Air Tractor AT-802U finally going into service...in Yemen!

Thanks for the article Steven!

via ARSTechnica...

Looking to get out of the business of secret drone strikes against Al Qaeda members and others in Yemen, the US is preparing to give the Yemeni Air Force its own, somewhat lower-tech equivalent of the Predator and Reaper for carrying out “targeted killing” operations. According to documents obtained by Buzzfeed’s Aram Roston, the US will provide a squadron of 10 aircraft originally designed as crop dusters, which are now equipped for a wholly different sort of reaping.The two aircraft manufacturers in contention for the Yemen Precision Strike Program are Air Tractorand Thrush Aircraft. The specs of the program call for two-crew member airplanes that are easy enough to fly that the Yemeni Air Force can quickly crew them up. The planes must also be able to carry surveillance and targeting sensors, ballistic armor to protect the crew from ground fire, and a load of weapons on six “hardpoints” on the wings.
While weapons are not part of the first round of deliveries, the ability to incorporate them is. The required weapons capabilities include the ability to launch or drop Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs. They should also be “capable of carrying/employing [a] .50 cal gun,” according to a US Central Command memo on the program published by Buzzfeed.
While Yemenis will fly the planes, Buzzfeed reports that an anonymous source said they will be paired with US Air Force personnel, either as pilots or weapons operators. The Air Force crew members will likely be from the Sixth Special Operations Squadron, a unit that specializes in training and “combat aviation advisory” operations.

This is something that hasn't been discussed enough and quite honestly SOCOM hasn't focused on enough.

Close Air Support in austere locations.

The A-10 was in my mind the perfect airplane to be paired with SOCOM but they never seemed interested.  Now that its being retired maybe now its SOCOM cool.  We'll see. 

Poland is activating its reserves?

If this is true then things are MUCH more dicey in Europe than we've been told...via The Week.com.uk...

NEXT time you take a tray of tea and custard creams to the nice gang of Polish builders renovating your semi, they may seem a little distracted and anxious. Ask them why, and they will answer that some of them have in the last few weeks received call-up papers as army reservists.

This happened to a friend of mine in London at the end of last week. At least 7,000 reservists have been recalled to the colours for immediate exercises lasting between 10 and 30 days.
They’re told by the Polish authorities that the call-ups are “routine”: but the men say they haven’t been asked before and they’re well aware of the growing alarm in Warsaw at President Putin’s aggression. Three weeks ago, their Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, called a press conference to warn that “the world stands on the brink of conflict, the consequences of which are not foreseen… Not everyone in Europe is aware of this situation.”

You can bet that Polish Intelligence services are all over the situation in the Ukraine.  You can also bet that the Poles wouldn't be doing this type of thing for shits and giggles.

Something bad is brewing and we're not getting it from our news media.

So where did I get this news?

From a prepper website called SHTF Plan.  If preparedness is part of your lifestyle check them out. 

AAV's prepare for exercise SSang Yong 2014...Vid by Capt. Caleb Eames

Is it my imagination or are US Marines conducting more exercises in S. Korea lately?

Seems like I'm seeing more activity than even before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I don't even know where to go to get the numbers but something is up.

Shit is real for military kids...

VBTP-MR in operation with the Brazilian 33rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

Many thanks to Lucas for the link!

It just occured to me.  Are we going to see a family of vehicle develop here?  It would seem a given that a Engineer, Command, Ambulance, Anti-Air, etc...version would be dedicated to lower the training and logistics cost for their Army and Marines while operating these vehicles.  Time to do a little research.

US lacks the ability to conduct successful amphibious assaults?!

via Washington Times (READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE)

“We have had a good return of our Marines back to the Asia-Pacific, particularly as the activities in the Middle East wind down in Afghanistan. … But the reality is, is that to get Marines around effectively, they require all types of lift. They require the big amphibious ships, but they also require connectors (meaning landing craft and other amphibious vehicles). The lift is the enabler that makes that happen, so we wouldn’t be able to [successfully carry out a contested amphibious assault without additional resources],” Adm. Locklear said, Stars and Stripes reported.
The admiral’s comments come only weeks after Capt. James Fannell, the chief of intelligence of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that he believes China is training for war with Japan.
“[We] concluded that the PLA has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea following with what can only be expected a seizure of the Senkakus or even a southern Ryukyu [islands] — as some of their academics say,” the captain said in February after witnessing “massive” Chinese military exercises in the Pacific.

I'm not at all surprised.

Amos has ignored his core responsibility to ensure that the USMC is capable of conducting its most important mission.

Amphibious Assault.

Additionally while he's pushed MARSOC, the Maritime Raid Force, Recon, SPMAGTF-Crisis Response and Marine Aviation he has ignored the needs of the Ground Combat Element.

A replacement of the AAV with a ACV and/or MPC?  Ignored....postponed...shit canned.

In its most basic form the AAV/ACV/MPC are more than personnel carriers.  The AAV/ACV also serve as SHIP TO SHORE CONNECTORS!

Amos has weakened the Marine Corps with his focus on the F-35, and Aviation at the expense of the GCE and his love affair with "Elite Units" inside the Elite Marine Corps.

Back in the Scribd camp...

I wrote an earlier blog post about trouble I was having with Scribd and the documents I have on their site.

Well ATS summed up the problem in total, I was just too raging to hear him...he said...

Solomon, you should actually respond and request that the government public domain material you have be white listed. This is less Scribd's fault and much more the sleazy biz practices of a company called 21st Century US Military Manuals which basically copies US Gov military manuals and adds some additional formatting. This is obviously causing the automated copyright infringement system issues. There really is no man in the loop system with these systems because it simply is not feasible.

He was spot on.

Some bastard or son of a bitches has slightly altered military manuals and copyrighted them as their own.

That's why my stuff was getting flagged.

They're aware and working on the problem which is good for them...and me.

SNAFU! Blog is back with Scribd.

Glad we worked it out.

Royal Navy Sea King Mk4 Helicopter Over Northern Norway (pics)

Keloid Trailer!

Z-10 landing on LST

Major thanks to Mr. T for the link.  Pics via Live Journal.

We've seen Chinese cargo and transport helicopters operating from their amphibious ships for quite awhile now.

What we haven't seen is the Z-10 heading to sea...until recently.

They're dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's when it comes to having a fully integrated amphibious assault force.  While the USMC is emphasizing MARSOC and the Maritime Raid Force (the Recon platoon assigned to an MEU), the Chinese are focusing on putting ashore a credible, powerful combined arms team.

It'll be interesting to see which concept proves correct when the inevitable happens.