— Nature is Scary (@TheScaryNature) July 11, 2019
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Dang! Nellers is leaving....
After 44 years of dedication to the Corps, Gen. Robert B. Neller leaves us with some parting words.— U.S. Marines (@USMC) July 11, 2019
Semper Fi, Sir! pic.twitter.com/wMOkeAmNFV
Wow. Didn't think he was heading out the door so soon. I really wanted to meet this guy at Modern Day Marine. Of all the recent Commandants he's the most mysterious to me.
Never got a feel for the guy.
He definitely led the Marine Corps through some tough and interesting times.
His problem was that it wasn't some horrendous fight on a battlefield that will be the memory of his time as Commandant but the boiling social issues that the Corps had skillfully avoided in the past but was forced on it by outside forces during his time.
Was the change necessary?
I can't say.
I will say that a certain flavor that was unique to the Marine Corps is in danger or has been lost.
Did he move the Corps forward? Did he leave it in better shape when leaving than when he took charge?
Again I don't know.
Did he have a hallmark achievement that he'll be remembered for? Again I don't know.
I think the Expeditionary Squad concept was pushed hard during his tenure. I think he got the AAV replacement across the finish line.
But alot is still left hanging. The expeditionary sea base concept seems as muddled as it was before. The F-35 while trundling forward still seems to be in trouble. Despite tons of money spent it seems like Marine Air is still in serious flux with no end in sight.
I just don't know how to rate him as a Commandant. When looking back at the guys who have come before I know one thing.
I don't think we need an innovator like Krulak or a tactician like PX Kelly. We need a bulldawg. Not so much a person that will point to a future where everything is sunshine and roses but more like a person that is focused on the work that needs to be done.
A back to basics guy like Generals Gray or Jones.
Yeah.
We need a guy that will get the entire Marine Corps focused on what we do....Make Marines & Win Battles...oh and it would be nice to have a communicator...someone that will set a course and go after it no matter the obstacles or cries from the cheap seats (that includes me) and explain why he's doing it.
I wish General Neller the best.
He led during some surprisingly tough times. The Marine Corps he led was being buffeted by forces beyond its control and maintaining a heading without crashing into the rocks was probably the best we could expect.
God Bless the dude. I hope he has a great retirement and I'm sorry I never got a feel for him.
The Chinese J-20 broke the record for combat cruising speed?
The #Chinese J-20 broke the record for combat cruising speed. #China was able to reach this peak by developing a perfect fighter design, according to local media. As a result, the F-22 was far behind @EmirLouise @saptak__mondal @VinodDX9 @Ibra_Joudeh @Chopsyturvey @Stealth40k pic.twitter.com/KrmR94y9D9— Sukhoi Su-57 frazor🇷🇺🇮🇳 (@I30mki) July 10, 2019
Anyone have info on this? I'm not one to underestimate the Chinese but this seems...suspect...
Riverines trade in their CB90s for Mark VI Patrol Boats...are they now glorified Master-At-Arms?
The CB90 is a staple of Riverine/Coastal Marine forces worldwide. I'm especially fond of what I'm seeing the Swiss/Netherlands are doing but it doesn't end there. Even the Russians have adopted their own version of the boat. Surprisingly, the biggest operator after the Swiss Royal Navy is the Mexican Navy (Wiki article here).
But I digress.
The Riverines are trading in their CB90s for Mark VI Patrol Boats.
Does this tell us anything about how they're going to operate in the future? I'm not sure. Check this out via Defense News.
The Mark VI patrol boat bristles with heavy automatic weapons, and that’s the way its crews like it.Story here.
“I tell the crews that you want to look like a porcupine,” said U.S. Navy Senior Chief Derrick Cox, who trains the sailors that man the Mark VI as part of Coastal Riverine Squadron 2’s training evaluation unit. “You don’t want to kick a porcupine because you know there will be consequences.”
