situation.

The F-35 is unaffordable.

I marvel at the idea of all these advanced nations putting all their defense eggs in one basket.   

The supporters (I use to be one) know the truth.  This program is collapsing under its own weight.  No one will buy the full allotment of aircraft.  The death spiral is inevitable.

LCS takes a serious haircut.

via Defense News.

WASHINGTON — The office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) reportedly supports the idea of limiting total purchases of littoral combat ships to only 24, far short of the US Navy’s goal of 52 ships, sources have told Defense News.
Stopping at 24 ships would end LCS procurement with the fiscal 2015 budget.
The Navy, according to sources, is countering with proposals for higher numbers, but strongly advocates going no lower than 32 ships — a number that would continue production another one or two years.
The positions are part of ongoing deliberations to formulate the fiscal 2015 defense budget, due to be submitted to Congress in February. The annual budget process has been heavily disrupted due to sequester cuts, and the White House’s insistence on producing two versions of the budget — a non-sequestration version, called the program objective memorandum (POM) — and an alternative POM (ALT POM), incorporating the mandated cuts and hence, far more severe reductions in purchases and programs.
Pentagon budget officials have focused primarily on the ALT POM, and in late August began switching to the POM. The OSD proposal to limit LCS to 24 ships is understood to be part of the ALT POM discussions.
Asked for comment, both OSD and Navy officials emphasized that no final decisions have been made.
“Until the FY15 President’s Budget request is submitted to the Congress in February 2014, and becomes part of the public record, all decisions are pre-decisional and it is inappropriate to discuss specific details,” said Lt. Caroline Hutcheson, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

If it wasn't for the drama with the Congressional hearings on war with Syria, this would have been front page news.

Quite honestly the puzzling thing is that they don't cancel further production.  This ship, its specifications, its mission modules and its concept of operations is jacked up from the floor up.

Victory for reformers.  Victory for the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex.  Reformers stopped at least partially an inadequate ship.  The complex still got 24 of them bought even though its trash.

I guess the losers will be the sailors that have to take these ships out on missions. 

26th MEU. Sustainment Training.

KV-22 lives! via Ares.

Now this is an interesting development.

The US Marine Corps has a widely published "aviation neck-down campaign" that seeks to limit the number of aircraft in service.  Additionally it seeks to limit the different types of engines in use.

Will this make the KC-130 obsolete in Marine Corps service?  Operationally it follows behind the MEU like a Roman Camp Follower, using available land bases and is sometimes not available when crisis hits.

Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the Mighty Herc in Marine Green?

Iranian Navy says what I've been worried about. If we strike Israel will be the main loser.

via Free Beacon.

The Iranian Navy unveiled on Tuesday a new warship equipped with “advanced weapons and radar systems” and warned that Israel would be the “main loser” if America decides to launch a military strike in Syria, according to regional media reports.
Iranian Navy commander Habibollah Sayyari announced that Iran had overhauled a warship, installing new radar and weapons systems that would “improve its performance and fire power,”according to Iran’s state run Fars News Agency.
“The warship needed an overhaul and equipment with the state of the art and novel technologies and therefore the warship’s weapons have been modernized,” Sayyari was quoted as saying by Fars.
“Sonar and radar systems, weapons and information-gathering sensors of the warship” have been significantly upgraded, according to Sayyari.
Iranian military leaders also announced on Tuesday that the military had enhanced its “electronic warfare” capabilities by testing a domestically made radar system that can reportedly detect “stealth targets and cruise missiles,” according to Fars.
The military announcements come as the Obama administration attempts to convince Congress of the need for a targeted U.S. strike in Syria, where President Bashar al Assad stands accused of using chemical weapons on opposition fighters and civilians.
Iran has served as the Assad regime’s top regional defender, providing diplomatic and military cover for the embattled leader.
When President Barack Obama first hinted at a possible strike on Syria, Iranian leaders quickly promised to support retaliatory strikes on Israel, which it claimed would be the “first victim” of any U.S. strike against Assad.

