Pod Guns. A simple solution to the MV-22 firepower problem.

In the above video you notice that the NH-90 has pod guns that are forward firing.  This same system applied to the MV-22 might be a more satisfactory solution to the issue of MV-22 firepower.

The issue that brought the turret system to the airplane is the worry about being able to provide defensive firepower when entering landing zones.

This might be a cheap- low cost-solution to that problem.

Yon, McChrystal and the Bloggers Intervention.

UPDATE*
YOU MUST READ THIS ARTICLE. 
http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-report/2010/6/22/michael-yons-criticism-of-mcchrystal-deemed-prophetic.html


In light of current events, the "Blogger Intervention" with Michael Yon seriously needs to be revisited.  Several Military Bloggers took it upon themselves to correct many of Michael's assertions.  It seems that in the end, Michael has been proven correct.

As have I.  I stated that they had jumped the shark in the effort and this meltdown (including statements made by McChrystal in the article) proves my point.

Have Military Bloggers with access to decision makers, are cozy with the Defense Industry and parrot the Pentagon line Bloggers or are they simply well connected journalist now?

I'm not sure but here's a history of the controversy between Yon, the Military Blogging community and General McChrystal.

These guys have some explaining to do.


http://blog.usni.org/2010/04/19/one-voice-is-a-heads-up-many-voices-are/comment-page-1/

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2010/04/an-open-letter-to-micheal-yon.html

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2010/04/one-voice-is-heads-up-many-voices-are.html

http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/2010/05/blogger-war.html

http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/2010/05/weird-timing.html

MEU's should be renamed Marine Amphibious Units.

During the run up to the Marine Corps participation in the Vietnam war a subtle but considered necessary name change was applied to Marine Units.

Instead of being called Expeditionary Units they were renamed Marine Amphibious Units, Marine Amphibious Brigades, and Marine Amphibious Forces.

We should make the name change again.

The reason today isn't to ensure that we don't insult the sensibilities of the local population as was done in Vietnam, no we should do it today to distinguish ourselves from the other services.

The Marine Corps is truly Expeditionary.  There is no doubt about that.  When the Marine Corps does Expeditionary, it does Expeditionary.  Sleeping on the ground, washing your clothes in a stream and eating MRE's for months on end is just a small part of the ethos behind being a Marine.

The problem is....everyone else is calling themselves Expeditionary too.  Whether they are or not is really up to the definition of each service (I would contend that they aren't but that's another discussion)...the point is...the Marine Corps must stand out.

Renaming our forces Amphibious Units, Amphibious Brigades and Amphibious Forces would keep the hallmark of the Marine Corps front and center everytime a unit is being discussed.

Its a simple name change but it would mean alot!

Greg Grant of Defense Tech nails it!

Wow, read the whole thing over at Defense Tech.  Greg nails the real reason behind this melt down.

“He was tired of being the victim of what he believes is a concerted effort on behalf of Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry and others to undermine everything he was given 18 months to do. He was tired of being perceived in the press as a neoconservative killer, Dick Cheney’s hired assassin, or disloyal to President Obama and his staff. He was angry at being blamed for leaking the draft of his report to the President to Bob Woodward. (He did NOT leak the document). He was miffed that a large number of mid-ranking soldiers and battalion commanders and enlisted guys didn’t support his strategy.

Commenter Ran corrected my incorrect attribution of the above statement.  Apologizes to all.  Read the comments section to get the relevant information.

Good Riddance.

via FoxNews.

The article says that although McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. Obama called McChrystal on the carpet last fall for speaking too bluntly about his desire for more troops.
"I found that time painful," McChrystal said in the article, on newsstands Friday. "I was selling an unsellable position."
It quoted an adviser to McChrystal dismissing the early meeting with Obama as a "10-minute photo op."
"Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. The boss was pretty disappointed," the adviser told the magazine.

This guy will be fired and I won't shed a tear.  I'll probably pour a shot of Jack Daniels and enjoy the news of his demise.

