MV-22 crashes off the coast of Okinawa.

via III MEF Press Release.

‪#Breaking: We can confirm a U.S. Marine CorpsMV-22 aircraft mishap has occurred off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. Please monitor here for additional details. ‬

Another freaking crash?  The Marine Air Wing is broken.

A chilling indictment of the USMC's Amphibious Combat Vehicle Concept.

I've been a supporter of the ACV that the USMC is struggling to buy but a reader made a chilling indictment of what we're about to get.  Check this out...CoffeeJoeJava says....

A little comparison:

Weight
AAV (current): Combat loaded with troops 56,743 lbs
ACV: Weight combat loaded 74,780 lbs

Sea Speed
AAV: 6 kts, 8.2 kts max
ACV: 6 kts (nothing written about max)

Max Land Speed
AAV: 45 mph
ACV: 65 mph

Height
AAV: 122.75 (includes weapons cupula)
ACV: 113 (no weapons)

Length
AAV: 312.75
ACV: 350

Just on the numbers, I am not seeing the advantage of the new vehicle over the old. Why spend limited defense dollars on something that is as good as what is being replaced. Yes, the EFV program was an abortion of epic proportions. Lets tone the requirements down a bit and get something that will increase capabilities rather than keep the status quo.

Wow.  What are we actually getting with the ACV?  I thought the increase in capabilities would be noteworthy but are we really getting a Marine Personnel Carrier (remember when that was suppose to be the inexpensive wheeled, inland waterway swimming counterpart to the more expensive EFV) relabeled as an AAV replacement?

Have I really missed the obvious because of a desire to get Marines that new car smell?

If I'm true to my values then simply upgrading the AAV to the SAIC configuration makes more sense than wasting money on new vehicles that don't deliver new capabilities.

CoffeeJoeJava is right.  Better a detuned EFV than a vehicle that doesn't deliver an increase in capabilities.  The ACV Program Office has some explaining to do or else this is a bad game being played with the budget.

Loss of a Legend

You ever wonder why Glenn did get a seat in Gemini or Apollo?  Its because (supposedly) President Kennedy declared him a national asset that couldn't be risked in any more space flights.  I don't know if that's true or not, but that's the talk on the internet.

The Marine Corps lost a great.  He should have been embraced more while he was alive.

Argentina set to reform/rebuild its military.

via Mercopress.com

In addition to training, Argentina wants to strengthen its airspace control on the borders with Bolivia and Paraguay where there are more illegal flights with drugs or smuggling. Martínez's plan includes the commissioning of two 3 D radars that the state company INVAP handed over to Defense. The 3 D's are for military use only. One is already in operation and the other two have been delivered but are still and “packed” in their boxes.
Formosa Governor Gildo Insfrán has failed to build the civil work to place one of the radars in the town of Pipané, Martínez explained. He discussed the issue recently with Insfrán as to who should have taken over the works. In the end, the Defense Ministry will build a base there and another in Corrientes to add to the radars already in operation in the so-called Operativo Escudo Norte (Operation North Shield), to control most of the airspace in the area.
Martinez was enthusiastic last week because he had managed to get the current radars to operate between 6 to 12 hours a day and thus identify more illegal air traffic, but with no aircraft to intercept them.
For the Air Force, four medium-sized transport airplanes will also be purchased to reinforce the work of the three Hercules that were in operation and are the main logistical resource of the Antarctic campaign today. The Italian-built Spartan or the C-295 are the models under scrutiny because they can carry loads or transport paratroopers with systems “more versatile” than those of the Hercules. The Air Force lost 72 aircraft during the 1982 Malvinas War and almost 100 during the Kirchner years due to lack of spare parts.
For the Navy, the Government plans to buy four multipurpose ocean patrol boats. The idea is to buy two finished and another two that will arm in Tandanor to take hand Of local work. In turn, the Army is expected to buy between 10 and 30 troop transport armored vehicles that can be used within UN peacekeeping deployments.
Another project under consideration is an agreement with the Italian factory Beretta to co-produce a combat rifle, which replaces the 7.62mm caliber FAL caliber.

Interesting.  Seems like mismanagement of their forces hit the Argies harder than the war with the UK.  I find that astonishing.  Also did you notice the claim that the C-295 is more versatile than the Hercules?  Is that true?

