Spotted at Yuma MCAS.

The above photo was taken at the Yuma MCAS.  If you click on the pic you can spot a Hind Helicopter sitting between the CH-53E's.

Who operates those for US forces?  How many of them do we have?

Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks.

UPDATE:

"Lucky" and "ME" both gave me outstanding leads on the owners of the above Hind.  Major Hat Tip to both you gents.  There is no way in the world I can know even a fifth of the stuff that's going on out there and readers like you help fill in the blanks.

Check out this link that LUCKY sent and this by one by  "ME"....absolutely awesome guys.

Black Buck Raid...

I received an e-mail from Sharkey Ward (famed pilot of Falkland Island fame and blogger at the Pheonix Think Tank) and he is going full bore after the Royal Air Force and an upcoming documentary about the Black Buck raid.

I did a little hasty research and I hope that the RAF isn't going to paint the raids as a success.  Men put their lives on the line so I won't label them a failure but they did not achieve stated goals and unfortunately it appears that the 'powers that be' in the air service was merely looking for a way to get its forces into the fight.

All that being said, I'm trying to reach Sharkey so that I can print his summary on the raid.  Trust me, its fascinating reading and gives an insight into the thinking that goes on in the upper reaches of the British military (but I'm positive that the same thinking exists in any military in the free world).

The Falklands War.  30 years later and it still burns bright for the Brits.

Awesome.  

That means they still have a martial mindset.

Personally I'm relieved.

Time for the big deck amphibs to get cold....

Ice cold that is.  


Major tip to THINK DEFENSE for the link to the pics below....

When the USMC had the mission of reinforcing the northern tip of NATO in the event of war with the Soviet Union, I've seen the pics of amphibs operating in cold conditions.  Heck, I've even seen the pics of our carriers operating in this type environment.

Could we do it today???? I'm not so sure.

The USMC and Navy haven't done arctic or cold weather flight ops in years (at least to my knowledge) and operations in the Pacific WILL include areas of extreme cold.  Even operations off the coast of Korea can include conditions approaching what you see above.

I'm more convinced than ever that we need to get back to basics.

Time to get hard again.

Train where we might work, drop the worship of SpecOps and make the MEU the corner stone of Marine Corps operations.

And that boys and girls means being able to operate in 'every clime and place'.  If the Brits can do it so can we.

More mishaps at Cold Response...

The HMS Illustrious is heading home after an accident caused her hull to get punctured.  via the BBC...

A Royal Navy helicopter carrier is heading home from a training operation in Norway after its hull was punctured in a collision with a tug.

HMS Illustrious was taking part in exercises with other Nato warships when the accident happened.
It took place on 9 March in the port of Harstad, leading to damage above the waterline.
A spokesman said the two small holes had not affected the vessel's seaworthiness or safety.
'Above the waterline'No-one was injured in the incident.
The 22,000-tonne vessel will arrive in Portsmouth on Sunday for repairs after taking part in half of its eight-week deployment in the Arctic Circle.
The Royal Navy spokesman said: "The holes are well above the waterline and do not affect her seaworthiness or safety.
"Initial repairs were carried out by the ship's engineers and, while she could have continued to participate in Exercise Cold Response, the decision was taken to return her to Portsmouth so that the repairs could be completed to ensure that her future programme can be achieved."
HMS Illustrious was laid down by Swan Hunter shipbuilders in Wallsend in 1976, before going into service in June 1981.
It was recently converted from an aircraft carrier to a helicopter carrier in a £40m refit.

I'll have to check the numbers to be sure but I believe that even though Bold Alligator had more personnel, Cold Response has more personnel from different countries participating.

That distinction is important.

With the different operating procedures, languages etc spoken, its no wonder that accidents like this happen.  Luckily no one was injured and the ship should be placed back in service rather quickly.

Even training is dangerous.

Question:

Why does HMS Ocean have a stern gate and Illustrious does not?

Royal Marines...Saturday's photo spread...

And no photo spread of the Royal Marines would be complete without arguably the most famous British photo of the war on terror...

Damn. Norwegian C-130 Crew presumed dead.

RAF sent me an update on the search for survivors (thanks man...even though the news sucks)...

Like the title says, the crew is presumed dead.  DN.se (google translated)...

Rescue personnel have found body parts at the crash site in Kebnekaise, police said at a press conference on Saturday night in Nikkaluokta. Rescue Service has suspended sökarbetet and relatives have been informed.

- At 17.30 the police decided that the rescue operation should be stopped. The decision was taken in consultation with the Norwegian authorities. The relatives are also informed about this, said Norrbotten police spokesman Borje Ohman at the press conference.
The missing Norwegian Hercules aircraft will have exploded, police said. The explosion occurred when the plane hit the mountain wall and triggered an avalanche. It was in the avalanche area which body parts were found.

