Japanese Marine Corps. Its coming, so accept reality.

This is piggy backing off my post yesterday.  The debate.  Are the Japanese building a Marine Corps?

The answer is an unqualified yes.

In recent years the Japanese have bought or stated that they plan to buy the following...
*Hyuga Class Helicopter Destroyer.  In any other navy it would be called a LHA.
*Osumi Class Tank Landing Ship.  We would call it an LPD.  Its in the European fashion of that class of ship (see the Italian San Giorgio).
*AAV-7A1.  Self explanatory.
*MV-22.  Self explanatory.
*F-35B.  This nugget was hidden in the story yesterday that I initially failed to notice.  Not only are they looking to buy F-35A but also F-35B.

Defense experts don't like dealing with reality.  A quick glance at Japanese defense purchases reveals the truth to all that want to see it.

They're making a Marine Corps, they're gearing for a fight and the target is an aggressive China.

Givati Brigade and the IAF conduct a joint rescue exercise.

Note:  I see two schools of thought emerging on how to conduct "Combat Rescue".  You have the USAF version where they send out a few Para-Rescue  to retrieve the pilot or sensitive data, and then you have the big option where a Platoon or more of Infantry is dispatched to do the same.  Expect the USAF "way of business" to gain since SOCOM is going to be looking for missions with the wars winding down and terrorism reverting to a law enforcement issue.

Japan. Are we seeing the birth of a new Special Naval Landing Force?

It is really beginning to look like Japan is bringing back its World War 2 era Special Naval Landing Force.

Via Defense News.

Brad Glosserman, executive di­rector of the Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said he found re­cent talk of Japan bolstering its pre­emptive strike capability worrying.
“CSIS has been conducting dis­cussions on the issue of pre-emp­tive strike for six years, and in recent months, we have seen re­sumption of calls to develop this ca­pability resurface. I am concerned about the proliferation of these ca­pabilities because of the potential­ly destabilizing consequences,” he said.
Japan probably won’t develop a separate marine corps, but it will more likely reinforce its amphibi­ous capability, largely based on the Western Infantry Regiment of the Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) that trained in amphibious warfare as part of the Iron Fist exer­cises with the US Marine Corps in California, analysts say.
Paul Giarra, president of US­based consulting firm Global Strat­egies & Transformation, said the language of the policy proposal opens the possibility of the GSDF equipping one or perhaps two re­giments with advanced capabili­ties, including up to four dozen amphibious landing vehicles over the next five years, beyond the four AAV-7A1S vehicles already planned, and a suitable number of Bell-Boeing V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft.
“I read it more as the [Japan Self-Defense Forces] with some im­proved amphibious capabilities like vehicles and tilt-rotor aircraft. That is potentially a significant de­velopment, but the LDP does not look like it wants to go the whole hog on a marine corps,” said Chris­topher Hughes, professor of inter­national politics and Japanese studies at Britain’s University of Warwick.

Read the whole thing but I'm amazed at a couple of things.

1. The experts are wrong.  The Japanese are well on their way to creating a Marine Corps.

2.  Japan WILL develop a preemptive defense strategy and quite honestly its probably secretly developing nuclear weapons.

3.  You can lay the blame for this at the feet of the Chinese.

My rationale for the above statements is simple.  While the US has been importing goods and "making friends/apologizing" for the Chinese, the nations of the Pacific Rim have been bullied, pushed around, had land invaded and been exposed to the real face of China.

China is a bully and a destabilizing force.

India has been involved in an ongoing dispute with China over their line of control (border).  China has crossed into India, not allowed Indian troops to properly patrol the border and there have been incursions by Chinese aircraft into Indian airspace.

Japan has seen its territorial waters breached by Chinese warships, its fishing boats harassed and incursions into its airspace by Chinese fighters.

Philippines has experienced the same.

Meanwhile, the US continues to try partnership missions as the response to this provocation against our allies.

In Asia, wisdom is prized, foolishness ridiculed and weakness hated.  At the present we're being foolish and weak.  Japan is simply being wise.

