Chinese landing craft air cushion

via Chinese Military Review.

Its a Magazine!

Red Arrows Spring Training 2013

The U.S. Army – America’s other Marine Corps.

Simply put, the US Army is caught between a rock and a hard place.  Goure lays out the bad news here.

Gun Control was a serious miscalculation for the Senate Democrats.

via The Hill.com

The Senate’s upcoming vote on the assault weapons ban is going to put vulnerable Democrats in a difficult spot.
Democrats facing tough reelection races will either attract the ire of the National Rifle Association or prominent gun control activists such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I). A vote against the ban could spark primary challenges that could weaken Democrats in the general election.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this week decided to remove the ban from firearms legislation scheduled for the floor. However, he has promised Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) a floor vote on her assault weapons amendment.
Reid said Tuesday the proposal would not muster 40 votes, and interviews with rank-and-file lawmakers show that seems accurate.
A wave of Democratic defections on the assault weapons ban would not sit well with gun-control and liberal advocacy groups. They warn Democratic senators who vote to kill one of President Obama’s biggest priorities will suffer political repercussions.

The entire article is worth reading.

The point of it all is this.  This is the second miscalculation by the Democrats in this short year.  First they misread Republicans on the Sequester threat, and now they're about to risk losing the Senate AND not picking up seats in the House over dubious gun legislation.

The irony is delicious.  The article fails to admit another stunning fact about this gun debate.  Its killing the clock before the midterm elections sucks up all the oxygen in the room...and on capital hill.  You can pretty much stick a fork in climate change legislation.  You can forget about getting further stimulus bills done.  After gun control is done the only thing that stands a chance of passage is immigration reform, and even that is sketchy because of the needs to secure the border to the satisfaction of members in the House (unless the Majority Leader goes maverick).

What if the F-35 is cancelled. What now Marine?

via What If Model Site.

Just a simple mind exercise guys.

Forget the fact that its darn near improbable, lets say it does happen.  Lets say the F-35 is cancelled.  What now?

My thinking goes like this....

*We ride the F/A-18's we have till they break.
*We DO NOT buy Super Hornets.
*We re-engine the Harriers with upgraded Pegasus engines.  The current model puts out about 23,000 pounds of thrust.  If Rolls Royce can get us more thrust then we're cooking with gas (literally)...I know nothing about engines so it may or may not be possible.
*We re-wing the Harrier and optimize it for a swing role.  That means longer thinner and swept.
*The Harriers that were bought from the British are upgraded with parts taken from F/A-18's (some parts will have to be refurbished...like the AESA arrays).
*Lengthen the air frame to allow the carriage of more fuel internally.

That pretty much covers it.

What do we get out of this?  We get a potentially more maneuverable airplane.  A plane that gets closer to going supersonic (it might cross the threshold...who knows).  But we also get to complete the plan and neck down our aviation squadrons to one type of attack/fighter plane.

This is all fantasy.  But if the improbable becomes possible then its better to have a fall back plan than to be jumping through our ass trying to figure it out!