Scorpion Jet February Test Flights

Many thanks to Forrest for sending me the vid!

LM Havoc 2.0 is a go!

Just an update to my previous post on the revived Marine Personnel Carrier.

Lockheed Martin responded to my e-mail and they're already hard at work to get it done.  Havoc 2.0 is a go!

If HQMC is serious they'll accelerate this program, treat it like an urgent operational need and get production started ASAP.  The Army did it with the Stryker, we should be able to do this with the MPC.

I'm still waiting to hear from BAE and General Dynamics.

Personal Note:  I really wish LM would place a bright shiny firewall between the F-35 program and everything else they're working on.  Bad press and poor public relations with the JSF is starting to infect the rest of the products.

Personal Observation:  This is going to be extremely interesting.  The LM Havoc is combat proven, exceeds IED protection requirements and is a good swimmer and quite mobile on land.  The BAE SuperAv is a great swimmer, meets blast protection and is also very mobile on land.    What is the priority? Future growth/load carrying?  Swimming?  Blast protection?  Mobility?  Will we see a Marine Corps family of vehicles?  Or is price the only concern?

The Marine Corps problem with industry when it comes to the MPC...

What happens when you have industry jump thru hoops to provide a product that is so evolutionary that it touches on being revolutionary.

What happens when a couple of those companies (Lockheed Martin-LAND SYSTEMS! and BAE-Iveco Defense) go above and beyond and provide vehicles that I'm told exceed standards, yet we still kill the program only to breath life into it a few months later?

Well, if I was part of BAE or LM I'd be a bit pissed (less LM than BAE).

The USMC has created a problem because of all the waffling with this project.

Design teams are disbanded, workers have been assigned to different projects and perhaps more importantly, the contractors don't necessarily believe that you're going to do what you say you're going to do.

Lets hope that industry is quick and nimble and able to get this done.

I wouldn't hold my breath though.  Once bitten (and industry has been bitten) twice shy.

Quote of the day...

First read the Marine Corps Times story here....Then consider this quote...

I had filed a motion asking the Military Judge in SGT Richards' case to order CMC, MARCENT and MCCDC to testify under oath at court. At the hearing, the Gov't lawyers said they were sure the two LtGen's would meet with me and tell what they knew. Both did. I was sitting two feet from LtGen Waldhauser when he stated that CMC told him he wanted the snipers "crushed" and emphasized to me that was the exact word. My co-counsel and I drafted the Affidavit which LtGen Waldhauser signed - after reviewing it carefully and having it looked over by a senior Marine Judge Advocate not connected with HQMC. I choose to beileve LtGen Waldhauser -- his display of moral courage and that by MAJ Weirick are in keeping with the highest ideals of our Corps.
Guy Womack · Woodrow Wilson Law School

Amos has a problem.  He no longer has any moral authority inside the Marine Corps, has no support among those he charged to lead and no one believes a word that comes out of his mouth.

This is just more fuel to the fire.

Blue Whale Quad Tilt Rotor via Chinese Military Review.

Wow.

They've penetrated our Defense Dept, our military contractors and our universities.

This is just the latest in a series of Chinese projects that prove that they copy but don't innovate.  We desperately need a concerted counter intel effort launched against that rogue state.

F-35C and the US Navy. It has no real role.

Check out this passage from National Defense...

“There will be some challenges integrating the F-35 on the carrier. Most have been identified,” he says. A carrier air wing typically has anywhere from 44 to 54 fighter jets. The Navy expects that for the foreseeable future, most of the fighters in the air wing will be Super Hornets, and that the F-35C will have a niche role as an airborne intelligence nerve center.

The F-35C will be predominantly an “information collector and distributor in the air wing,” says Burks. As the Navy’s only “stealth” aircraft that can fly undetected by radar, it will be prepared to “go alone into highly contested areas,” he adds. But most of the time it will serve as the hub of a “network centric” air wing.

“It may not matter what weapon we have on board,” Burks says. F-35 pilots will pass information over the network that would allow other aircraft to engage targets. “I may pull the trigger in the cockpit but the weapon may come from a different platform,” he explains.

Everyday its becoming more clear why the US Navy wants out of the F-35 program.

They simply don't have a use for it.

It will serve virtually no role in the carrier air wing.

It will serve as an airborne ISR node and that role can BETTER be performed by a fully rationalized X-47.  Additionally the command and control that we're talking about will better be performed by Navy or Air Force AWACS.

