Center for American Progress slams Navy/Marine Corps Budget allocations.

The Center for American Progress has published a write-up of the latest from the House Armed Services Committee.  Suffice it to say that they're not pleased with continued funding of many of the service's programs.  Read more here.

The HASC bill also includes $65 billion for Navy and Marine Corps procurement despite Secretary Gates’s recent speech before the Navy League calling on the service to reexamine its force posture in the current operating environment. As Gates noted, the United States will maintain 11 carrier strike groups through 2040 when no other country has more than one. The $65 billion includes $5.1 billion to fund two Virginia class submarines—the first time the committee has ever authorized two of these boats in one year. And the committee’s FY 2011 authorization includes $1.7 billion in advance funding toward the purchase of two more Virginia class hulls in FY 2012. Including funding for the advanced purchase of these two submarines creates a strong incentive for lawmakers to allow the program to proceed in next year’s budget, which essentially ensures that the same misguided spending evident in this year’s markup will continue in FY 2012.
The list goes on. The HASC bill includes $361 million over what the administration requested for funding for ballistic missile defense despite the fact that the Pentagon already increased the budget by over $300 million from a year ago. The increased funding, which then-Senator Obama campaigned against, would fund missile defense at George W. Bush administration-levels if approved by the House and the Senate. HASC also revived funding for the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, an unnecessary and deeply flawed amphibious vehicle that is vulnerable to the types of improvised explosive devices used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm not sure about many of the issues raised here.  What I do know is that the statement regarding the EFV is false.  It has been re-engineered to survive IEDs similar to those encountered in Iraq/Afghanistan.  I wonder what else they got wrong.

Terror Alert on Southern Border of the US.

via FoxNews.

The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.
In 2008, the U.S. government designated Al Shabaab a terrorist organization. Al Shabaab has said its priority is to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on Somalia; the group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda and has made statements about its intent to harm the United States.

Talk about the most under reported news of yesterday!  When a terrorist attack is tracked back to the Southern Border there will be hell to pay.

Now we know why the President decided to send an 1200 troops to the border.  He's probably worried about the possibilities.  It also explains the silence from the illegal immigration activist to the news.

Weird Timing.

Remember the dust up in the blogging community yesterday.  Well later that same day BlackFive contributor "Uncle Jimbo" was on the Rachel Maddow show supporting the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"...talk about a weird set of circumstances.  Blogger accused the guy of being a right wing fascist and then he shows up on the most liberal of talk shows promoting the repeal of a regulation that is supported by the majority of the Marine Corps (I have nothing to back that up, just going by conversations I've had)...Amazing!  Please note.  I haven't gone over to the dark side.  I watch her show to keep up with enemy opinion!

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Amphibs. The most useful ships in the fleet.

SURABAYA, Indonesia (May 26, 2010) - Members of the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL) Navy Band prepare to welcome USS Tortuga (LSD 46) to Indonesia to kick off Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) 2010. In its 16th year, NEA is part of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance force readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Mike Morley)

Navy Partnership missions invariably include amphibious ships.  Despite their detractors, the amphib is the hardest working ship in the Navy.  But its useless without its Marine Contingent.  Many forget that and focus only on the ships themselves.  That is not only disingenuous but its also shortsighted.  This from the 7th Fleet.

“Naval Engagement Activity Indonesia plays an important role in our Navy’s maritime strategy of building global partnerships,” said Clemmons. “NEA is a great opportunity to build upon our pre-existing relationship with our Indonesian counterparts and to learn from each other what can be accomplished through our combined efforts.”

Training events held during NEA in Indonesia include search and rescue, flight deck familiarization, boarding exercises, medical and dental activities, an amphibious landing, salvage exercises as well as community service projects and performances by the U.S. 7th Fleet band Orient Express.

“The events planned for our NEA phase in Indonesia will help to promote our interoperability and foster better relationships with our Indonesian partners,” said Clemmons.

Do you notice that most of those events are directly related to the USS Tortuga and not the FFG or the T-ARS or the Coast Guard Cutter?

*Amphibious Landing---LSD-46
*Search and Rescue---All ships involved
*Medical and Dental Activities---LSD-46
*Boarding Exercises---LSD-46, FFG-48 and the Coast Guard Cutter
*Salvage Exercise---T-ARS
*Community Service---All ships involved

To be quite honest with the proper manning, the LSD could perform all these missions except the salvage exercise. 