Yeah.

You still think that test of the ABM system today was regularly scheduled as the Pentagon says or an unscheduled test of systems in case this thing goes sideways?

People are saying this will lead to WW3.  I don't think so.  A major regional war?  Yeah.  I can see that.  Why else would Obama seek Congressional approval unless that was one of the scenarios laid at his feet by the Chairman of the JCS?

F-35. This program is starting to look rather slimy.

via Skiesmag.

Apex Industries Inc. is the newest Canadian industrial partner with Lockheed Martin on the F-35 Lightning II program. This agreement uses the machining expertise of Apex for aluminum metallic components, and they will produce structural parts that span the forward fuselage and wing. The agreement is a multi-year contract with all work being completed at Apex’s Moncton location in New Brunswick.

The award to Apex is a recent example of how Lockheed Martin is partnering with Canadian Industry for the F-35 program.  This opportunity is part of the more than $11 billion to be offered to Canadian Industry over 30 years and adds to the more than $500M in contracts to date.  While supporting the program, Apex can utilize and mature their capabilities to capture more opportunities in the future.  Currently, there are more than 34 Canadian suppliers on contract to the F-35 program.

“Lockheed Martin is honored Apex Industries is joining the F-35 Canadian Industrial team to bring value to the program as we increase our production rates and further reduce the cost of our aircraft,” said Keith Knotts,  Lockheed Martin’s director of F-35 Business Development in Canada. “Apex’s contribution will be substantial F-35 machining work which is extremely important as the program continues to grow.”

How many times can you slice the pie?

Was it really necessary to bring this company online or is it simply part of the marketing campaign to woo Canada into the program?  Don't laugh.  The Canadian Department of National Defense just told their government that the cost of the plane could possibly reach 71 Billion dollars.

But to make sure I'm not picking on a Canadian company, can we say that any of the overseas production deals are necessary?  Do they add value or do they add cost?  I remember not too long ago Boeing tried a similar (but much smaller) scheme with the 787 and in the end they brought all production back to the US to gain efficiency and to save money.

This program has gone from being questionable, to being wildly expensive...to now being slimy.  God help me but I'm going to parrot critics that I once lambasted.

This is looking like a Ponzi Scheme. 

If the President wins authorization, then he wins the 2nd term. Update.

The President is on the verge of a tremendous victory if Senators like McCain and Neo-Cons win the day.  Consider this....

*  If war is declared then Sequestration dies.  The US military will by necessity get anything it asks for.  Who will deny Pentagon while service members are at war?

*  Obama Care will be fully funded.  With Sequestration dead, and Congress unable to shut down the government because the Pentagon is at war, that means Obama Care is out of danger.

*  Immigration will be a fait accompli.  Dangle the vision of getting immigrants out of the shadows while warning of increased terror threat.  It will pass because of fear when it couldn't because of economic considerations.

I wish to God that half the people I deal with on a daily basis were as STUPID as Republicans in Congress.  I'd be a millionaire and living on a 500 acre spread.

The bigger issue for Republicans is simple.  Most of their constituents aren't in favor of this action ( Sen Graham from S. Carolina will be toast and McConnell is in deeper trouble if this goes forward).  They just shot in the face any chance for them to regain the Senate and the base might be so frustrated that they don't turn out in numbers to keep the House.

The President of the United States is making an ass of the Republicans.  Amazing.

UPDATE:  Business Insider has an article discussing the views of Active, Retired and Vets with regards to any action in Syria.

UPDATE 1:  Is it my imagination or does it seem like the UN is a conflict pimp?  By that I mean I've heard about the refugee problem for months now.  But with the US debating whether or not to get involved we suddenly are getting bombarded with news that the UN is saying that this is the worst humanitarian crisis of this century.  It really seems might convenient.  Some might even go so far as to say coordinated.

PAK FA T-50 side looking AESA arrays via War Machine.

I never noticed that before.  Interesting.

Blast from the past. F-107 Ultra Sabre via Aeroman.

The quest for Congressional approval is all about cover.

