CH-53K screen caps....UPDATE!!

Update: Defense Industry Daily has an outstanding article on the issues with the CH-53K that is a must read.  Check it out here.

Official Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion Pre-Reveal Video...Modest proposal for the USAF.

The modest proposal....The USAF should consider bringing back the Jolly Green Giants in the form of the CH-53K for their Para-Rescue Mission.

If the pivot to the Pacific is real, and if over water rescue of aircrew, not to mention the nightmare scenario of a C-130 or other large transport going down in the water, then its time for something larger than a UH-60.

The issue for the Marine Corps is obvious.  The CH-53K won't survive in this budget environment unless another service buys.  Whether that's the USAF for the rescue mission or the US Navy for mine hunting and heavy lift, its going to need partners.

Reshaping Ground Force Insertion?

Check out this scenario that the USMC is pushing as a future operating concept (via SLD Info)

March 2014: Exercise TALON REACH II whereby a CLT from the training base in Twenty-nine Palms assaulted into an A2/AD environment against enemy positions located on San Clemente Island.
The latest experiment, TALON II, was built around a raid from 29 Palms to San Clemente Island.
According to the tasking:
Among the experiment’s primary objectives were the following:
To assess integrated airborne C5I between a CLT located across multiple aviation platforms;
To assess integrated ground-air C5I between a CLT post-insert and multiple supporting aviation platforms;
To assess the utilization of CLT fires approval processes and control in all phases.
At the heart of the exercise was to secure an airfield to support the concept of distributed STOVL operations as well.
This airfield was 23 kilometers from the enemy’s ASCM sites and required the CLT to conduct an all-night, dismounted movement to contact operation to secure it. In the experiment, the F-35 surrogate, the Cat Bird” was used to provide DAS and other data to the CLT in flight and post-insertion.
And the F-35 working with an Osprey-enabled insertion force could well re-define the meaning of Close Air Support (CAS). The F-35 could enter the objective area prior to the arrival of the CLT, push data back to the incoming force, and then provide fire support, “kinetic” and “non-kinetic,” C2 and ISR support during the insertion and operation.

Read the entire article here.

My question is simple.  Are they serious?  They are testing the validity of sending a Company Landing Team against enemy anti-ship missile sites, in a non-permissive environment using MV-22's as the insertion platform?

Supposedly the F-35 will change the meaning of Close Air Support because it will act as a UAV providing information to the grunts on the ground?

Seriously?

I still believe the idea that you're going to be going after anti-ship missiles and not face a formidable anti-air complex is fanciful at best but lets say it happens that way.  How is F-35's orbiting the area sending back images and other information any different than what we have now with Predator drones?

I am really trying to warm to this Company Landing Team Concept but it has the whiff of bullshit all over it.  What am I missing? 

F-35 propaganda...

Produced by NAVAIR.  Posted here.  I stand corrected.  The video was posted on the NAVAIR youtube channel so I assumed that it was a NAVAIR production.  Come to find out its by PAX River Lockheed crew.  My bad.  The rest remains though.....the plane is still a piece of shit.

Jordan's baby gunship gets precision 2.75 missiles.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the U.S. Navy have formally signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the first international sale of BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWSTM) laser-guided rocket.

Great system.  Great idea.  But the range issue bothers me.  5 miles puts you solidly in the range of enemy systems.  Can the range be extended?  I hope so.  Jordan has some very bad guys going at it across their border and these gunships will get used.

U.S. Army Landing Crafts Arrive at Subic Bay...the Army pivot picks up pace.

American Mercenary educated me on it, but to actually see it is pretty good stuff.

The Army has the tools, all it needs to do is to develop the right formation to become a big part of the pivot to the Pacific.  

Personally I'm fired up about the possibilities.  The Marines kick in the door, the Army with a Task Organized Amphibious Brigade (Light Infantry/Stryker Reinforced) fills in the breach and heads to the objective.

I LIKE IT!

Something weird is going on with the US defense budget....

via Breaking Defense...

