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SAN DIEGO — A
Marine assigned to the Marine Corps Training Division at Expeditionary
Warfare Training Group Pacific jumps from a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter,
assigned to the “Knightriders” of Marine Medium Helicopter Training
Squadron (HMMT) 164 during a training exercise. The exercise was the
conclusion of the Infantry Company Small Boat Raid Course. (U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Tim Godbee)
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Pic of the day. 24 Nov 2011.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Australia's Amphibious Re-birth.
Taking it by the numbers (at least as I understand them and AD has passed along to me...)...
1. The decision to acquire the Canberra Class LHD. While I would have personally preferred that the Aussies acquire a Makin Class LHD to maintain compatibility with the USMC, the Canberra Class appears to be quite formidable.
In the European fashion its built to mercantile standards rather than the combat standards that US amphibs are built to but it should be a quite servicable design.
2. Next up would have to be the landing craft that the Aussie's are acquiring. The LCM-1E is not your fathers landing craft. Although it bears the classic lines, it can blaze through the water at 22 knots. More than good enough to maintain a supply chain to the beach and yet has the capability to carry an M1 Tank. The Australian's will be getting 12 of these.
3. And then last but not least. The British fire sale of the Bay Class LPD. Barely used. New car sent still in the ships. And the Aussie's got them for a song. As much as I can't understand the sale at least they sold them to good allies. The Brits loss is the Aussie's and the Pacific's gain. And the US' gain by extension too.
4. We haven't even talked helo's, both cargo and attack...we haven't talked about the formation of a dedicated section to provide the Naval Infantry....we haven't even talked about the Australian Navy following the lead of other navies and having an amphib as the capital ship of the fleet!
Smart moves, great planning and a nice force in the making. The Aussies could in a short time have an extremely robust force projection/response force second to no other nation of its size and population.
British fantasy vs. British reality.
The British military.
First from Think Defense on how some wish it to be...
Thank you everyone who commented, requested clarification and helped, I’m resubmitting with explanations, detail and the pound of flesh Jed demanded JRead the rest and especially the comments. Its quite entertaining.
So here goes
I’d start, with the “war fleet”, of which we would have two, each one “active” for 6 months of the year, or 8 months, or 4 months, or whatever else makes everyone happy.
Active would be “ready to at short notice go and beat some unfortunate foreigners to a bloody pulp”.
Inactive would be everything else, overhaul, training, diplomacy, exercises ect.
First Fleet Purchase Cost Operating Cost Carrier QE Class 24 Fast Air Rafale 6 Infantry landing ships Juan Carlos 24 Heavy Lift Chinook 6 Armour Landing Ship Bay Class 6 AAW Destroyers T 45 Daring Class 6 Light Helicopter Lynx 6 ASW Frigates T46 6 ASW Helicopter Merlin 3 Guided Missile Cruiser T47 5 SSGN / Deterrent Astute+
The Carrier and fast air is I hope fairly self explanatory, shoot down enemy aircraft, possibly bomb enemy targets, provide close air support and reconnaissance.
It’s the QE class, because that’s what we have, and the Rafale, because I believe thatFranceandGermanyare about to have a massive falling out, and we’ll buy it hoping to influence French opinion in our favour.
I assume some sort of ISTAR platform will also arrive, hopefully not that silly Sea King, but have no real idea whether we will end up with the Hawkeye, something funky based on the V22 or something else entirely.
This will also function as the flag ship, to what extent that means anything anymore
The Amphibs, the reasoning behind numbers simply being so that the entire force could be landed in a single group. Well, obviously not quite, a single group, each ships group of four Chinook would need to make 5 trips to offload the ship “battalion” and even with 4 LCUs it would take 13 trips to deposit the 50 warriors of an armoured infantry battalion. But we’re talking 11 hours rather than the 11 days Sutton took, or so I hope. To my none military mind, that sounds like a smashing capability. I’m wedded to neither Bay nor Carlos, feel free to suggest better ships, or just assume they are better. I’d much prefer something with a much greater cargo handling capacity, but am open to a third heavy landing ship specifically to vomit ISO boxes onto a beach.
Why Chinook? Again, its that realism (lol) bit, I’d prefer a bigger lift, I’m sure that there is something bigger than the CH53-k planned in the long term, but we have Chinooks.
