Sunday, July 31, 2011
How soon before Special Ops Command buys these Wildcats?
Read the story at Defense Update...but I would bet money that some of these will find themselves employed by US Special Ops.
I mean they have to have the shiniest, fastest toys right? The military application? Negligible. The fun factor and the "regulars don't have it" factor? High.
They'll buy it.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Another apologist post on female SOF.
Kit-Up has an article about the politically correct head Admiral Olson saying that he'd like to see female SEALs.
Really?
Say it out loud and tell all the guys who washed out of SEAL training that a female that couldn't meet the standards deserves to be on the teams while they went through pure dee hell and aren't qualified because they don't have breasts and ovaries.
This kind of thinking makes me sick.
Force multiplier my ass.
The whole outfit over at Military.com must be smoking industrial strength crack.
Politically correct bastards!
PS.
You can tell what this is really about. Its about a push to open up the Infantry to females. If they're in SEALs then you can bet they'll be pushing them to be in Rifle companies. We're facing bad times. Standards will suffer and if you can't admit that then you're not being honest.
“I don’t think the idea is to select G.I. Jane and put her through SEAL training, but there are a number of things that a man and a woman can do together that two guys can’t,” the Admiral told Forum attendees. “…it’s much more important what they’re made of and whether or not they have the courage and the intellectual agility…”Wow.
You may remember Kit Up! discussed something along these lines a couple of months back. CSTs and the FETs that preceded them have received a lot of attention and have been successful. They’re not a new idea, as the Marines of the Lioness Program can attest.
Let us try to preempt some of the inevitable outcry. No one is saying females must equal male counterparts in every way, and this is an important distinction: the use of females in SOF capacity is, frankly, a force multiplier.
Really?
Say it out loud and tell all the guys who washed out of SEAL training that a female that couldn't meet the standards deserves to be on the teams while they went through pure dee hell and aren't qualified because they don't have breasts and ovaries.
This kind of thinking makes me sick.
Force multiplier my ass.
The whole outfit over at Military.com must be smoking industrial strength crack.
Politically correct bastards!
PS.
You can tell what this is really about. Its about a push to open up the Infantry to females. If they're in SEALs then you can bet they'll be pushing them to be in Rifle companies. We're facing bad times. Standards will suffer and if you can't admit that then you're not being honest.
USMC and Romanian Forces get busy during Summer Storm 2011
*Note*
I've been watching but haven't posted on this Black Sea Rotation (?) Group that the Marine Corps has been running for some time now. The issue for me has been it seems totally ceremonial...in my mind its been more dog and pony shows than anything else. I could easily be wrong but thats been my opinion.
I've been watching but haven't posted on this Black Sea Rotation (?) Group that the Marine Corps has been running for some time now. The issue for me has been it seems totally ceremonial...in my mind its been more dog and pony shows than anything else. I could easily be wrong but thats been my opinion.
Friday, July 29, 2011
CMC briefs press on the F-35B
Gator Navy and Marine Expeditionary Units poised to sink aircraft carriers?!!!
Check out this story from Information Dissemination. A tid bit though....
1. The MEU is about to gain prominence. Much more than it currently has...the biggest problem might be to keep boat spaces for Marines. You can bet your last dollar that Special Ops Command along with their surrogates in Marine Special Forces will be trying to pare down the MEU so that they can start taking rides.
2. The Gator Navy can look to expand. The idea of finally getting 38 big deck amphibs will probably be the price paid to cut back on the number of aircraft carriers.
3. The USMC might be able to kill off the silly idea of buying F-35C's.
4. Speaking of the JSF, its future is almost assured now...especially the B model. I've already read reports that the CMC is looking to get the plane off probation....
5. The idea of going from 11 carriers down to 8 seems likely. Sadly, I can even it going to 6...three on each coast.
6. I hope the NAVAIR likes the F/A-18E/F....they might be stuck with it. If so then Boeing can probably take heart in the idea of selling upgraded versions.
In Admiral Greenert's confirmation yesterday, there were no statements that suggested a force structure change, only that the budget situation could force one. I tend to believe Amos, that we are already at the point of change, but if that is true it is disappointing that Admiral Greenert didn't take the moment that included absolute certainty of his confirmation and use the hearings to describe in detail to the Senate what the future of the Navy looks like under certain scenarios.Long story short....big deck carriers are about to take a hair cut. What does this mean for the Marines?
1. The MEU is about to gain prominence. Much more than it currently has...the biggest problem might be to keep boat spaces for Marines. You can bet your last dollar that Special Ops Command along with their surrogates in Marine Special Forces will be trying to pare down the MEU so that they can start taking rides.
2. The Gator Navy can look to expand. The idea of finally getting 38 big deck amphibs will probably be the price paid to cut back on the number of aircraft carriers.
3. The USMC might be able to kill off the silly idea of buying F-35C's.
4. Speaking of the JSF, its future is almost assured now...especially the B model. I've already read reports that the CMC is looking to get the plane off probation....
