Thursday, August 20, 2020
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
2d LAR Splash Training
U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, 2d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2d Marine Division perform a floatation test with Light Armored Vehicle-25s at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, August 18, 2020. These tests are imperative to determine the seaworthiness of a vehicle for future training and operations to maintain the Division’s combat readiness.I highlighted the word "seaworthiness" for a reason. Berger has already expressed doubt about the future of LAR. This is more than a flotation test. This is a validation of what I believe are his preconceived notions about LAR, how they fit into the fight in the Pacific and whether they'll be long for the Missile Marine Corps.
I believe this unit is fighting for it's life but doesn't know it.
My guess?
If it can't swim from ship to shore, is too heavy to be carried by helo to shore (and let's be honest...it IS!), and has weapons that are overmatched by cannons carried by utility vehicles (even the Army's squad carrier mounts a 30mm cannon now) then that's all he'll need to can the unit.
My guess is that sometime in 2021 (after the 2nd quarter) we'll see LAR's colors cased.
Next Gen Navy Fighter In Development!
Story here.
I feel so vindicated and forgive me as I chest thump. THIS IS WHY the Navy has been slow to buy the F-35. It isn't a WANT airplane, its a MUST BUY TO KEEP THE OTHER SERVICES HAPPY airplane!
A few sections of the article that made me sit up....
“They could say, ‘well maybe we back off on some of the requirements when it comes to weapons payload, and maybe stealth or something, but so we keep the speed. We keep the range. We keep the C4ISR sophistication, but we relieve some of the requirements in terms of how much it carries and maybe how penetrating it can be into any airspace,’” Clark said. “And we offload those to unmanned systems, so there’s this family of systems now that instead of having five F-35s go do some mission, you’d send two of these new airplanes with some unmanned systems to do the same mission.”Clark is diplomatic but from my seat he's trying to downplay the sad truth we all know. Stealth is perishable and has maybe already perished.
The Navy plans to seek a wholly new design, rather than a derivative design of aircraft already on the production line, for the sixth-generation fighter, despite the service receiving suggestions to combine Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and Boeing’s F/A-18 designs with modern technology for the future aircraft, Clark said.Some have said that the next generation fighter would be a derivative of the F-35. This makes those thoughts a lie. The F-35 isn't in the future plans for the Navy and will be produced in such limited numbers that it really won't serve any meaningful role for the force going into the future.
While the service’s objective for fielding the new fighter aircraft had been the 2030s, when the Super Hornets would begin to reach the end of their service lives, the Navy will try to speed up that timeline because the Super Hornets are likely to reach their maximum flight hours sooner than previously anticipated, according to Clark.Let's not be cute. The Navy is going to try and accelerate production of this plane so that it competes with funding for the F-35C. That most definitely means that the F-35C buy will be cut...especially since money will be tight. We just saw the USMC destroy its tank battalions. Would it be outrageous to think that the Navy wouldn't ditch the F-35C entirely in a money saving move?
Good news.
What I want to see? If the US Missile Marine Corps is ACTUALLY about the sea fight then that means that not only will it lose some of those F-35Cs it has programmed to buy, but it also means that the Missile Marine Corps carrier units will piggyback on the Navy's buy of the new plane.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Green Berets conducted a Full Mission Profile training exercise with members of 82nd ABN Div last week as part of Exercise Panther Storm
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I haven't been watching SOCOM but with the move toward a focus on peer vs peer combat I'm sure they're making adjustments and planning for how they'll contribute.
This small exercise in my mind, points the way forward for the Army. Looks like they will partner with conventional forces to achieve dynamic results.
Rangers? I can see them being totally compartmentalized for big raids on an objective. It's what they were built for (well not really...they're really built for long range patrol but that passed by the wayside long ago). Special Forces moving into the raiding role is kinda new but using the 82nd to provide security/support is almost a no-brainer.
