China's 50,000 ton LHD will rival most nation's carriers!

USMC 0802 locked onto something in my previous post that I totally missed.  The Chinese goal of building a 50,000 ton LHD will produce an amphib that rivals the size of the UK's Queen Elizabeth Class carrier AND will be larger than most nation's carriers...not to mention being twice to four times the size of most other amphibs roaming the seas.

You're looking at ship that will be a one ship Amphibious Ready Group and will be able to put a Battalion of Chinese Marines on most shores by LCAC, swimming IFVs or by helicopter.

And that's just their LHD.

They're also building LPD's that rival the San Antonio class in capability, have solid attack helicopters, have the schematics of our Black Hawks, still build the French Frelon and have access to an array of Russian birds.

Dump your normalcy bias and take a real look at what China is doing.  They're attempting to rival the US and overwhelm our allies.

Sidenote:  Below you see a pic of China's Mistral class LHD designed for export.  Marine Corps are becoming increasingly popular.  I'd bet body parts that it'll be a best seller.

China seeks to build LHDs to bolster its expeditionary capabilities.

via Focus Taiwan.

The PLA quickly became aware of the many inadequacies of its Type 071 Kunlun Shan-class (崑崙山艦) amphibious transport dock during conflicts in Africa. Despite its ability to carry two Russian-designed Zubr-class air cushion landing crafts (LCAC), currently the largest military hovercraft of its kind, the Type 071 vessel is plagued by a lack of firepower and inability to fill command and air support roles in combat.
The same inadequacies in military humanitarian missions were repeated during the subsequent armed conflicts in Libya, which hastened the adoption of amphibious crafts by the PLA, the report said.
In addition, the report said that the PLA might be motivated to match the capabilities of the U.S. Navy's America amphibious class landing crafts.
In response, China's dockyards are scrambling to build its own home-grown amphibious assault craft, with a displacement of 50,000 long tons, said the report, and the Shanghai Jiangnan-Changxing Shipbuilding Company Limited (上海江南長興造船廠) has been commissioned to build at least four amphibious assault ships.
The report also implied that the PLA Air Force is developing a variant of the J-10 fighter jet, equipped with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities.
Of note, diagrams released by Xinhuanet (新華網) revealed a design for China's amphibious assault vessel that stands 265 meters in length and is capable of launching jet fighters, helicopters, and LCACs.

A STOVL J-10?

They must be working toward a directed thrust, similar to the Harrier if they're talking about putting it into service quickly.

That will be interesting.  The simplicity of the Harrier design when coupled to a modern jet could give us the Chinese version of the Harrier III.  Depending on how they market it, we could be looking at a competitor to the F-35B.

If the Chinese are willing to allow Western avionics to be installed in the jet...and I can't see why they wouldn't...then they will have a cheaper, possibly higher performing jet that will catch the attention of cost conscious allies and neutral countries.

Everything else in this story comes as no surprise.  The Chinese Marine Corps will be every bit as active as the USMC and its only a matter of time before they meet on the field.

Blast from the past. The Altair Lunar Lander via Fuck Yeah Spaceships Tumblr.

Note:  When the Constellation program was "reconfigured" and given the new mission of landing on an asteroid (I still don't get that...the moon is a stable source of everything we could get from asteroids...its like they just wanted to do something different instead of actually harvesting resources) instead of the moon, alot of work had been thrown away with the blink of an eye.  Exhibit number one is the Altair Lunar Lander.  Its just like the Orion space capsule.  A step back to the work that was proposed for the follow on to Apollo by the greats that put us on the moon.  Notice that they chose an evolutionary path instead of seeking to be revolutionary.  The US military should take note.

 

US Army Special Forces and 101st Airborne train together. Photo by Spc. Robert Venegas | 5th Sfg

Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, receive training on all-terrain vehicles from 5th Special Forces Group Jan. 12 on Fort Campbell. The training concluded a five part combined training exercise between the two units.

The Commandant talked about integrating with SOCOM.  It looks like the US Army is already doing that with Special Forces and their Global Response Force units.

Is a modification of this what he was talking about?

