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Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
MLP named for Chesty Puller. What a damn shame.
The Navy Times (read it here) is reporting that the keel will be laid for an MLP named after Chesty Puller. My first reaction was WTF! A Marine Corps great is having a glorified cargo ship named for him but a sorry ass Congressman (Murtha...not speaking bad of the dead, just the truth) gets a real warship?
Time for the Navy to take a serious look at ship namings. This is too close to an insult for comfort. One of the Top 5 Marines of all time gets an MLP. Geez.
Can the Super Hornet be labled super agile?
Thanks to Superrhinoceront for the vid.
Note: I don't know what the definition is of super agile when it comes to fighter aircraft. The SU-35 has been called super agile but this vid shows the Super Hornet flying the same profile without problem. Additionally the F-16 is supposedly even better than the SH in some flight profiles. If you have a solid definition, send it my way. Last. Will the F-35 be called super agile....no need to answer. It was a rhetorical question. Oh. Turn the speakers off for this vid.
Note: I don't know what the definition is of super agile when it comes to fighter aircraft. The SU-35 has been called super agile but this vid shows the Super Hornet flying the same profile without problem. Additionally the F-16 is supposedly even better than the SH in some flight profiles. If you have a solid definition, send it my way. Last. Will the F-35 be called super agile....no need to answer. It was a rhetorical question. Oh. Turn the speakers off for this vid.
OV-10G+ Broncos stay in SOCOM service. For now.
Thanks Pietro for the link!
Read the story here, but the question of have to ask is why isn't the Marine Corps all over this program with SOCOM? The OV-10G+ has the range to make Amos' SPMAGTF-CR a bit more realistic. At least they could escort MV-22's so the Company Landing Team has a chance at survival once they arrive at objective. Additionally it should be easy to either use the "Cargo" area for extra fuel or to add a refueling probe to the planes.
Once again, light attack seems to be totally out of style with everyone except SOCOM.
Read the story here, but the question of have to ask is why isn't the Marine Corps all over this program with SOCOM? The OV-10G+ has the range to make Amos' SPMAGTF-CR a bit more realistic. At least they could escort MV-22's so the Company Landing Team has a chance at survival once they arrive at objective. Additionally it should be easy to either use the "Cargo" area for extra fuel or to add a refueling probe to the planes.
Once again, light attack seems to be totally out of style with everyone except SOCOM.
The N-word and the NFL bullying case.
NOTE: I will shut off comments without a second thought for a week if we head into racist territory. This is a simple observation that merits discussion.
This NFL bully case has me punching walls.
Not only was the "victim" a 6'5", 300 plus offensive lineman in the NFL, but he has also been described as soft, not very skilled and that the accused bullier was simply trying to toughen him up. NFL players are now coming out of their shell and saying two things. The "victim" should have handled things in house and that the "bullier" will get hired to play on another team long before the victim even gets a look.
To that I say awesome.
But the part that has me punching walls is the allegation that the N-word was used against the victim.
Don't get me wrong. I personally find that offensive. I don't think that its right. But I also hear it spoken for all to hear between people at the local Wally World, its on rap music that's marketed to kids of all colors and yet in locker rooms and sidelines where you hear that word spoken without issue ALL THE TIME, you now have it as an issue.
Quite honestly until the N-word becomes taboo for people of all colors and its taken out of popular culture by EVERYONE, then it is extremely hypocritical to blame ANYONE for using it. Again, the N-word is disgusting. Its from a past that should remain in the past but the victim can't be selective in outrage about who addresses him with it. Its only fair.
This NFL bully case has me punching walls.
Not only was the "victim" a 6'5", 300 plus offensive lineman in the NFL, but he has also been described as soft, not very skilled and that the accused bullier was simply trying to toughen him up. NFL players are now coming out of their shell and saying two things. The "victim" should have handled things in house and that the "bullier" will get hired to play on another team long before the victim even gets a look.