Now the British military as it really is from CDR. Salamander...
The 1,000 ship Navy that CDR. Salamander is talking about is the plan that the Western Navy's of the world could combine (in times of intense crisis) to form a 1,000 ship fleet.In any event - the Brits are walking a rather thin line methinks ....Royal Navy officers said HMS Westminster was “dangerously under-defended” when it was called on to patrol close to the Libyan port city of Benghazi in March.
The warship can carry 32 Seawolf and eight Harpoon missiles but it is understood that military cutbacks left the Westminster and its crew of 190 with only a fraction of that capability.As Seawolf missiles — which are used to intercept incoming missiles — are fired in pairs, sources said the Westminster had just two rounds to defend against missile attacks from Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.A hollow Navy defined. Nice E-Ticket part of the 1,000-ship Navy we have there.
Reality is far different from the wishful thinking that is posted on TD's website. From my view of things the Royal Navy will be lucky to equal our Coast Guard in size and firepower in a couple of years.
UPDATE & CLARIFICATION:
I need to make a couple of things clear.
1. Think Defense has guest writers on his blog and the views expressed in that article are from one of them.
2. The US is clearly on the same trajectory as Europe and the failed bipartisan committee illustrates the trouble that we are in.
CBO's analysis of Amphibious Warfare Ships...
11-18-AmphibiousShips
Major hat tip to Defense Talk. Long story short. Combatant Commanders want Marines and amphibs at a higher rate than the US Navy can provide.
Its a short read and well worth it.
Of particular interest is the "Demand for Amphibious Warfare Ships...." and "The Operating Cycle of Amphibious Warfare Ships".
We need more ships!
Major hat tip to Defense Talk. Long story short. Combatant Commanders want Marines and amphibs at a higher rate than the US Navy can provide.
Its a short read and well worth it.
Of particular interest is the "Demand for Amphibious Warfare Ships...." and "The Operating Cycle of Amphibious Warfare Ships".
We need more ships!
Monday, November 21, 2011
F-35 Commitment...
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| During a press conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 18 November 2011, US Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (right) and Canadian Defence Minister Peter G. MacKay both called the F-35 crucial to the defense of North America. "The United States is committed to the development of the F-35 and to a cooperative relationship with the F-35 with our Canadian friends," Panetta said. "The F-35 is going to be an essential fighter … in helping us with security challenges we face." MacKay said, "There is no fifth generation aircraft other than the F-35 available to Canada and the United States, so all the hypothetical discussions—and quite negative discussions, quite frankly—about this program are really just clatter and noise.” |
The leaders of both the US and Canadian Defense establishments just called the F-35 critics, journalist and those that are in their camps -- generators of 'clatter and noise'.
Luv it!
Cooking with the Troops.
Hey all.
Consider this a strategically placed stab at your pocket books.
Instead of spending money on trinkets from China that you don't need and won't last how about you support "Cooking with the Troops" with a little of that hard earned money.
I don't do this often so consider it a sign that this is indeed a worthy cause...but if you have your doubts then go here and listen to what a BlackFive writer has to say about it!
Oh and how about after you make your donation, you get your sorry ass to the gym...working out during the holidays will keep you from struggling during the next CFT/PFT.
Thompson nails it. F-35 completes this years test goals....
Thompson nails the critics once again....
Absolutely spot on.Aviation Week & Space Technology reports today that the nation's biggest weapons development program has surpassed its testing goals for calendar year 2011, and is on track to do the same in 2012. The goal for 2011 was 872 flight tests, and as of last Thursday, 875 had been completed. This is very good news, since three U.S. military services and a dozen allies need various versions of the plane to replace aging Cold War fighters. Without it, they can't preserve U.S. air superiority through mid-century.So where are all the news stories highlighting the importance of this achievement and praising American ingenuity? Over the last several years, news services and the general media have reported every setback the F-35 program has faced, real or imagined. You know, like the trillion-dollar number to operate the plane through 2065 that it now turns out none of the military users believes (they're getting ready to challenge the methods and assumptions supporting the calculation).
