French display their new landing craft at Bold Alligator.

A French landing craft unit practices a beach landing at Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune, N.C., as part of Bold Alligator 2012. Exercise Bold Alligator 2012, the largest naval amphibious exercise in the past 10 years, represents the Navy and Marine Corps' revitalization of the full range of amphibious operations. The exercise focuses on today's fight with today's forces, while showcasing the advantages of seabasing. This exercise will take place Jan. 30 - Feb. 12, 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gregory N. Juday)

I told you in a post earlier that the French and Australians (as well as our own Navy/Marine Corps...in particular the beginings of the sea base) were worth watching this week.

Well it looks like we're starting to see some of things that I was talking about.  If I'm not mistaken the above photo shows the L-cat.  I wondered how the new French landing craft would perform and it seems like we're going to get a good look at it during Bold Alligator.

More to come.

Best Sci-Fi book for Marines...

The Legacy and Inheritance trilogies by Ian Douglas are hard to beat when you're talking about the best Sci-Fi in general and in particular for Marines.

The author Ian Douglas is a former Navy Corpsman and its obvious from his writing that he spent almost his entire time with the green side...

Most sci-fi writers attempt to recreate a new universe, villains etc...Ian does that but what will appeal to the readers is his sticking with units that are familiar to all Marines.  MEU's?  Oh he does that but on an enter galactic level.  Rules of Engagement?  He talks about that issue but in regards to first contact with alien species.

Its a thrill ride and I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Check it out for yourself on Amazon here.

And this is why I love Lex!

If you don't subscribe to Neptunus Lex then you're missing out.  This is his latest....

European Doubts

By lex, on February 4th, 2012

Secretaries Panetta and Clinton are on a little fence-mending mission in Evropa:

The Obama administration sought to reassure anxious European allies Saturday that budget cuts won’t undercut the U.S.’s commitment to their security.
The Pentagon announced plans last month to cut the permanent U.S. force in Europe to two brigades, down from four, as part of efforts to trim its budget over the next 10 years and to refocus its attention on Asia and the Middle East.
“We made this decision only after ensuring that our force posture adjustments will not weaken our ability to meet our commitment to the security of Europe,” U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a security conference in Munich, Germany.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a rare joint appearance in Europe with Mr. Panetta, brushed aside “some of the doubts” expressed in European capitals about Washington’s continued commitment to the continent, saying the U.S. still sees Europe as its “partner of first resort.”

The population of core Europe, excluding Russia and Turkey, consists of over 730 million souls, almost twice that of the US. The EU has a GDP of nearly $18 trillion, three trillion dollars more than the US – it is the largest economy in the world. But the EU’s proportion of defense spending to GDP is 1.6%, nearly one third of that spent by the US. Each US citizen spends $2274 per year on national defense. The proportion spent across Europe is $410 per soul. If you exclude the peripheral European countries and focus only on the Eurozone, that contribution rises to – wait for it: $967. Maybe three months worth of car payments on a BMW or Mercedes. Used.
Most of Europe marched in the streets to protest the US going to war in defense of its own security in 2003.
Remind me again why we should be reassuring Europe of anything?

This is coming to a head.

Europeans are proud to proclaim that they have a larger GDP.  Brag that they have a higher standard of living.  Boast that they are civilized.  Cultured.  Refined.  Un Warlike.

Lets see what happens when the inevitable arrives.  The US focuses on its own interests.  The US stops subsidizing European defense.

When the US turns its back and closes not some, but all of its bases.  And that day is going to be sooner rather than later.

High Value Escort?

Interesting.

We have the Riverine escorting an LPD into port.

Hmmm....we have Harbor security that's suppose to do that and they're co-located inside NECC.

We have US Marines that can do that from attached UH-1Y's and AH-1Z's...

My main point is this.  We're seeing some pretty extreme mission creep on the side of Riverine and I don't understand why its being allowed.

I've said before and I'll say again.  If Riverine want to get into the fight then they need to petition to get to the Horn of Africa and go after Pirates.  If they want to get into the fight then they need to get out to Japan and especially the Philippines and start patrolling between islands.

But I don't think its about getting into the fight...It looks like they'd rather get into the news.

Bold Alligator 2012 will be worth following after all.

ba12_info

Heads up gents.

Bold Alligator is about to get interesting.  Currently we've been served a rather bland diet of table top exercises and staff meetings.  But I've been told that next week the training gets alot more dynamic.

*Next week we'll actually start seeing troop movements and field problems.

*We'll finally see the red force attempting to impose its will on the blue.

*We'll finally see if the interoperability that all these navies talk about is actually here today, and not in the future.

With the different scenarios being war gamed, this will be worth watching.  I'll be particularly interested in seeing how the Australians do.  They've dedicated an Army Brigade Battalion to the Naval Infantry skill set and I look forward to seeing how far they've progressed.

The French contingent will also be worth watching and I'll keep an eye out on the Brits.

Long story short, next week is when all antennas should be focused on the coast of Virginia and North Carolina.

Stay tuned.

24th MEU Conduct Simulated Visit, Board, Search and Seizure Aboard USNS Laramie

Army to go K-Max to make up for C-27 shortfall?

Check out this story from Paul Mcleary at Aviation Week.  The juicy bit is below.

