News of the cracks came after Bogdan and Lockheed officials highlighted progress on the $392 billion F-35 program, the Pentagon's costliest arms program, at the annual Air Force Association conference last month.Click here to read the entire story.
Hawn said Bogdan did not discuss the cracks during the conference because they were found on the Marine Corps' version of the plane, not the Air Force version.
Lockheed said there were about 50 F-35Bs with the same bulkhead. Modifications would be made and incorporated beginning with the eighth batch of low-rate production planes.
The Marine Corps announced a voluntary separation program for staff and gunnery sergeants per MARADMIN 519/13 Oct. 7, 2013.They're trying to make this attractive enough so that enough people bite so they won't have to push anyone out the door.
The Voluntary Separation Pay program coincides with the Corps’ recent restructuring efforts and commitment to excellence Corps-wide.
The program allows active duty staff and gunnery sergeants with six to 20 years of service to voluntarily separate by Sept. 30, 2014. Marines must have at least five years of consecutive active service to be eligible.
The program applies to all active duty staff sergeants in the following military occupational specialties: 0369, 0481, 0619, 0629, 1361, 2146, 2311, 2862, 5524, 6074, 6112, 6122, 6152, 6172, 6174, 6212, 6252, 6322, and 6469. All active duty gunnery sergeants in the following occupations are also eligible: 0161, 6112, 6152, 6172, and 6322.
Additionally, all active duty staff sergeants of any MOS who have been previously passed over for promotion are eligible to apply.
Eligible Marines must meet all reenlistment criteria, and Marines with pending disciplinary action or medical disabilities are ineligible for the program. By accepting VSP, Marines are required to agree to serve three years in the Individual Ready Reserve.
Voluntary separations pay will be calculated as 20 percent, multiplied by years of service, multiplied by annual base pay. For example, an eligible staff sergeant with 12 years of service would receive 20 percent multiplied by his 12 years of service, multiplied by his annual basic pay rate of $41,940, which equals $100,656 before taxes. Marines will be paid in a taxable, single payment.
he ship is being sent on a month-long patrol Aimed at strengthening South African Navy's relations with its African counterparts.SAS Spioenkop is the third of four Valour class frigates of the South African Navy built by the European South African Corvette Consortium.The ship is 121m long and 18 meters wide.We once had gear that made allies envious.
The frigates of this class were built to a modern stealth design to avoid enemy radar and infrared detection.
The ship is distinctive with a new propulsion system, Comprising of a water-jet drive, in addition to two propellers.
During the patrol, SAS Spioenkop sea will attend the concert in Senegal, and visit some African countries.
She is expected to return home at the end of November.
SOURCE: CHINA DAILY MAIL Qianzhan.com said yesterday in its report: China has to put an end to its old practice of countries Following others' footsteps. Sources say que through meticulous engineering and mechanical analysis, China will conduct research and development of the first 180,000-ton double hull aircraft carrier in the world. If successful, it will be the Chinese territory with movable maritime hegemony.This is wild. Crazy. Is it possible? We've seen the idea floating around Chinese military forum sites for a while but could they actually pull this off? That would make one juicy target.
The U.S.-led F-35 Lightning II program has achieved a milestone of 10,000 flight hours, prime contractorLockheed Martin announced Oct. 9.Interesting.
Through September, F-35s had flown 6,492 times for a total of 10,077 flight hours, the company said.
All three variants of the stealthy fighter jet contributed to the accomplishment: the conventional-takeoff-and-landing F-35A, the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B and the carrier variant F-35C. The F-35, also known as theJoint Strike Fighter, is being developed for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corp and Navy and for international partners. The U.S. military plans to begin fielding the aircraft in late 2015.
Lockheed Martin’s announcement came less than two weeks after the Pentagon’s inspector general released a report identifying a series of “quality assurance” oversight problems that “could adversely affect aircraft performance, reliability, maintainability, and ultimately program cost.” The government F-35 program office and Lockheed Martin countered that they have already fixed most of the problems outlined in the report.
"Although mission systems testing has been able to keep pace with the program plans for generating sorties and accomplishing the test points, the program is falling behind in achieving progress in delivering capability. This lack of progress is caused in part by the need to add unplanned testing to evaluate problems, such as the 221 added points for dedicated testing of the helmet mounted display system, as well as for regression testing of new software loads delivered to flight test, where 366 test points have been added already in calendar year 2013 to evaluate four new software releases [now to be changed]. . .We haven’t actually tested any combat capability,” Gilmore told senators, adding that there may not be enough time or money for full testing of these crucial capabilities in 2018, as scheduled. . . .We need to have more rigorous developmental testing. We need to let that testing proceed before we make production decisions."Another official with the program saying for anyone to listen...stop this madness. Stop production until we can get this thing fixed!!!! If the Marine Corps had done the same thing with the EFV like the Pentagon is doing with the F-35 then we'd have all the vehicles bought and in the fleet before we had it working properly. But we didn't do that. So why are we doing it with a much more complex machine? It makes no sense.