Rep. Adam Smith has warned his colleagues repeatedly that Congress must make “unimaginable” choices to cope with the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. In particular, Smith says they must consider closing military bases using a new round of base closures (BRAC), a process that’s always politically painful and which many in Congress argue was discredited by the 2005 round, which they say cost more money than it saved. The administration asked for another BRAC in its 2015 budget submission, but Rep. Buck McKeon left it out of his version of the National Defense Authorization Act. Smith had filled his put-BRAC-back amendment with all sorts of caveats and restrictions, apparently hoping against hope to assuage his colleagues’ concerns, but McKeon isn’t having any of it.

Consider this.

*  The US Army is cutting 10 combat brigades AND will be down to 495,000 people by 2015.  In my opinion thats INCREDIBLY fast.
*  The US Navy has laid up 11 cruisers, cut the number of LCS to be procured, is not going to refuel an aircraft carrier, and is talking about possibly going down to 8 flattops.
*  The USAF is dropping aircraft, squadrons and trimming personnel.  Same for the Marine Corps...battalions are going away, personnel are being cut etc....

Yet even with the cuts that have been announced, and the ones under consideration, leadership still asks for cuts to pay raises and benefits for those that remain and now talk in congress revolves around another round of base closures.

We're missing something when it comes to the defense budget...or something really weird is going on.

French Mistral LHD in Rio de Janeiro to train with Brazilian Navy/Marines (pics).

The Mistral departed the port of Rio de Janeiro

The Mistral, the FLF Lafayette and the Brazilian União frigate 

The Brazilian Army amphibious tank AV7 descends the ramp of launching of the invert of the Mistral, to be deployed on the beaches of the peninsula of Marumbaia. 

Oculus Rift & the Norwegian Army...

via CNET.com

Video games and warfare have had a long relationship, so it was only a matter of time before a military operation got its fingers in the Oculus Rift pie. The virtual-reality headset designed for gaming applications is now being used by the Norwegian army to help them drive tanks by providing a 360-degree view outside the vehicle.
The system consists of a series of four video cameras with convex lenses both front and back of the tank. With each set of cameras offering a 185-degree view, this covers 360 degrees around the tank -- and, thanks to the Oculus Rift's motion tracking, all the operator has to do to move their view around is turn their head. This allows for the driver to negotiate hazardous situations without having to open the hatch and look around.
The video game connection is not lost on the team.
"Those who play Battlefield can see much better than you do in an actual vehicle," Making View's Daniel Mestervik told Norwegian news service TU. "With our software, you can add elements we are used to from games. You can have a map, you can show each orientation, how much you tilt, the speed -- it's very useful when you have to close all your hatches."
However, the system can't yet serve as a full-time replacement for looking around. For starters, any equipment placed on the outside of a tank is vulnerable to the hazardous situations the driver may be trying to avoid.

I'm not so sure about this.  We'll see, but I wonder what the advantage is over cameras and display screens used on vehicles today?

Next fitness trend? No equipment workouts...

NOTE:  The "illustrated workouts" are from Neila Ray website.  Click here to check it out for yourself.

I find it ironic that the military services jumped on the Cross Fit bandwagon while the industry is moving away from that and onto no equipment workouts as the next big thing.

Its like a back to the future moment for all the physical fitness gurus in uniform.

There are many more at the site but these are the few that I've tried.  I found the Viking set to be the most challenging but they'll all get your blood pumping.  Give it a try!

Politics. Want to understand President Obama? Watch this!

The above video is from "The Young Turks" and its a real eye opener.

I personally have wondered why the administration has decided that certain issues must be front and center when the American people are screaming that the economy must be fixed....and thats across all demographics.

Have you wondered why....

*  Immigration reform has suddenly become a burning issue despite the majority of Americans not thinking that its a priority?
*  Why climate change has been pushed to the front of the cue despite it not being a priority to the majority of American people?
*  Why "The War against women" zoomed out of nowhere to become a major issue?

