NavAir's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter 2011 Year in Review

I hope that the USAF puts out a similar video...it's also interesting that this vid has the actual test pilots talking about the airplane.

Riverine conducts route recon.

I still don't get the Riverine mission set as it appears to be conducted today.  I don't know if its SEAL Delivery Team lite, if its actually a Riverine force or if its a hybrid of something that is being left unsaid.  What I do know is that they're at Bold Alligator.

Riverine Command Boat 802, attached to Riverine Squadron 2, conducts a route reconnaissance mission during Exercise Bold Alligator 2012, the largest amphibious exercise in the past 10 years. Bold Alligator represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. #BA12 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Lynn Friant/Released)

Blast from the past. AAV's in Beirut.

via Military in the Middle East Blogspot.

Sea Ceptor.

The MoD released these computer generated images of the missile that they're developing.  Pretty impressive if it lives up to its billing...able to defend 500 miles?  Darn impressive.  Might be something the US Navy, US Army and US Marines might be interested in.  If I'm not mistaken that exceeds the Patriot RIM-116 by a wide margin.

The MoD has confirmed that a new Royal Navy missile defence system will be able to intercept and destroy enemy missiles travelling at supersonic speeds.

The £483M contract to develop this cutting edge air-defence system - known as Sea Ceptor - is being awarded to UK industry.

The system uses a new UK-developed missile capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 3 and will have the ability to deal with multiple targets simultaneously, protecting an area of around 500 square miles over land or sea.

Sea Ceptor will be developed under a demonstration contract with MBDA (UK) that is expected to last for five years.

Pic of the day.

Pictured is a British soldier with his sniper rifle on board a Merlin helicopter on route to Camp Shawquat, Nad-e Ali.
British snipers fulfil a vital and enduring role on the battlefield, in terms of intelligence-gathering, target identification and eliminating high-value targets.
The L115A3 rifle, part of the Sniper System Improvement Programme (SSIP), is a large-calibre weapon which provides state-of-the-art telescopic day and night all-weather sights, increasing a sniper's effective range considerably.

Geez...that guys gear looks spotless...helicopter is remarkably clean too...where are the hydraulics cables dripping fluid everywhere???

That little Falklands issue pops up again.

via Defense Tech...

Dauntless will set sail for the Falkland Islands in the coming weeks armed with a battery of missiles that could “take out all of South America’s fighter aircraft let alone Argentina’s,” according to one Navy source.

The Type 45 destroyer is the most advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic ship in the world equipped with 48 Sea Viper missiles and the Sampson radar, which is more advanced than Heathrow air traffic control

The ship is in a league of its own in air defence able to track dozens of multiple targets

“It can shoot down Argentine fighters as soon as they take off from they bases,” said another Navy source. “This will give Buenos Aires serious pause for thought.”

About fucking time. I guess someone finally woke up to the fact that 4 Typhoons just wasn't going to cut it (of which 2 are probably operational --- if they're doing strip alerts that must be murder---maybe we should count pilots in addition to aircraft)!  

What are we...as a Marine Corps doing?

Rant time.

For the first time in ten years (according to press releases) the Marine Corps is conducting a large scale amphibious exercise (Bold Alligator).

Meanwhile, we have Battalion Landing Teams (MEU's) doing exercises at Cobra Gold and Enhanced Mojave Viper.

All the work done to set the stage for mini-ARGs...distributed warfare and suddenly the powers that be have arrived at the point where Marine Expeditionary Brigade type training needs to be done!

For what purpose?

Why?

It hasn't been discussed publicly, the reasoning hasn't been explained...the thinking behind it hasn't been shared.

What in the name of Chesty is going on here!

The changing story regarding the USS Ponce.

The story of what the Navy SEALs will be doing with the USS Ponce keeps changing...first we have this from FoxNews reported a couple of days ago....

The U.S. Navy is working to place a 'mothership' for Special Operations Forces in the Middle East, Fox News confirms. 

The USS Ponce, which was most recently being used as a dock in the Mediterranean Sea for the Libyan operation, was scheduled to be decommissioned in December. Navy officials now tell Fox News that the ship will be transformed into a flotilla to be used by Navy SEALs

Then we have a comment made on the USNI blog by USNVO which stated this...

USNVO Says:
Just a thought. If you look at the RFP for the ship conversion, you immediately see several things.
1. This is not for SOF! Everything in the RFP points to supporting MIW. Helos, EOD, MCMs, MCM staffs.
2. Then ask, why would MCM in the Arabian Gulf suddenly get such a huge push? OK, that was too easy.
3. Following the logic, then you would want the ability to conduct MCM outside of land support since your potential opponent has a significant missile capability. So, you need a ship.
4. So why the PONCE? Need it now, needs MH-53 support capability, a well deck to support minesweeping sleds and EOD boats, and good Command and Control capability. So PONCE works where other options don’t, unless you want to give up a LHA or LHD?
4. Why now? Nothing sinister, I image a confluance of a variety of things are making it important now.
a. Changing world situation is focusing attention on MCM capability in the area of the SOH. With perhaps just a bit more emphasis than before.
b. Organic MCM and LCS hasn’t worked out quite like many people have hoped. So in order to support the dedicated MCM forces, you need support facilities.
c. The vulnerability of land bases to interdiction by missiles has increased and ballistic missile defense has not kept pace. Simply put, too many missiles not enough defensive missiles to cover everything yet.
So my thought is that financial priorities are changing due to the very real threat that we may need to conduct MCM operations in the Arabian Gulf and SOH in the very near future. The other cool features are nice, but the MCM support issue is the driver.
Why didn’t we do it before? Simply put, other priorities were seen to be more important. Nothing sinister, just different priorities were viewed as more important. So we end up with a stopgap with a future plan to procure a better ship down the road.
You play the percentages and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

 And then we have this from National Defense by Admiral Harvey...

But that will not be the focus of the USS Ponce, Adm. John Harvey told reporters in Washington Jan. 31.

“It is not the primary mission,” he said. “It’s not going over there as an alternate command ship. It’s not going over there as a special operating forces Death Star Galactica coming through the Gulf.”

The main purpose of what Harvey called the “afloat forward staging base interim” is to support mine sweeping operations and patrol combatant craft in the Persian Gulf, he said.

He called it an interim solution because the Navy may turn to its Mobile Landing Platform ships to perform the floating base role. The forthcoming budget will have details on the quantity and purpose of the MLPs and when they will be built, Harvey said.

Message discipline men.  Message discipline.