31st MEU kept a standard exercise secret in Okinawa back in 1992...

via Asahi.com

An elite U.S. Marine Corps unit stationed in Okinawa Prefecture to respond swiftly to a military crisis held its first drill on the island in secrecy in 1992, deeming it too "politically sensitive" to reveal.

The decision reflected hopes that the U.S. military's long-term access to bases in Okinawa would be assured.

These details were included in the command chronology and relevant records of the unit, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU).

The documents were disclosed by the U.S. Marine Corps in response to a request by The Asahi Shimbun.

The 31st MEU, based in Okinawa since 1992, is comprised of 2,000 or so Marines and designated as an expeditionary quick reaction force.

It has been deployed widely from East Asia to the Middle East. The U.S. Marine Corps operates seven MEUs globally, but the 31st MEU is the only unit deployed outside the United States.

The Marine Corps records showed that the unit’s first drill on Okinawa was carried out in November 1992 to simulate its response to a possible contingency in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Jerry Humble, a retired two-star general who commanded the 31st MEU at the time, confirmed in a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that Taiwan was one of the possible contingencies the U.S. military was gearing up for.

Story here. 

Such a little thing.  A standard exercise gets classified as secret because of host country sensibilities. 

Sometimes I think Okinawa is just more trouble than it's worth.

SOCOM wants a new Armored Ground Mobility Vehicle...

via The Drive.

U.S. Special Operations Command has laid out the first basic requirements for a new light armored vehicle to give elite American forces added protection, firepower, and mobility over even their heaviest mine-resistant trucks. These would replace an obscure fleet of Austrian-designed wheeled armored vehicles that the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, among others, has utilized over the past two decades. They could also supplant the Stryker armored vehicles assigned to that service’s 75th Ranger Regiment, which made a notable appearance in northern Syria two years ago.

Logan Kittinger, Special Operations Command’s (SOCOM) Deputy Program Manager for Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FOSOV), first revealed the Next Generation Armored Ground Mobility System (AGMS) program at the National Defense Industry Association’s (NDIA) annual Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference on Feb. 4, 2019.

Kittinger's briefing notes that SOCOM is expecting to continue developing the requirements for the new armored vehicle, as well as looking at what existing options are available, into 2020. However, it does outline some key features that the special operations forces are looking for already.

The final design will have to be able to carry between nine and 10 passengers and have a total payload capacity of 4,500 pounds or more. The vehicle will have to fit inside a C-130-series transport aircraft, as well.

This is similar in many respects to the existing AGMS, which is a variant of the 6x6 Pandur I light armored vehicle that Austrian conglomerate Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge, or SSF, first developed the in the 1980s. These vehicles have a crew of two and can carry seven additional personnel. They have a gross weight of around 30,000 pounds and are also C-130 transportable.

Beyond that, the requirements for the Next Generation AGMS call for an unspecified “heavy weapons capability” using a remote weapon station, and a desire for “improved situational awareness.” Though not specific, these both point to a demand for special operators to be able to operate effectively from within the confines of the vehicle with its hatches closed.

Story here. 

Read the whole thing but from my seat it looks a bit like this.  SOCOM will NOT WANT a vehicle in service with the US military unless its becoming cost sensitive which I seriously doubt.  So who does that leave?  The Eitan (probably the finest wheeled APC in the world right now that doesn't need to swim) is out because its Israeli.  Full stop.  Sucks but true.  We can figure everyone's darling is out because its too damn heavy, the German Boxer.

My guess is that they're left with a few scant options because of the C-130 transportability issue (ya know we've got to get a bigger tactical transport...the C-130s limitations are becoming backbreaking to the ground force).

Next gen Pandur seems like a likely option.  Someone will probably get a nice contract to add sensors and possibly a heavy weapon.

The S. Korean Black Fox could get a look if they cast their net wide enough but I don't know if they will.  For some reason the US military tends to look West instead of East even though we're seeing some tremendous innovation from the Pacific Rim.

