Fifth F-35 Marine Corps Variant Delivered To Navy Test Site

Pic of the day. July 17, 2011.

11th MEU is either dialing up the training like a bunch of raving madmen (I like that) or else the Public Affairs Office is really hitting on stories that are catching my interest.  Either way, their upcoming deployment will be one worth watching.  I don't know the CO of this unit from Adam but it appears that he's about to put the Special Operations Capable back into the MEU(SOC) concept.  And that my friends is long overdue.

Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force prepare to depart a raid site in a CH-46E Sea Knight during a night training operation here July 15. The MRF, along with a section of the unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced), and command element, are taking part in a large-scale exercise with ocean and urban-based scenarios.  Photo by Lance Cpl. Ryan Carpenter

Quote of the day. July 17, 2011.

Thanks Phil!   via SLDInfo.

SLD: As a Harrier pilot, could you comment on the potential arrival of
the F-35Bs [Eglin AFB]?

 
Col. Tomassetti: It is ultimately disappointing constantly to see in the
news all of the things that the F-35B hasn’t been able to achieve yet or can’t
do and people completely missing what we’ve already achieved.

The fact is that we have a STOVL airplane that every pilot who has flown it
says that it’s easy to fly. In 60 years of trying to build jet airplanes and
do this, we’ve never ever been there before. We’ve never had a STOVL
airplane that was as full spectrum capable as it’s conventional
counterparts. We’ve never done that before in 60 years of trying.
It’s an amazing engineering achievement; [what] we’ve already accomplished
is completely being missed by some observers.”

That about wraps it up.

To think that you have NOTED, once RESPECTED, and LAUDED aviation writers from a number of publications that have missed this truth is amazing.

I contend that they haven't missed it.  Its been ignored.  Its been ignored as part of a larger agenda.

Hey Thomas! I'm your huckleberry...

Thomas...you're no daisy...you're no daisy at all....

Is this an M27 with 2nd LAR?

AZIRABAD, Helmand Province, Afghanistan-Lance Cpl. Frank M. Garrison III, a Shinnston, W. Va., native and rifleman with Company C, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), provides security as the Afghan Border Police partnered with the Marines and sailors of the company move through the town. Company C accompanied the ABP on a clearing mission through the town in order to deny the insurgency a transit location for smuggling illicit drugs. , Cpl. Jeff Drew, 6/27/2011 5:49 AM

Take a look at this Marine's weapon.

I'm not sure but it doesn't look quite like a M16A4....but it doesn't exactly fit the profile of the M27 either.  Anyone know what it is?

The Dark Lord's Response.

Somewhere in a dimly light room the Dark Lord responds to the news of the USAF starting the Operational Evaluation of the F-35.  Our hidden cameras caught scene.  See the video below.



This is via Defense News.  Go there to read the whole thing but here are the good bits...

"The JPO is currently estimating Ops Test of Block 2B to commence in early 2015 and complete in early 2016, and the [Operational Test] for Block 3C IOC capabilities to commence in mid-2016 and to end in early 2018," said Air Force spokesman Maj. Chad Steffey.
The service's Air Combat Command has not set a new IOC date for the F-35.
Carlisle said that the F-35 could be a valuable combat asset even with the earlier Block 2B software.
"Block 2B has capability that if the combatant commander needed it, we would deploy it. Would it be IOC? No," he said.
"We in the Air Force designated a set of capabilities to include [Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses], [Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses], air-to-ground and some air-to-air capability that we consider the minimum required for initially operational capable," he said.

He noted that the Air Force has deployed many aircraft that had not yet formally entered service, including the F-15E Strike Eagle, MQ-9 Reaper UAV and the E-8 Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) surveillance plane.

The F-35 even outpaces its larger twin-engine cousin, the F-22 Raptor, in certain areas, including electronic countermeasures and electronic counter-counter measures. Carlisle also praised the jet's infrared sensors and air-to-ground radar as "phenomenal."

I'm not going to get into the F-35 vs. F-22 debate.  In hindsight thats always been a false choice.  A choice pushed on us by the F-35's critics.....

What I will get into is the stance that the USAF and USMC are taking when it comes to the F-35.  Both services are prepared to deploy the system in Block 2B configuration and the USMC has taken it a step further and stated that they will declare it IOC with that milestone.

The critics have lost, McCain is senile and this war is over.

The F-35 will be the primary fighter for US forces for the foreseeable future.

Marines make their mark at NASA

First Production F-35 Arrival at Eglin AFB

Analysis of Sweetman's latest post on the F-35.

'Nuff said.

Read his post here.

F-35 production ramps up. First flight of AF-13.

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the eighth production model of the F-35 Lightning II, F-35A AF-13, on its inaugural flight on 14 July 2011 from NAS Fort Worth JRB.

Take that Sweetman...APA...Cox...Trimble....and the merry band!

Fighting for survival is a Marine trait world wide.

via BBC News.

The Royal Marines on board, from 40 Commando, only returned from Afghanistan at the end of last year.
They were involved in some of the fiercest fighting in Sangin.

After this deployment they'll be preparing to go back to Helmand again.

But in the current climate of cuts they're keen to prove why they're still needed.

The amphibious skills they're re-learning - inserting troops from sea onto land - make them stand out from their rivals.

They say it's what makes them more versatile than, say, the Parachute regiment.

The Commanding Officer of 40 Commando, Lt Colonel Matt Jackson, tells me: "This is proving what we still can do, as opposed to what we might not be able to do".

He says that's a key message when the Strategic Defence and Security Review is "biting hard".

His marines put it even more bluntly.

"We're all fighting for our survival," says Corporal Luke Wilson, sweat dripping off his face after taking part in a dawn raid on a remote UAE island in sweltering heat.

Cpl Wilson admits that the Royal Marines are stretched "not beyond our capabilities", he says, "but to the limit of our capabilities".

When they finally return back to the UK, the Royal Navy will find itself even harder pressed.
HMS Albion is due to be mothballed - another casualty of Britain's defence review.

Wow.

Seems like the Royal Marines and the US Marines have much more in common than I could possibly realize.

Fighting for institutional survival seems to be a trait shared by Marines world wide.

Friday Informational. Threat Animals in CONUS.

Totally tongue in cheek...I just thought it was funny.  Have a good Friday.