The Mark VI is a replacement for the Riverine Command Boat, which gained notoriety three years ago when two of them, along with their crews, were captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard when they strayed into Iranian waters near Farsi Island in the Arabian Gulf.
“This has double, maybe even triple the firepower of the RCB,” Cox said.
--------------------------------------------------
Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the parent command of the Riverines, dispensed training for offensive operations and refocused the Coastal Riverine Force toward port and infrastructure security, high-value unit escort missions, and other such anti-terrorism, force protection missions. It also forced the Riverine crews to get serious about their jobs, Cox said.
“Our missions were in more permissive environments, and a lot of our training was tailored toward that,” he said. “Now we are geared toward non-permissive environments.”
The head of NECC, Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, is taking that new focus and his new Mark VI platform and turning toward the challenge at hand: great power competition.
In my title I asked if they're now glorified Master-At-Arms. I think that applies more than many Riverines would like to think. Check this out (again via Wiki).
According to the United States Navy Enlisted Occupational Standards, NAVPERS 18068F, it states that Master-at-Arms provide waterborne and land security, aircraft and flight line security, strategic weapons and cargo security, maritime security and platform protection; conduct customs operations, corrections operations, detainee operations, and protective service operations; perform force protection, physical security and law enforcement; organize and train personnel in force protection, physical security, law enforcement, and weapons proficiency; develop plans for physical security and force protection enhancement of Navy bases, installations, property, and personnel; and assist commands in conducting terrorist threat analysis and implementing defensive measures.The lipstick is that they're realigning for peer vs peer combat. The reality is that to play a role in that type of conflict they're going to take on more of the waterborne elements of the Master-At-Arms rating.
I'm pretty stunned.
A force that was once a light weight SWCC and had a legacy going back to Vietnam has been castrated without protest.
They've gone from exercises with the Royal Netherland Marines to now being engaged in force protection, and large ship escort (don't get it twisted those are invaluable roles and the work must be done). I can't help but wonder how big a role the capture of those two Riverine boats, along with crews led to this outcome.
The pity isn't that these essential mission are being done by Riverines.
As I said.
The work must be done.
The pity is that they didn't allow this unit with a proud history to case their colors and fade into history with the distinction they're worthy of. Instead the name remains but the mission is now completely different...nothing like the one that was their claim to fame in the past.
Modern Day Marine (Quantico)...I'm coming to get you!
Plane tickets bought, reservations made...I'm getting pumped about Modern Day Marine!
Really looking forward to stomping around creating chaos and drinking beer with old bros, new bros and meet some people. Hit me up as the date gets closer so we can do what we do.
Oh and Neller....I'm coming to get you too bro...show your face cowboy.
Was I a good dog? I heard you were the best!
“On June 19, 2019 in Syria, MWD Mminto (V527) was shot 3 times in the chest during a firefight and did not make it. He was a hell of dog and ended up saving multiple soldiers’ lives by sacrificing his. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what happened that morning.” pic.twitter.com/TcJNphDDfP— MilitaryWorkingDogs (@MWD_News) July 10, 2019
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Picture Thread...
Note. All pics are via NAWC Facebook Page...
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| Wow...didn't know the E-2 had an air refueling probe...is this new? |
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| looks like a mix between a flying unicorn and the hunchback... |
Thompson's "Five USAF Money Pits" are actually just threats to the F-35...
via Forbes.
The U.S. Air Force is currently flying the oldest, smallest fleet of combat aircraft in its history. It has fewer than 200 heavy bombers to cover the entire world, and many are not available for flight on a typical day. Most of the aerial refueling tankers that are supposed to support those bombers on long-range missions are over 50 years old. Hundreds of Air Force fighters suffer from age-related maladies such as corrosion, metal fatigue and parts obsolescence.Story here.