If I was running SOCOMs shop I'd be running to Patria and asking about this beauty.  It's my personal favorite for this program but I'm just a blogger.

Time will tell but it'll be interesting.

War of the Spark Official Trailer...can someone explain the backstory?

Cool trailer but I don't understand it.  I know the female has some kind of grudge against the dragon thing, but what is the basis of it.  Additionally is she the good guy or the bad guy?

Anyone know?  I'm just curious.  Not at all into Magic The Gathering but this is kinda cool.

Blast from the past....This day in 1940, the NKVD (Soviet secret police) begin the execution of 22,000 Polish military officers.

WWII Pictures‏ @WWIIpix 31 minutes ago

This day in 1940, the NKVD (Soviet secret police) begin the execution of 22,000 Polish military officers. The shootings started in the evening and ended at dawn throughout April and May. Most victims were executed one by one, shot in the back of the head or neck. #WW2

Merlin Mk2 carrying the @ThalesUK Crowsnest radar.

Coming to a @QEClassCarriers somewhere near you, a @LDO_Helicopters @LockheedMartin #Merlin Mk2 carrying the @ThalesUK #Crowsnest radar. This is the trials aircraft for "aero-mechanical" testing, with flight trials taking place throughout the rest of 2019. pic.twitter.com/3goUyGDrJm

— Tony Osborne (@Rotorfocus) April 4, 2019

My God that is one horrible looking and awkward setup, but if it works....

I'm still wondering if and when the USMC will be trying to get a similar setup operating from a MV-22.  I hope it doesn't because it will be a duplication of effort.  The USMC has a couple of KC-130s shadowing its MEUs from land bases.  We could borrow a few E-2Ds if they're needed.

Back to basics!  Don't duplicate assets that are available from other services!  Focus on core competencies!

New model Mi-26 (in digital camo) takes flight...

Flightglobal has additional pics and a write up here.

Looks good.  Wonder what it's lift capability is now.

2d LAR @ Fort Irwin NTC...Video by Cpl. Melanye Martinez

UH-1Y Drone Interception ... pics by Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert

Didn't know this was a thing.  Didn't know that a UH-1Y would be tasked with the mission.

Interesting.  A bit curious but interesting.

Open Comment Post. 04 April 2019

A Marine Major to the Commandant. Tell us who we are! Absolutely FANTASTIC thinking...this Major gets it!

via Military.com

A Marine Corps major is joining a growing chorus calling on the service to develop a clear identity and to stop being everything to everyone.

Maj. Leo Spaeder, a Marine air-ground task force planner at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, wants the general officer nominated to lead the service to end what he calls an ongoing identity crisis. Lt. Gen. David Berger was tapped to be 38th commandant of the Marine Corps in March; his confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.

In a commentary he wrote for War on the Rocks titled "Sir, Who Am I? An Open Letter to the Incoming Commandant of the Marine Corps," Spaeder said he's confused by his service's attempt to organize, train and equip before it has developed a clear identity.

"At Headquarters Marine Corps, I have heard and read a dizzying array of what we are doing, pursuing, and becoming," the major wrote. "... Not much of it is coherent: general purpose force, expeditionary advanced base operations force, paced against a specific threat, no pacing threat, applicable to all combatant commands, urban/megacities, jungle, sea control, forcible entry operations, amphibious, expeditionary, naval, crisis responders, contact force, blunt force, surge force, heavy, light, etc.

"I could go on, but it's starting to feel absurd."

Spaeder, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is not the only one calling on Marine Corps leaders to develop a clear mission. Last month, Dakota Wood, a retired Marine officer now with the Heritage Foundation, wrote a 60-page report highlighting what the service must do to prepare for a near-peer naval battle.

"The ability to project ground combat power by sea is what differentiates the Corps from the Army," Wood said. "Without this capability, there is not much reason to maintain a Marine Corps."

And last year, Congress called for assessments on the service's ground forces when it comes to deterring near-peer enemies and the feasibility, plans and investments in the Marine Corps' ability to operate in contested littoral environments.

