Pumping out....

Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit prepare to board the USS Gunston Hall March 28, 2012. The 24th MEU, partnered with the Navy's Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, is deploying to the European and Central Command theaters of operation to serve as a theater reserve and crisis response force capable of a variety of missions from full-scale combat operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Photo ByLine: Sgt. Richard Blumenstein

V-2 found in the UK

After all these years, the UK is still dealing with V-2 rockets.  Amazing.  via the Royal Navy.

Royal Navy bomb disposal experts are making safe a World War 2 German missile unearthed in the mud off Harwich.
A six-strong team from Portsmouth was called out to Essex to deal with the V2 missile – fired at Britain from the continent in 1944 or 1945 as part of Hitler’s revenge for the bombing of Germany.

The wartime weapon – fired from the European mainland in 1944 or early 1945 – is submerged nose-down in coastal mud flats on the River Stour between Felixstowe and Harwich.
Local fishermen are understood to have known about the missile for decades and even used to moor their boats to it.
A six-man team from Southern Diving Unit 2, based at Horsea Island, Portsmouth was called out yesterday afternoon. A 40-metre exclusion zone has been set up.
Lt Dan Herridge, Officer-in-Command of SDU 2 said: “This is not going to be a job that’s done overnight. People don’t think they’ve ever found a V-2 intact like this before but due to the nature of the beast we don’t know whether this one is definitely intact.
“Our guys have never seen anything like this before and probably never will again. It’s a very unusual beast indeed.”
At first the RN team was sceptical because the missiles plunged to earth at more than twice the speed of sound having reached heights of up to 128 miles above the earth’s surface – so normally there was nothing left of them.
But on closer inspection it was identified as a V2. It is submerged nose down and is projecting about two feet out of the mud, around 300ft from the Harwich shoreline. It is not known whether the explosive is still present.

The bomb team led by Lt Herridge is expected to remain at the scene for some time and may need to bring in a barge and dredging gear to get the missile out of the mud.
The V2 rocket was developed by pioneering scientist Werner von Braun – who went on to be a key figure behind the American effort to put a man on the moon.
Built by concentration camp prisoners, more than 3,000 V-2s were launched from the continent at London, South-east England and the Belgian port of Antwerp – with the aim of demoralising the civilian populace.
The missile attacks resulted in the death of an estimated 7,250 people, mostly civilians. Of these, more than 2,750 were killed in London – and another 6,523 injured.
By contrast, however, perhaps as many 20,000 prisoners forced to build the weapons died as a result of the inhuman conditions in which the Nazis made them live and work at the Dora-Mittelbau camp in Germany’s Harz mountains.

This has got to be some kind of evil omen.

Weapons from WW2 are still being found, still having to be dealt with and its been decades after the conflict ended and we're talking about technologically advanced societies where this is happening.

Unexploded ordinance.  The new menace.

Exercise Balikatan 2012

Ok.

I understand WHY they're doing it but it still annoys.  The USMC is not a meals on wheels organization.  We are NOT the Salvation Army with guns/jets and armored vehicles.

We are a war fighting organization.

Time to emphasize that fact.

Aviation Week must be pissed.

Thanks for the link SFERRIN.

via Spudman over at F-16.net  read the whole thing but check out these tidbits...

Here are the transcripts of the proceedings and a few nuggets of gold.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Bus ... arings.htm

The transcripts for the LM presentation have not been put up yet, but here is some info from the Defense Department's reply to the APA/RepSIM info:

1. A lot of classified info could not be discussed.

2. 11k pages of data is shared with Partner nations PER MONTH about the JSF.

3. The "fuel leak" from the first Eglin AFG flight was rainwater that has seeped into the panels.

4. The F-35 has been tested up to 9.88G

5. Up to 650 parameters use to ID a potential threat. For comparison's sake, the F-22 has a third of that. Talk about Situational Awareness.


 A few more things between the lines in that transcript:

- AIM-120 PK is significantly higher than the 50% when fired by the F-35 during simulations
- F-35 consistently wipes the floor with Su-35's in high detail simulation even with expert pilots on the red team
- The 2 missile (1xIR , 1xRadar) combo touted by APA so often does not work as well as APA "guesses" it does due to F-35's signature reduction measures (IR and Radar)
- Confirmation that even though you know F-35's are in the area (low band radar), you can't engage them which is the whole issue when fighting stealth aircraft
- F-35's MADL automatically routes the datalink between aircraft so as to not fire the beam directly at the enemy when connecting to the aircraft up front

You know they're banging their heads against walls over at Aviation Week...begging mommy to make the mean ole' airplane stop.  I have never in my life seen such a concerted effort to kill a US military project in my life.  We might be seeing the first signs of industrial espionage by a domestic publication, via Information Warfare to favor foreign competitors over our own domestic production base.

Israel keeping tabs on the CH-53K

Two of the best air arms in the world are keeping a close watch on the CH-53K...the first of course is the USMC.

The second is the Israeli AF.  via Israeli Defense.

Israel is closely following the development of the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy helicopter, which will replace the Yasur CH-53 helicopter used by the Israeli Air Force (IAF).
While the IAF continues to upgrade the Yasur helicopters, which are planned to fly at least until 2025, there are those in the air force that are thinking of the future. For the moment, it seems that the helicopter’s only substitute is the new Sikorsky model.
This week the US Navy, the first client of the heavy helicopter, examined a proposal by Sikorsky to construct four pilot models for testing purposes. According to the original plan, the new helicopter is intended to enter operational use in 2019. The US Marine Corps has already committed to procuring 200 CH-53K helicopters.
The tri-engine helicopter will be extremely advanced. Its flight system will be a fly-by-wire (FBW) model, and it will be equipped with the most advanced systems. The helicopter is designed to carry payloads at a total weight of more than 12 tons when taking-off from areas with a height of 1800 metes.
As previously stated, the IAF is following the program and is hoping that its test pilots will already be able to perform test flights in the US in 2015.

I've always been amazed at the success of the CH-47.  Don't get me wrong, its a fine airplane and has unique capabilities but pound for pound I always considered the CH-53 better.

The Israeli's seem to agree with my assessment.  Which leaves me with only one question.  Will the USAF decide to purchase a few for SOCOM and its rescue force?  It would make perfect sense and would fill a gaping hole in their capabilities.

Time will tell.

F-35 Airstart Testing

Pic of the day.

A U.S. Navy SEAL with Naval Special Warfare Group 1 fast ropes from an Army MH-47 Chinook helicopter onto the aft deck of the fast combat support ship ROKS Hwacheon (AOE 59) March 20, 2012, in Jinhae Harbor, South Korea, during Foal Eagle 2012. Foal Eagle is a combined U.S.-South Korea field training exercise held annually in South Korea to ensure the operational readiness of air, space and cyberspace operations in the Korean theater of operations. (DoD photo by Sgt. Aaron Rognstad, U.S. Army/Released)