Latest F-35 sales announcement sounds fishy!

via AOL Breaking Defense.

After the markets closed on a sleepy and rainy summer Friday afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was ousted and DHS Secretary John Kelly named to take his place, and, oh, by the way, a $3.69 billion contract was awarded Lockheed Martin for 50 foreign F-35s and work on the Lot 11 LRIP.

What’s in play here?

Most of the money, $2.2 billion, goes to buy one British F-35B, one Italian F-35A, eight Australian F-35As, eight Dutch F-35As, four Turkish F-35As, six Norwegian F-35As aircraft, and 22 F-35As for Foreign Military Sales customers.

Separately, Lockheed won an interim payment of $5.6 billion in early July to help pay for the 91 American F-35s jets in LRIP 11.

The F-35 Joint Program Office said the Pentagon would continue to negotiate the 11th low rate initial production contract with Lockheed Martin and expected an agreement by the end of 2017. The full contract should be finished by the end of the year, the JPO said in a statement. At the same time, they said they are negotiating a separate deal with Pratt & Whitney for the F135 engines, which should be done about the same time.

Is it just me or does that sound suspicious as hell?  The F-35 program office HAS NEVER listed a purchase of the F-35 under "foreign military sales customers"!

Is the Pentagon and the Program Office playing games?

Are they actually buying F-35's now in the hopes that they can sell them later?

Are they so desperate to "push down the cost curve" that they would once again flaunt US law and play lawyer to skirt the OBVIOUS intent of Congress to control military waste?

Looks that way to me.

Open Comment Post. July 29, 2017

I have no idea what plane this is or if it was a real concept for the Navy.  Just found it in the files and thought it would make a cool image for Open Comments!

Your Saturday "What If"....What if N. Korea hits a major Western city with a dirty bomb?

via NRC Fact Sheet (here).

A "dirty bomb" is one type of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) that combines conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive material. The terms dirty bomb and RDD are often used interchangeably in the media. Most RDDs would not release enough radiation to kill people or cause severe illness - the conventional explosive itself would be more harmful to individuals than the radioactive material. However, depending on the situation, an RDD explosion could create fear and panic, contaminate property, and require potentially costly cleanup. Making prompt, accurate information available to the public may prevent the panic sought by terrorists.

A dirty bomb is in no way similar to a nuclear weapon or nuclear bomb. A nuclear bomb creates an explosion that is millions of times more powerful than that of a dirty bomb. The cloud of radiation from a nuclear bomb could spread tens to hundreds of square miles, whereas a dirty bomb’s radiation could be dispersed within a few blocks or miles of the explosion. A dirty bomb is not a “Weapon of Mass Destruction” but a “Weapon of Mass Disruption,” where contamination and anxiety are the terrorists’ major objectives.

Consider this your assignment while I finally get this podcast together.  What if the N. Koreans have a contingency plan.  They can watch the news just like we do.  They surf the net and although I doubt they're reading my blog I'm sure there are other blogs that are speculating on a possible allied/US attack on them possibly this winter when their soldiers will be at a severe disadvantage.

What if they go halfway with their ICBM, that according to many sources can now reach the US, and instead of going for a full up nuclear weapon they instead install a dirty bomb on the end of it?

I don't know what kind of yield they would need or how heavy it would be and even if the rocket they have could carry one that would render a population center unlivable but is it a possibility?

Could we all be missing the reality of this situation?

The fact that the N. Koreans could fire off a salvo of missiles and contaminate Los Angeles, San Diego or Seattle for a couple of years....or cost trillions of dollars in clean up and cause a major population center to empty itself making a couple million or more US citizens refugees in their own country?

Surely our policy makers have wargamed this possibility right?  They have to be ahead of the curve on this don't they?

Politics Talk. The news media is reading the Priebus firing all wrong!

I've been monitoring the news reports of the firing of Priebus today and the news media has it all wrong.

Let me hit you with an alternative narrative.

Paul Ryan, the Vice President and Priebus all pushed and got the President to start out on a "traditional" Republican elite agenda.  Trump had talked about the economy being lackluster.  He talked about unfettered immigration.  He talked about trade.