Like Wood, Spaeder said the Marine Corps "can stop creating redundant capabilities," such as Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command or Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. Those are services already provided to the joint force, he said. (Wood argued something similar about MARSOC, though it proved unpopular with some in the special operations community.)

If confirmed to serve as commandant, Berger should choose what Spaeder calls a single-core attribute. Marines need to know whether they should be focused on being a general-purpose force, one that fights small wars, one that fights in the littorals, or something else, he said.

"Next, name two or three distinguishing attributes that -- in accordance with the National Defense Strategy -- differentiate the Corps from the other services," Spaeder added.

The Marine Corps should still be able to conduct other outlying mission sets that complement those missions, he said, but they should be Marines' lowest priorities when it comes to investing time and resources.

"I pose a single question to drive our identity: Are we naval in character or purpose?" Spaeder asks. "If it's the former, then we can continue to be anything we want and just continue using funny words for windows, walls, and water fountains."

But if the Marine Corps continues doing a bunch of other missions at the same time -- training for an arctic mission in Norway, providing land-based crisis response in Africa and the Middle East, and spending more on support elements than it does on infantry units -- the service will continue its march to irrelevance and eventual extinction, he warned.

The Marine Corps has no more time to be everything to everyone, Spaeder added. It can't dabble in modernization, he said, without a clear vision behind it. Now that the National Defense Strategy has been released, Berger should leverage it to decide the service's next steps.

And those who aren't on board with his vision should retire, Spaeder added.

"A clear identity is now possible and represents a once-in-a-century chance to re-invent the Marine Corps," he wrote.

Berger oversees Spaeder's command in his current role as head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

One thing out the box.  Gina Harkins is the author of this piece.  Been following her on Twitter and if you're not you're missing out. 

Second is that I didn't link back because I posted the entire article.  If Gina or someone at Military.com wants it taken down then I will.  No problem.

Lastly, this thing makes my heart sing.

It's not just the dizzying focus on damn near everything, but it's also down to basics.  What is the Marine Corps today?  Is it a cult of warriors supreme or has it been watered down to a muddle mess that can't fight its way out of a paper bag because its so focused on ... "other things".

No.  I'm not talking about the issues the Major highlighted but other things. Yeah, I'm not being clear and you'll have to read between the lines because I won't wade into those waters.

I wonder if the new guy will have the fortitude to get his arms wrapped around the non-sense.

Time will tell.

Block III Super Hornets WILL be able to track stealth aircraft...

via Flightglobal.

The Block III upgrade package includes a range of structural and sensor upgrades, but it crucially adds the ability to receive and transfer large amounts of sensor data with other Super Hornets and the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.


It also adds a second-generation infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, allowing the Super Hornet to detect and track enemy aircraft without giving away its own position by using its radar. The IRST is able to detect even targets stealthy to radar at long ranges, but a single sensor on one aircraft does not provide enough clarity to provide targeting information to a guided missile.


The Block III package also adds the Rockwell Collins Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) radio and an advanced processor. Those upgrades allow two or more F/A-18E/Fs to share IRST sensor data, giving a single fighter enough information to use for a targeting solution.

Here. 

Wait one darn minute!  So let me get this straight.  A flight of Super Hornet Block III's with IRST can data share information and get a lock on stealth aircraft?

So this means that with the Navy's networking system, this same flight of aircraft could pass on that data to an Aegis Destroyer so that it can launch its' anti-air missiles or a US Army's Multi-Domain unit to do the same?

I can't speak for the rest of the US military but it looks like the Navy is working the problem of killing stealth aircraft.

Is this why they're not so hot about the F-35C?  Looks like payloads do indeed win out over platforms!

Open Comment Post. 03 March 2019

Marine Corps New Equipment Training Team takes aim at the Amphibious Combat Vehicle...Pics & Story by Ashley Calingo

via Marine Corps Systems Command.

