News on the F-35 that many won't want to hear!

via DoD Buzz by John Reed...

It looks like the first quarter of 2011 was a good one for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test program, with the plane logging 57 more test flights than the planned 142, even in the face of a fleet-wide grounding last month, according to Lockheed officials.
Interestingly, it was the Air Force’s F-35A conventional variant and the Marine Corps’ F-35B short take-off and vertical landing variant that did much of the heavy lifting in achieving the 199 test flights last quarter.
The F-35As flew 82 times against a plan of 62 flights while the F-35Bs flew 101 flights against a plan of 62 sorties. Heck, the embattled Bravo performed 61 vertical landings last quarter. Compare that to the 10 vertical landings it performed in all of 2010!

Meanwhile, the Navy’s F-35C carrier variant racked up only 16 out of 18 planned flights for the quarter, according to Lockheed. No information was provided as to why the Cs missed their targets.
Two production model F-35As also took to the skies for a total of seven flights in 2011.
All told, the F-35 now has 753 flights under its belt since 2006, according to Lockheed.

Absolutely--Positively--Great News.

The critics are spinning and banging their heads.

APA is about to have a coronary.

I proudly say "I TOLD YA SO!"

Amazing.

Read the whole thing here.  This is ... inexplicable ... I don't get it.  But it does explain some of the operational decisions we've seen from the RAF.  Germany for all the hatred that I send their way seem to have the best grasp of things.  Either you fund a military that's able to fight or you don't.  If you don't then they stay on the sidelines.

How do you describe this Marine? Unbreakable!

via Marines Magazine.

Unbreakable

by Sgt. Mark Fayloga | Thursday, March 3, 2011 9:17 

SOUTHERN SHORSURAK, Afghanistan – Cpl. Matt Garst should be dead. Few people survive stepping on an improvised explosive device. Even fewer walk away the same day after directly absorbing the force of the blast, but Garst did just that. 
A squad leader with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Garst was leading his squad on a patrol in Southern Shorsurak, Afghanistan, June 23 to establish a vehicle checkpoint in support of Operation New Dawn.
The men were four miles from Company L’s newly established observation post when they approached an abandoned compound close to where they needed to set up their checkpoint. It would serve well as an operating base — a place for the squad to set up communications and rotate Marines in and out of. But first, it had to be secured.
As they swept the area with a metal detector, the IED registered no warning on the device. The bomb was buried too deep and its metallic signature too weak. Two men walked over it without detonating it.
At six feet, two inches tall and 260 pounds with all his gear on, Garst is easily the heaviest man in his squad by 30 or 40 pounds — just enough extra weight to trigger the IED buried deep in hard-packed soil.
Lance Cpl. Edgar Jones, a combat engineer with the squad, found a pressure plate inside the compound and hollered to Garst, asking what he should do with it. Garst turned around to answer the Marine and stepped on the bomb.
“I can just barely remember the boom,” Garst said. “I remember the start of a loud noise and then I blacked out.”
Since Garst’s improbable run-in with the IED, his tale has spread through the rest of the battalion, and as often happens in combat units, the story mutates, becoming more and more extraordinary: He held onto his rifle the whole time … He actually landed on his feet … He remained unmoved, absorbing the impact like he was muffling a fart in a crowded elevator …
What really happened even eludes Garst. All went black after the earth uppercut him. When he came to, he was standing on his feet holding his weapon, turning to see the remnants of the blast and wondering why his squad had a look on their faces as if they’d seen a ghost.
Marines in Company L think Garst is the luckiest guy in the battalion, and while that may seem a fair assessment, it was the enemy’s shoddy work that left Garst standing. The three-liters of homemade explosive only partially detonated.
Marines who witnessed the event from inside the compound caught glimpses of Garst’s feet flailing through the air just above the other side of the building’s eight-foot walls. The explosion knocked him at least fifteen feet away where he landed on his limp head and shoulders before immediately standing back up.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh [shoot], I just hit an IED,’” he said. “Then I thought, ‘Well I’m standing. That’s good.’”
Garst’s squad stared at him in disbelief. The square-jawed Marine has a tendency to be short-tempered, and the realization that the blast was meant to kill him spiked his adrenaline and anger.
“It pissed me off,” he said. He directed his men to establish a security perimeter while letting them know in his own way that he was OK.
“[What are you looking at?]” he said. “Get on the cordon!”
Garst quickly radioed back to base, calling an explosive ordnance disposal team and quick reaction force.
“I called them and said, ‘Hey, I just got blown up. Get ready,’” he said. “The guy thought I was joking at first. ‘You got blown up? You’re not calling me. Get out of here.’”
Once EOD cleared the area, Garst led his squad the four miles back to their observation post — just hours after being ragdolled by an IED blast.
“I wasn’t going to let anybody else take my squad back after they’d been there for me,” he said. “That’s my job.”
The next day Garst awoke with a pounding headache and was as sore as he’d ever been in his life. “Just getting up from trying to sleep was painful,” he said.
But he saw no reason being sore should slow him down. He popped some ibuprofen and after a day of rest, Garst was back out on patrol, showing his Marines and the enemy that just like his resolve — Cpl. Matt Garst is unbreakable.

