Monday, June 28, 2010

Information Request 1.

I read on another blog that will go unnamed that the F-35 is going through a lift fan re-design.

I've done Google searches backwards and forwards, scoured the Lockheed Martin website and the various military websites and I can find no info on it.

They did have a problem a few years ago but this particular blogger is giving the impression that a lift fan re-design is underway now.

Does anyone have any info on this or is it (as I suspect) bad info?

Heads Up...A new operating doctrine is coming.


Scuttlebutt has it that a new Operating Concept is due to hit the streets real soon...as in a couple of days.  Supposedly it will emphasize...
1.  A doctrinal move to ensure that the Marine Corps never performs the role of a 'second land army'
2.  To get Marine detachments back onboard large ships...Destroyers, Aircraft Carriers..even Coast Guard Cutters...

The rest we'll have to wait and see...consider this your early warning order...

Admiral Mullen is setting us up for deep defense cuts.



The above video is one in which Admiral Mullen states that the current budget situation is a risk to national security (I must add that this is the same Admiral that stated that Climate Change was a risk to national security....it seems that some will bow to the whims of their superiors no matter what the rank)...

The point of all this is...he's setting up the country for massive defense cuts. 

I wondered why they would choose a certain Marine General over a more accomplished rival for Commandant.

I wondered why the SecDef would make such a forceful show of talking about future defense budgets and the role of the Marine Corps.

I wondered why the Acquisition Chief would make a meeting with the defense sector such a high profile show.


Now we know.  Everyone is about to get gut punched. 

Remember you heard it here first.

Massive Cuts coming to the Marine Corps?


This via the Daily Caller...
The Marine Corps would be cut by 30%, from 202,000 to 145,000, and the other funding cuts planned for the Corps mean the United States will not be able to mount a major amphibious landing on any hostile shore. Marine Corps programs to be killed include the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.
Wow.

Read the whole article.

The Department of Defense (if this person is correct) is about to be kicked in the nuts.

A few weeks ago I predicted that a personnel cut to around 165,000 from 202,000 was possible.  I thought I was being extreme.

To slash the Marines to below 150,000 is extreme.  Crazy extreme.

Oh and for all my Navy readers, your cuts are just as brutal if not more so.  Check this out....
The Navy will be reduced to eight aircraft carriers (from twelve planned) and seven air wings. Eight ballistic missile submarines will be cut from the planned force of 14, leaving just six. Building of nuclear attack submarines will be cut in half, leaving a force of 40 by 2020. The four active guided missile submarines would be cut, too. Destroyer building would be frozen and the new DDG-1000 destroyer program cancelled. Among other huge cuts, the fleet is to be reduced to 230 combat ships, eliminating 57 vessels from a current force level of 287.
Are you an Army bubba?  I feel your pain and Congress is about to apply it liberally (pun intended)...
Active duty Army personnel will be slashed from 562,400 to 360,000. That includes elimination of about five active-component brigade combat teams (the report is not exactly). The Army will also suffer a myriad of other cuts, including closure of overseas bases.
Even the fly guys (Air Force) get a piece of this hurt...
The Air Force must retire six fighter air wings equivalents, and at the same time build 301 fewer F-35 fighters. The nuclear bomber force will be completely eliminated in the name of unilateral disarmament—the B-1 and B-2 and B-52 and other bombers will still be able to drop bombs, but their nuclear weapon wiring and controls will simply be removed. Procurement of the new refueling tanker and the C-17 cargo aircraft will be cancelled. Directed energy beam research and other advanced missile and space warfare defense projects will also be eliminated or curtailed.
I don't know if this is real or just another proposal being floated by some "Think Tank" in someones' basement but to think that cuts this large are even being contemplated is...astonishing.

We couldn't do a repeat of Afghanistan.  Iraq 1 would be impossible.

Considering our world wide responsibilities even doing another Grenada would be challenging.

Wow.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pic of the Day. June 27, 2010.

U.S. Marine V-22 Osprey approaches the flight deck aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1) during nighttime flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.
Airman watch as a V-22 Osprey makes a landing during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting
flight deck and engineering qualifications. (Photo by: MC1 Rebekah Adler)
U.S. Marine vertical wing V-22 Osprey Aircraft is approaching the flight deck aboard the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during the ship's deck landing qualification. U.S. Navy photo by
Mass Communications Specialist First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antoine Guerry.
A U.S. Marine AH Cobra helicopter departs the ship during nighttime flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. U.S. Photo by MC1 Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.
U.S. Marine V-22 Osprey during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications. (Photo by: MC1 Rebekah Adler)
U.S. Marine V-22 Ospreys make a landing during flight deck evolutions. Wasp is currently underway conducting deck landing and engineering qualifications.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Rebekah Adler/Released by MCC Antuan Guerry.

African Lion 2010.

The Marine Corps appears almost to be exercise happy.  Or rather the Combatant Commanders appear to be exercise happy.

I imagine the reason why reservist units are getting so many of these slots is because at the pace at which these exercises are taking place, to use active duty personnel would screw up the Unit Rotation Schedule.

