Historic Pic of the day. Jan 3, 2011.

via NavSource.org

The amphibious assault ships of Commander, Task Force Fifty One (CTF-51) come together in an unprecedented formation during operations in the North Arabian Gulf. This marked the first time that six large deck amphibious ships from the East and West coasts have deployed together in one area of operation. Led by the flag ship USS Tarawa (LHA-1), the ships are (from left to right):
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6),
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3),
USS Bataan (LHD-5),
USS Saipan (LHA-2), and
USS Boxer (LHD-4).
CTF-51 led Navy amphibious forces in the Arabian Gulf region during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 32 ships of CTF-51 composed the largest amphibious force assembled since the Inchon landing, during the Korean War. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people and end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
US Navy photo # 030420-N-2515C-091 North Arabian Gulf (Apr. 20, 2003) by PH2 Larry S. Carlson.
US Navy photo # 030420-N-7128D-011 North Arabian Gulf (Apr. 20, 2003) by PHC Tom Daily.

F-35 AF4's first flight.

The fourth conventional takeoff and landing variant, AF-3, completed its first flight on 30 December 2010. Piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti, AF-4 took off from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. AF-4 is the tenth F-35 to fly and the third test jet to fly with the next-generation avionics package that will populate all operational F-35s. The successful flight was the final test mission of 2010 for the Joint Strike Fighter program, which logged 410 flights for the year.

Aircraft retired too soon...

With the UK's retirement of the Harrier, its time to take a look back in history at other aircraft that were retired before their time.  What do I mean by that?  I mean airplanes that filled an essential niche' role and with reasonable upgrades could still be flying and fighting...

1.  Harrier GR9.  The Royal Navy definitely got the short straw with the move to withdraw the Harrier from service.  To be honest, from an outsiders perspective, it appears that the Royal Air Force had a plan to destroy the Navy Air Arm and almost pulled it off.  Only the Navy's willingness to sell its soul to get a carrier kept it in the aviation game.  The Harrier's will be missed and I have doubts that the Royal Air Force will be able to find bases close enough to areas of future operations to be able to help.

2.  SEPECAT Jaguar.  Probably one of the best CAS aircraft of the past century, this little work horse was able to do the Gripen's vaunted road thing before it was cool.  While simple, it was robust and with modern targeting pods and engines it would have been a credible and cheap small wars workhorse.

3.  OV-10D Bronco. Photo is of an OV-10 operating from the USS Nassau.  This was an ideal airplane that would excel in its new role of V-22 escort.  Harriers and F-35's might be too fast but the OV-10 would keep pace, bring an awesome amount of firepower and could operate off the America Class LHD with ease.  Some might not recognize it, but the OV-10 is already being missed!

4.  MH-53M Pave Low III.  I'm a fan of the V-22 in general but one thing is certain.  Special Ops needs all the lift it can manage.  The MH-53 was still a viable airplane and would be a valuable addition to the war in Afghanistan.  Its long range, superior avionics and toughness are exactly what the Special Ops community need right now.

5.  A-6E Intruder II.  An upgraded version was offered that had improved avionics, engines and a redone wing.  Already a long range striker, the A-6F would have been the bomb truck of choice in the war on terror. 

Taiwan and F-35B's...

Via the Alert 5 from the Taipei Times...read the whole thing here...

