Makassa Class LPD. Indonesian excellence.

You think the Type 71 LPD that China is producing is impressive?  You like the move by Australia to buy used Brit LPDs?  Are you impressed by the Singapore Endeavour Class LPD?

If your answer is the same as mine and you say yes to the above (except for being impressed by the Type 71...poor copy of the San Antonio) then understand something.  They're good but there is better in the region.  And they're not from Japan or Korea.  Check out the Makassa Class that belongs to Indonesia! 

The US is making a late turn to the Pacific.  With the limited research I've done on the subject it really seems like the arms race in that region has been going on for at least 10 years...while we have been in the sand, they've (and I mean all the major players in that region) been gearing up.  We had better be quick.  We're already behind the eight ball when it comes to catching up to events.

Japan really is buying AAVs!

via Hong Kong Times.

Japan's defense department decided to add four amphibious assault vehicle for Ground Self-Defense Force while boosting its defense budget, local meda reports.
The strong stance of China on the disputed Diaoyu islands promtped Japanese government to spend 3 billion yen (HK$295.5 million) to boost defense along islands on southwest of the country by 2013, local media reports, citing government source.
Meanwhile, Tokyo is seeking to buy Diaoyu Islands for 2 billion yen by the end of September, according to the report. Officials are reportedly speeding up the negotiation process with the owner of the isles.

Wow.

When I first heard the news on MarineTV that Japan was looking to buy the AAV I rolled with it but thought that it could be a misunderstanding on the reporters part and that they were perhaps looking to buy LCACs for their amphibs.

Guess I was wrong.

Japanese Naval Infantry really is making a comeback.

Check out this article from early last year from the Japanese Security Watch (again, I dismissed the assertions...I was hopeful that they were true but didn't believe that the pacifist Japanese would actually follow through)

Iron Fist has always been the most controversial (and, until recently, least publicized) of the joint exercises. Since World War II, pacifist Japan has prohibited itself from having marine infantry, labeling them a military asset that, like aircraft carriers and bombers, only has useful applications in wars of aggression. Marine troops are also heavily associated with Japan’s wartime past; the Special Naval Landing Forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted extensive operations across the Pacific Theater, from China to Wake Island. Necessity aside, this sort of association can make certain ambitions of the Self Defense Forces unpopular to a Japanese public with a deep anti-war and anti-military sentiment.
But slowly, like nearly everything about Japanese defense policy, this is changing. In early 2010, Japan’s two major political parties, the DPJ and LDP, both announced support for the establishment of a marine infantry force. The force, it was explained, would be a marine unit charged with a defensive mission: to take back Japanese remote islands seized by an adversary, a capability the Self Defense Forces currently lack.

Its interesting that the Japanese view a Marine Corps as being an almost totally offensive military force.  In my mind at least some of the US Marine Corps finest moments have been in the defense...Guadalcanal and Chosen Reservoir come readily to mind...
The interesting part will be.

Can BAE get this contract?  An initial run of 4 vehicles will certainly lead to many more (it should at least equal the Brazilian buy of 26) so this will be alot more lucrative than it first appears.  Will Samsung make an attempt to get it?  Or will the Japanese wait to see what the ACV will be?

I though armor sales would trail off drastically once the war in Afghanistan wound down.

I was wrong!

Air Assault! Table Salt!

Wolfhounds from Borzoi Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, air assault from a UH-60 and begin their raid on the objective during training in South Korea.

The Air Assault warrior cry by 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Personnel was always given the refrain of "Table Salt" by the Paratroopers of the 82nd  that I shared a course with while at Ft Campbell.  I never did find out what the deal was with the condiment saying but it was funny as hell.  Army smacking on Army.  Priceless.

Namer APC's of the Golani Brigade operating on the Golan Heights

I just had a startling revelation.

The US Army with the Ground Combat Vehicle competition and the vehicles that have been entered into it, is admitting that technologically its behind the Israeli Army..at least when it comes to combat vehicles. 

Watch Experience in Motion

How did BAE lose to the legacy L-ATV?

L-ATV

L-ATV

M-ATV

M-ATV

Take a close look at the pics above.