I checked news.google.com for F-35 stories this morning, and it came up mostly with headlines like "Lockheed's F-35 Not in Budget 'Cross Hairs', Dempsey Says," and "McCain Raises Concerns About F-35 Cost Overruns." Something tells me if I wait a few days for the Fourth Estate to digest the good news from the F-35 program, I'm still going to find mostly negative reports about how it's faring. I predict all the major news outlets will decide it isn't worth reporting that the Pentagon's most expensive and complicated weapons program is making steady progress. Aviation Week and the rest of the trade press will notice, but the New York Times? Not a chance.
This tells you some important things about the way news is reported in the general media. First, it underscores the preference of reporters and editors for stories involving conflict of some sort. If it's good news, it usually isn't considered news at all. Second, it reflects the ideological biases of some outlets, which will report any kind of lurid nonsense about big weapons programs with minimal checking, but just can't be bothered to tell you the other side of the story. And third, it suggests why people who are exposed to a great deal of daily news tend to be pessimistic about America's future -- because all the technological breakthroughs and economic achievements get short shrift, while bad news hogs the front page.
Oh, and it also tells you one more thing about the prevailing approach to gathering the news. It tells you why consumers are walking away in droves, preferring social media and internet aggregators to the daily downer they get each day from traditional outlets. People just don't believe (or don't care about) the version of reality they are getting from newspapers and television news, so they are voting with their feet to get information from other sources. If you look at the way the F-35 story has been reported over the last several years, that reaction is easy to understand. It's an essential program that is making steady progress, but you'd never know that from reading stories about it in the general media.
Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D.
I also note with a bit of sadness that there appears to be a distinct rift between Aviation Week and its blog Ares.
Note that I said appears.
This would bear watching, but I've always assumed that what was in one was in the other and vice versa. That wouldn't seem to be the case.
Like I said ... interesting.
Shooting Positions by MagPul Dynamics...
My questions are...
1. Is this useful in CQB? Seems like muzzle strike are out the window when using this shooting method.
2. When you're shooting, moving and communicating is this method as fast as the 'old' holds? Transitioning from a sprint to the MagPul grip would seem to cost time.
3. Its definitely not as stable on long distance shots so is this a one trick pony? For use only on a range when engaging multiple targets? Is it something that can be used tactically?
Sunday, November 20, 2011
11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force participate in a live fire exercise
All photos by Cpl. Chad Pulliam
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| Cpl. Nathan M. Sleeman, a squad leader with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force, fires at targets while participating in a live fire exercise here Nov. 19. After additional training, the force will embark the amphibious transport dock New Orleans for a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions. |
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| Lance Cpl. Armando F. Leal, left, provides security while Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian J. Klindt, right, moves through brush during a live fire exercise here Nov. 19. Klindt and Leal serve with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force. After additional training, the force will embark the amphibious transport dock New Orleans for a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions. |
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| Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force participate in a live fire exercise here Nov. 19. After additional training, the force will embark the amphibious transport dock New Orleans for a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Middle East regions. |
AV-8B Harrier takes off from USS Makin Island
All photos by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III
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| An AV-8B Harrier with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), takes off from USS Makin Island here Nov. 20 for a joint air-to-air training exercise with the Hawaiian Air National Guard’s 19th Fight Squadron. The training exposes pilots to different tactics, and the capabilities and limitations of different aircraft, said Capt. John D. Dirk, a Harrier pilot with HMM-268 (Rein.) Dirk, is a 31-year-old Fort Worth, Texas native. The unit embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 to begin a seven-month deployment through the Western Pacific and Middle East regions. |
New Wars Blogspot's ship & aircraft costs...
Mike's New Wars Blogspot will never die...at least if I have anything to do with it. If you don't go over there to look at some of his articles and see how far ahead of the curve he is then I recommend you do so! Anyway, check out these stats that he acquired....
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS (VSTOL, CTOL)Much more at his website. You can check it out here.
Cavour CVH (Italy)-$2 billion
Charles de Gaulle (France)-$3.7 billion
CVN-78 Gerald R Ford-$13.5 billion
Queen Elizabeth (UK)-$3.7 billion
George HW Bush-$6.26 billion
Hyuga DDH (Japan)-$1.06 billion
Vikrant (India)-$762 million
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Navantia's Amphibious Shipping Portfolio...
UPDATE: I posted this without giving credit to Ferran. Thanks buddy. You and a few others are keeping a big hole in what I'm trying to do from showing up...and that would be developments overseas. Thanks again.
JCI_en_v2
JCI_en_v2
Friday, November 18, 2011
"Deliverance" type murder/attempted murder in Ohio...