In what has caused a major stir within the Pentagon, Beijing Internet censors earlier this week allowed high-resolution photographs of the Chengdu Aircraft Corp stealth fighter to be published for the first time.
“For Taiwan, this means that even a sale of the latest versions of the Lockheed Martin F-16 will only provide a brief period of technical parity with the People’s Liberation Army,” Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, told the Taipei Times.
Fisher said it was now possible China could deploy significant numbers of the fifth-generation fighters — codenamed the Chengdu J-20 — within 10 years.
“There is now even greater reason for Taiwan to consider shifting its air defense resources to the more survivable short take-off fifth-generation F-35B, with modifications that increase its air combat potential,” he said. “Today, it is doubly tragic for Taiwan that Washington does not appear to be willing to sell either fighter to Taipei. Such a lack of resolve by Washington will only hasten the military confrontation it has successfully deterred since the Korean War.”
Taiwan is urgently pressing US President Barack Obama to sell it 66 advanced versions of the F-16, but with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) scheduled to visit Washington later this month, a sale is unlikely to be approved anytime soon.
Credible sources claim China could build at least 300 J-20s.
Aviation Week and Space Technology reported that China has begun flight-testing the J-20, which puts it only a few years behind the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is being developed by the US and a coalition of countries.
While it is possible that the newly released photographs of the J-20 are fakes, most US analysts believe them to be the real thing.
One military analyst said the plane had a chiseled front--section, triangular wings, all-moving tail-planes and seemed to combine the front fuselage of the US’ F-22 with the back half of the Russian T-50 stealth prototype.
“The J-20’s appearance could signal a big step forward for the Chinese air force, which to date relies mostly on airplanes bought from Russia or reverse--engineered from Russian or Israeli designs,” an analyst said.
Judging from the photographs, the J-20 is at least 21m from nose to tail, which means it would have a lower “supercruise” performance and agility than the F-22. However, with larger weapon bays and more fuel, it would have a longer range and carry more arms.
US military sources told the Taipei Times that China may be getting Russian help with the J-20 and that Moscow may be supplying 14.5 tonne thrust 117S engines for the plane, which is expected to double as a bomber.
Fisher said the J-20 could “supercruise,” or fly supersonically, for extended periods without using fuel-guzzling afterburners.
One commentator, writing on the Aviation Week and Space Technology Web site, said the new plane was “something to hang out at 50,000 feet [15.2km] over the Taiwan Strait with a large downward looking radar and serve up a large payload of AAM’s [air-to-air missiles] at anything underneath.”

Just a couple of notes...

First I haven't heard a peep out of the Pentagon.  How this writer has gathered that its causing a stir is beyond me.  Don't get me wrong, I hope it has caused a stir.

On a side note, isn't it interesting that the Secretary of Defense is due to visit China on Jan 9 and a couple of weeks before he arrives we get word of a new Stealth Fighter and that the Anti Ship Ballistic Missile is up and running?

I don't know what kind of game China is playing but it definitely appears to be hardball.

Next note is this...I am a fan of the Taiwanese military.  But the government and the population is thought to have been thoroughly compromised with many citizens wanting reunification.  Why would we sell a piece of high tech gear to a country that will probably be absorbed by a rival without a shot being fired.

Lastly.  Its becoming apparent to all the 'analyst' out there that F-35B is survivable even though our bases are not.

Every base in the Pacific is vulnerable to conventional ballistic missiles.  Only the "B" will be able to get into the air if a runway is taken out.

Future prediction.  The USAF will be buying "B"s before this saga is over with!

Happy New Year...

Stay safe, be well and keep your powder dry!

A real analysis of the J-20 vs. the F-35.

via Defense Tech. Read the whole thing if you haven't already.  The sizzle to this post? 

This list is not in any particular order of magnitude.  And I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few other key items.
The J-20 offers one item from this list (#7).  I’m not convinced that the PLAAF has any other items from this list, although China seems to be making some progress with #9.
It’s kind of fun to watch the world fixate on this one item (#7).  Then again, I still enjoy air shows, too.  Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver, for example.  Drives the crowd wild.  Relevance to modern combat?  Zero.
As for the F-35, it certainly has its problems, especially regarding the price tag.  But most, if not all, of the customers and partners are sophisticated enough to have a list that’s a lot more comprehensive than the one above.  And I’m sure the appearance of item #7  as a prototype in PLAAF markings affects exactly none of their thinking.

The EU, Communist China and US based technology.

From Alert 5 via France24.com...

The lifting of the embargo on all lethal weapons "could happen very quickly," a source close to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told the paper.
It said that the embargo was considered a slap in the face for the world's second largest economic bloc as well as militarily ineffective by the EU as China increasingly builds its own weapons.
A confidential report presented to the last European Union summit that ended on December 17 described the embargo as "a major obstacle" to Europe-China security and foreign policy cooperation.
As a result "the EU should draw the practical conclusions and go ahead," the report said.