At its core, any Marine Corps New Equipment Training Team is responsible for—as the name suggests—arming Marines with the knowledge and skills they need to operate and maintain new equipment to ensure Marines’ future success on the battlefield. When new equipment is fielded, the NETT provide the initial training to experienced legacy system operators and maintainers to help get them acquainted with the new system in the shortest time possible.


When the new system is the Amphibious Combat Vehicle—game-changing not only in the amphibious capabilities it provides to Marines, but also in that it’s replacing a nearly 50-year-old legacy system—the NETT are in a unique position to bridge the gap between the past and future of amphibious combat in the Corps. Currently, most new equipment training teams are comprised of civilian subject matter experts from Industry, the ACV NETT is comprised primarily of amphibious assault Marines who are able to apply their experience and expertise in operating and maintaining the legacy vehicle to operating and maintaining the new one.


“It’s pretty much 100 percent preparation for the next evolution,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Wheeler, lead operational instructor on the NETT, of his team’s role. “All of us here on the NETT have years of experience operating the legacy [Assault Amphibious Vehicle]. I think that our collective experience and influence is important, especially in informing the future of our community. That’s our number one job.”


Though the NETT falls under the Virginia-based Advanced Amphibious Assault program office at Program Executive Officer Land Systems, the office responsible for acquiring and fielding the system, the team itself is housed at the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch at Camp Pendleton, Calif., maximizing the team’s ability to spend time on and become proficient with operating and maintaining the vehicle.


To aid Marines’ transition from the legacy to the new platform, the NETT faces the challenge of infusing old practices into new Standard Operating Procedures and Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for the ACV.


“During the operational assessment, we realized that some of the tactics we’re used to with the AAV don’t work with the ACV,” said Wheeler. “We’re taking into account our old doctrine with the AAV, and seeing how some of those tactics, TTPs and SOPs can translate to the ACV [to make the transition easier for Marines].”


On the vehicular maintenance side, NETT Marines also help design the maintenance course. Currently, the team is busy helping the program office prepare for a four-month logistics demonstration—a comprehensive event evaluating the maintainability and sustainability of the vehicle—scheduled for this fall.


“One of the ways we’re verifying the Technical Manual for the ACV is by having the maintenance team complete over 1,400 maintenance tasks using the TM as a guide,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Hanush, maintenance lead instructor for the ACV. “This will help us when preparing the maintenance course. Ultimately, we want to ensure that Marines are successful when the vehicle hits the fleet.”


While the NETT’s main role is training Marines on maintaining and operating the ACV, the team also licenses drivers and, as operators of the vehicle, are integral participants in the rigorous operational, logistical and evaluative vehicle tests initiated by PM AAA. Having experienced amphibious assault Marines on the NETT has been extremely beneficial to the program office, particularly during operational assessments and testing.


“The Marines have assisted us greatly with understanding how the amphibious community operates, especially on water,” said James Aurilio, Manpower, Personnel and Training lead for PM AAA. “Operating a land vehicle in water is a unique experience, and they brought that experience with them. There’s a lot about doing that that, those of us who don’t do it would never understand or wouldn’t think to ask [during testing]. They’ve been stellar and have helped us out a lot.”


The NETT will start training Marines from Delta Company, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, in January 2020. Delta Company will be the first amphibious assault crews to be trained on the new vehicle. Upon completion of training, the NETT will help guide the Delta Company Marines as they participate in tests assessing the effectiveness of the first set of low-rate initial production ACVs. PM AAA anticipates receiving the first set of low-rate production vehicles this summer.

This is interesting.  I never considered how much change something like an armored vehicle could bring.  Kinda makes you ALMOST consider the issues with the F-35 in a new light...till you consider that they've had over a decade to get things together but I digress.

I wonder how much tribal knowledge will have to change and how much will be retained.

USS Wasp "enhanced" F-35B deployment....pics by Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Barker

Below are pics of the "enhanced" F-35B deployment aboard the USS Wasp.  Laying this out there.  Could I have been wrong in assuming that the Ground Combat Element is being left on the pier in favor of a light carrier?  It has definitely been proposed.  It was definitely championed by Amos.

