F-35. Quote of the day.

Future F-35 gobbler?

“The JSF does not have a high-end air-to-air capability,” he told the conference. We need to have both aircraft.”...Italian Air Force Col. Vito Cracas, commander of the 36th Fighter Wing (quote is via an Aviation Week article found here). 

It can be assumed that the Colonel has had the full F-35 briefing.  It can further be assumed that he is a professional with an eye toward making sure that his nation AND personnel are as protected as possible.

And there is no reason for him to lie.

You heard it here second.

The F-35 is NOT a high end air to air fighter.

Which means the Navy, Air Force and our allies are about to buy an airplane THAT IS NOT COMPETITIVE with the new stealth fighters from Russia and China. 

Longer-range sensors and weapons and electronic attack should be considered part of stealth...we finally know what the Navy is thinking...

via Aviation Week.

Much of the U.S. defense community “has lost sight of reality” as to what stealth means, a Raytheon executive told the Defense IQ International Fighter Conference here this month. Michael Garcia, the company's senior business development manager for active, electronically scanned (AESA) radars, suggested that longer-range sensors and weapons and electronic attack should be considered part of stealth, rather than placing complete reliance on RCS.
Comparing detection and weapon ranges, as well as RCS, Garcia argued that the “essence of stealth is that the Blue circles [for detection and weapon range] impact Red before Red can detect,” and that jamming, sensors and weapons affect that calculation.
“The level of RCS has not been improving,” Garcia said, and it cannot be greatly improved through an aircraft's life. “It is time-stamped with whatever date it came out of the factory. There has been a revolution in detection” of low-RCS targets, meanwhile, he added, citing the Russian development of an operational, mobile VHF AESA radar (AW&ST Sept. 2, p. 28) and resurgent interest in infrared search-and-track systems. “Conventional stealth is vulnerable to low-band detection,” Garcia said. “And the 'fifth-generation' scenario has become outdated over the past five years.” He mentioned contrails and visible vortices as signatures that are not affected by RCS reduction. Other analysts have noted the dense wingtip vortex trails visible in many inflight photos of F-35s.
Raytheon is a major supplier to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program and has a small stake in the F-35. However, this is the first time that any U.S. contractor has gone on the record with a direct critique of the JSF's prime rationale.

Read the whole thing here.

But its now obvious.  The final piece fell into place.  We see the Navy's thinking.

They can accomplish stealth like benefits without an expensive airframe but with advanced avionics, weapon systems etc....

They're betting that they can do it cheaper and better than an expensive fighter.

I think they're right.

SuperAV and other armor from the Army Maneuver Conference 2013 via Grunts and Co.

Check out Grunts and Co. Blog (note pics are from his site).

Stryker Testbed with the Kongsberg 30mm RWS.

SuperAV...GOD! The Marine Corps needs this vehicle!

For some reason they rolled out the XM8.  I guess the 82nd is serious about bringing back airborne tanks.

The Japanese can do it, why not the USMC?

Japan cutting tanks replacing with Maneuver Combat Vehicles.

Thanks Alexander Clark @ Naval History for this story!

via AJW.

The Defense Ministry plans to slash its tank forces by more than half and redeploy the remaining vehicles to Hokkaido and Kyushu to meet the realities of the post-Cold War world, sources said.
The number of Ground Self-Defense Force tanks will be reduced from the current 741 to 300 within 10 years, they said.
The proposal to reduce tank numbers will be included in the new National Defense Program Guidelines, the government’s basic 10-year plan for defense and national security, scheduled for completion in mid-December.
During the Cold War, the Self-Defense Forces put top priority on preventing an invasion by the Soviet Union with its large armored units. The Defense Ministry plans to shift its emphasis from the defense of the mainland to the protection of remote islands, with China’s growing naval capabilities in mind.
After all tank regiments are withdrawn from Honshu, the SDF will deploy high-speed, highly maneuverable, lightweight armored vehicles to Honshu in their place.
Armed with 105-millimeter cannons, the same caliber as that of standard tanks, the eight-wheeled maneuver combat vehicles can reach speeds of 100 kph. In addition, the vehicles are light enough to be transported aboard C-2 aircraft, allowing the SDF to deploy them to threatened islands more quickly.

Ordinarily I'd be up in arms about a reduction in the number of armored vehicles in any army, but in this case it makes perfect sense.