These problems are all traceable to low levels of investment in new technology for two decades after the Cold War ended. The service now has to play catchup, buying new bombers, tankers, fighters and trainers all at the same time. Meanwhile, the Air Force needs to re-architect the satellite constellations it operates for the joint force, to make them more resilient against growing threats from China and Russia. Precision-guided “smart bombs” often won’t work unless they have access to a GPS signal.
With so many investment needs burdening their budget, you’d think Air Force planners would grasp the urgency of staying focused on what really matters. Well, guess again. There are voices within the service constantly second-guessing technology initiatives that have taken many years to bring to fruition, and must be kept on track if the force is to be modernized. As a result, the current moment of abundant funding for new weapons might slip away with little to show for decades of planning.
History demonstrates that surges in weapons spending typically last for only a few years before economic slowdowns and/or competing priorities bring them to a close. It is crucial to keep the Air Force’s modernization efforts focused on replacing old hardware while the money is available. With that in mind, here are five costly projects that the Air Force does not need to pursue, projects that are distractions from the hard work of keeping America the world’s dominant aerospace power.
Read the entire article.
Ok. You're back.
Do you get the force of connection here? Do you get what he's trying to sell?
Fact.
The USAF is finally taking a hard look at the F-35. It's history. It's projected cost. It's performance up to this point and they've reached one inescapable conclusion.
Even if it delivers as advertised it's just gonna be too expensive to maintain. Additionally some parts of the system just won't work. ALIS instead of being a money saver, is instead costing MORE money in terms of doing work arounds...they pushed for more platforms instead of building up supply depots...they tried to game the procurement system and now its biting them.
Fact.
If the F-35 had been delivered on the ORIGINAL schedule we would probably be on F-35G or even F-36 by now.
But it didn't meet the ORIGINAL schedule so now we've lost a decade of development because of it and the USAF is attempting to play catch by pushing the initiatives Thompson spoke about.
Reality.
Some of these initiatives won't survive. One most definitely will. The next generation fighter will go forward for both the Air Force and the Navy.
The F-35 has about 5 more years before attention goes toward the future, not the misplaced past (if that time hasn't already come...Sweden is joining the Brits in the Tempest, and the 6th gen Eurofighter project is steaming ahead).
China calls for the US to immediately halt arms sale to Taiwan....
via Asia Times.
US State Department has approved a possible $2.2-billion arms deal for Taiwan – angering Beijing which called for Washington to “immediately cancel” the proposal.
The sale of more than 100 Abrams tanks, 250 Stinger missiles and other equipment was announced by the Pentagon on Monday. It said the sale of these weapons – plus armored vehicles, heavy equipment transporters and mounted machine guns – was requested by Taiwan and “would not alter the basic military balance in the region”.
China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, had an angry reaction to the news, which has come at a sensitive time, just days after Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to restart talks on their protracted trade dispute.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang claimed on Tuesday that US arms sales to Taiwan were a violation of international law and a “crude interference in China’s internal affairs, harming China’s sovereignty and security interests,” Reuters reported.
“China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to this and has already made stern representations to the US side,” Geng said at the daily news briefing. “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory and nobody should underestimate the Chinese government’s and people’s firm determination to defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose foreign interference.”Story here.
Anything that makes the Chinese howl like this has to be considered a good thing. What surprises me is the series of moves.
They allow the Hong Kong govt to shelve the bill that caused the riots/protests but then make this a big deal?
I don't understand the thinking.
At best I imagine they're playing a long game in both cases. Hong Kong is already in their sphere of influence and if worst comes to pass they can simply conduct snatch and grabs of the most vile citizens inside Hong Kong to show that they're working to make China safer...and wait till later to go after the big fish. The people that have been thorns in their sides for decades.
With Taiwan this seems like a bit of grand standing. I was getting to the point of discounting the "saving of face" nature of the Pacific region but I'm guessing that this protest is all about that.
Regardless.
Taiwan is a lost cause. Too close to China. Too many Quislings inside their govt/population. Too tough to defend without starting WW3.