To that I say awesome.
But the part that has me punching walls is the allegation that the N-word was used against the victim.
Don't get me wrong. I personally find that offensive. I don't think that its right. But I also hear it spoken for all to hear between people at the local Wally World, its on rap music that's marketed to kids of all colors and yet in locker rooms and sidelines where you hear that word spoken without issue ALL THE TIME, you now have it as an issue.
Quite honestly until the N-word becomes taboo for people of all colors and its taken out of popular culture by EVERYONE, then it is extremely hypocritical to blame ANYONE for using it. Again, the N-word is disgusting. Its from a past that should remain in the past but the victim can't be selective in outrage about who addresses him with it. Its only fair.
We're building Me-262's while they build P-51's.
Consider the German's at the end of World War 2. They had the most technologically advanced force on the planet. They fielded the worlds best tanks, airplanes and at one time battleships. Many of their plans for the future were seized by the allies and used to build the force of the 1950's. Many have speculated that if Hitler had held off attacking the Soviet Union just one year that they could have won the war because England would have fell and the US would have concentrated on fighting the Japanese.
But the air war in Western Europe gives the best example of what we're facing today (it certainly applies to the ground war but that's another discussion). The Germans built Me-262's. A plane with blistering speed, massive firepower and flown by combat experienced pilots.
In theory it should have swept the skies, but larger numbers of less capable airplanes like the P-51 and Spitfire jumped them in wolf packs and made even takeoffs difficult.
The US is repeating Hitler's Germany mistake. We're going small. Very small...and high tech.
Now check out this passage from a talk given by Hagel....
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today argued for troop reductions to preserve spending on advanced technology from defense contractors amid more than $500 billion in automatic budget cuts scheduled through 2023.Congress and a desperate President (Bush) brought this on. Veterans groups encouraged it and no one (including me) called foul when it was happening.
“In some cases we will make a shift, for example, by prioritizing a smaller, modern, and capable military over a larger force with older equipment,” Hagel said in remarks prepared for an address before the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a policy research group in Washington.
The statement reflects a determination in the Pentagon to protect sophisticated and costly weapons, such as Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT:US)’s F-35 fighter, that are seen as giving the U.S. military a competitive advantage.
We priced service members out of the military by pay increases every year. By pushing more and more benefits. By changing service to one of bonuses and payouts instead of service to nation.
Now we have a twisted Pentagon pushing Rumsfeld's vision of Transformation while we all know what it will lead to.
We're going to have a super high tech but small force that will not withstand day two of a conflict. We'll go in hard and make massive gains but we'll get pushed off the hill because we will not be robust enough to maintain our momentum. We're setting ourselves up to fail.
All we have to do is study WW2.
Manhood under assault. The pussification of the NFL & the "bullying" affair.
Read the story here but I've got several issues with this ....
1. Was it bullying, hazing or locker room behavior? The proper classification is important. If we get to a point where people are forced to become robots then the NFL like many workplaces is going to be a very unpleasant place.
2. Did the so call "bullier" realize that his actions were being taken in a negative and not a playful light? Sorry but sometimes you react in kind to let others know their boundaries. Was the victim (a six foot five, three hundred twenty pound lineman) so timid that he refused to let the bullier know that he was inches away from getting knocked on his ass?
3. If someone left a voicemail saying anything derogatory about my mother, I would let him know that he would be fed feet first through a woodchipper. But doing it the way this guy did by walking off the job has me wondering. Did he inform the organization that he had an issue with someone?
The saddest part of all of this is now we're establishing the principle that an adult can be bullied.
That's false. An adult can make choices. An adult can choose to be a victim or choose to stand up for themselves.
The NFL has aided in the pussification of America.
1. Was it bullying, hazing or locker room behavior? The proper classification is important. If we get to a point where people are forced to become robots then the NFL like many workplaces is going to be a very unpleasant place.
