Scoring for female pullups is out. UPDATE. Male chart is posted for comparison sake.

According to ALMAR 046/12 the new scoring standard will be as follows:
8 pull-ups – 100 points
7 pull-ups – 95 points
6 pull-ups – 85 points
5 pull-ups – 75 points
4 pull-ups – 65 points
3 pull-ups – 40 points

They can try and dress it up all they want but the fact remains.  If they don't meet the same standards then its preferential treatment.

There is no equal rights association on the battlefield.  No female rights advocate.   If you're weak you get trampled.  "Nuff said.

Note:  Below you see the old standard.  I say old because the flex arm hang for females is dead, but it remains the same for males...make note of the issue here.  If a male performs the minimum number of pullups he is credited for 15 points  and will be hounded, degraded and punished for the effort.  He can basically kiss promotion goodbye and for all the talk of a kinder gentler Marine Corps he will be PT'ed at least twice a day, his life will be a living hell and he'll pray for the next PFT.  I've even seen guys request mast to ask for the chance to take the PFT again just so the pain can stop.

Japan is gearing up for the coming fight!

Thanks Nicolae for the link!

via Yahoo News.  Click here to read the whole thing but a couple of highlights...

The ministry will also consider buying unmanned surveillance drones and creating a Marines force to protect remote islands, such as those at the core of a dispute with China, media said.
"The acquisition of offensive capability would be a fundamental change in our defense policy, a kind of philosophical change," said Marushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies.
Obtaining that capability, however, would take time, money and training, meaning any shift may be more rhetorical than real. "It's easier said than done," Michishita added.
The updated guidelines could also touch on Abe's moves toward lifting a self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defense, or helping an ally under attack, such as if North Korea launched an attack on the United States.

and...

Just what hardware might come under consideration is as yet unclear. And with a huge public debt, Japan may be in no position to afford the bill.
Japan already has a very limited attack capability with its F-2 and F-15 fighter jets, mid-air refueling aircraft and Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kit. Tokyo also plans to buy 42 Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighters, with the first four due for delivery by March 2017.
Acquiring the ability to hit mobile missile launchers in North Korea - the most likely target - would require many more attack aircraft as well as intelligence capability for which Japan would most likely have to rely on the United States, Michishita said. Cruise missiles might also be considered.
Obtaining the ability to strike missile bases in mainland China would be an even bigger stretch, experts said, requiring for example intercontinental missiles. "It would cost lots of money, and take time, training and education to acquire a robust and meaningful capability," Michishita said.

So Japan is considering a Marine Corps.

Buying F-35s, Drones, and possibly cruise missiles.

 This will be fun to watch.  I wonder if they'll be able to pull it off.

Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64 2013 Display Team.

F-35 is now 107 million dollars each. Let me tell you why that's smoke and mirrors.

Andrew is telling me that the negotiations between Lockheed and the government has resulted in a price of 107 million per airplane.

My reaction.

Big fucking deal.

Why?  Because sequestration is baked in.  Congress and the President aren't only looking at continued sequestration but also the possibility of a government shut down.  Add to that the fact that its obvious to everyone that Lockheed Martin is finally feeling the heat for this over priced, under delivering, Pentagon chewing, Marine gobbling master piece and they probably low balled the hell out of the plane.

Call it a loss leader.

They take the pain now and will recoup lost revenues in later blocks.

But lets get back to sequestration.  Its gonna continue which means that the number of F-35's that the government will be able to buy is going to--out of necessity be cut.

That means we're looking at the death spiral that they've been teetering on the edge of.

That means that by the time the first F-35 squadron is suppose reach IOC with the USMC, it will be unaffordable.

If my little troll is right then we're already fucked.  We're on a road without exit ramps and the cliff is staring us in the eye.

The Battle of Phase Line Bullet. The battle the Iraqi's won.

So you think that Gulf War 1 was easy?  Let me introduce those people to the Battle of Phase Line Bullet.  via Wikipedia.

