Loss of our three Tornado squadrons for just one F-35B squadron of 12 aircraft.'

Thanks to Mr T for the link!

via Daily Mail.

Despite still being used on the front line against ISIS in Syria every day, the iconic Tornado fighter-bomber jets are set to be axed by early next year.

All 36 Tornado GR4s will be decommissioned by the RAF because of defence budget cuts.

The bomber was set to stay until the F-35B jet was ready to replace it but budget pressures have forced the RAF's hand early.

--------------------------------------------------

Air Commodore Andrew Lambert of the UK National Defence Association said that they fought hard to save the Tornados because of the important role they play.

He also said that they do not know when they will get the promised 48 F-35Bs.

'It means we are facing the loss of our three Tornado squadrons for just one F-35B squadron of 12 aircraft.'

Story here. 

Renew your faith, your belief systems...whatever floats your boat...Happy Easter.

I'm headed out the door to go to church to celebrate Christ's resurrection.  But that's me.

Whatever your belief systems, whatever floats your boat, today is a new day to renew yourself and chase whatever it is that makes you tick.

Do you fear being average?

Do you want to get in shape?

Do you want to achieve self discipline?

Any other hope or desire?

Fucking awesome.

Dare to be different, knock down the clowns that attempt to prevent a change and push forward.

Remember to be different you have to BE DIFFERENT!

Happy Easter ya'll...

Open Comment Post. April 1, 2018

T4 Bacteriophage looks like a freaking alien!

via USS Edsall Tumblr Page.

the model....

the real thing????

Oh if this is true then nature is a savage beast!  I mean look at that!  It looks like a freaking alien!

How do these little dudes (meaning the tumblr pages) even stumble across this kind of insanity? 

Open Comment Post. March 31, 2018

We've got to get the AH-1Z into the game. Can it fit an aerial refueling probe?

You've been following the news just like I have.  Doubts are being raised about the F-35.  The Marine Corps is pushing for an escort/close air support/recon tilt rotor UAV.  They're looking at the possibility of arming the MV-22 (I note with a bit of surprise that the aerial refueling pod that was planned for that airplane appears to have fallen by the wayside) and the beat goes on.

The reality?

The Pentagon got a plus up in funding for two years.

They can't count on increased funding forever.

Plans are nice but in the meantime we have to make do with what we have today.

It's time to get the AH-1Z back into the game with the regard to the Marine Corps fascination with deep strike missions.  Having said that the question becomes how?  Well we know that the MV-22 is faster so it would have to launch first and some bubba crunches numbers so that the escort arrives at the same time or slightly before the troop transports.

The speed issue can easily be nullified.  So what about the biggee that's been the show stopper.  The range issue.

I've chewed on this and the only answer I can come up with is to add a refueling probe to the AH-1Z.

Can this even be done?

I have no idea.

Will we probably lose weapons carriage?  Without a doubt.  Is it worth pursuing if it is possible (and that's a big if...I really have no idea, but I do know the Black Hawks do it with no degradation in troop carriage)?  You bet your ass!

US out of Syria? Trump you magnificent bastard!

Thanks to AM for the link!

via  news.com.au

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria “very soon” but it was the first his own Administration had heard of it.

In a populist address to industrial workers in Ohio, Mr Trump said US forces were close to securing all of the territory that the Islamic State jihadist group once claimed.

“We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” he promised, to applause.

Story here. 

If you aren't convinced that our actions in Syria and Iraq haven't been aimed at killing ISIS then this little push back should tilt you to the understanding that ISIS wasn't the objective.

Trump talks about pulling out of Syria and there's pushback?

Isn't that amazing?

If Trump can pull this off and get us out then he becomes a magnificent bastard.  That move alone will do more to put the globalist back in their cages than any tariff against China (although that will help too).

When Trump follows the themes that got him elected he's on the right side of things.  When he is led astray by establishment Republicans, Dems, Neo-Cons and globalists he goes off the past.

Schedule at Risk for Navy F-35C Fighters to be Combat Ready by End of Year via USNI News.

via USNI News.

It’s looking less and less likely the carrier-variants of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter will be ready for combat this year as has long been planned, but their first deployment is still expected in 2021.

For years, the Pentagon targeted initial operational capability (IOC) for the F-35C – the version designed to land on and take off from aircraft carriers – between August 2018 and February 2019, according to a June 2013 report to Congress.

This timeline was mentioned as recently as September 2017, when the Navy issued a release detailing F-35Cs testing takeoff and landing aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). According to the Navy release, “according to the F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force, the F-35C should reach its initial operational capability in 2018.”

Now signs indicate the 2018 date could be slipping to the right because of when the F-35 program can test the upgraded 3F software package in a formal Initial Operations Test and Evaluation (IOT&E). This is an F-35 enterprise testing event, not just an evaluation of the Navy’s F-35s, Rear Adm. Dale Horan told USNI News. Horan is the Navy’s director of Joint Strike Fighter Fleet Integration. Block 3F provides 100 percent of the software required for full warfighting capability, including data link imagery, full weapons, and embedded training, according to F-35 contractor Lockheed Martin.

Story here. 

Something tells me the Navy won't be pressing hard for the schedule to be met.  I'm also betting they won't mind a bit if the schedule for first deployment slips a bit either.

They're getting more Super Hornets than they bargained for and the refueling UAV can be accelerated if the F-35C continues to slip so this could be a blessing in disguise.

Yep.  Navy Air is probably thanking God in private for this news.

Side note.  In hindsight the JPO should have developed a two seat version out the box.  If they had done that then the Navy might be a little more enthusiastic about the plane.

Politics Talk. Now we know why the McCabe firing isn't being pushed in the media...he had a clear political agenda...

via Daily Caller.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe lied four times, including to James Comey, about his authorization of leaks to the media, according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with an internal FBI report recommending McCabe’s firing.

“He didn’t lie just once; he lied four times,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday.

“Four times he lied. He lied to James Comey. He lied to the [FBI’s] Office of Professional Responsibility, and he lied twice under oath to the inspector general.”

Jordan, a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Daily Caller News Foundation earlier on Thursday the Office of Professional Responsibility report revealed McCabe not only did not tell Comey he authorized leaks to the media, he “affirmatively denied” he did so.

Story here. 

So this is why this story faded so quickly from the headlines.  This is why the news media dropped it like a hot potato.

The timing was bad but the results unquestioned.  McCabe would have been fired no matter who was the Attorney General.  The Inspector General of the FBI had a solid case and made a common sense recommendation.

What agenda did McCabe push?

I have no idea and it's irrelevant.  What is relevant is that the premier law enforcement agency in the US (according to them) has a problem that's at the top of the tree.

ST Engineering - Singapore Terrex 2 IFV, NGAFV, Bronco 3 ATTV & Spider LSV (NGAFV looks BOSS!)

ST Kinetics needs to get its naming conventions together when it comes to the Terrex 2.  Is it the freaking Terrex 2 or Terrex 3?  If you remember the Singapore Army operates a so called Terrex 2 that looks nothing like the Terrex 2 that is now competing for the Marine Corps ACV and they're also marketing a Terrex 3 that looks like the model they're selling to the Marine Corps.

For such smart guys they've gotten that simple little bit all fucked up.

As far as the NGAFV?  That thing looks boss!