BAE teases!

I've been watching the BAE micro Farnborough website for news on this tantalizing bit of news on the F-35's defensive avionics suite.  Still no word but it appears to be game changing...or it could just be clever marketing.  I guess we'll see when we see.

US Army Air Defense Artillery.

Major Hat Tip to Sgt. C. for the website and pointing me to this video. 

More bad news for F-35 haters!

via Reuters...below are the highlights (which I've highlighted!)...

The United States and Israel are days away from reaching an agreement on the sale of 19 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jets, which would be the first foreign military sale of the new warplane.

"The ball is in their court," Vice Admiral Jeffrey Wieringa, who heads the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told Reuters at the Farnborough Airshow.
"I am waiting for them to make a decision any day," said Wieringa, who is retiring at the end of the month.
Lockheed declined comment on the status of the arms deal, since it will be concluded between the U.S. and Israeli governments, but said the fact that Israel wants to buy the new F-35 fighter underscored global confidence in the jet.
Analysts say the deal is worth about $3 billion.
"When they select F-35, we believe it's a testimony to the capabilities of the jet," Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed's vice president for F-35 business development, told Reuters, noting that Israel faces some formidable security challenges.
Lockheed said it is close to reaching an agreement with the U.S. government on procurement of a fourth batch of 32 F-35 fighters, and a deal could come "any day."
Company officials, speaking in interviews and at a news conference, underscored their commitment to working with the Pentagon to continue driving down the cost of the F-35 program -- at over $300 billion the biggest weapons program in history.
O'Bryan said the contract for the fourth batch of airplanes would be 20 percent lower than that of the previous batch of fighters, and half the price of the first batch.

Read it and weep critics!  Its over.  This program is beyond paring back and its beyond attempts at cancellation.  Its truly international in scope and with Turkey buying extra fighters and Israel finally getting off the fence, this program can easily absorb any reduction in buys from wavering partner nations and still deliver on the promise of affordability.

You've lost F-35 haters. 

Pic of the Day. July 20, 2010.

U.S. Marines conduct a beach assault with Peruvian marines in Salinas, Peru, July 11, 2010. The Marines are assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 24 aboard the USS New Orleans. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brian J. Slaght

Wow.  Look at all those M4's in that squad!  Has the table of equipment changed?  Seems like the "Gunners" are making an end run around the Commandant and pushing M4's out to the Marines to justify the acquisition of the Infantry Automatic Rifle!  If we have a Company of Marines that can't reach out and touch targets with M-16's then the need for precise automatic fire becomes more important.

A simple picture but I smell a rat!

Why the Marine Corps? The Quantico Power Point.

Why Marine Corps

BP, Lockerbie bomber, the oil spill and our special relationship.

Relationships evolve over time.  What was hot and steamy can become cold.  Is this what is happening with the US and the UK????  They are part of the EU and the pull of that institution over the UK was bound to alter our relationship.  Perhaps we should simply part as friends?  Read this from SkyNews and be amazed at the British Prime Minister's defence (yeah I used the British spelling) of British Petroleum (let's use their legacy name not just the new incarnation).

Let's talk range.

One of the major raps against the F-35 is that its a short ranged fighter.  But lets compare its combat radius with that of the premier fighter in the world today, the F-22.  From Wikipedia.

F-22 Performance Data...
Performance

• Maximum speed:
  
  
  • At altitude: Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph, 2,410 km/h)^[88]
  • Supercruise: Mach 1.82 (1,220 mph, 1,963 km/h)^[88]
• Range: 1,600 nmi (1,840 mi, 2,960 km) with 2 external fuel tanks
• Combat radius: 410 nmi^[189] (471 mi, 759 km)
• Ferry range: 2,000 mi (1,738 nmi, 3,219 km)
• Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,812 m)
• Wing loading: 77 lb/ft² (375 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 1.08 (1.26 with loaded weight & 50% fuel)
• Maximum design g-load: -3.0/+9.0 g

F-35 Performance Data...
Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.67^[269] (1,283 mph, 2,065 km/h)
• Range: 1,200 nmi (2,220 km) on internal fuel^[270]
• Combat radius: 610 nmi (1,110 km) on internal fuel^[270]
• Service ceiling: 60,000 ft^[271] (18,288 m)
• Rate of climb: classified (not publicly available)
• Wing loading: 91.4 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: **With full fuel: 0.84;^[59]
  
  
  • With 50% fuel: 1.04 B:^[59]
• g-Limits: 9 g^{[nb 4]}

Seems like the F-35 isn't as short ranged as many noted authors would have us believe.  A comparison of legacy aircraft with comparable combat loads would also show them to be lacking in comparison to the F-35 too.  Don't believe the trolls.

The F-35 is a winner!