Tuesday, April 30, 2019
GAO Podcast on F-35 deficiencies...
via Defense Aerospace!
GAO found that "According to DOT&E officials, since the start of operational testing (IOT&E), four new category 1 deficiencies have been identified, bringing the total to 17."— Giovanni de Briganti (@JoedeBrig) April 30, 2019
That's a 25% increase in Cat 1 deficiencies since December https://t.co/YkkBK2l2J5
We've been toying with armed robotic vehicles for a couple of decades but the Royal Marines actually did an amphibious assault exercise with them...
via National Interest
Robots in the air, on the ocean surface and on the ground guarded British Royal Marines as they stormed a beach during an important April 2019 war game.Story here.
The ground robot, in particular, is a new capability for the Royal Marines. The gun- and rocket-armed, tank-like unmanned ground vehicle could boost the naval branch’s firepower while helping to keep human beings out of harm’s way.
Alpha Company of the Royal Marines’ 40 Commando and their robot guardians stormed a beach in Cornwall in southwest England as part of Exercise Commando Warrior. The Royal Marines’ 1 Assault Group supported the naval infantry.
How many of you remember the Carnegie Mellon Crusher circa 2007...
Or how about the more recent BAE Black Knight?
You don't want to talk about combat vehicles? Well how about the TerraMaxx, basically a robotic MTVR!
The point?
We keep playing with robotic vehicles but we never put them into service. Now? Now our allies and threat nations are putting them into service while we waste what was once a technological lead.
Unmanned ground combat vehicles WILL BE the next wave in armored warfare. We should be on our 3rd generation of such vehicles but bureaucratic stagnation along with two poorly planned and executed wars in the Middle East (or does Syria count as 3) mean that lead no longer exists.
Is this how Rome fell? They became complacent while everyone else stayed hungry?
Australian Tigers deploy overseas .... Aussie Diggers getting their sea legs!
Thanks to Jamie for the pics/link!!!
* Above pics via Defense.gov.au...below story via Shepard Media...
Australia despatched four Australian Army Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to join the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 (IPE 19) task force in Malaysia, marking the aircraft type’s first overseas deployment.Story here.
The four helicopters were transported by an RAAF C-17 to Subang Air Base, located near Kuala Lumpur, on 19 April. The Tigers then flew off in two flights on 21 April to land on HMAS Canberra docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre in Port Klang.
HMAS Canberra and the frigate HMAS Newcastle had arrived on 20 April, while two other ships of the task group, the frigate HMAS Parramatta and replenishment ship HMAS Success, were detached from the main group to other locations.
Are you keeping up with the Australian Army's forays into amphibious warfare? It's a sight to behold and they're doing it at a "quick step!"
Monday, April 29, 2019
GAO F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER: Action Needed to Improve Reliability.... gives a shocking statement about life support systems...
Life support system: The program has identified over 35 pilot physiological events, of which nearly 30 occurred in-flight. An action team made of government officials, contractors, and doctors completed their work by May 2018. A root cause investigation did not identify any F-35 system deficiencies, but reported it was difficult to fully determine the problem due to a lack of real-time data. Contracting officials stated that this is partially because the technology has not yet been developed to monitor pilot’s health in flight, in real time. The prime contractor continues to try to develop a means to monitor pilot health.Report here.
Kinda let's you know why the Japanese paper speculates that the pilot of their lost F-35 suffered some type of in-flight debilitating incident don't it.
Has this been known cause it's new to me.
I know we're suppose to listen to the pilots so why aren't they telling us about this.
International ‘Maritime Cooperation’ drills kick off in China....
via TASS
Bilateral Russian-Chinese naval drills "Maritime Cooperation" opened on Monday at the port of Qingdao, the press service of the Pacific Fleet reported.Story here.
"A group of Pacific Fleet ships consisting of the flagship Guards Order of Nakhimov missile cruiser Varyag, the large anti-tank ships Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Tributs, the corvette Sovershenny, the large landing ship Oslyabya, the rescue vessel Igor Belousov and the sea tanker Irkut arrived at the port of Qingdao on a business call several hours ago, and the official opening ceremony for the bilateral Russian-Chinese naval drills ‘Maritime Cooperation 2019’ was carried out. <...> After the end of the official part of the ceremony the commanders of the ship groups of the two countries received orders for actions at sea," the press service reported.
-------------
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian and Chinese sailors will train to carry out joint maneuvers and establish communication and carry out missile and artillery attacks on sea and air targets, as well as train some aspects of search and rescue support.
This didn't have to happen. Wait. Let me deal with what the trolls will say. No. I am not a mouth piece for the Russians. No. I do not think it was wise to push the Russians over to the Chinese.
Yes. I think if Trump was smarter, more forceful and less prone to deal with the obvious provocation of the psy-ops campaign launched against him....and instead followed his instincts then all this could have been avoided.
There are reports that the Russian defense industry is in trouble. I don't believe it. What I do believe is that they're facing the same issues as we are but are exercising a bit more fiscal discipline.
In other words they're working between modernizing the force and maintaining gear they already have. To be a bit more clear they're trying to balance spiral upgrades with leap ahead technology. Their tank force is a perfect example. So is the work they're doing with their IFVs...both wheeled and tracked. That list goes on.
But China is a different beast. Securing their flank and having Russia at least neutral, if not supportive will go a long way toward making their Belt and Road initiative a reality. Talk of the Chinese moving from a physical presence to a cyber one in many of the "customer" nations should chill your bones.
This shouldn't have happened but it is.
So what do we do now?
