Sunday, May 06, 2012

Elements of Power goes Sub Zero on POGO...result? Flawless Victory!



Elements of Power goes Sub Zero and score a flawless victory on those hacks called POGO.

Excellent!

Check this part out and then go to his spot to read the rest....
From the obvious parallels, it immediately became apparent that we could also use Freeman’s POGO piece to illustrate clearly the kind of philosophical, conceptual, and technical dissonance that exists between the worlds of those who ‘do’ things in the real world and those who ‘second guess’ from the trench lines of ‘Reformerland’.
 Now don't get me wrong.

I'm still not completely sold on the LCS concept but the arguments that he uses to dismantle POGO can be used against them on any program they have in their sights....Whether its the F-35, the Sea Wolf sub, Stryker, ACV, MPC...just pick your poison.


11th MEU. Recon on Rappel.



F-22 Raptor (#4195)


2nd Cav getting field time.

Note:  I'm really starting to dig that Mobile Gun System.  But what's got my head spinning is that we haven't seen even a prototype of the Marine Personnel Carrier version of this vehicle.  My bet is that they're putting all there eggs into winning the M-113 Replacement Program for the US Army.  Compared to that program the MPC is small fry stuff.  But back to the MGS.  I'd love to see that on a Lockheed/Patria Havoc or a BAE/Iveco Super AV.


Short Belfast.



General characteristics

Crew Basic aircrew 5 (two pilots, engineer, navigator and loadmaster)
Length 41.70 m (136 ft 5 in)
Wingspan 48.1 m (158 ft 10 in)
Height 14.33 m (47 ft)
Empty weight 59,020 kg (130,000 lb)
Max takeoff weight 104,300 kg (230,000 lb)
Powerplant 4× Rolls-Royce Tyne R.Ty.12, Mk. 101 turboprops, 4,270 kW (5,730 ehp) each
Maximum Speed 566 km/h (306 knots, 352 mph)
Range 8,368 km (5,200 miles) with capacity fuel load of 80,720 lb
Service ceiling 9,100 m (30,000 ft)

Hmm.


A nice blast from the past.


Too bad the British have allowed their avaition industry to die in pursuit of joint programs.  The French have fought to maintain there manufacturer as have the Swedes.  The Brits should have done likewise.

MP7 with Larry Vickers.



A couple of things.  Endo-Mike at Everydaynodaysoff gets my hat tip for finding this vid....check him out for fun gun stuff...next Larry is back in the gym...I'm happy to see that.  He looks good after dropping pounds, I hope he keeps it up.  Next is HK.  Great gun makers, lousy marketers.

Last.  Why is Aimpoint beating EOTech when it comes to small optics?  The EOTech is easier to gain a sight picture with, has better battery life and has a strangle hold on the military optics market.

I keep coming back to style over substance...and thats a shame.  The EOTech is the better piece of gear but I guess the CHE is showing its power (Costa-Haley Effect)....If Costa and Haley run it on their guns then the whole gun community turns into a bunch of giggling school girls and follows the popular kids.

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Astronauts drop the F-bomb on the moon.

The F-22 is broken. Why is it still flying?

The Aviationist has an excellent article on the F-22's troubles and USAF leadership's attempt to fix the issues while keeping the plane in the air.

I won't rehash his work, just go to his blog to read the details.  What has me confused is General Hostage's statement...
“In a peacetime training circumstance, we want to operate at as low of risk is prudent for the level of training we get out of a mission,” he said. “When we go into combat, risk goes up, but the reason to assume that risk goes up as well.”
That's pure and utter bullshit.

This airplane should be grounded and everyone in the USAF knows it.

This is another example of dysfunctional leadership and a broken command structure.