Sunday, October 31, 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

This is evil and I love it! Blame Everyday No Days Off!

Everyday No Days Off found this...I must be evil cause I couldn't stop laughing!

L3 Communications Propaganda....

This one is sure to make Think Defence smile...

F-22, the F-35 and the Range LIE!


My buddy ELP has a new post up on why the F-35 doesn't need the F-22.  I'll let you read the post but the passage that has me wanting to put my fist through a wall is this....
While not a long range bomber like the B-2, the FB-22 would be survivable and carry enough payload and have enough reach for a wide variety of operations. This, combined with the USAF displaying some common sense and getting in on the U.S. Navy UCAS-N program would provide great future options (and deterrence) in the Pacific Rim. The Federal Budget may be in such dire straits that it won’t be able to afford a long range bomber program in the coming years.
Budget concerns aside (which I agree with), the myth of the long ranged F-22 and its proposed derivatives is something that must be slain.  Figures from Wikipedia (yes, I know Wiki isn't reliable but hey..it'll do for the purposes of this exercise)....

F-22
Combat radius: 410 nmi[195] (471 mi, 759 km)

F-35
Combat radius: over 590 nmi (1,090 km) on internal fuel[178]

Oh and to add a little pain to the F-22 advocates out there...GUESS WHAT!  Even the F-35B will be longer ranged than the F-22 if they're both in stealth configuration.

We can have the conversation about these airplanes, but a little truth would be appreciated. 

101st conducts an Air Assault in Afghanistan.



Is it me or does it seem as if our heavy lift helicopters (CH-53 and CH-47) appear to becoming the true jack-of-all trades?  The medium lift helicopter while still valuable, just doesn't seem to have the utility of the larger types.  Perhaps a truncated buy of MV-22's and an enlarged buy of CH-53K's wouldn't be such a bad idea...especially since the K is being touted as being capable of operating in contested air space.

Oh and back to the 101st and the US Army.  CH-47's operating in the Air Assault role?  Maybe they need to rebalance the force as well.  More troops on the ground in fewer lifts?  Sounds like a plan to me.

Galco copies Crossbreed...

I'm a big fan of Crossbreed Holsters....I've carried everywhere and have never been 'made' as carrying.  Oh and trust me...there is no doubt in your mind when you've been made.  Its not so much in a person's words...I've never had a person run around with their hair on fire saying he's carrying concealed...its more in the eyes, and the body language you receive.  With the Crossbreed, I've never had that problem.

With so many people getting into the concealed carry movement, I guess it was only a matter of time before the big boys started copying them.  The latest that I'm aware of is Galco.  This is their latest offering and it fits the Crossbreed template.  I don't know if it has the same comfort but like I said, it follows their pattern.  If you've tried it, then give me a review!


US Navy CB90's making waves...

Friday, October 29, 2010

NEO exercise in Yuma.

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.-2nd Lt. Luis Spradley, platoon commander with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, runs to his objective while a CH-53E Super Stallion takes off from Kiwanis Park in Yuma, Ariz., Oct. 22, 2010. The Marines, based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., set up a security perimeter for the training operation, designed to keep control of the situation and ensure the safety of onlookers., Lance Cpl. Jakob Schulz, 10/22/2010 1:33 PM
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.-Cpl. Zachary Givens, left, squad leader, waits for orders from 2nd Lt. Luis Spradley, platoon commander with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, at Kiwanis Park in Yuma Ariz., Oct. 22, 2010. Both Marines are stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Lance Cpl. Jakob Schulz, 10/22/2010 1:31 PM
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.-Shortly after dropping off Marines from E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, a CH-53E Super Stallion departs from Pat Williams Park in Brawley, Calif., Oct. 22, 2010. As part of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course here, different aircrafts transported Marines for the noncombatant evacuation operation, which simulates extracting American citizens from an American embassy in hostile territory., Lance Cpl. Aaron Diamant, 10/22/2010 1:28 PM
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.-Shortly after dropping off Marines from E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, a CH-46 Sea Knight departs from Pat Williams Park in Brawley, Calif., Oct. 22, 2010. As part of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course taught at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., different aircrafts transported Marines for the noncombatant evacuation operation, which simulates extracting American citizens from an American embassy in hostile territory. , Lance Cpl. Aaron Diamant, 10/22/2010 1:28 PM

Thursday, October 28, 2010

CMC's Planning Guidance.