Its time.

Time for a bit of unfortunate truth telling.  Europe is in decline and is no longer worthy of defense discussion as a whole.  Certain countries are maintaining robust capabilities, developing them etc...but as a pseudo-nation state, Europe is unworthy of discussion as a military power.

Roll Call.

England is no longer worthy of discussion.  They have destroyed their own forces in a way that no enemy could.

Germany is a non player in defense matters.  They maintain a strong industrial base solely for the opportunity to export weaponry.  A pacifist, isolationist strain exists to such an extent that they are the European version of what Japan once was.

Italy is worthy of discussion.  Besides maintaining strong naval forces, they have proven that they have the will and the means to exercise force.

Spain.  Ditto.

Romania is definitely worthy of discussion.  They are an example of "new" Europe and probably represent the saving grace of the continent.  Romania, along with the rest of the former Soviet Union satellite nations still possess a strong view when it comes to national security.  It is tinged with a big dose of practicality.  Once economic conditions improve expect these nations to shoulder the burden of the defense of Europe.

The Netherlands and the rest of the Nordic Nations.  Worthy.  They maintain strong forces that punch well above their weight.  Again, economic conditions will determine exactly how robust those forces will be in the future.  They do bear watching though.

NATO is dead.  This Libyan Conflict has shown that it is an institution that is out of balance and is not composed of equals.  Time to "hold it underwater till its feet stop moving".  The US gains no benefit from this alliance.

A favorite European past time is to discuss the demise of the United States.  Time they looked in the mirror.  It appears that not only has the US shouldered the burden of the defense of the West, but we also saved most of Europe's Banks during the economic meltdown.

A new way to view SNAFU!

Hey Everyone.

Blogger is upping the ante when it comes to its competition with Wordpress (I knew staying with these guys was the right way to go...even while others fled to the enemy)...

Anyway..long story short, if you want to see this blog in other dynamic formats all you have to do is this...

Copy and Paste which ever form fits your tastes into your browser and enjoy...

Flipcard: available at http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/view/flipcard

Mosaic: available at http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/view/mosaic

Sidebar: available at http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/view/sidebar

Snapshot: available at http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/view/snapshot

Timeslide: available at http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/view/timeslide

I'm personally thrilled by the 'usability' that this will add.  Blogger is doing its part to stay cutting edge.  I'll do mine to keep interesting, Marine Corps centric, Naval Service specific info coming your way (with a huge dose of "all things military").

Geez! I thought this crap was over with.

Meanwhile back in Japan...

