Game fucking over.

Read this bullshit at Marine Times.

The Marine Corps is beyond fucked.  You want the truth.  The truth is women can't stand up to the physical rigors of Infantry warfare.  This pussified Commandant and his cohorts are about to make a mockery of the Corps all to be politically correct.

This is fucked up.

h/t B5 which probably has a much more acceptable stance on this subject.

Sidenote:
I've been thinking this for awhile now and this confirms it.

We're seeing the poorest leadership in the history of the Marine Corps.  AMOS is a definite no-go.  I just wish he had daughters to stuff in a foxhole with a male Marine.  I wish he had daughters that HE was pushing to join the Infantry.  Oh and our SgtMaj of the Marine Corps is suddenly no where to be found or heard???  Interesting.

I hope a Republican is elected in November and I hope he sacks the entire sorry group.  Fuck'em all.

Mythical Fleet. New gear for Boat Company.

All weather capability.

Able to transport 24 Marines.

Tested from the Arctic to the jungles in Brazil.  The Watercat 12 is a winner. 

Small Boats doesn't get more business because it conduct operations the same way everyone else does.  It even has the same equipment.

Don't get me wrong.  The Marines shouldn't buy the Watercat because it will give them a "new" toy but because it will expand the reach of the Boat Company...make them competitive with rotary winged aviation in many scenarios and set the stage for operations in the Pacific.

4th Tanks

Marines from 4th Tank Division, Twentynine Palms, Calif., clean their M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, April 10 after a day of training during Exercise Africa Lion 2012. AL-12 is a U.S. African Command-sponsored, Marine Forces Africa-led exercise involving various types of training including command post, live-fire and maneuvering, peace keeping operations, an intelligence capacity building seminar, aerial refueling/low-level flight training, as well as medical and dental assistance projects. The annual exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Main)

Marines from 4th Tank Battalion, Twentynine Palms, Calif., roll down a dirt road on their M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank during a day of training at Exercise African Lion 2012, April 13. AL-12 is a U.S. African Command-sponsored, Marine Forces Africa-led exercise involving various types of training including command post, live-fire and maneuvering, peace keeping operations, an intelligence capacity building seminar, aerial refueling/low-level flight training, as well as medical and dental assistance projects. The annual exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Main)

The dirty little secret.

This is the side of the war that they don't want you to see.

Why no B-1R experiment???

Boeing proposed it.

Supposedly the USAF wasn't interested.

Which leads to the question.  Why not?  Every scenario for combat in the Pacific shows an outnumbered allied air force being overwhelmed.  A couple dozen missile trucks would seem ideal.

Instead of a new bomber perhaps we should find new ways of using the tools that we already have.  At the very least conduct an experiment at Red Flag with one or two of them.

Raytheon SDB II

Sharkey and friends are upset about the F-35 u-turn.

120418 - Cameron 'to Change His Mind' on the One Thing He Got Right in Defence

So Sharkey and friends see RAF fingerprints all over the switch back to the B model.

Interesting.

They make a couple of points in this paper that I disagree with but they also make a couple of points I can't dispute.  I don't have good enough visibility on the UK defense complex to give a proper opinion.

One claim made that I find interesting is that they claim even Super Hornets or Rafales operating off her majesty's carriers would put the Typhoon to shame.

Like I said interesting.

The Typhoon has largely escaped a serious inspection of its capabilities.

Either way.  The UK has some serious egg on its face. My recommendation.  Sort it out and stop acting like a "CHAV".

Exercise Joint Warrior

Exercise Malabar 2012.

BAY OF BENGAL (April 14, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) transit in formation with Indian navy ships during Exercise Malabar 2012. Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey are part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1, and are participating in the annual bi-lateral naval field training exercise with the Indian navy to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/Released)

BAY OF BENGAL (April 14, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) transit in formation with Indian navy ships during Exercise Malabar 2012. Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey are part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1, and are participating in the annual bi-lateral naval field training exercise with the Indian navy to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/Released)

BAY OF BENGAL (April 14, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) transit in formation with Indian navy ships during Exercise Malabar 2012. Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey are part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1, and are participating in the annual bi-lateral naval field training exercise with the Indian navy to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/Released)

Kickin' Up Dust

Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Battalion Landing Team, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit wait to be extracted by helicopter during a rehearsal of the final exercise at Exercise Africa Lion 2012, April 16. AL-12 is a U.S. African Command-sponsored, Marine Forces Africa-led exercise involving various types of training including command post, live-fire and maneuvering, peace keeping operations, an intelligence capacity building seminar, aerial refueling/low-level flight training, as well as medical and dental assistance projects. The annual exercise is designed to improve interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Main)

U.K. F-35 vid

Super AV 8x8 for the Italian Amphibious Brigade.

via Defense Aerospace.