CMC 35 Planning Guidance FINAL                                                                    

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

EFV---Power. Projected.

First image of a v-hulled HUMVEE from BAE

BAE put out this photo of what I assume is going to be their version of a v-hulled HUMVEE.

BAE UK sticks in the knife...Boeing will win the Tanker contract.


Talk about a mis-timed announcement.  This is BAE UK and the British government twisting the knife they just stuck in our backs....read it here....
Samlesbury, UK – BAE Systems has formally opened a new state-of-the-art titanium machining facility at its Samlesbury site in Lancashire. The robotic facility will be used to manufacture detail and assembly components of the Aft Fuselage, Vertical Tail and Horizontal Tail for the F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, further reinforcing BAE Systems’ key role in the world’s largest defence programme.  
What an arrogant bunch of bastards these guys are.  First you reduce your buy to less than that of Tier 2 partners and then you brag about your share of the work??????

Congratulations, you just guaranteed Boeing a win in the Tanker contract.

Headquarters Marine Corps...1st MEF (Forward)...Wake the HELL UP!!!!


Battle Rattle published some pictures that I can't object to strongly enough.  They show the moments before and after the death of a Marine Corps NCO.

How these pictures made it into the public realm is beyond me but if anything in this war should be censored then its the showing of a young Marine in a poncho with his buddies saying good-bye to him.

Battle Rattle is wrong...but they're journalist and I assume don't know any better.  Headquarters Marine Corps and 1st MEF (Forward) are professionals.  They have no excuse.  Get off your ass Senior Leadership and start yanking film.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

23rd Special Tactics Squadron...

U.S. Air Force members from the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., jump out of the back of a C-130 Hercules Sept. 27. The airmen will practice combat operations in the Santa Rosa Sound.

Classic SeaBee's! LOVE IT!

I hope everyone is ok, but this pic just confirms that the SeaBee heritage live on.  One question though...and I hope a SeaBee can answer this.  Why don't they have magazines in those weapons???
KONDUZ, Aghanistan (Oct. 22, 2010) Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40 run for cover to nearby bunkers at the sound of a rocket attack during a concrete placement for a project site. NMCB-40 is working in various locations around the country in support of the International Security Assistance Force. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Michael B. Watkins/Released) 101022-N-6436W-124

Todays Pics...26 OCT 2010

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-A UH-1Y Huey fires bright red "tracer" rounds from the GAU-19/A electronically-driven gatling gun, "minigun," at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 23. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 demonstrated this technique during the squadron's Family Day, which also featured a casualty evacuation and precision flying with another Huey and two AH-1W Cobras., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 10/7/2009 6:16 AM
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-A UH-1Y Huey demonstrates its capablities for family and friends during Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267's Family Day at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 23. The squadron showed friends and family how the Huey and AH-1W Cobra work together to complete missions., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 10/7/2009 6:09 AM
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-An AH-1W Cobra flies low over the heads of friends and family at Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267's Family Day at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 23. The squadron demonstrated the team work of the Cobra and UH-1Y Huey., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 10/7/2009 6:08 AM
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-A UH-1Y Huey banks a turn while practicing manuevers over Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Oct. 20. The helicopter was practicing for Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267's upcoming Family Day. The Family Day demonstrated the capabilities of the squadron., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 10/5/2009 7:35 AM

EFV pics









Monday, October 25, 2010

The real impact of the slashing of the F-35 in the UK.


Have a look at this blog...
But it is understood only a third of the original planned order of 138 F-35s will now be bought, reducing Samlesbury’s workload.

Graham Jones, Labour MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, said: “We were expecting cuts and this SDSR is a terrible decision by the Government.

“This means people at Samlesbury will be made unemployed and it will destroy our industrial base.”

Stories that caught my eye.


The Muqata: Israeli SWAT team wins International CounterTerror Competition
Double Tapper at the 4th International Army and Police Exhibition  & Silver Shadow Gilboa Review

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Top Ten Issues facing the Marine Corps..


