Europe's Carrier Force is Kaput!

The Telegraph reports...

As President Nicolas Sarkozy prepares to use a historic London summit to announce the use of RAF jets off the Charles de Gaulle, his naval chiefs have told him she is no longer seaworthy.

"She's meant to be heading to Afghanistan to support the war there but is instead in home port with a faulty propulsion system," said a French Navy source. 

I wonder if they still think a mutual defense treaty (the UK) with France is still a great idea.  I continue to be perplexed by our friends across the Atlantic.

How silly can you be????

This story from DefenseNews has my blood boiling!

If you want interoperability with a host of allies then you need the F-35B!  His Harriers were operating off US Navy LHDs not US Navy carriers!  But this is the passage that has me steamed....

What's more, the U.K. vice defense chief told reporters in Washington before a speech that officials also determined the nation would need the greater "range and payload" planned for the carrier variant.
He also said U.K. defense officials also decided that since key allies like France were slated to buy the carrier variant, following suit would make sense to foster interoperability. To this end, the nation's recently completed strategic defense review states the British military will carry out most future missions and tasks "with alliances and coalitions," Houghton said during his speech.

What a piker!

But we really have to ask ourselves one question.  How serious were the British from the start when it comes to buying the F-35B?  They were after a lost capability...the full deck carrier!  Once that was guaranteed were they really interested in the B model at all?  It would be akin to having B models operating off Nimitz class carriers...doable but not particularly effective.  Then you add in the rolling landing nonsense and I wonder if we should have seen this one coming.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice?????  You won't again UK.

Don't Hate...Appreciate!

CH-53D's in Afghanistan...

Saw this on Military Photos...posted by a member called Danskeren...

This is evil and I love it! Blame Everyday No Days Off!

Everyday No Days Off found this...I must be evil cause I couldn't stop laughing!

L3 Communications Propaganda....

This one is sure to make Think Defence smile...

F-22, the F-35 and the Range LIE!

My buddy ELP has a new post up on why the F-35 doesn't need the F-22.  I'll let you read the post but the passage that has me wanting to put my fist through a wall is this....

While not a long range bomber like the B-2, the FB-22 would be survivable and carry enough payload and have enough reach for a wide variety of operations. This, combined with the USAF displaying some common sense and getting in on the U.S. Navy UCAS-N program would provide great future options (and deterrence) in the Pacific Rim. The Federal Budget may be in such dire straits that it won’t be able to afford a long range bomber program in the coming years.

Budget concerns aside (which I agree with), the myth of the long ranged F-22 and its proposed derivatives is something that must be slain.  Figures from Wikipedia (yes, I know Wiki isn't reliable but hey..it'll do for the purposes of this exercise)....

F-22
Combat radius: 410 nmi^[195] (471 mi, 759 km)

F-35
Combat radius: over 590 nmi (1,090 km) on internal fuel<sup>[178]

Oh and to add a little pain to the F-22 advocates out there...GUESS WHAT!  Even the F-35B will be longer ranged than the F-22 if they're both in stealth configuration.

We can have the conversation about these airplanes, but a little truth would be appreciated.</sup> 

101st conducts an Air Assault in Afghanistan.

Is it me or does it seem as if our heavy lift helicopters (CH-53 and CH-47) appear to becoming the true jack-of-all trades?  The medium lift helicopter while still valuable, just doesn't seem to have the utility of the larger types.  Perhaps a truncated buy of MV-22's and an enlarged buy of CH-53K's wouldn't be such a bad idea...especially since the K is being touted as being capable of operating in contested air space.

Oh and back to the 101st and the US Army.  CH-47's operating in the Air Assault role?  Maybe they need to rebalance the force as well.  More troops on the ground in fewer lifts?  Sounds like a plan to me.

Galco copies Crossbreed...

I'm a big fan of Crossbreed Holsters....I've carried everywhere and have never been 'made' as carrying.  Oh and trust me...there is no doubt in your mind when you've been made.  Its not so much in a person's words...I've never had a person run around with their hair on fire saying he's carrying concealed...its more in the eyes, and the body language you receive.  With the Crossbreed, I've never had that problem.

With so many people getting into the concealed carry movement, I guess it was only a matter of time before the big boys started copying them.  The latest that I'm aware of is Galco.  This is their latest offering and it fits the Crossbreed template.  I don't know if it has the same comfort but like I said, it follows their pattern.  If you've tried it, then give me a review!

US Navy CB90's making waves...