CH-53K King Stallion Achieves 27,000 Pound External Lift

via Press Release.

"Lifting 27,000 pounds in OGE conditions is another key milestone for the program, which further confirms our confidence in the design and performance of the aircraft," said Col. Hank Vanderborght, U.S. Marine Corps Program Manager for the Naval Air Systems Command's Heavy Lift Helicopters Program. "This is the most strenuous condition we had to demonstrate from a performance standpoint prior to achieving Milestone 'C' and entering production."
The King Stallion will carry a 27,000 pound external load over 110 nautical miles at 91.5°F at an altitude of 3,000 feet – a Navy operational requirement for "high hot" conditions. The CH-53K helicopter will provide unmatched heavy lift capability with reduced logistics footprint and reduced support costs over its entire life cycle.

How did we let this happen?

Watching this clusterfuck known as the House of Representatives and after listening to these Congressional asshats one thing becomes apparent.

They've twisted the narrative and the Orlando incident is being called a mass shooting instead of a terrorist attack.

How did we let this happen?

Why did we let the focus shift from Muslim Extremist into a battle over gun rights?

Why do we always fight on our side of the field instead of going on the offensive against them?

FoxTrot Alpha has an interesting take on the Israeli F-35 rollout..

The backdrop for Lockheed's F-35 rollout in Israel looks like a romance novel about fucking an airplane. pic.twitter.com/U7LFiQsKlU

— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) June 22, 2016

On their blog they asked "Does Israel want us to fuck this plane or what"!  Freaking classic!  Check the story out here (including a modded pic of the plane with "Fabio" hair!).

Democrat "sit in" of the House of Representatives proves the threat of societal chaos is increasing.

via NBC News.

Georgia congressman John Lewis deployed a strategy from his days as a civil rights activist and coupled it with social media to stage a dramatic sit-in Wednesday on the House floor with his fellow Democrats to force a vote on gun control.
"Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary, sometimes you have to make a way out of no way," said Lewis, one of the last living icons of the civil rights movement. "There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. Now is the time to get in the way. The time to act is now. We will be silent no more."
Lewis and roughly 40 fellow House Democrats began by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as a couple dozen visitors in the gallery looked on and vowing "to occupy the floor of the House until there is action."
Other Democrats began chanting: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!" and "No bill, no break!"

Do you get the force of connection here?  We're not talking about some teenagers with no life experience but sitting Congressmen staging a "sit in" of the House of Representatives.

The new media is calling this historic.

What it actually is, is another sign that the threat of societal chaos is increasing.  Personally I sit back and marvel that the so called smartest people in the room can't see the ramifications of their actions.  This means that their are no more rules in the House of Representatives.  If they succeed then that body will be thrown into chaos.

Even worse this will further coarsen the discourse, which is something I thought impossible.    The Dems are risking it all in a bid to win an election issue.  This action is much bigger than that.  They're risking our form of govt.

Sidenote:  Isn't it interesting that an institution that makes laws is suddenly unable to follow its own rules? 

Transgender Troops to be allowed to serve openly. Disruption for .002% of the service population.

via Free Beacon.

“It is important that we carefully consider the myriad of medical, privacy and service-unique issues so as to develop a policy that both ensures that service members who meet applicable standards are free to serve openly and addresses the readiness needs of our armed forces,” Pahon said.
The new guidelines would have minimal impact on the service as a whole. Fewer than 2,500 of the military’s 1.2 million active duty troops are transgender and only 65 would seek annual treatment, according to a Rand Corp. report.
Brad Carson, the Pentagon’s former undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness who advocated to lift the ban, praised the report that changes would soon be announced.
“I am very proud to see an imminent announcement culminating in this change,” Carson told USA Today. “The real accolades for this historic moment go to those brave transgender service members who raised their hands and demanded that their service and identity be recognized.”

This is insanity in a handbag.  For .002% of the servicemen in the US armed forces we're going to suddenly be jumping thru hoops?

How is this gonna work without causing all kinds of additional problems?  If people that are transgender are allowed to serve in the military then what is the boundary for not allowing service?  Our society is moving to a point where obesity is seen as a viable option.  Do we allow fat people to join the military?  What about the other standards that we've established?

The US military has just slid a bit further down a slippery slope.  Instead of standing apart from a society that is obscene, divisive, open to any nonsense and ill prepared for anything that is mildly uncomfortable our leadership is seeking to mirror it.

If you can't win an issue like this is there anyway you can beat ISIS?

NOTE:  My reader named Albino reminded me of another issue.  If the Pentagon starts giving free reassignment surgery then you're gonna see a FLOOD of transgenders going into the military.  A small military population is going to explode into an enormous problem.

“Turais™” Wing and Bomb Bay Launched UAV

via Piaseki Aircraft Corp.