I was looking for information on the 'making of a modern Japanese Marine Corps' which first took me to David Axe's site War is Boring which led me to the website Japanese Security Watch.  While still surfing for information on the 'new' Japanese Marine Corps, I ran up on the issue of the nuclear disaster and the ingenious Japanese using the NBC equipped Type 74 Main Battle Tank as part of the effort.  Read it all here, but this is the main part of the story.

According to the Daily Yomiuri, the GSDF is sending two Type 74 main battle tanks to the Fukushima Daiichi reactor to help clean up rubble and debris from the earthquake, tsunami, and explosions at the reactor site. The rubble and debris are hampering emergency efforts to repair the reactors. The GSDF is using tanks instead of bulldozers because the thick steel hull of the Type 74 is effective at blocking some radiation from the crew. The tanks also have NBC air filtration systems.

Swords into plows...or in this case adhoc nuclear disaster fighting vehicles.  Just out of curiosity I wonder why they're using these older vehicles instead of the more modern MBT's available?  Is there a difference in armor composition that makes them less robust around high levels of radiation?

Canadian Troops give instructions on making coffee.

Too Funny.  via EveryDayNoDaysOff....

Royal Australian Navy. A force without a spear.

The Australian Defense establishment and the Royal Navy in particular are to be congratulated on their procurement plans.

They are assembling a credible amphibious capability...but are missing the specialized force necessary to fully exploit new equipment coming online.  Cross training with the US Marine Corps has demonstrated one thing.  The Australian Defense establishment is missing a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to having a full spectrum force....

It  lacks a Marine Corps.  Having a battalion of Army Infantry cross trained to act in a naval role is short sighted and inadequate.

My modest proposal.  Form a Battalion of Marines.  The benefits will be incalculable and the risks are negligible.

Highlight on Harvest Hawk.

UPDATE! 

I've had a couple of readers question my assertion that the USMC came out with this idea before SOCOM did and since other nations are attempting to jump on the "instant" gunship bandwagon, that the Marines should consider this another innovation in the art of war and shout it to the roof tops (I stated that SOCOM will and the public and more importantly lawmakers will know no better).  Well it seems that proof is needed and to provide that proof I turn to the Blog "War is Boring" circa 05.07.09.  Read it and weep those who doubt me...

by DAVID AXE
The Marines have always envied the Air Force’s two dozen AC-130 gunships — which, with their accurate guns and long loiter times, count as some of the deadliest weapons in U.S. wars. This spring, the Marines decided to buy nine kits for their KC-130J tanker-transports, each kit comprising Hellfire and Viper Strike missiles and bolt-on sensors — with a door gun, optional. The result, code-named Harvest Hawk, turns a tanker into a gunship, in just four hours, on the cheap.
Now the twist: the Air Force has struggled for years to build a new gunship to replace the AC-130s, which average more than 20 years old. The AC-X gunship concept went nowhere. The AC-XX “gunship lite” program, meant to turn the twin-engine C-27J transport into a small gunship, apparently died this year, when the Pentagon cut the C-27J program in half. So now the Air Force is borrowing the Harvest Hawk idea, adding “sensors, communication systems, precision guided munitions and a single medium-caliber gun” to eight MC-130W infiltration transports, pictured, according to budget documents.
This kind of modularity represents the future of air power. Build a basic platform like a C-130, and add kits — and extra crew — for the gunship, tanker and other roles, as needed.

KC-130J Harvest Hawk: Marine Corps teaches old plane new tricks in Afghanistan 

4/1/2011  By Staff Sgt. Christopher Flurry  , 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Fwd) 

 

  CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan  — One of the U.S. military’s most seasoned aircraft has found a new purpose as a one-of-a-kind weapon for the Marine Corps in support of troops on the ground in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has relied on the C-130 Hercules platform for a variety of tasks including air-to-air refueling, and cargo and troop transportation for more than 50 years. But the Marine Corps, in partnership with Lockheed-Martin, has recently created a unique variant of its KC-130J by outfitting an existing plane with what has been dubbed the Harvest Hawk weapons system.
“It’s a brand new capability for the Marine Corps and it’s proving itself very well,” said Capt. Joel D. Dunivant, a KC-130J aircraft commander with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. “I’ve been a KC-130 pilot my whole time in the Marine Corps, but this is a new capability for us to support the Marines on the ground.”
The Harvest Hawk system includes a version of the target sight sensor used on the AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter as well as a complement of four AGM-114 Hellfire and 10 Griffin missiles, a modular, precision-guided missile system typically employed on unmanned aerial vehicles.  The system expands the role of the KC-130J for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) beyond its traditional level of support to include close air support against enemy positions and providing surveillance to disrupt improvised explosive device emplacements.   
“Harvest Hawk, for me, is an opportunity to help the guys on the ground,” said Capt. Bradley C. Stadelmeier, with VMGR-352, a co-pilot for the Harvest Hawk equipped KC-130J.
Even with its expanded capabilities, Harvest Hawk crewmembers said the aircraft retains its original capabilities in refueling and transportation. Crewmembers said the Harvest Hawk KC-130J has been used to refuel other coalition aircraft in Afghanistan, and that the entire system can be removed in less than a day if necessary.
The Harvest Hawk first saw service in the Afghan skies in late 2010. Nearly six months since its inception, the aircraft has spent hundreds of hours in the air supporting coalition troops.
“I was highly skeptical of this program until I was on the ground side,” said Capt. Christopher Klempay, the air officer for 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment.  “Now, my opinion is that this is one of the best missions the Hercules can provide the ground force commander.”
Supporting Marine Corps ground forces and coalition partners is one of the primary missions for the Harvest Hawk equipped KC-130J, and both aircrew and Marines on the ground said its ability to stay in the air for long periods of time, providing both surveillance and close-air support is a primary reason for its success.
“It’s great to be a part of something that helps Marines get home safely at night,” said Cpl. Jessica M. Egan, a crew chief with VMGR-352, who serves with the Harvest Hawk detachment.
Additionally, the aircraft’s laser-guided weapons allow for pinpoint accuracy, helping to ensure insurgents are neutralized with minimal impact on the Afghan people and their property.
“The Harvest Hawk is the close air support platform of choice for counter insurgency in Marjah, where collateral damage is a major concern,” said Klempay. “The fire control officers, who sit in the back of the Hercules, are the best in town because they have the ability to devote 100 percent of their attention looking for the enemy on their video imagery and talking to the forward air controllers.” 
In addition to its standard complement of officer and enlisted crew, the Harvest Hawk equipped KC-130J is manned by two fire control officers to monitor and control the weapons and surveillance systems. These Marines, either AV-8B Harrier pilots or F/A-18 Hornet weapon systems officers, bring their expertise in close air support and serve as a vital link between the Marines on the ground and the aircraft supporting them.
“The tools are a little different, but the job is similar,” said Maj. Marc E. Blankenbicker with VMGR-352, the lead fire control officer for the Harvest Hawk detachment, whose primary duty in the Marine Corps is as an F/A-18 weapon systems officer. “It’s very rewarding to take a skill set from one aircraft and translate it to another aircraft.”
Both Marines in the air and Marines on the ground have cited a recent mission as a hallmark of the Harvest Hawk equipped KC-130J’s effectiveness. On March 14, the aircraft stayed airborne approximately 10 hours, expending its entire complement of Hellfire missiles providing close air support for multiple Marine Corps units operating across Regional Command Southwest.
“That Harvest Hawk was on a general scan for IED emplacers. They found four individuals digging in the road, saw them drop something heavy into a hole in the road, and the battalion determined these individuals to be hostile,” said Klempay of one of the requests the Harvest Hawk KC-130J supported that day. “The Harvest Hawk launched a Hellfire, neutralizing the enemy threat.”
Blankenbicker explained the KC-130J supported two other Marine battalions operating the same day, eliminating a number of enemy fighters.
“The Harvest Hawk is a great platform. I can talk directly to the pilot and we can improve each other's situational awareness on the spot,” said 1st Lt. Charles Broun, a platoon commander with Kilo Company, 3rd Bn., 5th Marine Regiment. “Throw in the precision ordnance it carries and it is an outstanding combat multiplier.”
“Being in the aviation community, as an aircrew, gives you a unique perspective as what the infantry battalions do every day,” said Blankenbicker. “You see where they live; you see the villages where they work. We see firsthand the efforts of the units that we’re here to support.
“Whenever you are enabling a Marine battalion to better do their job,” added Blankenbicker. “That’s a good feeling.”