The endgame for the Navy is clear.  They'll stick with the program as long as they have to....while pushing procurement to the right as much as possible and while they continue to work on the X-47 and the 6th gen fighter, they'll play nice with the USAF and Marines.

When its realized that the F-35 costs too damn much they'll punch out of the program and never look back.

Brilliant.   

Marine Personnel Carrier is alive again????

via Breaking Defense.

The agony is that the Amphibious Combat Vehicle was, until last month, the Marine Corps’ top-priority program, the holy grail of a 25-year quest to replace slow and vulnerable 1970s-vintage AAV-7 amphibious transports. The irony is that just last year, the Marines effectively killed the Marine Personnel Carrier, explicitly to free up funding for the ACV. Just weeks ago, however, Marine Corps Commandant James Amos decided he had to reverse course, postponing ACV indefinitely while reviving MPC as a quick and partial fix– after the Marines had already submitted their 2015 budget.
Whatever’s in the name, the new vehicle will not be the rose the Marines had long hoped would bloom. It will be something much more limited — but one that is much more achievable. And, as the commandant himself has said, the military is now in an era of “good enough.”

Read it all here.

I'm catching whiplash.

Indecision is not a desirable leadership trait.  I like the news but remain unconvinced.  I've seen this movie before and expect it to be reversed yet again.

The USMC needs new leadership. 

Does the Marine Corps have too many generals?

via American Mercenary...

The USMC has always had a leaner Officer to Enlisted ratio, but the USMC has always had a more defined mission set, relies on the US Navy for many services while at sea, and cannot by law operate on land for more than 6 months without being provided services by the US Army. So using the USMC as an example for the Army is not a good plan (the USMC isn't ever going to be responsible for a theater wide logistics distribution plan).

Read the entire article here.

AM is talking about the US Army in this piece but it had me referencing the USMC and our current makeup.  80+ general officers for a force that is moving to 175,000 persons?

The issue isn't with Colonels and below.  The issue is too many damn generals.

If you want to "reform" the USMC then the first thing that should be "taken down to the river and held under till it stops kicking" is the general officer corps.

For a supposedly lean organization we've becoming amazingly top heavy.  Fixing the USMC means culling the number of generals by at least half.  Its the only thing that makes sense. 

NOTE:  Unfortunately this isn't a USMC specific problem.  Its DoD wide.  Check out this post from ELP Blog.  More flags than E-9's?  Amazing.

Navy Matters on Amos' West 2014 Speech...

Read it all here, but check out this passage....

These comments, interesting enough on their own, again highlight the meandering direction of the Corps, right now. There was no mention of the F-35, MV-22, or aviation assault. To be fair, that was not the topic, however, this demonstrated that the Marines are trying to be all things (expeditionary air force, light infantry aviation assault, conventional amphibious assault) in a time of severely constrained budgets. While they may want to be all things, the budget won’t allow it and the budget choices that the Marines are making show the path they’re committed to. The acquisition of the MV-22 and F-35, the cancellation of the EFV with no replacement on the horizon, the drawdown of personnel, the reduction of tanks and artillery from the heavy end of things, and the multi-billion dollar price tag for new amphibious ships all show that the Marines are going to be a light infantry, expeditionary air force for the foreseeable future. The Marines can talk all they want about traditional amphibious assault but the money simply isn’t there. By committing everything to the F-35 they’ve cemented their path, for better or worse.

Change is chaos.

Amos has introduced organizational chaos to the Marine Corps.  The biggest threat to the Corps is no longer outside forces.  It now comes from so called "change agents" inside.

F-35 quote of the day via 60 Minutes...

"The plane SO FAR costs twice the amount of money as it did to put a man on the moon..."

Elements of Power. I love ya buddy but you jumped the fucking shark....

Elements of Power has a guest post over at Op-For today.

Quite honestly I won't link to it because its disgusting to me.  He attacks David Axe and calls his work Punk Journalism.

I have to temper my anger a bit because I did the same when I was under the power of the F-35 and believed the lies from the Program Office and Lockheed Martin.

But enough time has passed and enough evidence----just on cost factors alone---been compiled for someone as knowledgeable as EOP to know better.

The fact that he remains unmoved in light of readily available evidence makes me wonder who this guy works for.  Is he receiving a stipend from LM?