Taking a break from regularly scheduled military stuff to bring you this wild ass story...Check this out from the Columbus Dispatch...oh and read the whole thing...
CALDWELL, Ohio — He lay in the woods for seven hours, with an elbow shattered by an assailant’s bullet.Lost, covered in his own blood and unsure if the men who hunted him were still nearby, a man from South Carolina hid in the forested hills outside Caldwell until after dark on Nov. 6. Deciding it was safe, he then made a painful 2-mile journey to the nearest farmhouse to call for help.Investigators say he was the lucky one.On Tuesday, they found the body of a man buried in a shallow grave near the site where the other man was attacked.By surviving his ordeal two weeks ago in Noble County, the victim, whose name authorities haven’t released, helped uncover an elaborate scheme by at least two men to lure people with the promise of work from across the country to Ohio. Authorities say the real plan was to rob and kill them.Two suspects were taken into custody Wednesday after an investigation by a bevy of federal, state and county agencies.The Akron Beacon-Journal reported last night that the suspects are a 16-year-old Stow-Munroe Falls High School student in Ohio and a 52-year-old Akron man. Their names had not been released.The adult was being held in the Summit County Jail in Akron on multiple counts related to prostitution, the newspaper said. His bond was set at $1 million.The juvenile had not yet been charged.Noble County Sheriff Stephen Hannum said the investigation began when an officer was called to a lonely farmhouse near Fulda, about 100 miles east of Columbus, on a report of a man with a gunshot wound.According to the victim:He had come to Noble County after responding to a Craigslist advertisement for a job on a 688-acre cattle farm. Because he would be living at the farm, he was told to bring all of his belongings.The victim met two men for breakfast in Marietta and then followed them in his own vehicle to Caldwell. He left his truck there, joining the men in their vehicle to complete the trip to the farm. Instead, the men pulled over on Don Warner Road, a gravel country path that winds through the hills on the eastern edge of the county.The men said they would need to complete the trip on foot because the road ahead was impassable, so the man and one of his assailants got out of the truck and began walking through the woods. That’s when the man heard what he thought was the sound of a gun being cocked.He looked and saw the other man had a handgun pointed at his head.The victim was able to deflect the barrel and start running, but not before the other man shot him in the elbow. The assailant continued shooting at the victim as he ran, but the man was able to escape into the woods.“He said he saw the house all lit up and thought it looked like a friendly place,” said a woman who answered the door yesterday at the residence where the man sought help. She would not give her name because she said she was still shaken by the incident.Things like that just don’t happen in this tiny community of about two dozen houses that straddle Fulda Road near the almost 200-year-old St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception Church.She said the man rang the doorbell and beat on the door until she answered, and that his shirt and pants were covered in dried blood. The man told her what had happened and said he was afraid the men were going to steal his truck and the all-terrain vehicle and motorcycle that he had brought from South Carolina.The man was treated at the house by paramedics and eventually taken to a hospital in Akron, where he underwent reconstructive surgery on his arm.Then, on Nov. 11, the sheriff’s office received a call from a woman in Boston who was concerned about her twin brother, who had gone missing after responding to a similar ad. The brother, who lived in Florida, had last been seen in Parkersburg, W.Va., on Oct. 22.Hannum said his office called in help from the FBI, the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service and a laundry list of other agencies to assist with the hunt.On Monday, they found a shallow grave that investigators think was intended for the man who escaped on Nov. 6. On Tuesday, they found a second grave near the first, only this time containing the body of a man they think was killed by the same two assailants.Authorities have not identified the man yet or determined how he died. The Licking County coroner’s office is handling the autopsy.Hannum said yesterday that there’s no evidence that there are more victims, but he would not rule out that there could be more people involved in the scheme than the two arrested.The two suspects in the case were arrested in Summit County. Hannum would say only that they were not Noble County residents, but at least one was familiar with the area. The land where the graves were dug is owned by a nearby coal mine and often leased for hunting.Hannum said authorities think the motive was simple greed. Property belonging to the victims already has been recovered by investigators.Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Columbus, said that the FBI has been assisting the Noble County sheriff’s office on the case.“We’re reviewing the information provided by the FBI,” Alverson said.Dispatch reporter Kathy Lynn Gray contributed to this story.