Awesome new capability but one thing annoys me.  This is another innovation courtesy of the United States Marine Corps...an innovation which is being copied by the Special Operations Command (and soon other nations around the globe...if memory serves a nation is already attempting to copy this with a C-27) and one that SOCOM will shout to the roof tops.  But it was brought to the imaginations of the warfighting community by the USMC.

Somehow, someway, the Marine story needs to be delivered in a more timely fashion.  Of all the services the idea of jointness has hurt the Marine Corps the most.  I believe its time to emphasize the differences.

Cool, Creepy and Insidious.

Not our usual fare but this was just cool and reminded me of a real life Aliens "chest buster!"

UK's Decline as a World and European Power is complete.

Think Defence has a remarkable story regarding the contribution of their force to the mission in Libya.  He proclaims half way through ....

Lets get a few things straight before the doom mongers start doing down the UK’s contribution.

He makes some rather fanciful (in my opinion) claims to refute the thought that I and others have.  They've cut too deep and are no longer a major player.  Read the whole thing but here's my attempt to rebut his claims.

Whilst Libya has been hogging the newspaper columns let’s not forget the scale of contribution to Afghanistan, anti piracy operations, the Falkland Islands and plenty of other deployments.
The Libya deployments have been in addition to these.

Sorry Think Defence but the other European Powers have commitments as far ranging as the UK's.  The UK has stood strong in Iraq and Afghanistan but this offensive against Libya is straining their resources in a way that is almost comical (if it were an enemy nation).  To see a trusted friend and ally suffering under the weight of this limited combat is most depressing.

Of course the main news point has been about a lack of carriers and Harriers, especially when compared to the French and Italians but instead of concentrating on what we haven’t got, how about a look at what we have, then compare that with the French and Italians.
Submarine launched Tomahawk, ASTOR/Sentinel, RAPTOR, significant tanker, intelligence and command and control support.
This in addition to combat air patrols and strike missions, whilst Afghanistan and other operations haven’t skipped a beat.

Again, Think Defence is off the mark.  One or two Tomahawk launches is hardly credible.  Compared to the number of sorties that the French launched with their Rafales, its somewhat paltry.  Add the fact that the French were making raids before the first Tomahawk was launched and not only must the Rafale be re-examined (it might be a better war plane than I thought) but the lack of having Harrier based strike being retired should be considered a HUGE mistake. Command and Control was accomplished with US and NATO E-3's.  The Sentinel is due to be retired shortly so its capabilities will soon vanish...and NIMRODS are going away soon.  The hallmarks of the UK's unique contribution will soon  be high demand assets with far too few of them to maintain any capability beyond that of a brush war.

The UK has in essence placed it expeditionary war fighting capability in the hands of the RAF...and the RAF is not up to the task!  If combat had occurred outside of the range of bases in Southern Europe then the UK would be sitting on the sidelines.

If I didn't know better I would think that UK strategy is to mirror Germany's by not fighting.  The UK is in essence removing itself from the stage.  Major foreign interventions will be impossible for at least a decade...probably two.

Politicians have been warning that their is a protectionist/isolationist movement in the United States that was dangerous and nonsensical.  Someone should warn the British government of the same.