2. Did the so call "bullier" realize that his actions were being taken in a negative and not a playful light? Sorry but sometimes you react in kind to let others know their boundaries. Was the victim (a six foot five, three hundred twenty pound lineman) so timid that he refused to let the bullier know that he was inches away from getting knocked on his ass?
3. If someone left a voicemail saying anything derogatory about my mother, I would let him know that he would be fed feet first through a woodchipper. But doing it the way this guy did by walking off the job has me wondering. Did he inform the organization that he had an issue with someone?
The saddest part of all of this is now we're establishing the principle that an adult can be bullied.
That's false. An adult can make choices. An adult can choose to be a victim or choose to stand up for themselves.
The NFL has aided in the pussification of America.
Monday, November 04, 2013
Modest Proposal. Is it time to consider a two ship ARG?
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Some will consider this a radical proposal but if you work the numbers it makes sense. Remember when Bob Work, former Sec of the Navy stated that you can't count hulls and get a real estimation of the effectiveness of today's Navy versus those of years past?
Well when it comes to amphibious ships it does ring true. Think about the San Antonio Class (LPD-17). When you stack it against the LPD-49 which they're replacing and you get a two fold increase in capability. The same applies to the America Class LHA when you look at it versus the legacy LHDs.
Which brings us to the modest proposal. Is it time to think about a two ship ARG? It will provide no "extraneous" personnel but it would be a fully focused and realized MEU. Additionally with the flight deck that the San Antonio brings, you could still split these ships and have Amos' vaunted aviation capability...without the F-35 mind you, but you would still be able to put Vipers in the air to escort CH-53s and MV-22s filled with Marine Infantry to carry out the nations policies.
I think its worth a consideration.
It would save money. The LSD(X) could be tailored to a more versatile mission set (consider it a US version of a flex module ship----an LCS on steroids). And it would allow us to give work that we could stretch out for years to our ship yards to keep our industrial base intact.
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MARSOC & SOCOM to get a Marine Squadron?
My post on the cost of the MV-22 has garnered me some pretty interesting e-mail.
I can't confirm a bit of it, but I've been told by sources that there is a quiet push behind the scenes to get a USMC MV-22 squadron assigned to support SOCOM in general and MARSOC/Naval Special Warfare in particular.
It makes sense and would explain all the talk of aligning Marine Expeditionary Units with SOCOM. We would become nothing more than seagoing outer perimeter security.
Everyone from MARSOC, to AFSOC aircraft, to US Army Rangers could soon be pushing Marines off amphibs except for a company of Infantry.
All other assets could soon be left on the beach.
We live in some pretty terrible times.
Marine Aviation at a dangerous intersection.
USMC Aviation and the Corps in general is at a dangerous intersection in its history.
Its canceled the Marine Personnel Carrier, delayed for about the 50th time a decision on the Amphibious Combat Vehicle and is slow walking an upgrade to the Amphibious Assault Vehicle.
Its doing all this while it has three aircraft programs that are topping out at over 100 million dollars for each model.
Quite honestly one squadron less of each plane (CH-53K, MV-22 and F-35B) would fully pay for modernization of Marine Corps ground transport.
USMC air is developing into a full fledged naval air force that competes with carrier aviation in mission AND budget. This new Marine Corps Aviation Force appears to be casting aside its primary mission of focusing on supporting Marines and turning into a force that is tailored for SOCOM support and deep interdiction.
Its not a force that we need.
Is it time to swallow hard, understand that the Wing as designed will not be around to support Marine ground and plan on conducting operations without them? This will mean increased artillery, more tanks on float, more robust (if fewer) infantry battalions and a greater reliance on Army aviation for aerial support....but it seems the only way.
Navy looking at the Advanced Super Hornet upgrades? via Defense Tech.
The Navy is evaluating a series of upgrades to the F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft designed to increase the range, performance and “stealthy-ness” of the aircraft.Read the entire article at DT.
