Sunday, February 06, 2011
V-22 Internally Carried Vehicles...time to dump this requirement.
Again, you've got to be kidding!
There isn't enough room in that bird to carry anything but a vehicle!
Call it mission creep, bad planning, day dreaming...call it whatever but the idea of an Internally Carried Vehicle inside a V-22 is a non-starter. Better to air drop one out of a tasked Special Ops C-130 or even use a CH-53K to carry it but this ain't gonna work.
Side note---
Did you notice the vehicles displayed in this test? The only one not present was the Growler ITV. Seems as if AF Pararescue and Combat Controllers have already written that vehicle off their list of potential candidates in their competition.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
You have got to be shitting me!
Taken directly from Battle Rattle.
Col. Robert G. Petit, commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was relieved of command Saturday following his arrest a week ago in connection with a theft at Walmart in Jacksonville.
The decision by II Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John M. Paxton to fire Petit “followed a Marine Corps inquiry into the facts relating to Petit’s Jan. 29, 2011 arrest by the Jacksonville Police Department for misdemeanor larceny,” according to a Saturday evening press release from Paxton’s office.
Petit was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the release said.
Petit, 50, who took command of the 24th MEU in September, was detained by Jacksonville police shortly after 5 p.m. Jan. 29, and charged with one count of misdemeanor larceny for allegedly stealing printer ink and STP fuel cleaner worth about $65, according to police and court documents.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22.
As a lieutenant colonel, Petit led Camp Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, during combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Petit is a native of New Orleans, according to a Marine Corps news release, which also notes that the MEU is scheduled to deploy in early 2012.
This is too crazy to comment on.
Absolutely, positively AMAZING...and in a very bad way.
Hey HQ Marine Corps. Dump the IAR and go with the XM-25.
**UPDATE**
After a short discussion with Marcase and rereading the KITUP! article, it struck me that this weapon system has nullified the former king of Infantry combat...the Machine gun. USMC Gunners are definitely caught in the past. Unless the IAR is a backdoor attempt to field a replacement for the M-16A4 and M4 then we must dump it quick and join the US Army in procuring this weapon!
A modest proposal.
Dump the inept, still born, poorly conceived Infantry Automatic Rifle and go instead for a real Grenadier in the form of an XM-25 Gunner.
What has me on this kick?
Catching up on my reading and getting this blurb from KitUp!
The US Army in this instance has made a common sense decision when it comes to future small arms procurement.
It seems (in my opinion) that the Marines have been bitten with the precision fires bug. Nothing wrong with that as long as you remember that precision fires with area weapons is good too!
After a short discussion with Marcase and rereading the KITUP! article, it struck me that this weapon system has nullified the former king of Infantry combat...the Machine gun. USMC Gunners are definitely caught in the past. Unless the IAR is a backdoor attempt to field a replacement for the M-16A4 and M4 then we must dump it quick and join the US Army in procuring this weapon!
A modest proposal.
Dump the inept, still born, poorly conceived Infantry Automatic Rifle and go instead for a real Grenadier in the form of an XM-25 Gunner.
What has me on this kick?
Catching up on my reading and getting this blurb from KitUp!
The XM-25 has fired 55 rounds in nine firefights between Dec. 3 and January 12, when the formal Forward Operational Assessment ended. Officials say the weapon “disrupted” two insurgent attacks against an observation post, destroying one PKM machine gun position in one of those attacks. That is where the ”usually our engagements last for 15-20 minutes. With the XM-25 they’re over in a few minutes” line came from.Unless the Marine Corps is actually after a replacement for the M-16A4 then the IAR is not whats needed.
The XM-25 also “destroyed” four ambush sites during engagements on foot patrols or movements to contact. In one instance, the 25mm HE round exploded on a PKM gunner and he was either wounded and fled or scared and fled, but dropped his machine gun, which Soldiers later recovered.
The US Army in this instance has made a common sense decision when it comes to future small arms procurement.
