Military News Watch
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Carbine Dating
Opinion: U.S. armed forces still using outdated equipment. By Michael Lynch, Special to the Mercury News, Posted: 03/06/2010 08:00:00 PM PSTI was issued an M16A2 when I was mobilized and deployed to Iraq as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve's 341st Military Police Company (San Jose) in the spring of 2003. However, we should have been issued an M4, the more modern version of the M16, which active-duty MPs were given. Instead I was handed a weapon that was state of the art during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.The M4 carbine is not an assualt rifle like the M16 rifle. It is a lighter and less powerful weapon (same bullets, but a shorter barrel to add energy to the bullets) and yes it would have been a better choice for a MP unit, if not for line infantry.Journalists can be forgiven for not knowing the difference between a rifle and a carbine, but it would be nice if the service members of this nation's armed forces who are issued such weapons could tell the difference.-HJC
posted by Henry Cobb at 11:13 AM
Prime Minister Bill Clinton
Exclusive: Inadequate Budget Support for Air and Naval Power, William R. Hawkins, Family Security Matters, March 1, 2010The last bomber program resulted in the B-2 Spirit, a marvelous stealth aircraft far ahead of anything flying elsewhere, but that program was capped at 21 planes by the Clinton administration.Mr. Hawkins must not be very familiar with the federal government structure we have here in the United States of America, where it was the United States Congress (under "Newt" Gingrich and Trent Lott) that failed to provide funding for additional aircraft. Perhaps as he gets to know our country better he can avoid these mistakes in the future.-HJC
posted by Henry Cobb at 8:02 AM
Tax America to save Europe from itself
The Heritage Foundation finds The 2011 Defense Budget: Inadequate and Full of InconsistenciesThis approach reveals that building a force of the size and composition recommended in this paper will require increasing the core defense budget from the current 3.8 percent of GDP to 4 percent. This means that the FY 2015 core defense budget, the last year of the current budget projection, will be $767.6 billion, compared to the Administration's recommendation of $648.2 billion.$120 billion dollars is a lot of money. Why do we need to raise taxes to cover this?Area #2: An inability to prevent a hostile power from dominating Europe.Huh? The Russians are in no shape to invade. What is this threat to Europe that requires American troops to defend against?Politically, some voices in the EU are calling for a unified Europe to serve as a counterweight to the U.S. in global affairs. In this context, the EU could emerge as the dominant power in a Europe that is hostile to the United States.So we need to tax Americans to maintain troops in Europe to keep Europe from mutating into a hostile power? So all of the democratic institutions that so many American service members died to ensure in Europe are useless? Really?-HJC
posted by Henry Cobb at 8:03 AM
Obama budget saves F-22 Raptor
New report provides detailed analysis of the Defence marketThe December 2009 budget will save the F-22 Raptor fighter plane, due to an appropriation of US$6.3bn for the US Air Force (USAF). Exports of these advanced systems are vital for business and to maintain skilled employment.No, these billions and billions of dollars will not buy a single additional aircraft, much less provide any for export.Instead these funds are needed to upgrade the USAF's existing F-22s to a combat configuration. So they can actually be sent to war rather than just to airshows.Defense Writers Group transcript, page 15So one thing that's in the budget and I talked about yesterday is to bring more of that fleet, most of that fleet, to a common, high end, capable configuration. But the cost of that is $6.3 billion of R&D. This is in a platform we've already developed. We're going to spend six billion more of R&D to engineer the 3.2 upgrade for the software and the changes in the jet, and then about $2 billion to modify on the jets. That's $8 billion more, and $8 billion I think needs to be spent in order to make sure the 183 airplanes we have will be highly capable fighters.So the $6.3 billion is only the start of the costs for the Raptor, not the end.-HJCLabels: F-22 Raptor
posted by Henry Cobb at 11:20 AM
China's Scary Space Ambitions
China's Scary Space Ambitions, RICHARD D. FISHER, JR., WSJ, JANUARY 20, 2010As China signals its intention to build space-combat capabilities, increase the size and survivability of its nuclear missile forces, and build new fifth-generation air combat systems, the Obama administration is signaling retreat on the same fronts.Obama has already responded to the Chinese missile plans by making a tens of billions of dollars shift from shore hugging to missile defense destroyers.Missile Threat Helped Drive DDG CutZumwalt Class Could Not Down Chinese Weapons, CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS, Defense News, 4 August 2008The threat posed by a super-secret new Chinese ballistic missile is among the factors driving the U.S. Navy's decision to "truncate" the planned seven-ship DDG 1000 Zumwalt class of advanced destroyers and build more DDG 51-class ships.-HJC
posted by Henry Cobb at 10:24 AM
Known as MH (mine hunter)-60S
LCS-2 Independence commissioning to include display of high-tech equipment, Kaija Wilkinson, Press-Register, January 12, 2010A helicopter outfitted with a console that allows Independence to hunt mines and perform tasks such as search and rescue touched down this morning. Known as MH (mine hunter)-60S, the Knighthawk helicopter is the Navy's newest, entering service in February 2002.It's more like "Maritime Helicopter" and very few Knighthawks are used for mine hunting.-HJC
posted by Henry Cobb at 12:17 PM
Crossing the Korean Rubicon
Stopping Iran - Norman Podhoretz, WSJ, 23rd Jan 2008The CIA was established in 1947 in large measure to avoid another surprise attack like the one the U.S. had suffered on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. But only three years after its founding, the fledgling agency missed the outbreak of the Korean war. It then failed to understand that the Chinese would come to the aid of the North Koreans if American forces crossed the Yalu river. If American forces had crossed the Yalu then the Chinese would have been perfectly justified to react to an invasion of their country as this river lies on the Chinese Korean border.Later in the war the USAF would take pains to stay on the Korean side of the river while bombing the bridges over it used by the Chinese to resupply their forces.
posted by Henry Cobb at 8:00 AM
Name: Henry Cobb View my complete profile
Carbine Dating
Prime Minister Bill Clinton
Tax America to save Europe from itself
Obama budget saves F-22 Raptor
China's Scary Space Ambitions
Known as MH (mine hunter)-60S
Crossing the Korean Rubicon
Japan rolls back pacifist pillars - CNN.com
U.S. Navy denies deal to battle Somali piracy - Ap...
Army not fit to fight GWoT?
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