PSA on counterfeits with SIGNIFICANT issues!!!
RETAILERS.
Tell your friends and check those ‘cheap’ batteries if you bought any lately…
PSA on counterfeits with SIGNIFICANT issues!!!
RETAILERS.
Tell your friends and check those ‘cheap’ batteries if you bought any lately…
And you want to add this, and this, and that??? Um… we can ‘probably’ do that, but it’ll take us longer.
Okay, here ya go; er… MORE changes??? It’ll take us longer.
Lather, rinse, repeat…
So 15 years and SIX BILLION dollars later, the Joint Tactical Radio System was finally killed without ever fielding a single ‘real’ radio… (Article HERE)
One of the ‘test’ articles that actually made it into the field weighed 207 lbs (without cooling system), took almost a minute to come up and complete all the BIT checks, and couldn’t talk to ‘certain’ systems due to incompatibility. Some tactical system…
Another example is the VH-71 Kestrel (planned to be the new Marine One). This program started in 1998 to update from the old H-3s and H-60s. A friend of mine was the test pilot for the fly off between the two programs, the Sikorsky S-92 and the AgustaWestland AW101.
The AgustaWestland won, but Congress pitched a hissy fit because it was ‘foreign’…
And then the pissing contest and requirements porn started…
Escalating needs for range, capacity, communications, self-protection, and creature comforts for the occupants. At one point my friend told me there were over 100 MAJOR changes to the requirements… (Article HERE)
In terminating the program, Gates joked that the VH-71 was supposed to be capable of providing the President a three-course meal while fleeing a nuclear attack…
And we’ve seen the same thing with the Zumwalt class Destroyers, now cut to only three ships as ‘new technology’ test beds.
And the F-35 is currently being reviewed negatively by the CNO as too highly priced, not meeting the out year requirements (and it’s over weight too)… (Article HERE)
What has happened is the bureaucracy has taken over not only the procurement process, but also the requirements process. What is “good enough” to field quickly and effectively (see the tail end of the first article on how SOCOM and others have gone ‘around’ the procurement system); is not “good enough” for the bureaucracy. It’s always we need to ‘add’ capability (which adds complexity, weight, etc.), or we need to ‘spread out’ procurement (can we say PORK), or it’s got to be US made (not always the best ideas), or…
As a consequence, we’re sitting on old systems, some FAR beyond their original service lives (B-52s will be EIGHTY years old when finally retired, P-3s will be 60+ years old when they go). Equipment like Hummers, MRAPs, M-60s are no longer even close to standardized, with multiple ‘variants’; specialized for ‘single’ uses; body armor that is out dated, weapons that need upgrading (now on the THIRD iteration of trying to buy new pistols and rifles), and many other POS out there our folks are making work in spite of the bureaucracy…
And staring at sequestration in November, the military stands to lose another $450 Billion dollars in funds. If this happens, we WILL become a third rate military simply because there will be NO money to actually procure new systems, nor provide upgrades/standardize existing systems, nor even maintain current systems.
We really need to take back control of our government; how do we do that?
Get people in positions that can make decisions, revamp the procurement process, and provide valid guidance that puts “good enough” equipment in the hands of our military. I would even go so far as to say we need to make it a requirement that the people in charge have previous military experience!!!
A little video over the shoulder as Snigs lights one off…
Well, never mind, can’t get the @#&*^ thing to upload…
Trust me, Snigs is NOT a wimp… Those are full power self defense loads in that Blackhawk!!! Now I will comment on the target she and hubby were shooting, they failed miserably to put a good face on it…
It had only one eye, a unibrow, but the smile was pretty decent… 🙂
They both said their “eye” kept going back to the ‘eye’ they were shooting…LOL
Well written, cogent, and pretty damn hard to refute!!!
Take the time, it’s worth the read!
And how many have ever heard of Kitty Werthmann? I’d heard a bit, and seen a part of the video, pretty much an interesting ‘tale’ of Hitler in the early days… You can go HERE and read an exerpt…
Just for grins I googled/Snopes Kitty Werthmann, nothing shows on Snopes at ALL (interesting in and of itself). Google had quite a few hits, and some were pretty interesting, hitting both sides of the equation, two were negative, one pretty rabid, the other negating her based on ‘other’ research… Overall, most were positive. Try it yourself, and see what you get!
I’m off to see some folks, and maybe do some shooting… 🙂 Y’all have a good day!
And then there’s THIS…
TRICARE Fees and Co-Payments. The Administration is disappointed that the Congress did not incorporate the requested TRICARE fee initiatives into either the appropriation or authorization legislation. The Administration asks the House to reconsider the TRICARE fee proposals, which are essential for DOD to successfully address rising personnel costs. The $1.8 billion in savings are part of a carefully balanced FY 2013 Budget request.
Sooo… That whole NO increases for people making less than $200,000 applies to everybody EXCEPT the military, and oh yeah, you can ‘keep’ your healthcare… BUT they want the active duty and retirees to PAY $1.8 Billion more so they can count that as a SAVINGS???
And they ‘claim’ to support the military?
Give me a #@$^& break… And if you read further down in the second link, their stated GOAL is to run retirees OUT of Tri-Care and force us into Obummercare!!!
We have to vote this bunch out in November, if you want to still even HAVE a military…
Rant off, kicking soapbox back in the corner now, sigh…
Fresh strawberries over home made pound cake, topped with real whipped cream. My ‘donation’ was the Kona coffee 🙂
Aero Union P-3A pictured in Colorado, probably in the last week. Appears this is one of 6 still certified..
These are still being flown by my shipmates, and trust me they KNOW how to get down low and get the job done! The company is not being run by real smart folks, but the grunts doing the work as still putting missions out…
3000 gallons of retardant 180kts, approach flaps and get er done!!!
I can’t help but wonder how surprised the two guys on that balcony were 🙂
Fly safe my friends, fly safe!!!
A bit of history-
Variously known as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.
Of course in ‘many’ places fireworks are now outlawed, ‘official’ celebrations are being pushed to be ‘low-key’ as some might find it “offensive”, etc…
This is a holiday that has been missed by far too many Americans while at sea, in the sandbox or deployed elsewhere around the world. Take this time to thank a vet for all that they do – at home and abroad. I hope tomorrow everyone will have the opportunity to spend some quality time with family and friends and unwind.
My thought- Well, screwem… I’m PROUD to be an American, and PROUD of our heritage!!!
Light em if you got em…
Have a Happy and a Safe 4th of July, and MANY more!!!
The Navy has been ‘directed’ to be the test bed for these new ‘bio-fuels’, at a cost of $26/gal!!! Full articles HERE and HERE
Yep, not $2.60, but TWENTY-SIX dollars a gallon!!!
When you compare it to the ‘expensive’ bunker fuel we now use at $3.60 a gallon, it’s a ‘bargain’ that we are being allowed to prototype these new fuels for saving the environment.
Now a bit of common sense here… Lets say a Destroyer holds roughly 35,000 gallons of bunker fuel, at $3.60/gal that is $126,000 per fillup; at $26/gal that equates to $910,000 per fillup…
Now if you figure it costs roughly $100,000 per DAY to run a Destroyer at $3.60/gal, and now you increase fuel costs by a factor of just over 7, you’ve just driven the Navy out of business!!!
The Navy is already restricting not only the speeds destroyers can run, but the number of days they can be underway to ‘conserve’ costs (which means training suffers). What next???
And the truly sad part is there is no way to make enough bio-fuel to actually supply the Fleet anytime in the near future at any realistic price…