First, they're not giving up the firepower and shock effect of a heavy cannon.  Second, they're a VERY highly urbanized country.  Wheeled vehicles will be able to respond much better to enemy actions, without paying the penalty of having to survey roads and bridges to get them to the scene.

I do have an argument with the idea that transporting armored vehicles by aircraft is a reasonable approach but I think that might be more selling point than actual wartime utility (at least I hope so).

All in all I think the Japanese are taking the threat of future combat very seriously and are adapting their forces to face the future threat.

Top five reasons for police stops via Modern Survival Blog.

Avoid these top-5 things and you will greatly lessen your chances of getting pulled over by the police. We already live in a police state, so don’t give the system any more reason to go after you and pull you over…

This list shows you the things to watch out for if you want to avoid unwanted contact with the boys (and girls) in blue.

SPEEDING
Yes, there’s a “buffer,” perhaps 5-7 mph, but the decision to cut a speeder some slack is up to the officer’s discretion. Not only are you vulnerable on the freeway, but pay attention to speed limit changes while on secondary roads, which sometimes change unexpectedly and often.
DISTRACTED DRIVING
Texting.
Talking on a mobile phone.
Stop sign violation.
Stoplight violation.
Illegal U-turns.
Failures to yield.
EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS
Heavily tinted windows.
Burned-out headlights.
Broken windshields.
Expired tags.
The lack of a front license plate (in some states).
Loud exhaust modifications.
TAILGATING
Driving too close.
IMPROPER LANE CHANGES
An improper lane change means cutting someone off or changing lanes without looking first. Failure to signal can also be added to this ticket, but it usually doesn’t initiate the traffic stop — partly because the failure to signal is so common.

Easy.

Want to avoid cops?  Don't do the stuff listed above.

Why the intense USMC propaganda over the MV-22???

via Defense Web.

With the Ospreys as a key player in the Philippine’s relief, another story highlights the flexibility of this unique aircraft.
According to a USMC story by Captain Sharon Hyland:
Marines from the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response completed a long-range transport of Marines from Moron, Spain, to Dakar, Senegal, on November 13, utilizing MV-22Bs and a KC-130J.

The trip totalled more than 1,500 nautical miles and consisted of more than 30 Marines from SPMAGTF-CR and Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa 13. The Marines with SPMAGTF-Africa 13 were inserted in Senegal to participate in a small-boat operations and marksmanship training and exercises with the Senegalese military.

The mission marked the first time MV-22B Ospreys arrived in West Africa and offered the Senegalese and American Embassy personnel an up-close look at the tiltrotor aircraft during a static display and orientation flight.

This flight to Senegal can be added to other activities of the Osprey worldwide including: a first landing on a Japanese warship in the APR; the TRAP mission from North Carolina to Colorado; the Philippine’s relief mission; and the training with the Foreign Legion.
Clearly, the Osprey and its capabilities are becoming central to US Marine Corps global operations.
~

I'm skeptical.

Flying 30 Marines fifteen hundred miles does nothing but make me wonder who emptied the porta potty.

That's a piss ant force for a piss ant mission.

A bigger issue is why?  Why is the Marine Corps filling the airwaves with MV-22 propaganda?  Is its funding under potential threat?  The concept of a SPMAGTF-CR doesn't hold up to anyone that has even a thimble full of knowledge about combat ops so what gives? 

Navy X-47 will be ISR & carry JDAMS.

via DefenseTech.

The Navy plans to load their next generation carrier drone with a wide range of weapons, including GPS-guided precision-strike air-to-ground weapons called Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, service officials said.
The Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike aircraft is being designed as a carrier-launched Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting, or IRS&T, technology, will also be designed to accomodate a next-generation Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, or AESA.
The exact weapons payload to be engineered on the Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike aircraft is still a work-in-progress and something that will be influenced by the competing vendors offering designs, said Capt. Beau Duarte, program manager, unmanned carrier aviation program office.
While weaponization for the UCLASS is not planned as an immediate step, it is considered by developers to be an integral part of the platform’s future capabilities. It is expected the UCLASS will be able to draw from most of the weapons currently being used on the Navy’s carrier wings.
“Weapons requirements will be defined in the final proposals. It is up to the vendors to come back with proposals and leverage what is available,” Cmdr. Pete Yelle, UCLASS/UCAS-D requirements officer.
While adding weapons will be a significant future development for the UCLASS platform, the technology is still primarily intended as an ISR platform, Navy officials said.