Read the whole thing but I wonder...Is this just a gateway to US tech?  With EU countries building parts of the F-35...with AirBus potentially building the next generation Air Force Tanker...with major US defense corporations having entities in Europe...

Does this mean that we (through the EU) will be selling a hostile power the very weapons that they will one day use against our own forces?

Craig Hooper on the F-35B & Allied Countries...

Read the whole thing here, but this is the paragraph that stood out to me...

The F-35B, if it ever arrives, would be a real help, serving as part of that indispensable inter-operable glue that holds America’s complex Pacific coalition together.  The airframe would help tie strategically important countries to the US for years and open avenues for future regional collaboration–in say, a more formal arrangement, or a Pacific NATO.  I mean, if you believe that melding together some sort of collaborative security coalition in Asia is important given the slowly-descending Bamboo Curtain, then standardizing aircraft is a big part of that picture.
So, if the F-35B does go away, America’s major Pacific allies will be left with, well, a brace of aircraft-less aircraft carriers.  And that, on the part of those who spent their treasure to buy F-35B-friendly platforms, is going to sting a bit.  Nobody likes to be left holding a few multi-billion dollar platforms that fail to provide the expected operational benefits.

As I said, read the rest.  I disagree with Hooper on just about every point.  He is in my opinion another big city liberal that happens to focus on military affairs.  In particular his excusing San Francisco for its vehement anti-military leanings while still pushing for military participation in civic events there is especially annoying.

And as usual, he reverts to the same tired F-35 bashing at the end of this article. 

But he is waking up to the idea that the F-35 is important, not only to the Marine Corps, but to Naval Forces world wide.

Maybe its too early to abandon hope. 

Hope that others will see the light like Mr. Hooper is beginning to.

How does the Super Hornet cost savings look now?

Add this as another consequence of the discovery of the J-20.

How does the multi-year buy of Super Hornets look now?  Information Dissemination ran an article in which he quotes Stephen Trimble on the cost savings of buying the Super Hornet.

You don't want to pick up Stephen's math and run with it, because if you do, you'll realize the Navy could replace every Hornet in inventory with a Block II, add an extra squadron of Block IIs to all 11 carrier air wings, add an 11th Carrier Air Wing, and still save money by sticking with SHs and choosing not to buy the Joint Strike Fighter.

Is the Joint Strike Fighter really worth all the extra money? It better be, but I remain unconvinced. It is clear the low number from Boeing explains the large order of 124, compared to the original estimates of ~70 a few years ago.

Read the whole thing but something is readily apparent.  If the US Navy has any chance of projecting power into the near future, it must acquire F-35C's.

UPDATE!
It seems that "Air Power Australia" has an "assessment" of the J-20 out.  Read it here.  They take the view that the J-20 will sweep the skies of all enemies, causing allied pilots to have nightmares.  Let me be clear!  I want an increase in the buy of the F-35 so that we can maintain our air superiority in light of these emerging threats.

I might be in the minority, but I believe that the F-35 will give us the edge necessary to keep us in control of the skies for years to come.  As far as the F-18 is concerned?  Not quite as confident.  While I believe it would be competitive against most airplanes, the appearance of stealth fighters from threat countries is worrisome.

Below photo is from Stephen Trimble's DewLine blogspot.  Does this 'advanced' F/A-18 look like it will be good enough now?

Combined Arms Assault Exercise.

This must be at Ft. A.P. Hill...

Rebecca Grant on the F-35.

via Aviation Week...

The F-35 is a sorely needed modernization program that will fly the pants off anything out there (except the F-22). It won’t come cheap, but its capabilities will be second to none in the antiaccess environment emerging in areas such as the Western Pacific...
---Rebecca Grant, Director of the Mitchell Institute

G-Man at Information Dissemination has more pics.

Galrahn has an article on the J-20 and I concur.  Our intelligence services are either dropping the ball or too focused on the terrorist threat (I think the latter)....

Someone has got to re-orientate on the Chinese threat.  They might sell us stuff to buy at Wal-Mart but they're a peer competitor that we might cross swords with...and soon.