Terminal Lance #109

Avalon 2011.

How have I been missing this?

Avalon Air Show should be quite the  event with the F-35 center stage.  Just like the Dubai event, I see this really taking off in the future.  Oh and Aussie Digger I'll never forgive you for not giving me the heads up on this...wait, I can...get me some pics!

MV-22 training at Camp Pendleton.

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-An MV-22 "Osprey" from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 makes a vertical landing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Feb. 17. Members of the squadron rehearsed confined area landings at MCB Camp Pendleton and straight-in high-speed landings on San Clemente Island., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 2/1/2010 11:00 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-An MV-22 "Osprey" from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 makes a vertical landing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Feb. 17. Members of the squadron rehearsed confined area landings at MCB Camp Pendleton and straight-in high-speed landings on San Clemente Island., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 2/1/2010 10:58 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-An MV-22 "Osprey" from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 makes a vertical landing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Feb. 17. Members of the squadron rehearsed confined area landings at MCB Camp Pendleton and straight-in high-speed landings on San Clemente Island., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 2/1/2010 10:57 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.-An MV-22 "Osprey" from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 makes a vertical landing at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Feb. 17. Sgt. Allen Hilliard, a crew chief with VMM-561, keeps a careful eye on the Osprey's distance to the ground to ensure a safe landing., Lance Cpl. Lisa M. Tourtelot, 2/1/2010 10:54 AM

F-35 Flight Tests at Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Patuxent River

F-35 at Avalon 2011. Australia pushes forward!

Pics of the day. March 2, 2011.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- On Feb. 26, 2011, an F-35B test aircraft (BF-2) completed its 100th flight with Lockheed Martin test pilot David "Doc" Nelson at the controls. The 100th flight for BF-2 accomplished further short take-off envelope expansion in preparation for shipboard testing later this year. The F-35B is the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, which is capable of short take-offs and vertical landings. It is undergoing test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. (Headquarters Marine Corps Photo by Andy Wolfe, Lockheed Martin)

A pair of MV-22 Osprey, with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166 Sea Elk, and VMM-161 Greyhawks, rest on the flight deck as a landing craft, with from Assault Craft Unit 5, exits USS Makin Island to conduct training during Exercise Iron Fist here March 1. This is the first time Osprey have been aboard USS Makin Island. Exercise Iron Fist is a bilateral training exercise between the Japanese Western Army Infantry Regiment, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and several Southern California based Marine units to increase military interoperability and amphibious capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Salvador R. Moreno/Released)

Armor is back in the game.

via Defense News.

Following the deployment of Merkava Mk 4 tanks equipped with Rafael Defense Systems’ Trophy (ASPRO-A) Active Protection Systems (APS) along the Gaza border last month (January 2011), following a Palestinian Kornet missile attack, battle testing of the system was only a matter of time. Today (1st March 2011), the Trophy was baphtized in combat, proving its worth in a first combat engagement with a hostile RPG, fired by Palestinain anti-tank team from Gaza.

F-35 flight test compilation.

Thanks B. Bolsøy

Marines Deploy to Med for Libyan Crisis

via Military.com

About 400 Marines are deploying from the U.S. to the Mediterranean where they'll be stationed aboard the U.S Navy warships while the U.S. continues to consider its response to the rebellion in Libya.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a Pentagon press conference that the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge and the amphibious transport dock ship Ponce "will provide us with the capability for both emergency evacuations and . . . humanitarian relief."

Kearsarge deployed about 1,400 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to Afghanistan last month.

Hmm.  A Battalion (-)  to conduct this mission?

Seems like we could be witnessing the first operational "Company Landing Team."

This could get real interesting.

Even a humanitarian effort would be challenging...also be on the look out for these CLT (+) (reinforced) to operate in a dispersed fashion.

P-8 arrives at PaxRiver

Men then and "Men" now.

Sad but true.

*Update*

I posted this because it showed warriors of yesterday being compared to effeminate men of today.

It was suppose to be funny.  Nothing more, nothing less.  If you can't take the joke then its a "you" problem. 

LAV A2. A simple solution to the MPC issue.

The Marines already have a tailor made solution to the issue of what to buy for the Marine Personnel Carrier.  That solution is in production and being delivered today.  It would need minor modifications and is transportable by CH-53E/K.

Its the LAV-25A2.

Simply remove the turret, replace it with a remote weapon station and the issue is resolved.  Approval by the SecDef should be easy, it can be sole sourced (by passing competition) and it can be in the fleet by the 1st quarter of next year.  IF they act now.

USMC LAV A2