5. The idea of going from 11 carriers down to 8 seems likely. Sadly, I can even it going to 6...three on each coast.
6. I hope the NAVAIR likes the F/A-18E/F....they might be stuck with it. If so then Boeing can probably take heart in the idea of selling upgraded versions.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Large Unmanned Ground Vehicles about to make their combat debut...
via Lockheed Martin Press Release...
u.s. Army selects lockheed martin’S SMSS Autonomous vehicle for afghanistan deploymentDALLAS, July 28, 2011 – The U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, through the Robotics Technology Consortium, selected the Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) to deploy to Afghanistan for a first-of-its-kind military assessment. SMSS will deploy as the winner of the Project Workhorse Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) competition sponsored by the Army.The largest autonomous vehicle ever to be deployed with infantry, the 11-foot-long SMSS can carry more than half-a-ton of a squad’s equipment on rugged terrain, easing the individual soldier’s burden, which can often exceed 100 pounds.“SMSS is the result of more than a decade of robotic technology development, and we welcome the opportunity to demonstrate this capability in theater, where it can have an immediate impact at the squad level,” said Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business. “The Army has tested the system’s capabilities in three domestic user assessments, and SMSS has been deemed ready to deploy.”As part of the three-month Military Utility Assessment (MUA), four vehicles and a field service representative will support light infantry in theater as the service evaluates how autonomous vehicles can support or ease the equipment burden for deployed troops. A fifth vehicle and an engineering team will remain in the U.S. for analysis and additional support. The Army plans to begin the Afghanistan assessment late this year, after a period of evaluations and training.“An in-theater assessment is the next logical step in the process of informing the requirements for the Army’s future squad-sized UGV developments,” Greene said.A fully-loaded SMSS is internally transportable on board CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters, providing new logistics capability to light and early-entry forces. The SMSS Block I variant, which will be deployed, has a range of 125 miles and features three control options: supervised autonomy, tele-operation or manually driven. The SMSS sensor suite allows it to lock on and follow any person by recognizing their digital 3-D profile (captured by the onboard sensors), and it can also navigate terrain on its own following a trail of GPS waypoints.In addition to a month-long MUA at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2009, SMSS has been selected for further evaluation as part of the Army’s Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) Spiral G in November this year. While SMSS has already demonstrated its ability to reduce soldier loads and provide portable power, the November experiment will evaluate its ability to field a reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition mission equipment package.Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.
So this is finally becoming reality. I remember the studies that were done that indicated that systems like this that could play the mule for a platoon on patrol could be a life saver, but I never thought that it would make it to the field.
Glad I was wrong.
Instead of defense, lets talk economics.
Usually the focus is on defense here, but lets switch gears and talk economics. You must read this story via the Survival Spot from the Business Insider.
Today, over half of all American families live paycheck to paycheck. Unemployment is rampant and those that do actually have jobs are finding that their wages are rising much more slowly than prices are.Read the whole thing and if you still "hope" that things will "change" for the better then please explain it to me.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Catapult launches F-35C for the first time
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment does water ops...
All photos by Justin Connaher
*Note* I'm just being curious here and if any Airborne guys know then shoot me an e-mail. What is the deployment sequence of the flotation gear when fully equipped?
*Note* I'm just being curious here and if any Airborne guys know then shoot me an e-mail. What is the deployment sequence of the flotation gear when fully equipped?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
EOD gets busy down under!
All photos by Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Villalovos
Sikorsky S-92 Helicopter ...NH-90 Killer?
Sikorsky will move away from the S-70 Black Hawk series Helicopter sooner or later and waiting in the wind is the S-92. The NH-90's issues are well documented, the EH-101 is larger, the V-22 is expensive which leaves the S-92 as my dark horse to capture the future military helo market.
British Apache night time carrier ops.
Neptunus Lex makes a trench run on F-35 critics...
Neptunus Lex nails it.
He makes a trench run on F-35 critics with his latest post but instead of me telling you about it, just go over to his house to read it yourself. But to wet your whistle, here's a bit...
In the opening hours of Operation Odyssey Dawn, B-2 bombers flew from their base in the United States to Libya and back to provide the “unique capabilities” necessary to kick down the door for the NATO campaign. What if instead of a twenty hour mission requiring a billion-dollar asset and millions of pounds of jet fuel – you had an aircraft that could do the same mission in twenty minutes from the deck of a ship just off the coast? Whether operating in the denied airspace of an integrated air-defense system or striking fleeting targets in a failed state, the future of tactical aviation is about being readily available and flexible.
Monday, July 25, 2011
ANGLICO conducts close air support
All Photos by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III
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A CH-46 Sea Knight, flown by pilots from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, unloads gear during a close-air support training event with 1st and 3rd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison companies here July 21. |
ISAF Helicopter Crashes in Eastern Afghanistan...ISAF mum.
First we had this release on the 25th from ISAF. I didn't post it because frankly I'm tired of their bullshit when it comes to information about incidents. I don't even know why they even have a Public Affairs Office. You can get more info by following the individual services websites...and when you contact a unit PAO, they're more than happy to help...regardless of the blog size. Prizes in this category go to the 101st, Rangers, 11th MEU, 13th MEU and 1st MEF.
