Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Twitter battle.



First we had the idiocy with the battle of the Generals with the F-35 engine wars.

Then we had the idiocy, craziness and collusion with regards to Sweetman, APA, Cox and the rest of the merry band of followers when it came to spreading lies about the F-35 and its capabilities.

Now we have the idiocy of a US Senator twitting about the F-35.

Say it out loud.

A US Senator tweets about a weapon system that the Senate Armed Services Committee (of which he is a member and the ranking Republican) has direct oversight over.  This is a piss poor way of handling any issues that he has with the program....I wonder if he's been compromised by the writings of certain "Defense Professionals"?

Read about it here but Senator McCain might seriously consider retirement.  He is out of touch with the people that he represents, had to fake it to make it in the last election and is pushing for perpetual war for the US.  The guy is a loon.

In a post Tuesday on the microblogging site, Sen. McCain sounded off on the management of the stealthy, next-generation fighter: “Congress notified that first F-35 jets have cost overruns of $771M. Outrageous! Pentagon asking for $264M down payment now. Disgraceful.”
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. took to Twitter Wednesday in defense of the program. “The F-35 team is focused on reducing costs of the jets and is showing significant improvement in key areas,” the company said in a post Wednesday afternoon. The tweet included a link to recent Senate testimony by Tom Burbage, Lockheed’s F-35 program manager.
In reply, Sen. McCain wrote: “To most observers, a $771M cost overrun for 28 F-35s doesn’t qualify as ‘significant improvement.’ Taxpayers deserve better.”
Oh and before you hit me with "McCain is right!" consider this...he has access to all the classified information that we don't....he is well aware of the efforts being made to bring down the cost of airplane and of the work being done to streamline production.

He is simply after publicity.  You know it and I know it.

The Irish Naval Service conducting Fleet exercises.

F-35C Jet Blast Deflector Testing

Time to squash this shit, SgtMajor...

Ok SgtMajor.

Its beyond time you stuck your head up out of your foxhole and fix this shit.

Lamonthe has an article up with the same stupidity....one of your Marines asking a celebrity out on a date.

I repeat.

We are suppose to have an elite organization here but this crap is going on.


I don't see vids of the Rangers doing this crap.


I don't see vids of the 82nd doing this crap.


I don't see vids of the 101st, 10th Mountain, 25th Infantry, Sailors or even Coast Guardsmen doing this shit.

Only US Marines are getting caught up in this mess.

QUESTION:
Pace might have allowed this to go on...but would Conway?  How about Gray?  How about Krulak?  I bet there are some former Commandants and SgtMajor's of the Marine Corps that are privately going ape at the sight of this.

Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious


Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious is pictured returning to Portsmouth following her refit in Scotland.HMS Illustrious returned to her Portsmouth home today (July 7) after completing a £40m maintenance and upgrade programme in Scotland.The 22,000 tonne ship, affectionately known as Lusty, was in the Rosyth dockyard in Fife for 16 months where she underwent modifications to turn her into a helicopter and commando carrier capable of carrying a force of up to 20 helicopters and 600 fully kitted out personnel.Since leaving Rosyth on June 18 Illustrious has been undergoing sea trials off the UK coast. She will carry out further tests off the south coast before returning to the RN fleet at the end of this month.Photographer: LA(Phot) Nicky Wilson


What a waste of a fine ship.  A commando carrier is fine....but it just won't be as lethal as it should be without its Harriers.

The usual suspects...



I'd be shocked but I could see this coming from a mile away.  Usually the fanboys aren't this obvious but this is just plain dastardly.

Exhibit number one...This post by Sweetman...
The Netherlands has decided to delay and stretch out its acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In a July 1 letter to parliament, defense minister Hans Hillen says that a revised plan, reflecting the most recent schedule changes "starts the flow of production aircraft in 2019, and lasts until 2027".
To be honest, if he had simply left it at that then it wouldn't be worthy of comment, but as usual Sweetman continues to make statements that are questionable at best.  I won't even get into the comments section where the merry band from 'down under' get swept away in the joy of an apparent anti F-35 victory.  Pathetic.

Exhibit number two...Bob Cox weighs in.... 
Its really not even worth the time to read.  The guy obviously has an massive hard on for the guys at Lockheed Martin (as does Sweetman) so my best advice to them is to always use soap on a rope when Cox comes around (pun intended).

Exhibit number three...some dude named Colin Horgan...
He's a new player (at least I never heard of him) but what makes his post noteworthy is the fact that it almost mirrors Cox's exactly.

I'm not saying that there is collusion here but my goodness it sure looks like.

The question now becomes...what should Lockheed Martin do? 


There is a group of reporters that are obviously talking...obviously comparing notes...obviously working overtime to kill a program that your company is working hard to get into the hands of US and allied War Fighters.  


What should you do?  Check out the vid below.  



Oh and LM...love ya'll but how can you put advertising right next to stories that are blasting your products? On two of the three articles I cited above, there was actually advertising for the F-35 running!  Come on guys this is 2011!  How about being smarter with your advertising budget!

Exercise Predator's Strike 2011































Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Terminal Lance and the case of the "buddy fucker"...

This applies on so many levels....enjoy....



Pic of the day. July 12, 2011.

A soldier rushes through a stream during a training exercise in Kenya.

The 4th Battalion The Rifles (4 RIFLES) were in Kenya undergoing intensive training to be the British Army's next Spearhead Lead Element - a rapid response force ready to tackle a world-wide crisis at 24 hours notice.

This can range from a major domestic terrorist attack to the evacuation of British nationals overseas.

Around 700 personnel left their Wiltshire base and were joined by other units including artillery and engineers for a five week intensive exercise at the British Army Training Unit Kenya, otherwise known as BATUK.

Photographer: Sgt Adrian Harlen

100 Flights For F-35C

The F-35C fleet reached 100 total flights when F-35C CF-2 flew back to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, after completing jet blast deflector training at the Naval Air Engineering Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.