And you can bet the Army is keeping a close eye on the program. In August, the service awarded the Lockheed/Kaman team $47 million to continue work on the K-MAX program—testing was done this past fall at Ft. Benning—while wrapping up a larger study on a full range of unmanned cargo options.

The tests will help the service build a formal program of record for an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability, a program which we already know Textron/AAI is very interested. Steve Reid, the company’s senior vp and general manager for unmanned systems says that the company has signed a license agreement with Carter Aviation for a manned, four-person rotary winged asset that Textron is working on turning into an unmanned asset that the company feels “would do the cargo mission that’s being talked about” quite nicely. The Navy has also been busy with other unmanned options, including awarding Northrop Grumman a contract in September to supply twenty-eight MQ-8C Fire Scout VTOL-UAS’s (based on Bell’s 407 helicopter airframe), which the company has touted for its cargo-lugging capabilities

Now we know...or rather we can take a guess at what Army leadership is up to.  Don't want to continue the C-27?  Fine.  We'll work with the Navy/Marines and get the aerial cargo carrier we need by the back door.  Plus we'll use UAV's to do it.

No Key West controversy.

No risk of losing the program.

Cheaper.

More versatile.

Direct delivery without having to go through another service.

Can team with reliable partners.

Awesome.

.

Friday Musings....Is SOCOM crusing for a bruising?

I got caught up in a conversation about tactics with a friend and we hit up on an idea that a properly defended site by well trained and disciplined troops would give SOCOM big trouble these days.

How could we say that?

Because they are giving out there playbook that's how!

Think about it.

*The raid on Bin Laden's compound...

1.  We have a pretty good idea of their numbers.
2.  We have a pretty good idea of their back up force.
3.  We know how they inserted into the objective.
4.  We have a pretty good idea of how they assaulted the objective.
5.  We know the weapons employed.
6.  We're aware that they have canines during some of these missions.
7.  We have a pretty good idea of when they assaulted the compound.

If that's not enough we also have info on how they performed the assault on the pirates in Africa.

1.  We know the insertion method was different...by parachute.
2.  We have an idea of the number of operators involved (similar to the Bin Laden raid).
3.  We're aware of their extraction method (similar to the Bin Laden raid...unsure if they used V-22's instead of Blackhawks)
4.  We have an idea of the weapons they used.

Long story short we have the makings of a Special Ops playbook.  Courtesy of someone talking too much.  A grunt in the Marine Corps with just a little awareness could plan a defense with this type knowledge.  A little better intel and he could form a credible defense that would at the very least seriously bloody the assault force.

Our quiet professionals need to get quiet again.

If they don't I fear that one of the good guys is gonna get hurt.

PS.
While they're at it they might also want to remove the 'extras' from their gear...via KitUp!

Not shown: a new maritime helmet for SEAL Team Six.  It’s lightweight and provides protection from shrapnel but not ballistic protection.  That’s well and good if the operators desire it, but I did have to roll my eyes at one thing.  Inside the helmet are pictures of cartoon pin-up girls.  Apparently they had also requested “morale” elements in their order.  I never thought I’d say this, but if DOD is cutting their budget, maybe ST6 needs a line item audit.  There are soldiers carrying shot out M4′s, so maybe the “morale” money can be best spent elsewhere

SNAFU Sea Basing Docs....the Maersk option.

Since sea basing has been a news item lately, I wanted to remind readers that I was able to save the vids put out by the Marine Corps "Sea Basing Think Tank" before they hid all documents behind the military firewall.  These are all legacy documents and thinking might have changed but you can check it out by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.

Carrier Navy makes a play to be relevant by grabbing MEU missions

I knew some type of bullshit was coming.

I just didn't expect it to be from the pages of Proceedings.  What's worse is that CDR Salamander appears to endorse the idea.

A quick synopsis.

*Carriers are understrength.  They deploy with approx 60 aircraft when they have historically had upwards of 100 airplanes on deck.

*This situation is going to get worse with the new Ford class carriers coming up.

*The MV-22 is faster than the AH-1Z.

Therefore the author believes that to make up for shortfalls on the carriers and to make the carriers relevant, we should embark a Rifle Company or two of Marines along with MV-22's aboard a big deck carrier and conduct raids from those ships using the carrier fighters as escorts.

Bullshit.

What's left unsaid is that the F-35B is slated to be the escort for the MV-22.  The AH-1Z has already be recognized as being unable to fulfill that role, so the numbers have been reduced in favor of the multi-role UH-1Y.

Additionally the problem will only cascade to the Marine Corps MEU's.  MV-22's and Rifle Companies are finite items.  To add them to the deployment roster of big deck carriers will lead to losses in manpower elsewhere.

This is an idea whose time has not come.  But if you want to know why I consider this a power grab by the author for the carrier navy, then read the following.  Its a list of Marine Corps MEU missions (via Wikipedia)...

Deployment: Following the work-up, the MEU deploys for six months in support of geographic combatant commanders. During this time, the MEU is a forward-deployed, self-sustaining force that combatant commanders can direct to accomplish a variety of special operations and conventional missions.
The missions may include:

• Conventional operations (Amphibious assaults and raids)
• Tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP)
• Humanitarian assistance operations (HAO)
• Noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO)
• Security operations.

Looks like the resource and viability war has started.  I hope HQMC is paying attention.