All the talking heads in DC are all asking the same question.  Since the President didn't seek official approval from Congress for Libya, then why is he seeking it for Syria.

I have the answer.  Its about seeking political cover for the blowback that will occur when we attack.

Hezbollah will light Israel up with thousands of missiles.  The Syrians will launch even more chemical attacks against the rebels.  Suicide bombing would happen all over the Middle East etc...

In other words, Dempsey finally got through to the President.  Additionally, with the Brits pulling out, we would be left to fight all these fires by ourselves and the President's popularity would crater.

That's it in a nutshell.  The region will burn if we attack and he wants someone to hide behind.  Check this out from Commentary.

According to Politico, “At the very least, Obama clearly wants lawmakers to co-own a decision that he can’t back away from after having declared last year that Assad would cross a ‘red line’ if he used chemical weapons against his own people.” And theWashington Post reports:
Obama’s proposal to invite Congress dominated the Friday discussion in the Oval Office. He had consulted almost no one about his idea. In the end, the president made clear he wanted Congress to share in the responsibility for what happens in Syria. As one aide put it, “We don’t want them to have their cake and eat it, too.”
Get it? The president of the United States is preparing in advance to shift the blame if his strike on Syria proves to be unpopular and ineffective. He’s furious about the box he’s placed himself in, he hates the ridicule he’s (rightly) incurring, but he doesn’t see any way out.
What he does see is a political (and geopolitical) disaster in the making. And so what is emerging is what comes most naturally to Mr. Obama: Blame shifting and blame sharing. Remember: the president doesn’t believe he needs congressional authorization to act. He’s ignored it before. He wants it now. For reasons of political survival. To put it another way: He wants the fingerprints of others on the failure in Syria.
Rarely has an American president joined so much cynicism with so much ineptitude.

If a Lt in the Basic School showed this type of leadership style, old warhorses like Colonel Fox would seek to get him stripped of his commission.

Now we're seeing this in our Commander in Chief. 

Directed Energy for Combat Vehicles.

I was trying to pick out some features on the PDH/BAE Concept Tank when I spotted the vehicle in the background.  The turret looked like something I had seen before but I couldn't place it.

Then it hit me, that's the setup for BAE's proposed "Directed Energy for Combat Vehicles".  Check out the vid below.



If this actually works then we're about to see a "revolution in military affairs" that so many have been lusting after.

NOTE:  I reserve the right to be totally wrong on this one.  The view isn't great and I haven't been able to find other pictures of the vehicle.  

Marines.com gets hacked? Warning. Rant.

What the fuck over!

The Syrian Army hacks our website?

I'll be honest.  This is bad.  Disgraceful.  How can we get pissed about Lockheed Martin leaking like a sieve when a US Government website is hacked with apparent ease.

But its worse than that.  They didn't hack an Army site.  Not a Navy site.  Not even an Air Force website.

They went after the Marine Corps and won this "symbolic" battle in cyber space.

Someone better be fired.

via Live Leak....

Syria Hacks Marines.com, Urges Cooperation Against Al Qaeda Part of channel(s): Syria (current event)
The full text of the message reads as follows:
"This is a message written by your brothers in the Syrian Army, who have been fighting al-Qaida for the last 3 years. We understand your patriotism and love for your country so please understand our love for ours. Obama is a traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue al- Qaida insurgents.
Marines, please take a look at what your comrades think about Obama's alliance with al-Qaida against Syria. Your officer in charge probably has no qualms about sending you to die against soldiers just like you, fighting a vile common enemy. The Syrian army should be your ally not your enemy.
Refuse your orders and concentrate on the real reason every soldier joins their military, to defend their homeland. You're more than welcome to fight alongside our army rather than against it.
Your brothers, the Syrian army soldiers. A message delivered by the SEA"

Assad just scored a massive propaganda victory. 

More info on the PL-01 Direct Support Vehicle Concept.

Hey all.  I just laid my hands on the Polish Defense Holding(PDH)/BAE PL-01 Direct Support Vehicle Concept.  Press release follows...