The Amphib is the true multi-mission platform. 

Meanwhile, in the UK.

When I read this, I paused and said...good---that means that we're not the only ones that have lost our minds.  If Israel comes out and says how many nukes it has then I'll apologize...until then I think this is the dumbest, most insane thing I've ever heard of.  To broadcast a state secret for no apparent reason is....CRAZY TALK!  From CNN...

Britain has a total nuclear arsenal of fewer than 225 weapons, with 160 currently operational, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday.
"We believe that the time is now right to be more open about the weapons we hold," Hague said in a statement to Parliament.
"We judge that this will assist in building a climate of trust between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states and contribute, therefore, to future efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide."

M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System

I find this little shotgun fascinating.  It really seems like another example of re-inventing the wheel.  The Super Shorty seems to be handier, holds only one fewer round and would only have required attachment hardware for under weapon use.  Nevertheless, check out this fact sheet and follow the link to the Firearm Blog for more information. 
SW_IW_M26

PEO Soldier's Small Arms Dump.

PEO Soldier has been kind enough to provide a photographic over view of Army weapons.  These are the most interesting.

The M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS) provides Soldiers with
a 12-gauge shotgun accessory attachment with lethal, less-than-lethal and
door-breaching capabilities.

The M192 provides a lighter weight, low-profile mounting platform for the M249 and M240 for controlled, sustained, and accurate fire at extended ranges.

The M320 Grenade Launcher enables Soldiers to accurately engage the enemy in daylight or total darkness with a safer more reliable grenade launcher. Much more over at their site. Check them out.

Blogger War.

I'm not touching this with a ten foot pole.  I don't know what I don't know but its interesting reading.  Follow these links....

http://www.warisboring.com/?p=5333 

http://nextnavy.com/blogger-intervention-milblogs-and-anti-government-rhetoric/ 


http://www.qando.net/?p=8526


http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=19243

Seabasing Counters Area Denial | AVIATION WEEK

Seabasing Counters Area Denial | AVIATION WEEK

Great article but what I'm still waiting for is an explanation of how you develop an LHA and not have it part of the Amphibious Fleet.  This is another promising concept that will probably be under intense pressure with the current budget problems.  

Bloggers roundtable on the EFV.

DoD Live is going to have a bloggers roundtable on the EFV on the 27th of this month.  If the "professional" blogosphere is up to snuff then we should get some visibility on the state of the program.  I'm not holding my breath, most of the "professionals" are Navy centric.  If they comment on the EFV its to engage in more of a bash session rather than an information seeking exercise.  But we'll see.  Follow the link above and you can sit in on the discussion --I know I will.

MRAPs. We get heavier, allies get lighter.

The latest news from Australia and the UK gives interesting news.  While our MRAPs have on average gotten heavier (with the M-ATV being the lone exception) our allies are looking at lighter offerings.

From the UK, we have the example of Force Protection UK's Ocelot Light Protected Patrol Vehicle.  This truck will operate in the same manner as our future JLTV (perhaps in a more tactical role with no provision for the utility variants).


In Australia we just got word that their new Hawkei Light Protected Vehicle has made it to the second round in their selection process.

What's obvious is that the JLTV as its currently designed (by all competitors) is just too heavy.  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against highly protected vehicles.  The issue becomes one of fewer returns with every ton increase in weight.  MRAPs are notorious for poor ride and handling qualities (bad for troop effectiveness once they reach the objective) and for their inability to navigate confined areas of roadways (mostly tight mountain passes).  The number of injured and killed by accidents is probably one of the more under reported consequences of the war against IEDs.

All this leads to the Marine Corps decision to pursue an uparmored Humvee, instead of the JLTV.  The more I look at this issue the better I like the Granite Tactical solution.

Navy loves the F-35C.

via DefPro...

"I want to dispel the contention that the Navy is soft on F-35C," said Rear Adm. Michael C. Manazir. "The Navy has had the F-35C in her horizon for more than a decade. As we built the path from F/A-18 aircraft on to the carrier to fifth generation, we grew the E/F Super Hornets in the limits of fourth generation capability. We now need to move into the F-35C to realize our vision for TACAIR (tactical air) coming off the carriers."

Outstanding.  Read more at DefPro, but this is another blow to the many critics of this airplane.  Just like the LPD-17, only later will the doubters understand the leap ahead that these systems represent...and then they will claim to have supported them all along!