The USMC's direction on unconventional warfare is tortured.  The Marines have gone from no special units before WW2, to developing Recon, Parachute, and other units during that conflict, to parrying it down to only Recon afterwards, to developing MEU Special Operations Capable, to where we are today with many "elites inside an elite".

With MARSOC taking 3 Battalions of Marines along with supporting units (and of course the desire by the wing to provide dedicated air), something has got to give.

I wonder if the basic design of the Army makes integration with SOCOM an easier fit than it does with the Marine Corps?  This bears watching but I'm betting that resistance from both conventional Marine Corps units, MARSOC and SOCOM will make "integration" difficult.

Your defense dollars at work via Giovanni de Briganti

Sidenote:  The above illustrates the silliness found in the US Dept of Defense...but if you think that we're the only ones that spend foolishly then I've got a bridge to sell you.  Check out this example from Defense Aerospace that hits the Brits hard...

The £2,163 million price tag includes 14 aircraft as well as everything the squadron needs to operate them, including all associated support equipment and capital spares, but neither their weapons nor their fuel. (Other Royal Air Force fast jet squadrons comprise 12 aircraft). This works out to an average cost of £154.5 million ($234.9 million) per aircraft.

Yeah.  If you thought the Eurofighter was expensive then get a load of the F-35.  What has me puzzled is that the usually frugal Brits aren't even batting an eye at the cost.  Amazing.

F-35 News. They program office has lost control of the message.

Check this out from the American Interest.

On that last point, the F-35 team itself seems to agree, because an explosive report this week disclosed that it has been fudging the plane’s performance numbers to bolster the case for more appropriations funding. According to a Defense-Aerospace.com report (h/t James Fallows at The Altantic):

Recent improvements in F-35 reliability figures are due to changes in the way failures are counted and processed, but do not reflect any actual improvement, according to the latest report by the Pentagon’s Director Operational Test & Evaluation. […]
Three different types of data “massaging” are identified in the report: moving failures from one category to another, less important one; ignoring repetitive failures, thus inflating numbers of failure-free hours; and improper scoring of reliability. In all these instances, data reporting and processing rules were changed during the year for no other reason than to paint a more favorable picture.

If that isn't bad enough then check out this piece from that paragon of conservative values...The Weekly Standard...

Last fall, the Air Force tried a final gambit. Its spokesmen claimed that the F-35 program would be even more over budget and delayed if the A-10 weren’t “divested.” The latter’s defenders responded that getting rid of all 280-odd A-10s would save enough money to buy just 12 F-35s.
But the USAF wasn’t done yet. It claimed in November that the F-35’s crisis was a matter of maintenance personnel shortages and that the program could not flourish without the 800-odd maintenance people who currently work on the A-10. This was not true. As the well-informed War is Boring website quickly pointed out, there are thousands of maintenance personnel working on other aircraft types (including rarely used B-1B bombers and F-15 interceptors) who could easily be diverted to support the F-35.
Fortunately, Congress wasn’t gulled, and the latest National Defense Authorization Act forbade the USAF from retiring the A-10. It helped that the politicians fighting for the A-10 included not just McCain but also Sen. Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire, whose husband flew A-10s in Iraq, and Represent-ative Martha McSally, a retired Air Force colonel who herself flew A-10s in combat.

How many of you are familiar with the days leading up to the truncated buy of the F-22?

We heard that the airplane would perform not only air superiority but also attack targets on land...they even went so far as to label it F/A-22 at one point.  There was a push to retire F-15's early because it would make the USAF more efficient, even while putting into service an airplane that was more expensive to run.

The messaging got crazy.  The desperation was apparent.  In the end it failed.
The same thing is happening with the F-35.  I'm happy as hell that it is.

US Army raises the stakes in Eastern Europe.

I had hoped that leadership on both sides would walk us back from the brink on this thing but the exact opposite is happening.  Check this out from Stars and Stripes...

