First Steps To The Deck

Qualification flights to land the F-35B Lightning II on the deck of an amphibious assault ship at sea began at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 14 September 2011. Four test pilots started with expeditionary airfield, or EAF, landing practice, which will lead to field carrier landing practice, or FCLP, where shipboard landings are simulated at a land base. EAF and FCLP testing is part of the pilot certification process for landing aircraft on a ship’s deck. The first ship trial on board the USS Wasp (LHD-1) for the F-35B is on track for late 2011, and is scheduled to include the first short take-offs, vertical landings, deck handling, and shipboard landing systems Deck environmental data will be collected as well.

Dept. Of Defense sees the value of STOVL aircraft.

via the Washington Times..

In addition to announcing the Taiwanese military upgrade, the Pentagon this week will release a congressionally mandated study on Taiwan’s air power.
The study concludes that Taiwan's military should buy short-takeoff and vertical-landing jets such as the British-design AV-8B Harrier jump jet or the new F-35B vertical-takeoff version, according to the officials familiar with the aircraft.
That conclusion was based on anticipated Chinese missile strikes against Taiwanese airfields with cratering munitions that would thwart takeoffs by F-16s and other jets

Read the whole thing.  Understand that the WT was able to find an "expert" that shot down the report as simply being justification not to sell new F-16's to Taiwan.  But in my opinion there is more to it than just that.  It should be obvious to all that the nation of Taiwan is vulnerable and that the only aircraft that will be able to get into the air after a missile strike is on that is STOVL.

C-130J in Action

Shots across the pelvis???

I got this from the Gun, Holsters and Gear blog.  I don't know if this is real or web folklore but what caught my attention wasn't the issue with whether Delta Teams are using Glocks or 1911's...what caught my attention is this part of the story...

And we changed the way we shoot. In training Army it was two in the chest and one in skull if needed. Now, if I give you 1 you are getting 2, if I give you 2 your are getting 5, if you get 5 then you get the rest of the mag. Plain and simple I am not going to let you get up and hurt one of my team mates.
And we will put all my shots right across your pelvis and then the shoulder girdle. I don’t care if you got a trauma team on hand, 5 shots across the pelvis and you ain’t getting up. The enemy is likely to wear some kind of armor now a days just as much as we are. 2 in a 3×5 card ain’t cutting it. So there are lots more ammo expended in training, which effects how well the guns hold up also.

Quite honestly that never occurred to me.

When talking concealed carry...heck even law enforcement.  If this ever catches on then you're going to see bad guys dying in some pretty gruesome ways.

5 across the pelvis.

Nasty.

Real nasty.

I like it.

Time to change my training routine...web folklore or not.

F-35 Flight Test Progress Report

via LM...

Lockheed Martin F-35 Flight Test Progress Report

FORT WORTH, Texas, September 20th, 2011 -- Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] F-35 flight test program moves closer to reaching year-end milestones since the last update issued July 26. Since then, the F-35 Lightning II 5TH Generation multirole fighter conducted 124 test flights, bringing the total number of flights for the year to 642.
Overall, the F-35 system development and demonstration (SDD) flight test remains on or ahead of plan for 2011, despite 15 days of testing lost due to fleet stand-down after a ground mishap involving the Integrated Power Package (IPP). Flight testing was also interrupted at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., because of an Aug. 23 earthquake and severe weather associated with Hurricane Irene. During this period of down time, the flight test teams at all locations continued working through planned modifications and maintenance.
As of Aug. 31, the fleet remained 8 percent ahead of plan in year-to-date (YTD) flights.
Several flight test and production key milestones were accomplished since the last report:

• BF-1 performed a 40 foot hover in calm winds and two vertical landings (VL) for the 150th VL to date on Aug. 31.
• AF-10 and AF-11 were delivered to Eglin AFB, Fla., Aug. 31. They join AF-8 and AF-9 assigned to the 33d Fighter Wing.
• Static testing was completed on the F-35C Lightning II carrier variant (CV) ground article CG-1 at Lockheed Martin Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 29. With this achievement, the F-35 Program has accomplished its static structural testing milestone for 2011.
• Jet Blast Deflector (JBD) testing was completed by F-35 CV aircraft CF-2 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. from June 25-August 13. CF-2 successfully completed this portion of JBD tests required to ensure the F-35C is compatible aboard an aircraft carrier.
• AF-7 completed its last flight of currently required conventional take off and landing (CTOL) maturity flights on Aug. 31.

Cumulative flight test activity totals for 2011 are provided below:

• F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) jets have flown 314 times.
• F-35B short takeoff/ vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft have completed 226 flights.
• F-35C carrier variant (CV) jets have flown 102 times.

From the start of flight testing in December 2006 through September 16, 2011, F-35s flew 1,202 times, including the production-model flights and AA-1, the original flight test aircraft.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5TH Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

Impressive no matter how you feel about the F-35 program.

LCS stumbles toward becoming a true warship...

Via UPI...

Swedish defense manufacturer Saab will supply the U.S. Navy multi-role naval surveillance radar system Sea Giraffe AMB as part of the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Program.Saab won the contract through its U.S. subsidiary Saab Sensis Corp., which manages the U.S. baseline of Sea Giraffe AMB, and will provide program management hardware and software adaptations, system integration, testing, and total life cycle support to the Littoral Combat Ship Program.
Saab hailed the contract as an important breakthrough for the company's naval radar system in the United States.

Read the whole thing here.  Not getting into the question of why the US Navy would seek to protect our ship building base but not our electronic industry is beyond what I'm aiming for ... what I am seeking to hit is the idea that the LCS might be one of those weapon systems that you buy and then fix after you get it in service.