But is this what it's about?

One thing is certain.  This IS about an aviation centric Marine Corps.  The lack of attack helicopters aboard this ship is disturbing but we don't know what the San Antonio that is attached is carrying.

Could this simply be an effort to redeploy assets across the Amphibious Ready Group because we also have an "enhanced" aviation capable LPD now?  Is this an effort to MAXIMIZE the current MEU instead of adding an additional ship to the MEU as I've called for in my Reinforced MEU Concept?  We desperately need to see what's aboard the LPD and LSD attached!

As far as this move (assuming this theory is correct)?  In the whole I still don't like it.

We're losing surface connectors which means that we're becoming even lighter than we are now.  As a matter of fact the USMC is the lightest its been with regard to the GCE right now since just after WW2!

Don't believe that?  Check the history.  By my count the USMC was at its heaviest shortly after Korea and before Vietnam.  It rocked steady thru Desert Storm and has been "losing weight" ever since.

Anyway, check out the pics below.

Ajax Scout cold weather glamor shot...

Instant karma....Brutal karma...

Instant karma. pic.twitter.com/1n3ZXVKrps

— INSTANT KARMA (@instakarm) April 2, 2019

How do you not bleed out after something like this?  If true then no sympathy for the criminal...none at all.

KC-390

F-35 New. The real cost!

Thanks to Fonck for the link!

According to @usairforce FY2018 Acquisition Report, released Tuesday, the average #F35 unit cost is $143.3 million - just 2.2% lower than in 2012.https://t.co/ElmmNiirra (p 27)
This is *70 % * higher than the $89.2m unit cost claimed by @LockheedMartin pic.twitter.com/ScElg0HdMT

— Giovanni de Briganti (@JoedeBrig) April 3, 2019

I'll just leave this here.

The Royal Marine Tarzan Course.

The Tarzan Course finishes when you reach the top of this obstacle, jump down to the platform and shout out your name. The general commentary that then follows, and did today....”that is so honking...worst test ... can’t breath...I’m in clip...thank God it’s done!” pic.twitter.com/piyZfD7TlR

— Commandant of CTCRM (@ColMikeTanner) April 2, 2019

So this is part of the FAMOUS Royal Marine Tarzan Course.  I remember talking to some RM's about their training and this course along with some "tabbing" (that's what they call rucking) somewhere in the countryside always came up.

From every "bloody" one of them.

Consider this part of the bucket list.  You want to see Big Ben, or the Queen when you travel to the UK?  I want to see the Royal Marine version of San Diego Boot Camp and this place where they all claim to vomit cause the rucking is so rough....

Vox owns up to their mistake in the Trump-Russia hoax....it boiled down to hatred and looking for a reason for his victory...

via Daily Wire.

Vox Media feels it may have the answer. In an interview over the weekend with Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, who claims that the Russian collusion spectacle was the worst media mistake in history, both Vox reporter Sean Illing and Taibbi agree: the Left was just far too devastated in the weeks following Trump's election to think straight.


"A lot of people simply did not want to believe that Trump was a legitimate president, that someone this vulgar and this dishonest could win a presidential election," Illing says. "And I think that disbelief and the emotional devastation of his election colored a lot of our judgments."


"Absolutely. Look, almost every pundit failed to see what was happening during the presidential election. No one thought this guy would win. It was almost a 100 percent consensus in the industry. Nobody even accepted it as an idea that he could possibly win, and a lot of that had to do with the insularity of the media," Taibbi agreed.


"Then when he became president, the instantaneous decision was to declare his presidency illegitimate and foreign-aided. That doesn’t mean all of these stories were made up, of course, but I think there was a deep need to make sense of it all, to somehow not recognize the result. So a lot of people wanted to cancel it out. But that’s not what the press is supposed to do. That’s not our job," he added.

More here.