The technological innovations include engine improvements, new electronics, the use of a conformal fuel tank, an enclosed weapons pod and efforts to reduce the radar detectability or “signature” of the aircraft, service officials said.
These upgrades have resulted in newly configured or modified F/A-18s demonstrator flights in St. Louis, Mo., and Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., to provide assessment data for the Navy, said Capt. Frank Morley, F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Manager.
“We’re getting good performance numbers on it and good signature measurements. These are items the Navy is considering,” Morley said in an interview with Military.com.
The Boeing-funded enhancements, called the Advanced Super Hornet, are aimed at increasing performance while reducing the radar cross-section of the aircraft.
“We reduced the signature of the aircraft by over 50-percent. We added low-signature treatments to specific areas of the airplane and then when we designed the conformal fuel tanks and enclosed weapons pod. They are designed specifically to address aerodynamic and signature components,” said Paul Summers, director of capabilities growth, F/A-18, Boeing.
Aerodynamically configured conformal fuel tanks are engineered to carry up to 3,500 pounds of fuel, Boeing officials said. The conformal fuel tank and external weapons pod are engineered to help make the aircraft able to fly further with more weapons — without increasing signature or drag for the airplane, Morley explained.
“If you have an external weapons pod then you can put weapons on that have a higher signature. You can be more aggressive in an anti-access or denied environment. It will give you more options for firepower without bringing up the signature of the airplane,” Morley said.
But I wonder...could this all be part of the plan? Float the idea of additional Super Hornet buys and when that causes a stir, then gently relabel the plan with a mere upgrade of existing airplanes.
I know it will sing to Tea Party and Deficit Hawk Republicans while also sounding like a common sense approach to Defense Hawks.
You know the Democrats will be all over it if they can reduce Pentagon spending.
Which leaves the Marine Corps crying foul (well ... part of the Marine Corps anyway).
This fight is getting more than interesting. If the solicitation was simply a trial balloon and we're seeing high stakes poker and politics mixed into one then the Pentagon is about to end is kumbaya moment and we're about to see a fight for budget that hasn't happened since the end of WW2.
Another Amos victim partially cleared. Must read from Marine Corps Times.
via MC Times.
A high-profile Marine officer who was removed from his job for writing a confrontational email was deemed fit for full duty after undergoing a mental health evaluation at the urging of his command, his attorney told Marine Corps Times.The Marine Corps Times can be bad. Very bad. Some of their stories are fluff pieces that make me want to punch walls. They belong on the pages of a women's magazine, not in a journal for war fighters.
Maj. James Weirick, a military lawyer based in Quantico, Va., earlier this year filed a complaint with the Defense Department inspector general accusing Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos and his legal advisers of interfering with the prosecution of several cases connected to a controversial war zone video showing four Marines urinating on dead insurgents. Weirick was ousted from his post in late September after sending a strongly worded email to Peter Delorier, one of the officials named in his complaint. He also was slapped with a restraining order, and asked to surrender his personal firearms and submit to a risk assessment at the base’s mental health clinic.
On the risk assessment’s scale of zero to 10, Weirick was rated “zero-to-three,” said his attorney Jane Siegel.
Having said that, the Marine Corps Times can also be very, very, very good.
This is one of those times.
They've stuck to this story like a dog on a bone and they are to be applauded. Read the entire story here, but it should be evident to anyone that keeps up with Marine Corps affairs.
Amos must go. He is at best a slimy, no good, pathetic excuse of a politician.
At worst (and I believe he exhibits the "worse" traits possible in a leader) he is a criminal in uniform, abusing his power as Commandant and needs to be replaced post haste'.
Gender equality via Terminal Lance.
This female soldier actually thought that she could kick a male Marine's ass? She got knocked the FUCK OUT! Which reminds me. When are we going to see gender irrelevant Marine Corps Martial Arts?
NOTE: Videos tend to get banned after I post them. Have no fear. Its already been downloaded so it will live long after the feminist bitch loud enough to force YouTube to remove it from their site.