Brazil's FX-2 Fighter Contest is far from over. SAAB updates its Gripen offer.

via UPI.com

Saab is one of the three leading contenders for Brazil's jet fighter replacement program FX-2, the other two contenders being Boeing and France's Dassault.

According to the report, Saab aims to compete successfully for a role not just in the Brazilian air force, but also in the Brazilian Navy and hence it is seriously concentrating on its Sea Gripen project. Commander Romulo Sobral recently flew the Gripen D to test if it has flight qualities compatible with the flying qualities desirable for naval aircraft based on aircraft carriers.
Brazil's FX-2 jet fighter acquisition program coincides with a vigorous campaign by the government and local defense industry to develop indigenous aviation industry.

SAAB is hungry.

SAAB is borderline desperate...lets call it extremely determined to sell its airplanes.  Honestly I wonder how SAAB can be denied.  If its a price war then they're going to win going away.  If its a tech battle then the SAAB at the very least matches what the other two planes offer.

Is it all about production offsets? If it is then I don't know who will win.  From my reading almost all the corporations involved with give Rio a slice of the pie.  I guess it'll come down to "best value considerations"....and that type criteria is always hard to determine ahead of time.

VBC-90. The most powerful police vehicle on the planet.

Pic via Jedsite.

 

I've ranted about the large number of MRAPs that are showing up in US police departments.  I've also ranted about the militarization of the police here.

We have nothing on Europe though.

Not only do they have police/military hybrid organizations dotting the landscape but they also employ military type vehicles without complaint by their citizens.  There are numerous examples of these vehicle types but the one that  most intrigues is the VBC-90.

via Wikipedia.

The VBC-90 (Véhicule Blindé de Combat - armoured combat vehicle) is a 6x6 armoured car equipped with a 90 mm high velocity gun in a GIAT TS 90 rotating turret.
It equips the armoured squadron of the Mobile Gendarmerie, with 32 units built.

Wait!  What?  Yeah thats right.  A police organization has a certified 100% combat vehicle.  Additionally it has a 90mm cannon.  Who or what is the intended target for so much firepower?  The average French citizen?  The only way that a person could legitimately resist against this type of vehicle is with IEDs or shop made EFPs but I assume that knowledge is not widespread in French Society.  So what is the reasoning behind a force that is equipped with vehicles this powerful? I haven't a clue.  Perhaps the need for a strong internal security establishment exists because of experience gained during the bad times of WW2.  Maybe its a by product of a socialist society.

Whatever the reason, the French VBC-90 is the most powerful police vehicle in the world.

AAV7A1? Get ready for A2!

I was over at ELP Blog (can't wait to see the debate between him and Elements of Power Blog on the actual cost of the F-35...I'll start the fight if I have to but I want to get some real numbers and its outside my area) and realized that he linked to the Marine Corps budget.

I've read it several times already but followed the link anyway and it dawned on me.

The Amphibious Assault Vehicle is no longer called the AAV in official documents but instead has reverted to AAV7A1.

It might mean nothing but it might mean everything.  Did the Congressional mandate to GAO to study the ACV concept doom it?  Does the mandate mean additional delays to the ACV program.  Did the Congressional mandate to the GAO also delay/kill the Marine Personnel Carrier Program?

If the answers to the above questions is yes then I think we might be looking at an AAV-7A2 as the only viable option left.

If I'm right then we're looking at almost 20 years of development to find a replacement for a vehicle that we end up simply refurbing/modernizing.

That would be pathetic.

F-35. I love ya (still) but damn it stop spinning me!

I still support the F-35.

I still think it will kick ass.

But the supporters (Talking to you Lockheed Martin, the DoD and especially the Commandant of the Marine Corps) need to get down to brass tacks.

First this from AOL.