What's his deal?

Elements of Power, you're cool but you jumped the fucking shark bro!

Back the fuck off, send a note to Axe, fix your shit and get your brain housing group cleaned out....you went waaay too far on this one.

Planting the seeds of another acquisition failure.

Thanks for the article Jonathan.

With the retirement of the Newport News class LST, the USMC essentially gave up heavy mechanized maneuver from the sea.  No matter what size formation deploys from the ocean, it will never pack the ground combat punch of old skool units.  This was the first sign that the Marine Corps was turning from a medium weight force into an air assault force.

via National Defense.

SAN DIEGO — Less than a month after conceding that the Marine Corps could not afford a high-speed amphibious tracked vehicle, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Amos renewed the call for industry to provide an affordable “connector” that can move Marines from ship to shore.
He went so far as to offer government research and development funding. “I’m committed. I just told my money guy… we’re willing to put some money in [research and development] for the future technology with regards to connectors," he said Feb. 13 at the AFCEA West 2014 conference.

In January, Amos said the Marine Corps could not afford a high-speed ACV and would opt instead for something less expensive. The amphibious combat vehicle — itself a rebranding of the now-defunct expeditionary fighting vehicle — soared in price because the Marines sought a vehicle with long range and high enough speeds to plane like a speedboat.
Amos insisted the Corps needs a vehicle that can “haul a lot of stuff” and “can move at high speed. He would like the vehicle to travel at 35 to 40 knots.
“What we need is to change the paradigm,” he said. “We think of connectors as something you carry in the bowels of an amphibious ship. We’re going to need that, I’m not saying we don’t need that." He suggested future connectors could be folded and stacked on the deck of a ship.

And this is how the seeds of another acquisition failure are planted.  A landing craft utility or mechanized that does 35 to 40 knots?

Not gonna work.

How do you make a V-22 into a gunship?

via Janes

"[AFSOC] is looking at a number of different options [in terms of weaponry and configurations] for a gunship. The marines are always interested in every new capability [for the V-22]," he said.
While the concept is still in its early stages, Col Ropella hinted that the CV-22 may be fitted with forward-firing missiles, but beyond that he did not reveal any further details. However, when asked about the possibility of high-energy weapons, such as lasers, being fitted, he said: "All things are on the table. Some engineers at NAVAIR [Naval Air Systems Command] probably have dreams about [lasers] on the V-22."
Given the V-22's tiltrotor configuration and nearly 12 m diameter rotorblades, forward-firing munitions could not be carried on underwing hardpoints. Instead, the aircraft would either have to employ ramp-mounted or cargo bay-stored canister munitions, similar to those carried by the USMC's KC-130J Harvest HAWK Hercules gunship, or sponson-mounted stub-wings.
A side-firing cannon/machine gun could be fitted, but this would involve some structural re-modelling as the V-22 does not have a paratrooper door on the left-side aircraft fuselage, and the door on the right side is located forward of the rotors, which would present safety issues for the aircraft.

Well, the MV-22 was suppose to have defensive weaponry added to it...robust defensive weapons as part of its package before it was to be allowed to enter service.  Conway was pretty adamant about that...the current Commandant doesn't care as much.

But how do you make a proper gunship out of an airplane that has huge props blocking the way in forward flight and very limited wing space?

The only way I can see it working is to take a blast from the past and copy the F-86D solution to killing heavy bombers.

The F-86D was the product of the USAF trying to develop an interceptor that was capable of knocking down a Soviet Bomber that was attempting to attack the US.

WW2 and Korean War experience showed that machinegun fire performed poorly against bombers and that a much bigger punch was needed.  The answer was to haul 2.75in folding rockets into the air and ripple fire them at the bombers.

Fast forward to today and you have the same option with the V-22.  Its already shown that it can carry belly weaponry but the beauty of this system is that the tech has improved and if this "concept" is fully realized then you could possible have two racks.

One rack with 48 2.75in rockets that could be raised and lowered and then further back a rack with say five 5in rockets.

Since all these rockets would be of the laser guided variety you're talking about quite a punch.

The next question is will this be a forward firing option or would they be mounted sideways so you can do NASCAR around the enemy position.

Personally I'm thinking forward so you don't have to even blink about engine damage from exhaust plumes.

Other than that maybe strengthen the ramp and toss some griffins on it or perhaps a trainable 20mm cannon if you're feeling frisky.