Motivated by the downing of the EP-3E Aries II by China in 2001, the “Turais™” Wing and Bomb Bay Launched Unmanned Air Vehicle (WBBL-UAV) is a reconnaissance system deployable in flight from the P-3 and other manned aircraft in order to increase coverage area, effective time on station, and stand off range from threat environments. Turais™ is turbojet-powered with a scissor wing and parachute recovery system, providing 200 pounds of payload capacity, a maximum speed of 200 knots and over 6 hours endurance. Under a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Phase II SBIR contract issued in January 2007, PiAC initiated design of the full-scale Turais™ air vehicle. A modification was issued in May 2008 for the Option Phase of this contract, under which PiAC will complete the Turais™ proof of concept design and fabrication efforts, leading to a free flight demonstration in 2009.

Label this another capability that we left on the shelf.  Seems like we could really use something like it now.  I wonder why they haven't pulled the trigger?

More on the "gun enthusiast" stopped on the way to New York City.

via Heavy.com

A gun shop owner heading to New York City to rescue a heroin-addicted teen from a drug den was arrested with two companions at the Holland Tunnel after a police officer stopped his truck for a cracked windshield and found a cache of weapons and ammunition.
John Cramsey made it his mission to save addicts after his daughter, Alexandria, died of a heroin overdose in February, starting a group called Enough Is Enough.
The traffic stop occurred on the New Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel about 7:40 a.m. Tuesday, the Port Authority police say. It is not yet clear what charges Cramsey and the two others could face. His Enough Is Enough partner said on Facebook that Cramsey is in custody and charges are expected to be filed.
The other two people arrested have been identified as Dean Smith, 53, and Kimberly Arendt, 29, both also Pennsylvania residents.
Cramsey, 50, is the owner of Higher Ground Tactical in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
A friend, Michael McKenna wrote on Facebook that Smith and Cramsey were still in Port Authority lockup in Union, New Jersey, and would be moved to Hudson County later Tuesday night. McKenna said Smith went on the trip as a photojournalist and denied reports that anyone in the truck was high, saying they are against drugs. It’s not clear if Arendt, who also goes by the name Kimberly Walker, remains in custody.
McKenna said formal charges have not yet been filed and an arraignment hasn’t happened. Lawyers for the group are being arranged, he said.

Make sure you follow the link and read what's what with this guy.  I called him an idiot early, but now I think that might have been too harsh.  Let's call him another misguided soul.

Heart in the right place, but brain not fully grasping the ramifications of his actions.

Plus he lost his little girl to drugs.

I wonder what made him take the turn that he did.  I don't know his background but combining a tactical training center/gun store with a personal crusade doesn't seem like a good idea.  Speaking of crusades, how did he not pop up on law enforcement's radar?  Additionally I have to ask, do you buy him conducting previous rescues?  I've seen some pretty shady motels and kicking in the door on a drug haven will get you shot in a heartbeat.  I just don't seem him engaging in that type of activity without being on a two way firing range.

I really want to know more about this guy and think I'll be following this closely.

Multinational Amphibious Assault at Baltops 2016...vid by Ruth Owen

UAE just bought 40 Polish Rosomaks (Patria AMV) with extra armor, no swim capabilities.

via Defense 24.

The company Wolverine SA executed a contract under which she had to deliver chassis base 40 wheeled APCs destined for the United Arab Emirates. Vehicles have reinforced armor, are not adapted to overcome water obstacles swimming.

As reported Defence24.pl Wolverine SA spokesman Michael Rumin, the company realized a contract for transporters destined for the United Arab Emirates. Its area of ​​responsibility included the production and transfer to the disposal of the Contracting Authority, which is the company Patria forty chassis base Rosomak.
Currently, all vehicles have already been shipped to the port, before the representatives of the Finnish company moved acceptance of all transporters. Michael Rumin pointed out that the integration of additional equipment and delivery to the intended recipient - United Arab Emirates - will correspond to the Finnish company Patria, which is to transfer vehicles to the UAE.

This is interesting.  UAE is apparently learning the lessons of combat in Yemen and is adjusting.  Buying new vehicles with reinforced armor and dropping the amphibious requirement is big news.  UAE has been big on the idea of being able to float their IFV/APCs but that conflict seems to be changing their thinking.

I'm looking forward to learn the full specifications of this vehicle but it could be a game changer in the armored vehicle market.  Depending on the type of armor reinforcement applied we could be looking at another 5 tons of weight.

That would make the UAE Rosomaks the heaviest Patria AMVs in service...and it could make 30 plus ton wheeled APCs common.  That's kinda wild.  30 tons was seen as the upper limit of wheeled IFV/APC not long ago.

Political Talk. Reason #2 why Obama has been bad for Blacks in America.

