Monday, May 16, 2011

BlackFive responds to the chart.

Below you'll see the update that BlackFive posted on there website today...


Update May 15:  I have received a few emails about the chart being incorrect.   Here is one good post about the perceived error.  I don't believe it is an error.  I could be wrong, but here is why I think some folks are misunderstanding it.
In my opinion, APUC and PAUC both contain exactly what they should.
What some people reading the chart don't seem to understand is if you take you finger and run it along the line of a particular cost - where the line stops is above the column that particular cost adds to what's already to its left.
In other words, if you look a PUAC, it adds RTD&E plus MILCON to the APUC, weapons system cost, total fly away cost and URF costs to its left.   The cost structure builds as you go to the right.  TOC then adds the things in the final column to everything (cost) to its left.
PAUC is defined as:
PAUC (Program Acquisition Unit Cost) = RDT&E $ + Procurement $ + unique MILCON $ (in program base year dollars)/Total procurement quantity + RDT&E prototypes that are production reps used for IOT&E (if any)
Run your finger over the PAUC line and it stops right above the column that says "RTD&E" and "MILCON".
I hope that helps.  It's a difficult issue and I am trying to explain costs as clearly as I can.
I know that doesn't matter to some who are against the F35 for various efficacy reasons, but let's all be clear about the cost.
Awesome.

Finally, answers to this vexing cost question.

Oh and Bill, I'm still waiting for your response.  Heck, to be honest Sean, Bill, Ares Team...we're all waiting for your response.  Love you guys but this is getting much too big to ignore.

So my friends where does that leave Bill right now?  I imagine he's having a Bill Paxton moment in Aliens.  See the video below.


F-35 Tests Proceed, Revealing F/A-18-Like Performance - Defense News

F-35 Tests Proceed, Revealing F/A-18-Like Performance - Defense News


Operational pilots should be thrilled with the F-35's performance, Kelly said. The F-35 Energy-Management diagrams, which display an aircraft's energy and maneuvering performance within its airspeed range and for different load factors, are similar to the F/A-18 but the F-35 offers better acceleration at certain points of the flight envelope.
"The E-M diagrams are very similar between the F-35B, F-35C and the F/A-18. There are some subtle differences in maximum turn rates and some slight differences in where corner airspeeds are exactly," Kelly said.
Thomas, who is also an F/A-18 pilot and a graduate of the Navy's Top Gun program and the Marines' Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, agreed that all three variants should be lethal in the within-visual-range fight.
Beyond visual range, the aircraft's radar and stealthiness will enable it to dominate the skies, Thomas said.
Stealth will allow the F-35 to go into the teeth of enemy air defenses, which are becoming increasingly lethal, Thomas said. The Marines intend to operate the F-35 for 30 to 40 years, when stealth may be required even for close-air support.

"Stealth is going to be a requirement," Thomas said, echoing a point one normally hears mostly from U.S. Air Force officials.
Alongside stealth, the sensors and networking are crucial to the F-35 program.
To that end, Kelly said that mission systems testing for the jet's radar and infrared sensors have been going well. He offered unqualified praise for the F-35's APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar.

F-35 Production Ramps Up Nicely.






FORT WORTH, Texas, May 16, 2011 – The second F-35A Lightning II production aircraft flies above the compass rose of Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., May 13. The aircraft, designated AF-6, ferried to Edwards AFB from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base following the Air Force formally accepting the fighter into its inventory May 12. The first production jet, AF-7, was delivered to Edwards AFB May 6.
Notice how quickly the delivery dates are between the first and second F-35A!  Learning curve gentlemen.  Learning curve!

A video feast.





XF-104...Fast Blast From The Past.

Col Sanborn heads to Europe and a uniform question.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan-Col. Russell A.C. Sanborn, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) assistant wing commander, is slated to leave Afghanistan in mid-May for Stuttgart, Germany, to become the U.S European Command’s deputy operations officer. Sanborn has accumulated more than 2,400 flight hours in the Harrier, and deployed multiple times, including to the first Gulf War. On Feb. 9, 1991, while serving as a pilot in the Gulf War, Sanborn’s aircraft was shot down over southern Kuwait by a surface-to-air missile during a combat mission. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war until his release on March 6, 1991.His personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Strike Flight Award with Combat V, and the Combat Action Ribbon.,Staff Sgt. James R. Richardson, 3/5/2011 6:49 AM


Congrats goes to Col Sanborn.  Fair winds and following seas---as they say.  But his picture leaves me with a uniform question.  Is subdued rank allowed for wear?  And if it is then why isn't qualification badges allowed to also be subdued?

The Marine Corps is going to hate it.  Heck I'm not sure I like it but it does appear to be the most practical of all possible solutions.

Its time boys.

Time to allow uniform and qualification badges to be sewn on---God Forgive Me---in the fashion that the US Army does it.

Either that or move rank to the shoulder pocket flaps and eliminate the wear of qualification badges with cammies.


UPDATE:


I have my answer guys.  It appears that this was approved back in 2002 (Much thanks to the person who set me straight!).  Funny though, I never saw men I worked with in this particular wear of uniform (meaning insignia at all).  In my battalion, when in the field, we all knew who was who on sight and in garrison it was all shiny all the time.  In the field, they left it behind.  Without knowing the background on this particular photo, any further comment is unwarranted.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Why isn't the sky over Afghanistan filled with A-10's?


Let's have a real talk about the USAF in Afghanistan.


1.  The logistics effort that they're pumping forward is second to none.  I highly doubt that any other air force in the world could come close to even matching half the effort.
2.  The high tech medical evacuation effort is second to none.  Again, I doubt that any other air force could match it.
3.  The USAF Security Forces, EOD teams and Medical Staffs are doing outstanding work.

That's the good.  But where are the A-10's?  Why isn't the USAF filling the skies with these airplanes?  This question is asked with acknowledgement of the desires of the ground forces...they want persistence.  They want accuracy. They want long loiter periods.

That would seem to be covered with the A-10C.  If Wikipedia is to believed then the USAF has 13 squadrons of these magnificent airplanes with about half of those in the Guard and Reserve.

But numbers and squadrons aren't the real question.  The real question is this.  If the A-10 isn't useful for the war in Afghanistan then it will never be useful.

Just like 1st Tanks in the US Marines, its time to get these squadrons FULLY into the fight.