The LCS has tons of critics but they might be missing something with this announcement.  The Navy might up arm and specialize this ship once they figure out exactly how they're going to deploy it.  New Wars idea of smaller, specialized ships fighting swarming type actions but with high tech gear might be coming true.

We'll see.

Historic First

Soldiers from Battery A, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment fired the howitzers on their M109A6 Paladins during the first-ever firing of the Modular Artillery Charge System in the combat zone by an entire Paladin battery March 13 on Camp Taji, Iraq. The MACS is a newly refined propellant that pushes projectiles out of the barrel of the howitzers . The MACS will be used in conjunction with the soon to be fielded Excalibur precision guided munition that the Batt. A Soldiers are expected to receive within the next few months. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs

F-35B test pilots start preparing for ship trials....

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – With flight envelope
expansion for ship trials completed, four F-35B test pilots started expeditionary airfield (EAF)
building up to field carrier landing practice (FCLP) Sept. 14.
EAF and FCLP testing is part of the pilot
certification process for landing aircraft on an
amphibious deck, to ensure pilots are
adequately prepared for the inherent danger in
operating aircraft in a maritime environment.
Four test pilots are scheduled to participate in
initial ship trials, all with significant short takeoff and vertical landing experience in the F-
35B.
“The initial ship trials will demonstrate our
ability to operate the F-35B as the Corps needs
it – in the expeditionary environment,” said
Marine Corps Col. Roger Cordell, military site
director for F-35 testing at Naval Air Station
Patuxent River. “We’re excited about the potential that the F-35B has shown to operate in the
demanding environment at sea.”
The first ship trial on board USS Wasp (LHD 1) for the F-35B is on track for this fall, and is
scheduled to test the first short take-offs, vertical landings, deck handling, landing systems as
well as provide an opportunity to collect deck environmental data.
The F-35B is the variant of the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. Marine Corps, capable of short
take-offs and vertical landings for use on amphibious ships or expeditionary airfields to provide
air power to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The F-35B is undergoing test and evaluation at
NAS Patuxent River prior to delivery to the fleet.

Marines conduct Urban Assault Training

Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) Operating in Afghanistan

All photos by POA(Phot) Hamish Burke

USAF fully behind the F-35!

After a rough week (all smoke and mirrors) the F-35 got a big boost from none other than the Secretary of the Air Force.  This is from the Air Force Association Magazine...

The next few years are going to be tough, but Air Force and Defense Department leadership are committed to protecting airmen, their families, and the service’s core capabilities, said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. To achieve the reductions outlined in the first part of the recent debt reduction deal, the Defense Department will have “to get savvy” and learn to accept more risk in certain areas.  It will require terminating some programs, streamlining others, and “making some tough choices” about the core tenants of America’s national security strategy, said Donley at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference at National Harbor outside D.C., Monday. However, added Donley, as the service works to sustain the oldest aircraft fleet in history, certain programs must proceed. There is no alternative to the F-35 strike fighter. “It must succeed,” said Donley. Similarly, the Air Force is committed to developing a long range strike family of systems, including a new bomber, and to moving forward with a new aerial refueling capability. It also must protect ISR and continue to build on the growth in that area over the last 10 years. In addition, the Pentagon must maintain the nuclear triad, sustain and develop freedom of action in cyberspace, and sustain the Air Force’s commitments to US Special Operations Command, said Donley.—Amy McCullough 

And there you have it.  The USAF insists that it needs the F-35A.  The USMC desperately needs the F-35B and the Royal Navy is waiting for the F-35C.

The critics have lost.  Additionally when you add all the jobs that are attached to the program in all the different states then it will be impossible to kill it now.  That would spike unemployment and despite the deficit we just can't afford to do that now.  Consider it a jobs program with tangible benefits.

Another article on the AFA website caught my attention.  This one deals with a Senate Committee slashing the production rate on the F-35.

 The Senate Appropriations Committee's defense panel on Tuesday cut $695 million from the F-35 strike fighter program and recommended that aircraft production remains at Fiscal 2011 levels for two more years. These moves are meant "to limit outyear cost growth," said Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), SAC chairman, in explaining the defense panel's mark-up of the Fiscal 2012 defense appropriations bill. Although the panel "strongly" supports the program and is encouraged by its progress since last year's restructuring, it felt that "excessive concurrency in development and production still exists," said Inouye. The defense appropriators also were concerned that the number of production aircraft "continues to ramp up" even though the program is only 10 percent complete. "For each aircraft we build this early in the test program, we will have to pay many millions in the future to fix the problems that are identified in testing," he said. (Inouye's statement)

The highlighted area is the part that was left out of most reports on this event.  Additionally Senator Hutchison, Republican from Texas only agreed to the slow down because she was assured that the program is safe and that production will be allowed to ramp up to planned rates.

Seems like the bad week has been fully reversed.

Luv it!

UPDATE*
Elements of Power has voiced his opinion on the Senate Committee's action and its a must read.  Catch it here.

Marines fast rope from CH-53E...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-Marines with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment run to a CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 during a fast-rope training event aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Sept. 15. The infantrymen fast roped with HMH-465 to prepare for future deployment-operations., Pfc. Kevin Crist, 9/15/2011 9:41 AM

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 participates in a training exercise with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Sept 15. The squadron supports infantrymen in fast-roping to prepare them for future deployment-operations., Pfc. Kevin Crist, 9/15/2011 9:45 AM

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-A Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment fast ropes aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton out of a CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 Sept. 15. The squadron supports infantrymen on the ground, and this type of training prepares Marines for battlefield scenarios., Pfc. Kevin Crist, 9/15/2011 9:31 AM

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.-A Marine with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment fast ropes aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton out of a CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 Sept. 15. The squadron supports infantrymen on the ground, and this type of training prepares Marines for battlefield scenarios., Pfc. Kevin Crist, 9/15/2011 9:37 AM