F-35 Maturity Flights

U.S. Air Force pilot Lt. Col. Dwayne Opella and Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson fly F-35A aircraft AF-6 and AF-7 from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for maturity flight software testing.

Pic of the day. Nov. 7, 2011.

A U.S. Marine amphibious assault vehicle exits the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill to transport Marines attached to Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force to Matuntugo, Colombia, in support of Amphibious - Southern Partnership Station 2012 Nov 5. (Photo by: Spc. Juancarlos Paz)

Scimitar Mk2 in Afghanistan.

Jonathan sent me this article about 3 British soldiers surviving an IED attack in Scimitar Mk2. Thanks Jonathan...but to be honest I didn't know what a "Scimitar" was...low and behold its a recce vehicle thats been in service forever plus one day.  Read the article here but the good part...

The members of 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Dragoon Guards were unhurt because their new 35-ton Scimitar Mk2 combat vehicle has been specially designed to absorb IED blasts.
The Welsh Cavalry trio were on patrol in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand, when they were hit by the explosion last week.
Vehicle commander Lieutenant Peter Gordon-Finlayson said the massive blast stunned the crew for a few moments before they realised they had survived.
Scimitars, deployed in Afghanistan only two months ago, are part of the British Army’s new CVRT – Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked fleet – which have had improved plates of armour attached to protect crew against blasts.
Lt Gordon-Finlayson 26, from Marlborough, Wiltshire, said: “It felt like a car crash, and it took me a few moments to take it all in. But the training soon kicked in for all of us."

Interesting.  I thought for sure this vehicle was south of 20 tons but at 35 tons its an absolute beast!  Its practically in Bradley and Puma territory size wise.

Boeing bangs the gong about delivery of Super Hornets

Well they're trying to get better.

Boeing still doesn't have a clue when it comes to social media.  But they're trying...sorta like an old man trying to learn what the "interwebs" are all about.

Funny to watch but painful at the same time.  But enough of that, Boeing rightfully bangs the gong on the successful completion of the Super Hornet contract to Australia.

Congratulations.

Hornady Critical Duty...

Tactical-Life posted this video on Hornady's new offerings for 2012.  What stands out on the video is the new Critical Duty line of ammo.  Supposedly it offers barrier penetration without over penetrating once it hits flesh.  I can't wait for someone to test it out.  Consider me intrigued.

One other thing has me miffed though.  In the comments section Mike wrote this...

I love my guns, but promoting the shooting of elephants. Fuck you Hornady!! I’ll never buy one of your products again, grow some balls!

I can't lie, I had to respond to it but my issue is that if you watch the video it was simply a vid of what appears to be a rampaging elephant.  Environmentalist have been so successful that they don't realize that many of the wildlife sanctuaries that have been set up are allowing some species, including elephants to grow to so many animals that they are heading into inhabited areas where they are a problem.  I just don't see that short scene as promoting the hunting of elephants. Mike and the other tree huggers that have never stepped into a wooded area outside of central park in New York need to get over it.

David Cenciotti's Italian Navy's 20th Anniversary Harrier Special

David's got a great post up on the Italian Navy's 20th Anniversary of the AV-8B+ in service.  Check it out here, but below are a few pics...

LSU! We sustained it!

A defensive battle of epic proportions.  If you were bored then you don't know football.  I guarantee every player on both sides is in the ice tub today.

Love it.

Now how about a rematch in the National Championship game?  If OSU and Stanford get a loss then its the only game that'll make sense.

Vote for nobody.

IAF practices in Italian skies!

Safe House

Endo-Mike found another movie I've got to go see.  The trailer looks good!

Read this story at MSNBC and see if it doesn't make your blood boil!  But a sample is below...

A top U.S. general in Afghanistan was relieved of duty Friday for "inappropriate public comments" after calling the Afghan government "isolated from reality" and President Hamid Karzai "erratic."

Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander for training Afghan security forces, blasted the Afghan government, military and Karzai in an interview with POLITICO published on Thursday.

He called Karzai "erratic" for recently saying Afghanistan would side with Pakistan if the latter declared war on the U.S.

"Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle!," Fuller was quoted as saying. "You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, 'I don’t really care'?"

How is the XM-25 doing in Afghanistan?

Tactical Life is reporting that XM-25 is undergoing further testing.  My question is this.  How is it doing in Afghanistan?  If I remember correctly this puppy was suppose to have already been deployed yet I haven't heard a peep about it since.