My top ten...

1.  The upcoming reduction in force.  How many Marines will we have in our Corps in the next 4 years?  Final end strength is going to be a big deal that few are talking about now.  Everyone will be talking about it soon.
2.  EFV.  Does it live or die?  If its axed is someone ready with a replacement or will we have to start all over?  One thing I've noticed is that no bid contracts are awarded for updates.  This means that if BAE is johnny on the spot, a major revamping of the AAV can win rapid approval and we'll still maintain our amphibious capability with a better vehicle.
3.  CH-53K.  Will we ever get that program really moving?  Its beyond needed and in certain scenarios will be more capable than the MV-22.
4.  MV-22.  We've walked, now its time to run.  Either this airplane is ready to go or we should stop production and move on to the CH-53K.
5.  Marine Personnel Carrier.  Kill this idea now.  We're playing with Corps money...time to cut our losses...and our dreaming.
6.  IAR pipedream.  Come on.  Do we really need a modern day BAR?
7.  Aviation sucking sound.  Our procurement policies have become lop sided.  Aviation is costing too much and absorbing too large a slice of the Marine Corps budget.  Sometimes I think new build CH-46's along with the new built AH-1Zs/UH-1Ys would have been a better way to go.
8.  Naval Shipping.  The Navy is playing hardball with the Corps.  We need our boatspaces back.
9.  Tanks.  They aren't in the fight and we need to decide what role they're going to play in a modern Marine Corps.  Either they're part of the fight (everywhere---heck we used them in Vietnam) or we get rid of them.
10.  General Officer Corps.  Its going to happen and the Marine Corps should lead the way.  As long as we're reducing the size of the Marines, we should slice more than a few General spots.  Let the Navy place Admirals in those positions but this Purple non-sense of General/Admirals everywhere has got to come to an end.

Lockheed Martin ... maintaining our nations military history.

I found this on the Lockheed Martin website.  Its fortunate and a bit ironic that a multinational corporation is maintaining our nations aviation history in an easy to find and access website.  The Smithsonian, DoD and other governmental organizations should follow suit.

Boeing stressed stealth with clever internal arrangements and weapon bay designs that carried munitions semi-submerged.
After a year of study and report writing by industry, ASD performed mission analyses on four generic fighter designs that spanned the variety of aircraft investigated by the companies. The aircraft were labeled N, SDM, SLO, and HI. N (numbers) was a small, cheap concept that could be bought in quantity. SDM (supersonic dash and maneuver) emphasized speed and maneuverability. SLO (subsonic low observables) was based on a flying wing design. HI (high-Mach/high-altitude) represented a large missileer. The results, which were presented to all participants, favored the flying wing. The more conventional SDM fighter placed second in effectiveness. The missileer (shown here) and inexpensive minifighter did not rate well in the analyses.
After a year of study and report writing by industry, ASD performed mission analyses on four generic fighter designs that spanned the variety of aircraft investigated by the companies. The aircraft were labeled N, SDM, SLO, and HI. N (numbers) was a small, cheap concept that could be bought in quantity. SDM (supersonic dash and maneuver) emphasized speed and maneuverability. SLO (subsonic low observables) was based on a flying wing design. HI (high-Mach/high-altitude) represented a large missileer. The results, which were presented to all participants, favored the flying wing. The more conventional SDM fighter placed second in effectiveness. The missileer and inexpensive minifighter (shown here) did not rate well in the analyses.
After a year of study and report writing by industry, ASD performed mission analyses on four generic fighter designs that spanned the variety of aircraft investigated by the companies. The aircraft were labeled N, SDM, SLO, and HI. N (numbers) was a small, cheap concept that could be bought in quantity. SDM (supersonic dash and maneuver) emphasized speed and maneuverability. SLO (subsonic low observables) was based on a flying wing design. HI (high-Mach/high-altitude) represented a large missileer. The results, which were presented to all participants, favored the flying wing (shown here). The more conventional SDM fighter placed second in effectiveness. The missileer and inexpensive minifighter did not rate well in the analyses.
The ability to operate an aircraft from battle-damaged runways was yet another characteristic evaluated in the early ATF studies of the 1970s and 1980s. Designs incorporating this capability are referred to by a number of terms, including short takeoff and landing, short takeoff and vertical landing, and vertical takeoff and landing (STOL, STOVL, and VTOL, respectively). The benefits of abbreviated takeoffs and landings are, however, less clear than benefits associated with stealth, speed, and maneuverability.

