Representatives go BEAST MODE during Libya hearings!

This would be fun if Americans hadn't died during this incident.  The cover up has begun and I don't see how it can be viewed in any other way.  The idea that intelligence predicted this attack and action wasn't taken to protect these men is criminal.  People should go to jail...people HAVE gone to jail for less.  We are cursed to live in interesting times.

I just saw an AAV on the border of Syria during a Fox News report!

Fox News is reporting that US troops are on the border of Syria with visuals of an AAV rumbling in the desert in the background.  I know we have two MEU's operating in the area but if anyone knows which one got the call and how many forces are on the ground I'd appreciate it.  And no, if its an OPSEC issue keep it to yourself but I doubt it if we're seeing at least portions of the Ground Combat Element operating on Jordanian side of the Syrian border.

Disregard.  150 Special Operations personnel.  The images were file photos.  Still interested in seeing if an MEU gets a call.  Sounds like the Rangers are about to heel stomp some throats in the Middle East...again.  150 troops?  Yeah thats gotta be Rangers....or maybe MARSOC?

The Dew Line misses the point of the attack on Camp Leatherneck.

Dave over at the Dew Line is parroting talking points and misses the bigger issue surrounding the attack at Camp Leatherneck.  Read the whole thing but check this out...

"Within 36 hours we had eight jets on the line ready to go," says Maj Gen Glenn Walters, commander of the 2^nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The only issue that slowed down the USMC response was gaining diplomatic clearance to fly the aircraft over to Afghanistan, he says.

A total of 14 aircraft were deployed in two groups. The first group consisted of eight jets while the second included a total of six Harriers.

The Marines deployed the aircraft quickly, "because we can't let the enemy dictate that tempo," Walters says.

Nonetheless, while Marine air operations quickly recovered from the Taliban attack, it does call into question the wisdom of basing such expensive assets in areas where they could be left vulnerable to enemy attack. Say these weren't Harriers, but F-35Bs--that would have cost a ton of money.

First Dave is missing the point that the attack could easily have occurred at Kandahar Airport.  Destroy a couple of C-17's and one 747 on the tarmac and you have a much larger loss in money terms.  The failure wasn't in where the aircraft was based, the failure was in the force protection plan for these high value, low density assets in theater.  There are no front lines so basing (yes I'm repeating myself) isn't the issue.  NOT AT ALL!

Second, Dave is trying to do a quick jab at the STOVL concept.  Honestly I'm a little disappointed.  I didn't think that he bowed at the alter of Sweetman and Aviation Week but apparently he's either a true believer or is drinking the Kool-aid.  The concept is valid, that is not at question.  The question is whether or not the US government will fund it or not.  But again, the concept is valid and is being employed by the USMC, Royal Navy, Italian Navy and Spanish Navy.  Additionally the Indian Navy and Thailand are (or were) using Harriers and the Japanese and S. Koreans (and even possibly Singapore) are all interested in the F-35B.

I won't give up on Dave yet but that was a surprising attack from an unlikely direction at Marine Corps doctrine and the F-35B.

NOTE:
I'm impressed by how fast the Marine Corps was able to reconstitute VMA-211.  Very impressed.

A bad day at the drop zone.

Thanks for the vid Dwi!



This guy brain locked.  I don't know what military this is but  all I have to say is QUICK RELEASE BUCKLE!

Awesome! Lockheed Martin Havoc interview coming soon!

Finally!

I was beginning to believe that it just wouldn't happen but I'm working with the folks over at Lockheed Martin to nail down a time for a talk with their project people about the Havoc MPC.  Go over the spec sheet here and hit me with a few questions that you'd like for me to ask the brain trust over there.  It'll happen late this week (Fri) or next.  I'm looking forward to it!

31st MEU Scout Snipers teach allied Marines how to construct sniper hides.

