F-35. Can't be cancelled after the China Threat Assessment

Dave Majumdar over at the Dew Line has published the recently released China Threat Assessment.  The J-20 will be operational in 2018.

Stick a fork in any hopes of seeing the F-35 cancelled now.  With the PAK-FA delayed, with the US Teen Fighters and the Euro Canards being uncompetitive, this effectively puts an end to this LONG, TIRED, LIE FILLED (from those who oppose the F-35) DEBATE.

Cancelled?  I can see it being rushed into service now. Oh and you can pretty much rule out the Democrat Party falling back to the "cut defense" to save social programs meme now.  Not even they would risk it after this report.  Looks like we're seeing the makings of a modified cold war.

Read Dave's article here.

Read a take on the misguided attempt by traitorous Congress Critters here.

Mandible Protection?

Wow.

Mandible protection has been around for awhile but now its being talked about going Marine Corps wide.  Uh...I thought we wanted to get lighter?  Time for the School Of Infantry to start weighing in on some of this stuff.  They're suppose to be the subject matter experts but they've been getting knocked around by the different program offices and billets inside the Corps.  The results?  More equipment that gets left on the dock or in the sea bag.

Kydex craziness...

This Kydex foolishness has to stop.

It just plain has to.

They probably don't deserve it but I'm pointing at those guys.  You know ... Costa-Haley Effect ... CHE!

Yep, the CHE is what started this Kydex craziness but no one is putting the breaks on it.  I mean seriously look at that belt.  Just taking a look at this guys pistol mags and all the real estate that's being taken up because of kydex instead of normal pouches, all I can do is shake my head at the madness.

I could easily double up if not quadruple the number of pistol mags that he's carrying with a simple equipment change.

Same goes with the M-16 mags.  In the space of one of those kydex holders, I could fit an old style pouch and triple up on the number of mags...so instead of two M-16 mags I could carry 6.

But what really has me worried is that this is making its way into the Marine Corps via shops that should know better.  Places like the Marine Corps Marksmanship Program.

Yeah, send our guys to 3 gun matches but stick with combat marksmanship.  Turning our weapons into race guns isn't doing the fleet any good and that 19 year old that's been doing 3 gun instead of football will still eat up the Sgt that we send that's had 3 combat deployments and 20 confirmed kills.

The sports just don't translate.  And neither does the gear or the gear setups.  More Jungle and Arctic training will totally change our gear setups.

I can't wait to see it.  In the mean time, this Kydex craziness makes about as much sense as a kydex holster for a can of dip....oh wait.  They did that too.

Max Effort. Rescue SGT Bergdahl.

Major Hat Tip to the BlackFive Crew.

Rant time.

I'm ashamed of myself.  Somehow, someway, a guy that likes to think that he's keeping up with most of the goings on in the US military world let this slip by.

We have a serviceman in the hands of the enemy.

That is totally unsat.

The raid to kill Bin Laden was outstanding.  Freaking outstanding.

Want to know what would make it pale in comparison?

About a Battalion of Rangers, a Battalion of MARSOC, AFSOC providing transportation, a couple of platoons of knuckle draggers from Operational Detachment Delta, with SEAL Team 6 all making a MAX EFFORT RUN AT GETTING OUR BOY HOME.

I can almost see the issue at hand.

He's probably held in Pakistan.  Near a large city.  They probably move him constantly.  They might even be assisted by the Pakistani Government.

I don't care.

Whatever it takes, no matter the monetary cost we need to get this done.

Panetta all in on Marine Air and the F-35.

Via Flight Global. 

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta strongly endorsed US Marine Corps aviation and voiced his continued support for the stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35B jump-jet and Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft on 17 May.

"Marine air is what we need for the future," Panetta told a crowd of marines during a commemoration ceremony marking a century of USMC aviation. He praised the USMC's air arm for its flexibility and adaptability.

"There is no force in the world that can match the Marine Corps' ability to conduct agile and flexible expeditionary operations," he says.

Moreover, the USMC can conduct those operations on short notice and with overwhelming force.

