USMC from HQ to the School Houses are all in on the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations.
Are we moving too far toward being enablers instead of warfighters? Are prioritizing aviation to such a degree that our ground force becomes irrelevant?
Sunday, October 20, 2019
MAWTS-1 Marines Conduct AV-8B Harrier Landing and Refueling...Pics by Cpl. Adaezia Chavez
USMC from HQ to the School Houses are all in on the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations.
Are we moving too far toward being enablers instead of warfighters? Are prioritizing aviation to such a degree that our ground force becomes irrelevant?
Blast from the past. USS Truxton running aground off the shores of Canada...
Note. This tale of Canada has a happy ending..thank God!
When @USNavy USS Truxton ship ran aground off the coast of Newfoundland in February 1942, Lanier Phillips’ shipmates told him to stay with the sinking ship.— Canadian Forces in 🇺🇸 (@CAFinUS) October 20, 2019
They said he’d be lynched if he made it ashore through the frigid and oil-covered Atlantic waters. pic.twitter.com/kbJ17kSP02
Open Comment Post. 20 Oct 2019
Pics are of S. African experimental MRAPs. They're via Caesar's Twitter Page...give the dude a follow!
US Navy & Marines conduct large scale exercise in S. China Sea with two Aircraft Carriers and two Large Deck Amphibs...
via BreitBart
The U.S. Navy recently sent an aircraft carrier strike group and an amphibious ready group consisting of two large deck warships, dozens of aircraft, and thousands of sailors and Marines into the South China Sea, apparently for the first time ever.Story here.
Last week, the U.S. Navy sent the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group – consisting of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and her accompanying ships, aircraft, and sailors – and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group consisting of the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship and a Marine Expeditionary Unit of more than 2,000 Marines into the strategically important body of water.
The Navy said it had no records showing a carrier and amphibious operation of this kind in the South China Sea before, and the last time two aircraft carriers conducted operations there together was on August 17, 2001.
“While we do not have anything in our records that speaks to a carrier and amphib operation in the South China Sea, our Marine and Navy forces routinely operate together in the Indo-Pacific region,” Lt. Anthony Junco, a spokesman for the Navy’s 7th Fleet, told Breitbart News.
“The most recent dual-carrier operations in South China Sea we could find record of was conducted on 17 August, 2001 and included the aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and the now decommissioned USS Constellation (CV 64),” he said.
The U.S. naval and Marine forces conducted “joint, high-end warfighting exercises,” including with live fire, to “increase battle readiness,” according to an official Navy report on the recent operations.
A few things.
* Good to see the US Navy and Marines focusing on dealing with the coming war with the Chinese. It's no longer if but when. We need to get ready. Seriously ready.
* Not sure this is the answer. I've said before that we don't need to enter this region so the idea of enemy Anti-Access/Area Denial was simply a lie to push stealth aircraft. Sailing four of our capital ships within range of enemy defenses is curious in my opinion. Educate me where I'm wrong with my thinking, but I would imagine that even carriers would act as lily pads for aircraft that operate from bases ashore from which they'll actually carry out missions against Chinese aggression.
* From what I've seen I like the direction our Naval Services are headed. What concerns is that we're standing pat and have no answer to their Coast Guard which is acting as almost a marauding force, bullying smaller nations AND we have no real answer to the artificial islands they're building. We gotta wrap our heads around both issues and get them solved poste haste.
All in all I'm pleased. Crawl, walk, run...not sure where we're at in dealing with the China problem but at least we're doing something.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Bayou Man Blog on the Northrop Grumman 50mm Cannon...Awesome read!
via Bayou Man Blog
A week ago, I wrote about how several nations are up-gunning their infantry fighting vehicles (IFV's) and armored personnel carriers (APC's). Russia is leading the "caliber wars" with an updated version of a Cold War-era 57mm cannon, and others aren't far behind.
I mentioned the Franco-British CT40 40mm cannon in that article. I've since been advised that, no matter how effective it may be, the cost of its ammunition is "eye-watering", due to its extremely compact and specialized design. It's been suggested that each round is at least two to three times the cost of more conventional equivalents, and sometimes more. If so, I'd regard that as a major concern. Armies need to train with the weapons they're going to use in combat - simulators can only do so much compared to using the real thing. If training becomes too expensive, due to the cost of ammo, then budgetary reality will dictate that training be cut back. That can be disastrous when the proverbial brown substance hits the rotary air impeller. It's something to keep in mind, for sure. (The new Russian cannon will use conventional ammunition that's been in production for over half a century, and is well understood. Even with more capable modern projectiles, the cost per round should still be manageable.)Story here.