Its all because the President leads from behind and is a victim of whatever special interest group happens to get his attention.

WATCH THE VID!  You'll be surprised at the critique from his fellow liberals.

Latest British Carrier CGI....

INCREDIBLE! First flight of the AT Black Knight Transformer!

Chinese Army increasing training in Urban Combat...

The Chinese military is increasing it urban combat training.  Quite honestly it makes sense.  The Pacific region has some of the worlds largest cities.  If war comes to the area then fierce urban combat will be part of it.  Pics below via the Chinese internet.

AVX JMR Vid...

Defense Tech (Brendan McGarry) had this first, but the vid is too good not to post here.

AVX JMR AIRCRAFT

They're proposing a HUGE gunship.  That alone is worth a closer look.

Patricia Spak...Tuesday hottie....

Why am I posting this?  Just because.  Do you really need an excuse to post hotties?

Latest smart gun seller backs off...and the liberals are pissed!

The German firearms maker, Armatex, has been trying to peddle its "smart gun" in the US but has had trouble finding sellers.

They tried in California but the gun owner was talked back off the brink but they found a new patsy in Engage Armament.

Liberals were gleeful!  They finally were going to get a smart gun on the market and kill the firearms industry.  Well that didn't last long because gun owners and 2nd Amendment supporters went ape!  The above video is him backing off.

I won't post the numerous links but if you Google smart gun controversy or Engage Armament you'll find plenty.  Also, if you can stomach it, Chris Hayes on MSNBC had a special cry fest on his Monday show.

Sidenote:  If the liberals really want these smart guns in the US then NYPD, LAPD or someother big city department should just buy them.  But LEOs won't go for it because these guns are pure dee bullshit.

King Stallion???

The roll out of the CH-53K was held today and although info, and photos are sparse, we did get news that Amos says the new name for the helo will be "King Stallion".

I don't know why but "King Stallion" just doesn't sing to me.  Name this badboy "Sea Stallion II".  

F-35 News. Full Court Press in Italy...

via gazzettadelsud.it

Rome, May 5 - Italy has a strategic role in regional defence and for that reason, it must go ahead with its plan to purchase F-35 fighter jets, John R. Phillips, the United States ambassador to Rome, said Monday. "The F-35 are the aircraft of the future, the fighters which will replace the existing (aircraft) over the next 15 to 20 years," Phillips said during an interview on public broadcaster Rai. The Italian government froze spending on the F-35 program in March, and said that as a cost-cutting measure, it is considering reducing the number of fighter jets it will purchase. The aircraft, at an estimated $200 million US per unit, are among the costliest jet fighters in the world and are developed jointly by a number of allied nations including Italy. That would mark the second time Italy has reduced the number of its Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, a budget item which is currently worth about 11.8 billion euros over 45 years beginning in 2015. Italy in 2012 announced plans to cut its order to 90 from the 131 jets originally agreed to in 2002, saving the country some five billion euros. Phillips said that it would be better to lengthen the contract period rather than outright cut the purchase plan. "We have agreements with the Italian Army, we may have to slow down the acquisition, but I do not think there is interest in reducing it," said Phillips. "Italy plays a large role in the defense, it has a strategic location and needs the ability to deal with situations," he said, citing nearby Libya and Lebanon as examples. Because of those obligations, Italy cannot reduce the number of new jets, said Phillips.

A US Ambassador telling an allied nation what THEY MUST do...Begging that country to move orders to the right, instead of cancelling them....

For any other issue, on any other subject, this type of announcement would cause outrage in the country where our representative made such a statement.

Italy will cancel more F-35's and this statement by our Ambassador will hurt, not help the sales pitch.

Concurrency has failed.  The death spiral is here.

Sidenote:  Has anyone crunched the numbers to determine how the F-35B will function on the Cavour Aircraft Carrier?  Moving from an A-4 sized airplane to an F-15C sized airplane has to affect all aspects of its operation.  From moving aircraft on deck to space in the hanger....I imagine that the modifications to that ship will be extensive.