Russia accused of shelling Ukrainian positions...

Read the story here.

I checked the NATO, US Army Europe, and the US State Dept websites.  The only one that mentions Ukraine is the State Dept site and they talked about 18 million more in aid, the need to protect journalists and a travel warning.

No govt agency is talking about Ukraine.

Just because its being ignored doesn't mean that the issue will go away.

NOTE:   It would be nice if USAREUR would provide simple info that would show categorically that the Russians are shelling Ukraine and not Separatists.  This thing is an onion and there are so many layers to it that we won't know the real truth of this conflict before many of us are dead and turning to dust.

US Marines in Europe as a deterrent force?

via Information Dissemination.

Marine COL William Nemeth has an intriguing article in this month’s Proceedings about how the Marines could contribute to deterring Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. Nemeth suggests the existing Black Sea Rotational Force could be expanded to a “full battalion combat team” he dubs “Rotational Force Europe” that could be deployed anywhere in Eastern Europe as needed. This combined arms force would consist of a reinforced infantry battalion with supporting combined arms attachments such as a reconnaissance platoon, light armored vehicle platoon/company, tank platoon, amphibious assault vehicle platoon, artillery battery, aviation combat element, and logistics combat element.

This is an interesting read.  I plan on getting the latest issue of Proceedings to drink it all in (quite honestly I shouldn't have let my subscription lapse I remember why now...the USNI Blog went off the rails, pushing an agenda that still has me punching walls and I quit the mag in protest).

But while I hope everyone considers the proposal Colonel Nemeth puts forward I have one question.

Why?

The US military, and especially its Marine Corps is operating at a tempo that is beginning to rival what we saw during two active shooting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Is it smart to do that to a force that is getting smaller?  Does it make sense in light of emerging threats?

This theory of partnerships and forward presence everywhere is unsustainable with the current force.  Isn't it time to trim the fat...to include demands from Combatant Commanders?  Is it time for someone to say no, when a CC calls and asks for forces if he's not leading them in active combat--perhaps a prioritization system that comes from the SecDef?

Don't get me wrong.  At a glance it seems like a no brainer.  But a second look makes me wonder how you're going to support MEUs, SPMAGTFs all over the place AND a new Black Sea Rotational Force...it just doesn't seem possible even if the force was at 220k people instead of 178K.

SIDNOTE:  Back of the page doodling has our Infantry Battalions at almost 50% deployment to dwell time.  Oh and that's before I add in the info with what's actually getting assigned to the South America.  If I'm right then they need to hit the brakes a bit or the force is going to break.

China's Divine Eagle "super drone"....

Thanks to Winarto for the link.

Above you see a drawing of the Divine Eagle "super drone".  Its purpose?  To be part of an integrated system to track our stealth aircraft.  Check this out from Popular Science.

Compared to its stealthy American counterpart, the RQ-180, the Divine Eagle is designed more for operational reconnaissance rather than strategic intelligence, direct flights over denied territory. While it has a very stealthy design, the Divine Dragon's high flight ceiling means that enemy fighters would have difficulty engaging it, and its long range radar would allow it to stay away from air defenses like the AEGIS when guiding Chinese anti-ship missiles at carriers. The Divine Eagle's could datalink with Chinese SAMs on land and sea to shoot down low flying cruise missiles. The Divine Eagle would even have a role in striking down enemy A2/AD networks, by locating enemy surface to air missiles (SAM) launchers to be destroyed by Chinese smart bombs. At the same time, the Divine Eagle can locate enemy stealth bombers, fighters, drones and cruise missiles, and then summon Chinese fighters to defend the Mainland.

(Note:  I don't know why switched from Divine Eagle to Divine Dragon...I'll try and run that down to get the correct name...I have some bros over at China Defense forum that will be able to clear it up)

But wait!  There's more...

The JY-26 "Skywatch" AESA Radar, operates in the long wave band to detect stealth aircraft, which are often optimized against detection by shorter wavelenghts. The JY-26 is claimed to have a range of 500km and Chinese media claimed it detected F-22 Raptor fighters off the South Korean coast in mid 2014. The Divine Eagle is likely to have similar radar technology to detect stealth bomber and fighters at long range.

Question.

What do you think is going to be placed on those artificial islands the Chinese are building?

Do yourself a favor and read this article that got absolutely no attention when it was published earlier this year.  Between this and the White Paper the Chinese just released its obvious.