Reserve Marines from 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, headquartered in Quantico, Va., speed through the southwestern Moroccan desert in their light armored vehicle here June 8. The mobile leathernecks served as a key component of the maneuver element during the final exercise here June 9 for African Lion 2010, a theater security cooperation exercise conducted annually between U.S. and Moroccan forces. 
Maj. Paul Greenberg 
NOTE: Admiral Mullen is fully behind the idea of using US forces in the soft power role of 'partnerships'....The problem with that approach is that many of the regime's that we're involved with are corrupt or oppressive or both. Another issue is that this might work well a Navy ship...they sail into port, the sailors hop off and pass out food or paint schools...heck even jump rope with the school kids. With ground forces the dynamics are completely different. You have units that go out with the host nations personnel and practice killing or blowing things up. Soft power in the eyes of the US, hardpower in the eyes of the local population.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Piston vs. Gas Impingement. Gas Impingement wins.


Kit-up has an excellent article on SOCOM dropping the MK16 and procuring only MK17's instead.  This part of the article is what caught my eye...
“The Mk-16 does not provide enough of a performance advantage over the M-4 to justify spending USSOCOM’s limited … funds when competing priorities are taken into consideration,” officials at USSOCOM said in an email response to questions from Military.com. “Currently, three of USSOCOM’s four components receive the 5.56 mm M-4 from their parent service as a service common equipment item.”
Kit-up specializes in gear--hence the focus on the procurement part of the story, what caught my eye in that article is the performance factor of piston driven weapons...and the misplaced idea that they're more reliable than their gas impingement cousins.

SOCOM just put a controversy to rest (I don't think that was the intention but that's the result of the statement)...Gas Impingement is as reliable as Pistons...or to be more precise, they don't provide a performance advantage big enough to justify the additional cost.

Civilian shooters, survivalist and Police/Security agencies take notice.

Finally! The World Cup stuffing effort is over.


RUSTENBURG, June 26 (Reuters) - United States 1 Ghana 2 - World Cup second round extra time latest.
At Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
Scorers
United States: Landon Donovan 62 pen
Ghana: Kevin-Prince Boateng 5, Asamoah Gyan 93
Halftime: 0-1; 90 mins: 1-1; 105 mins: 1-2;
Attendance: 34,976
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Follow all matches live at http://live.reuters.com/Event/World_Cup_2010
(Editing by Patrick Johnston)


Let's face it.  We Don't Care!  We don't like soccer.

We don't care about this nonsense (sorry Europe/Australia/Asian/ African countries...we just don't like the "beautiful game")...

But we have suffered through having this stuffed down our throats for the last couple of weeks.

We have witnessed the "cultural" elite go through the show of being fans of this game.

Today we lost.

Thank God!

Merlin Recovery Op in Afghanistan.

A CH-53E Super Stallion flies overhead carrying an AW-101 Merlin from a forward operating base June 26. This early-morning operation to recover the Merlin is a prime example of the joint operations now taking place between the United States and the United Kingdom in the region. The Super Stallion is with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, "Bigfoot," which is a Marine Corps helicopter squadron under 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) here. The Merlin belongs to the U.K.'s Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) which is also currently operating under 3rd MAW(FWD) after the Joint Aviation Group joined the Wing June 1. The operation was also a testament to the work these "heavy haulers," have been performing in support of the Afghanistan national security forces and NATO forces in southern Afghanistan as they tote heavy cargo and troops across the area, under heavy enemy fire, on a daily basis.
Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Steven Williams

UPDATE* A commenter has stated that this is simply the result of a hard landing. He goes on to say that this was publicized in UK papers (The Guardian). I'm checking and will also contact ThinkDefence to see if he can verify this information.

"Yes" Man for Commandant.


The "insiders" in the blogging community hail the nomination of General Amos to be the next Commandant of the Marine Corps.

I have serious reservations.  This from the Washington Examiner...
Amos is seen as willing to support Gates and other senior Pentagon leaders as they spend the next several months looking for cost savings.
In choosing him, Gates and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus passed over Gen. James Mattis, an expert in counterinsurgency warfare who would have probably posed a stiffer challenge to proposed budget changes.
Amos is the service’s assistant commandant. He would replace Marine Gen. James Conway, whose four-year term as Marine commandant ends this fall. Gates proposed replacing Amos as No. 2 with Lt. Gen. Joseph Dunford.
So they've chosen a "yes" man to be the next Commandant.  Instead of picking a proven and dedicated warrior, Gates and Mabus chose a person that would NOT "pose a stiffer challenge to proposed budget changes."

Gates' has shown himself to be the ultimate Washington insider.  His decision is easy to understand.

Mabus arrived to the Sec of the Navy position with great fanfare.  But he is also showing himself to be well schooled in the ways of Washington.  His betrayal of Marine Corps tradition and the best interests of one of his departments is also easy to believe.

The person that I have the biggest gripe with is Amos himself.

General Amos is certainly aware of the lack of press coverage and the reason why he was picked over a more qualified 4 star.

He's certainly read the above press account.  He knows Marine Corps tradition.

But like a drowning man hanging on to a life preserver, he will still reach for the chair instead of understanding how he has already been compromised in the eyes of the Marine Corps.

Gates and Mabus have labeled him a push over.  A shill.  A flunky.  A yes man.

He should refuse the appointment.  You know that silly little word that's constantly pounded into the heads of young men the moment they hit the yellow foot prints....INTEGRITY.

But back to the blogging/news community and this appointment.


Why haven't the news media pushed the Defense Spokesperson on why they want someone who will roll over on future budget battles--are the proposed cuts so questionable that anything but a unified front will endanger them?  Why are military bloggers not asking some of these simple questions?  Why is this just accepted as an awesome move?

This whole thing stinks.  Roman politics in the Department of Defense.  Kiss ass media--Confused/not paying attention bloggers--group think at its worst.

If the Marine Corps loses missions and roles, we can all point to this moment when we let it slip away without a word.