SNAFU!

Monday, February 19, 2018

Blast from the past. Men of the US 4th Marines rushing out of their landing craft on Iwo Jima landing beach, 19 February, 1945.

Gun control? I was born free!

I did a swing thru my Twitter account this morning. Bad idea cause I'm in a foul mood. Low and behold what did I see? I saw a few military types (retired), a few think tank types (some retired military) and the usual suspects on the liberal side of things talking about how after this latest travesty we need more gun laws.

I'm beyond perplexed. I'm pissed.

The FBI got tips. The national security establishment AND law enforcement has the American people practically informing on each other as we speak.

This time they got a tip of a young maniac with a gun and the FBI ignored it. We give them spying power beyond belief, they can arrest us on a whim, and they have us practically to the point of ratting on each other if we have certain views outside the mainstream and yet they did nothing?

Now they want to add more restriction?

I won't state my real feelings but let me be clear. Eat shit and die. Not while I live. No way in hell. I am not a slave. My ancestors had no choice. I do.

From my cold dead hands!

Open Comment Post. Feb 19, 2018

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Singapore Air Force MRTT is sporting a darker shade of grey...

First .@TheRSAF .@AirbusDefence A330 MRTT breaks cover. I like the darker grey! Photo by Bavarian Aviation Photonews pic.twitter.com/5u6p9GTfhH
— Mike Yeo 杨启铭 (@TheBaseLeg) February 19, 2018

Lockheed Martin Receives Freedom-variant FFG(X) Conceptual Design Contract

The @USNavy has awarded us a $15 million contract to mature its Freedom-variant Frigate design. https://t.co/2OLWTfv0SQ pic.twitter.com/Kc6X6jO9xc
— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) February 19, 2018

hi res pic

It's official. HMS Ocean sold to Brazil...

via HeraldScotland.

The Ministry of Defence is selling the Royal Navy’s flagship vessel HMS Ocean to help plug a mammoth financial black hole.

The £84 million sale to the Brazilian navy is due to go ahead next month and Ocean will sail to South America in the summer.

Pressed on the amount of money that would be reinvested from the sale, an MoD spokesman confirmed it expected to yield a £55 million net profit, all of which would be pumped back into naval coffers.

Story here.

Wow. The funny thing is that in my mind a few ships in this class would serve the Marine Corps better than the LPD as designed. If aviation is the new "thing" then this class of ship with a better way to offload ground vehicles (that tiny ramp is a hindrance) would seem ideal. Making an LPD, a ship optimized to support the ground force, into an "aviation centric" vessel is a fools errand.

But putting that aside, the Brazilians got a steal. If they're willing to invest a little homegrown tech and money into the thing then they have a winner beyond belief.

I think the Royal Navy will look back and wish for the days of the HMS Ocean in its service.