I just hope they're detuned to the Nth degree cause as soon as they land you know some "Chinese patriot" will be reverse engineering and send specs back to Beijing.
Sidenote. The Taiwanese are getting a pretty substantial arms package. Check it out here.
Blast from the past....Ship to Shore Connectors...
Note. I get that "rebranding" is the hotness now. But legacy is a good thing too. Can we toss the "new talk" and simply embrace our Marine Corps legacy? Case in point. Why the switch from landing craft to "connectors"? Quite honestly it's insulting, gives the impression of activity with the changing of a designation and breaks with/sullies the past. Going from LVT to AAV did that, the same with AAV to ACV. By rights BAE got it right. If we're going for a bit of historical accuracy, the ACV should be called the LVW-1 (Landing Vehicle Wheeled-1).
When the USMC had a SeaBasing Integration Division, Jim Strock was leading an effort to get the concept up and running. The work they did can be found in the pdf (and others) that I linked to in an earlier blog post.
While going over some of the concepts they floated, the one that landed as the most "doable" now is what you see above...the "Connector Station Ship".
The idea?
Use this SeaBee Barge as an LCAC carrier. How many could it carry? Well the illustration shows 5 in the well deck and I'm assuming another 5 on deck.
That would be a formidable "enabler"
In one move we could recover all the lost well deck space/vehicle carriage that the move from the old LST/LSD to the new LX(R)/San Antonio class/America Class ships cost us.
In essence this one move would rebalance our assault from being dominated by air to giving us back our surface assault capability.
If nothing else I'd love to see it on a major exercise within a year or two. Money is tight so I doubt it would happen but consider this. It wouldn't need to be run into the ground. This is a break in case of emergency type ship. Supporting nothing smaller than a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (or a similar sized Army assault) would be its role so the capability more than matches the cost.
Just a thought. What's yours?
When the USMC had a SeaBasing Integration Division, Jim Strock was leading an effort to get the concept up and running. The work they did can be found in the pdf (and others) that I linked to in an earlier blog post.
While going over some of the concepts they floated, the one that landed as the most "doable" now is what you see above...the "Connector Station Ship".
The idea?
Use this SeaBee Barge as an LCAC carrier. How many could it carry? Well the illustration shows 5 in the well deck and I'm assuming another 5 on deck.
That would be a formidable "enabler"
In one move we could recover all the lost well deck space/vehicle carriage that the move from the old LST/LSD to the new LX(R)/San Antonio class/America Class ships cost us.
In essence this one move would rebalance our assault from being dominated by air to giving us back our surface assault capability.
If nothing else I'd love to see it on a major exercise within a year or two. Money is tight so I doubt it would happen but consider this. It wouldn't need to be run into the ground. This is a break in case of emergency type ship. Supporting nothing smaller than a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (or a similar sized Army assault) would be its role so the capability more than matches the cost.
Just a thought. What's yours?
Monday, July 08, 2019
Politics Talk. And there goes the special relationship...UK Ambassador makes disparaging remarks about Trump
via BBC
The Trump administration has been labelled "inept", insecure and incompetent in leaked emails from the UK ambassador to Washington.Story here.
Sir Kim Darroch said that the White House was "uniquely dysfunctional" and "divided" under Donald Trump.
But he also warned that the US president should not be written off.
The Foreign Office said the leak of the memos to the Mail on Sunday was "mischievous" but did not deny their accuracy.
The White House has not yet responded to the revelation of the contents of the memos, but it could test the so-called "special relationship" between the US and UK.
In the messages, Sir Kim said: "We don't really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction-riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept."
He questioned whether this White House "will ever look competent".
A few things.
1. Talk about the pot calling the kettle! The Brit govt has looked anything but stable...functional...efficient...with regard to its dealings with Brexit.
2. If the Brit govt does not recall their own ambassador then we know that the views expressed are held by their leadership.