They're preparing for war with the US and they plan on nullifying any advantage that we THINK we have.  I don't think our ground forces, which are geared to fight counter insurgency will last long against a mechanized Chinese assault force.  Even worse (as if anything could be worse) is the fact that our airpower that so many in leadership are counting on will be swept from the sky.

Unless we wrap our heads around the fact that the "partnership" missions and outreach is meaningless when you're dealing with a proud country, anxious to flex its muscles on the world stage...sorta like the US after WW2, then we're looking at one outcome.  The Chinese are gonna kick our ass.

Vietnam in the desert.

via Fox News.

One Navy F-18 pilot who has flown missions against ISIS voiced his frustration to Fox News, saying: "There were times I had groups of ISIS fighters in my sights, but couldn't get clearance to engage.”
He added, “They probably killed innocent people and spread evil because of my inability to kill them. It was frustrating."
Sources close to the air war against ISIS told Fox News that strike missions take, on average, just under an hour, from a pilot requesting permission to strike an ISIS target to a weapon leaving the wing.

Read the travesty here.

I won't step into the political quagmire and try to figure out where the blame lies...its irrelevant.  If its the Pentagon or the White House the results are the same.

This is Vietnam in the desert...on steroids.

Bullshit General! If you declare it operational then it better be ready to go to war!

via Defense One.

“[I]f I had my druthers, I’d rather not deploy it right away, because I’d like to build some momentum in the program and build the instructor base,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, said Tuesday at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.

Sorry General.

I'm calling bullshit on that sir!

Since when does the Marine Corps declare a weapon system operational and then doesn't send it to war?  Why will it take another two years to build up "momentum" and the "instructor base" if you've had more than 10 years to get that done!

Yeah.

We need two things.  First we need defense reporters that are more interested in getting the story and challenging representatives of the Pentagon/individual services and second, we need to get more than just press releases on the most expensive weapon system in the history of our nation...we need an honest evaluation of whether or not this airplane is actually worth the cost in light of threat nation advances in 5th generation aircraft.

The USMC, once known as the most frugal service and the best bang for the buck when it comes to national defense should be leading this charge....we should be prepared to do the hard thing if that's what an investigation reveals....or is that old Corps stuff now?

Close air support just got a lot harder....A must read from "War on the Rocks"

via WOTR...

Neither the A-10 nor the F-35 alone has the ability to provide the combination of persistence, precision, and augmented situational awareness that will be necessary in the emergent threat environment. Returning to our Army infantry officer’s CAS requirements — “find the bad guys that are shooting at me, kill them quickly, don’t hurt or kill me, and help me find more bad guys before they shoot at me” — our current CAS platforms fail to measure up in several key areas. How exactly should the Joint Force be equipped to succeed?

Read it all here.

Why do I get the feeling that the future will be a separation of the air arm from the ground side...with close air support being a historical footnote?  Artillery is about to become everyone's best friend again.

Is this a case of religious freedom, a substandard Marine or both?

via CharismaNews.

Liberty Institute and volunteer attorney Paul Clement asked the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF)—the highest military court whose cases are subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States—to review the case of Lance Corporal (LCpl) Monifa Sterling, USMC. LCpl Sterling was convicted at a court-martial for putting a Bible verse on her computer when she was stationed at Camp Lejune, North Carolina.
After being criminally prosecuted by the United States Government, LCpl Sterling initially represented herself, then appealed her case to the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. She again cited her First Amendment rights to religious expression, as well as her protection under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA is a vital law that has been used in court to protect religious liberty in various contexts.
But in this case, both the trial and the appellate court said RFRA did not apply because displaying a Bible verse does not constitute religious exercise. Sterling and her attorneys take issue with this opinion.
"If the government can order a Marine not to display a Bible verse, they could try and order her not to get a religious tattoo, or go to church on Sunday," says Liberty Institute Director of Military Affairs and Senior Counsel Mike Berry. "Restricting a Marine's free exercise of religion is blatantly unconstitutional."

Read the whole story here (whole printed story at least).

My take?

I get the whiff of alot more going on behind the scenes than we're being told.  You're gonna court-martial a Marine for not taking down a bible verse under the guise of disobeying an order?

That sounds heavy handed....and not the Marine Corps I remember.

I'm hoping that this was just the final straw and a SNCO finally got tired of a substandard Marine and decided that this was the time to strike.

Even with that though I would have recommended doing this a different way about a different topic.

Which brings me back to the leadership in this shop.  Where were the leaders to counsel this Marine's boss on how to properly deal with this wayward soul?  Why wasn't she already on notice that unless she got her act together there would be pain and misery waiting?