NOTE: Videos tend to get banned after I post them. Have no fear. Its already been downloaded so it will live long after the feminist bitch loud enough to force YouTube to remove it from their site.
Sunday, November 03, 2013
The next glutton. CH-53K.
What happens when you have a questionable, uber expensive program (F-35) that's killing off much needed gear like the Marine Personnel Carrier, Amphibious Combat Vehicle, the JLTV and others?
Other aviation programs destined for the Marine Air Wing come into question.
Programs like the CH-53K. Check out this chart from ELP Blog.
The following are program unit costs from various 2012 U.S. DOD Select Acquisition Reports (SAR) on military aircraft.I love the CH-53 series of helicopters. I think Sikorsky is a great company (I have an issue with them selling BlackHawks to China, but everyone is dancing to the Red Dragon beat), and I love their entire line of products.
These unit costs are the predicted average over the life of the program. These numbers are sometimes off compared to what you see DOD spend each year on air frames. Authorized budgets are the real money; SARs are predictions. The numbers below also assume that no air frames are cut and that costs do not rise for other reasons such as problems in development. Still an interesting snapshot:
CH-53K............$142M
E-2D...............$272M
P-8A...............$286M
V-22...............$119M
C-130J............$92M
KC-46A............$288M
F-18E/F...........$90M
F-35...............$135M; F-35 motor on separate SAR category; $26M
But 142 mil for a transport helicopter?
Makes me wonder if piggybacking off the Army's buy of the CH-47 wouldn't be such a bad idea.
NOTE: I continue to marvel at the arrogance of leadership. They acknowledge the fact that the Marine Corps has put into service the new AH-1Z, UH-1Y, MV-22B/C, and are breaking the bank with the F-35B. When asked why so many resources are headed to the wing instead of the ground side, they reply that the infantry has gotten a ton of new gear during the war on terror. Boots? 782 gear? A new rifle (that is conceptually silly..yeah talking about the M27)? A 120mm mortar that doctrine is still being written on? Compared to the new aircraft in the Marine Corps its a pittance. They should be called on their stupidity.
Islamic extremism. The missed partnership opportunity.
Check this out from Business Insider (read the whole story at their house)....
China's ruling Communist Party announced on Sunday the removal of the military chief of restive Xinjiang from the region's governing council, following a car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square blamed on Islamist militants from Xinjiang.Think about it.
The official Xinjiang Daily said in a brief front page report that Peng Yong had been sacked as a member of Xinjiang's Communist Party Standing Committee, and would be replaced by Liu Lei, an army veteran with more than a decade's experience in the region.
The newspaper gave no reason for the move, but the party frequently removes top officials following such incidents as it seeks to apportion blame.
The incident was especially embarrassing for the stability-obsessed party given the billions of dollars it spends every year on domestic security, not only in Xinjiang but across the country, and that the crash happened in the heart of Beijing.
Even China is dealing with radical Islam. The most violent religion on the planet is even terrorizing a communist police state.
If doing a partnership with the major powers of the planet to fight radical Islam isn't the missed opportunity of the century then I don't know what is.
Oh and spare me the nonsense that there is cooperation on the intelligence front. You want to make the Mullah's quake in their boots? Have a joint Russia, China, US, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Japan, S. Korea, Germany, France operation hitting sites worldwide and announced publicly.
The developed and developing world share the same problem.
Instead of attacking it, we instead decided to make a bunch of platitudes about "the religion of peace" and crack down on our own citizens instead.
Historians will laugh at our incompetence.
Another day, another SWAT team gets an MRAP.
Another day and local law enforcement gets another MRAP.
For some reason, the communities involved are simply nodding and accepting these purchases without debate. But you don't buy a tool if you don't intend on using it and these law enforcement depts are getting wrecking balls that WILL be used in the community...regardless of whether or not its appropriate.
Read the story here.
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