3. Hate the policies. Hate the direction that they're leading the country but don't hate the man. It was vile and despicable with the way that Obama was treated (and still is to a certain extent) and the same applies with Trump.
4. Who can the Brits label as their friends now? They're in essence pissing on the EU, they obviously have no love for the US....who do they count as friends? Who will stand by their side? With statements like this it seems like only Democrats in the US, our media and the elite will stand with them. By chance or by calculation they seem to want to split US support.
This is just a terrible visual for them. It's a shame that it came out but I'm glad it did.
Truth is cleansing. It's not always pretty but its cleansing. We now know the truth of how the Brits feel about us.
There goes the special relationship. Its been dying for awhile and this will probably be the knife into the heart of it to end the misery.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) has manufactured the first armored personnel carrier in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas
via AA.co.tr
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has manufactured the first armored personnel carrier in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas in northwestern Syria.Story here.
Inspired by Turkish armored vehicles, Al-Fahd carrier was the fruit of FSA effort in the field of defense industries in the wake of Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation in 2017.
The 4x4 vehicle turns at a speed of 80 km/hour on flat land and 30 km/hour through mountainous terrain, according to a source with the FSA-affiliated Al-Hamza division.
The personnel carrier has a length of 6 meters, height of 3 m and width of 1.75 m.
It is equipped with a hydraulic rear door, seven side openings for shooting, bullet-proof glass, a shield against light and heavy landmines and a steel mesh for protection against RPG shells, the source said.
It is also equipped with an automatic machinegun, a high-definition night vision screen and an advanced communication system.
The FSA carrier can take 10 soldiers, including a five-person crew.
Good God. These guys make my spidey sense spike to max. Can't say why but I trust these people like I trust a venomous snake in my sleeping bag. In case you don't know...I hate snakes...
But now they're building armored vehicles? This is one of those partnerships that bridges two administrations that will come back to bite us.
Sidenote. You do realize that the FSA is about to setup a rival govt in Syria so this mess will continue for the foreseeable future. So what is it now. A four way fight? Iran/Syria/Russia on one side. The US/some Western nations/FSA on the other. A few terror groups that aren't under the FSA banner floating around. The Turks that are bridging between Syria/Russia/Iran and the US while gobbling up territory and how could I forget the Kurds. Syria is a clustefuck from hell.
31st MEU Marines conduct mechanized raid (pics by Lance Cpl. Kyle Bunyi)...the ACV should revitalize this operation...
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| An Assault Amphibious Vehicle with Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, lands on the Coast of Townshend Island, Queensland Australia, July 1, 2019. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region |
The mechanized amphibious raid.
A hallmark of MEU operations that should be revitalized with the arrival of the ACV.
What do I mean?
Speed alone should make it more effective. While water speed is essentially the same as the AAV, travel on land will be where the ACV shines. It's mine protected, has equal (soon to be more) firepower than our current ride, is mechanically more reliable, more fuel efficient and quieter.
Add in a few enablers (depending on how tough the target is) and this could potentially become an enormously powerful tool.
Consider this. Fly in artillery to the beach with CH-53Ks for fire support. Use attached drones for target surveillance. AH-1Zs can arrive just as the assault is starting to provide support. MV-22s can land a blocking force from the Air Company to pick up stragglers or to act an the anvil to the mech force's hammer.
Flipping the script a bit and using work done for building an air centric Marine Corps could pay off in making this old chestnut more effective.
Of course the biggest thing the Corps could do to get the mechanized amphibious raid ready for a 21st century prime time is to work out instream launches of the vehicle from LCACs.
If our amphibs can hover 25 miles off shore and we're able to launch LCACs brimming with ACVs from there...and then conducting an instream launch of those vehicles from 3 miles off shore then you've got a multiplier that should be capable of surprising most enemies that we'd send this formation after.
Let's hope the ACV makes mechanized amphibious raids great again.
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