Pics of the day. July 14, 2010.

Lance Cpl. Cody Kummer, rifleman, 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Company A, Landing Force, native of Omaha, Neb., prepares himself to repel down a 20-meter repel tower July 5. More than 50 Marines from the Landing Force participated in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four July 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

A Marine from the Landing Force participating in the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four, repels face first down a 50-foot repel tower while participating in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course July 6. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of KITP 10-4 July 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

Marines from the Landing Force and Republic of Korea Marines repel down a 30-meter rock face while participating in the ROKMC Basic Rangers Course July 6. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four July 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

1st Lt. Sean Williams, platoon commander, Amphibious Assault Vehilce Platoon, native of Fort Myers, Fla., repels down a 30-meter rock face while participating in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course July 6. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four July 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

Lance Cpl. Angel Vargas, rifleman, 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, Landing Force, native of Terrehaute, Ind., monkey crawls 240 feet of rope while participating in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course July 7. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of Korean Incremental Training Program 10-4 Jul 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

A Marine from the Landing Force participating in the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four fast ropes down a 20-meter rope while participating in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course July 9. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of KITP 10-4 Jul 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)

And the truth starts to come out on the Russian 5th gen fighter.

via RiaNovosti.

"The Air Force will start taking delivery [of fifth-generation fighters] in 2015-16. The preliminary number is over 60," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said.
He also said the first batch of new fighters would be provided with older, "non-fifth" generation engines.

I always wondered how the Russians would be able to cobble together the pieces of a 5th gen fighter in such a short time.

Now we know.

Its not going to be a 5th gen fighter...its going to be a re-skinned SU-30...how about this Sukhoi fans...it'll be a re-skinned SU-35!  Better?

If its flying with current engines...how far along can they be when it comes to sensor fusion?

My prediction.

This bad boy will have pods hanging from hardpoints when it makes it into service...if it makes it into service.

Fallschirmjaejer QRF in Afghanistan.

Germany's in the fight.  The photo is via Strike-Hold and the gallery is definitely worth a look-see.  Their gear setup is interesting.  As is the way they outfit their weapons.  No backup iron sights?  Wow.

Comment of the day. July 14, 2010.

Steve made this comment on an earlier post.

F-35 cops a lot flack for development delays - but as I recall it is no worse than the F-22 whose X moodel first flew in 89/90 but did not reach IOC until about '05. The Eurofighter X-model first flew about '86 and did not reach IOC - in only a limited air-air mode - until about '04. The Rafael was not much different.
Yet I cannot recall Bill Sweetman et al giving anything like the grief to those earlier fighters that they now give to the F-35. And before someone tells me that the F-35 is much bigger program, the issue here is development cos' once development is completed, the production ccosts usually come down e.g. F-22.

And that boys and girls is the real issue with the F-35.  Once it begins serial - full rate production, then its Katy bar the door!  The costs of the airplane will drop dramatically.  Nations will clamor for the airplane and the Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen and Super Hornet will be shut out of the fighter market.  This could be the swan song for some aircraft manufacturers.

That's Bill's fear.

That's Boeing's fear.

That the European Aircraft Manufacturer's fear.

And that explains why so much venom is being tossed at this program.  Effectiveness be damned.  Its all about protecting territory and market share. 

Old School Combat Arms Recruiting Poster.

via Mechanix.

AAV training at RIMPAC.

Seems like the Marines and Australian Army are the only ones doing real training and from the looks of things its not too intense.

RIMPAC 2010 will never be confused with a STEEL KNIGHT or a CAX at 29 Palms.

Israel wants F-15 Silent Eagles?

Awesome.  If they want F-15's instead of F-35's cool.  Just be done with it.  Either buy a US plane or don't but stop playing these damn games.  More at UPI...

For the Israelis, the advanced version of the F-15 Eagle has been seen as an alternative to the ill-starred F-35 for some time, both in terms of delivery schedule and cost.
Boeing unveiled the Silent Eagle in March, about the same time the Department of Defense announced the F-35 program's problems.

It will reportedly cost around $100 million per plane, which conforms with the ceiling the Israelis have put on acquiring a fifth-generation fighter.

The new F-15 configuration reportedly includes a stealth capability but that's only effective in evading the radars carried by hostile aircraft but not by ground-based radar systems.
Other improvements include adapting the F-15's conformal fuel tanks to carry weapons inside the fuselage rather than externally, thus reducing the radar signature.
One of the functions tested during the F-15 Silent Eagle's weekend flight was opening and closing its left side conformal weapons bay that contained an AIM-120 air-to-air missile, which wasn't fired.

One last thing.  If you think that you can buy a Silent Eagle for the same price as a legacy F-15K then someone in Israel is smoking crack.

Pic of the Day. July 13, 2010.

Another Joe Stemph Flickr Page Production!

Fifty-Three Delta

CH-53D Sea Stallion (BuNo 157736) of HMH-363 "Lucky Red Lions" arriving at West Wetlands park in Yuma, Arizona during a noncombatant evacuation drill supported by MAWTS-1 as part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 2-10.

Blast from the past. Expeditionary Tank.

If you've been reading my little blog here, you might have noticed that I've become fascinated with projects from the past that were left behind or not pursued.

Well, I found another promising project called the Expeditionary Tank.  Want a surprising tidbit of information?  It would have worked perfectly...as a matter of fact its main gun is being used on the Stryker!

Read more at Military-Today.

NH-90 suffers its first loss in Australia.

Don't know how I missed it but this is huge news.

The NH-90's problems have finally caught up with it and the lack of actual performance in the field is affecting sales.

How?

In Australia.  The Australians had a wonderful plan  to basically neck down to the NH-90 as a common utility type helicopter for their services...the Tactical version for the Army and the Maritime version for its Navy.

But because of the NH-90's below par service so far, the Australians reversed course and are instead procuring MH-60R's instead.

Glorious.  Read more at Defense Update.