Who knew? F-35 load crews are already competing.

via the USAF...

On Oct, 4, the best load crews at Edwards held their first Weapons Load Crew of the Quarter competition; proving which load crew was the best on base. Not only was this the first loading competition in over a year, but it was the first competition in which two 5th generation fighters, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor, competed head-to-head.

C-5M Strategic Airlift Redefined....caution, LM propaganda!

F-35. The future Anti-Ballistic Missile protector for the fleet.

Don't know how this escaped Bill's notice but at the end of this video by Aviation Week and just before it cuts to a Raytheon advertisement you'll see the F-35 firing a missile.  They are building and designing this missile with the F-35 in mind!  How sweet it is!

Ares series of patrol boats...

Read about them here and here.

Ares 125FAMB

ares_125_famb

(THANKS JOE!  Great find)  Interesting ship from the Turks.

Makes you really wonder about the LCS doesn't it.  I do believe that Littoral Combat Ship is a misnomer.  What is it really?  Well lets look at its mission.
1.  Defeat small boats close to shore.
2.  Influence activity both on shore and off in the littoral zone.
3.  Provide ISR within the littoral zone.
Its a freaking WW2 destroyer with fewer guns and less capability against shore and seaborne targets!

The sad thing is this.  A ship that is so much smaller will be capable of shredding an LCS to bits if you rid the LCS of its aviation component.  With its aviation facilities then it makes better sense to send in an LHA, LHD or LPD class ship into the fray.

The Ares 125FAMB...another great example of why the LCS is fried dog excrement.

C-130's for sale to China??? Has Obama lost his mind.

This is from Stephen Trimble's Blog today.  Go here to read it but be amazed.  Be very amazed.

Vago and General Flynn on the future Marine Corps.

Thanks Marcase, I definitely missed the vid---I appreciate it.

I'm not getting this and if you can clue me in I'd appreciate it.  My take on what this guy is saying is that we ARE moving toward being an EXCLUSIVELY expeditionary force.  I hear platitudes of doing it from the sea but that really seems to be an afterthought.  If I'm wrong let me know but he pointed out three main issues.

1.  Operations like those in Afghanistan are the future.
2.  Relief operations like those in Haiti and partnership missions are essential.
3.  Being light and expeditionary is paramount.
Whats left out?  Forcible entry.  Its taking a back seat to an expeditionary focus.
Why am I disturbed?  I hate to keep pointing this out, but what capabilities will we bring (if we focus only on expeditionary capability) to the table that the 82nd Airborne couldn't?