Why did it have to turn into this massive cluster?

As far as the religious freedom crowd is concerned.  I'm not buying it.  You can't come to the defense of every Tom, Dick and Harriet that claims they're being "discriminated" against.  That's not at all the way the military works.  I'm betting that if we dug a bit deeper we'd find all kinds of 'drama' revolving around this workplace.  Oh and a sidenote.  While I'm working on my spiritual life (organized religion just doesn't do it for me) I will note that freedom of religion is a two edged sword.  What happens when you have Muslim soldiers wanting calls to prayer on base...and getting it under religious freedom?  What happens when you have Satan worshippers wanting a display adjacent the front gate to advertise their membership drive?

Religion is like sexual orientation.  I don't know what you are and what you do unless you insist on telling me AND insist on me approving.

Thales wins Brit Crowsnest project.

via Royal Navy Website.

The MOD and Lockheed Martin UK, as the prime contractor for Crowsnest, have selected Thales as the chosen bidder to provide the radar and mission system at the heart of the Crowsnest capability.
The Crowsnest project will act as the Royal Navy’s eyes and ears for its next generation carriers, giving long-range air, maritime and land detection, as well as the capability to track potential threats. Crowsnest will also be able to support wider fleet and land operations, replacing the Sea King Mk 7 Airborne Surveillance and Control capability, which has been operational since 1982.

Here.

A helicopter based AWACS?  This smacks of desperation.  As an interim solution, it was a stroke of genius to put a radar on a Sea King to see them through.  I'm by no means an aviation guy but using a helicopter means you're flying lower, not as far and cutting reaction time.

The Brits better hope those new Destroyers are as good as they think....they're going to have to operate so far in front of the carriers that they're definitely gonna be targeted by every missile in the first wave.


NOTE:  Think Defence Blog posted a pic of the winning proposal in the comments section.

Korean Air Lines Co won a deal to do maintenance work on CH-53's?

via Korea Observer.

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s top air carrier, said Tuesday it has clinched a 50 billion won (US$45.56 million) deal to perform maintenance on the U.S. Marine Corps’ transport helicopters.
The deal will put Korean Air in charge of the depot maintenance of some 40 CH-53 Sea Stallion heavy-lift transport helicopters that are currently operated by U.S. Marines based in Japan, the air carrier said in a press release.
Depot maintenance refers to the inspection of an aircraft’s various systems, including check-ups on major parts via a complete overhaul, as well as repairing glitches and improving the aircraft’s overall performance.
The contract will last for five years until 2020, according to Korean Air.

Wow.

Really?

Seriously?

This smells.  I can't ever recall Korean Air Lines being involved in providing maintenance to USMC aircraft.  So why now?  I'm not gonna lie to you.  I smell some type of sweetheart deal to make the F-35 more attractive.  I could easily be wrong but on the surface this just doesn't seem right.

The rich are going after trailer parks now.

via Memory Alpha...

"They're greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls, and I wouldn't turn my back on one of them for a second."

In the Star Trek universe there are creatures known a Ferengi.  The culture that they created values "wealth creation" above all else.  Nothing is done without the thought of profit.  War?  Unless its profitable it won't happen.  Business?  Ditto.  The concept of social welfare, medical care, helping your fellow man?  None existant.

I wonder if the creators of that fictional universe were onto something.  Check this out from SHTF Blog....

America is filled with lots of poor people these days, and there’s plenty of money to be made off them.
With Wall Street already turning once-homeowners into renters in housing neighborhoods, billionaires and entrepreneurs are now investing in trailer parks, where they are making considerable fortunes off of raising the rent on the poorest among us.
The economic concept is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
Generally speaking, these people moved into trailer parks for the cheap rent, and even with rent prices soaring, these poor people have nowhere else to go.
“The economics are compelling… there’s a lot more poor people than rich people,” one investor said.
The London Guardian spotlighted this trending market for moguls, following a bus load of ‘boot campers’ at Mobile Park University who are learning how to profit from the poor, many of whom are ironically found immobile and ‘trapped’ in their mobile homes:

Read it all here.

This is why I'm so worried about stability in America.  You can't keep pushing people...extracting what little they have, before they finally push back.  In the Star Trek universe, attempts to deal reasonably with the Ferengi for the most part failed.  It always came down to force of arms.

Is that the future for America when it comes time to deal with our own "Ferengi"...otherwise known as Wall Street?