WASHINGTON: The official costs of the F-35 program have shrunk, not much, but they are down for the first time.
The Pentagon’s authoritative Selected Acquisition Report says the program is projected to be $4.5 billion less expensive than its last estimate. That’s 1 percent of the program.
F-35 December 2012 SAR
We are trying to get more information. Here’s what the plane’s maker, Lockheed Martin, issued this statement. Not surprisingly, they say they are “pleased” and promise to work with the government to lower them further. Here it is:
“Lockheed Martin is pleased with the $4.5 billion reduction in acquisition, operating and support costs reflected in the 2012 Selected Acquisition Report (SAR 12). This is the first year a cost reduction was noted. We will work with the F-35 Joint Program Office to implement further cost saving measures, which will result in additional significant decreases to the total program cost. The top priority of the government/contractor team is to continue to cost-effectively deliver the F-35s unprecedented 5th generation capabilities to the warfighter.”

A reduction of 4.5 billion dollars is nothing to sneeze at.  But the problem is the accounting that is going on with this program.  Why can't we get plain numbers from the DoD when it comes to the costs.  A PER PLANE FREAKING COST ESTIMATE!  Let me remind you that the EFV was considered too expensive when it busted the 13 million dollar per vehicle barrier....and we were going to buy a little over 1000 of those vehicles.

If we're proceeding with programs that cost well over 100 million dollars per article (I'm talking F-35 and MV-22) then I'm going to have serious heartburn and must ask WTF!

Everytime we get program costs instead of individual costs my spider senses activate and I get the feeling that I'm being spun.   Thats the last thing a controversial program needs.

Combat Engineer Vehicles. Sapper or Pioneer Vehicles?

The pic above of is an Assault Breacher Vehicle.  It arrived with great acclaim and was hailed as an example of out of the box thinking, frugality and a can do spirit.

All that is true but its also a remarkably specialized vehicle.  It can best be described as an enabler for the Maneuver Force. It provides protected mine clearing over all terrain with either a highly effective mine plow or line charges.  Blasting fortifications is not in its job description.  Building them isn't either.

The Kodiak gets closer to the mark of a real dual role vehicle and the different attachments that can added to the "extended" arm make it beyond valuable.

Both vehicles serve the needs of the forces that they're attached to.  The Marine Corps developed the Assault Breacher Vehicle and the idea is that its to keep an assault moving...the idea of establishing a defense and fighting from it are actually a role given to the attached Engineer Support Battalions.
The US Army has bought a few ABVs with the idea of them being attached to heavy brigades. These are hyper assault units (the Army won't describe them as such but look at the organization) with defense being a second --- a distant second task.

The Kodiak like I said above is more the dual role vehicle.  Its outfitted to function in the assault using the same plows as the ABV and with the attached arm can be used to build field fortifications.

A quick view then gives one the image that the US is focusing on Sapper type vehicles while the Germans in particular (and many of their European counterparts) are focusing on multi-function vehicles.  It wasn't suppose to be that way and the Grizzly was suppose to give US Army Combat Engineers a true multi-purpose vehicle capable in the offense and defense.  Congress thought better of the idea and canceled the program.

One vehicle that needs to be brought into this discussion in the assault role (Sapper as I'll now call it) is the D9 Bulldozer.  What I find fascinating is that the Israelis were once accused of doing all kinds of horrible things with it.  Then suddenly it was purchased and used by the US Army and others without debate.

The final vehicle on this list is one that I personally consider a failure.  The Stryker based Engineer Vehicle.  Its basically just a Stryker with a mine plow. I love the idea of a Family of Vehicles but this is as big a failure as the Mobile Gun System.

Other combat engineer vehicles are in my opinion variations on commercial vehicles.  A few vehicles were designed to be Airborne, high speed, amphibious etc...They aren't widely used.  It seems like a true multi-function (across all roles) combat engineer vehicle still evades the force.

A400 News and a comment on their marketing campaign.

via EADS Press Release.