So what did the Republican elite push for first?  They wanted to go after Obama Care and then move on to tax cuts.

There are reports that Trump wanted to start off with a big infrastructure bill and to work on de-regulation.

He followed their lead and last night the old senile fuck, otherwise known as Mr. Neo-Con, named John by his mother and known as Senator McCain by the rest of us body slammed the one chance to get that done this year.

So where did that leave Priebus?

Basically defenseless and without a bit of power.  The Mooch and his comments?  Bullshit New York bluster.  He talks loud until he gets punched in the mouth and the dude might not even be hire-able if he doesn't sell his company.

The media is painting this as a turf war but its not the one they imagine.  What we're seeing is the Republican elite getting pushed out of the White House.  They steered the ship and they failed on the one big thing they wanted.  I don't know how Trump's agenda will play out now but it's not going to be the same as the Republican elite.  They had one job and they failed.  Now dude is gonna go by instinct and what he thinks his base wants.

How breaking news works.

I was gonna let this go but some of you people don't seem to understand how breaking news goes.

When an event happens the news media rushes to get out the broad strokes as fast as possible.  I do the same.  During the time when they're trying to get official word on what's going on there are sometimes early reports that prove false.

It happens ALL THE TIME.  A good example is what we see during terror attacks.  Those killed and injured will fluctuate wildly.  But no one slams the media because its understood that the news is early and that there is MORE TO COME.

Which brings me to my post on the N. Korean Missile Launch.  I heard the news on MSNBC and simply reported what I heard.  I gave fragmentary information because that's all I heard.

But some of you fucking freaks act like information that you get several hours later means that I was wrong?  BULLSHIT!

Get over yourself.  Things are heating up on the Korean peninsula and I told you it was coming.  If reality is too tough for you to take then don't whine on my blog.  Deal with your fears and insecurities but don't bullshit yourself by thinking that you're scoring points because my "fragmentary warning" of breaking news didn't give you ever fucking detail!

You obviously have the internet!

LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF!

I can't give it all to you on a plate.

"The Australian" Newspaper BODY SLAMS the F-35!

via The Australian.

Even if you take out the necessary add ons, the UK audit office estimate of $US300 million per aircraft is more than three times what the Australian parliament thinks it is paying. Indeed, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said last month the per plane price had dropped to below $US100 million. While it’s true that the British version of the JSF is more costly than the Australian version, the difference is relatively minor.

Deborah Haynes listed a series of things that were wrong with the JSF as applied to Britain and that was reported in The Australian on July 20.

Then this...

 To top it off, the British have been studying the video of the JSF at the Paris Air Show. Because the aircraft was flying at very high levels, those on the ground couldn’t really follow what was going on. But the videos showed that the JSF was really struggling despite some excellent flying by its test pilot. And just to rub the salt deep into the British wounds Moscow has had its own air show and showed off its new Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft which performed with unbelievable brilliance. There was no comparison. And, of course we all know, the Indonesians are going to buy the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft.

Story here and I didn't even include the best parts....THIS IS A MUST READ! 

This is a stunning article.  They talk about the Brit and Aussie situation with regard to the F-35 and because the Brits are buying the "B" then it also touches on the Marine Corps.

You can bet your ass I'll be looking at that airshow video AND taking a look at range numbers.  If this article is even half right then things are worse than I thought.

If this article is right then the USMC has essentially doomed its fast jet force for at least two, maybe three decades.  It also explains why the outgoing Deputy Commandant for Aviation was pushing for a tilt rotor combat capable escort/close air support/anti-air UAV.

They know we can't depend on the F-35 and this article might be the first published evidence of what the critics have been right all along.

Sidenote:  What is this freaking plan to bring the F-22 and F-35 "together"? Anyone have a link????

BREAKING! N. Korea just launched a ballistic missile....THOUGHT TO HAVE HIT LAND ON JAPANESE TERRITORY!

That little fat boy is certifiably crazy!

Does he want to be on the receiving end of a Tomahawk strike?  Even worse?  Reports are that Japan has started an emergency meeting of its govt!

This could get goofy quick!  More to come.

