Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System with M282 Warhead



SIDENOTE:
If this works as advertised then the small boat problem is a thing of the past.  One UH-1Y, a AH-1Z or an MH-60R could take out a swarm of 20 boats.

Test Pilot Tuesday.

Dude, you better win!

Sgt. Cody R. Nelson, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force combat shooting team, fires at 300 meter targets during the first day of competition at the 2012 Australian Army Skills at the Arms Meeting (AASAM) May 7 in Puckapunyal, Australia. AASAM is an international marksmanship competition consisting of 16 different countries. This year is the fifth iteration of AASAM and the third consecutive year that United States forces have been invited to participate.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Brandon Saunders)

Cops are Cops not matter what country.

Hat tip to English Russia!  Too Funny...

EA-18, Best plane built today?

The EA-18.

A capable aircraft by all descriptions but this from Galrahn is ... just plain weird...
This is just smart. It is my belief the EA-18G is the best aircraft on the planet being built today, and one of the main reasons the British have chosen exactly wrong to not put EMALS on their CVFs.
I mean really?

Did he say that out loud before he typed it?

It is my belief the EA-18G is the best aircraft on the planet being built today, and one of the main reasons the British have chosen exactly wrong to not put EMALS on their CVFs?

I had to immediately go get info the EA-18 because I must have missed something.  I went to the Boeing website, Naval Technology.com and Wikipedia.

What I found was hardly ground breaking.  To be honest its just the EA-6 in a new wrapper with a bit of automation added and an AESA array.  The second part of it is just him playing to the anti F-35 crowd.

But read the entire article he has up 'cause he takes an unwarranted swing at the Gator Navy.  This is especially insane because he's commented before that amphibs are some of the most in demand ships in the fleet and that we don't have enough....
Here is what you need to know about AFSB - it is basically a MLP with a module that converts it into a LPH. The AFSB has a fairly large aviation capability that makes HMS Ocean look like a baby cousin. AFSB + MLP is a remarkable capability that I for one hopes to see get built and tested thoroughly, because it is a two ship system for a legitimate forward operating base at sea, and it can scale well with existing Sealift capabilities and by plugging in T-AKEs. It is certainly an 80% solution, but if it works it is an appealing capability that will go well beyond what the US Navy is using Ponce for - indeed the combination would finally get folks in the expeditionary space to start really thinking about what is possible with Sealift capabilities when you aren't married to the enormously expensive enormous amphibious ship designs.

First the AFSB is a Marine Corps concept.  The MLP is a Marine Corps concept.

The idea about getting the other services to buy into the expeditionary capability that will come with sea basing IS A MARINE CORPS CONCEPT.

Policy blogs.

They ignore real life and focuses on the Congress and Pentagon.  That's not where the real military is.  If you choose to focus on those places...if you love forums and think tanks....if you get off on Washington dinners then fine.  But that ain't where the real Navy, Marine Corps, Army or Air Force lives. 

Not even close.


US Army 2nd Cav and German CH-53G's conduct artillery helo raid practice

Monday, May 21, 2012

F-35 and the last refuge of the Haters.

The F-35 Haters Club has one last refuge.

They're all hiding behind cost as the reason why the F-35 shouldn't be purchased.

They've given up on the F-35 isn't capable meme.  They've given up on the F-35 is short legged meme.  They've given up on the F-35 has different levels of stealth meme.

They've all rallied behind the F-35 costs too much card.

Thankfully the Blog, "Why the F-35", blows up that little house of lies.  Check this out.
In fact, the truth is, it's a program we can't afford not to complete. That's because the alternative - keeping the 4th generation aircraft we have - is an unacceptable solution for many reasons.
Go to his website to read the whole thing...and make sure you follow the links.  Suffice it to say that the critics are on their last ropes, they placed their bets on a public deception campaign that didn't pan out...they thought that having a few pawns in the Senate would get them over the finish line but that didn't work either, so now they're playing this...and Why the F-35 Blog, blows that away too.

I love it.

100 years of Marine Corps Aviation