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The Saturn AL-41F — a Russian-built variable-bypass ratio turbofan engine — is likely to be sold to China together with advanced Su-35 fighters under the contract signed last November, reports Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang also known as Pinkov, a military analyst based in Canada.China just got the basis for the engines to fit its 5th generation fighters.
A source within Russia's aviation industry told Kanwa that he opposed the sale of the sensitive systems to China. Even though Russia will only provide 24 Su-35 fighters, the official stressed that he does not know their true intentions for wanting to purchase the Russian aircraft, adding that China may be able to steal Russian technology through the deal.
Alexander Mikheev, the deputy CEO of Rosoboronexport, Russia's state intermediary agency for exporting and importing defense-related products, stated that an initial agreement had been reached between Beijing and Moscow regarding the sale of the Su-35s. However, the formal contract will not be signed until next year. To prevent China from stealing Russian technology, Mikheev admitted that an additional agreement was signed to defend Russian intellectual property rights back in 2008.
China's J-15 carrier-based fighter is based on Russian blueprints, and many in Russia believe that a second agreement must be signed to protect Russia's interests. However, Mikheev told Kanwa that if China is willing to follow the first agreement then a second agreement is not necessary. Russian aerospace company Sukhoi estimated that among the 200 aircraft it produces, 100 will be sold to foreign nations, the report said.
The SK 105 is a light tank family of vehicles with a rifled 105 mm gun. The latest version of the vehicle (A2) incorporates a 2-axis stabilized turret with electrical drives. It further provides its users with latest generation IR sights, a ballistic computer and the ability to fire APFSDS rounds for increased lethality.What has me most geeked about this offering (and the BAE product) is the fact that we're looking at a family of vehicles.
Due to its low weight, the SK 105 can be transported by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft or amphibious assault boats. This vehicle is specifically designed for mountainous terrain or areas with reduced infrastructure and has an improved climbing ability and maneuverability compared to heavier main battle tanks.
Variants
SK 105 A1
SK 105 A2
Greif armored recovery vehicle
Engineering vehicle
SK105 driver training vehicle
Armored personnel carrier
Mortar vehicle
Army paratroopers gave up their tanks in 1997. Now they want them back.So what will the 82nd pick?
“The infantry needs more protection and more firepower,” says Col. Ed House, Army Training and Doctrine Command manager for the infantry brigade combat team.
Even in these times of deep budget cuts and a projected steep decline in purchases of military hardware, senior Army officials believe that a light tank is a high priority that should be funded. In a future war, they contend, Army airborne forces would parachute into a warzone equipped with only light weapons and might have to confront more heavily armed enemies.
Army leaders understand that, after 12 years of war, the infantry brigades have a “capability gap,” House says in an interview from Fort Benning, Ga. “The forcible entry forces we put in harm’s way lack sufficient protected firepower platform.”
The current plan is to provide the XVIII Airborne Corps — a fast-to-the-scene 911 force — a flotilla of light tanks that can be flown by C-130 cargo planes and parachuted into the warzone.
Light tanks existed in the Army’s inventory from World War I until the end of the Cold War. Production of the 16-ton Sheridan ended in 1970 after approximately 1,700 vehicles were delivered to the Army. The last unit to operate the Sheridan was the 3d Battalion, 73d Armor Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division, which was inactivated in July 1997 following a wave of cost cutting. The Army considered buying a replacement for the Sheridan, the Armored Gun System, but that program was terminated after the Army had bought just six vehicles.
House says the goal is to replicate the functions of 3-73 although he admits it will be hard to locate a modern version of the Sheridan. “The tough part of this is to find a vehicle that fits in the back of a C-130 and can descend by parachute,” he says. “The Sheridan did that pretty well back in the 1990s.”
Training and Doctrine Command officials are scoping the market for existing vehicles that could perform a similar role as the Sheridan.
Up to 140 candidates are being considered, says Col. Rocky Kmiecik, director of mounted requirements at the capabilities development and integration directorate.
The authoritative military journal, Janes, reports that Lockheed's overdue, overpriced and under-performing F-35 Wunderjet is already encountering problems with obsolescence.Interesting.
The United States has embarked on a technology refresh development track for the electronic warfare (EW) module of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to overcome obsolescence issues before the system has even made it into service.This has seen the US Naval Air Systems Command place a USD149 million contract to Lockheed Martin, as a modification to a previous advanced acquisition deal and covers the "redesign and qualification of replacement F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Electronic Warfare system components due to current diminishing manufacturing sources".
This is consistent with the criticism recently leveled by Aviation Week's Bill Sweetman that the endless delays in getting the F-35 deployed have played into its main adversaries' hands, allowing them to develop technologies to counter the airplane long before it even enters service.