The second production Airbus Military A400M has successfully completed its first engine runs as it begins final preparation for its maiden flight later this month.
The aircraft, known as MSN8, is now undergoing taxying trials outside the A400M Final Assembly Line in Seville, Spain.
Airbus Military expects to complete four A400M aircraft in 2013 and will deliver MSN8 to the French Air Force in the third quarter of the year.

It occurred to me that the real problem with the A400 is how its been marketed.  From the very beginning they've taken aim at the C-130 in particular and the C-17 in general.

That was a mistake.  Perhaps a deadly mistake when it comes to the production/sales success of this airplane.  The reason for this is relatively simple.  EADS has always made it money by developing 'tweener' airplanes...in other words airplanes between two different classes of a rivals product.  They did the same here.  The problem was that they chose to make false comparisons.

They should have simply said that the airplane was designed to fill a gap in the market and touted it as a SUCCESSOR to the C-141...but with more rough field capability.

That would have been a win for the program and the results would probably be an easier gateway to selling some examples to the USAF and other air arms around the world.

Marketing.  Real simple but most companies screw it up.

British Forces News FINALLY reports on the attack.

I AM SO TIRED OF POLITICIANS THAT BELIEVE THAT THEIR WORDS MATTER!

They don't!  Only actions are worthy of note.  Words cost nothing.

Notice the quiet, almost female like tone taken by these men?  No bass in their voices at all.  And yet we're to believe that men like these are going to act forcefully against terrorist?

Britain is screwed.

Self Defense in the age of terrorist targeting civilians.

The recent terror attack against the 25 year old British Soldier should chill the bones of everyone. (the fact that it doesn't is still annoying to no end...but thats a different subject...the apologist can meet their fate and I won't care at all).

How do you protect yourself when faced with an attack like we saw the other day?

Awareness.Those bastards used a car to run over their victim before they set upon him.  If he was in condition yellow MAYBE (and I say that guardly...I wasn't there and don't know) he could have avoided being hit by the car which was the initiator of the violence.
Unrelenting, violent resistance.Take what you're hearing from law enforcement professionals and toss it into the trash.  Violent crime...even armed robbery will cost the criminal years in prison (well maybe not in the Northeast but the rest of the US) so the first and best witness is the victim.  It pays for them to either frighten the victim so much that they fear reporting it or, if they want to be sure, kill them.  Knowing that you should resist to the best of your abilities.  If you have the understanding that this person is seeking to hurt you and cannot be reasoned with (unlike the bystanders of the British terrorist attack) then you realize that you must meet their aggression with aggression of your own and then surpass it to assume a position of dominance over them.  If you succeed, then also understand that they would have shown you no mercy.  Don't give them any.
Don't rely on tech.Are you one of those that have decided  that you won't you deadly force?  Do you believe that pepper spray or a taser is good enough?  Well let me educate you to the flaws in that thinking.  Most people buy pepper spray and if they carry it then its a tiny bottle good enough for one use, they don't test the bottles because its such a small container and subject it to riding in a pocket or purse being subjected to all kinds of abuse.  Notice that the people that do use it on a continuous basis (law enforcement), carry it in a separate holder on their belts, test spray it at least weekly (if they don't actually use it in the line of duty) and replace it after about a year. The downside of pepper spray is that you can build immunity.  If you are in the military you have to qualify with it annually (depending on your job and rank) which means getting sprayed.  If you use it often you'll build up immunity.  If you've been sprayed with it often likewise.  Pepper spray is hardly the deterrent many believe.  Same goes with tasers.  They're rarely used, rarely tested and the biggest failure point is weak batteries.
Train, train and train.I once knew fight dynamics cold but its getting a bit fuzzy.  Definitely time to pull out the notebooks, but a quick overview goes like this.  When you're going to engage in combat, you first recognize that you're in a fight.  This causes the brain to put the body into an immediate fight/flight mode.  You're going to get hit with a massive adrenalin dump.  Heart will beat faster, blood will flow from your extremities to your core to prep your body for battle and if you're inexperienced you will probably stop breathing (for a breath or two).  If you recognized that the attack was coming  then you're halfway to meeting the aggression of the person coming at ya.  If you didn't then you're way behind the power curve and trying to catch up.
How do you defeat body dynamics that in some ways put you at a disadvantage.  You train.  Train to be alert, train to be capable of putting up a credible fight, train with the tools that you're going to engage a bad guy with in a fight, practice carrying those tools with you at all times.
You train for every conceivable situation you can think of, you avoid going to places where people act stupidly and you're aware that being in a major city is a dangerous thing regardless of how well you've prepped yourself.