Cpl Russow is spot on.  Making the switch from operating in the desert over to the jungle will make a wimp out of many a man.  Alot of guys that are hard as wood pecker lips will melt when it comes to operating in the jungle.  I don't know why but its entirely different.  Another thing that the Marine Corps will be facing (at least in the Infantry community) is that individual equipment optimized for desert ops will utterly fail in a jungle environment.  Quite honestly I can see massive changes in Marine Load Bearing items happening very soon.  Not to beat a dead horse but has anyone considered running a Serpa Holster through the Endurance Course on Okinawa to see if it will work after getting banged around, filled with mud and submersed in brackish water?  Will the service pistol function with as little protection as the holster provides?  Or is it an item that was optimized for desert and urban warfare?  Yeah.  Cpl Russow is right.  The jungle is a bitch.

Oshkosh better duck!

BAE-EADS merger is dead.

I don't know if that's good or bad news.  What I do know is that Oskhosh Defense better duck.  Both BAE and Lockheed Martin will be coming after them with long knives.  No, make that swords.  BAE will be looking to solidfy its position as the number two armored vehicle maker in the US and a global defense giant through which all Western defense projects must flow.  Lockheed Martin will be looking for facilities to expand into the armored vehicle market and to keep BAE at bay.

The real fight was never between EADS and Boeing.  To be honest that was just a side show for the financial industry.  They think in a linear fashion and that's all they could see.  No the real fight was always between BAE and Lockheed.  They're the Godzilla and Mothra in the room and this is a monster match that I can't wait to see.

SkyNet is coming online...

SkyNet is coming online.  Autonomous Ground Combat Vehicles are being delayed to prevent the public from becoming alarmed.  SkyNet is your friend.  All Hail SkyNet ;))

Tongue in cheek guys.  Relax.

Blast from the past. Forgotten/Unknown Marine armor.

via Grunt.com

The Marine Corps has a very rich armor history.  I found that to be quite surprising.  I always assumed that being primarily an infantry force, that wouldn't be the case.  But it is.  The pics above show some of the vehicles that I've found and also some of the vehicles that I can't find a designation of.  The top two vehicles are complete mysteries but the bottom one is the Ontos.  Whoever came up with the idea of mounting six 106mm recoil-less rifles to a "mini" armored vehicle should have been tested for crack.  That's one of the craziest things I've ever seen, but apparently it worked well in Vietnam.  AMAZING.

The Lockheed Martin Havoc as I see it currently.

What does Lockheed Martin's teaming with Patria for the Marine Personnel Carrier Contest tell us?

Lockheed wants to be a player in armored vehicles.
Lockheed sat on the sidelines during the MRAP craze.  I think that they rightfully thought that it was a dead end when it comes to armored vehicle development.  Plus MRAPs are really truck based.  I think that because of that fact MRAPs will never become fully developed as combat vehicles.  8x8 are another case entirely.  If vehicle manufacturers are ever able to crack the code and get MRAP type protection in a real combat vehicle then they'll onto something special.

Lockheed read the requirements.
Lockheed read the requirements and sensed the changing winds of procurement when it selected Patria to team with.  Looking at the requirements plainly, the Marine Corps wanted a vehicle that would provide inland mobility, could cross rivers with ease and in a pinch could swim from ship to shore.  Money would be a factor but so would performance.

The Patria AMV is combat proven.
Lockheed somewhat got slick with the pick of the Patria AMV.  It is well known by any and all who follow armored vehicles.  Polish units have used the AMV (Wolverine in Polish service) to great effect.  Its reputation is well known inside the Marine Corps and many Marines have had a chance to get a close up look at the vehicle down range.

The Problem.
Lockheed Martin has a problem though.  The procurement winds are changing again and they might not be in a position to take advantage of them.  Quite simply, BAE has them by the short hairs.  Why?  Because Paul McNeary reported that BAE is working on not only the AAV Upgrade but also an Amphibious Combat Vehicle based on the AAV hull form AND a new hull.  Additionally they're developing an MPC that looks to have outstanding sea keeping qualities.