Poll shows troops worried about transgenders serving in the military.

By modern standards of US society was this the first Special Operations female?

via Defense News.

President Donald Trump’s announcement of looming changes in the military’s transgender policies could be less controversial within the ranks than among civilians, given troops’ conflicted views on the issue.

In a Military Times/Institute for Veterans and Military Families poll conducted late last year, 57 percent of active-duty military personnel expressed a negative opinion of the decision to allowing transgender troops to serve openly. More than half of that groups said the policy change had a very negative effect on military morale.

Only about 16 percent thought the change would boost troops’ morale, while the remaining 27 percent believed the policy change would have no effect.

Don't expect an honest debate on this issue.

First, the mainstream media, certain "defense publications" (USNI Blog) and others will kill dissenting views and force them underground just like they did with women in combat.

Second, too many have bought into fantasy and fail to look at the reality of the situation.  Think about it.  A guy decides that he's a girl and even though science, biology and nature state otherwise, we're living in a time where people have been conditioned to not only allow the individuals fantasy (that's not a bad thing....if a dude wants to believe he's a girl then that's his business...he shouldn't get his ass beat for wearing a dress in public), but to also actively PARTICIPATE in it.  That's where the wheels come off.  Just because an individual wants to play games doesn't mean that society should alter itself to make his fantasy real!

Third, we have leadership that is so caught up in the above that they will do nothing to state the REAL facts to congress critters.

Long story short.

The left can't win on facts so they will shout down those that speak reality.

Gunner Fact or Fiction | New Pack Frame

This shit IS AWESOME! Take note HQMC!

Stop with the IDIOT vids where you have people trying to be hip and cool.  That is NOT the image the Marine Corps has ever or will ever have.  If you're attracting people to the Corps by way of your "targeted" ads recently then you might as well fold up shop now.

This vid!  This vid was fun, it was a bit insane but it was all Marine Corps.  Oh and it has the added benefit of ensuring Marines that their gear will actually hold up under real deal Marine USE!

Kurlak said "we make Marines and we win battles!"  Time to get back to Marine Corps morality/reality in a squishy, fantasy filled world.

All is NOT well in SAIC land. The ACV is over budget and Subject Matter Experts (read that to mean former/ret Marines) are being let go...

Hey all.

A little birdy landed in my in-box and hit me with some pretty interesting and disturbing news out of SAIC.

First is that they're letting go of all the Subject Matter Experts on the AAV Survivability Upgrade/ACV projects and second, the ACV project is 13 million dollars over budget!

Yeah. You read that right.

Some of you will try and dismiss this as simply being a case of disinformation, or me being trolled.  Don't fall for it!  The last time I got this type information on a project it was rock solid.  I tried to follow up on it and got no answer from the involved parties (the Lockheed Martin betrayal of Patria in the initial ACV selection)...later we saw Patria drop out entirely and Lockheed Martin try to paste together an ACV on the fly.

Long story short.  This has the smell of fact not fiction  If you have stock in SAIC assuming that they're gonna successfully make the move into armored vehicle manufacturing then it might be time to short sell it...better a little loss than a big one!

USMC KC-130T crashes on July 10, they wait until fucking July 27 to ground the fleet?

Thanks to Ogden for the link!

via Defense News.

 The Marine Corps has grounded its fleet of KC-130Ts “out of an abundance of caution” following the events of the deadly crash earlier this month, the service has confirmed to Defense News.

The grounding affects 12 aircraft total, all operated by Marine Forces Reserve, said spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Leguizamon.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Marine Corps took the prudent action not to fly our KC-130T aircraft in the wake of the mishap on July 10 until further notice,” she said.

Story here. 

Seventeens days and they're saying they acted out of an abundance of caution?

BULLSHIT!

Marine Air is in trouble.  Leadership is lost in the woods and they've all gone batshit crazy chasing a concept.

Kill the Bastards! pic via Historium Tumblr Page.

“KILL THE BASTARDS!” - Soldiers drive under a poster in the Pacific Theater, c.1944.

I wonder how a sign like this on the outskirts of Fallujah would have played out in the press today?