24th MEU on the mechanized raid course.
All photos by Sgt. Richard Blumenstein
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| Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, hold security while preparing to depart after conducting a simulated raid during the Mechanized Raid Course, at Landing Zone Hawk, Nov. 15. The Mechanized Raid Course took place Nov. 7-18 to prepare the Marines and sailors of Alpha Company and the Assault Amphibian Vehicle Platoon for their upcoming deployment as part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team. |
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| Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment , in Assault Amphibious Vehicles, return from conducting a simulated raid during the Mechanized Raid Course, at Landing Zone Hawk, Nov. 15. The Mechanized Raid Course took place Nov. 7-18 to prepare the Marines and sailors of Alpha Company and the Assault Amphibian Vehicle Platoon for their upcoming deployment as part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team. |
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| Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment , in Assault Amphibious Vehicles, return from conducting a simulated raid during the Mechanized Raid Course, at Landing Zone Hawk, Nov. 15. The Mechanized Raid Course took place Nov. 7-18 to prepare the Marines and sailors of Alpha Company and the Assault Amphibian Vehicle Platoon for their upcoming deployment as part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team. |
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| Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment return, exit Assault Amphibious Vehicles, before conducting a simulated raid during the Mechanized Raid Course, at Davis Airfield, Nov. 17. The Mechanized Raid Course took place Nov. 7-18 to prepare the Marines and sailors of Alpha Company and the Assault Amphibian Vehicle Platoon for their upcoming deployment as part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team. |
AH-1Z doing auto rotation and the MV-22 doing barrel roll vids...
Is it my imagination or did the landing gear on the AH-1Z get compressed quite a bit in the auto rotation vid?
How deep will the Marines cut personnel?
via National Defense Magazine.
1. Are we going to see a couple of battalions case their colors?
2. How are you going to plus size the Marine Special Forces and reduce the number of Marines at the same time?
3. How low can we go? Is 150,000 the number he's talking or God forbid could it be even lower????
Totally depressing news. You're going to have some outstanding Marines forced out and some ass kissers are going to be retained. The Commandant needs to fix the selection board process ASAP.
Former Secretary Robert Gates before his departure gave his approval to the 186,800 number, “but that was before everything began to unravel financially,” Amos said.Read the whole thing but that makes me wonder a couple of things...
“My sense is that we’re probably going to go lower than that. I can’t tell you how much lower because that decision has not been made yet,” he added. “We are going to come down well below 186,800,” he said. “I think we’re going to be OK. I think we will still be able to do what our nation expects of us.”
However, there will be a reduction in capacity, which he described as “depth on the bench.” If there are simultaneous events occurring in three parts of the world that the Marine Corps normally would respond to, it may mean it could only carry out operations in two of them, he added.
1. Are we going to see a couple of battalions case their colors?
2. How are you going to plus size the Marine Special Forces and reduce the number of Marines at the same time?
3. How low can we go? Is 150,000 the number he's talking or God forbid could it be even lower????
Totally depressing news. You're going to have some outstanding Marines forced out and some ass kissers are going to be retained. The Commandant needs to fix the selection board process ASAP.
11th MEU Air Combat Element..
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| A CH-53E Super Stallion, with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), lands aboard USS Makin Island Nov. 17. The unit embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 to begin a seven-month deployment through the western Pacific and Middle East regions. Photo by Staff Sgt. Chance Haworth |
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| Marines serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), prepare an AH-1Z Super Cobra for take off aboard USS Makin Island Nov. 17. The unit embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 to begin a seven-month deployment through the western Pacific and Middle East regions. Photo by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III |
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| An AH-1Z Super Cobra, with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), takes off from USS Makin Island Nov. 17. The unit embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 to begin a seven-month deployment through the western Pacific and Middle East regions. Photo by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III |
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| An AH-1Z Super Cobra, with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), takes off from USS Makin Island Nov. 17. The unit embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14 to begin a seven-month deployment through the western Pacific and Middle East regions. Photo by Cpl. Gene A. Ainsworth III |
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| A CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced) lands Nov. 17. The squadron is the aviation combat element for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which embarked USS Makin Island, USS New Orleans and USS Pearl Harbor in San Diego Nov. 14, beginning a seven-month deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East regions. Photo by Staff Sgt. Chance Haworth |
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