The Rub.
The MPC if it comes down to a proven combat vehicle that provides outstanding cross country performance WITH little risk, then the Lockheed Martin HAVOC wins.  If it becomes a price shoot out, and if programs merge then its going to be a rough road for not only the HAVOC but for all the contenders.  Margins.  Return on investment.  Domestic content.  All these issues could make the vehicle so expensive that its not worth building.  Remember, all the companies involved except for General Dynamics will have to establish a production facility (BAE might not have to ... I'm not up to speed on whats going on with their plant in Sealy, TX), they'll have to work out getting suppliers on board etc.  This could easily be a case where the maintenance contract is worth more than the manufacturing.

Conclusion.
I like the Havoc.  Marines that have gotten a chance to run the vehicle like it.  To be honest though I seriously worry that the Marine Corps is on the verge of terminating the MPC program and going with a savagely upgraded AAV renamed ACV much like they did with the change from LVTP-7 to AAV.

Geez! Civilian shooting techniques popping up in the Corps!

I've never shot the close combat course so I'm just going off what I'm seeing in this short video but if what I'm seeing is true then the Marine Corps needs to get a handle on its shooting quick!  Like real quick!

Check out the video carefully.  Did you see it?  At the 00:21 second mark you can see the Marine scanning around him.  Cool you say?  I say bullshit!  Civilians are taught to shoot the "target" and then scan.  Cops are taught that.  Marines should scan with weapon and not just eyeballs.  And this looking over the shoulder crap is straight out of the 100's of schools that are popping up all over America.  Its BS.  You scan with your weapon so that you can engage a threat if found.  I can guarantee you're going to lose time.  Once you get past the startle reflex and then recover enough to use your weapon then you're probably halfway to your wife getting a check from Uncle Sam and your kids not getting to know daddy.

We're seeing image over substance creep into the Marine Corps---just like a $50 dollar Vickers Sling----its just not the Marine Corps that the public knows and loves.  I blame that on "trendy" leadership.  Whatever the case its time to knock it off.

Photo Release: First production-level F-35B arrives at NAS Patuxent River

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - BF-17, part of the third lot of Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP 3) F-35B Lightning II aircraft, arrives at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Oct. 4. BF-17 will temporarily add to the complement of F-35B and F-35C test aircraft at the F-35 Integrated Test Facility before heading to its destination at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The F-35B is the variant of the Joint Strike Fighter designed for use by U.S. Marine Corps, as well as F-35 international partners in the United Kingdom and Italy. The F-35B is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings to enable air power projection from amphibious ships, ski-jump aircraft carriers and expeditionary airfields. The F-35B is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River, Md., prior to delivery to the fleet. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

The USMC wants a jungle school. Another chance for the Army.

One of my mentors in the Marine Corps was this crusty ole' Vietnam era war dog who had been there and done that.  He was always a Marine first and foremost but he had been to every school under the son.  When he slowed down he went to an Infantry unit!  Scuba bubble?  Had it.  Gold jump wings?  Yep.  Ranger School?  Did that too.  HALO?  Uhmmm hum.  He even did the Army's Jungle Warfare School in Panama.  When I met him he was on his way out the door but he always took time to share bits of wisdom with the new guys coming aboard.  He was the truth...the real deal.  But lets talk Panama Jungle School.

Supposedly Panama Jungle School is so tough that it makes the course run in Okinawa look like a cake walk (I seriously doubt that but I'm just guessing...besides how bad can monkey meat actually be?)

But more importantly, when the Army ran the school, Google indicates that it ran almost everyone of its Light Fighter and Airborne/Air Assault units through it in addition to Special Operations Forces.  The Marine Corps is showing an interest in a formalized Jungle School instead of a course.  This present the US Army with another opportunity.  Check this out from DefenseNews....

