Kel-Tec PMR 30. Hitting store shelves soon?

I despise made up "must have" items.  I have a second gen I-pod that I waited to buy and refuse to upgrade as long as this one works.

I make an exception when it comes to firearms though.  Just like not having enough money or being handsome enough, you can't have enough guns.  I want this gun!  This comment was made in a previous post on the SMG version of this weapon (its theoretical so don't expect that one anytime soon).

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Kel-Tec PMR 30 SMG Prototype.":

finally got the skinny on when the pmr-30 will hit stores. my ffl said he ordered five and they told him they will definatly fill his order (that means to his door step ), by june 25th.So i should be shooting my pmr-30 the 26th at the latest...

OOOH  I hope he's right. 

I wonder if there's a waiting list?  I better start calling my FFL buddies today....got to get in the line!

Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson. His 14 Rules.

Kelly Johnson, the famous aeronautical engineer was a revolutionary thinker.  What's even more revolutionary but often overlooked are his management principals.  Maybe we should insist on making his 14 rules a part of any reform that's pushed through the Defense Dept.

(You'll need to enable full screen to read his rules)

Http Www.lockheedmartin.c..

New justification for Mistral BPC's. Island Patrol!

via Defense News.

Russia is close to purchasing a Mistral-class French warship and needs such a vessel to patrol waters around Pacific islands that are the subject of a long-running dispute with Japan, a top general said June 8.
Russia's plan to purchase the Mistral - capable of carrying up to 16 helicopters and a 750-strong landing force - has alarmed some of its neighbors amid expectations it would become part of its Black Sea fleet.

and then this juicy tidbit...

He said in the region around the Kuril Islands "we need mobile means so that a landing force can be rapidly sent there at the necessary time".

Read the whole thing but if Japan is thinking about scaling back defense spending this should give her pause.  Wolves are lurking and territory is at stake.

MV-22 vid.

Defense Update has a video channel that they haven't been advertising but its pretty awesome.  You can see it here.

Forgotten Concepts. Cormorant UAV.

The US military has a history of pushing forward exciting new concepts and then letting them die on the vine.  The Cormorant UAV is one such concept.  This from Aviation Week...back in 2005!

A new contract to Lockheed Martin marks the beginning of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to study the feasibility of deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle from submarines, a DARPA spokeswoman said.
The UAV, called Cormorant, after the sea bird, would "provide close air support for vessels such as the Littoral Combat Ship and SSGN," a specialized version of the Trident ballistic missile submarine, Jan Walker said. "This is the very first award ... this is the beginning of the program," she said.
Its aim, she said, is to "explore concepts that launch from both the sea surface and submarines."

But since then not a word, not an official update on the program.  You can read the Lockheed Martin page on the program here.

Amazing.  The video advertisement is exciting and if it could deliver just half of what is on it then subs would become a viable part of Air-Sea Battle.  A very viable part. 

Crazy Idea Time.

Ok, this is my crazy idea.  But has anyone thought or considered taking the gun system from the Stryker Mobile Gun and fitting it to the hull of the M1 Abrams?  That should (at least theoretically) shave about 30 tons from the weight of the vehicle and since horsepower would remain the same, it should literally turn into a hot rod.  If a further modification is done and its engine is switched out to an MTU turbo diesel then fuel savings might be found while we're at it.  Just tossing it out there.

Thanks to Military Today.com my vision of the future in a slightly different form is illustrated with the Chieftan Falcon Turret.  BAE has teamed with KADBB so its technology that we could acquire rather easily. 

Fully missionized F-35B flying at PaxRiver.

Major Hat Tip to B. Bolsøy Oslo---I don't know how I missed this....from F-16.net.

"This mission systems aircraft adds a new dimension to the F-35 flight testing under way at PAX River," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "Now, in addition to validating the aerodynamic capabilities and flying qualities of these jets, we will have the opportunity to confirm the performance of what we expect to be a transcendent avionics capability – the most capable ever in a fighter." A fifth F-35B, along with the first Navy carrier variant, is expected to join the fleet later this year at Patuxent River.

I was promised that I was on their mailing list.  Time to send a nasty gram to Lockheed Martin!

F-35C Pics.

I saw some unauthorized pics.  I saw the video.  But I wanted to wait for Lockheed's official pic release of the F-35C's first flight.  I wasn't disappointed.