Alternatives to the F-35? The Congressional Budget Office have worked the problem!

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!

via CBO

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is the military’s largest aircraft development program. The F-35 is a stealthy aircraft—one that is difficult for adversaries to detect by radar and other air defense sensors. The objective of the program is to produce three versions of that aircraft: the conventional takeoff F-35A for the Air Force, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B for the Marine Corps, and the carrier-based F-35C for the Navy. Through 2016, 285 F-35s had been purchased for the U.S. military: 178 F-35As, 71 F-35Bs, and 36 F‑35Cs. Current plans call for purchasing 2,158 more F‑35s through 2038. The Department of Defense (DoD) has estimated that the remaining cost of those purchases, including the cost to complete development, will amount to $265 billion (in nominal dollars). The Marine Corps and the Air Force declared their versions of the F-35 operational in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The Navy expects to declare its version operational by 2019.
Under this option, DoD would halt further production of the F-35 and instead purchase the most advanced versions of older, nonstealthy fighter aircraft that are still in production: the F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Air Force and the F/A-18 Super Hornet for the Navy and Marine Corps. The services would operate the F-35s that have already been purchased. By the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, the option would reduce the need for discretionary budget authority by $29 billion from 2018 through 2026 if the F-16s and F/A-18s were purchased on the same schedule as that currently in place for the F-35s. Outlays would decrease by $23 billion over that period. Additional savings would accrue from 2027 through 2038 if F-16s and F/A-18s were purchased instead of the F-35s that are scheduled to be purchased in those later years. However, the Navy and Air Force are both planning to develop entirely new aircraft with fighter-like capabilities to be fielded in the 2030s and might choose to replace some planned F-35s with those aircraft instead.
An advantage of this option is that it would reduce the cost of replacing DoD’s older fighter aircraft while still providing new F-16s and F/A-18s with improved capabilities—including modern radar, precision weapons, and digital communications—that would be able to defeat most of the threats that the United States is likely to face in the coming years. The F-35s that have already been purchased would augment the stealthy B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters that are currently in the force, improving the services’ ability to operate against adversaries equipped with advanced air defense systems. The military has successfully operated a mix of stealthy and non-stealthy aircraft since the advent of the F-117 stealth fighter in the 1980s.

Game.  Set.  Match.

We can kill this "thing" and move on to the next generation airplane.

Russian Defense Minister alleges link between suspension of Coalition attack in Raqqa to ISIS assault in Palmyra

via MEHRNnews.

Russian Defense Ministry affirmed on Monday that ISIL terrorists exploited the suspension of the operations of the US-led coalition in Raqqa to attack Tadmur (Palmyra) city.

In a press conference, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that ISIL organization attacked the city ahead from the North, the East and the South, adding that around 5,000 terrorists participated in the attack who came to Syria from the Iraqi city of al-Mosul, facing no hindrances on their way.
Konashenkov pointed out that around 4000 terrorists along with tanks, armored vehicles, Jeep cars equipped with heavy machineguns have moved quickly from the countryside of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor to the area surrounding Tadmur, adding that there had not been a group that large near Palmyra until last Thursday.
"Apparently, the ISIL militants had gathered around Palmyra, being very certain that combat operations in Raqqa would not resume," he said.

Interesting.

Some of the more left wing readers here have been alleging the same.  I just didn't know but I sat up and paid a bit more attention when President Obama said that the fighting was hard because it was a 3 way fight.

Now we have this from the Russian Defense Minister.

If this report can make it past the main stream news media and into popular culture (yeah I know...fat chance) then some very uncomfortable questions will be asked of some hawkish Senators, the former SecState, the current SecState, the Joint Chiefs, every general that has appeared before Congress and of course the President himself.

The implication is that we're coordinating with ISIS and its almost confirmation that defeating that group hasn't been the number one priority as we've been told...the main effort has been the toppling of the Assad regime.

If the US has been involved in that type of gamesmanship in the region with the blowback of millions of people flooding into Europe, with Egypt and other countries on the brink then we're seeing one of the biggest foreign policy blunders in recent memory.

Aleppo has fallen, Russians are being hailed as heroes and terrorists are being stacked like firewood.