Defense officials always talk about the F-35 being more than just a weapons platform but also an intelligence asset.

Now, so is the Navy UCAV.

So tell me.

Which is going to be more cost effective.  A carrier with UCAVs and F-18s or F-35s, F-18 and UCAVs?

If you said F-18s and UCAVs you're right.

Probably deadlier too.  You send your strike fighter after the Chinese anti-ship ICBMs, do you send your manned fighters or do you send UCAVs?  Which is easier to plan?  Destruction of vehicles if they're downed or destruction and recovery of pilots if they're downed?

UCAV for the win.

But more importantly, this is a direct shot across the bow of the F-35.  This convinces me more than ever that the Navy is actively planning for the F-35 to either fail or price itself out of future Navy Air Wings.

Today in history. The Son Tay Raid.

Google Son Tay Raid for more info, but if you want a bit more take a look around the internet for the baddest motherfucker you never heard about.  Colonel Bull Simons.  An American original.

F-35 will hurt US/Japan ties?

via The Diplomat.

Although the F-35 was the only 5th generation jet, the Defense Ministry’s choice was a gamble. Ongoing problems with the plane, such as cracks in the fuselage, fuel concerns over not only its performance and safety, but successful completion of its development. Persistent problems mean falling behind the development schedule and increases in the final cost. Worse, U.S. defense spending cuts and the European debt crisis could lead to reduced orders or even participation by some of the planes’ developers since four of the partner nations are EU members. Fewer orders or resources could lead to further spikes in costs.

Which just says DEATH SPIRAL in a more civilized way.

We're going to see this across the board.  Nations need to replace fighters, the F-35 is touted as the latest and greatest, maintenance and procurement costs spike, numbers bought are decreased AND US/partner nations relations are ruined.

Everyone that still supports this program says to "don't quit" and "stay the course".

Custer said the same thing to his SNCO's when they told him that he was riding into a trap.

The US Army and SOCOM will atrophy because of Afghanistan mission.

via Reuters.

"We want this pact in order to move out of this unsteady situation. If the foreigners leave unhappy, it will be very dangerous for us," Karzai told the gathering.
Up to 15,000 foreign troops could remain in Afghanistan after 2014 if the pact is signed.
The United States and Afghanistan have spent much of the past year wrangling over the agreement, but ultimately the United States won concessions on several areas of contention.
Along with immunity from Afghan law for its troops, these included a request to allow U.S. forces searching for militants into Afghan homes, which outrages Afghans and which Karzai has long opposed because of the anger it causes.
"American forces for military operations will enter Afghan homes only in exceptional and extraordinary cases ... only in circumstances where there is a serious threat against American troops," Karzai said.

This is about the worse news that the Army and SOCOM could get.

An agreement to spend another 10 years in Afghanistan?  The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force will be working toward modernizing their forces.

The Army and SOCOM will be fighting to support the COIN operation that was lost when it turned into a civil war (I wonder why that isn't clearly spelled out...supporting a govt from outside forces is one thing, but when the population turns against its own govt then the war is lost and its an internal matter).

The Army is gonna be screwed and it has the State Dept and President to blame.  A lingering war that no one is interested in and you got picked to fight it?

Yeah.  The Army is getting proper fucked. 

Youabian Puma

A sports car with 44 inch tires and a retractable roof?  Not my cup of tea but interesting....

J-20 Computer Generated Images via Japanese Turbo Squid.

Thanks for the link DWI!!!!

Philippine Typhoon Amphibious Ship Manifest.

via Marines.mil

USS GERMANTOWN (LSD 42) and USS ASHLAND (LSD 48)
• 3 Landing Craft Air Cushion – 60 ton load capable
• 2 Landing Craft Utility
• Flight deck w/ 4 helo spots
• 850 Marines
• Water production: 72,000 gallons/day
• 5 tactical water purification kits – 1,500 gallons/hour each
Medical contingent
• 2 doctors
• 2 dentists
• 22 corpsmen
• 16 beds in wards with 4 isolation beds
• 1 X-ray machine
• 1 general surgeon
• 1 nurse anesthetist
• 1 OR nurse
• 1 surgical tech
• 1 ICU corpsman
Transportation/engineering
• 5 rigid hull inflatable boats
• 14 amphibious vehicles (AAVs)
• 8 dump trucks
• 30 multipurpose Humvees
• 20 7-ton, 10-foot bed trucks
• 4 7-ton longbed trucks
• 6 600-gallon fuel tanks
• 12 10Klb forklifts with buckets (TRAM)
• 2 5Klb forklift
• 1 tow truck
• 12 inflatable boats (CRRC)
• 3 bull dozers
• 6 M105 Pull Behind Trailers for Humvee
• 21 generators (8 MEP806s, 5 MEP805, 6 MEP803s)
Water and MREs
• 40,000 MREs
• 9 water tank trailers, 440-gallon water storage capacity, 2,200-gallon water distribution capability
• 2 water tanks - 600-gallon water storage capacity, 1,200-gallon water distribution capability