It seems (in my opinion) that the Marines have been bitten with the precision fires bug. Nothing wrong with that as long as you remember that precision fires with area weapons is good too!
Pic of the day. Feb. 05, 2011.
X-47B Hi-Rez Photos
E-2D Carrier Suitability Trials...
I'm back and its time to take care of a few odds and ends!
Hey guys, I'm back and let me tell ya...the old Corps saying of fighting through some pain and carrying on does not serve one well later...a simple nick in the weight room and days later you watch your leg fill up like its being pumped full of helium will definitely get your attention and a new perspective on not only fitness but of body maintenance.
But forgetting that nonsense, I appreciate the wishes and wanted to hit you with a couple of issues I was able to read up on, follow on the news concerning current defense issues...
1. The F-35 as seen by Air Force Flight Test School...via Combat Aircraft Magazine...
Unfortunately the issue is by subscription only. It is well worth the read but here's the highlight from one of the pilots with the Air Force Flight Test School...
2. The NEO in Egypt. via Information Dissemination.
G-Man has been rather cautious in his outlook on this situation but I personally get the whiff that things might be a bit more dicey than many in the West are being told. If the Enterprise and her group are headed toward Egypt than the situation is not a benign as we are being told. Even now, I believe more is brewing beneath the surface and it deserves a much more careful look.
But forgetting that nonsense, I appreciate the wishes and wanted to hit you with a couple of issues I was able to read up on, follow on the news concerning current defense issues...
1. The F-35 as seen by Air Force Flight Test School...via Combat Aircraft Magazine...
Unfortunately the issue is by subscription only. It is well worth the read but here's the highlight from one of the pilots with the Air Force Flight Test School...
"It'a a little too early to tell but I would say that all indicators show that the F-35 can be a very capable airplane"
Major Matt Hayden, F-35 Flight Sciences Test Pilot, Edwards AFB
2. The NEO in Egypt. via Information Dissemination.
G-Man has been rather cautious in his outlook on this situation but I personally get the whiff that things might be a bit more dicey than many in the West are being told. If the Enterprise and her group are headed toward Egypt than the situation is not a benign as we are being told. Even now, I believe more is brewing beneath the surface and it deserves a much more careful look.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Break...
Hey guys...I'll be on a short break to take care of some personal problems....the blog will be back in action hopefully this weekend...
Monday, January 31, 2011
State Dept Evacuation. Epic Fail.
I wrote a post here on the possibility of the US Military conducting an NEO in Egypt. I received this comment this morning and just have to respond. Anonymous wrote:
Ok, if we do a NEO we will only put in a few very small security forces at a couple of airports - Cairo, Alex, Luxor - and we would contract a bunch of commerical airliners (or even cruise ships) to haul out all the US (and EU, Japanese, etc) tourists. We'd do that in cooperation and coordination with (especially)the EU. If we have to RESCUE those tourists as opposed to a NEO then it is a whole different ball game. Not at that point yet. Keep in mind that we already have quite a few US military folks there as part of the training/advisor mission... Such a NEO is most definitely NOT "mission impossible" - just a trifle difficult, expensive and a big operation - and, oh by the way, it is already underway.Wow.
He/She/It seems quite sure of themselves. I had to check this out...from CNN...
...At least 220 Americans had been evacuated from Egypt as of Monday evening, according to the State Department. Another 175 were boarding a flight to Athens, Greece, Monday evening, according to the agency.The first plane out was a Cyprus-bound flight with 42 people aboard, the government said. It landed Monday afternoon.Sorry, but if this were a military operation, I'd be lambasting the Officer in Charge for non-performance.
Despite earlier reports that flights would be subject to Egypt's 3 p.m. curfew, the State Department said flights would depart around the clock. U.S. officials hoped to evacuate 900 people on Monday.
About 52,000 Americans are believed to be in Egypt. Of those, more than 2,400 have asked to be evacuated, Jacobs said. But she expected those numbers would rise as the unrest continues...
Operations are underway and they have initially evacuated 220 people?
