C-5.

A C-5A Galaxy strategic airlifter arrived at Lockheed Martin from the U.S. Air Force to begin major maintenance. This C-5A is assigned to Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, home of the 105th Airlift Wing, and will be at the Palmdale site for five months.

A C-5A Galaxy strategic airlifter arrived at Lockheed Martin from the U.S. Air Force to begin major maintenance. This C-5A is assigned to Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, home of the 105th Airlift Wing, and will be at the Palmdale site for five months.

Nigel is AWESOME!

A few days ago I ran the a video featuring Nigel Farage.  While I support his cause and his words echo my feelings... comments from my European readers were alot less than flattering.

I wrote the UKIP to get a response to the criticisms that flew Nigel's way.

Today I got that response.

Dear Solomon

Many thanks for writing to me about this.  I notice that the comments you mention, from your "readers in Europe", do not address the substance of my speech - which was all about the EU's Central Bank bailing out failing eurozone-countries - at all!

What those "readers" are saying amounts to an ad hominem attack - an ancient rhetorical device for avoiding an argument you can't win - and, in addition, this attack is the oldest canard in the book - "racism", if you please, when UKIP is a declared libertarian, inclusive, democratic Party, battling to remove the megalomanic grasp of the Brussels-bureaucrats from our social, economic, political and judicial throat!  

I don't think you can take it seriously.  UKIP always says , "love Europe - hate the EU!"  It is the neo-soviet EU-system, we are fighting, and the Quisling-conspirators in national governments, who have created this system, and who stay in power, because they are using taxpayers' money, via the EU and directly, to bribe the media and all society's opinion-formers to support them.

As for our neighbours, European and otherwise, we fear for  them - as the EU's power grows - just as much as we fear for ourselves.

What your critics are saying is cynical tosh.

Yours sincerely

Nigel

Wow.


Nigel rocks!

Navy/Marine Team Practice "Logistics" in the runup to Cobra Gold 11...

Marines and Navy personnel offload humvees from the USNS Lummus onto a causeway ferry as they perform a maritime prepositioning force offload during exercise Freedom Banner on Jan. 25, 2011 at the Sattahip Naval Station, Kingdom of Thailand.

Marines and Navy personnel offload humvees from the USNS Lummus onto a causeway ferry as they perform a maritime prepositioning force offload during exercise Freedom Banner on Jan. 25, 2011 at the Sattahip Naval Station, Kingdom of Thailand.

A Navy causeway ferry, top, docks with the USNS Lummus to offload hummvees and other military gear as part of Exercise Freedom Banner on Jan. 25, 2011, Sattahip Navy Base, Thailand. Exercise Freedom Banner utilizes a Maritime Prepositioning Force to offload gear in a timely manner that is unique to the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy.

“An MPF squadron, like MPSRON 3, can support a brigade sized element of more than 16,000 for up to 30 days. For Exercise Cobra Gold ’11, the MPF will provide 160 pieces of equipment that will be utilized by units within 3rd MEB,” said Lt. Col. Michael Curtin, 3rd MEB logistics officer. “MPSRON 3 is an operational asset to the Navy’s Seventh Fleet focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.”

F-35 final development jet.

A Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter comes in for a landing at Edwards AFB, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, after a 3.2-hour ferry flight from Fort Worth, Texas.

Appeasement is the proper policy towards Confucian China???

via The Telegraph.

The correct statecraft for the West is to treat Beijing politely but firmly as a member of global club, gambling that the Confucian ethic will over time incline China to a quest for global as well as national concord. Until we face irrefutable evidence that this Confucian bet has failed, 'Boltonism’ must be crushed.
Appeasement, your hour has come.

Wow!

Wow!

Wow!

Before any action is taken...after we have acquiesced to every demand...the pacifist want even more.

Wow!

If you feel like being highly pissed off then read the whole thing, but remember, I warned you!

I love this guy!

Rant Time. Cutting defense the Sweetman way.

Think Defence said this...

Sol, hear what you are saying and I have railed against the corrosive inter service bitching that has beset UK defence for far too long.

Unfortunately, it shows no sign of getting any better, at least at the higher echelons.

Looking in from the outside, the US has 5 air forces each operating manned, unmanned, rotary and fixed wing; Army, USAF, USN, USMC and SOCOM. Now I could be dead wrong but that looks like duplication to me which as I have said may be perfectly fine in times a plenty but of you look at all western nations, the budget deficits are crippling and simply have to be tacked with reductions in spending. Different countries will of course see defence as different priorities, that is only natural, but defence will surely form part of a deficit reduction plan so all armed forces and industry had better get used to that fact for the next 10 or 20 years

Lean times are coming

Sorry for picking on my boy Think Defence but he's thinking along the lines of Sweetman.