It is because of those reasons that the USMC needs the short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B version of the tri-service Joint Strike Fighter, Panetta says. He notes that earlier in the year he cleared the variant from "probation" because the once-troubled F-35B is "meeting requirements."

"The Marines need a fifth-generation fighter for the future, and they will have it," Panetta declares.

The secretary also praised the MV-22 tilt-rotor. The tilt-rotor affords the USMC agility and flexibility, he says.

This new guy over at that house (Flight Global) is a breath of fresh air.  Balanced reporting on the F-35 instead of slanted news from the likes of Aviation Week, Ft Worth Star (Bob Cox), and the APA brotherhood.  When he tells me there is bad news with the airplane my reaction will be ok, how do we fix it instead of, what kind of nonsense are they trying to push on me now?

Dave Majumdar:   

I just sang your praises but you have to do me a favor.  CAPITALIZE the word Marine!  A perfect article except for that little fact..I'm the last person to play grammar NAZI but that's a tidbit I can't let slide!.

Another Congress Critter visiting the Lions Den.

House Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) displays a congressional coin to troops on Camp Leatherneck during a Mother's Day visit to Afghanistan in which Pelosi and five other congresswomen met with the troops.
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11
Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Carmichael

Let's look at the faces from left to right.

The Marine standing behind the Congress Critter and slightly to her right has a "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE?  I GOT WORK TO DO."

Then slightly to the left and much further back you have the Marine with a look that says....."DAMN IT...I COULD BE DOING ANYTHING BUT THIS....WHY DID THEY MAKE ME COME TO THIS BULLSHIT!"

And then we have the Corpman...she has the look of "YOU GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!  THIS BITCH IS CRAZY!"

I love it.

Another victim enters the Lion Den.  

Consider this a photo op gone bad!

SideNote:
I collect coins but the only thing that one's good for is target practice.  Tape it to the front of about 25lbs of Tannerite and it might have some value!

Air Waves.

10th Mountain getting Africa.

If you didn't think that Africa is the next hot spot then check this out.  AFRICOM has picked a Brigade from the 10th Mountain to go to Africa.  Via Military.com

A U.S.-based unit has been selected as the Army's first "regionally aligned" brigade, and by next year its soldiers could begin conducting operations in Africa.
It is the first step in an effort to develop expert units to rotate through a region.
U.S. Africa Command will be the first to test the new rotational model, intended to give commanders a more reliable supply of soldiers available for short, training-focused missions.
Army chief of staff Gen. Raymond Odierno on Wednesday said that a brigade from the 10th Mountain Division has been picked to lead the effort in Africa.
Plans also call for brigades to eventually be aligned with Southern, Central and Pacific Commands, Odierno said. The number of brigades aligned with a given region will depend on the needs of the respective combatant commands.
"So as they go through a training process, then they become available for a period a time, nine to 12 months," Odierno said. "And then they can use those forces to meet whatever requirements they might have. It might be rotational forces. It could be building partner capacity. It could be providing security assistance. It could be doing exercises."
"The regionally aligned forces concept will be especially important in the Asia-Pacific region as we move forward -- home to seven of the 10 largest armies," Odierno said.
Similar rotational concepts also are being looked at in Europe, where the Army will reduce from four forward-stationed brigades to two, Odierno said.
Army planners have been working on the regional brigade concept for some time.
"We think it'll be more efficient. We think it will lead to better outcomes," Col. Andrew Dennis, the Army's chief of security cooperation policy and concepts, said in an interview earlier this year.
Dennis said the intent of the regional alignment concept is to send small platoon- or battalion-size elements to Africa, not a whole brigade at once.

The Army is about to fuck itself with this concept.

A platoon or separate Infantry Battalion is too light, too dependent to send alone.  The Marines establish Air-Ground Task Groups with attached Logistical Units to perform these type missions.

SOCOM does its own thing but that's SOCOM.  They have an entirely different logistics network to fall back on.

You can't play the game the Special Ops does if you don't have the support.  Prediction.

This won't work.