2400 people have asked to be evacuated and the number is almost certain to rise?
Not text book in my mind.
Also I'm sure that the writer is speaking about troops in the Peace Keeping force out in the desert. Do you think that they can be easily retasked? I don't know the unit and really its irrelevant. The point remains that the US State Department much like USAID in Haiti is in over its head.
I've tried to remain open minded but it appears that the current Commander in Chief is attempting to usurp traditional military missions and give them to civilian agencies.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
EFV is dead...Time for a new gun for the LCS.
With the EFV suffering an unwarranted death (well maybe, it was expensive but maybe pressure could have been applied to the manufacturer to lower it) its time to ditch the ATK gun and get something designed from the outset for service aboard naval vessels.
My candidate is the Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun System...the following information and photos are from NAVWEPS.com
Prototype 35 mm Naval Gun System (GDM-008)
Millennium on the Lockheed Martin Sea Slice
Note the triple-coil muzzle velocity gauge and fuze setter Photograph copyrighted by Oerlikon Contraves AG |
Stats via Wikipedia...Oerlikon Millennium 35mm Naval Revolver Gun System | |
---|---|
Type | CIWS |
Place of origin | Germany, Switzerland |
Service history | |
In service | 2003 |
Used by | Denmark |
Production history | |
Designed | 1995 |
Manufacturer | Rheinmetall, Oerlikon Contraves |
Specifications | |
Weight | Gun: 450kg Turret: 3300kg |
Length | 5.5 m |
Width | 2.39 m |
Height | 1.94 m |
Crew | unmanned |
Shell | 35 x 228 mm |
Caliber | 35 mm |
Action | Revolver cannon |
Elevation | -15 / +85 degrees rate: 70 degree/s |
Traverse | 360 degrees rate: 120 degrees per second |
Rate of fire | Single shoot Short Burst: 200 rounds per minute Full automatic fire: 1000 rounds per minute |
Muzzle velocity | AHEAD: 3,445 fps (1,050 mps) HEI: 3,854 fps (1,175 mps) APDS/T: 3,950 fps (1,440 mps) |
Effective range | 3500m (3830 yards) |
Feed system | 252 linkless rounds on turret |
Long story short, Rheinmetall-detc has created a modular weapon system that can be changed out in 30 minutes, is tailor made for the LCS mission and is in worldwide service. It can be had for a song (relatively) and is effective against air and surface targets.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Non-combatant Evacuation (NEO) of Egypt???
Information Dissemination has posted an interesting article with the dangling fruit of the POSSIBILITY (remote in his opinion) of there being an NEO in Egypt.
It is worth remembering there are some 90,000 Americans in Egypt. Nothing has been decided, but preparations are being made just in case.Can you imagine?The U.S. Marines have a pair of warships -- the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce -- just hanging around the southern end of the Red Sea waiting to see if they're needed to rescue U.S. diplomats and citizens from Cairo. They're half of the Marines' 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a mini-armada that recently dispatched 1,400 of its 2,000 Marines into Afghanistan. But they've got a "fair number" of helicopters, and Marines, still aboard.Something to keep an eye on.
Even if only half those people request to be moved then you're looking at a "mission impossible"...
Think about it.
You'd have to fully commit the remainder of the 26th MEU.
You'd probably have to fly in the 82nd Airborne Division Ready Brigade.
An entire wing from the Air Forces Air Mobility Command would have to be deployed....
All while a friendly nation other than Israel was lined up to take in this massive infuse of humanity.
The whole idea gives me shivers. And we haven't even begun to think about terrorist mixing with refugees blowing up airplanes or even gaining body counts in the crowds. Not even considered the population turning violent. Not even thought about the Egyptian military attempting to stop the effort.
Is it time for the US Military to rethink its understanding with Americans in foreign countries? Is it time for it to be understood that if trouble erupts they should be PREPARED---and be ready to protect themselves---cause as much as we'd like to, help might not be coming?
I think so. If you can change my mind, I'm all ears.
Mountain Sniper Course...
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