“We are doing surveys here in the next few weeks up in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to see if there is a place where perhaps some of that equipment could be stored there,” USAREUR chief Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said during an interview with Stars and Stripes. “Maybe it’s a company, maybe it’s a whole battalion, we don’t know yet until we do the survey.”
In 2015, the Army expects to rotate a full-sized, U.S.-based heavy brigade of some 3,000 troops and additional tanks and other armored vehicles through Europe in connection with the service’s Regionally Aligned Force initiative. Last year, the program kicked off on a smaller scale, bringing combat tanks back into Europe after a brief absence following the elimination of two Germany-based heavy brigades in 2013. Now, the regional concept is picking up steam, with plans for 220 armored vehicles in Europe.
“The big question for us right now is ‘where are they going to go?’ Obviously, a part is going to stay here,” Hodges said, referring to the Grafenwöhr training area. “We really want to put some in southeastern Europe, some in the Baltics, some in Poland. Those countries want them bad — an obvious reason, they’re a deterrent aspect.”

A Heavy Combat Brigade is a POWERFUL formation.

The amount of combat power that it brings to the table is impressive in the extreme.  I would love to know the thinking behind this move.  One thing is certain.  It will NOT lessen tensions with Russia.  Many on their side will see this as an escalation and a move in kind should be expected.  I seriously wonder where this idea is coming from.  

ACV 1.1 Contenders

Note:  Movie making is much more difficult than I thought.  The issue isn't putting it together but rather in getting the information out that you want to convey with the format that you're given with the pre-packaged "movie makers" ... especially if you have a face for radio and a voice for the backwoods.  This was play time.  We'll see how it goes in the future.  More to come....hopefully.

F-35 News. The replacement for the F-35 is already being designed.

via Defense News.

Northrop Grumman has stood up a pair of teams dedicated to developing a "sixth-generation" fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, years before the services intend to issue requests for information on potential replacements for current aircraft.
It's an aggressive move that Tom Vice, president of Northrop's aerospace division, hopes will pay off in a big way for his company.
"Northrop Grumman will compete for the next generation fighter," Vice flatly declared, noting that there is a program manager already leading a team of Northrop staffers on the program.
When asked whether he envisioned Northrop acting as a prime contractor on a future fighter, he added "of course."

Drink that in.  Industry is already working on a 6th generation fighter for the services.  Not a joint plane but one tailored for both the USAF and USN.  Interesting huh?  Now here is the kicker.  Slowman found this article via Janes...

The UK has set out a future combat aviation force structure to meet the country's post-2030 combat air requirement.
In a House of Commons Defence Select Committee (DSC) report published in late July, the UK government sets out a future force structure that includes options for unmanned aircraft, additional buys and upgrades of ordered and current aircraft, as well as a clean-sheet design for a new manned fighter platform.
As laid out in the report, titled Remote Control: Remotely Piloted Air Systems - current and future UK use: Government Response to the Committee's Tenth Report of Session 2013-14 , this structure will comprise one or a combination of different unmanned and manned platforms.
"A UCAV [unmanned combat air vehicle] along the lines of [the BAE Systems] Taranis is one potential element of this force mix, along with an additional buy of [Lockheed Martin F-35] Lightning II, a [Eurofighter] Typhoon life extension, or an alternative new-build manned aircraft," the report said.

What are we seeing here?

This is as close as we're gonna get to an admission from the nations that are buying the F-35 and even the US services that the plane is not only a disaster but that it isn't going to deliver as promised.

This is the exit plan that they're adopting which indicates that a truncated buy is in the works.  The only question that remains is when will the general public catch on that billions have been wasted on a plane that doesn't work.

Told ya our females are more butch than yours!

Inside joke among service members.

Who has the prettiest females?

The answer always begins with the USAF having the hottest chicks.  The Marine Corps having whats left on the trash heap.  Army and Navy alternated between what you were able to witness on joint duty. I leaned toward Navy having hotter females but thats just personal preference.

Now?

Today's Marine Corps is trying its best to show that the old saying is true.  We have the most butch females in the military service.

Well done (sarcasm).  You can dress them up like dudes all you want but they're still women.  You can't change biology....well I guess you can make alterations but you know what I mean.

82nd Airborne inches toward mechanization.