Now we read that a new XM913 50mm experimental cannon has just been demonstrated for the US Army. This is a very innovative weapon, one that's been resurrected from the scrap heap of the Cold War to become a very viable option for future armored vehicles, so I'd like to spend a little time on it.
I would SO LOVE to see this gun mounted on select ACVs within the Amphibious Assault Platoon!
Airbus A400M Grizzly drops 80 Paratroopers (40 from each door) during testing (Twitter Post Vid)..
📢 In case you missed it!— Airbus Defence (@AirbusDefence) October 18, 2019
🎥 The #A400M new generation airlifter has completed the certification flight test for the simultaneous dispatch of 80 (40+40) equipped paratroopers from both side doors on a single pass. ✈️
More information: https://t.co/7gqM4qRPxF#WeMakeItFly pic.twitter.com/ylMTo6aApO
Nice to see but I have a side question. What is the decent rate of those parachutes.
Seems like those guys are falling pretty fast to say that they're all Hollywood.
Centauro II turret on C1 Ariete hull.
Centauro II turret on C1 Ariete hull. Would this be a real alternative to the planned Ariete mid-life update? pic.twitter.com/MDXjVarDFB— bttr (@bttr01438851) October 19, 2019
Don't know how practical this would be but it is a beauty. I imagine it would be lightweight and extremely quick.
This intrigues me.
Challenger 2 Upgrade delayed till 2021...why don't the Brits simply fall in on the US Army and get upgraded M1 Abrams to the latest standard?
via Forces.net
A decision on how many of the Army’s Challenger 2 tanks will be upgraded will not be made until 2021.Story here.
Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said assessments were still being made but said he expects the order for the new mechanised infantry vehicles, the 'Boxer', will be put in by the Ministry of Defence by the end of this year.
He visited Telford for the launch of a new joint venture between the two defence companies that are hoping to deliver both programmes.
Just plain wow.
The British Army is tying themselves up in knots to upgrade the Challenger 2 when they can EASILY fall in on the US Army, acquire the number of M1's they need from our stockpile and get General Dynamics to upgrade them to the current US Army standard at a song.
But what about their industrial base?
It will exist. They're building Boxers and the Ascod 2. Tribal knowledge can be maintained thru our excellent relations and I'm sure the US Army won't object to having a Brit assigned to the development team (hopefully they won't leave classified documents inside a taxi again).
I don't understand it.
Maybe it's pride.
Maybe it's misplaced priorities.
Regardless this can be taken off their procurement plate with a quickness if they simply decide to make it happen.
Norwegian Army conducts Emergency Readiness Exercise
Note. This is from the Norwegian Army Instagram Page. Google did the translation for me and below is the translated caption applied to the pics.
Den siste uken har Hæren vært i Finnmark hvor man har samtrent med de andre forsvarsgrenene.And to English.
Øvelsen som var en uvarslet alarmøvelse skal teste å forflytte styrker på kort varsel.
The last week, the Army has been in Finnmark where they have been in contact with the other branches of defense.Any original language speakers let me know the "actual" translation.
The exercise, which was an unprecedented alarm exercise, will test to move forces at short notice.
101st Airborne regains full Air Assault capability....36 additional CH-47's to be purchased to lift a full Brigade Combat Team...
via Military.com
U.S. Army aviation officials have launched an effort to restore full air assault capability to the 101st Airborne Division -- a capability the Screaming Eagles have been without since 2015.Story here.
As the Army's only air-assault division, the 101st has traditionally had two combat aviation brigades -- instead of one CAB like other divisions -- to allow the unit to lift a full brigade combat team into combat at one time.
But mandatory budget cuts under sequestration prompted the Army to take one of the 101st's CABs away.
The effort to re-equip the 101st with dozens of helicopters is one of the top aviation priorities the Army has identified as it races to be ready to conduct major combat operations across all warfare domains by 2028, Maj. Gen. David Francis, commander of the Army's Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama, said.
"Army aviation was required to reduce the number of combat aviation brigades in the active component, so we went from 13 combat aviation brigades down to 11," Francis said Wednesday at the 2019 Association of the United States Army's annual meeting.
"One of the combat aviation brigades that was inactivated was the 159th CAB, one of two that resided [in the 101st] at Fort Campbell."
The 159th CAB officially inactivated in December 2015, leaving the unit with the 101st CAB.
"The capacity that we lost was primarily on the lift side, so we are going to build additional lift capability into the 101st to enable that capability to reside back in that organization," Francis said.
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