Iveco-Oto Melara will also exhibit the VBA, a combination of the SUPERAV of Iveco D.V. and the HITFIST OWS weapon station turret of Oto Melara, developed to match the requirements of the new Italian Amphibious Brigade. With outstanding mobility on land and in the water and air-transportability in a C130, the VBA provides an optimum blend of tactical, operational and strategic mobility. Its HITFIST OWS weapon station incorporates the latest technologies in the fields of electronics, signature and Man Machine Interface (MMI) with outstanding performances in terms of lethality, survivability and fightability.

Those sneaky Italians!

Not only did they leverage USMC requirements for a Marine Personnel Carrier into getting themselves a new vehicle for their Amphibious Brigade, but they will also gain a new vehicle for the export market (to compete against the Mowag Piranha, Patria AMV and Terrex).

Absolutely brilliant.

This vid is an instant hard on!

Get on line!

Sgt. Luke McNally, of Marlton, N.J., yells orders to his Marines during a live-fire exercise. The 27-year-old squad leader with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, led his squad of Marines through the burning fields and smoke-filled air to the end of the range.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Marco Mancha)

Star Wars Weapons coming to a ship near you!

So cool.

First the bad guys are zooming toward your amphib at 40 knots shouting Allah Akbar....

Next thing they know their engine blows up and the skin is burning off their backs....

Ain't Star Wars at sea cool?

Sea-Air Briefs. F/A-18 & V-22.

Massive Hat tip to THINK DEFENCE.  Check out his blog!

Sea Air Space f18 Presentation


v22_brief

Lift

Cpl. Enrique Torres (right), a squad leader with 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and a 21-year-old native of Alvarado, Texas, helps Lance Cpl. Joseph Hevia, a rifleman and 20-year-old native of Windsor, Calif., climb onto a roof while searching a compound with Afghan policemen during Operation Zema Parma Sar Tera (Don’t Tread On Me) here, April 14, 2012. Afghan National Security Forces and ‘America’s Battalion’ Marines are conducting a variety of missions throughout Helmand province’s Garmsir district ahead of the annual fighting season surrounding the harvest of illicit poppy crops.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder)

F-35 BK-1

BREAKING!!! UK SERVICE CHIEFS RECOMMEND CHANGE BACK TO F-35B!!!

MASSIVE HAT TIP TO R. CRICHTON7 (otherwise known as my source in the UK).

via the TIMES.

 David Cameron is due to be presented with what officials believe is an overwhelming case for a change of policy on Britain’s troubled aircraft carrier programme. The Times has learnt that Forces chiefs will unanimously advocate that the Government should abandon plans to buy the conventional carrier version of the American Joint Strike Fighter — the F35C. Instead, a reassessment of the carrier programme will advise…

Just plain.  WOW.

The Brits are confusing me.  This is inexplicable.  Totally surprising.  Semi-insane.

Suffice it to say.  I Don't Get It.

Hmmm. Ok Lockheed. Good one Dew Line.

First.

via the Dew Line.

The United Kingdom's first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II production jet made its inaugural test flight on 13 April. The aircraft, an F-35B short takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) model, flew a series of functional flight checks during the sortie. Lockheed's Bill Gigliotti was at the controls during the 45-minute flight.

Second.

This new guy Dave over at that shop is bringing a very different spin to that blog.  It was once solidly in the Bill Sweetman/Bob Cox/APA bash the F-35 at every occassion whether deserved or not.

He doesn't seem to be part of that coalition.  When news on the F-35 is to be reported, he's on it.  Whether its good or bad.