This is an interesting development.  Using militarized ATVs for this role isn't what many want but as an interim step it makes sense.  Additionally support in the field will be easy, you can't argue with its agility in the field or the ability to transport them by C-130, C-5, CH-47 or UH-60.

By pushing the concept forward and getting what is available into the field, the Army might have hit on the vehicle it actually needs going into the future.

Which riles up the biased Marine in me.

The US Army isn't drinking our milkshake...yet.  But they have their straws out and its aimed squarely at our beverage.  Question.  Which would you rather have.  A brigade from the 82nd that can be on the ground in 72 hours (sooner if you're planning properly....meaning you have them on alert before needed) or a SPMAGTF-CR that can arrive with a company (+) of Marines?  Now toss in the idea that the brigade from the 82nd will have mechanized ground mobility and our Marines will be foot mobile and what are your thoughts?

I stand by my earlier contention that the solution is to reinforce the MEU by adding AFSB's to each MEU.  Trash the SPMAGTF-CR concept and simply use the MV-22 to add distance to the reach of each deployed MEU....maybe use it as an early entry force for the MEU before the full strength of the formation can be brought to bear...but as an individual unit...trash it.  Simply enlarge the Air Company and reinforce it if necessary.

Meanwhile the US Army/82nd Airborne is starting to complain that we ordered a strawberry shake instead of the mango peach that they love.

F-35 News. If they can do this with 10 year old sensors....

via Fox News.

The idea with a demonstration, sources indicate, would be to use the F-35 as an airborne relay node or sensor in place of the E-2D Hawkeye. This could allow NIFC-CA to operate against an increasingly complex set of targets such as stealthy targets, the Lockheed executive explained.
Sensors on the F-35 include the Active Electronically Scanned Array, or AESA, radar as well as a system called Distributed Aperture System, or DAS, which combines input from as many as six different electro-optical cameras on the aircraft. The aircraft also draws upon a technology called Electro-optical Targeting System, or EOTS, which helps identify and pinpoint targets. EOTS, which does both air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting, is able to combine forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track technology.

Read the entire article but the question must be asked.

If they're going to do this with an airplane that has avionics that are 10 years behind what the Super Hornet and Growler currently carry into combat then what can they do with the mentioned airplanes?

They're trying to awe the crowd because they don't know any better.  What has me scratching my head is the attempts to wedge the F-35 into missions that it wasn't designed to fulfill.  They're creating "make work" missions for a plane that isn't capable of doing the needed missions of air superiority, close air support, deep strike etc...

I'm not impressed.  NAVAIR knows better but they're trying to prop up a failed airplane.

Mariupol today after shelling & why the conflict in Ukraine is front and center on the blog.

Thanks to info-infanterie for the vid.



Why is the conflict in Ukraine taking such a prominent spot on my blog these last couple of months?

Simple.

We're seeing a fighting in the heart of Europe that I believe is the most consequential battle we've seen since the end of the Cold War.  Don't get me wrong.  Gulf War 1 &  2 were history making/shaping...but not in the way that this fight in Ukraine is.

We're seeing something deadly here and officials are slowly rolling it out to the public.

The US/EU is at war with Russia.

If you're a reader of this blog then you taken on the mantle of responsibility that the masses have refused.  You're aware of whats going on in the world and want to stay informed.  THIS SHIT IS HUGE!  If you've read recent news articles I have then you've heard troops headed to Ukraine described as trainers and more ominously as combat advisors!  Individuals that I keep in contact with that are still active have suddenly gone off line.

This could easily be nothing and we might the powers that be walk all this back...but confidence is not high.

Ukrainian combat losses between Jan 17-22

Is it just me or does this Russian tracked vehicle have an almost impressive amount of ground clearance?  Is this by accident or design to enhance IED protection.

via Kyiv Post

In the period of Jan. 17-22, 18 Ukrainian military servicemen were killed and 235 others injured in armed clashes with militants in the Donetsk and Luhansk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service reported on Jan. 24.
"Also one tank, seven armored fighting vehicles, two MT-12 cannons, and seven automobiles have been lost," it said.
As many as "600 militants and Russian military men were killed and 275 wounded" within the same period of time, it said. The final figure could be bigger, as militants managed to take some wounded persons with them.
"Thanks to decisive and professional actions of Ukrainian military men, 14 tanks, 43 armored fighting vehicles, 14 Grad and Uragan multiple rocket launchers, 28 self-propelled artillery weapons and 19 automobiles were destroyed," the ministry said.
The ministry said that only at Donetsk airport 85 militants were killed and 53 were wounded, seven tanks, 12 armored fighting vehicles, nine automobiles and MT-12 cannon were destroyed.