Its beyond obvious that the L-ATV and the M-ATV share MANY similarities.  I would go so far to say that the L-ATV is simply a revamped M-ATV...a vehicle that we allready have plenty of.

And that brings me to this disturbing question.  If the L-ATV is simply a revamped M-ATV then how did it beat out the BAE Valanx?

The US Army (lets be honest, the Marine Corps has been a reluctant partner in this program) first wanted cutting edge designs.  BAE provided one.  They wanted MRAP type protection.  The Valanx did that.  They wanted power production...again the Valanx came through....off road ability...yes....

The Valanx.  A new design that provided everything the Army wanted lost out to the L-ATV?  From the outside looking in it just doesn't make sense.  OSHKOSH is extremely vague in their brochures about vehicle specifics but I just don't see any area where it would outshine the Valanx.

This contest should be protested.   I HOPE BAE mans up and does just that.  Seemingly inferior products winning production contest leads helps reinforce the impression that these contests are rigged.

This one I will keep an eye on.  I look forward to reading the rationale for this decision.  Just for comparison sake, below is a picture of the BAE Valanx.  How this clean sheet modern design lost to the legacy L-ATV is beyond me but something is wrong with our system.

AMAZING! McRaven tells Special Ops to shut up.

Thanks for this story John!

via Marine Corps Times.

WASHINGTON — Special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven warned his troops, current and former, that he would take legal action against anyone found to have exposed sensitive information that could cause fellow forces harm.
"We will pursue every option available to hold members accountable, including criminal prosecution where appropriate," the four-star commander wrote, in an open, unclassified letter emailed to the active-duty special operations community Thursday, and obtained by The Associated Press.
The warning came a day after a retired Navy commando revealed he is publishing a first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Pentagon officials say they have not been given a chance to review the book, but Pentagon spokesman George Little said Friday officials expect to receive a copy "very shortly."

I'm laughing my ass off.....

I'm thinking that he's callling the kettle black....

I think this guy is full of shit.

I hate to keep brining this up but a retired Special Forces General spoke up and told the good Admiral to get out of the press.  McRaven laughed in the retired Special Forces General's face along with some idiotic journalist.  I hope the General (whose name I forgot) is pouring himself a double shot of Jack Daniels, calling this son of a bitch up and telling him I told ya so.

NOTE:  He should be directing this message to SEAL teams.  The problem isn't SOCOM wide.

Marines agree with the Air Force and the Navy is screwed.

I don't know how I missed this but its good and it shows a rift between what should be the two closest services.

The Navy forced the Marines to buy the F-35C model and while I howled at the travesty of that, it didn't change the most important dynamic...the Marine Corps is following the US Air Force and going to an all stealth fighter force.

The Navy is still deciding the issue and it appears from the outside looking in that many would like to continue to build non-stealthy high performance fighters...depending on electronic jamming and superior avionics to make up for the lack of stealth.  Well the Marines not only aren't buying the non-stealth argument but are again following the US Air Force's lead in abandoning the electronic jamming role.  Check out this from Defense Tech.

The Marine Corps has no plans to pursue an Electronic Warfare variant of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos at a Pentagon roundtable Thursday.
Amos said the AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar installed on the F-35 already sets the fifth generation fighter apart as an electronic warfare platform.
“The airplane itself … with the AESA radar and sensors and information sharing capability is a pretty significant EW platform right now,” said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos at a roundtable meeting with reporters in the Pentagon Aug. 23.
Aviation analysts have questioned why the Air Force and Navy have not focused more heavily on modernizing their electronic warfare capabilities. The Navy has started to phase out the EA-6B Prowler with the addition of the FA-18 Growler as the military’s pre-eminent electronic warfare platform to take suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) missions.

What does that mean?  It means that Navy electronic warfare wings are going to be worked even harder than they already are.  The Navy and Marine wings are already supporting Air Force and NATO ops and now they're going to be worked even harder!

NAVAIR is gonna have to make up for the shortfall...I would bet that Super Hornets might make an appearance in Marine Corps colors after all.