The crazy thing is this though.  A blast from the past might be the answer to a AFSOC and USMC issue.

Have you tested your preps?

NOTE:  This blog is only for a small portion of my audience.  If you're not a prepper then this will not interest you.

American Mercenary has an excellent post on his family's experiment with eating nothing but their preps for a month (read it here).

I'm gonna give this a try.  I have the gear and the preps but haven't tested going even a week with them.

Which leads me to one last thing.  Everyone is so focused on "get home bags", "go bags", "tactics" and "firearms" that we have forgotten the basics.

In most cases you're going to be home and have to remain home when things go wrong.  How many times have we seen store shelved raped bare before an event occurs?

Being fit enough to handle the stress of a situation...being smart enough to live a life style that is maintainable in a SHTF...having basic medical knowledge to keep minor issues from becoming life threatening situations is what we should be focusing on.

Buying the Tac Gear, AR's, Holsters etc...might be fun, but the real work is more important and goes toward simple day to day activities.

MV-22 operating off the French BPC Dixmude. Overblown interoperability?

Note:  The below pics are hot on the internet but a check of the French Marine website reveals that they had to over come quite a few obstacles to putting on this demonstration.  First the only deck spot rated to handle the MV-22's weight is the number one spot.  Next they were concerned about heating issues due to the jet blast from the Osprey's engines.  We can talk interoperability all day long but their are some major issues to consider before we make it work.  At the end of the day this is only propaganda dressed up as concept worthy of pursuit.

Hasik answers the F-35 question no one dares ask...

Thanks for pointing me to this article Doug!

Every part of the DoD budget is facing scrutiny and is under pressure except for the F-35.

That makes no sense.  Squadrons are being cut, aircraft carriers are in danger and troops are being forced out, yet the number of F-35 required remains the same.

How can that be?  Well Hasik put pen to paper with a couple of his buddies and he came out with a real number on how many are required (assuming that they can get this thing to work at all...)

I am, of course, greatly speculating, but such an end strength would likely call for an American purchase plan for only about 750 F-35s. I might note that this figure is much lower than even the Simpson-Bowles Commission or the Domenici-Rivlin Task Force recommended. That's because those folks took the US Air Force's "required" number as received wisdom, and just argued for buying F-16s instead. As I noted above, I had something more analytical in mind. My estimate also has much to do with how these aircraft might be apportioned amongst the services. How exactly that would work is hard to say, but if the Marine Corps needed 200 for ten or fewer helicopter carriers, and the Navy needed 600 for fewer than ten super-carriers, then the USAF might round out the total with the remaining 700. Here I am assuming that the Navy and the Air Force would retain their favored planes of the 1990s, the F-18E/F/G and the F-22, respectively. Remember that the F-35s are meant to replace F-16s, F-18s, A-10s, and some of the F-15s. The Navy will eventually buy at least 600 Super Hornets and Growlers, and the Air Force will keep at least 150 Raptors flying—if that service eventually figures out how to keep the planes from choking their pilots. That would lead to requirements for about 200 F-35Bs, 550 F-35A, and perhaps no F-35Cs at all. That last one is, after all, the airplane meant only the US Navy, but that the US Navy seems not much to want. 

Read the entire article here.

Be warned though.  Its eye opening and shows again how out of balance the budget is, how little planning is actually going into it and how its based on wishful thinking and not the needs of the nation.

With the current civilian and military leadership, we're properly screwed.  We definitely need better.

Note:  Yes it is an old article but since we haven't seen any adjustments to procurement planning its extremely relevant today.

You bastards better be right or we're screwed for a generation.

We're about to see the full ramifications of the SUPER EXPENSIVE F-35 on the defense budget soon.

It occurs to me that one airplane will determine the success of our armed forces and our place in the world for the foreseeable future.

Consider this.

*  The US Army is having to cut Brigades, reorganize its aviation and shed personnel to a rate that their Chief is now stating publicly that its dangerous.

*  The USMC is cutting Battalions, shedding squadrons and having to make adhoc units just to justify this airplane while at the same time delaying the production of a much needed replacement for the AAV.

*  The US Navy is considering cutting aircraft carriers, is definitely cutting squadrons and is in ship building pain because this plane is being forced on them.