Q. The commandant recently discussed an overhaul of jungle warfare training. What is being considered?

A. We’ve kind of been thinking about this for a while. There’s the training center on Okinawa, Japan. But it’s not anything like what the Mountain Warfare Training Center is for mountain training or cold-weather training because it’s not a service school right now.
The commandant wants us to look at a service-level jungle warfare training center on the model of the Mountain Warfare Training Center up at Pickel Meadows in California. So who is it that we’ll put through this training? Is it forces that are going out to Asia-Pacific? Or could it be anyone?
[At] the Mountain Warfare Training Center we train in mountain climbing, we train in cold weather, but it’s not all that school’s about. It’s about small-unit leader training. In the future, it will be a venue where people will work in those ITXs, so they might be at [different training locations]. So it’s really more than just mountain and cold weather. And as we develop the jungle warfare training center, it’ll be the same thing.
We are also looking at costs because if we were going to take forces from the U.S. that aren’t on their way to deploy to the Pacific, it would cost a heck of a lot to get a unit over there to go through jungle warfare training and then come back.
So is there somewhere here in the western hemisphere where we can do it as well? Do we want one, do we want the other? But we are going to — within a reasonable amount of time — develop a service-level jungle warfare training center if that’s what the commandant decides.

The opportunity for the Army is simple.

It can be fully on board with the turn to the Pacific by running a joint service Jungle School instead of seeing all the services develop individual schools.  The difficulty will in the Army's current structure.  Its a mechanized force and for the Jungle School concept to work for the Army then they'll have to get back to its light infantry roots.

I'm not a fan of purple so it would help if the Army ran and maintained the school and the other services simply had detachments to take care of their service member when they came through.

An Army School, with Army instructors, teaching service member from all the services.

That would be a pretty good way for the US Army to get feet wet and relevant when it comes to the Pacific.

NOTE:  If the Army won't step up and the Commandant wants a good Jungle Warfare School to fall in on then I would recommend teaming up with the French like we have in North Africa, but this time in S. America.  French Guiana reportedly has a tough, effective jungle school that French Marines rotate through.  Anything further South would probably become a cost issue...so that makes Brazil a no-go.

F-35B and F-35C

Really? A new Army PT uniform?

Say it out loud Army?  You're wanting ANOTHER new PT uniform!  Really?  Seriously?  In this time of budget constraints?

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 4, 2012) -- Back in February, the Army gave Soldiers a chance to weigh in on the Improved Physical Fitness Uniform. The Army took those Soldier suggestions and developed a possible replacement uniform. Now Soldiers can vote on which one of those they think looks the best.

More than 76,000 Soldiers responded to the initial survey. Among other things, Soldiers commented about uniform fit, moisture wicking and anti-microbial properties and how much the uniform weighs. The Army listened to Soldiers and has developed a new Improved Physical Fitness Uniform, or IPFU.

Now the Army wants Soldiers to weigh in on color options and graphic patterns for the uniform. There are six candidate uniforms -- they are all the same in terms of fabrics, capabilities and durability. What's different is the color of the fabrics and the size, color and shapes of the graphic designs.

All Soldiers have the option to log on and choose which uniform option they like best. The poll goes live beginning Oct. 9, and will be available for 20 days.

Oshkosh Defense S-ATV. Pics and brochure.

S-ATV_PS_9-21-12

Blast from the recent past. I'll drive it!

via DefenseTech (March 2011)...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos today shed some much anticipated light on when the Corps could see a replacement for the cancelled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, telling lawmakers he expects to drive its replacement by the end of his tenure as commandant.
“There are two answers to that, one is as Commandant of the Marine Corps’s answer which is Before I leave leave office four years from now …  we’ll have a program of record, we’ll have steel, there will be a vehicle and I’ll be able to drive it,” Amos said responding to lawmakers questions during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “I’m trying to pressurize industry, I’m trying to pressurize the acquisition folks, I want the word to get out. If we followed the standard acquisition timeline, which in some cases got us to where we are today, it’ll be 2024.”
To avoid such a fate, the general said the Department of the Navy will be using a model similar to the one it used to quickly buy and field thousands of MRAPs during the height of the Iraq war.
“Something probably that resembles the sense of urgency that we had for the MRAP but probably a little bit more scheduled, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Now that’s not saying that Amos will necessarily be driving the production model EFV replacement, dubbed the Amphibious Combat Vehicle, but it will will be some sort of early version ACV.