I've noticed that between the Boston bombing, the FBI shooting of their terrorist accomplice (yeah they said there wasn't an active terror cell too) and now this attack in London, its obvious that we're entering a new phase of the war on terror.

Unlike the last phase, this will be a law enforcement led effort.

The FBI was aware of the bombers and MI-5 was aware of the London attackers.

Do you think that they're going to protect you when they couldn't prevent those attacks.  Your self defense is your responsibility.  I hope you pick up the challenge.

For my fellow gun guys.  If you're a gun guy then you're like me.  You workout and train.  You're aware of your surroundings, don't go to places where stupid people do stupid things and unless its an emergency you won't be slinking around at 2am chasing tail.  Good, so this is actually fluff for you.  You already know all this.  But let me ask you this.  Do you carry at least two spare mags with you?  A religious fanatic, drugged up or determined criminal won't be stopped with just a few hits.  Check out the paper below.  Its a pain but carry those spare mags!

  Print Story _ Why one cop carries 145 rounds of ammo on the job - PoliceOne

The victim in the British terror attack.

Lee Rigby.  25 years old.

Look carefully at the picture.

Then ponder this.  I've been bombarded with emails that express sympathy for his killers.  People have expressed a desire of leniency for the murderers.

Not one of them talked about the victim.  Just a bunch of politically correct, pseudo-intellectual bullshit.

I have nothing but hate for those people.  A British citizen...a soldier was killed on the streets of London...and instead of outrage they think the proper response is what we saw on the street.  Calmly talking to madmen.  Sad.  Amazing.  But we are talking about a society that embraces passivity.  Lets make sure we don't import that type of response to our shores.  

India's 99th Mountain Brigade and the 82nd Airborne train at Yudh Abhyas 2013

Its interesting that the Indian Defense Ministry chose to send their Mountain Brigade to this exercise.  Considering the issues that they've been having with the Chinese, its probably a wise move.  Pics depict both an air assault demonstration and a "hollywood" jump from CH-47s.  Also note that the T-11 seems to be in widespread use.

BAE SuperAv 8x8 Closeup of the roof.

Army talking about shedding Strykers, bringing back Light Infantry!

via the Seattle Times.

"We have three additional Stryker brigades at Fort Lewis (Wash.) that we didn't have 10 years ago," said Lt. Gen. Frank Wiercinski, who will soon step down as head of the Fort Shafter command. "That's a lot of Stryker brigades."
The fifth Stryker brigade is based in Alaska.
Wiercinski told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Hawaii's Stryker Brigade could revert to a light infantry unit without the armored vehicles.
He said that Hawaii's 25th Infantry Division has just one light infantry brigade as the "Tropic Lightning" division ends its Afghanistan duties and returns to its jungle-fighting roots.
"If I'm focusing the 25th Infantry Division now on Southeast Asia, and back to being the jungle fighters that they've always been, what's my relevance of Strykers?" Wiercinski said.

Amazing.

I called for it but never thought that it would even be considered.

The Army is getting back Light Infantry.

Good news out of the Big Army.  About time! 

Dual Formation

U.S. Marine Corps F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and F-18 Hornets from Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. fly in formation off the coast of Northwest Florida May 15, 2013.

British response to terror attacks? Soldiers, don't wear your uniforms off base....

Read about the horrendous act and the pathetic response here.

Troops in London were advised in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s attack not to wear their uniforms outside their bases

Thursday Delight.

S. Korean Suron Utility Helicopter.

J-10S. Know your enemy.