NOTE--From the writer of SNAFU!*
This study was conducted for the USAF.  It can be rightfully stated that the USAF considers an expeditionary environment to mean operating away from home base.  A USAF expeditionary environment is in some places a better standard of living than Marines and Soldiers would have at their home bases/posts.  It should also be noted that the USAF is reconsidering the usefulness of STOVL aircraft in light of soon to be shifting priorities to the Pacific and the threat of Chinese conventional ballistic missiles being able to destroy conventional airfields.
The ability to operate an aircraft from battle-damaged runways was yet another characteristic evaluated in the early ATF studies of the 1970s and 1980s. Designs incorporating this capability are referred to by a number of terms, including short takeoff and landing, short takeoff and vertical landing, and vertical takeoff and landing (STOL, STOVL, and VTOL, respectively). The benefits of abbreviated takeoffs and landings are, however, less clear than benefits associated with stealth, speed, and maneuverability.

NOTE--From the writer of SNAFU!*
This study was conducted for the USAF.  It can be rightfully stated that the USAF considers an expeditionary environment to mean operating away from home base.  A USAF expeditionary environment is in some places a better standard of living than Marines and Soldiers would have at their home bases/posts.  It should also be noted that the USAF is reconsidering the usefulness of STOVL aircraft in light of soon to be shifting priorities to the Pacific and the threat of Chinese conventional ballistic missiles being able to destroy conventional airfields.

SEAL new insertion boats...semi-submersible?


Get the full story over at the Covert Shores Naval Warfare Blog

SNAFU! on politics.

This is probably the most effective political commercial of this year.  For any conservative, this is a kick in the balls...for a liberal its a lie...for American's its a future that we all fear.  Well done.

Could the Force Protection Ocelot be the JLTV killer??

The British Army more closely resembles the US Marine Corps than it does the US Army.

Not in size, but in operating concepts.

With that in mind, I wonder if the Ocelot that they are beginning to procure might not be the answer to the Marine Corps JLTV problem?

Its modular.

Its blast protected.

Its relatively light wt.

The only thing left to wonder about is its price.  If the price is competitive in any way then the option to upgrade HUMVEEs or procure the current crop of JLTVs will become non issues.

The Force Protection Ocelot...the answer to the Marine Corps JLTV requirement.

Update*  Wouldn't it be ironic if the UK developed the requirement and vehicle that ultimately meets US needs and due to budget constraints isn't able to buy it?  In light of the UK's duplicity in the F-35 manufacturing program (becoming a partner...scooping up manufacturing concessions along with tech transfers and then bailing) that would be justice indeed!

Ready on the firing line...

MARINE CORPS AIR BASE YUMA, Ariz.- Regimental Combat Team 8 Marines stand on line prepared to fire at targets during a combat marksmanship program held on Range Panel Stages aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., Oct. 18. RCT-8 is performing a multitude of training in preparation for their upcominig deployment., Lance Cpl. Clayton L. VonDerAhe, 10/18/2010 12:27 PM

Thursday, October 21, 2010

P-8 Launches Sonobouys...

P-8A launches first sonobuoys

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- One of three P-8A test aircraft completed several sonobuoy launches on Friday, October 15. This event marks the first time the new Poseidon has launched sonobuoys since it began testing at NAS Patuxent River this summer.

A total of six sonobuoys were involved in three low altitude launches at the Atlantic Test Range. The range provides airspace for safe operating clearance of test missions.

Each P-8A employs a rotary launch system that uses three launchers with the capacity to hold 10 sonobuoys each and the capability of launching single and multiple shots. The system can accommodate any sized sonobuoy and the storage capacity of 120 is 50 percent greater than the P-3.

This event is just one integral part of the P-8A’s overall weapons system testing mission. Initial operating capability on the P-8A is scheduled for 2013 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida.