Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion.

Thanks to William for the news.

President Obama Speaks on the Recovery of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

The men in this guys unit deserve an apology from the news media and from the US Army.

Of course this brings up the question.

Did we pay too high a price to recover a US soldier that deserted of his own free will?

F-35 News. Add bulkhead problems to the list of issues...

The lead in this story was that the USMC is sticking to its IOC date with the F-35 despite software issues.

But as usual, defense writers and the mainstream media don't realize when they have a juicy bit of news that will set the industry on fire.  via Flight Global...

Meanwhile, Bogdan also says he is worried about the integrity of the F-35B’s aluminium 496 bulkhead, which bears critical structural loads where the trailing edge of the wing attaches to the aft fuselage. In 2004, programme officials reduced the weight of the F-35B by about 1,360kg (3,000lb). Those changes included switching the bulkhead material from titanium to lighter-weight aluminium.
The lighter bulkhead has since proved susceptible to structural cracking, requiring a series of “patches” all over the 496 bulkhead. There are now so many patches that programme officials are concerned it may be necessary to redesign the bulkhead for production aircraft, Bogdan says.
Finally, Lockheed’s autonomic logistics information system (ALIS) is not ready to support a growing fleet of operational and test aircraft, Bogdan says. It will take a few years to resolve the ALIS deficiencies, and until then F-35B maintainers must use workarounds to inspect and repair the aircraft.

Yeah.

The plane is a flying patch that will require ANOTHER redesign.  Gone unnoticed is the fact that its already bumping up against weight limits as it is.

I wonder how long the carrier version will last after repeated landings...controlled crashes like the Naval aviators like to call them?

I've been told that this problem only affects the "B" model.  That's even worse news.

The assumption I've been operating under is that the USMC is pushing forward so hard with the F-35, even though its obviously not ready for prime time, because its seeking to clear the procurement train wreck that its in.  Items have to get cleared from the table and despite the pain the quicker the F-35 can be bought, the sooner they can move on to the other things that are needed.

IF a redesign is necessary then the agony doesn't stop and the trainwreck stretches into another decade...and two more Commandant's will face the prospect of sending forces into battle with substandard airplanes AND armor.

Someone remind me to send the Commandant a bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey.  The guy probably doesn't drink but I bet he's gonna need a few stiff ones if the news keeps coming in like this!

The American people are being lied to about the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Thanks to "NO" for the link!

via MEMRITV.com (transcript, watch the video here)...

The Americans keep saying that first they will sign an agreement with Iran, and that only after confirming that Iran is abiding by the agreement will they lift the sanctions. These fallacies are unacceptable.
Lifting the sanctions is part of the negotiations, not a consequence of them. The people who are involved in this understand the difference full well. This is an American deception. They say: First, we will sign an agreement, then we will examine their conduct, and only then, we will lift the sanctions. It doesn't work this way.
Just as our honorable president and officials said clearly, the sanctions must be lifted without delay when an agreement is reached.

Jesus!

I called the current President the Neville Chamberlain of our time.  If this is correct then I understated things.

We are seeing the stage set for a MAJOR war in the Middle East.  Historians will look back on this generation and will be stunned by the lack of resolve, the arrogance and the ineptitude of current leadership.

What's worse?

You get the leaders you deserve. 

DARPA small ship phase 2 UAV concept pic.

Once again different rounds for the Army and Marines is discussed.

via Military.com

The M855A1 features a steel penetrator on top of a solid copper slug, making it is more dependable than the current M855, Army officials have maintained. It delivers consistent performance at all distances and performed better than the current-issue 7.62mm round against hardened steel targets in testing. It penetrated 3/8s-inch-thick steel at ranges approaching 400 meters, tripling the performance of the M855, Army officials said.
The Corps had planned to field the Army's M855A1 until the program suffered a major setback in August 2009, when testing revealed that some of the bullets did not follow their trajectory or intended flight path.
The earlier design of the M855A1 featured a bismuth-tin slug which proved to be sensitive to heat, prompting Marine officials to stick with the M855 and also the Special Operations Science and Technology round developed by U.S. Special Operations Command instead.
Commonly known as SOST ammo, the bullet isn't environmentally friendly, but it offered the Corps a more effective bullet, Marine officials have said.

I'm going to have to get ahold of the testimony on this one but the Army's position seems indefensible.  They are sacrificing accuracy and maintaining that its an acceptable tradeoff.

That's not good.

Its probably a non-issue though.  The emphasis on infantry skills seems to be a thing of the past.  Adoption of the Army round is probably already in the cards....plus the M855A1 will more easily be declared armor piercing so banning it from public purchase will be easier.

Sidenote:  Lets not forget that Sanchez is a serious anti-gun zealot.  Her questions on this subject ARE part of an agenda.

Polaris set to corner the civilian ATV market.

via Defense News.

WASHINGTON — US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is making a sole-source purchase of 2,000 light tactical all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) from Polaris Industries, according to a Monday announcement.
The contract, to be awarded in June, includes 1,750 of the Medina, Minnesota-based company's four-seat MRZR-4 and 300 of its two-seat MRZR-2.
SOCOM indicated it selected the vehicles because they can be transported inside the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, Boeing MH-47 special operations helicopter and Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low, and that they can be dropped from the air.

Well this seals the deal for Polaris.

They're about to corner the civilian ATV market for two reasons.  A WHOLE BUNCH of buyers of these vehicles are former military...or wish they were, which means that owning the same vehicle that is in use by SOCOM will come with "second kind of cool points" AND!!!! you have a bunch of law enforcement/fire depts/first responders that use these vehicles and they're going to glob onto what SOCOM is using too.

This is a bigger win than many outside of the ATV community realize.

Russia set to have the dominant fighter on the planet?

via Fiscal Times.

The T-50 is significantly faster than the F-22, and has a huge advantage in terms of range – 5,500 kilometers compared to the F-22’s 3,400. The T-50’s detection systems allow it to spot incoming threats at a distance of up to 400 kilometers, compared to the F-22’s 210 km.
Most experts believe that the F-35 would be the dominant plane, should it ever come on line in the form its supporters have promised. But a continuous delay in production leaves Russia with the most dominant fighter jet on the planet.

To take a term from a fellow blogger...DISCUSS!

Blast from the past...Saunders-Roe SR.177

Avro Arrow - Bourdeau Industries (Official) posted this vid with the caption..."the more things change, the more they stay the same"....the vid is informative. Check it out.

Armata Main Battle Tank sneak preview.

Thanks to Russell 2878

The above photos are from Military Photos.net.  They're supposedly of the Armata Main Battle Tank and just this sneak peek tells me that we're looking at a different kind of beast.

I'm looking forward to the Russians taking the wraps off this monster!

USMC's unfunded requirements...

via Bloomberg.

(Bloomberg) — Marine Corps has ~$2.1b in requirements not funded in FY16 Pentagon budget request, according to list sent by Commandant of the Marine Corps to lawmakers.

• High among needs is $1.05b for 6 more Lockheed F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; $24.5m for 3 Bell H-1 helicopters; $180m for 2 Lockheed KC-130J aircraft

• So-called unfunded requirements list requested by leaders of congressional defense cmtes

• Other military services also expected to send in their needs as Congress starts writing FY16 defense bills

• NOTE: FY16 budget requests funding for 9 F-35B Marine models