Part number two in my little series of why Obama has been bad for Blacks and why it annoys me to no end that Blacks are so loyal to the Democrat party.  Check out these articles and marvel at the way this Administration has "gotten the country out of the economic ditch".

via Al Jazeera

Six years after America sank into the deepest economic downturn since the 1930s, the jobless rate has fallen to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008. But one demographic group — African-American men — seems to be stuck in a permanent recession.
Eleven percent of black men over 20 are unemployed today. That’s down from 19 percent in 2010, but it’s still the highest of any ethnic or racial group. By comparison, 9.6 percent of black women are unemployed, while white men have an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. That racial disparity, alas, is nothing new. Since the government began tracking unemployment in 1940, the jobless rate for black men has consistently been at least twice that of white males.
Social scientists, economists and other experts cite a variety of reasons for the high unemployment rate among black males: lack of training, loss of public-sector jobs, high incarceration rates (at least five times that of white men), unequal access to social networks and outright discrimination. When coupled with the fact that the recession hit all men particularly hard (men lost 2.6 jobs to every 1 by a woman, in large part because of a decline in manufacturing and construction), a clearer picture of the tenuous relationship black men have with today’s labor market starts to emerge.

via UPI

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told a Senate committee Tuesday she is troubled that African Americans and Hispanics are still experiencing higher unemployment and that black families still have lower annual incomes than the nation overall.
"In the labor market, the cumulative increase in jobs since its trough in early 2010 has now topped 14 million, while the unemployment rate has fallen more than 5 percentage points from its peak," Yellen told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
"In addition, as we detail in the Monetary Policy Report, jobless rates have declined for all major demographic groups, including for African Americans and Hispanics. Despite these declines, however, it is troubling that unemployment rates for these minority groups remain higher than for the nation overall, and that the annual income of the median African American household is still well below the median income of other U.S. households."

Yeah.  The above is discussed in the barbershops of Black America.  The issues are known yet Black leadership still bows at the feet of Democrat leaders.

I don't understand it.

Worse?  Black leadership supports illegal immigration which increases competition for low skill jobs AND they aren't communicating the concerns of the community with Democrat leadership.  So that means the Dems aren't responsive because they have the Black vote in their back pocket.  The Republicans could care less because they can't get the Black vote.

In essence you're looking at 14% of the population that has rendered itself irrelevant because of voting patterns...Blacks in America must take the red pill...

F-35 program is trying to build false momentum.

Thanks to Jaigegn for the link!

via Defense Aerospace.

The Pentagon recently announced it anticipates awarding a contract to Lockheed Martin in the first quarter of calendar year 2017 for Joint Strike Fighter Lots 12-14.

The proposed contract actions will provide for 100 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing jets, 26 F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft and six F-35C carrier variant jets in Lot 12.

Lot 13 includes 104 F-35As, 26 F-35Bs and 12 F-35Cs.

Lot 14 provides for 88 F-35As, 30 F-35Bs and 18 F-35Cs, according to a June 16 presolicitation notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website. (These three Lots add up to a total of 410 aircraft—Ed.)

Then the Editor's note.

Given the opposition that the ‘block buy’ has raised in Congress, and to the illegality of any multiyear buy during Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), it is surprising that this notice has been published at all. It seems to be a provocation that the program can ill afford at this time, especially after having announced a new delay of about one year in the Operational Test & Evaluation phase.
It also should be noted that, despite the plans outlined above, the program office has still not awarded the main contracts for Lots 9 (now two years overdue, Lot 10 (one year overdue) and Lot 11.)

This is so obvious its painful.

Remember the "summer of the F-35"?  This is all part of that meme.  They're trying to build false momentum for the airplane.

Worse though is the idea of the US military attempting to buy almost 500 airplanes (counting the ones already in service) before they're ready.  How this isn't the scandal of the century is beyond me.

Apparently Russia has declared war on Hillary Clinton.

Thanks to William for the link!

via Bloomberg.

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton
Foundation was among the organizations breached by suspected
Russian hackers in a dragnet of the U.S. political apparatus
ahead of the November election, according to three people
familiar with the matter.
The attacks on the foundation’s network, as well as those
of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s presidential
campaign, compound concerns about her digital security even as
the FBI continues to investigate her use of a personal e-mail
server while she was secretary of state.
A spokesman for the foundation, Brian Cookstra, said he
wasn’t aware of any breach. The compromise of the foundation’s
computers was first identified by government investigators as
recently as last week, the people familiar with the matter said.
Agents monitor servers used by hackers to communicate with their
targets, giving them a back channel view of attacks, often even
before the victims detect them.
For a primer on recent cyber intrusions, click here.
Before the Democratic National Committee disclosed a major
computer breach last week, U.S. officials informed both
political parties and the presidential campaigns of Clinton,
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders that sophisticated hackers were
attempting to penetrate their computers, according to a person
familiar with the government investigation into the attacks.
The hackers in fact sought data from at least 4,000
individuals associated with U.S. politics -- party aides,
advisers, lawyers and foundations -- for about seven months
through mid-May, according to another person familiar with the
investigations.

Don't be confused.  The Russians don't give a damn about Trump and Sanders.

They do seem to be real interested in anything Hillary is connected to.  Apparently the Russians have declared war on Hillary Clinton.

Is it wrong for me to cheer?