*  The USAF is cutting squadrons, canceling upgrades to legacy fighters, tossing away its premier air support airplane and essentially betting its future on an airplane that is not a good fighter, is a mediocre (at best) close air support platform, is insanely expensive all in the belief that its poor stealth and information dominance will carry the day against airplanes that are faster, fly higher, have bigger AESA arrays, fly farther and essentially get the same information just through different means.

These bastards better be right or we're screwed for a generation.

Lockheed Martin shares, promises of jobs after they retire and that big golden parachute that they're hoping for better be worth the price they're gonna pay if they're wrong.

If they're wrong and I think they are, they'll feel lucky to only be cursed, vilified and called traitors.

Where is the vid of the F-35C roll in test?

I've been closely monitoring vids put out by Lockheed Martin waiting patiently for the trap test vids to come out.

Wait, no, they call it roll in tests.

Still.  Haven't seen it, only one photo.

What gives?  If they were so darn successful why haven't we seen one?  They release every and anything else.

My belief and I have nothing to base this on, is that the results were sketchy.  I'll believe the plane is ready to go to the boat when it goes to the boat.  Until then its all propaganda.

This blog post by a Medal of Honor winner proves they're just men....

This blog post by a Medal of Honor winner proves they're just men.  Men who were placed in extraordinary situations and did extraordinary things...but just men none-the-less.

Check this passage out from Sgt. Meyers.

While most Americans were enjoying the Christmas holiday with friends and family, I had the absolute privilege of traveling with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Jim Amos and his wife Bonnie to Afghanistan in the Helmand province. General and Mrs. Amos could have spent Christmas anywhere in the world but both wanted nothing more than to spend their last Christmas in the Marine Corps with forward-deployed Marines. General and Mrs. Amos exemplify leadership.


That is why when I was made aware of the most recent attacks against the general and his wife I had to take action and voice my opinion. It pains me so much to see the repeated, ridiculous attacks against them both. It is unprecedented in the history of our Corps to repeatedly attack one of our own and to sit idly by and let others do it too.


The attacks are driven almost entirely by a single news organization we are all familiar with. The attacks are personal and designed to drive a wedge between him and Marines all across the globe. Sadly, they have achieved some level of success in this regard. Their latest stunt is to create an issue over the placement of their product in our exchanges. Give me a break, this is a crisis? They created the issue, it was designed by them, for them, simply devised to do nothing but generate sales for their bottom line, nothing more. The staff in our exchanges moves products around every day. You’ve never heard Budweiser cry because they didn’t get placed in the front of the cooler. If you’re confident in your product just stand behind it, don’t create news that doesn’t exist and slander people in the process.

Meyer IS entitled to his opinion.

Just as I am.

And on this issue we part ways.

If the REPORTING (not accusing, reporting what is being alleged) is true then we're looking at serious misconduct by the most senior member of the United States Marine Corps.

More importantly we're looking at a SERIOUS moral and ethical lapse too.

Meyer has been in the Marine Corps long enough to have seen people at all levels charged for less.  I've seen it and so has he.

Additionally Meyer is in a position to have at least as much visibility on this issue as I do...maybe more because of his MOH status.

The Marine Corps Times did their job....and Meyer should do his.  Specifically to safeguard the Marine Corps to the best of his ability and to realize that ONE MAN, no matter what his rank, is worth the integrity of the Corps.

Quote of the day...

I went over to Naval Matters Blog to avoid  confusion on my post about the combat capability of the Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Mission accomplished on that front but ComNavOps wrote what I believe sums up the problems with the current Commandant's "plan" for the Corps.  Its our quote of the day....

I, too, am frustrated with the Corps, at the present time. They're conflicted about what they want to be. Expeditionary air force? Light infantry raiders? Heavy assault force? Procurement trends suggest expeditionary air force (sacrificing multiple ground programs for JSF). Public statements suggest light infantry raiders (public statements that frontal assaults are a thing of the past). Policy suggests heavy assault (push for more major amphibious ships).
It's discouraging because the Corps has always been the bedrock and compass of the armed forces. We share a frustration.

I think that sums things up nicely.

Where once we touted ourselves as America's 911 Force in Readiness, we are now zooming from being MV-22 Raiders, zigging to being Special Operations Enablers, zagging to being  mini-aircraft carriers and yet still saying that we're the finest combined arms and a medium weight force without peer in the world.

We're confused. Leadership is confused and needs to sort itself out.