ISAF isn't even in the top fifty. But I digress. This is the paltry information they put out....
ISAF Joint Command - AfghanistanQuite honestly, when I read that rescue forces came under fire, an eyebrow was raised but I knew better than to even ask...the bastards....but today we have this from Stars and Stripes....
2011-07-S-071
For Immediate Release
KABUL, Afghanistan (July 25, 2011) – An International Security Assistance Force helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan today.
As coalition rescue forces approached the crash site, they came under enemy fire. Coalition forces returned fire, with small arms, while working to secure the site of the crash. All passengers and crew members have been secured and safely transported to a nearby base.
ISAF is currently assessing the incident to determine further facts.
U.S. helo downed by RPG in Pech; none killed
Stars and StripesPublished: July 25, 2011
FORWARD OPERATING BASE JOYCE, Afghanistan — Minor casualties were reported after a rocket-propelled grenade downed a Chinook helicopter carrying U.S. and Afghanistan soldiers as it attempted to land at a coalition forces base in eastern Afghanistan early Monday.Thank God, no one was killed, but it brings me back to the ISAF PAO .... why no updated info?
The crash happened shortly after midnight when the rocket hit the rear of the helicopter on its descent into Nangalam Base in the Pech River Valley of Kunar province.
At least two soldiers suffered non-life-threatening shrapnel wounds. Some 20 people were on board, including soldiers and crew.
A rescue team that responded to the crash came under small-arms fire, drawing return fire from U.S. and Afghan soldiers. No further coalition casualties were reported.
There was no immediate word on who was responsible for the attack.
The Pech River Valley and several adjoining valleys, including the Korengal and Shuryak, are considered Taliban strongholds, and attacks on coalition forces remain a regular occurrence as the Afghanistan war approaches the 10-year mark.
A battalion of the Afghanistan National Army is stationed at Nangalam Base, formerly known as Forward Operating Base Blessing. The U.S. military handed over control of the base to Afghan forces earlier this year.
From staff reports
F-35C test aircraft validates catapult launch connections
BAE enters the LHD fray.
Think Defense gives us basically a two-fer in a post on BAE's attempt to grab some of the LHD market.
*Sidenote* I don't know whats up with your feed Think Defense but I can't for the life of me make it over to your regular website...just the Tumblr nonsense! Fix it bud.
The two-fer involves ...
1. The author is obviously concerned about the fact that once the Ocean goes away, so does the LHD concept in the Royal Navy. It remains to be seen whether a full deck aircraft carrier can fulfill the role---in my mind it cannot, but we will see.
2. The second point is that the author appears to be concerned about the lack of expeditionary potential that remains with the Royal Navy and gives a couple of options to recapture that lost capability. I like it but I doubt that it will fly with a nation that is looking to gut its military in order to pay for social programs.
Its definitely worth a read...if you can get into his website.
Bae PDF Lhd Datasheet
British Army fades away...
The Brits have finally decided.
Social programs win out over the defense of their nation. Pity. The Brits have always held themselves apart from mainland Europe. I would call it being European without being European. Those days are apparently over.
via Defense Management....
In a memo, the head of the army revealed that an extra 5,000 redundancies are to come by 2015 on top of the 7,000 redundancies announced in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The cuts are said to form part of plans to reduce the size of the regular armed forces and increase the number of reserves.
Chief of the General Staff General Sir Peter Wall revealed the cuts in a memo to officers, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
"Regular Army manpower will be cut more steeply, with an additional reduction of 5,000 over and above the 7,000 already in progress as a result of the SDSR," wrote General Wall.
"This takes the Army to around 90,000 by 2015. The additional manpower cuts are now being scoped but will inevitably require a further redundancy programme.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
24th Marines train at Bridgeport...
Trimble decides to participate in APA stupidity.
Trimble has lost it.
Instead of playing it straight, he instead decides to be a shill for the Dark Lord, Bill Sweetman and post tripe like this!
Notice the photo above? What do you see? PL-9 air to air missiles and PL-12 air to air missiles in the J-20's internal weapons bay. What else do you notice? How about the fact that the PL-9 is physically larger than the PL-12 in this mock up!
But in his story, Trimble conveniently ignores the obvious and instead tries to play a game with his readers, by misdirecting them to the "not a pound for air to ground" when he's really attempting to highlight the "supposed" weapons carriage of the J-20.
Obvious.
Contrived.
Silly.
And beneath his dignity. When we have journalist that know better doing SHIT like this then no wonder they're losing respect.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
MultiCam vulnerable to a $120 uv filter?
Check this out from Military Photos. Amazing.
The reddish image is the uv filtered photo and the greenish one is the unfiltered one. Against a first tier enemy, multicam is trash when it comes to preventing detection.
The reddish image is the uv filtered photo and the greenish one is the unfiltered one. Against a first tier enemy, multicam is trash when it comes to preventing detection.
Friday, July 22, 2011
2 articles from DEFESA Global that you should check out.
First up from DEFESA Global is a write up on the Piranha 3 with a new turret. Interesting. They then have an article on a multi-purpose modular maritime action ship there version of our LCS. To be honest, I like there version better.
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