The Battle of Phase Line Bullet was one of the clashes which led to the destruction of the Tawakalna Iraqi Republican Guard Division, on February 26, 1991, by a simultaneous attack of two US Armored Divisions (1st and 3rd), an Infantry Division (the 1st) and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
The battle was one of the rare examples of a US armored force repulsed by a screen of Iraqi entrenched infantry, APCs and Iraqi T-72stanks during Desert Storm. The incident involved American friendly fire casualties.
BackgroundThe initial skirmishes between American and Iraqi Republican Guards units took place earlier that day around pre-established line 73 Easting, some 30 miles west of Wadi al Batin, where the 2 ACR managed to destroy two Iraqi Armored Brigades. The skirmishes in this sector were still going on when the 3rd Armored Division, positioned north, made the first contact with a brigade of the Tawakalna Armored Division around 3:30 PM.[1]Weather conditions were extremely poor, hampering visibility and identification of targets.
Flank screen maneuverAs the usual practice for armored reconnaissance, a troop of M3 Bradleys (Alpha Troop), belonging to the 4th squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, was scouting ahead of the main tank force. The flank screen maneuver took place along the southern boundaries between the 2 ACR and 3rd Armored Division operational areas. Task Forces 4-34 and 4-32 were advancing from the rear. The general movement of the US forces followed an eastward direction. The fumes of hundreds of oil wells set on fire by the Iraqis, combined with an intense shamal, forced the US vehicles to use thermal sights.[1]Surprising contactAt 3:00 PM, the 14 Bradleys strong troop received information from the GHQ of the 3rd Armored Division that no enemy unit remained between them and the Kuwaiti border. Suddenly, they found a screen line of Iraqi APCs straight ahead, barely 300 meters to the east. The poor weather, along with burning oil fumes, reduced the visibility conditions to almost zero.[2] The enemy screen line was part of the 9th Armored Brigade of Tawakalna Division.
US Abrams tanks from TF 4-34, positioned in the rear echelon, fired in support of the IFVs, destroying at least one T-72 and several Iraqi APCs. They also hit three Bradleys (A-24, A-31 and A-22), with two American KIAs.[2] The 2 ACR also became entangled in the fighting from the rear right.A burst of small-arms and heavy machine gunfire, RPGs and Sagger missiles erupted. Initially, the American commander thought they were engaging dismounted infantry supported by BMPs, but later he realized that they were also receiving main-gun tank rounds.[3] The US vehicles retaliated by firing TOW missiles, 25 mm cannon and machine gun fire. The contact lasted for about two hours, until the Bradleys, battered by enemy and friendly fire and running out of ammunition, were forced to withdraw.[4]Another Bradley (A-36) was first disabled by a 12.7 mm round from an NSVT heavy machine gun which penetrated the transmission[5][6]and later shattered by a large caliber shaped charge impact in the turret's front.[7] Bradley A-35 also took some damage from a mix of ricocheting 12.7 mm bursts and indirect fire, but was able to be driven out,[8] while A-33 suffered two injured and its radio station hit by 12.7 mm fire. During the process of rescuing casualties from A-24, Bradley A-26, commanded by Sergeant Major Ronald Sneed, was near-missed by a T-72 main round, which spattered the vehicle with splinters.[9][1] While providing cover for A-21 who was attempting to assess the situation with A-36, Bradley A-22, commanded by Staff Sergeant Meyers, was struck in the turret by an M-1 tank from TF 4-34 resulting in one KIA.[10] The gunner of A-24 was also killed by a friendly tank round.[11]The disabled A-22, A-36 and A-24 were left abandoned on the battleground, while A-31, although heavily damaged, was able to pull back.[12] All the remainder Bradleys were raked by machine gun fire and shell splinters, but they were still marginally operational.[13]AftermathThe U.S. forces were unable to find a breach in the northern Iraqi lines until the first hours of February 27. That morning, the 7th Cav scouts found the hulls of 18 APCs, mostly BMP-1, and six T-72s disabled or abandoned by their crews. The clash is one of the few recorded actions where a US assault was fenced off by Iraqi dug-in armored vehicles. The commander of Alpha troop, Captain Gerald Davie, later acknowledged that the cause of the fiasco was that "we were ten times too close to the enemy than we would choose to be".[14]

Environmental conditions played a major role in this battle.  What happens when the next battle is fought in the rain, under the jungle canopy and fog commonly found in the Pacific?

Know your enemy. Meet the Mig-35.

Raytheon's Griffin® missile vid.

Geez.  Thats one slow missile!  The Javelin looks faster.

KF-X Concept

Read about it here.

I'm seeing a trend developing.  Moderate stealth, retaining full agility and hopefully lower costs.  It appears that cracking the full stealth code is too hard and perhaps costly.

Is that what our competitors are learning from the F-35 program?

LCS 2 Maneuverability Vid.

China is getting its sea legs. At sea replenishment.

The jaded among you will say that this is no big deal.  Even tiny Western Navies have been doing at sea replenishments for years.

Where you're missing the point in my opinion is that this is just another of the series of building blocks that the Chinese Navy is engaging in to develop a true blue water force that is capable of going toe to toe with the US Navy.

The irony of the situation should be obvious.  For years the Navy has been focusing on fighting in the littoral zone.  Meanwhile the closest thing we have to a peer competitor is building a force to fight us on the open seas.  The idea of taking COIN strategy to the sea is going to bite us.  You heard it here first.

UPDATE:  Alexander informs that the Chinese have been doing this for years.  I'm aware.  But a few missions off the coast of Africa and getting in a bit of work in is one thing, but when it becomes common place thats when it actually is something new.  I contend that this is now part of normal Chinese Navy operations.  When the once difficult becomes common place, thats when you're seeing professionalism creeping in the door.  My bigger point is that the Chinese are becoming professional in their approach to operations at sea.