PDH and BAE Systems unveil new direct support vehicle for Poland Kielce, Poland - A much-awaited Polish combat vehicle concept is unveiled today at the MSPO 2013 defence exhibition.The new PL-O1 CONCEPT “direct support vehicle” is being developed as a joint project between Polish companies led by Polish Defence Holding (PDH) and an international strategic partner, BAE Systems.The PL-O1 CONCEPT vehicle launched at MSPO is equipped with representative systems which can be flexibly configured to match customer requirements.  These different configurations can be shown in virtual reality via a “3D Cave” projector system.Complying with the requirements of the Polish Army is PDH’s priority. The business will cooperate with industry leaders to ensure the supply of the latest systems for the project, which is being carried out as part of the Polish Army equipment upgrade programme, worth tens of billions of Polish zlotys and scheduled for completion by 2022.PL-O1 CONCEPT, constructed by Obrum, part of PDH, is the first phase of a programme aimed at the development of a new family of tracked vehicles based on a Universal Tracked Platform for Polish Armed Forces.A prototype, like the concept vehicle to be built at Gliwice, is to be developed by 2016 with delivery of the first series-manufacture vehicles scheduled for 2018. 
The agreement with strategic partner BAE Systems aims to allow the exchange of skills and technologies within the project framework and increase its export potential.
PL-O1 CONCEPT is designed to combat enemy vehicles threatening friendly assets, such as armoured personnel carriers, which may not be equipped with the relevant firepower to neutralize such a threat.
A crew of three is located in a “safe capsule” within the hull (the turret is unmanned), and the vehicle makes simultaneous use of both of active and passive protection measures such as:·         an active vehicle protection system
·         multilayer composite ceramic-aramid armour
·         a mine- and IED-resistant hull structure
·         additional padding protecting the crew
·         new seats, limiting the blast effects of conventional and improvised explosive devices (IED, EFP)
 The use of a high-capacity drive unit in a power-pack arrangement, combined with relatively low weight and dimensions of the vehicle provides its high mobility. The vehicle may use steel tracks with rubber pads or full rubber tracking, effectively reducing the ground pressure and allowing for high-speed road and off-road movement. The vehicle is capable of fording broad water obstacles.
Due to the use of a modular unmanned turret with 105mm and 120mm gun options able to fire both standard and anti-tank guided ammunition, the vehicle will have considerable firepower and engagement capabilities unique within Polish Armed Forces.
The main gun will be fed by an autoloader located in the rear part of the turret. The vehicle will also be armed with a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and a remotely controlled armament module, allowing the mounting of a 7.62 mm machine gun, 12.7 mm large-calibre gun or a 40 mm automatic grenade launcher.
The use of a wide range of optoelectronic systems allowing for an uninterrupted observation of the vehicle’s surroundings and detection of potential threats both in day and night conditions increases the crew’s situational awareness.
The driver’s day/night cameras allow for driving both forward and in reverse. The commander and gunner’s 360^o system will also allow day and night observation as well as area surveillance and automatic detection and tracking of moving objects which might constitute a potential threat to the vehicle.
The vehicle will be equipped with SatNav and Identify Friend or Foe systems.
The fire control system consists of two optoelectronic sights with day cameras, third-generation thermal cameras and laser rangefinders. The commander’s panoramic sight operates in hunter-killer mode, allowing the commander to locate and destroy the targets without the gunner’s intervention.
The fire control system is integrated with the vehicle’s active protection, communication and battlefield management systems, allowing the crew to share information about potential threats.
The Direct Support Vehicle has a modular design, allowing for adaptation to different missions , conditions and customer requirements.

One word.

Sweet.

It seems that Poland will lead the way with PDH/BAE collaborating to bring cutting edge vehicles to the market that don't break the bank.

Maybe we should sole source BAE to build up our MPC or design our ACV?  I don't know of any other design shop that is as active or innovative as they are. 

 

Polish Concept Tank Video.

Thanks for the vid Shas!