Time to bury this bone of thought, kick dirt on it and not let its ugly head rise again (this is a no zombie zone)!


First, lets take this to its most outrageous place...

If you get rid of Marine Air because the Navy and Air Force can perform that function then why not get rid of the Marines entirely.

But wait while we're at it, the US Army is always complaining that the US Air Force doesn't provide close air support or enough transport aircraft for its troops and we once had the Army Air Corps so....

LETS PUT THE Air Force back into the Army.

But wait their is more.  Lets kill the Coast Guard, fold its law enforcement functions into Customs, its rescue facilities into the Navy...

More you say????  We got along without a SOCCOM so we'll send all the snake eaters back to their respective services and save money there.

Who needs land based ballistic missiles?  We can put them all on subs and be more survivable that way...

Oh and the Army?  Yes we folded the Marines and Air Force into it but guess what, we need to downsize it so we'll have it maxed out at say 200,000 men.

Wait a second!  We already had that.  So really lets save money and KILL THE ARMY AND THE USAF AND LEAVE THE DEFENSE OF THIS NATION TO OUR SEA SERVICES!

The Marine Corps is 202,000 strong right now, and can certainly take care of any land battles!

So if you really want to save money, don't kill Marine Air...KILL THE ARMY, KILL THE AIR FORCE AND YOU HAVE ALL THE CUT BACKS YOU COULD EVER NEED!

F-117 wreckage bought by China used to help develop J-20?

via Fox News...

First this---

"At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers," says Adm. Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war.
"We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies ... and to reverse-engineer them," Domazet-Loso said in a telephone interview.
A senior Serbian military official confirmed that pieces of the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, and that some ended up "in the hands of foreign military attaches."

Then this---

Zoran Kusovac, a Rome-based military consultant, said the regime of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic routinely shared captured Western equipment with its Chinese and Russian allies.
"The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list for both the Russians and Chinese," Kusovac said.
Russia's Sukhoi T-50 prototype stealth fighter made its maiden flight last year and is due to enter service in about four years. It is likely that the Russians also gleaned knowledge of stealth technology from the downed Nighthawk.

Hmm.

Either a viable counter measure to stealth already exists with earlier generations of stealth----or those airplanes (the escorts for the B-2's) were flying missile pickets or expendable targets if the jamming didn't work.

I would pay good money to hear what the escorting pilots briefing was before those missions.

Kill or Be Killed.

Update:  I originally had a little commentary with this film.  It didn't do this film justice.  Just watch it.

Sharkeys World Blog..

Did you think that the fight to get the Harrier back into service was over?  If so then you haven't read Sharkeys World Blog.

I don't know how wide spread the movement is, but British Forces will suffer a power projection nightmare for at least 5-10 years if this decision isn't reversed.  The Royal Air Force is professional but a Naval Air Arm is essential.

Update:
The Ark Royal is finally being paraded to the scrap yard  ...  this quote best states my opinion  ...

What will be the next strategic shock? I cannot predict it - nor can the Government. To lose our maritime strike capability in such dangerous times is short-sighted.

Lord West of Spithead

China Defense Blog on the new trainer.

China has a new trainer according to the China Defense Blog.

Aircraft retired too soon...Part 2!

In my previous post, I listed a few aircraft that were retired too soon.  But in light of technological advances this must be modified...my new roster....

F-14

Think about the capabilities of this beast with modern engines, AESA radar in that huge nose, it already had FLIR but add to it a modern derivative...and then add the possibilities with small diameter bombs and you have an early 4th gen that could compete with anything flying...they gave up on it way too soon.

S-3 Viking

The Viking.  Hoover.  First real deal multi-role platform in Navy service.  Name one airplane that served in the Anti-Sub, Anti-Surface, Refueling, Attack, and Electronic warfare roles besides the S-3.  You can't.  It was an original, its still available and should be put back into service.  Especially with the threat of Chinese subs.

C-141

Criticized by many but only because they never understood its role.  Strategic long range airlift.  Fast, and long ranged, it could carry tons of paratroopers to far off lands so they could do their LGOPs thing (Little Groups of Paratroopers rampaging across the country side).  The C-141 filled the role between the C-5 and the C-130...the C-17 is adequate but geared more toward moving gear.  The C-141 has longer legs, is a better people mover and with modern engines would be even more effective.


I'm sure their are many more.  You'll notice that airplanes from our allies aren't included.  If you have good candidates, then send them my way.