Will domestic politics allow us the room to make "frienemies" with the Russians so we can regain strategic dominance in the Pacific?
If not then we're gonna have to strip the other oceans and seas of ships to deal with the Pacific.
Atak-2 Heavy Class Attack Helicopter....
caption via Google Translate...
AnadoluAjansi
Verified Here Turkey's new attack helicopter
The world's leading defense industry activities in place in the areas of International Defense Industry Fair (# IDEF'19) there will be an important first for Turkey. # Atak's "heavy brother", also known as Atak-2 Heavy Class Attack Helicopter, will be showcased at the fair for the first time.
S-500 nears completion of its test phase..
via Janes.
Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has told media that research and development (R&D) for the S-500 long-range surface-to-air missile system is in its final phase, the TASS news agency reported on 24 April. "I'm talking about the completion of research and development and the subsequent beginning of batch production. I can now say that the R&D work is about to be completed," Manturov is quoted as saying.That's a pretty cut and dry article isn't it. Well I found this on Moscow Times...
TASS also said Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had earlier said that the system would begin to be provided to the armed forces in 2020.
The Aerospace Force Academy in Tver has been training operators for the system since 2017.
The S-500 missile flew 80 kilometers further than any previous test and successfully engaged a target 480 kilometers away, the CNBC business outlet reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of U.S. intelligence about the Russian weapons program.Story here.
Developed by Almaz-Antey, Russia’s largest defense contractor, the S-500 is touted as capable of intercepting stealth warplanes.
Last week President Vladimir Putin ordered defense officials to lay the groundwork for mass production of the S-500, saying the system is “capable of operating at ultra-high-altitudes including near space.”
Impressive range. Question. How do you defeat a system like this? Penetrating an advanced, layered air defense system seems to me to be suicide.
You must do as we've always done.
Peel it back.
That means we need long range missiles capable of at least being able to duel at distance. We need advanced electronic warfare platforms to knock back their detection range. Probably need unmanned aircraft that can get in close without risking aircrew.
And mostly we need the will to do the hard thing instead of always seeking a magic bullet/tech.
Open Comment Post. 29 April 2019
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| Hard times make hard men (found the author of that saying and its a former Marine turned apocalypse fiction writer!) and Charlie Brown & Snoopy obviously faced hard times cause ole boy is hard as woodpecker lips now! |
Spring Storm 2019....
French 2nd gen #VBCI 32T IFVs of 3e Cie / #2eRIMa in the ex #Kevadtorm in Estonia. HD version. 🇪🇪🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/jutPvXkKmf— Arto Pulkki (@APulkki) May 26, 2017
Below pics via Cezary Stachniak Twitter Page...
Below pics via News.err.ee (Estonia News)...
ST Engineering Bronco 3....
I can't help but wonder if this type vehicle has a role to play with the USMC. I am NOT A FAN of the UTV. They're great vehicles for going out on the back 40 and playing or doing labor but on the battlefield? I just don't think so. Additionally these vehicles are amphibious, have a great payload so can carry a ton of supplies, we've seen them mount 120mm automatic mortars and I'd bet other weapons packages can be fitted.
All this and its still light enough to be lifted by the MV-22, CH-53E and the CH-53K (if it makes it into service).
I like it.
I think it should be considered.
Monday Public Service Announcement....Grilled Cheese Hacks...
What's better than grilled cheese? Oh yeah, nothing.— Recipes GIFs (@Thelnteresting) April 28, 2019
By Tasty pic.twitter.com/d8UnrspTGn
Closeup pic of the YJ-12...
pic via Chinese Military Aviation Blog (here)...
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| YJ-12 is first of the new generation of supersonic long-range AshMs which just entered the service with PLAN. A model of a mysterious supersonic ASM similar to French ASMP was first unveiled at the 2006 Zhuhai Airshow underneath the wing of a JH-7. However the initial speculation of a twin side air intake design as the possible configuration of YJ-12 turned out to be false. Developed by CASIC, YJ-12 appears bigger than Russian Kh-31 but smaller than Kh-41. It features an integrated liquid fuel ramjet engine with a solid rocket booster. Four long narrow air intakes are attached to the body in an "X" arrangement. The missile is thought to have a cruise speed of Mach 2.5-3.5 and a range of 150-400km, depending on its cruising altitude. It typically flies a low-high-low profile. After launched from the carrier, it first climbs and cruises at a relatively high altitude before diving to a sea-skimming level at terminal stage and performs large-scale/high g maneuvers to avoid interception. Compared to the earlier YJ-83, YJ-12 is thought to carry a large warhead (250kg) capable of inducing substantial damage to large surface ships including aircraft carrier. YJ-12 was believed to have been test-fired from a modified H-6L prototype #872 between 2009 and 2010 and currently is in service with PLAN H-6L (x2) and H-6J (x6). The missile was speculated to be carried by PLAN J-16H (x2) as well. YJ-12 was officially unveiled during the 2015 VJ Day Parade in Beijing. Its export version was first unveiled at the 2016 Zhuhai Airshow as CM-302. - Last Updated 4/27/19 |
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Blast from the past....#OTD in 1944, disaster struck Allied forces while conducting a rehearsal for what would later be a landing at Utah Beach in Normandy, France.
#OTD in 1944, disaster struck Allied forces while conducting a rehearsal for what would later be a landing at Utah Beach in Normandy, France.— U.S. Naval History (@USNHistory) April 28, 2019
Read what happened in Exercise Tiger in our recently published page. https://t.co/Ra13jveuqM pic.twitter.com/NSfgfoMVP1
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