Prayers for the family and the crew.

Prometheus Imax Trailer

They keep teasing this Aliens prequel and I have to admit....I'm pretty jazzed about seeing it.  A prequel that answers questions raised by the original movie instead of resetting the franchise?  Cool!

31st MEU conducts mock helicopter raid

Broken trust.

Remember the post I did on the Marine Corps not disclosing that another one of the family had been murdered by a supposed Afghan ally?

Remember me saying that the Marine Corps is broken?

Its worse than I thought.

While individual Marines are not only having to duck enemy fire, dodge land mines and IED's, sprint to cover while under sniper fire and evade RPG's, the leadership of the Dept of the Navy with apparently no push back from the Commandant of the Marine Corps is looking to give breathalyzers to Marines after they make it back to the safety of the barracks.

What does that tell you?

It tells me that our priorities are totally out of whack.

No longer are we a war fighting, battle winning organization.  Now we're just another part of the politically correct crowd...we're being emasculated without a howl of protest.

Instead of General's slamming fists on the table demanding that the Afghan Army (which we're training and appear to have been thoroughly penetrated by the enemy) clean up its act, our leadership is pounding the table demanding that Marines become teetotalers. 

What happened to our leadership?

How did it get this bad?

What is the solution?

I have no idea, but one of the few Marine Corps General's that I continue to have faith in is appearing on Midrats this Sunday.  Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper, USMC(Ret) will be a guest on this program.  I'll be tuning in and if possible I will specifically ask about the happenings that led to the missteps in Afghanistan, the current lack of focus by leadership and what it will take to get our Marine Corps back on track.

Update on missing Norwegian C-130.

All photos by Bjørnar Bolsøy do not use without his permission.  The photos are of the airplane that crashed during exercise "Cold Response 2012"

Bjørnar has been keeping in the loop regarding the missing C-130J that went down during exercise "Cold Response 2012".  His report follows....

Latest news:

* Pieces of possible wreckage has been found on both sides of the South Peak of the Kebnekaise mountain range
(Google Earth coordinates approx:  67°54'4.92"N   18°31'26.22"E)

* Metal pieces were found close to the peak's summit of about 6900 feet as well as part of a "seat with velcro soaked in paraffine"

* The area is now officially a crash site

* Ski hikers in the aera report hearing large bangs which they assumed were avalanches

* Last two radar contacts were a few miles west of the peak: a civilian radar contact at 7200 feet and shortly after that a military radar contact at 7600 feet
(http://static.vg.no/uploaded/image/bilderigg/2012/03/16/1331913742451_463.jpg)

 

* Yesterday's report of emergency radio transmission picked up by a Danish Merlin helicopter has not been confirmed

* Weather is still very challenging with storms, strong turbulence and limited visiblity, very steep terrain and avalanche danger

(panorama picture of the mountain range: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Kebnekaise_Panorama.jpg)

 

* It is believed that there were hurricane winds in the area at the time of the accident
 

* SAR helicopters have been forced to abort numerous times due to the bad weather

* Forecast however looks better for the comming night and tomorrow

* The ship lost has been confirmed as #5630 named "Siv" of 335. Sqn. at Gardermoen AB. It entered operational service mid-2010

* About 20 helicopters and aircraft as well as large ground forces are participating in the search

* Helis include RNOAF Sea Kings and RNOAF Bell 412SPs, Swedish HKP-10s (Eurocopter AS332), Lifeguard 906 (Sikorsky S-76++), EC135 police helicopter as well as two Danish Merlins

* Fixed winged aircraft include RNOAF P-3s and F-16s, NATO AWACS, US MC-130 and E-2C Hawkeye

So far the accident is a mystery. The crew was highly experienced, the C-130J considered a modern and robust airplane and has advanced support systems like terrain avoidence radar. Although challenging, the conditions were not deemed too difficult for flight operations. Earlier, two aircrafts had passed through the same area without incidence. Amongst the speculations are course deviations and a solar flare yesterday causing magnetic storms. However according to scientist Knut Stanley Jacobsen at the Norwegian cartographical service the flare hit the Earth some time after the accident and still wouldn't be strong enough to cause problems with aircraft systems.

On a personal note I flew with that very same aircraft on the official inauguration flight of the RNOAF C-130J fleet in August 2010. Photos attached. Note that airborne C-130J is #5607 "Idunn". It was quite difficult to get good shots bacause the chasing C-130s were directly behind the jet exhaust of our ship "Siv".

 

Hopefully we'll find the aircrew alive and well but "even training is dangerous"...

The thought of flying in hurricane force winds is bad.  Doing it during wintery conditions is brave beyond words.

So much for the European's being soft huh?  Best wishes and luck to the missing aircrew and the searchers.

When I get updates so will you.