That leaves MARSOC, Navy SEALs and AF Special Ops. MARSOC and SEALs will fold back into the sea battle and do all the naval special ops stuff with the additional duty of acting as forward observers on small islands (weren't they called beach watchers or something like that in WW2?) plus MAYBE acting as raiding forces against those artificial islands the Chinese are building (although I can't figure why you'd send people after something you can easily target with cruise missiles). Air Force Special Ops? I have no idea. They're kinda built on a house of cards. I don't know where they fit in.
Russian General killed in Syria...
#BREAKING | Russian general killed, two troops injured in roadside blast in Syria https://t.co/h8IYckQUhM#SputnikBreaking pic.twitter.com/1p2Fk4X85d— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 18, 2020
Wow. Didn't see this one coming either. Leading from the front has its risks. When was the last time we had a flag officer die in combat?
Didn't see this coming. Mutiny in Mali?
Thanks to Andrey for the link!
via Al Jazeera
17:20 GMT - Reuters: Keita arrested by mutinying soldiers, security sources say----------
Reuters news agency has reported, citing two security sources, that Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been arrested by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako.
The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base outside of Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials, according to Reuters.
The report could not immediately independently verified.
15:50 GMT: ECOWAS urges Mali soldiers to 'return to barracks'Full story here.
The West African bloc ECOWAS called on the soldiers "to return to their barracks without delay".
"This mutiny comes at a time when, for several months now, ECOWAS has been taking initiatives and conducting mediation efforts with all the Malian parties," the bloc said in a statement.
15:30 GMT: Warnings of possible mutiny
Gunfire was heard at an army base near Bamako, with the Norwegian embassy talking of a possible military mutiny. Soldiers fired their guns into the air in the base in Kati, some 15km (9 miles) from Bamako.
Witnesses said armoured tanks and military vehicles could be seen on the streets of Kati, The Associated Press news agency reported.
Stabilization and nation building just don't work in the modern era. Western nations are gonna have to figure out a different way because it's faltering everywhere.
Are we simply backing the wrong horse in these conflicts or is it something else? I don't know. What I do know is that France has a mess on its hands and the nations piling in to assist are probably gonna bail soon.
Missile Marine Corps Aviation providing rides for Army Paratroopers at Exercise Saber Junction 2020...
Note. This is what we have become...a supporting force for the warfighters...
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Missile Marine Corps celebrates the first "aerial insertion" of an unmanned aircraft?
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| 1stmaw_marines : U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 3 attach an RQ-21 Blackjack system, belonging to Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3, to an MV-22 Osprey, from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268, on Marine Corps Base Hawaii for an aerial insertion exercise, Aug. 5, 2020. This expeditionary training event was the first aerial insertion of an RQ-21 system via MV-22 Osprey and showcased the composite assault support capabilities of Marine Aircraft Group 24. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Cpl. Jacob Wilson and Eric Tso) |
I know Berger considers this a big deal but I just can't get excited about it. A small, poor performing UAV being forward deployed by MV-22? I don't get the combat multiplier he's claiming. It'll last how long in peer combat? 10 minutes max? What exactly is this concept suppose to accomplish? How are a few scattered missiles suppose to help when a single Burke can carry almost 100 in its magazine? How many will the Missile Marines be able to deploy? If it's equal to a single Burke I'll be impressed...but then you have to consider signature, enemy ISR capabilities etc. Missile Marine units will be found, fixed and destroyed at the pleasure of the enemy. If they aren't destroyed then they'll simply be bypassed. This concept 2030 is a fraud.
Entourage in the Sky: Scarface, Pegasus conduct Escort Operations
Note. If an enemy has defenses that are sophisticated enough that our ships can't operate in within their range then how are we gonna fly transport helicopters without getting entire squadrons blown out of the sky? How are we gonna setup FARPs if they have detection networks that can hazard our fleets? Doesn't make sense. This is craziness! The GROUND COMBAT ELEMENT needs an advocate at the highest reaches of the Missile Marine Corps! I'm talking Assistant Commandant level advocate.
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| A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion attached to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 and two AH-1Z Vipers attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 fly in formation during escort operations, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Aug. 13, 2020. HMH-463 and HMLA-367 conducted escort training to increase combat readiness and proficiency between the two squadrons. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Samantha Sanchez) |
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