Thanks to S300v4 for the link!

Do me a favor.  Check out this Twitter Feed before you read the rest of my little rant.

You're back?  Ok then consider this.  I don't know who this guy is but he appears to be part of the local scene or is keeping close tabs on it at least and the message is clear.

Aleppo has fallen, Russians are being hailed as heroes and terrorists are being stacked like firewood.

That isn't an intelligence assessment, that's an observation of social media. Make no mistake about it.  The Russian actions in Syria have gained them ENORMOUS credibility in the region.  I don't know why the Pentagon tried to slow walk the fight against ISIS.  I don't know where the talking point that it would take decades to defeat them came from but the Russians exposed us in a very serious and very disturbing way.

I don't know what the problem is with our way of war but we've consistently deployed more men, launched more strikes and provided far more support than the Russians could ever dream of yet while they have achieved victory we remain in a stalemate (at best) type of situation in our fights.

Everyone from the Pentagon, to the Administration, to think tanks, to SOCOM and even conventional ground combat units needs to take a serious look at how/why we do what we do and how we can do it better.

The Syrian Army WAS ALL BUT BEATEN and the Russians deploy at most a Marine Brigade along with Paratroopers with some Spetznaz thrown in, mixed in with less than a full air wing and they win the fight?

Yeah they've figured out something that we haven't.

Residents of the Polish city of Bydgoszcz being executed

Residents of the Polish city of Bydgoszcz being executed by german soldiers...via Historical Times

Why am I posting pics that illustrate the barbarity of WW2?  Because many don't know, many don't remember, and sadly some don't care.  Standby for more posts like this..especially from the Pacific front.  WW2 wasn't a clean war.  It was dirty, barbaric and brutal.

Fiorina calls China an adversary!

via CNBC

Carly Fiorina, who is reportedly under consideration to be Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, met with the president-elect Monday and said the pair discussed China as "probably our most important adversary."
Trump met with the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and his one-time presidential rival to discuss the director of national intelligence position, The New York Times reported, citing a senior transition official. She did not tell the reporters in New York's Trump Tower if she talked about the job with Trump.


Fiorina said the pair "spent a fair amount of time talking about China as probably our most important adversary and a rising adversary. We talked about hacking, whether it's Chinese hacking or purported Russian hacking."

FINALLY!

It took Carly to finally state the obvious.  We might have had administration after administration filled with Ferengi but the truth is out there.  China is our number one enemy and we, the American consumer is fueling their war machine.  Oh and what is a Ferengi?  Check out the passage from Wiki...

They and their culture are characterized by a mercantile obsession with profit and trade, and their constant efforts to swindle unwary customers into unfair deals. 

BAE rolling out the first of 16 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) 1.1 prototypes

via Press Release.
Did you know we’re rolling out the first of 16 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) 1.1 prototypes to the U.S. Marine Corps tomorrow? It’s true and you can get a front row seat to the rollout ceremony as we’re broadcasting it LIVE from Facebook!

Tune in here tomorrow around 11am to hear our Marine Corps’ customer, company leadership, and more VIPs speak to our fully amphibious solution for the #USMC’s ACV 1.1 program – you may even get a peek at our ACV 1.1 prototype!

Ratel IFV close combat with T-55. UPDATED with info on the fight!~

via Tanks-a-lot Tumblr Page.

The view through the scope the South African RATEL infantry fighting vehicles at a destroyed Soviet tank T-55 during the war for the independence of Namibia.

Geez.  That is close combat for armored vehicles.  For all intents and purposes these guys were in a telephone booth duking it out if the kill happened at this range.  Note the pic has 25ft in its caption.

Anyone know anything about the circumstances surrounding this fight and this pic?

UPDATE!  
Galvars found a link that has information on this amazing close quarters battle between a RATEL IFV and a T-55.   Full story here

Trump takes aim at the F-35.

Thanks to William for the link!

via The Real Donald Trump Twitter Feed.

The F-35 program and cost is out of control.
Billions of dollars can and will be saved on
military (and other) purchases after January
20th.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

Oh Shit!

War has been declared and it looks like the F-35 is about to get skull stomped, throat crushed and shot about 20 times in the pelvic girdle!

This.  This is giving me a woody!