The fighting at the airport and reports of clashes at other locations makes me wonder if these figures might be on the low side.

Is the USMC going to be saddled with providing F-35C's for carriers?

The first F-35C Lightning II for the US Marine Corps was delivered to Eglin AFB, Florida, on 13 January 2015. Marine Lt. Col. J.T. Ryan, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 501 detachment commander, flew the aircraft (Bureau Number 169031) from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to the base near Fort Walton Beach. It is assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101), the US Navy’s only F-35C fleet replacement squadron. This aircraft is the first of five Marine Corps F-35Cs that will be delivered to VFA-101. The delivery marks the beginning of Marine training in the F-35 carrier variant. The first operational Marine Corps F-35C fleet squadron, VMFA-115, is scheduled to stand up at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2019.

Have you been keeping track of the numbers of F-35's the US Navy is planning on deploying with each carrier?  Do you remember the number of F-35C's the USMC is programmed to buy?

Is it possible that the US Navy is going to get out of buying the F-35C by relying on the USMC to provide their carrier wings with the few aircraft needed?  I've speculated that some kind of deal must have been struck for the US Navy to pick the MV-22 for the COD mission and this seems like a trade they'd be willing to make.

One thing we do know.

No one is enthused about the F-35 anymore.  Its seen as a bad plane that must be bought because we've gone too far to turn back now (I totally disagree with that but more on it later).  Everyone from US Senators, to the Commandant of the Marine Corps is unhappy about the situation they find themselves in with regard to this plane.

The cutbacks are coming, the planning for the 6th gen has already begun and the only thing left to do is assign blame for the biggest procurement boondoggle in the history of defense procurement...anywhere.

UK headed toward irrelevancy? Cuts nuclear stockpile.

I don't know what to think.

If you don't have strong conventional forces then you better have exceptional nuclear capability.

Seems like the UK is giving up on both.

Is the UK headed toward irrelevancy or is it still as strong?  Personally I don't care.  The future for them as far as the US is concerned (IMO) is the same as its always been.  They're gonna be good allies among many.  They will do what they can with what they have with the interests of their own country first and foremost in mind.

I can live with that.

What becomes jeopardized?  Talking points....and perhaps national prestige.  I don't think many of the elites realize how powerful a detterent the idea of a strong military really is.  For all the complaints about the US (and I get an earful on a daily basis by readers from all over the planet) one thing that can't be said is that we're weak militarily.  That makes a difference.

Commandant of the Marine Corps Planning Guidance

  2015CPG Color

Minor rant about the NON embassy evacuation in Yemen.

I was patient with the non-sense surrounding our Ambassador being killed in Libya.

I heard the explanations and while they didn't ring true with me...I let it roll...at least a little bit.  No rants, little rage but a whole lot of doubt.

Now I see the mess that is Yemen.

I see that the embassy hasn't been shuttered and the personnel..all personnel..evacuated...and I wonder.  How many people must die to save a political talking point in a Presidential State of the Union address?

Make no mistake about it.  From my arm chair this bad boy should have been evacuated days ago.  Once the President of that nation was captured the Marines of the 24th MEU should have been sent in to get our people out.  But no.  The powers that be wait.  I can't help but think its politics.  People are being endangered because of politics.

That sucks.

Sidenote:  Mark your calendar.  Another ally of the US...a country that was cooperating with us...just fell out of power.  If you ran a third world nation would you look to this administration for assistance or the Russians or Chinese?  Think about that!

Sci-Fi Friday. Alien Outpost!

Iveco VBTP Guarani by The Tank Maker Blog

This guy does nice work.  Check him out here.