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| Marines inspect a ZU-23 23mm automatic anti-aircraft gun on the Iranian Sassan oil platform. |
Action continued to escalate. The Joshan, an Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack craft, challenged USS Wainwright (CG-28) and Surface Action Group Charlie. The commanding officer of USS Wainwright directed a final warning (of a series of warnings) stating that the Joshan was to "stop your engines, abandon ship, I intend to sink you". Joshanresponded by firing a Harpoon missile at them.[5] The USS Simpson (FFG-56) responded to the challenge by firing two Standard missiles, while Wainwright followed with one Standard missile.[5] The attacks destroyed the Iranian ship's superstructure but did not immediately sink it, so USS Bagley (FF-1069) fired a Harpoon of its own; the missile did not find the target. SAG Charlie closed on the Joshan, with Simpson, then Bagley and Wainwright firing guns to sink the crippled Iranian ship.[5]You can read more here. A few of the systems involved but definitely not all follows...
Two Iranian F-4 Phantom fighters then approached the Wainwright. One fighter left the area soon after the cruiser placed its 55B Fire Control Radar in search mode. The second fighter made a low-altitude approach towards the warship, which responded by firing two SM-2 missiles at the fighter. One hit the Iranian aircraft, blowing off part of its wing and peppering the fuselage with shrapnel. The Iranian pilot managed to land his damaged airplane at Bandar Abbas.[5]
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| Standard missiles |
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| Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack |
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| Boghammar speedboats |
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| USS Merrill DD-976 |
The Pentagon is sending $50 million cargo planes straight from the assembly line to mothballs because it has no use for them, yet it still hasn’t stopped ordering the aircraft, according to a report.Wow.
A dozen nearly new Italian-built C-27J Spartans have been shipped to an Air Force facility in Arizona dubbed “the boneyard,” and five more currently under construction are likely headed for the same fate, according to an investigation by the Dayton Daily News. The Air Force has spent $567 million on 21 of the planes since 2007, according to purchasing officials at Dayton’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Of those, 16 have been delivered – with almost all sent directly to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, where some 4,400 aircraft and 13 aerospace vehicles, with a total value of more than $35 billion, sit unused.
The C-27J has the unique capability of taking off and landing on crude runways, Ethan Rosenkranz, national security analyst at the Project on Government Oversight, told the newspaper. But with sequestration dictating Pentagon cuts, the planes were deemed a luxury it couldn't afford.
“When they start discarding these programs, it's wasteful,” he said.
The planes are built by Rome-based Alenia Aermacchi, under what was initially a $2 billion contract, though that was scaled back.
The SEALs opted to withdraw.No racial or ethnic biased is intended in the title. I simply state the obvious in terms of military power.
U.S. military sources said they did so in stages, making their way down the beach, asking and waiting for further orders. The team, sources said, was still considering the option of returning to fight some more.
As air support was called in, the SEALs headed back to the beach and to their boat. A command decision had been made that the prize was not worth the risk of casualties to civilians and SEALs.
The SEALs escaped from Barawe without any deaths or injuries, according to sources and officials. And the target they sought to capture is still at large.
The SEALs were members of the same unit that raided Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011, killing the al Qaeda leader.
“After the past few years and the bin Laden raid, everyone thinks these operations are easy – they’re not,” said a senior military official familiar with the operation. “The area doesn’t have the same support network for us as Afghanistan and Iraq.”
The Navy of Brazil participates, Sunday, Operation conducted by the Security Bureau of the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro (RJ-SESEG) in Complex Lins in order to contribute to the continuity of the program implementation of the Police Units Pacification (UPP).Brazil's Fleet Marine Forces helping out their para-military police groups when they operate in the ghettos is nothing new. It appears (and I'm not entirely sure) that they're sending a more substantial bit of armor this go around.
Through the Fleet Marine Force, Brazil's Navy will provide logistic support to transport Special Operations Battalions (BOPE) and Shock (BPChq) of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro (PMERJ), and the Coordination of Resources Special (CORE), the Civil Police of the state of Rio de Janeiro (PCERJ).
A Grouping Operating Marines, with 180 effective military will act in Operation. These military will operate 14 armored vehicles to ensure the mobility of the Police Forces in the following communities Complex Lins: Possum, Hill of Love, Cachoeirinha Waterfall Grande, Morro da Cotia, Black Clay, Red Clay and Hill Meeting.
Will be used six armored tracked vehicles M-113 four Caterpillar Amphibian Cars (CLAnf) and four cars Mowag Piranha personnel carriers.
The Commander GptOpFuzNav-VIII is Captain Rio-de-Fragata (Marines) JOSEPH WILLIAMVIEGAS .
The 11th RC Mec, keeping his troops constantly adestrada held, on 02 October, a navigation instruction with armored EE 11 - urutu. The activity was held at Lake Hydroelectric Plant St. John II, here in Ponta Pora / MS.A couple of reasons why this caught my attention. First, the Brazilian Army is serious about water ops. Its something that the US Army will probably get more into once the turn to the Pacific fully takes hold. The second thing is that the EE11's although not a modern design seem serviceable. Additionally its curious that they sought out the assistance of Iveco instead of doing an in house improvement. Don't get me wrong. They have a winner in production now, but Brazil was once on the leading edge of domestic armored vehicle production.
A armored personnel carrier urutu, domestic manufacturing, is an amphibious vehicle, ie it is able to navigate. The instruction to all drivers of the 11th armored RC Mec, aimed to remind the preparation procedures of car navigation as well as maintaining the training of the troops.