Good riddance to you, General McChrystal and your rules of engagement.

Joint Forcible Entry Operations: A Marine Corps Perspective.

Vehicle Transfer at Sea.

Sea Basing is becoming a reality.  The night time ops in Sea State 4 is particularly impressive.

Pony Express..Navy Style---plus pics of the day June 21, 2010.

U.S. Navy shooters launch a C-2A Greyhound aircraft assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 from aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) June 11, 2010, while conducting training operations in the Atlantic Ocean. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel S. Moore, U.S. Navy/Released)

The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), rear, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Osumi-Class amphibious assault ship JDS Kunisaki (LST 4003), center, and two Japanese landing craft, air cushion hovercraft steam through the South China Sea during a photo exercise June 14, 2010. Mercy is deployed as part of Pacific Partnership 2010, the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors to strengthen regional partnerships. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jon Husman, U.S. Navy/Released)

U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. David Carter rappels from an HH-60H Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 14 June 16, 2010, during helicopter rope suspension training on the flight deck of USS George Washington (CVN 73). Carter is from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5. George Washington is under way in the Pacific Ocean in support of security operations. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam K. Thomas, U.S. Navy/Released)

Two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters from USS Peleliu (LHA 5) fly off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste, June 20, 2010. Sailors from the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group and Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit are participating in Marine Exercise 2010, a multilateral exercise promoting cooperation through civic action programs and training with the Timor-Leste and Australian militaries. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Russell, U.S. Navy)

FN's new Remote Weapon Station.

Bill Sweetman has an article over at Ares covering the wide number of 8x8 Infantry Fighting Vehicles on the market.  A segment of the defense industry that's kept up with the variety of IFV's are the RWS that are being used to provide them with firepower.  FN has demonstrated a new system at Eurosatory.    Via DefPro from FN Herstal.

Taking advantage of its experience in the field of Remote Weapon Stations with more than 630 units already contracted within the frame of several acquisition programs - some of them being deployed in Lebanon and Afghanistan -, FN Herstal announces the introduction of the newly developed deFNder™ medium remote weapon station that provides optimized remote firing capabilities while keeping the operator fully secure and safe from harm.

The deFNder™ is capable of integrating any FN Herstal machine gun up to .50 cal, including the exclusive M3P machine gun, which has a unique firing rate of 1,100 rounds per minute and features extended operation angles [-42°; +73°]. The deFNder™ is therefore well suited for:

• self-defense, fire support and combat missions – also in urban environments – when mounted on light, medium or heavy vehicles 
• turret onto turret applications
• border control or critical infrastructure protection missions.

The deFNder™ features a universal cradle accepting any FN machine gun from 5.56mm MINIMI up to .50 cal or 40mm AGLs. The cradle is mounted on a soft mount to ensure optimized firing capabilities and reduced level of shocks and vibrations. The weapon station does not exceed 120 kg in weight (without weapon and ammunition) and 640mm in height. It comes standard with a CCD and thermal uncooled camera.

Many have criticized the consolidation in the defense industry (myself included) but with the proliferation of different weapon systems and vehicles from even the limited manufacturers in this segment, its obvious that even more consolidation is on the horizon.

Consolidation and savage down sizing. 

We definitely live in interesting times.

22DDH. Japan's next Helicopter Carrier (LHD).

via DefPro.

Rumors that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s third “aircraft carrying destroyer” would mark a major improvement in size and capability over the Hyuga class ships now entering service have been confirmed. The new 22DDH will be 248 meters long and 39 meters in beam, and displace more than 24,000 tons. This makes her almost 50 percent larger than the Hyuga class and places an unbearable semantic strain on the use of the term “destroyer” to describe these ships. To put the size of the ship into context, she is comparable with a World War II Essex-class fleet carrier.

That my friends is larger than the Mistral, Canberra and Cavour.  While the US Navy's Surface Officers are ready to move away from support of the Amphibious Fleet, other nations are embracing their utility.