This roster of men and materials shows why the US method of disaster relief, or more precisely the Pentagon way of disaster relief is a fraud.  Its a department failure as well as a Marine/Navy failure.

Why do I say that?

Simple.  The Marines rushed MV-22s and C-130s to the disaster.  The Navy rushed an aircraft carrier and associated battle group to the area.  The Air Force sent its planes....but its all for naught and is relatively meaningless.

Help can't really come till you put men ashore with the proper heavy equipment to finally get a relief effort flowing.

 Perhaps the early effort was to keep the population calm.  Perhaps it was to prop up the Philippine government.

It really doesn't matter.  When the US Navy amphibious ships arrive with their contingent of Marines is when the REAL relief effort begins.

Everything else is just a show. 

Denel Land Systems Badger via Defense Web.

Today in history. Marines hit Tarawa!

Note:  Key phrase for more info?  Red Beach 1.

F-35 sits on the beach while the X-47 roars at sea....

There's not one, but two! An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) last week while a second X-47B sits on the flight deck. Theodore Roosevelt is the third carrier to test the tailless, unmanned autonomous aircraft's ability to integrate with the carrier environment...via NAVAIR

BAE Marine Personnel Carrier & Sea States.

When the BAE Marine Personnel Carrier is listed as being able to operate in Sea State 3, people roll their eyes and seem to say so?  Well this video is to illustrate the various Sea States so a better understanding of how ROUGH a ride and how IMPRESSIVE that really is.  Oh and be advised, in many places when you get up to Sea State 3, small boat advisories are often issued.  Check out the vid below...

CENTCOM. The future graveyard of the SPMAGTF-CR?

Thanks for the article Lee!

via Inside Defense (behind paywall...thanks for getting me straight Tad!).

The Marine Corps is looking to establish a special-purpose, Marine Air-Ground Task Force used for crisis response in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility about a year from now, according to a service spokesman.
The new unit would support CENTCOM in addition to a Marine Expeditionary Unit that inhabits the Arabian Gulf, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Eric Flanagan said Nov. 14.
With fewer ships available, the Marines plan to set up a SPMAGTF-CR in CENTCOM because, while being more affordable, it will still allow the Marines to respond to a crisis in a timely manner. All Marines in CENTCOM will report to the commander of the future SPMAGTF-CR, Flanagan said.
Maj. Gen. Robert Walsh, the service's director of expeditionary warfare, said Oct. 31 in Portsmouth, VA, that the service would much rather have Marines aboard ships but since there are fewer amphibious ships available those Marines will be land based. "So, that's a real challenge," he added

Rumor has it that the General's Club USMC, is doing a massive pushback on a whole range of Amos initiatives.

I believe it.

But forget the internal Marine Corps politics of this and think about the environment where the Commandant of the Marine Corps is about to establish a force that flies by V-22, is extremely vulnerable upon entry into the landing zone and will have a force of about 100 or so Marines to carry out operations...and this is gonna happen in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

Someone is gonna die if this force is ever used.  Correction.  Many Marines are gonna die.

There are few more hostile, cavemen sporting sophisticated weapons with advanced training in fighting US forces (a lot of them trained by us) places in the world than the Middle East.

And what is our answer?  To station a battalion at Djibouti with a JHSV ready to send them where they're needed?  No.  The answer out of the Commandant's office is to slam a company of grunts into the back of MV-22's, send them into harms way and hope that a small force of Marines can keep another BlackHawk Down from occurring.

Those Marines that will take that fateful ride might not even be in the Corps yet but they're screwed. 

LCACs for days. Pic of the day.

via Defense Matters.