Some might forget.  Some might forgive.  I don't.  The same LACK of urgency that doomed the EFV has reared its ugly head in both the Amphibious Combat Vehicle program AND the Marine Personnel Carrier contest.

Now to add to the misery, we have this speculation from National Defense Magazine.

Mike Blades, senior industry analyst with the firm, said of three major new ground combat vehicle programs — the Army’s new Ground Combat Vehicle and Armored Multipurpose Vehicle and the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle — one will not survive.

That may pit the Army against the Marine Corps in the budget battles.

"There are three new starts that are going to be happening, and I would eventually guess that at least one of them doesn't happen,” he said. “And I would also guess that one of the two that does happen is going to be based on something that already exists.”

The budget wars are here and the Marine Corps needs to start playing for keeps.  A couple of suggestions.  Cancel participation in the JLTV contest immediately.  Accelerate the MPC and ACV programs.  Cancel the AAV upgrade to prevent an interim vehicle from becoming a permanent vehicle.  Push IOC for the MPC/ACV to 2020 instead of 2030.

Industry will gladly cooperate.  If a company isn't able to meet the timetable then they've just done a Darwin act on themselves...it is survival of the fittest after all. 

 

Marine Air Power Gaggle...

A U. S. Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367 provides security as two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 463, Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) perform a mid-air refuel demonstration from a C-130 Hercules aircraft during the 2012 Kaneohe Bay Airshow at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, Sept. 30, 2012. MAG-24 took part in the three-day event featuring performances and demonstrations by both civilian and military aircraft. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Kevin Jones, U. S. Marine Corps /Released)

The above pic shows why I believe that the attack helicopter is on the way out when it comes to Marine Corps operations.  Every platform except for the Attack and Utility helos can be refueled in air extending there range.  The reach of the MEU can be extended by utilizing KC-130's and eventually by using the MV-22 in the aerial refueling role.  The AH-1Z will be the last attack helicopter in Marine Corps service.

Next up. Lockheed Martin Havoc!

Good News.

I made contact with Lockheed Martin and they're lining me up with some of their people so that I can give you the 411 on the Havoc.  It will be interesting to see how they're working to solve all the problems that come with getting a vehicle to swim from ship to shore and then fight successfully inland.  The Patria AMV (Lockheed Martin Havoc) is combat tested, reportedly extremly reliable and lethal, and is so powerful that according to the Polish contingent in Afghanistan stops fights when it shows up or prevents fights when first seen.

I'm looking forward to talking to LM about this product.

Another look. The Super AV 8x8 in Italian service and as shown at MDM.

This is another look at the Super AV 8x8 in Italian service and as shown at Modern Day Marine.  During my interview with BAE officials, Nunn stated that there are actually 3 iterations of the Super AV 8x8...I'll simply call them AV-1, AV-2 and AV-3.  Unfortunately info is still spotty on the net and I'm hoping that Ferrans or Bosley can get better info since they live in Europe.  Below are the pics.  If you examine them closely you'll see a family resembalance (even stretching to the Freccia) but the vehicle being presented to the USMC is totally unique.

And now the BAE MPC at Modern Day Marine....

Going over my notes from the interview I failed to get info on the water propulsion system, and whether the USMC MPC would be offered for export (remember the Japanese and S. Koreans are looking at purchasing amphibious vehicles and would probably follow the USMC's move).  Interesting times.  Confidence is EXTREMELY HIGH that I'll get a talk with Lockheed Martin.  SAIC is proving a bit harder and General Dynamics is not even answering the phone.  I'll keep you informed.