F-35 hits top design speed in flight testing

via F-16.net

November 4, 2011 (by Bjørnar Bolsøy) - After the busiest month of flight testing to date and concluding three weeks of successful ship trials on the USS WASP the F-35 has reached its maximum design speed of Mach 1.6.
The record flight was flown at Edwards AFB by AF-1, as the jet is called, on October 25, a few days after the USS Wasp returned to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk on October 21. In all two jets, BF-2 and BF-4, accomplished 72 short takeoffs and 72 vertical landings on the WASP.

According to a Lockheed Martin progress report, since the last flight test update issued on September 20, the program has completed 185 test flights, bringing the total for the year to 837.

● October was the busiest month for flying in the history of the F-35 flight test program, with F-35 aircraft executing 122 flights. The F-35B aircraft known as BF-2 accomplished 22 flights, the most ever for an F-35 in one month.

● F-35Bs completed their 500th flight on Sept. 30. In October, F-35Bs executed the most vertical landings (73) for a single month in the history of the flight test program, including the 200th vertical landing for the program Oct. 4.

● AF-12 and AF-13 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft were delivered to the 33d Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on Oct. 19 and 26, respectively. This marked the fifth and sixth delivery of CTOL jets to Eglin and the 12th overall delivery of an F-35 to the Department of Defense in 2011.

● As of Nov. 3, F-35C carrier variant (CV) jets had executed 59 successful catapult launches and three arrestments.

● F-35C aircraft achieved 200 flight hours on Sept. 22.

Cumulative flight test activity for 2011:

● F-35A CTOL jets have flown 407 times.
● F-35B STOVL aircraft have completed 296 flights.
● F-35C CV jets have flown 134 times.

In all the F-35 has completed 1432 sorties since it's first flight on November the 3rd 2006.

Bjornar gives us a flight test update along with the news that the F-35 has hit the top design speed.  I'm certain that it'll fly faster.

 

F-35B Ship Suitability Testing

F-35B Ship Trials

F-35B ship suitability testing aboard the USS WASP (LHD-1) in October 2011.

Raytheon Hydra. What happened to it?

Remember the Raytheon Hydra?

It was suppose to be a tech demonstrator which would eventually lead to an entry into the SOCOM light strike, internally carried vehicle competition.

I haven't seen a thing on it since.  Anyone know what happened?

Who's desperate?

My bud ELP has an article out on the possibility of F-35 sales to India.  Read it here but the juicy bits are below...

Looking at the news and there is all the sudden there is a lot out there about India and the F-35.

One word: desperation. As in desperation of the U.S. government and lockmart (one in the same) to keep the F-35 program alive by any means necessary.

ELP!

There is desperation. 

But it doesn't reside with anyone associated with the F-35 program.

It definitely must live in the hearts of the executives running the Typhoon and Rafale programs!

It must definitely reside in the hearts of the critics of the program.  If suddenly the Indians decide on the F-35 then that will be another loss for the Typhoon ... first rejected by the Japanese and then decided against by India would be a couple of body blows that would effectively knock the Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen and lets be honest --- F-16 and F-18 out of any further competitions.

U.S. Marines and French Soldiers Train Together in Hawaii

Question for Marine Planners.

Hey all.  Quick question and I hope you have the answer.

How do we expand Marine Special Ops while shrinking the size of our Corps?  If we say screw it and expand MSO, then do we still need to have MEU Special Ops capable or do we revert to pre-1990's setup and shrink our mission set?

If our Corps does shrink to below 180,000 then what does that do to our force structure?  Do we go to 2 full strength reinforced Divisions and place the third in cadre status?  What about the air wing?  Does our requirement for fighters, helos and such go down?  What about lift for a MEF?  Do we need fewer Marine Personnel Carriers, Marine Amphibious Combat Vehicles and JLTV/Humvee Upgrades?

Long story short, we can't plan jack until we get the personnel question answered.  And from what I can see, we won't know that until next year.

Marathons in a war zone?

Capt. Frazer Alexander, a vehicle maintenance officer with 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, and a native of Luxembourg, slowly hobbles away from the finish line of the Marine Corps Marathon Forward aboard Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Oct. 30. Alexander was the overall winner of the marathon and finished in 2 hours and 49 minutes. More than 300 coalition service members participated in the 26.2-mile marathon, which has been held annually aboard Leatherneck since 2009. The race is a satellite edition of the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., one of the most popular marathons in the U.S.

Say it out loud and see if it makes sense to you.

They're running marathons in a war zone.

Say it again and see if this crap makes sense.

They're running marathons in a war zone.

Are we operating at max effort to accomplish the mission or is the mission now the mission.  One thing is certain.  Its a counter insurgency for some of our forces.  Anti-terrorist for others and it would appear to be pure dee nation building for the majority.  And with that being the case, its time to leave.